SO glad we added the ddp on! A cheap mom's review with pics!! WE'RE BAAACK :) [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

lilandvisma

06-06-2009, 12:23 PM

Soooo....I really value others opinions and without all of these wonderful reviews I have read on this board would have been lost with deciding on my own adrs. I am excited to finally be able to post my own :) I have only been to WDW 2 times and this will be our first as a family, therefore my girls first trip as well. We are set to head down the evening of June 21, stay in TN a night and then arrive early the 24th at Disney :) Only a mere 2 weeks from now! Our family consists of DH, 27 (they don't call him "big Don" for nothing and he has an appetite to match lol), myself 27 (picky and weight watcher lol I like to keep trim), DD~Lillian who's 7 and is starting to try new foods :) but is still somewhat fussy (aren't we all though ladies??) and our tiny princess Violette~turning 2 on the 25th who loves food, esp. meat and cheese, a firm believer in low carbs and atkins :) Our ADR's are as follows! Kona Dinner~soo excited to try:) DD has already demanded a kona kone lol.. Akershus Princesss BF for obvious reasons lol San Angel Inn(nervous about it, but sounds kewl) Crystal Palace Lunch Planet Hollywood dinner Chef Mickeys 1900 PF dinner Sci-Fi Lunch Ohana dinner Tusker House safari breakfast We are also planning on the following CS~ Cosmic Rays, WPE, Flame Tree, CS at Poly, pepper market, tangerine cafe, sunshine seasons, pizza planet just to name a few :) I have also been one to hold back on buying more expensive food or extras so I am really very excited to be on the ddp. I spent my last vacation sounding like a broken record, constantly saying no, no, no. Yes people, I am tight :) Not because I have to be, but just because I guess! lol. Last year at Kings Island I made us all split one meal one day,came home with all sorts of money leftover...looking back I regret this. So, yea, this is a big step for me! I hope that some of you can find my upcoming reviews helpful! Pics as well. Sorry, no fancy dining here :) Baby steps :) Maybe one day lol.

ksumn1

06-07-2009, 02:40 PM

I spent my last vacation sounding like a broken record, constantly saying no, no, no. Yes people, I am tight Not because I have to be, but just because I guess! lol. Last year at Kings Island I made us all split one meal one day,came home with all sorts of money leftover...looking back I regret this.

I do this, too. You're so used to saying No, we don't have the $$ or No, you don't need that..it's almost dinner. Those ahbits are hard to break even on vacation. So I'm deliberately overplanning extras into our udget. We're doing the regular DDP in August, but I know we'll have a few adult beverages at dinner, overtip a little, and get appatizers at some meals that aren't included so I included them so it's already accounted for and I don't feel guilty about saying "YES!!!! you CAN have an ice cream, shake, float, whatever" Can't wait to read more and hear all about it when you get back, many of your meals are ones we're doing too.

lilandvisma

06-08-2009, 01:01 PM

Sounds just like me :)

I am also over budgeting this time around as well...mostly for my piece of mind I guess. I don't want to over do it but I am going to be willing to cave in to the girls needs and any other extras DH and I may want as well. That is a lot of the reason why we decided to go ahead and do the DDP....that way I can't say NO to the snacks, more expensive menu items and instead say SURE GO FOR IT lol...

Nice to know I'm not the only one out there that is budget crazy like this (though my DH would say otherwise but he doesn't believe in having a "budget")

I am soooo excited to be on the dp though! DD asks me every day about desserts we are going to be getting and how many days left till we go :laughing:

I will be sure to update with reviews just as soon as we get down there!!! Only 12 days till we leave now!!! :yay::yay::yay:

lilandvisma

07-05-2009, 12:26 PM

So Im going to get started on these reviews. We just got back on the 3rd and Im already craving some of the wonderful things we ate while down there. I have pictures of everything but cannot upload till tomorrow (we are still unpacking and the house looks like a tornado went through it lol). Overall I am so glad we added the ddp on :) We loved it! I will rate each dining experience on a 1-5 scale, 1 being poor/disgusting/bad and 5 being wonderful/yummy/fantastic. I think I will also rate by food, restraunt itself, and service...so 3 different areas of rating and then an overall rating? if that makes sense lol.

Now remember, this was our first time on the ddp and this is my first review as well so its not going to be perfect. I do have great pics to be posted tomorrow as well:)

Soo...I think I am ready to start with our first day ! Kona Cafe and Pecos Bill and my girls first Mickey bars !!

natalielongstaff

07-05-2009, 12:41 PM

im in :cool1:

lilandvisma

07-05-2009, 12:56 PM

So we arrived at our hotel too early to check in officially and went back and forth on whether or not to go to the MK (it was about 11am). We decided to head on over and as soon as we entered the park we bought the girls a popcorn bucket to share oop. It is a pretty big bucket and my 2 year old was thrilled :) It was hot and humid and my 7 year old was screaming for ice cream so she got her first mickey bar and was soo happy. We avoided any messes on their dresses which I was happy about so everyone was pleased at this point. Time passed and we boarded the monorail to head over to kona. We got there too early but the host was very nice and explained how everything works with the buzzers. I checked in after killing time at the gift shop and within 5 minutes was seated. Our waitress was very friendly and prompt. DH ordered a triple berry smoothie and I ordered the nada pina colada which arrived beautifully ;) DD had lemonada and the baby stole dh smoothie. Mine was made perfect and was so refreshing. DDs lemonade was very sour but she said she liked it like that? lol. By the time we were ready to place our order violette had passed out on my lap. I was glad actually, lol one less child to have to worry about ;) She was exhausted. DH had wanted the tuna but when I placed his order I accidentially ordered the mahi mahi LOL oops and I ordered the pineapple terri steak very well done. The food arrived hot and beautifully plated. The steak was perfect and though it was well done it was still juicy and not tough which surprised me. This was the best well done steak I have ever tasted and DH aggreed. I tasteed the mahi and it was so good. We swapped dinners. DH liked them both but i just wanted something light that night.The fish was so perfect and flaked right onto the fork. I havent had this before but it had a smokey flavor to it as well and came with thin noodles and mushrooms under it that went perfect with the fish. Everything was cooked perfectly. The rice with the steak went well with the glaze &

lilandvisma

07-05-2009, 01:19 PM

annnd

DH actually ate all of his veggies! That in itself says a lot. DD Lillian ordered the grilled chicken breast strips and noodles with marinara which she ate every last bite of. She still claims this was her favorite meal during our trip.

Dessert was a tough one! How to decide between all of those wonderful desserts?? I chose the banana creme brulee(sp yes, im not used to fancy names for food lol) and dh got the chocolate volcano thingie with ice cream and raspberries, dd got the make your own sundae and was thrilled. The ice cream was very very good and creamy. My dessert was just flipping incredible...how i miss it :( So creamy and the banana and top was coated in a sweet crispy glaze of goodness. It was plated gorgeous and had a little chocolate curl that added a nice touch to the taste. It was num yummy and I am going to get emotional if i keep talking about it ;) DH loved his as well and I thought it was very good, very chocolatey and rich, goey inside and the ice cream and raspberries complimented the cake well. Too rich for my taste at the time and I was in love with mine so I only had one bite.

We all had a great time at Konas. The chef came out after dinner and I told him how much we loved it there and he gave me his business card and shook my hand, very friendly. Mr. O'Brian I believe. Told us to just give him a call if we ever had a problem getting a ressie there and thanked us. Very professional! We will be back for sure, no doubt. I give Kona a 5 overall, a 5 for the food, a 5 for service and a 5 for the dining environment. LOVED it and highly reccommend! Pics will be up tomorrow of our wonderful meal here!

amandamims1

07-05-2009, 03:32 PM

Omg that dinner sounds amazing! You made me hungry just reading it =)

lilandvisma

07-05-2009, 04:57 PM

about dinner was that we were able to take our time and enjoy it since the baby was totally zonked out :)

We headed back to MK and of course Violette was up and hungry about an hour afterwards so I used one of my CS for her at Pecos Bill. I like the machines that take your order actually...seems easy enough and you just go pick up your food after you choose what you want. I ordered her a hamburger and fries(real healthy, i know lol) and got a large coke for DH and i think a chocolate cake for dessert??

I was not impressed with the burger and neither was my daughter. She had french fries and some tomatoes from the fixins bar and i ended up throwing the burger away. The bun was stale and falling apart...but the fries were hot and fresh. I wouldnt go back here again, it looked ewww ;)

food rated at a 2, service 4, actual eatery 5 ( i liked the inside and there was ample seating) soo overall a 3 maybe? I wouldnt be in a mad rush to eat here and I would not reccommend.

lilandvisma

07-05-2009, 05:50 PM

Akershush Princess breakfast!! In a word~ WOW!

I loved this place. We all did. We arrived about 10 min early and had about a 15 minute wait past our res time but kept busy until we were called in :) My 7 year old had just hit her head prior to getting called in and we were all hungry, the mood was kinda icky to tell you the truth for all of us. That all changed when my girls saw belle. Lily was still teary eyed but belle spoke so nice to her and made her smile, turned her mood right around and Vi just ran right up to her happy as could be. They posed for a beautiful picture which came as part of a package with the breakfast. Several pages of pics were given to us. We were seated after this and had drinks on our table promptly. I had iced tea,dh had coke and dd had apple juice. The princesses were all around the rooms which was exciting! We saw Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel :) The girls were in heaven, in total awe. The Buffet was just beautiful. Yogurt, granola, dried fruits, the freshest pineapple, juiciest blackberries and raspberries, HUGE strawberries, several types of big danishes that melted in your mouth, crossiants, muffins,bagels, cream cheeses and spreads, biscuits and jams, turnovers, and these incredible caramel rolls(i think they were caramel they were awesome) apples, oranges, melon chunks,nanas, the fruit was plentiful and gorgeous. On top of this they bring out a large family style plate of sausage links, bacon, eggs and potatoes. I didnt care for the eggs and dont eat sausage or bacon but the potatoes were excellent. They were cooked to perfection and very flavorful. They had two different textures to them which I liked.

We were all very pleased with akershush:) I rate it a 5 for food, 4 for service and a 4.5 for the actual restraunt. I say a 4.8 overall, we had a great time, will return and highly reccommend!

tkitty

07-05-2009, 05:58 PM

Thanks for the reveiws! I can't wait to try Akershus with my granddaughter in Oct. She will be 2 months shy of 3yrs, and loves all of the princesses.:goodvibes

lilandvisma

07-05-2009, 07:54 PM

Thanks for the reveiws! I can't wait to try Akershus with my granddaughter in Oct. She will be 2 months shy of 3yrs, and loves all of the princesses.:goodvibes

She will love it there! My girls did and DH and I as well ;) I cannot say enough good things about the breakfast. Everything from the food to the princesses was just fantastic! My girls wore princess dresses as well, it seemed to add to the magic. And even though Violette had just turned 2 she totally was thrilled and amazed and knew exactly what was going on :)

Hope you guys have a great experience as well!

jenmc88

07-05-2009, 08:56 PM

I loved your review of Kona's. It made me very happy that I picked there as one of our dinners in September.

lilandvisma

07-13-2009, 01:51 PM

Our internet was having issues (we live in a pretty rural area) and my 7 year old has been sick...BUT Here are some pics as I have promised!

Lillians first Mickey bar :)

(It was so so hot that day! However, I was not brave enough for Violette to try lol)

Kona Dinner 6/24/09:thumbsup2

Butter for bread& bread
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/092.jpg

Nada Pina Colada WAS great and included on the DDP!
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/091.jpg
Terri Steak (asked for VERY well done), Rice and Brocollini (sp) YUMMMMMhttp://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/093.jpg

Mahi Mahi YUMMM
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/094.jpg

Kids meal, grilled chicken, pasta and marinara and fruit

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/095.jpg

DESSERT:love::yay:

OOOMMMGGG*MINE MINE MINE*

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/098.jpg

DH's pick
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/097.jpg

DD's Make your own sundae!http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/096.jpg

Sadly that is all we were able to sample that night! WE WILL BE BACK IN 2010!

StephanieCG

07-13-2009, 02:11 PM

Thanks so much for your reviews...we are going to be doing a few of those restaurants too. We have ADRs at Akershus (lunch), Kona dinner, 1900 PF dinner, and Sci Fi. We're also doing H&V breakfast and Ohana breakfast, couldn't get into Ohana dinner. :(
Your Kona experience sounds awesome and I'm looking forward to trying it in Sept. And thanks for your Akershus review, my DD is really into Belle and Cinderella right now, I'm hoping that she'll be in awe too.

lilandvisma

07-13-2009, 02:38 PM

Yea I know, Finally lol...

Waiting for our name to be called...not so patiently :rotfl: She wouldn't keep her shoes on either
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/168.jpg

Meeting Belle(you can tell Lillian was crying from hitting her head poor gal)
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/180-1.jpg
Cinderella http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/188.jpg

Snow White
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/195.jpg
Aurora
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/198.jpg

lilandvisma

07-13-2009, 02:44 PM

Ariel
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/202.jpg

And now for the food!!
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/203.jpg
LOOK at the HUGE strawberries! lol
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/204.jpg
My daughters plate! lol she went waaaay overboard!
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/205.jpg

The food was just awesome here, esp. if you are one to watch what you eat...the fruit and yogurt combo's are endless! And the granola MMM

The danishes were incredible! YUMMM we loved akershush! Overall I give it a 4.8 ish..lol. For service a 4.5, food a 5, and overall restaurant a 4.5.

StephanieCG

07-13-2009, 03:07 PM

Awwww so cute! We have the same Cinderella dress! The girls look like they are on :cloud9: and the food looks wonderful.

lilandvisma

07-13-2009, 03:29 PM

Awwww so cute! We have the same Cinderella dress! The girls look like they are on :cloud9: and the food looks wonderful.

They were very pleased that morning! The fruit was so fresh and appealing in the FL heat. I had curled both of their hair that morning and it went flat within 15 minutes :laughing:

Crowns, shoes, etc... didn't work out very well for Violette either, by the time we were called I was just pleased that her dress was still on her lol.

I'm sure your DD will love it. We did this on our her 2nd bday so it was something special they will always remember. The picture package they give you is very nice as well.

I see you mentioned 1900 PF. Are you going for dinner? We had a terrible dinner there ...just FYI. I'm not a complainer but I will never ever go there again. The stepsisters were icky and so was the stepmother (don't think they were acting they were just nasty lol)

I will get to that review later on but I wouldn't reccommend 1900 PF to my worst enemy...well, maybe my worst enemy :rolleyes:

I had so many people on here tell me not to do it and all I can say is that I wish I would have listened.

wilma-bride

07-13-2009, 03:43 PM

Great reviews so far - lovely pictures :thumbsup2 Bless your brave DD Lillian trying to smile through her tears, poor thing - hope she didn't have too much of a headache.

butiflfeet

07-13-2009, 03:43 PM

I would love to try Kona on our next trip but I don't think we can fit it in. Your meal looks really good though!

StephanieCG

07-13-2009, 04:04 PM

They were very pleased that morning! The fruit was so fresh and appealing in the FL heat. I had curled both of their hair that morning and it went flat within 15 minutes :laughing:

Crowns, shoes, etc... didn't work out very well for Violette either, by the time we were called I was just pleased that her dress was still on her lol.

I'm sure your DD will love it. We did this on our her 2nd bday so it was something special they will always remember. The picture package they give you is very nice as well.

I see you mentioned 1900 PF. Are you going for dinner? We had a terrible dinner there ...just FYI. I'm not a complainer but I will never ever go there again. The stepsisters were icky and so was the stepmother (don't think they were acting they were just nasty lol)

I will get to that review later on but I wouldn't reccommend 1900 PF to my worst enemy...well, maybe my worst enemy :rolleyes:

I had so many people on here tell me not to do it and all I can say is that I wish I would have listened.

Haha your little Vi sounds just like my Emily. She's obsessed with shoes, but not necessarily wearing them. She loves to wear her "cute" (what she calls her dress) but I don't know how that will be in the September heat. We'll be going to Akershus 2 months after her birthday, so that's going to be her little party. :)
Yeah 1900 was kind of an after thought...I'm on the fence about cancelling it. It's on our last night, and I figured it'd be good to have just in case we didn't get any Cindy interaction at Akershus or Toontown or the Halloween party. DH wants to see Spectro instead, so unless I get an earlier ADR it's getting axed. Did you have horrible waits and gross food? That seems to be the consensus lately?

lilandvisma

07-13-2009, 04:15 PM

Cinni Pretzel! This was HUGE and we all shared...Was VERY good and would really like to have one right about now :lmao:

Also got a RB Float...both of which Violette took over and both were SC on the DDP.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/220.jpg

Since Lillian didn't hardly eat her Breakfast at Akershush she was pretty hungry before any of us were so she decided to try the Fish N Chips in England (is it?). The line was OK but everything is made to order which I prefer(even though I can't eat fish N chips)

The fish looked thick and like I said, was hot and fresh and though anything deep fried is "greasy" this really didn't appear to be THAT greasy . The fries were the same way. Lily filled up on one piece and gave the other to her dad. We ended up throwing away a few fries but overall the meal was good, the cashier boys were cute ..oops..did I say that? lol. And my DH and DD both said it was good fish! Oh and the shortbread was yummy :) I actually split that later on with Vi.
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/231-1.jpg

lilandvisma

07-13-2009, 04:46 PM

Haha your little Vi sounds just like my Emily. She's obsessed with shoes, but not necessarily wearing them. She loves to wear her "cute" (what she calls her dress) but I don't know how that will be in the September heat. We'll be going to Akershus 2 months after her birthday, so that's going to be her little party. :)
Yeah 1900 was kind of an after thought...I'm on the fence about cancelling it. It's on our last night, and I figured it'd be good to have just in case we didn't get any Cindy interaction at Akershus or Toontown or the Halloween party. DH wants to see Spectro instead, so unless I get an earlier ADR it's getting axed. Did you have horrible waits and gross food? That seems to be the consensus lately?

Awww..lol. This is such a fun age isn't it? Vi loves shoes too she just loves to take them off as soon as she puts them on :) It was HOT that day but we were there early and the dresses went off as soon as we were done with breakfast(theres a nice bathroom to the left of Akershush). I don't know how some kids can make it through an entire day with those things on in the heat and humidity :confused3

I'm just going to be flat out honest about 1900 PF dinner. I hated it. DH hated it (and thats a rare occasion when DH hardly eats and doesn't like SOMETHING offered food wise) I couldn't find anything that was edible on the adult buffet and ended up eating a very small piece of cheese pizza off of the kids section. Everything from the salad to the dessert was just flat out gross. And I love dessert. Sure the little tarts, etc looked pretty but that was where it ended. They tasted like nothing. The buffet itself really wasn't that plentiful. Serving dishes were empty and not replenished (we had a 7:05 ressie). The Chef carving the meat(dh attempted to eat some) was very nasty about serving DH. The characters were just flat out in raunchy moods and rushed. I didn't find them as entertaining as I thought I would. Violette reached out to touch drizella and she told me to tell her to not touch her dress, that they are very expensive? Umm..ok. I didn't like that and for some reason I didn't get the impression she was "acting". The stepmother looked to be about 22 years old...which kind of ruined things in a way, esp. for Lily who realized this right away. Cindy and PC were nice...but didn't look like the real deal and as they announced PC Lillians eyes lit up...and then she saw him and said (I'm quoting! lol) "Ewww, that doesn't even look like Prince Charming!!" She was mad. He was no prince charming, thats for sure haha...

Our server was terrible. No refills came and she just had a icky attitude. The wait to get in was around 25 mintues which was borderline OK/too long IMHO. The photographers didn't like it when I told them NO pictures, that the kids just wanted to eat and boy were they pushy!

Bottom line it was the worst Disney meal we had PERIOD. The food and service at All star sports hotel looked and tasted like a 5 star restaurant would serve compared to PF.The Food, the service, the characters. It was actually the most expensive meal we had as well...just realized that. IMO...try to get a TS ressie somewhere else. While we were down there all sorts of places popped up on the online system as people cancelled, etc. I actually had a ressie earlier that day for Ohana BF that I snagged the night before but had to cancel cause the girls didn't get up early enough. DH and I still talk about how we wish we would have cancelled this dinner to this day. Live and learn I guess, but never again!

lilandvisma

07-13-2009, 06:03 PM

So DH and I ended up going here for our dinner since DD Lillian had fish and chips earlier this day. After reading all of the great reviews about SS on here I was pretty excited. Dh got the asian combo meal with two entrees and two sides. He ended up getting "double" noodles and the beef and sweet and sour chicken (which BTW was dark meat, unbreaded)
Heres his meal...http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/283.jpg

As you can see, it isn't nearly as much as some make it out to be. The portions were very small IMO and I'm a very light eater. It is all slopped together on one plate which for me was a turn off. It tasted like typical mall food in both of our opinions. Nothing special believe me! The beef was "chewy" he said and the s&s chicken was not good according to him (i wouldn't touch it!)

That being said his dessert (which I picked out) Strawberry Shortcake!! YUMMM that was just excellent, creamy and light. We all wanted to dig into this! We all did, and agreed that it was very, very GOOD!
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/282.jpg

I wanted something cold this day and decided upon a sandwhich. I wanted the turkey Foccia(can't spell) but then when I questioned if I could get it with NO mayo the lady said no. Well I backed up and said I can't eat mayo so nevermind. I then watched another man come up and request the same thing, no mayo. NO again. Okay..lol. Soo..I get in line again and ask which sandwhich doesn't have mayo on it...or fatty meat, etc. By now I'm pretty much thinking I'm SOL. The lady then asks why I can't have mayo and I tell her my stomach just can't handle it...she then proceeds to go talk with the "chef" who comes out and bluntly asks me "what do you need done, what you want done?" I just need NO mayo on my sandwhich lol, not very hard. Well in the mean time a couple behind me is wanting the same thing so they step up and say that is what they would like to order as well. I don't know what the heck the big deal was. A lot of ppl. don't do mayo obviously so they should offer it w/o IMO. He then hands the counter lady a plain turkey sandwhich and I ask for it to be made the same way, just with NO MAYO. LOL. watching these two were pretty comical I guess looking back on it all (they didn't seem to speak much English). I finally got my sandwhich and though it was fresh, it was just nothing special, ya know? Not worth the trouble I had to go through to get it! The Chocolate cake on the other hand...YUMMMM again. It was rich, sweet, fluffy and the frosting was thick and creamy MMmmMM ! http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/284.jpg

Sunshine seasons was OK, but in Epcot there are SOO many other BETTER places to eat. If we were all starving and beat out and couldn't make it over to the other side of Epcot and just happened to be inside that building we would go again, but not go out of our way to get there. Nothing special. (except the desserts, I would go there strictly for dessert lol)

I rate SS a 3.

jockey

07-13-2009, 06:22 PM

Really enjoying your reviews :)

lilandvisma

07-13-2009, 07:08 PM

I'm glad you guys are liking the reviews :goodvibes

This is my first time so I appreciate the feedback!

So, next up we have Crystal Palace Lunch! I personally have nothing but GOOD things to say about this Lunch. We all LOVED it! We didn't really eat breakfast this day and were really hungry by the time our 1:00 ressie came around. I checked in and was called in within 5 minutes! As soon as we were seated Ms. Violette refused to get into the highchair..all I can say is that Thank Goodness for Eeyore! He noticed her throwing her little fit and came right over she was in AWE and just giddy...I said see, eeyore says you better sit in your seat and BAM...she sat right down ;) He was just wonderful with her!

I'm going to update with pictures just as soon as I get Vi to bed!

karen l

07-13-2009, 08:39 PM

Great reviews. Can't wait for the rest!

CrabbyPatty

07-13-2009, 08:42 PM

I'm really enjoying your review - great job! We also have reservations at Kona and Akershus so it was fun to get your take on them. I had made reservations for 1900 Park Faire but after reading some comments, I cancelled them. The more and more I read about that "experience", I'm glad I did.

dd50

07-13-2009, 09:31 PM

Great reviews.

gardengirl628

07-15-2009, 08:16 PM

I am definitely going to hit Sunshine Seasons for dessert. Those both look deeeelicious! thanks for your reviews. Looking forward to more!

StephanieCG

07-15-2009, 09:54 PM

Disney_Mama

07-16-2009, 05:50 AM

Great reviews so far. Looking forward to the rest.:thumbsup2

mi*vida*loca

07-16-2009, 02:21 PM

Great reviews! We also LOVED Akershus breakfast! :love:

dancemomnj

07-16-2009, 08:31 PM

Loving your reviews!:thumbsup2 Your girls are adorable!

lilandvisma

07-28-2009, 08:31 PM

Both my dd and I had gotten pretty sick I think from this crummy Michigan weather (one day its 40 the next its 90 GRRR)

Onto Crystal Palace :)

We had 1:10 lunch ressies I believe, checked in about 10 minutes early and we were all starving :) We were called in pretty quickly, maybe in about 5 minutes which was a shock to me since the porch here was jam packed with people...

As I mentioned before my violette was hungry and not in the greatest of moods. She flat out wasn't going to get in her high chair and then eeyore came right over and she sat right down and it was so awesome to see him interact with her :) Buckled her booty in and went off to get the food for her. The kids section was AWESOME. The Chicken strips they had were very high quality, I even ate them and I NEVER eat breaded chicken. They were hot fresh and juicy and went great with the bbq sauce they had there. They also had pizza, corn, brocolli. I brought Vi back her plate and she went to town. All looked very fresh. No complaints from her as you can see below :)
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/320.jpg

After Vi got her plate Lillian and I went up to get ours. The inside of the CP is beautiful and the buffet is so clean and kept up. The staff here really work to keep things fresh and plentiful from what I witnessed. All were friendly as well. There were sooo many different types of cold salads that I literally took a little bit of each to try them all out. My favorite was the black bean/chicken/corn one. That was pretty good actually. However, I'm not a seafood eater and didn't realize that one of the ones on my plate cosisted of this and about died when I went to take a bite of it :laughing:but oh well, I can say I tried something new I guess..BTW that seafood salad thingie is in the upper right of the plate...

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/321.jpg

I went back up for another plate of food that I knew I would actually eat and WOW the selection was just crazy! I didn't know what to get...I ended up getting some mashed potatoes, green beans with carrots, flank steak which was YUMMY and the chef cooked mine since I have to have mine "done", some of those very tastey chicken strips, grapes and their cornbread mushy stuff i can't remember what the exact name was but it was VERY good as well. I was actually surprised the most at the flank steak as it was really tender and juicy, no fat running through it whatsoever. http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/349.jpg

Hubby had basically the same as me as well as pork which he said was "OK" but we both agreed on the flank steak, cornbread and chicken was great! Lillian had pizza, corn and mashed potatoes I believe?? We all enjoyed the food there. Our waitress was great, one of the best we had while at the world. She was constantly bringing refills for the girls and us, we didn't have to ask once and she was very friendly.

During our meal Pooh and friends visited us which was delightful! They also had a parade for the kids to march in and Lillian loved it. It was so cute to watch them go around the tables and to see their faces all lit up! http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/335.jpgThe characters here were by far the most interactive and the ones who spent the most time with our girls. They were just sooo good with the kids, all of them. They even bent down to my daughter in the high chair which I thought was very nice. http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/344.jpghttp://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/343.jpgPooh with the girls! Even Lily was just in awe.
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/325.jpghttp://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/332.jpghttp://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/353.jpg And Eeyore finally made his way back after his first round so we could get a pic, vi LOVED him but was a total MESS from her dessert.

Speaking of dessert, they had AWESOME dessert. The variety was just incredible. I honestly didn't know where to start. They had plump juicy strawberries, variety of melons, tons of fruit and yogurts, bread pudding, Boston Cream Pie which was HUGE and soo melt in your mouth delicious! Variety of cookies, I want to say they had apple crisp I believe dh had it, make your own sundaes, and my precious beloved coconut flan.
O
M
G
I cannot describe the way this tasted. It was just sooo creamy and silky with a hint of coconut. This was the best thing i put in my mouth while at disney world. period. I ate two pieces of this and would have ate more if I could have:lovestruchttp://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/350.jpg

Overall I would give CP a 5,5,5 for lunch. EVERYTHING was perfect as far as I'm conerned.GO there for lunch if you can! We had a great time and have very fond memories of this place. It's definitly going to be on our ressie list next trip :woohoo:

lilandvisma

07-28-2009, 08:43 PM

So Later on in the day the kiddos got kind of hungry and hubby and I were still pretty stuffed from the buffet at crystal palace so after DD and DH rode the teacups we took them over to Cosmic Rays. Since they weren't starving I got them a chicken nugget with double fries and water for a kids CS. There were no complaints but the chicken nuggets were white meat from what I could tell and the fries were good, hot and fresh :) Served it's purpose! It was quite busy but nothing crazy and we went during dinner rush. We did sit outside though, the inside was too crowded for our liking. The service was accurate and they simply did their jobs. http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/315.jpg

This same day we used snack credits for pineapple dole bars which were SOOOO flipping good and such a treat in the FL heat. Poor Vi was drenched in sweat before she got hers... Careful though, they melt fast! lol http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/490.jpg

We also got a couple of smoothies, the OJ one was excellent and made with REAL orange juice. I LOVED THESE but found myself fighting with the girls over it :rotfl:
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/319.jpg

lilandvisma

07-28-2009, 09:07 PM

Ok, we got back to the hotel and were starving!! I figured what the heck, lets go down and try the food here. Well, I was pleasantly surprised with our dinner. Minus the messes the brazillian tour groups left behind just as we were coming in to sit down the place seemed to be kept up pretty well. Clean and a little corner with TV for the kids to do activities while waiting for food. I had to go through two different lines to get our food but I didn't mind it. Sort of how Sunshine seasons is set up. I got dh the chicken with alfredo which was hot, fresh and served as a BIG portion. He got a Coke and chocolate cake. He really enjoyed his dinner, the chicken was breast and the cake was good, very rich but good, nothing great. I gave DD's my adult credit and let them have the spaghetti with meatballs which was HUGE as well, both came with a breadstick. They both loved it and they had a big NesQuick chocolate milk for a drink (which my violette decided to spill all over the place LOL...ah fond memories) and Lily picked out the key lime pie which she enjoyed. I ended up getting a kids turkey sandwhich was was actually good for me since I was still stuffed from lunch earlier and I saved the grapes and cookie for later. I only took two bites but it was fresh and high quality turkey breast. I didn't take any pictures due to our SPILL that evening but if you are staying at Sports don't hesitate to go here. They were all friendly (cashiers, cooks, etc) there was ample seating and the food was good. A good deal for CS as well for adults. :cool1:

faindrops27

07-28-2009, 09:29 PM

lilandvisma

07-28-2009, 09:36 PM

I was so excited to go here from reading all of the good reviews! We didn't eat breakfast the morning we headed out for downtown disney so by the time we walked over to pucks we were quite hungry. We actually had lunch ressies for planet hollywood but couldn't wait another hour for it so we arrived at pucks around 2. There wasn't a crowd, no line, no wait. Went straight up and ordered and MMMM our food was brought out fast! I ordered the bbq chicken pizza with a BIG FAT HUGE chocolate chip cookie and a water. It was sooooo sooooo very good and so BIG, I LOVED it..spicy and full of flavor! I wish we could order this at home. It was a little bit crispy on the bottom and the rest was just YUMMMMMY. I was NOT sharing with DH lol. http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/471.jpg

DH had the chicken sandwhich...can't remember the exact name but it was spicy and had peppers?? sorry ! http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/472.jpgIt came with real chips sprinkled with what I think was a cheese? He had the Key lime pie dessert and a coke. He enjoyed his as well, but didn't know it was going to be spicy lol of course I find this comical since the menu clearly stated it was :rotfl:

DD got the kids cheese pizza which was HUGE and fruit for side and a sprite for a drink. The fruit was all fresh and juicy. DD's pizza WAS AWESOME and she loved it, dh ate what she left behind which wasn't much lol. http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/470.jpg

The desserts, sorry bout the fruit, vi got a hold of it before I could take the pic :eek:http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/469.jpg

They were all great. The cookie was perfect and the key lime pie was the best I had while in Disney by far. The food and service was as good as it can get. This really didn't feel like counter service at all and is an excellent way to get a TS meal at a CS price :cheer2:

I will be back !!! I would rate WPE at almost a 5 :) YUMMMMY YUM YUM!

lilandvisma

07-28-2009, 09:39 PM

OP, I am loving your reviews. But, have a question. At Kona. Your steak came with rice. Or did you ask for rice, instead of mashed potatoes. All the times. I have ordered this. It has come with mash potatoes??:confused3

Yup, it came with rice....It was good. I'm sure they would happily substitute for something else though. I'm pretty sure on the menu it says rice as well. HTH!:goodvibes

lilandvisma

07-28-2009, 10:19 PM

For our second day in Epcot I wanted to make sure I made good use of our snack credits and counter service credits too! I think we did pretty good. I knew I had to try the bakery in France so that was my first stop. I used our SC for a Napoleon and a Apple tart(i think) and WOW they were good. The kids loved the tart and I split the napoleon with dh....which was just soooo creamy and just melted in your mouth :love: Yes, I feel in love again that day...with yet another dessert :laughing: DH felt the same way about it. I don't want to know how many calories are in these things but I plan on getting one every time we go from now on!
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/008.jpg
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/009.jpg

So after our breakfast of champions and a lot of walking, riding and a kim possible misson we needed to eat lunch. I wanted to try Tangerine Cafe. This place was so neat. The inside was nice and the staff there was VERY friendly. DH and the kids waited outside as I placed our order. It didn't take long to place our order and our food to come up. Everything was hot and fresh. This type of food is very foreign to me but I was willing to give it a try and am glad I did. I ordered the lamb/chicken combo and thought it was very good...I liked all the little sides as well. The meat was very flavorful. Violette shared with me. It's true about the serving sizes here, they are HUGE and I felt so bad for wasting about half of my plate :guilty:http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/017.jpg

DH ordered the sandwhich combo and liked it but again, couldn't make it through the whole plate (though he came close lol). We thought this place is really a good deal...and agreed that next time we will SHARE a platter. Oh and the baklava is INCREDIBLE!!! I could live on that stuff it was so flakey and sweet and MMM mmm MMM :dance3:

Lillian simply refused to eat at Tang Cafe. She claimed she wanted mexican food so I told her she'd have to sit tight for a bit and we'd get her something in Mexico. I bought her a combo platter OOP because she didn't really know what she wanted and I really wanted to see what their food looked like since the reviews tend to be no so hot... The place was jam packed and we waited a good 15 minutes to order our food. BUT once we got it I could see and smell that this was pretty decent mexican food. She got a Quesidia, chicken soft taco and black bean and meat burrito...and a churro for dessert (which i thought was icky personally and ended up going in the trash can at the hotel later). She did get a lot of food though and she ate the whole BIG burrito and a bite of chicken taco. I would say if you like mexican food to try here because it was hot and fresh and smelled very good. DD gave it a thumbs up ;)
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/lilandvisma/022.jpg

Sooo, I tried to eat as much as I possibly could at Epcot but with my small stomach I could only do so much :upsidedow All I can say is that I will be back in 2010 for more! We also had dinner ressies for 1900 Barf fare, oops, I mean park fare this evening so I didn't want to over do things.

That wonderful review will be posted shortly ! Sit tight for this one, it's gonna be LONG :laughing:

lilandvisma

07-28-2009, 10:29 PM

Loving your reviews so far...Crystal Palace sounds great. I didn't get an adr to that one yet, but I might try to squeeze it on an MK day because Emmy has only recently gotten into Pooh and Co. (I think she just likes to say the word Poo :lmao:) That's good that you little Vi did well with the costumed characters, it's like a giant stuffed animal.
Thanks for the advice on 1900 PF...I may cancel it. It seems like all the reviews that I've read that are good are from people with older kids (or no kids) who get there at the opening.
Keep it coming and looking forward to the pics!

FWIW, We snagged a second CP ressie the night before through online reservations for breakfast so you may be able to get in, you never know what will be available or cancelled! Vi didn't like or dislike pooh until our experience at CP. Now she LOVES everything pooh and friends! Your Emmy will probably LOVE the pooh ride too, I know Violette did :) We went on it 4 times while there :)

dd50

07-28-2009, 10:50 PM

My kids can't wait to go to WPE to get the pizza. Sounds like you had a great time and some good food. I told my daughter tonite that I don't know how I am going to eat all that food. We went out the other night and I only got a cob salad and I was so full for hours and only ate half.

I want to try some of the pastries in France. They look so good. I haven't had a napoleon in years and I want one now.

PixieDustandEeyore

07-29-2009, 02:49 AM

Loving the reviews.. you're daughters are sooooo cute! Where did you get the OJ smoothie from... we only found strawberry, tropical, and strawberry banana... orange would have been nice:)

mefordis

07-29-2009, 06:31 AM

What a disappointment to hear about 1900 PF!!! We were going to go there after dd5'sr bippity boppity appt. Now I have to reconsider -- but she will be all made up. It will be before MNSSHP. Maybe I should try to snag Calif Grill instead? Probably all booked by now. She will get to see plenty of princesses at the party, so I'm thinking I should do that.

Great reviews! I'm also from MI originally -- born and raised. AND I have daughters the same age difference. How do you like the age difference? Do they still play together? I have a 5 yr old and a 1 yr old.

Thanks for the pics and reviews!!! :)

Awww..lol. This is such a fun age isn't it? Vi loves shoes too she just loves to take them off as soon as she puts them on :) It was HOT that day but we were there early and the dresses went off as soon as we were done with breakfast(theres a nice bathroom to the left of Akershush). I don't know how some kids can make it through an entire day with those things on in the heat and humidity :confused3

I'm just going to be flat out honest about 1900 PF dinner. I hated it. DH hated it (and thats a rare occasion when DH hardly eats and doesn't like SOMETHING offered food wise) I couldn't find anything that was edible on the adult buffet and ended up eating a very small piece of cheese pizza off of the kids section. Everything from the salad to the dessert was just flat out gross. And I love dessert. Sure the little tarts, etc looked pretty but that was where it ended. They tasted like nothing. The buffet itself really wasn't that plentiful. Serving dishes were empty and not replenished (we had a 7:05 ressie). The Chef carving the meat(dh attempted to eat some) was very nasty about serving DH. The characters were just flat out in raunchy moods and rushed. I didn't find them as entertaining as I thought I would. Violette reached out to touch drizella and she told me to tell her to not touch her dress, that they are very expensive? Umm..ok. I didn't like that and for some reason I didn't get the impression she was "acting". The stepmother looked to be about 22 years old...which kind of ruined things in a way, esp. for Lily who realized this right away. Cindy and PC were nice...but didn't look like the real deal and as they announced PC Lillians eyes lit up...and then she saw him and said (I'm quoting! lol) "Ewww, that doesn't even look like Prince Charming!!" She was mad. He was no prince charming, thats for sure haha...

Our server was terrible. No refills came and she just had a icky attitude. The wait to get in was around 25 mintues which was borderline OK/too long IMHO. The photographers didn't like it when I told them NO pictures, that the kids just wanted to eat and boy were they pushy!

Bottom line it was the worst Disney meal we had PERIOD. The food and service at All star sports hotel looked and tasted like a 5 star restaurant would serve compared to PF.The Food, the service, the characters. It was actually the most expensive meal we had as well...just realized that. IMO...try to get a TS ressie somewhere else. While we were down there all sorts of places popped up on the online system as people cancelled, etc. I actually had a ressie earlier that day for Ohana BF that I snagged the night before but had to cancel cause the girls didn't get up early enough. DH and I still talk about how we wish we would have cancelled this dinner to this day. Live and learn I guess, but never again!

natalielongstaff

07-29-2009, 07:06 AM

great reviews, thanks x

lilandvisma

07-29-2009, 10:46 AM

Loving the reviews.. you're daughters are sooooo cute! Where did you get the OJ smoothie from... we only found strawberry, tropical, and strawberry banana... orange would have been nice:)

Orange was sooo nice :) They actually use real OJ so that was even nicer rather than something that just tastes like pure sugar. We bought them by the Magic Carpets in the MK... I want to say that Epcot had them too but can't remember where?????? I know we had them more than once, they were yummy though!

lilandvisma

07-29-2009, 11:10 AM

What a disappointment to hear about 1900 PF!!! We were going to go there after dd5'sr bippity boppity appt. Now I have to reconsider -- but she will be all made up. It will be before MNSSHP. Maybe I should try to snag Calif Grill instead? Probably all booked by now. She will get to see plenty of princesses at the party, so I'm thinking I should do that.

Great reviews! I'm also from MI originally -- born and raised. AND I have daughters the same age difference. How do you like the age difference? Do they still play together? I have a 5 yr old and a 1 yr old.

Thanks for the pics and reviews!!! :)

1900 PF was terrible and I'm going to be posting that review after this...All I can say is that I honestly wish I would have listened to the 85% of ppl on this board who advised against it for dinner. We still look back a month later disgusted with the meal. I guess after doing Akershush and seeing how great other character meals/buffets can be we were very let down with PF. Just my honest opinion. I would do Akershush if your looking for princesses. While we were down there looking for a last minute ressie it was listed for being available several times. They were great with my girls there.

Where in MI are you originally from? I was born in Detroit but my parents retired up north in Tawas off Lake Huron and we now live in Midland. The weather here has been so mild we aren't even going to open our pool this year:sad2:

As far as the age difference between my two....It has its ups and downs. They really don't play for the most part since my 7 year old thinks she is 17 and doesn't really want to be bothered by my little one at this point. She was very used to being a spoiled only child and still doesn't care to share the spotlight, though she was very good with the baby when she was younger. A part of me wishes I would have had them closer together so they would have played together a little better. I thought we'd avoid a lot fighting and jealousy by having them this far apart but NOPE lol, it still goes on here! DH and I are actually thinking about having one more and I've told him it's now or never :) 5 years apart is good in some ways, but they are so very different and on two totally different levels that it makes a lot of things very hard. I think a lot depends on their personalities too, Lillian is very demanding, sensitive and clingy where Vi has always been easy going, content and independent. It's so strange how two full blooded sisters can be soooo so very different ;)

One thing they both agree on is that they LOVE Disney ;)
Hope you have a great time with your girls!

klacey1

07-29-2009, 04:34 PM

Love this! Excited to subscribe and read the rest!

karen l

07-29-2009, 08:34 PM

Great reviews & pics! Can't wait to read more. We never had dinner at PF but we did do the breakfast once. It was ok but we'd rather go to CP.

dd50

07-29-2009, 09:33 PM

Can't wait to read your experience at PF as we have a ressie for it.

Smiling Cheshire Cat

07-29-2009, 09:43 PM

Thanks for the reviews. Your daughters are adorable!

ksumn1

07-29-2009, 10:44 PM

Great reviews. I totally agree with you about the differences between siblings. My girls are a little under 4 years apart and they either can't stand to be around each other or can't stand to be apart, no in between. And they are as different as night and day!:confused3

mefordis

07-30-2009, 07:27 AM

I'm from Chelsea, about 25 mins west of Ann Arbor. I THOUGHT I scored when I got that 1900 park fare reservation, especially since it is on a day of the Halloween party. Now I have to rethink our dining for that day. I need something around 4pm near the MK.

I can't wait to be disgusted by your review! :sick:

1900 PF was terrible and I'm going to be posting that review after this...All I can say is that I honestly wish I would have listened to the 85% of ppl on this board who advised against it for dinner. We still look back a month later disgusted with the meal. I guess after doing Akershush and seeing how great other character meals/buffets can be we were very let down with PF. Just my honest opinion. I would do Akershush if your looking for princesses. While we were down there looking for a last minute ressie it was listed for being available several times. They were great with my girls there.

Where in MI are you originally from? I was born in Detroit but my parents retired up north in Tawas off Lake Huron and we now live in Midland. The weather here has been so mild we aren't even going to open our pool this year:sad2:

As far as the age difference between my two....It has its ups and downs. They really don't play for the most part since my 7 year old thinks she is 17 and doesn't really want to be bothered by my little one at this point. She was very used to being a spoiled only child and still doesn't care to share the spotlight, though she was very good with the baby when she was younger. A part of me wishes I would have had them closer together so they would have played together a little better. I thought we'd avoid a lot fighting and jealousy by having them this far apart but NOPE lol, it still goes on here! DH and I are actually thinking about having one more and I've told him it's now or never :) 5 years apart is good in some ways, but they are so very different and on two totally different levels that it makes a lot of things very hard. I think a lot depends on their personalities too, Lillian is very demanding, sensitive and clingy where Vi has always been easy going, content and independent. It's so strange how two full blooded sisters can be soooo so very different ;)

One thing they both agree on is that they LOVE Disney ;)
Hope you have a great time with your girls!