Day 2

Sunday - January 31^st

Today was the day the dining plan FINALLY made sense!

We started out the day late, as we both wanted to catch up on sleep. Got ready and made it out of the room around 11am. The day was cold and windy. Headed out to the shuttle pick up area and waited … and waited … and waited for the Epcot bus. After seeing 3-4 shuttles for other parks go by, we finally jumped ship out of the Epcot line and got on the MK bus. I think it was a smart choice. From MK, we took the monorail to the transportation center then took a second monorail to Epcot. It was about an hour in total from POP to Epcot but worth it to not stand in the cold.

Upon entering Epcot, we decided to head straight over to the France section. Even though we had reservations for Les Chefs de France for lunch on Monday, the idea of French food fulfilled our thoughts of getting warm. Neither of us had been to this restaurant before. I had wanted to go the past few years, but without a dining plan I thought it may be too expensive to enjoy it.

We had no problem getting a table without a reservation. We were promptly seated at the window, with a view of Epcot. Our waiter was wonderful and every other staff person we spoke with were also extremely nice. (I've read online where people had issues with the staff here. I don't know how other than if they went in with chips on their American shoulders to begin with!).

The smells were immediately intoxicating. I knew exactly what I wanted to order, just from reading reviews. My appetizer was the onion soup, E got the lobster bisque. We were both in heaven! My soup was exactly how I remembered the soup tasting in Paris. There's just something about how the French make it that I or anyone else in America just can't replicate.

Oh … and the cheese! Fabulous!! E was having the same euphoric experience I was having. He said that he hadn't had lobster bisque for years so it was great to have eaten it and remembered how great it was.

For entrees, we both ordered the macaroni and cheese. This is the dish I've read so many favorable reviews about. It lives up to the raves! It really is nothing like anything you've had before. The noodles are rigatoni. The sauce is cheesy creamy with a hint of nutmeg … yes, nutmeg! The waiter even asked the chef about this as he wasn't sure. It is the best macaroni and cheese I've ever experienced. Definitely not your American mac n cheese.

Then came the desserts. We both ordered coffee. Delicious. NOT NESCAFE!! (Any of you that are coffee drinkers and have been to WDW know what I'm talking about here.) I had the Crème Brule. It was an almost orgasmic experience. With each bite, you had to roll it around your tongue to pick up each and every sensation of not only the taste but also the texture. Last year we had the Crème Brule from the French patisserie at Epcot which we thought sensational. The one today was about 3 times the size of it and somehow blew that one away!

E ordered the crepe with apples and ice cream with caramel sauce, which had one raspberry and one strawberry as garnish. I believe he was having the same experience I was having at that moment.

The end bill came to $65 (again, without tip), and 1 dining credit each. We would've paid that without the dining plan. It really is worth every single penny and honestly completely worth 2 dining credits.

On a side note, they offer a fixed price menu at $20 per person which gives you a choice of appetizer, entrée, and dessert. Everything we got was on that menu. We both look forward to revisiting Les Chefs de France again during this trip. We plan on keeping our reservation for lunch tomorrow to try other items they offer.

As we were leaving the restaurant today, I couldn't help but notice the other diners and their food. It all looked wonderful and even though my belly was full as we left, my mouth was watering. After eating here and our experience at MK yesterday, we both decided that spending any dining credits other than quick service or snack credits at MK is just a total complete waste. Don't do it!!

We ventured by boat to Hollywood Studios, after lunch. It's about a 20 minute boat ride as it does make stops at the Boardwalk Resort, the Yacht and Beach Club, and the Dolphin and Swan hotels before arriving at HS. Luckily they have inside seating, as it was still freezing outside. HS was very busy. Nothing like Epcot. Then again, with more buildings around there's more of a wind break. Epcot is mostly wide-open space, which is why I'm sure there were less people there.

We walked around a bit. Did the Muppets 3D, Star Tours, and the Indiana Jones Epic Spectacular Stunt Show. Epic? Spectacular? Um, not really. We got through about ½ the show before ditching out. It really was lame, even by my standards … which at times I don't think are that high. I expected more from Disney and the Indiana Jones franchise. ("Not an ounce of Stephen Spielberg magic could have helped with this collection of dumb ass." - Eric)

With the sun going down, (not like we saw any of it all day,) the weather was just turning worse - colder and windier. We decided to call it an early night and headed back to POP. On the way back to the room, we picked up a couple of individual pizzas and salads. We've had these before. (Last year.) The pizzas are average, nothing to really write about. Just a good quick eat that you can take back to your room. The dining plan covered this with 1 credit each.

Did I mention I'm really loving this plan? You don't have to think twice about what you're spending on food, and no need to carry any cash with you … other than if you want to pay your tips in cash, which is what we've been doing.

Tomorrow, we plan on rising early to head over to Animal Kingdom for a morning safari. We'll see how that 630am wake up call goes.