Dining with Princesses and Characters - Sept/Oct. 2009 -Updated 10/10, 1900 Park Fare

[djp0630]

All,
This is my first dining review. Based on all the helpful hints that everybody on DIS gave us when booking our reservations, I thought I would do a dining report. Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of the food, as my family would not let me take any. I do have pictures of the characters.

Now on to the cast of characters...
Me - celebrated my 31st birthday at WDW
DH - 38
DD - 3, our little princess, will call her A
DS - 1, will call him D

My Mom - 60 just retired
My Dad - 61

We spent a week at BLT from Sept 26- Oct. 3. It was my kid's first trip and it was all about the characters....especially the princesses.

So let me see what I will review.

Sci-Fi Dine In
Crystal Palace breakfast
1900 Park Fare breakfast
'Ohana dinner
Akershus lunch
Teppan Edo dinner
Chef Mickey's dinner
CRT lunch
Chef Mickey's breakfast

[djp0630]

Ok, so off to my first dining review. I will post pictures tomorrow.

So on Sunday, Sept 27, we went to Sci-Fi Dine In for lunch. My ADR was for 11:30, but based on the way it worked out with our schedule, we decided to check in a little early, around 11AM. There was nobody there so we were seated right away.

The 6 of us had our own car. DS1 had a highchair next to DH in the second row. When we got there, there was nobody there, but by the time we left, it was packed!

I had told my family that burgers were the way to go based on DIS. So DH, my Mom & I all ordered a burger. DH and I substituted the fries for Onion rings for an extra $2. We paid OOP so we were allowed to do this. Our waiter said we wouldn't be able to do it if we were using the DDP. DD3 had pizza, with grapes and carrots. DH, My Dad and I all ordered a chocolate milkshake. My Dad ordered a turkey sandwich.

The burgers and onion rings were great. The burger was huge and I could not eat it all. DD3 loved the pizza as did DS1. My Dad said the Turkey sandwich was ok. The milkshakes were very thick, had to use a spoon at first, but was very yummy. They got DS1 a bottle of water for no extra charge. We did not get dessert since we were paying OOP. Overall, the lunch was $100 and change.

Sci-Fi Dine In was cool. Very dark and quiet. DD3 liked all the stars. The clips were cool, some were a bit scary for young children, lots of screaming. My parents loved the clips, they had a great time in the back of the car. Our waiter was pretty good, he gave DD3 a driver's license since she was in the front. The waitress next to us liked DS1 and talked to him a lot.

We all liked Sci-Fi, very unique and overall good. We were out of there in a little over an hour.

[djp0630]

Here are the pictures I took from Sci-Fi

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4323.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4324.jpg

[natalielongstaff]

im glad you liked sci-fi, it often gets a bad rep on here :thumbsup2

[djp0630]

im glad you liked sci-fi, it often gets a bad rep on here :thumbsup2

Thanks! It wasn't our favorite meal, but it was good. No complaints.

[djp0630]

Ok on to the next one...

Crystal Palace breakfast.

I got an ADR for 8:10 at Crystal Palace. It was my actual 31st birthday. We arrived at MK around 7:55 or so, and walked up an empty Main Street. That was just so neat. Here's a picture.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4340.jpg

Then we got to Crystal Palace a little before 8:10.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4360.jpg

Although it was pretty busy on the porch, we were seated within 5 or so minutes.

Since it was my birthday, they decorated my table with confetti. I think I got a cupcake there too, but I can't remember.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4359.jpg

Ok, so first the food. It was excellent. The Puffed Pooh French toast was great! I can see why it got rave reviews. I really enjoyed the eggs here, although I am not a big egg person, it was very tasty. I also really liked the french toast and the fruit. DD loved the sausage here, she ate 3 links herself. There was lots of fresh fruit and everything was tasty. My Mom got made to order chocolate chip pancakes, but she said they were just alright. We had a great waiter, who kept us informed about when the characters were coming and what they were doing. He also kept refilling our drinks. We were seated right next to the buffet so we were one of the first tables on our side.

As for the characters, it was a little different from other character meals. When we sat down, we had just missed Piglet. So the first to our table was Eeyore. He was good, acted like Eeyore, but not too exciting. Then for some reason, they had Tigger stand up by the buffet and people stood in line to meet him. So we stood in line, and of course, Pooh was headed to our table. Fortunately, we got to see Tigger, then went to our table and met Pooh! It was close, I thought we would have to get out of line to go meet Pooh. Then Piglet went outside so we never did get to meet him since I wanted to make rope drop (or close to it).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4348.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4349.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4353.jpg
The character interaction was great. DS1 loved Pooh! Tigger was fun, although we didn't have a lot of time with him. There was a cute parade for the kids led by Pooh around the restaurant in which DD3 liked.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4355.jpg

Overall a fabulous breakfast that I would definitely do again!

[natalielongstaff]

great pics, i find CP can be a bit hit and miss for the charcters :sad2:

[DLo]

Great start! Glad you liked sci fi. we are eating there on sunday -yeah!

Looking forward to more!

[djp0630]

Great start! Glad you liked sci fi. we are eating there on sunday -yeah!

Looking forward to more!

Thanks! We actually enjoyed all of our meals!

[djp0630]

Onto the next review. 1900 Park Fare breakfast.

On Tuesday, 9/29, we had a busy day. We were headed to Blizzard Beach and then MNSSHP. So to start the day off right, we headed to the Grand Floridian for a nice breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. Our ADR was for 8:05. We took the monorail over from the Contemporary to the Grand Floridian. I had never been to the Grand Floridian so I was so excited to check it out. It was very nice. They were doing some construction at the Grand Floridian. We took the Elevator down to 1900 Park Fare and checked in. They had us take a picture of our family in front of the restaurant, but not with any characters. They later came around to see if we wanted to buy it for $31.99 (we didn't). We were seated pretty quickly. We weren't in the main room, but it was fine. So we all headed up to the buffet as the characters weren't yet out.

So there was quite a selection of food. French toast, pancakes, fruit, ham, sausage, bacon, lobster eggs benedict, Mickey Waffles, etc. There was also made to order omelets, I got ham & cheese. The omelet was just ok. There was also the Strawberry soup which was really yummy! We enjoyed the food here. I really liked the french toast and strawberry soup. DS loved the ham.

As for the characters, they were great. Tigger was by far the best. He was so hilarious! He came by our table twice and was joking with my Dad. Pooh was awesome and DS loved him again. Mary Poppins and Alice were good, loved their accents. The Mad Hatter was alright, I thought he would be funnier, and DD didn't really like him. But overall a fun group of characters!

Here are some pictures.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4454.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4455.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4463.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4466.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4475.jpg

I added my birthday to a celebration here. They gave me a cupcake and a signed place mat from the characters. DD loved the cupcake. Here is a picture.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/djp0630/100_4465.jpg

Overall, the breakfast was great. The food was good and everybody enjoyed the characters. Plus I got to check out the Grand Floridian. Then it was off to Blizzard Beach!