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Old 20 Sep 17, 02:44 PM  
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We don't have enough credits! 16 nights Universal and Disney (DDP) September 2017 - Day 6

Today we planned Epcot morning EMH so just had some cereal in the room that we'd brought from home. I really don't like American cereal and find their counterparts to ours far too sweet. So we brought Honey Nut Shredded Wheat!




We'd also brought some cheap plastic bowls we got from Amazon that had to be ditched as we had no room on the way home!

While in Epcot we stopped in Sunshine Seasons for coffee and a cinnamon roll. We used 4 snacks.



We enjoyed these and they kept us going until we reached World Showcase where we planned on using some snacks at Food & Wine. I had picked up a passport at the entrance so I knew what was on each menu. We started in Canada as I knew I wanted filet mignon.



And Marie knew she wanted some cheddar cheese soup.



These were both good. The filet in particular was amazing and a fantastic use of a snack credit! The soup was nice but Marie was disappointed by the portion size. I mean I know it's a snack and you get a small pretzel breadstick but this was such a tiny portion it was actually shocking! It's also disappointing that seating around WS is minimal and often you need to stand at a table (if you're lucky enough to find one!).

We then stopped in Belgium as I wanted to try the Braised Beef. We basically shared it as Marie tried a bit and liked it. We found some tables in the shade in Morocco to eat this which was great. We also used a couple of snacks to get bottled water.



While in Morocco anyway I nipped round to the Morocco stall to get some Baklava. This one was chocolate.



Again we shared this as I'd cut it into 4 and Marie liked it more than she thought she would!

We stopped off in America as I wanted an American Dream. This is vanilla ice cream with strawberry and blue raspberry slush.



Marie just had a vanilla soft serve.



Next was Germany and we had Schinkenudlin (I have no idea if that's right! It was something along those lines.) Basically this was cheesy pasta with ham(?) which had been baked.



Again we shared. I really liked it but Marie thought it was just OK.

Next was China and the hoisin duck steamed bun. We got one each of these.



I really liked this but although Marie enjoyed the flavour she doesn't like the fact that duck can be very fatty so she didn't finish it.

We were defeated after this I'm afraid!

Dinner had originally going to be anything or nothing depending on how we faired at F&W however with Irma starting to cause trouble we changed our Narcoossee's ADR from the Sunday (when we expected to be under curfew) and managed to get one for that evening.



I love these little candle holders!


We were given some bread to start. This was nice but nothing special.



Marie got a cocktail of some description and we both got diet coke as our drink. Plus we also got tap water so loads of glasses on our small table!




As we'd been able to do last year we could sub dessert for either a small salad or small plate of the lobster bisque. We did have to ask our server if this was possible though. Marie and Mum had enjoyed the bisque so much last year we both decided to go for that.



This was lovely and creamy with small bits of lobster in it. I really enjoyed this and was glad I'd decided on this instead of dessert.

For mains we were both pleased to see the Surf n' Turf back on the menu without a supplement. It has changed however to a sirloin steak instead of a filet but we both chose it anyway.



This was lovely and I really enjoy the variety of having the lobster and steak. As you can see it would have been nearly $150 with Marie's cocktail but cost us 4 TS credits plus the $27.90 tip which we charged to the room.



So tallying our credit use today - 15 snacks and 4 TS credits.

Forgot to add dessert which was a slice of our cookies and cream pie.

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Old 20 Sep 17, 03:19 PM  
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We don't have enough credits! 16 nights Universal and Disney (DDP) September 2017 - Day 7

Today was our first late start of the trip with a plan for a later DHS day. We had booked Hollywood Brown Derby Fantasmic package for 4.25pm so didn't really know how to deal with food up to then! We decided to got the Premium Outlets on Vineland and pop to the food court for breakfast first.
We used QS credits subbing our drinks for pastries to have tomorrow for breakfast and used our refillable mugs for coffee.

I had the Bounty Platter with French Toast which came with eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast potato and biscuit.


I got a chocolate croissant for the next day.



Marie was desperate for a waffle so had a Bounty Platter with waffle from a different station to mine. This just came with bacon and scrambled egg. She got a croissant for the next day.



This was just ok and in hindsight, considering we were going to be short of QS credits and ended up paying OOP for quite a lot of food I wish we had just gone to iHOP. Lesson learned for next time- no more food court breakfasts!

When we got to DHS we were a bit hungry but didn't want much as we had a 3 course dinner planned so we shared some of the chili nachos from Min & Bill's Dockside Diner. We used a QS credit and shared the drink using our collapsible cups.



These were great and just enough to tide us over between us.

Dinner was our first time at Hollywood Brown Derby. We've done the other two for Fantasmic and wanted to give this a try based on reviews. It was very quiet, presumably due to it being early dinner Fantasmic package time.





We were brought some bread rolls and butter.



These were nice but nothing special.

With the Fantasmic package you get 3 course to choose from the normal menu. I was happy to have the lump crab cake.



I really enjoyed this and think Marie would have too but she went for a Cobb Salad as nothing really took her fancy.



This was enormous and I didn't think that nice. Marie thought it was ok but like with most salads got fed up after a while and left most of it.

For mains I went with the Duck Two Ways. I was asked how I wanted it cooked so said no pink. The server suggested medium well with a hint of pink as it would be overcooked otherwise. I accepted but this was pinker than I'd have liked.



It was nice but it didn't wow me.

Marie went for the Charred Filet of Beef which came with a truffle potato croquette.



Again she thought it was nice but nothing special.

Dessert was a sampler of two, the grapefruit cake and the banana toffee cake in mini form.



These were lovely and about a million times better than the poor offerings at Mama Melrose last year.
Overall I didn't not like HBD but Marie wasn't impressed and doesn't want to go back next time. This would have cost us nearly $140 but instead was 4 TS credits. We charged the full 20% tip to our room. We left 20% mainly because our server was very efficient but also because he was called Fonzie! I mean, Fonzie! Although he was nothing like The Fonz!



So our total credit spend for the day was 3 QS and 4 TS.
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Old 20 Sep 17, 03:50 PM  
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We don't have enough credits! 16 nights Universal and Disney (DDP) September 2017 - Day 8

Today was our last day of "normality" before Irma hit and the parks closed for 2 days. We had AK planned with a late Tusker House breakfast so I started with my chocolate croissant from yesterday. Marie just had coffee.



Although we had primarily gone to Tusker House for the food the character interaction was very poor today. We go Goofy then the others disappeared, then came back, disappeared again, came back but after 40 minutes we had still only met Goofy. Buffet pictures are always poor but here goes.




Lovely Jungle Juice.



Bowl of fruit to make some effort!



Not wanting to waste park time sitting in TH we left without seeing any other characters. The server was excellent but asked us why we were so sad. I think to be honest it's just our faces but the impending Irma was not making us cheerful and in hindsight I suspect that really had affected our mood. We told her that was it and she assured us we'd been fine at Disney. This cost us 2 TS credits and the 20% tip which we charged to the room.

We bought a passion fruit frozen drink from the Anandapur Tea Company (I think) using 2 snack credits.


Again this was lovely however again it was impossible to drink with the paper straws. I think the moral of the story is no more slushies in AK! We did find a lovely spot to drink them down some steps and next to the water. We'll need to remember this for next time! Not for slushies though .





Our original plan had been Sanaa OOP as we wanted the bread service. The weather people were suggesting you should be ensconced where you planned to be for Irma by 5pm that day. Although not an official curfew we decided to go with that so cancelled Sanaa and went to Disney Springs for a late lunch/early dinner. We discussed it and I wanted to try D-Luxe burger but Marie wasn't keen. The problem I find with the likes of there and Blaze Pizza is that you all have to be in the mood for that one thing, or traipse about several places. I think this is why we've never got round to trying either of them. Instead we went to Wolfgang Pucks Express which we know is always going to have something we want. With WPE you order at a counter but your food is brought out to you.
Boringly I went for the meatloaf. I wanted a decent meal before potentially having to eat crisps for 2 days!



Lovely as usual.

Marie ordered the ravioli and a side of fries. As usual the fries came first and were lukewarm. We treated them as a starter.



This cost us 2 QS credits and was excellent as usual (lukewarm fries excluded).
We also popped to Earl of Sandwich and used 2 QS credits on a sandwich each, drink and a side for the next day. I got the BBQ Hawaiian and Marie got grilled cheese. I got potato salad as a side and Marie got a chocolate mousse.

We then used a couple of snack credits in Goofy's Candy Co where I got a cupcake and Marie a cookie. I don't have a picture of the cookie but it was one of the giant Mickey ears ones dipped in chocolate. It was not good but my cupcake was nice.



Once back at the resort we nipped to Riverside Mill and used up a few snack credits for the next couple of days.

We noticed they were doing meal bags for $6 containing a turkey sandwich, chips, water, cookie and granola type bar. I didn't think that was too bad.

Overall credit use today was 2 TS credits, 4 QS credits and 7 snacks.
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Old 20 Sep 17, 04:10 PM  
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We don't have enough credits! 16 nights Universal and Disney (DDP) September 2017 - Days 9 & 10

I'm going to do 9 & 10 together as these were the days we were under curfew/parks were closed so dining was not exciting.

We had cinnamon rolls bought the day before for breakfast plus an Azera latte.



The resort kept us up to date on the TV and we found out the food court was open until 3pm so around 11am headed over. They were just changing from breakfast to lunch. Not exciting but we got chicken nuggets and fries each. Since we didn't need a drink and didn't want to sub it we paid OOP for these - $20 or so. We took these back to the room as the food court was busy.



I do enjoy Disney chicken nuggets! Even lukewarm!

As the day went on they decided to keep the food court open until 7.30pm so we went across for dinner. We decided on the large cheese pizza and definitely weren't using credits on this as it was only $13.99 and huge! The pizza window was really busy though and we waited a while.



This was really nice but I couldn't do it justice as I'd grazed a bit through the day.

The next morning we had banana nut muffins from Walmart for breakfast with a latte. We discovered the fridge had broken overnight and had leaked a bit of water. It was still cool inside so the milk etc was ok. I don't think it was related to Irma as the power hadn't gone off at any point.



These were lovely! I'll be looking out for these next time!

We planned to have the EoS sandwiches for lunch but 2 days in the fridge had not been kind to them and the bread was stale. The TV update said the food court would open at 12 noon so we wandered across. When we got there they said 1pm so back we went and then again across at 1. It was heaving!
I wanted a burger and Marie a hot dog. Guess which station had the longest queue? Anyway, we were stir crazy and didn't mind the wait. We used a QS for the burger plus a cinnamon roll for Marie and paid $10 for the hotdog.




I do enjoy a Disney burger and even lukewarm I really enjoyed this.

Dinner was the food court again. By now the choices were dwindling. We got penne bolognaise each. We used QS credits and got a chocolate cupcake for me and carrot cake for Marie. I don't have a picture of the carrot cake.




I know it looks awful but the pasta actually tasted quite nice even lukewarm. The cupcake was lovely.

So over the 2 days we paid OOP for a lot of food, wasted a lot bought "just in case" and kind of got sick of what is an excellent food court. None of it could be helped though and we just had to accept it for what it was. We were safe at Disney and well taken care of and lucky compared to many.
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Old 20 Sep 17, 05:11 PM  
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We don't have enough credits! 16 nights Universal and Disney (DDP) September 2017 - Day 11

We'd had a few plans for today from it being an extra Universal day to a day off however in the end we decided to do the Star Wars Dessert Party today leaving the daytime free which come FP day became an additional AK day. We planned an early QS dinner mid-afternoon so we could eat plenty at the dessert party! Initially I booked all the FP for later in the day so we would do AK immediately before moving to DHS for the party however we wanted out! Unbelievably I was able to move Flight of Passage to lunch time so we went to AK earlier than initially planned.

Breakfast was coffee and the last two banana nut muffins in the room.

Having had food court food only for 2 days we fancied something really nice for lunch and decided against the initial QS plan. Since we had the Landry card anyway we decided to visit Yak & Yeti again and pay OOP for lunch.

Marie insisted we get the Wok Fried Green Beans again!



I got the passion fruit Shanghai Lemonade again and they had a new south seas flavour which Marie got but she got an Everest Refresher instead which is essentially flavoured sparkling water.

The specials menu was the same as the week before so we went for the main menu. I chose the chicken tikka masala. I was advised this was quite spicy and was that ok.



This was nice. It tasted oddly enough like chicken tikka masala. So much so I wished I'd gotten something else as I can get this at the local Brewers Fayre! It was spicy as the server said and also very hot. Again I burned my mouth!

Marie got the sweet and sour chicken. She subbed the rice for chicken fried rice.



She said this was nice but not a lot of chicken.

This cost us $80 OOP including the tip. This is why I love free dining! I just wished we'd had more TS credits!

We got to DHS around 5ish and used a QS credit on nachos to share again. Marie also got a Kaluha and Baileys Chocolate milkshake which she really enjoyed.





Not as much chili this time so a bit dry.

Joined by lots of ducks!




The dessert party wasn't busy so I tried to take as many pictures as I could.
Some savoury delights.



Sweets








Frozen Nutella with raspberry sauce. This was lovely.



Stormtrooper. He stopped and posed for me.



Overall I enjoyed the dessert party but got full really quickly and didn't feel I got my money's worth. Marie was drinking the cocktails so she did alright out of it! We also got a tie fighter popcorn bucket worth $19 that I'd never have bought. The park wasn't busy, presumably a post hurricane effect so I don't think we needed it. Would I do it again? Maybe. There was a nice atmosphere and the stormtroopers were wandering around interacting with the crowd. The staff were excellent. The desserts were nice enough but nothing special.

Todays credit use was not much. Just the 1 QS.
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Old 20 Sep 17, 06:57 PM  
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Wow you've raced through the first week in just 24 hours.

Looks like some great snacks from Epcot. Homecomin had cropped up in a few dining reports recently I guess lots of people wanted to try out the new spots at Disney Springs, I think we might give it a go it looks good in your photos.

I was looking forward to the brown derby review as this is on my short list for next year...but it seems you were underwhelmed. I've also been wondering about the star wars dessert party...hmm decisions.

Great updates looking forward to the next bunch.
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Old 20 Sep 17, 08:08 PM  
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
Wow you've raced through the first week in just 24 hours.

Looks like some great snacks from Epcot. Homecomin had cropped up in a few dining reports recently I guess lots of people wanted to try out the new spots at Disney Springs, I think we might give it a go it looks good in your photos.

I was looking forward to the brown derby review as this is on my short list for next year...but it seems you were underwhelmed. I've also been wondering about the star wars dessert party...hmm decisions.

Great updates looking forward to the next bunch.
Ha ha, yes I did nothing else today!

Homecomin' was really nice. Other reviews have really raved about it and I'm not sure we felt like that about it but I would like to go again next time.

Same with HBD I have to say it's just my sister didn't agree. And also with it being 2 credits you want it to be well worth it. Plus it was freezing!

The dessert party is a tough one. We wanted it as a "special thing" as we like to do something special each trip and it was nice. Because we'd paid several months ago too it didn't seem like a waste of money but I think maybe it was. All that said, I wouldn't be surprised if we do it again next time!
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Old 21 Sep 17, 09:49 AM  
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I totally agree about the F&W not having enough tables never mind seating! I'm not a fan of standing while eating as it's akward especially with a drink. We also went to HBD and we're pretty underwhelmed, which is a shame. Can't wait to try Narcoossees esp the steak and lobster and almond crusted cheesecake (just hope we can get a ADR and they are still on the menu when we go?!)

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Old 21 Sep 17, 01:33 PM  
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Originally Posted by Kat11 View Post
I totally agree about the F&W not having enough tables never mind seating! I'm not a fan of standing while eating as it's akward especially with a drink. We also went to HBD and we're pretty underwhelmed, which is a shame. Can't wait to try Narcoossees esp the steak and lobster and almond crusted cheesecake (just hope we can get a ADR and they are still on the menu when we go?!)

Kat
Oh I'm sure you will. We were able to change our Narcoossee's ADR several times including while we were over there.
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Old 21 Sep 17, 02:05 PM  
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We don't have enough credits! 16 nights Universal and Disney (DDP) September 2017 - Day 12

Today was planned for a later day at Epcot with Le Cellier booked for dinner. All our FP were later too so we spent an hour or so at the pool after breakfast in the room.
We had lunch at Riverside Mill now that it was up to full strength. We considered sharing a QS and using the drink substitution to get something suitable to expand our meal but to be honest there wasn't much. Some fried green tomatoes, soup and broccoli salad was all I could see. In the end we got a meal each using QS credits and subbed the drinks for breakfast pastries again.

I had the Southern Fried Seafood plate which was fish, shrimp and fried green tomato with fries.



This was nice although the fried green tomato was a bit slimy.

Marie had the Bayou Burger which came with chopped braised prime rib.


She enjoyed this but found it quite filling.

We'd had lunch quite early so changed the ADR time of Le Cellier to half an hour earlier. You can do this on the day with ADRs via MDE but can't change the location (although this may be possible via the concierge or by calling, we've never tried).
We arrived a little early but were seated within a few minutes. Le Cellier is often described as crowded as the tables are too close together and they are quite. It's not a place for a romantic meal but luckily it was me and my sister and we generally ignore each other!
The restaurant is split into provinces of Canada and we were in Alberta. We were greeted with a little card thanking us for dining there again which I thought was nice.






We started with a variety of bread, including the fantastic pretzel bread. Now this is where we started to notice a pattern of things just not being quite as "generous" as they previously had. Normally you get two pretzel breadsticks and on previous visits we've been offered just pretzel bread.




They do the Minute Maid Light Pomegranate Lemonade here so I chose that. They don't do it everywhere and I really like it.



Marie had been dying to try poutine at some point so we decided to get this as a starter to share and pay OOP. We got the Le Cellier Signature which has a red wine reduction as the gravy and truffle shavings.



This was a big disappointment. The chips tasted burned but Marie thinks she heard the server say they're "twice fried". The red wine reduction wasn't too great either. Our server was so excited about them we didn't have the heart to say we didn't like them so just ate a few and said we were saving ourselves for our mains. This is the second time I'd had poutine and up to that point I was really disappointed both times. It seems like such a winning idea too! There is more on this later in the report though .

We both ordered the Le Cellier Signature Filet Mignon for mains. This comes with mushroom risotto and a truffle butter sauce. Sometimes they change bits of it and this year it came with asparagus & tomato relish.



This was delicious as usual. I know a lot of people don't rate Le Cellier but it's never let us down (poutine excepted!).

For dessert I went with the Crème Brulee as it's very light after a big meal.




This was lovely as always.

Marie went for the Coffee & Donuts which were maple pecan donuts with a whisky caramel sauce and a coffee mousse.



She didn't eat all of these and I had one of the donuts. They were really nice. She was surprised at how light the coffee mousse was too.

This would have cost just over $150 with the addition of the poutine but cost 4 TS credits plus the $10 or so for the poutine. We left the 20% tip as our server was excellent and chatted about coming to Scotland to work.



Total credit use was 2 QS and 4 TS today.
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