Most Americans Like 3 Meals a Day. Did You Eat NOTHING? 10 days DXDP

DrunkJam

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 1, 2016
Hi everyone. Welcome to my first ever Dining Review. I did take SOME pictures, but, I can't make them small enough to include. So, no pictures, sorry, but, hopefully an interesting trek through our dining adventures 13-23 december 2017.

We ate at the following....

Gasparilla's
The Wave (Breakfast buffet)
Boatwrights (dinner)
Whispering Canyon Cafe (breakfast)
Le Cellier (dinner)
Tusker House (breakfast)
1900 Park Fare (dinner)
California Grill (Brunch)
Citricos
1900 Park Fare (breakfast)
Cinderella's Royal Table (dinner)
Kona Cafe (breakfast)
Sci Fi Dining (dinner)
Cape May (breakfast)
Trails End (dinner)
Akershus (breakfast)
O'hana (dinner)
Crystal Palace (breakfast)
Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner)
Grand Floridian Cafe (breakfast)

This includes some changes from our original plan, which was much heavier on signature dinners, but we discovered that our daughter *really* struggled with new foods and the lovely people at GF concierge helped me change about our dining plans at the last minute to help her. (So, my top tip is worry less about the top picks and 180 days, and trust that something you might really like will be available when you need it)

We are 2 adults and 1 11yr old boy (on the autistic spectrum, with specific food issues) and one 4 yr old girl (who is being referred for ASD testing and has even more restricted food issues) We are from the UK.

We had some excellent meals, some bad meals, but, one thing we all agreed on is that the DXDP is just WAY too much food for the uninitiated. We got ours at a large discount, so, we definitely got our money's worth, but, we in no way used all the credits. I even used some to pay for breakfast at GF Cafe on our last morning for a whole other family as well. We also brought home an ENORMOUS amount of snack credit items.

On our last but one day, a server at one of the resort QS locations was shocked how many credits we had left when we were swapping out for snacks to take home for the kids class mates, and asked us if we had eaten at all while we were there. I laughed and told her we had eaten way too much food, and she said that Most Americans like to eat 3 meals a day, and need the DXDP credits. I am not sure this is entirely the case.
 
Gasparilla's Island Grill.

We arrived and checked in at Grand Floridian at around 7pm. We had intended to try and get a TS spot, but we were all tired, and not enormously hungry, but needing to eat something and settle in to the new time zone. We collected our refillable mugs (4 different coloured lids, hooray) and I got the Grilled Fish Reuben, which I really enjoyed. It was spicy, and interesting. The marble bread was fine. My husband got the roast beef sandwich, which he really liked, although, he forgot chips are not fries, so he was a little disappointed to get crisps with it (his fault for forgetting that chips are crisps and if he wanted what he calls chips, then he needed to ask for fries) My daughter got a hot dog, and fries, but, although she eats this at home, she ate nothing. This would go on for about three days with her only eating a very few things that were the same as home, until she got into the swing of things) My son had a build your own salad, which he loved.

I thought the food choices here were limited, but, there were things we liked, and there was space to grab a table too.

The Wave Breakfast Buffet.

I booked this because of reviews on the board, and, I am glad I did. First of all, my family enjoyed an easy start to our vacation, using the monorail to get to breakfast (The monorail was only down ONCE during our whole stay and that was on the very last day) and then walking to MK afterwards. And the wave is a nice, low key spot, ideal for introducing people gently to the hectic holiday that is WDW. The buffet allows everyone to choose something they liked. My daughter, as for most of the rest of her stay, ate one mickey waffle and a link sausage and a strawberry. My son tried some breakfast favourites, and was always excited when fruit loops were available. I was very happy to try the eggs benedict, and found them to be cooked nicely, with the white completely cooked and the yolk runny. But, the highlight for me was the sweet potato pancakes with pecan butter. I *loved* those. Service here was friendly and efficient. It wasn't crowded, and it was easy to help small children and get food myself. I also liked how the buffet is off to one side, so the restaurant feels calmer.

Boatwrights Dinner

This was one I chose, because I wanted to try some more local flavours. I am not sure if that is what I got, but we had a great meal here. Our server was AMAZING and helped the children choose something they would eat, although neither was especially hungry. I tried Colonel Peace's Pieces (which was an enormous portion of cornmeal coated oysters, okra, shrimp and scallops) The remoulade was nice, and I could tick off a few things I had never tried before. The dish was blander than I expected, but it was fine, my husband tried some, and declared it too spicy so, I guess, YMMV. My son had the charcuterie board and tried most of it. My daughter had some apples. I forget what my husband ordered asa starter. I know he ordered the Lugger main course, and enjoyed it.
I had the steak with lobster mac and cheese as a main, and the steak was nicely cooked. NONE of the mac and cheese we saw this holiday had macaroni in it, but, it was perfectly edible. My daughter had grilled chicken and fries and ate some of them (this was her go too dinner choice, she got more comfortable with it as the holiday went on) my son ordered cheese pizza, and decided it had too much cheese for him to eat. He is used to margarita style, which is less cheese heavy. They all had ice cream for desert. The server happily boxed my pecan pie for me to take back and eat another time. I absolutely could not fit in dessert after the starter and main. When I tried it the next day, though, it was nice. All in all this was a good experience. Not hugely stand out (except for the server) but not in any way bad.


As a note. I left applausograms for a few CMs during our stay, the server here being one of them.
 
Whispering Canyon Cafe (breakfast)

I *love* Wilderness Lodge. I mean, I am glad to have stayed at GF, but, my WDW *home* is definitely Wilderness lodge. So, I felt good to be there, which increased my positive feelings. My son and I had the skillet, which was fine, but, no more. He is a huge fan of the milkshake. The server was lovely, and TRIED to involve us in the antics. I am sure it would have been awesome, had my husband not been entirely averse to any kind of antics at eating time! My mistake! A recurring theme for him was the lack of milk provided for tea drinking, and the not hot enough-ness of the water with which to make tea. This is a recurring theme everywhere in the USA. I felt bad for the server. She was doing her best. It could have been a lot more fun if he was more able to engage with the spirit of it. I suppose this is a warning. If any one in your party is going to be a grumble-butt, this is not the place for them. Everything was edible, we all love a mickey waffle.

Le Cellier (dinner)

Possibly the worst meal of the holiday. It was a must do, we had loved it before. My son actually did love the mussels, and the kids chicken was a hit with both children. We had the porterhouse, with the mac and cheese (again not mac, but still the best thing on the plate) The steak was OK, not cooked the way we ordered it, and the risotto, which was so salty as to be inedible. We were rushed through the meal in a way no other restaurant tried to do to us, and the desserts were all changed and none was great. I would absolutely not eat here again.
 
Following. I concur with your Le Cellier review. I had tried to get us to eat at Whispering Canyon (even had 2 separate reservations), but alas, we ended up canceling both at the last minute to reduce our scheduled activities.
 


Following. I concur with your Le Cellier review. I had tried to get us to eat at Whispering Canyon (even had 2 separate reservations), but alas, we ended up canceling both at the last minute to reduce our scheduled activities.
Thank you. Yes, we did spend a fair amount of time eating, with that and the Fps, it is all very much timetabled as a holiday, which is not for everyone.
 
Tusker House (breakfast)

This had previously been my favourite character meal. It still is! There was a wait to get in. All the characters came to the table (previously we had met Donald Outside, like Belle at Akershus) The server was absolutely lovely, explained the process very clearly, brought the juice and other drinks, and reassured us that we could take as long as we needed to eat and meet everyone, and not to rush anything. In fact, the characters came round in good time, and we enjoyed the buffet. The children were happy because all the standards are there, but I was happy because they also have some slightly more interesting items as well. The setting was calm and both fun and fitting for the surroundings. We all ate well, and set off for our day in AK. We were, despite reading on here, shocked by the pandora crowds. We were lucky to do both rides without need for standby queuing, which got up to 5 hrs at some points. ETA, DH asks me to point out that the carved ham at Tusker House was excellent.

1900 Park Fare Dinner

We booked this so my daughter could wear her cinderella dress to meet her favourite Princess. We were all also very tired, and grateful to have dinner in our hotel, so we could easily get there and back. It was touch and go whether my daughter would be able to stay awake and meet anyone! But, once she could SEE cinderella, she was very perked up and managed to eat some tea, and get some adorable photos taken. It was an OK buffet, there were choices not available elsewhere, so, again, I could choose things I had not tried before, like catfish. But the others could eat familiar food. I am not the hugest fan of buffet food, but, it really works for a family in which three out of four are on the autism spectrum, and need to choose from a limited range of acceptable food. The children were very excited to be able to eat gummy bears with their dinner, and my son actually caused a stepsister confab about his rice mixed with gummi bears and green beans. (I do not approve of gummy bears for dinner, but I DO approve of my son mixing foods together. This is a challenging thing for him) The character interaction here was great. Although, my daughter really was not interested in Prince Charming and told him so. (Super embarrassing)
 
Last edited:
So glad to see you writing a dining report! Love your reviews so far and I look forward to reading more!
 


California Grill Brunch

This was my standout meal of the holiday. The view was unbeatable. The atmosphere was upscale ish but comfortable. Our server was a star. She made us feel comfortable and made the children welcome, and helped us with our choices and made recommendations and changed things to make them extra special. The buffet offered a range of interesting and delicious things, including sushi, salads and wonderful sticky buns. I couldn't decide between the U10 shrimp, with antebellum grit-cake. (I wanted to challenge myself to try things that are common to Americans, but which I don't know, like grits.) and the vanilla bean french toast (I had the most wonderful french toast in LA and was aware it can be something much more special than it is when I make it) and the server insisted I try both. Both were absolutely wonderful. My husband had the steak and thoroughly enjoyed it. The children had chocolate chips added to their plain pancakes, and enjoyed them too. The dessert plate was full of yummy goodies, which we had boxed up and took back to our room to try the next day! This is my new MUST DO. There is nothing bad about this meal. Everything I tried was delicious, and the server was so lovely to us, and helpful, and kind. (Another Applausogram) Oh and my daughter was absolutely delighted when the musicians asked her to choose a song for them to play.

Citricos

This was a late substitution, and, to be honest, we didn't really need another meal this day.
That said, the staff was superb, again, even though my daughter actually slept from the time her order was taken until we carried her out of the restaurant with her boxed up meal. Everything I ate was delicious. I had the crab salad, followed by the halibut, and the chocolate banana dessert, which was not on my radar until I saw it being served to another diner. It came out looking spectacular, and even though I didn't come close to finishing it, it was lovely. Again, an unhurried and beautiful meal. I am not sure why this place is so easy to get into, because it is great! My husband had the pork belly followed by the filet, and enjoyed both. Plus, not far to carry DD back to bed from here!
Some other patrons congratulated us on our angelic children's behaviour, which was very sweet of them, but since one of them was actually asleep, I feel a bit of a fraud. That said, I do hope that having a good experience dining near children will mean people are less likely feel trepidatious about it in future.
 
So glad to see you writing a dining report! Love your reviews so far and I look forward to reading more!
Thank you so much. I was a bit sad that I couldn't figure out the photos, but, hopefully still worth doing anyway!
 
1900 Park Fare Breakfast

This was another easy breakfast at our resort. Plenty of choices for everyone, all the things you would expect, I enjoyed the eggs benedict, although I found them less well cooked than those at the wave. Of course, we had, by now, learnt that my daughter loved any meal that came with characters, and the more she was enjoying herself, the more she would try new things. She never ventured far from her waffles / pancakes and sausage, but, she had promised herself to try the strawberry soup (a new texture too!) and she did try it. I also managed to wear my New Years Day Swim shirt (here, people raise money for charity by swimming in the sea, in Wales, on New Years Day, I do it to raise money for the cancer charity that helps us, as a family cope with my husbands leukaemia) so, I got a picture with the Mad Hatter to post on the twitter feed of the event! I like going out for breakfast, I feel like it is a more family thing to do than any other meal. So, they really would have to screw it up for me to be unhappy, and this one was fine. My 11 yr old was surprised to be taller than Alice.

Cinderella's Royal Table dinner.

Now, I was ambivalent about this meal. I had heard bad things about the food. And the choices were limited for the children, but, to eat inside the castle, seemed like a must do for the princess crazy 4 year old. We queued a little while for Cinderella photos, but, it was exciting to go upstairs inside the actual real Disney castle. The server was very nice, helpful, and there enough to help, but not so much as to be annoying. I was underwhelmed but the starter choices, but the soup I had was actually very nice. The steak I had was better than the one at Le Cellier, and the dessert was iconic, and very tasty. The children ate their choices (although, having chosen the build your own cupcake, my daughter left looking more like a Smurf than a princess.) The princesses were not super engaged. Actually, that's unfair, most of them were lovely with DD, Sleeping Beauty, who had been a must see (and thank goodness she was there at all to be honest) was clearly not feeling it that day, but, I get how hard a job it is so... So, I was shocked to feel like this was a way better use of 2 credits than Le Cellier!
 
Love your reviews! (definitely curious about the 'lack of macaroni' - just different shaped pasta?)

I can't imagine using the DXDP, even as an American :rotfl2:. Yes, we eat 3 meals a day... but not that much food! That CM was strange!
 
Love your reviews! (definitely curious about the 'lack of macaroni' - just different shaped pasta?)

I can't imagine using the DXDP, even as an American :rotfl2:. Yes, we eat 3 meals a day... but not that much food! That CM was strange!
yes, the pasta was just a different shape, it was perfectly fine, but, as a parent of ASD children, such technicalities can be important. We thought the DXDP would be fun, since we could literally choose any restaurant and not think about credits etc, but, a) we are not an any restaurant family and b) It really is a VAST amount of food. And we eat three meals a day most days, just with less food in them.
 
yes, the pasta was just a different shape, it was perfectly fine, but, as a parent of ASD children, such technicalities can be important. We thought the DXDP would be fun, since we could literally choose any restaurant and not think about credits etc, but, a) we are not an any restaurant family and b) It really is a VAST amount of food. And we eat three meals a day most days, just with less food in them.

My daughter is a mac & cheese "connoisseur" - I was definitely intrigued by the variety at Disney last time. At least you had lots of treats to bring home!
 
My daughter is a mac & cheese "connoisseur" - I was definitely intrigued by the variety at Disney last time. At least you had lots of treats to bring home!
Oh yes, I loved having so many treats to bring home, and we tried more things and places than we would have OOp or regular DDP. No regrets, since we did get way more value than we paid, and we had a lovely holiday.
 
Kona Cafe Breakfast

I love the poly. I mean, it's not wilderness Lodge, but, eating here is another must. The Kona Cafe breakfast is a nice one. The kids both had mickey shaped pancakes, which are not actually mickey shaped, but are arranged to be so. With sausages. What can I say, they like what they like. I had the seven seas samoan, which was good. Tasty, and the eggs were not underdone. DH had the two eggs any style with potatoes and other bits, including a macadamia and coconut actually mickey shaped muffin which he let me eat, and which was delicious (he doesn't eat nuts of any kind) Then I had a thought and ordered a tonga toast and Lilikoi juice to go (using up another credit and giving us all the chance to try a Kona classic, which no one had been sure enough about to actually order) Actually, the tonga toast was pretty good, and not as cloyingly sweet as I had feared. And the Jungle Juice was a hit with everyone at Tusker, so, to get it again by another name was fine by us! It was a good breakfast. Not entirely stand out, but, fine.

Speaking of tonga toast and trying disney classic food items, we also got our first ever Dole whip pineapple floats, which we really did love. Soft serve ice cream is a norm here, but, this *was* actually something different. I also tried soft serve ginger bread ice cream, which was nice too.

Sci Fi Dining Dinner.

We were a bit worried about our HS day. It seemed all shows, and such. However, DD really enjoyed belting out Let it Go along with them all at Frozen Sing Along. Who doesn't love the muppets, and well, The little mermaid was interesting. Toy story mania was a hit with everyone, and DS had chosen dinner at Sci Fi. It was the only place we had to wait much to be seated. When we got inside, DS declared it better than he had imagined and was vey happy! Our server was just OK. Maybe it was very busy. DD and I split the appetiser sampler, so, again, I got to try a few new things. Fried pickles were better than expected, the dip was yummy, buffalo wings are odd. She loved the corn chips, so I didn't see many of those (luckily, since the amount of food...) Dh had the onion rings, and DS had something we can't remember, but they both had popcorn chicken for main and enjoyed it. I had the southern burger (also including fried green tomatoes to check off my try things list) as, it was a good burger, actually. The fries here are thick cut, which was fine for us, but might be something you need to know. The candy bar dessert was good. The doughnut with apple and ice cream was disappointing. Just felt cold and assembled factory style, without love.
 
Last edited:
Cape May breakfast

We had to do this breakfast because you don't get to meet Minnie at Tusker House. We got off the bus early at the Yacht Club (partly because the journey was too long for my very motion sick daughter) and mostly to show the children where we got married. On our way, we stopped by the pick a pearl station, so that DD could pick a pearl and get it put into a cinderella carriage cage with a chain. The lady who helped us was wonderful and the experience was joyful, there was no queue and she took time to make the experience positive. It was nice to do it there rather than in Japan too, as we got married there and it was to be a gift for his daughter from her dad who has cancer. Also, for those watching out for such things, we did not see ANY dogs or evidence of dogs at YC. We did see some service dogs, in vests with harnesses, behaving perfectly during our stay, but no others. Then we went to Cape May.
Again a buffet works for us. This one had options not available elsewhere. Not all were great. The chocolate mint pancakes were odd. There were some mixed dishes that were wildly over seasoned. Very salty. DS had got into the swing of meeting characters by now, and enjoyed meeting Goofy especially. Donald was very funny about his Angry Birds T Shirt. Everyone ate enough and found things to enjoy. I am not sure I would put this back on my list, unless meeting the characters was a must.
I also just remembered that the server really seemed to actively dislike us. She was absolutely lovely to the table next to us, telling them all about the characters and when they would be around, explaining the buffet, helping children with straws etc. But she barely spoke to us. Threw straws on the table, like WCC, told us NOTHING about characters, and didn't even give us a choice of drinks, so we had to guess what we could have. She only came back to give us the bill. I still have no idea what we did.

Trails End

This was another late substitution. As a fan of Wilderness Lodge I thought that Fort Wilderness was a good location, and, given what we had learnt about what the children liked, we thought that they would find more things they liked. This was not even on my radar before we left. it really was a winner. DH still speaks with love about the brisket, the children enjoyed chicken, pizza, and vegetables, and I tried some of many different things. There were a load of dessert choices too. Everyone found many things to like. Our server was fun and attentive. I also tried a Pina Colava. We had a little look round afterwards too, and got the boat back, all in all a very enjoyable evening. I would say that, this would make a repeat visit list, no problem. Interesting to add that strawberry shortcake in WDW is actual cake. it is not cake when we have it.
 
Last edited:
Akershus Breakfast

This was distinctly underwhelming. Our server was disinterested, and not entirely helpful. The family style stuff was OK at best and the buffet selections were fine, but not very exciting. The princesses were there, but, the collection and depositing of parade baskets was distracting and the whole experience felt a little bit chaotic. Dining with princesses was top of my daughters to do list, but, maybe breakfast is not their strong point.

O'hana Dinner

We loved O'hana the last time we were here. It was my son's favourite meal. This time, there was nothing he could or would eat. I don't know if maybe they have changed their recipes, or maybe he is even pickier. We unfortunately had a bad table, facing the back door. Not only that, but the server really seemed like he didn't want to be there. He didn't bring any sauce, never refilled drinks, and instead of bringing skewers round, like we expected, he once came and asked if we wanted more chicken, and then, nothing. The actual food was fine, the steak cooked as I like it, and I really like peel and eat shrimp, the bread pudding was nice. But, neither child ate anything much. I would no longer reccommend it.
 
Crystal Palace breakfast.

Another Character buffet. Everyone found things to enjoy. I tried the breakfast pizza, I enjoyed the puffy french toast, although it is exceptionally bad for you. I was a bit worried by the breakfast lasagne, as I imagined it is yesterdays left overs creatively reused. I had a fresh omelette, made to order, it was good. I chose vegetarian ingredients, but, luckily I am not vegetarian, the chef used the same hot plate and same tools for meat and vegetarian ingredients, and also for pancakes. The children managed to have ice cream for breakfast! The character interaction here was excellent. The characters did spend time with us, although, poor piglet was the surprise winner of "Character my daughter wants to take home" and got caught up in the biggest hug ever! Our server here was a huge improvement on the previous day, and we were very happy with our experience.

Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner

Another late substitution, and exactly what my children wanted. Roast meat (particularly the turkey, although the pot roast was good too) potatoes (The mash here is really good) and green beans. This is the food they like to eat. The salad was perfectly good, the main course all eaten (we got more turkey and potatoes) The mac and cheese was not good, and didn't taste of anything, so we left most of that. I got the speciality drink in the metal mug, and shared with my children, and we all liked that and took the mug home. The gooey gooey cake was something I had never tried so I managed a few bites (we were all too full really, but I wanted to know what it was like.) It's FAB. but, I only had room for a tiny bite, which was a little sad. Our server was lovely, and we would definitely return here.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top