The Only Way to "Do" Disney - Part III (Jessie Turns Food Blogger & The Dining Plan)

Warning: Readers are not advised to read this on an empty stomach.

I mentioned we were gifted a dining plan for our anniversary. It was prepaid and connected to our room key (card). Whenever we wanted to use a meal from our plan, we just swiped the card and entered a pin. It's like a debit card that doesn't drain your checking account. Win, win! I can see why the dining plan is a top choice for families. It makes budgeting your trip much easier. Besides, there are tons of blog pages with tips on maximizing your dining plan, i.e. where to get the most food for each credit. I may or may not have spent the night prior to our trip scanning post after post.

So what was covered in our dining plan? We each received a one-credit table service (think sit-down), a quick-service meal (think stand-in-line-and-wait-for-food), and a snack (think concession). Some of the super fancy restaurants require TWO table service credits, and honestly I'm quite surprised O'Hana is only one.

Now is a good time to mention that you should not be scared away by dining plans if you have food allergies. Disney is simply THE BEST about accommodating your allergy, whatever it may be. This is true of Downtown Disney, as well. Did you know that BabyCakesNYC is tucked away inside Pollo Campero in Downtown Disney? It is a good thing it is so far, because I would otherwise be purchasing gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, refined-sugar-free cinnamon sugar doughnuts for breakfast five times a week.

But I digress.

We ate breakfast before we got to the parks on Saturday. I ate at home (eggs don't sound half as exciting now that I'm thinking of doughnuts), and Ty grabbed a bagel sammie from Dunkin'. He likes to eat breakfast out every now and then. I figured our anniversary was a good excuse. (Why didn't I think of that?)

But really. I digress.

I mentioned we ate Dole Whip at Magic Kingdom. This was off the dining plan, because we hadn't checked into our resort yet. Personally, I think they should attach the plan to your park ticket/annual pass and not the resort key.

Our dinner reservation wasn't until 9:25 PM. Looking back, I'm wondering what in the world we ate all day. I was packin'...snacks, that is. We ate homemade trail mix, Kind bars, and apples. No wonder I'm so sick of nuts this week. No wonder Ty left our resort early that evening to track down some appetizers. Our main goal was to "get to dinner." You don't want to go to O'Hana on an empty stomach. And you also need to make your reservations far in advance (at least six weeks).

O'Hana is located on the second floor of the Polynesian Resort. It is somewhat themed around Lilo and Stitch, but only the cute parts and none of the annoying Stitch parts. A lady walks around with a ukulele and teaches a couple songs to anyone who is interested. And there is a surplus of leis. Did you know "Aloha" means love?

  

Honestly, I was a little concerned about what I was going to eat. I knew I wouldn't go hungry, but there was no way to find out a menu beforehand. O'hana is a table-service buffet. It is a five-course meal that keeps coming, whether you're ready for the next course or not! It is impossible to keep up. 

While Ty was parking (note: leave with extra time to find parking so as to avoid the $15 valet fee!), I found our seats and notified the waitress of my food allergy. In a matter of minutes, the chef was at my table informing me of my personal gluten-free menu for the evening. The salad, steak, and shrimp that normally come with the meal are all gluten free. She told me she'd bring me separate bread (!), sauces, chicken wings, and pork and rice stir-fry. Oh, and she'd bring me something special for dessert. She said that last part with a glimmer in her eyes. I think she was not-so-secretly thrilled about cooking up a special dinner for me.

GF bread! Against my better judgement, I ate both rolls. Bread is something I do not buy, so this was a special treat! And a good excuse to eat that yummy butter.

This was only about half of our food - for two people! We barely dented our salad bowl, and I took a generous amount. Those chicken wings and sweet and sour sauce were the best I've ever had! See the steak on my plate? Servers walk around with huge skewers asking if you'd like more of the steak, pork, or shrimp. Each piece must be at least two ounces! And they just keep coming with it! My special sauces are in the black containers. Ty wasn't a fan of his peanut sauce (he never likes that), but he loved his wheat-containing (gasp!) sweet and sour sauce.

After the rolls, salad, wings, and steak, my main dish arrived...

Delicious veggies, pork, and rice. I think the rice was made with coconut milk - scrumptious!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to eat much this is. I went a little crazy with the chicken wings, and I didn't want to totally ruin my appetite for dessert. Yes, I have my priorities straight.

While we were being continuously force-fed, we watched the Magic Kingdom fireworks out our window! They start at 10PM, so that's the main reason we made our reservation so late. I recommend asking about the fireworks schedule whenever you make a dinner reservation. Supposedly you can see fireworks from California Grill, too, but it's closed for renovations right now.

Fireworks never look good in pictures. Sorry.

And then dessert came. Ty said his was delicious - some sort of cake with ice cream and sauce. I don't know; I was a bit distracted by mine...

Behold.

GF, CHOCOLATE, AND ICE CREAM? Did this chef call my mom to find out my favorite things??!

Perfectly gooey inside. You'd better believe I ate this whole thing.

Post-dinner with full-bellies!

Needless to say, whatever hunger we had lingering through the afternoon was chased away by a very full dinner. The meal total was $85. Since they just bring you food and you don't order each dish, there is a set price for each person dining. We paid with our dining plan and tipped her with our cash. (There is an option to add your credit/debit card to the dining plan for instances such as this, but we opted out.)  This is definitely a good use of a one-credit table service. Truly, I can't believe it's not two credits for as much food as you get. Ty and I joked about packing up all our leftovers and eating off them for a week at home.

The next morning, I made us breakfast in the resort. If you plan to do this, be sure to ask if you have a mini fridge in your room. I had V8 smoothie juice chilling all night. Oh, and these iced coffee drinks that I packed. 

Ty opted for hot coffee in the room.

Breakfast! V8 berry smoothie, a Kind bar, and a homemade chocolate chip grain-free muffin! Delicious and satisfying. Somehow I woke up with an appetite even after our evening feast.

I suppose now would be a good time to mention that we stayed at Coronado Springs Resort. It is a mid-level, moderately priced resort. This is where I picked up my race packet for the Princess Half. They have convention centers there, as well, so it's perfect for large events or business meetings. It's also a family-friendly resort, complete with three swimming pools. Unfortunately, the afternoon thunderstorm kept me away from the pools. :( Honestly, we didn't spend much time at our resort, as we were in the parks the majority of our days. We liked our room well enough, but it was set far back in the resort and made transporting luggage (in the rain) a challenging endeavor. It was fully functional and clean and comfortable, but it wasn't lavish. We stayed two nights at the Animal Kingdom Resort last year for our honeymoon, and I think that gave us a taste for the best. We have no big complaints with Coronado whatsoever, but it just wasn't Animal Kingdom. Spoiled Americans.

One of the perks of staying at Coronado is these reusable mugs! We were each given one and told we had free refills of coffee, tea, or fountain drinks during our stay at Coronado. So of course we grabbed more coffee on our way out. And took these cute cups home. Free souvenirs! Truly a rarity.

Here's a preview of our quick-service lunch at Epcot. Can you guess which country it's from? I'll review this meal in Part IV, which is all about day two! Stay tuned!