Dining Reviews From An Alien Family- April 27-May12(Toy Story Pizza Planet added)

[JenH1969]

Our trip was a once in a lifetime dream come true trip. We loved every minute of it and made some incredible memories. I had put many, many, many hours into preparing, including our restaurant choices. We chose what I gathered from months of reading and polls as some of the most enjoyed restaurants- some for the food, some for the experience and some for both. 3 out of the four of us LOVE to eat. The reason I titled us an alien family is that from what I have read- most people love the food at Disney- and as an average, our family(myself, dh, dd(12), ds(6) would sadly give it C+ ,making me wonder if indeed we are from another planet (not the first time I have wondered this by the way :rolleyes1

We ate at

Counter Service
Pepper market-
-Peco Bills-
-Cosmic Rays-
-Pop Century-
-AS Movies
-Wofgang Puck Express
-Toy Story Pizza Planet
-Flame Tree BBQ



Table Service-
-Hoop De Doo
-Chef Mickeys
-Garden Grill
-Coral Reef
-Cinderella’s Royal Table
-Le Cellier
-Boma
-Biergarten
-Ohana
-Sci Fi
-Whispering Canyon



Snacks-frozen lemonade
-funnel cake with powdered sugar
-school bread (Norway)
-egg roll (China)
-Goofy’s make your own
-Mickey Ice Cream Bar
-|Dole float
-homemade ice cream cookie sandwich (Main St. Bakery)
-cinnamon bun (Main St. Bakery)
-popcorn
-Beaches and Cream (kitchen sink)


Off Property
-Ihop
-Olive Garden
-Boston Lobster Feast
-The Outback
-TGI Fridays
-McDonalds (Internation Dr.- largest in the world)
-Hard Rock Cafe

There may be more but that is what I remember right now- I will start the reviews soon (I don't want to forget the details- and I already am:sad2: )
To be continued, Jen;)

Edited to change to a more appropriate title- thanks;)

[SunnieRN]

subbing to find out more!!

[TigerKat]

You've got me curious.......popcorn::

[MickeyNicki]

Count me in!

[septbaby]

If there is a way to edit your title perhaps you want mix up the words to say "Family in the Minority". Your title reflects something different. One says something about your family, the other about your opinions; very different messages. You may get more readers with a minor change.

[dshouse4]

We have ADR's at some of these TS. Can't wait to read your reviews.

[mom2fivecs]

Looking forward to your reviews. :thumbsup2

[TruBlu]

This should be good. Bring on the yuck! :thumbsup2
:lmao:

[JenH1969]

I feel bad for talking negatively at all as our trip was so wonderful- but I know as a reader I appreciate the good and bad- I really feel our tastes just must be different from others as you will soon see- most of the food was ok- some was quite good but as for "loving" the food- well, there were only 2 specific things I loved over the 16 days- which will come as my report evolves

The cast was myself 38 year old Mom who loves food far too much, my 40 year old dh who has similar tastes and loves food, my dd who is at the experimental stage with different foods, loves to eat but is careful with meat as she HATES fat and my ds 6 who LOVES sweets and chocolate milk- agh- getting back the real world has been an adjustment- I had told both kids they could choose their food within reason while on dining plan- which was very exciting to them as they often share a meal chosen by mom in hometown restaurants- let's say that by day 7 we had to have NO chocolate milk for my ds and he had to earn dessert.

We had DDP for first 6 days, then OOP of next 10 days
We were with another family as well but rarely ate together- I will add what I can from them from time to time

Pepper market-counter service meal, Coronado Springs Resort

I have to start by saying- we arrived at Pop around 3:30 we went here for dinner around 6pm- this was our first experience with the dining plan- DO NOT go here as your first experience on dining plan- we walk in- very neat to look at- but what do we do? We go to a station- order food- they ask where our card is- agh- no one gave us a card- so we go look for a card- my son has to go to kid station, my dd is about in tears not knowing what to do, I am completely overwhelmed- dh , dd and I don’t know what we want- we get smoothies first- delicious by the way(9.5/10)- BUT I got ds one and later found out he was entitled only a small water or milk ( which was pretty standard but this was a first for us) – so from there we all go all different ways trying to figure out what we want and how to get it- I had looked at menu before we got there but wasn’t prepared for how it would work- I go with ds to get nuggets and fries(9/10) and cookie (kids don’t get to pick from display of sweets like adults do)and dh went to get us -2 sampler platters- dh had chicken and I had beef- his had a hair in it- he took it back and got the beef too-(after they asked if he wanted more from the same chicken dish) it was ok- 6/10 maybe, but more than we could eat- could have easily been shared by parent and child. Dd was waiting for fahitas which took forever- we were almost done when hers was ready- her serving was huge and way too much for one person but it was good and fresh(8/10)-we went back after dinner to pick our desserts- we picked 3 pastry/rolls things- there was a case of sweets that you couldn’t have on DDP plus this other part with pie/cake and icecream- pretty confusing for a first timer- we were way to full for dessert so took back to our room and a couple of days later had a bite of them(7/10) and threw them out) all in all a good counter service meal- definitely a great value on DDP- it can be confusing though as you order at all different stations- but for overall food I would give it and 8/10 and for experience a 6/10 for the hair and confusion- however I am sure if we had gone a second time the confusion part would not have been there- If you go here- make sure you get it well explained before you start.

TBC,Jen;)

[SunnieRN]

I bet that would be confusing as a first experience, but I'm glad the food was pretty good! It seems as if they have a GREAT menu for a counter service restaurant. I am excited to try it when we go!

[sanilacjack]

Subbing in

[KatMark]

Thanks for the review. Sorry about the confusioin on Pepper Market. Someone should create a sticky on this board so people know just how it operates. We've never had a issue--the first time we were there with our kids was in 2000--and it was easily explained to us. Unfortunately, these past several years, we haven't seen it explained to newbies like it used to be. I'm glad you at least enjoyed the food. It is our favorite counter service restaurant and part of the reason we always stay at CSR.

[firemanx]

good review so far. Cant wait to hear more.

[suzimar57]

ok, i'm in.... popcorn::

[TruBlu]

I completely agree with your opinion of the Pepper Market. It was VERY confusing! I hated all the stations - it was extremely hard with children. We stayed at Coronado, but only ate PM a couple of times for that very reason.

[phabric]

Will be looking for more reviews.

[JenH1969]

-Chef Mickeys-I have to start by saying that our friends did not make any ADRs but wanted to do one character meal with us- I did a lot of research and chose this one as it seemed to be the most popular with most- We had a reservation for 8 people- for 7:30pm- we arrived at 7:10pm and were seated about 7:55pm-When I had reserved I had told them we would be celebrating a birthday. Once we were seated at a table, they delivered my friend’s daughter a nice placemat with the characters’ autographs, wished her a Happy Birthday and at dessert time brought her a special cupcake. We were seated up in the backroom- Do everything you can to NOT be up in this room- because we were a table of 8 and they were already so far behind we didn’t have much choice but I really feel by being up here we lost out on the spirit and atmosphere of the restaurant-Our waitress was ok- not overly pleasant but not cranky either. the characters did come up to see us but it was short and sweet and we felt like were were in a different restaurant- (it was full up there but just felt very separated by rest of restaurant). Food- things that stood out- mediocre- seafood salad, chicken, kids nuggets, cooked salmon, mashed potatoes-desserts-ice cream bar was a hit- it was cute to see all kinds of kids filling their bowls with just candy toppings- there really wasn’t any dessert that stood out here for us- food here- 7/10, dessert, 6/10, character interaction 6/10, atmosphere 6/10- all in all I felt guilty when the bill arrived and our friends had to pay almost $150 out of pocket- I know they were disappointed and so were we – unfortunately this was their only character meal while we had others that lived up to our expectations- I would not go back to this restaurant- it was just ok- I am glad we were there once- but for us there were better fits

[suzimar57]

nice review of chef mickeys!

[TruBlu]

We've always done CM's for breakfast. I guess we've been lucky, but the food has always been very good and character interaction fantastic. IMHO the dinner menu looked like a gamble. Seems like I was right. Thanks for the review. We'll stick to breakfast for sure now. ::yes::

[manntra]

Subbing....I have some ADR's at some of your restaurants too....although I am doing Chef Mickey's for breakfast. popcorn::

[SunnieRN]

Thank you for the tip about Chef Mickeys and the feeling of separation from the experience by being in the other area.
I really appreciate your views and I'm sorry your entire party was disappointed by the experience.
Looking forward to more!!

[krmlaw]

Subscribing ... cant wait for your reviews.

[Mom2JPL]

Great job so far! Looking forward to the rest of your reviews. :goodvibes

[JenH1969]

Thanks for reading and saying hello- sorry I haven't been here for a few days- I had company-

Next Up
-Hoop De Doo- give yourself lots of time to get here- we drove but still had to take a bus from parking lot into campground to the hall where it takes place- we got there about half and hour early- we checked in then the kids played in a field and we chatted with others waiting till it was time to go in- our tables were pre-assigned and printed on our tickets- they rang the big bell and in we went- we were shown to our table- we were tier 2 with the dining plan and we sat at the back at one of the raised tables- it was excellent seating- better than many on the floor and closer- we were first brought a salad which was wonderful – all 4 of us enjoyed that- the kids had milk – I had sangria (or one sip and then got a diet coke) and dh had a free beer. We also were brought a slab of cornbread which was 7/10 for freshness)- it was always yummy but always varied on the freshness scale depending upon restaurant. We were then brought a pail of fried chicken (7/10), (ribs 8.5/10- good flavour, nicely cooked, good sauce)), cowboy beans (2/10) and garlic mashed potatoes (8/10)- my dd ate mostly potatoes, my ds ate couple bites of chicken and potatoes, dh and I had some ribs, a piece of chicken and potatoes- we got seconds on ribs and potatoes but didn’t end up eating much of them- for dessert we had strawberry shortcake which we all enjoyed- 8/10- it was a good meal- I am going to give it an 8/10 even with the bad beans- and as for entertainment and service I am going to give it a 9.5/10 – it was a ton of fun and a very memorable evening- being at the back was nice for the exit too as we were the first out, and first on bus back to parking lot

TBC,Jen

[noahdove]

I can't wait to read more:)

[arieljasmine]

Really enjoying your reviews, thanks for sharing. We had a similar experience in the Pepper Market and wouldn't go back. It was bad enough for two of us, I wouldn't like to negotiate it with kids as well.

Laur's princess:

[JenH1969]

AS Movies- this was not a great experience for us- we ordered one bacon double cheeseburger platter, one chicken nugget and fries, one bowl chile and a kids hamburger meal- they give us the first three meals and then proceed to throw a burger on the grill for our son while we stand there waiting with the food on our tray- I was stunned- 4-5 minutes go by- I hand them our food back and ask them to please dish us up hot food when my sons burger was done as it was now all cold. It just so happened at the cash the manager was there and I told him what happened- he just kind of sighed and said that he had told them to wait to serve the other food as the kids burgers were always made fresh- my dd enjoyed the chile- dh and I didn’t like it at all- burger and nuggets were good-once again I was glad that we all ordered from the same counter- overall 7/10

[SunnieRN]

Glad to hear that hoop-de-doo was a hit with your family! I think the ribs would have been the most enjoyable to me also! My grandson loves chicken so for us I think it would work well!
Looking forward to more!

[Tatania]

Sounds interesting. Signing on for more.

[*HappilyEverAfter*]

I can't wait to read about your Boma experience. :thumbsup2

[wilma-bride]

Hoop-de-doo sounds great - I'm glad you had a good experience there. We have always found the value food courts to be good - lots of variety - but agree that they are not very sensible when ti comes to making sure the food you get is fresh and hot.

Looking forward to reading more :)

[JenH1969]

Toy Story Pizza Planet-

this was the worst meal of the trip- hands down- I knew going into it that the pizza wasn’t great but I had no idea how very bad it was- we had 2 pepperoni and salad combos, 1 veggie and salad combo and one greek type salad- the pizza reminded me of a craft project- they looked good but oh my word they tasted just like flour and water mixed- blech- we couldn’t eat them at all- the salads were ok- very basic and only 2 choices for dressing- ranch and greek I think- the greek type salad looked good- we gave it away to our friend later that night. My kids were also a bit disappointed how little it looked like the real pizza planet- I thought it was ok but didn’t have the vision of the movie's restaurant in my head- all in all-I would NEVER go back

TBC, Jen (ps- thanks to all those who are following along:thumbsup2 )

[SunnieRN]

Wow, too bad that pizza planet wasn't good. A greek salad sounds yummy, but it's hard when other things are not so good.
Hope you have better luck on your other meals!!