Disney in Review - The Food

Before the trip, I asked Jeramie what he was most excited about.  He had never been to Disney before, so he really had no idea what to expect.  We had, however, talked a lot about the restaurants where we would eat, so he answered eagerly with, "The food!".

And, let me tell y'all - it was for good reason! I can think of - maybe - a couple times in my life when I've eaten better than we did at Disney.  You know when you've gotten to the end of your vacation and you look at the menu and think, "Do I really want to eat filet again tonight??", that you've been well-fed.

With our dining plan, each person was entitled to two snacks and three meals each day.  We used our snack credits to buy things like bottled water, cream cheese-filled pretzels and, more importantly, Dole Whips.  Heavens to Betsy - those things were UH.MAZING!

Instead of using our meal credits for three full meals each day, we doubled up on two of the credits in order to eat at the signature restaurants each night.  The third credit was used for either breakfast or lunch, and we just snacked through the day until dinner.  It was a genius plan (created by our Disney-expert friends), as I'm not sure I could have eaten three full meals each day anyway, and it allowed us to experience some pretty amazing dinners!

I know a few of you have been curious to know where we ate, and I don't want to depend on our Google Calendar to remind me five years down the road, so here's the breakdown:

Day 1: Lunch at Crystal Palace and dinner at Narcoossee's 

Lunch was buffet-style with Pooh and friends.  I ate lobster tail at dinner, for the first time, and felt compelled to take a photo of my dessert.  We learned that Ethan is a big fan of crab cakes!

Strawberry Shortcake will never taste the same again.

Day 2: Lunch at Mama Melrose's and dinner at The Hollywood Brown Derby

Ethan tried calamari at lunch and duck at dinner.  He didn't like either of them, but I give him credit for trying! I learned what a "prawn" is and proceeded to devour it.

Day 3: Breakfast at Chef Mickey's and dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table

This was a big day of character dining! Breakfast was buffet-style with Mickey and friends, and eating dinner inside the castle was a pretty awesome experience.

Wishing upon a star.

Day 4: Breakfast at Kouzzina by Cat Cora and dinner at California Grill

Breakfast was later in the morning, at our resort, which was a nice change of pace.  Dinner was at the top of The Contemporary, and offered jaw-dropping views of the Magic Kingdom! Oh, and dinner was exceptional - from the service, to the atmosphere, to the food itself.

Celebrating Jackson's 3rd birthday!

Day 5: Lunch at Coral Reef and dinner at the Yachtsman

We dined with sharks, sea turtles, and scuba divers at lunch, which was followed by Ethan's Epic Epcot Meltdown of 2012.  He eventually passed out, and woke up just in time to "paint" a white chocolate puzzle at dinner.

Day 6: Breakfast at the Tusker House and dinner at Sanaa

Tusker House is another buffet-style character dining experience, featuring Donald Duck and his safari friends.  I tried African-inspired, Indian-flavored food for the first time at dinner and drank a lot of water!

Day 7: Lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe and a grande finale dinner at ...... McDonald's in the Orlando International Airport

Lunch was cute and came with strict instructions to keep our elbows off the table! Dinner was, well, depressing.

So, all that to say - the food was much to be excited about! We made guesses on how many calories we consumed each day, but quickly made ourselves feel better as we compared it to the miles of walking we did.  I was extremely proud of how well the little guys did at all of the fancy restaurants, which has made me increasingly more willing to try a family dinner at, say, Chili's.

Now ... if I could just find someone to cook a filet (or three) for me each week!