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Wendi
02-14-2005, 05:03 PM
Just curious to know if any of you are going to the DTD restaurant tour this month. It sounds like a good deal, only $10 and you get fed... I won't be there, but I'd love to hear about it if anyone goes.

BillsGirl
02-14-2005, 07:21 PM
My husband & I are going with some friends. We are looking forward to it.

Wendi
02-14-2005, 08:44 PM
Will you come back and give us a report on it? I'd love to go, do you know if they do this often?

AVP
02-15-2005, 08:41 AM
We're going - I think we were one of the first people to RSVP. ;)

AVP

biolabetty
02-15-2005, 11:38 AM
I RSVP'D by email, and they asked for my mailing address, but I've heard nothing since. This was weeks ago. Has anyone received anything in the mail?

BillsGirl
02-16-2005, 09:43 PM
I RSVP'D by phone and they asked for my email address. I can't remember if they asked for anything else. That was about a month ago and I haven't heard anything back either.

AVP
02-21-2005, 09:03 AM
If you haven't read the Disneyland Update for this week, be sure to check out the special offer for MousePlanet readers:


EXCLUSIVE ANNUAL PASSHOLDER EVENT
AT JOACHIM SPLICHALS DOWNTOWN DISNEY RESTAURANTS
Monday, February 28, 2005

Dining Around Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Resort

Taste the flavors of the world at the Patina Group’s Downtown Disney District restaurants. Visit Tortilla Jo’s for real Mexican food and a live mariachi band, Catal for Mediterranean cuisine, and Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria for Italian favorites.

Enter to win great prizes, including a one night stay at Disney’s Grand Californian with dinner for two at Catal, dinner for four at Tortilla Jo’s, dinner for three at Naples Ristorante, or dinner for two at Catal.

Special offer for MousePlanet readers: Each Annual Passholder may bring up to 3 non-AP guests.

Join us for this exclusive culinary adventure!
RSVP to 866 9 PATINA

Monday, February 28
4 – 9pm
$10 per person The event is next Monday, a week from tonight, so be sure to RSVP soon!

AVP

cyberRoo
02-21-2005, 09:17 AM
If you haven't read the Disneyland Update for this week, be sure to check out the special offer for MousePlanet readers:

The event is next Monday, a week from tonight, so be sure to RSVP soon!

AVP

Just to prevent any questions, the three guests still do have to pay the $10 each, which will be well worth it from what I've heard about what is being served. It sounds like a great event - especially if it stops raining!

jon80flt
02-21-2005, 09:18 AM
I RSVP'd weeks ago, and I, too, have not received any confiming email.

AVP, Do we need to be Mouse Planet Subscribers to invite the addional people? Or is being an avid reader sufficient? :confused:

Thanks,
Jon

adriennek
02-21-2005, 10:10 AM
I think you just call and say, "I read on MousePlanet that I can do this" and that shows you're a MousePlanet reader. Otherwise, you wouldn't have read it, right?

Adrienne

jon80flt
02-21-2005, 10:36 AM
Or is being an avid reader sufficient? :confused:


I just heard back from The Patina Group... it is sufficient to just say you read about it on MP. I guess they didn't get as many "AP only" RSVPs as they hoped for!

Jon

AVP
02-21-2005, 10:40 AM
I just heard back from The Patina Group... it is sufficient to just say you read about it on MP. I guess they didn't get as many "AP only" RSVPs as they hoped for!

JonWell, it might have helped if the AP newsletter this was supposed to be advertised in had actually been mailed to the APs *before* the event.

Hard to throw a party when nobody mails the invitations....

AVP

nursemelis374
02-21-2005, 01:21 PM
I think one of the coolest things is that you can win something. I wish I could go! Stupid graduate school!

AVP
02-22-2005, 11:31 AM
I just heard a rumor that there may be a soft-opening of Buzz Lightyear from 6-8 the same night as this tour. So there's another reason to make the trip. We're meeting friends early, doing the Patina appetizer / dinner loop, riding Buzz as often as we can, then heading back to the Patina event for dessert.

AVP

CrazyTrain
02-22-2005, 11:57 AM
I just heard a rumor that there may be a soft-opening of Buzz Lightyear from 6-8 the same night as this tour. So there's another reason to make the trip. We're meeting friends early, doing the Patina appetizer / dinner loop, riding Buzz as often as we can, then heading back to the Patina event for dessert.

AVP

AH! Maybe that will help convince my friends! I'd given up on trying, but that might help convince them.

olegc
02-22-2005, 01:50 PM
If you haven't read the Disneyland Update for this week, be sure to check out the special offer for MousePlanet readers:

The event is next Monday, a week from tonight, so be sure to RSVP soon!

AVP

DOH! now I read it. Yikes - hope it's not too late. This was the silliest thing, too. Only allowing APs... c'mon. Don't they want as many outside of the AP group to want to come back to DTD as often as possible? That would be the point, right?

Doodle Duck
02-22-2005, 03:30 PM
RSVPeed...hope we can make it on a busy busy day. mmmmm.

BillsGirl
02-22-2005, 04:11 PM
Cool!! Thanks for the Info. AVP!!

Doodle Duck
02-23-2005, 07:10 AM
Got a call last night from Patina Group...this is going to be a fun event...
as of that call there was 251 rsvps...Marguritas and Wine was mentioned...great food was guaranteed...you can start at any of the restaurants pay the 10 bucks and eat and mingle at liesure.
What a great idea this is. A Pass Holder event under $150! yipee!

AVP
02-23-2005, 11:01 AM
Doodle's coming up for this? That's it - I'm calling a meet (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?p=530957#post530957).

AVP

AVP
02-28-2005, 11:34 PM
Just got home, and I need to sleep more than I need to write a review. But I just had to say that the Patina people pulled out all the stops for this event.

Long-time Padders may have noticed that I am *not* a huge fan of the Patina group restaurants in Downtown Disney, and have had several really awful experiences there.

Tonight was like eating in brand-new restaurants.

Our first stop was Tortilla Jo's, where we paid our $10 and received our wristbands. These would let us hop between the locations all night. The event was held on the 2nd floor of the restaurant, as we would discover was the case at all of the locations.

We were offered drinks as we entered the buffet area - one member of our group opted for Sangria, the rest of us were content with sodas. My friends had not realized that alcohol was included in the cover charge, and were (pleasantly) shocked to discover this.

The buffet selection included fajitas (carne asada, carnitas, chicken) with the usual fixings, a "build your own Mexicone" station, fresh hot tortillas, chips, salsa, picadillo sopes, green chili quesadillas, guacamole and an assortment of cookies. We knew that we had two more locations to hit, so we tried to exercise some restraint as we made our selections.

The food was fantastic. Seriously, truly awesome. And remember, I'm the one who has never had a good meal at this restaurant. The service was fantastic, and a complete 180 turnaround from my previous experiences. My entire party was truly impressed. The one thing I wish the restaurant would have done was labeled the food so you knew how it was normally served on the menu. We asked a lot of questions to figure out how we would order *this* or *that* item from the regular dining room menu.

We reluctantly left to visit the next restaurant, and only after one member our our group double-checked to make sure we could come back later in the evening if we wished.

Our next stop was Catal, where the spread included hummus and baba ganoush with pita bread, white fish in a ginger sauce, chicken skewers, and seafood paella. Their desserts included mini pastries and cakes, plus fresh fruit salad. Again, the staff offered wine or cocktails as we entered, and took orders for non-alcoholic beverages once we were seated. The only quibble I had here was - again - with food labeling. A sign said that the fruit salad was made with Midori liqueur, so my husband had to pass. Unfortunately, the innocent-looking chocolate mousse cup he selected instead had an unexpected liqueur-soaked cherry hiding inside. While not a huge deal to most people, those who have to watch for drug interactions shouldn't be surprised mid-bite by a mouth full of liqueur. However, the rest of our group was quite fond of those little tidbits, so they did not go to waste.

The service here was pretty much what I have come to expect from Catal - earnest, but a little disjointed. I think the layout of the space may have had something to do with that, and it was hard for the servers to track down guests. The seating here was also a little tight, and the area was standing room only during a few periods of the evening.

After Catal, we walked into Disneyland to let our food settle, and to see if the Buzz Lightyear ride was open. Finding it still closed, we headed back to Naples. Again, we were offered drinks as soon as we entered the event, this time a Bellini. Naples served an antipasto salad, penne with a chicken alfredo sauce, meat lasagna, garlic bread and two kinds of pizza. They had the most wonderful dessert offering, consisting of three flavors each of gelato and sorbet, fresh fruit toppings, a choice of chocolate or caramel sauce, and chopped nuts.

Again, we were really impressed with the service here. I should note that all three locations had balloon artists roaming the restaurant to make balloons for the younger guests, and Catal also had a face painter.

After we left Naples, we ran into another group of friends who were just starting the tour. We used this as an excuse to take another lap around the restaurants, and headed back to Tortilla Jo's. Of the three locations, this one really made the biggest impression on our group, and mostly because the service was just so wonderful. When he overheard that one of our friends was a vegetarian, one of the chefs offered to make a meat-free sope for her. Remember, this is the place that once refused to make *ANY* changes to their menu items for people who paid far more than $10 to eat there. Whatever has possesed the crew, I hope the effect is lasting.

After stuffing ourselves on really excellent food at Tortilla Jo's, we paid another visit to Catal. Our vegetarian friend sampled the dips which were the only menu items she could eat, and then we made our way back to Naples so our friends could have dessert. At this point I was far too full to even consider eating anything else, so I just enjoyed the atmosphere.

All in all, this was an AMAZING deal for just $10. We noticed that the restaurants were allowing APs and their guests to come in without prior reservations, which was a benefit to some friends we enticed to join our party.

I think this evening is going to be the "Mr. Toad event" of restaurant open houses - it will be the one event that few people went to, and everyone else will wish they had. I truly hope Patina does something like this again, and if they do, expect the tickets to sell out in a heartbeat, especially once word of this event gets out.

Most of all, I truly hope that this evening is a sign of a permanent change in the way the Patina restaurants operate in Downtown Disney. If this quality of food and this level of service become the norm, I will gladly return to their frequent-diner list.

AVP

3894
03-01-2005, 05:06 AM
Great report, AVP!

stan4d_steph
03-01-2005, 06:58 AM
I had a feeling this event was going to be fantastic. Thanks for the wonderful report AVP. Wish I had been there! I'll have to wait a little longer for my carnitas fix...

adriennek
03-01-2005, 09:18 AM
I am so bitter and jealous right now you don't even know.

:mad:

Adrienne

3894
03-01-2005, 09:35 AM
I am so bitter and jealous right now you don't even know.


That sums it up for me pretty much all of the time. :)