Trip Report: Final Musings/Dining Plan

Light Meter by Lisa K. Berton

Ladies and gentlemen, my Labor Day weekend visit to Walt Disney World came to an end. My friend Terri and I had a great albeit, far too short of a vacation. I’m lucky if I see her once a year as we live on opposite ends of the US. This was the first time I ever booked a package deal and for this particular trip, it made sense but it’ll probably be another year or so before another package will work to my advantage.

Included was the Disney Dining Plan, for free, consisting of 1 snack credit, 1 counter service, and 1 sit down restaurant per person, per night. Here’s a breakdown of what we had and additional commentary. Oh, and beverages might not be listed because we either had a bottle of water, soda or iced tea.

Snack creditClub Cool
Terri – Bag of multicolor candied popcorn. Estimated value $3.99

Snack creditKusafiri Coffee Shop and Bakery
Lisa – One zebra cupcake consisting of white cake, buttercream frosting, and black and white chocolate shavings. Don’t eat in the hut next door unless you enjoy saunas. Estimated value: $3.99

Snack credit – Sleepy Hollow
Terri – Ice cream cookie sandwich. Best item of the whole trip. So delish! Value: $4.19

Lisa – I wanted the Mickey-shaped waffle (retail price $4.59) but it wasn’t on the Disney Dining Plan. I wound up with the funnel cake covered in cinammon and powdered sugar. This was both my first and last funnel cake. Hello…the waffle was cheaper, why it wasn’t accepted on the plan I’ll never understand. Value: $4.99

Snack creditThe Writer’s Stop
Terri – Some kind of baked good but I cannot remember what the heck it was. Estimated value: $2.95

Lisa – An enormous carrot cake cookie. It consisted of two layers of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting inbetween. Next time, I’ll have to share. Value: $2.95

Quick serviceSunshine Seasons Food Court
Terri – Ginger mongolian beef with broccoli and white rice. Tasty but miniscule portion. I had a large but tasteless chocolate chip cookie for dessert. Value: $9.99 and $1.99

Quick serviceYakatori House was closed. A stand temporarily carried some of the menu.
Lisa – I got the chicken teriyaki meal which comes with vegetables and rice. No traditional Japanese desserts were available. I was given a chocolate chip cookie which I gave to a kid. Plus a bottle of water. Value: $8.99, $2.50 and probably $1.99 for the cookie

Quick serviceColumbia Harbor House
Terri – Chicken tenders and fries, chocolate cake for dessert. You should probably mention that the man gave us samples of the lobster salad and I totally would have ordered it if I wasn’t jonsing for french fries and nuggets at the time. Value: $8.19 and $3.59

Lisa – Shrimp basket with broccoli fries. It’s a nice new edition to what I can eat at Magic Kingdom quick service locations. I had the apple crisp for dessert and a bottle of water. Value: $9.99, $3.59, and $2.50 I’m supposed to mention that the Cast Member aka “the man” gave us (I gave mine to Terri) samples of the lobster salad and Terri would have like totally ordered it if she wasn’t like jonsing for fries and chicken nuggets.

Quick servicePop Century food court
Terri – Grab and go turkey sub sandwich from cooler and a chocolate chip muffin for dessert. Value: Unknown

Lisa – Custom made salad by a chef along with pre cut watermelon and a bottle of Vitamin Water. Value: Unknown

Sit-down restaurantRaglan Road
Terri – Best meal of the trip by far for me. Serious Steak, 10 oz sirloin topped with Irish whiskey marmalade glaze, with fresh basil oil, mashed potatoes, and topped with crispy fried onion strings. Dessert was Trifle Sinful – kitchen baked Swiss roll, Gran Marnier, berries, custard and cream and if you can recall from my face, it was awful. Value: $27.00 and $8.00

Lisa – Also, my favorite and most fantastically yummy meal of the trip. Chef James wasn’t too bad either. I’ll be good. My entree was the Salmon of Knowledge with a tweak here and there. Dessert was the oh-so-decadent Ger’s Bread & Butter Pudding. I went to town and had a ginger ale, too. Value: $25.00 and $8.00 Terri’s dessert had some dense white tasteless concoction which caused the facial reaction. If only I had taken a photo.

Sit-down restaurant/Character meal1900 Park Fare
Terri – A lil bit of this, a lil bit of that. Nothing really good. Definitely more about the experience than the food. Value: $42.59

Lisa – As buffets are pre-prepared (just go along), the chef wound up making my meal. I had an assortment of vegetables, potatoes, chicken, and steak. Desserts from the buffet were varied but not worth sneaking into a ziploc bag for later, if you catch my drift. Character interaction was great with Anastasia and Drizella. Cinderella and Prince Charming are dull. Value: $42.59

Sit-down restaurantRestaurant Marrakesh
Terri РI ordered and paid $8.99 for the chicken bastilla appetizer. It was delish! For my entr̩e I had couscous with beef which was also very good. I am fuzzy on dessert. I think I remember chocolate ice-cream drenched with cinnamon or something that was too strong for me to eat. (Bastilla with chocolate ice cream) Value: $27.99 and $7.99

Lisa – Here, too, the chef accomodated my dietary restrictions. I had the shish kebab of filet minion, vegetables, and potato. The menu said mint ice cream as an option for the bastilla but it was actually mint chocolate chip and you-know-who is not supposed to have milk chocolate. I ate some of it and enjoyed the cinammon topping. Value: $28.99 ad $7.99

Listen into our conversations.

Lisa: What was the worst thing about the trip?

Terri: The hot! That’s the only complaint, that it was really, really hot but shame on us, we went in September. How can you be surprised? No, I lie. The worst part of the trip was finding out the monorail was closed – it does not have extra Magic Hours. Then the hike from the dock through the Grand Floridian out past valet parking (or special people, not us) and across the street to guest parking. There wasn’t a lot to buy even in Japan. Nothing new or gotta have or that you can’t get at home.

Lisa: That’s true. So much is imported now.

Terri: The wait at Marrakesh of all places.

Lisa: That was insane.

Lisa: What was the best thing?

Terri: We were at Walt Disney World. Let me think, what was…spectacular. What was new since we were there? What were the magical moments…hmmm. Oh my gosh, the free upgrade to the pirate room!! That room was great.

Lisa: I love everything from the fridge inside a barrel to the crate-looking drawers and the imprint in the shower. I don’t think any attractions were new.

Terri: The wood plank-looking carpet!

Lisa: What do you remember that was funny?

Terri: The girl wearing the shorts that were too small.

Lisa: A lot of clothes were too small.

Lisa: What didn’t we get to do?

Terri: I did not do American Adventure and you didn’t get to do American Idol (Experience) or that Star Wars thing (Star Tours). No Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse or Magic Carpet Ride with Aladdin.

Lisa: I didn’t ride with Aladdin.

Terri: We didn’t do Buzz Lightyear or The Laugh Floor.

Lisa: Hey, I still have FastPasses in my wallet!

Terri: The hot air balloon (Characters in Flight) at Downtown Disney. We didn’t see Ariel or Beauty and the Beast.

Lisa: What did we learn?

Terri: How to draw the Toy Story alien, again! The Tiki Room was a highlight, seeing the original show again.

Lisa: And that September is too hot and humid.

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