10 Nights in Disney...Food Reviews (+2 bonus Universal park restaurant reviews)

[kittylady1972]

We just returned from 10 nights in the World. As you can imagine, we did a lot of eating out and there were 10 of us in the party. I am going to try my best to give a quick review of the food that was consumed by most of us. As a bonus, we did three days at the Universal parks so I have two restaurant reviews there as well.

Here is our list:

T-Rex (lunch -Downtown Disney)
Three Broomsticks (lunch - Universal IOA)
Lombard's Seafood Grille (lunch - Universal)
Flippers Pizza (carry-out from the Crossroads area near Downtown Disney)
Kona Cafe (dinner - Poly)
Contempo Cafe (breakfast & dinner & snack - Contemporary)
Chef Mickey's (breakfast - Contemporary)
California Grill (dinner - Contemporary)
Cape May Cafe (dinner - Beach Club)
Rose & Crown Pub (dinner - EPCOT)
Mama Melrose's (Fantasmic! package lunch - HS)
Crystal Palace (breakfast - Contemporary)
The Wave (dinner - Contemporary)

And here we go....

 

[kittylady1972]

T-Rex - Downtown Disney - lunch

I set up this T-Rex lunch for just the five of us well before our trip. We were arriving by train early that morning, and I figured we'd eat here when we got to Disney property from the train station. As it turned out, we arrived on property at 10:30am and our room was not ready...so we headed to T-Rex arriving close to 11:30am...well before our 12:30pm reservation. They managed to seat us right away anyway...bonus!

I had very low expectations for this meal. I had read reviews and most said the food was not that great...so I had planned on getting a simple salad or appetizers, but honestly nothing really appealed to me. Two of the kids ordered those super large drinks in the big plastic bone...as seen here:

(excuse the dark image...I think a kid took this photo and I have a better one, just can't find it right now)


DH mentioned splitting the Boneyard Buffet (chicken and ribs) but I had my eye on the Mammoth Mushroom Ravioli. So we ordered those and two of the kids ordered Cosmo's Cheesy Macaroni I think. Kid #3 wanted nothing...but she shared some of the side salad I had ordered with my meal.

Here is what I'm afraid is the ONLY food porn photo you'll get from my review. I just wasn't taking many photos but this meal was worth it.

The kids seemed to enjoy the mac n'cheese...but really that food doesn't change all that much from restaurant to restaurant. I really enjoyed my salad and was happy to have black olives on it...something rare on salads but my favorites. Also my mushroom ravioli was really really good! I could only eat about half of it, and I may have preferred it a little more if the sauce had been a little thicker or plentiful, but overall it was great. As for my DH...he LOVED his meal too. The ribs were fall off the bone delicious...I was jealous and wish I had gotten them as I love ribs but they really have to be tender and his were for sure. He ate most of his sides and all the ribs and saved the chicken. Later that evening he and I heated up the chicken and the ravioli in our room and shared it...and it was still good.

Our server was very friendly and more than accommodating. I think we may have talked about this lunch for the rest of our trip and wish we could have gone back. I can tell you T-Rex will get a return visit from us in the future!

 

[ciera321]

Looking forward to your review and pictures!

 

[kittylady1972]

Three Broomsticks - Universal Islands of Adventure - Lunch

We had a full day planned for Universal Islands of Adventure and spent the morning in the Harry Potter World riding all the stuff there. Once lunchtime came around, we were all hungry and air conditioning sounded really good...so off to Three Broomsticks where I had already promised all of the kids they could get Butterbeer!

My boys ordered...probably mac n'cheese but don't remember. I know whatever it was, they had a choice of two sides and chose double fries but I can tell you...the double portion was pretty small so I can't imagine the single. Oh and I think one child had applesauce...they didn't even get one of those full-sized motts cups but more like one of those small cups you'd put ketchup in at McDonald's or something. It was small! We got two regular and two frozen butterbeers among us and everybody enjoyed that but have to say frozen seemed better...but then again, it was HOT and the only place all ten of us could sit together was outside. It was shaded and there were SOME fans...but it was still hot!

I think my DH got some kind of chicken and/or rib platter...but he didn't enjoy it that much. It was kinda dry. I just ordered myself a big smoked turkey leg...more than enough food and really can you go wrong with one of those anyway? It was good and I split it with my daughter. It was more than enough food.

All in all, not exactly a must-do but then again it was pretty much a counter service so we didn't expect too much.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

You ate at some great restaurants! I look foward to reading your reviews!

 

[SmallWorld71]

Count me in!

We all preferred the frozen butterbeer as well. Ten months later and we are still dreaming about it.....

 

[kittylady1972]

Lombard's Seafood Grille - Universal Studios - Lunch

It had been a hot morning at Universal Studios. Having been on most of the bigger rides that morning we were ready to sit down for a nice lunch. With no dinner plans that night, we figured it was okay to have a bigger lunch. I was kinda in the mood for a salad, we stumbled across Lombard's (it was near the bathrooms we were using) and we took a quick peek at the menu which was very extensive...with many salads! SOLD!

We were seated upstairs in a very nicely (maybe too much) chilled room. With the a/c blasting, the soups sounded great...but I don't think anybody got a soup that I can recall. The kids had kids' meals...pretty sure there was PROBABLY Mac N'Cheese (sensing a pattern with my kids yet) and I think my youngest son ordered a hamburger.

MY DH and I decided to split the Cobb Salad with grilled shrimp. The salad was a pretty good size and instead of traditional turkey for the cobb salad, there were lots of salad-sized grilled shrimp. We split the salad the shrimp pretty evenly and really enjoyed it. Lots of bleu cheese which we both like.

MY MIL got the chicken caesar salad...also HUGE! I think she mostly ate the chicken and she shared some of our lettuce with me as the Cobb Salad really didn't have as much lettuce as everything else on it!

My FIL got the Fried Cod Sandwich. When it came to our table it smelled and looked SO good that many of us were sorry we hadn't ordered it as well.

Everybody enjoyed their meals and it was the perfect way to recharge to continue to tackle the rest of the park in the heat! We would definitely return here!

 

[kittylady1972]

Flippers Pizza - Crossroads (near Downtown Disney) - Dinner
It was Thursday night...our second night of vacation. The rest of our family had just arrived at Bay Lake Tower after a very long drive from Maryland. They were busy unpacking and getting settled into their room when my DH realized...his room key no longer worked for our room. He and his dad share the same first name...and I guess there was some mixup with keys so when they issued his dad's roomkey it somehow locked his. DH went down to the front desk to get this fixed. This took a good hour...NOT EVEN KIDDING! It was insane! As he was down there with his dad, we were in the room starving and it was approaching 6pm. Nobody wanted to go out for dinner. We had spent our morning at the MK park and then 3+ hours at the pool...the kids were ready to chill. I got online and read some reviews about Flippers Pizza...so I found their website with my smartphone and started placing an order.

I got most of the stuff ready and was just waiting for my DH and the rest of the family to make a decision. They said they were good with the pizza...I ordered two pizzas and 2 sides of garlic cheese bread and pressed SEND! Online order submitted!

Then I grabbed the boys (DD was with my DH) and we left to make the drive to pick up the pizza, keeping in mind that I was also informed that none or our room keys worked either any longer. Oh and you can't even enter the lobby of BLT without a room key!

We made the trek out to the Crossroads to pick up the food...and I glance back and find this:

Yep, I think the 3+ hours at the pool and GAZILLION times of going up the steps to the Bay Cove pool slide just wore him out! When we arrived at the Crossroads, I had my oldest DS stay in the car with the youngest and I sprinted into the place to pick up my food. It was ready to go...other than having to get me some alfredo sauce that I had requested with my garlic bread with cheese instead of marinara.

We had two large XLG 16" pizzas. I thought I got one Neopolitan and one traditional, but I don't recall noticing a difference between the two. One was only extra cheese, the other had some garlic and meats on it. Both were VERY good! The cheese bread was also good...nice thick slices of bread with cheese on it and the alfredo dipping sauce also good. We returned to the room, I called my DH on the phone to meet us at the lobby to let us in, I hauled in my youngest who was STILL sound asleep and my oldest carried in the food. The rest of the family was waiting in our room to eat. Everybody enjoyed the pizza...well except for my youngest who continued to sleep in our room and did not wake up until the next morning!

 

[kittylady1972]

Kona Cafe - Polynesian - Dinner
Let me start by saying the Kona Cafe is one of our must-do restaurants every trip. It used to be the Concourse Steakhouse...and then that disappeared on us. We miss the days we could walk into Kona without a reservation though. My MIL is a BIG fan of the Lapu Lapu drink that is served at the Tambu Lounge near O'Hana, since that is always where the adults end up while waiting for the table at the Kona Cafe.

When I realized I had not made a reservation for this restaurant I snagged two last-minute ressies for the 10 of us...but both were late for us for dinner...6:40pm and 6:45pm on Friday and Saturday. Both of these days were days we planned to be at the Universal parks...so we were banking on being back by that time...and we were.

It was Friday and we had spent most of the day at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. We left the park around 4pm or so that day and when we got to the room the kids were starving. I didn't want them to have to wait until 6:40pm to eat (or longer...since we knew sometimes we wait longer for our ADRs...this would be a pattern). So we fixed some ramen noodles for the kids to eat in our room before we left for dinner, and I told them they could just get dessert at Kona if they were good!

We arrived around 6:30pm or so and checked in but there was no indication on the wait time. The adults wanted to hit the Tabmu Lounge bar for some drinks...so I took all four kids downstairs to the lobby to sit in front of the tv and watch cartoons and color while we waited. I told DH to just text me on my cell when our table was ready so he hung out with his family and they enjoyed some libations!

A little after 7ish I guess he told me they were bussing our table...so I went upstairs with the kids. And we waited. And we waited. We saw two big tables clearly ready...but nobody was being seated. Around 7:20pm I got impatient and walked up to ask when we'd be seated...and was told in just a few more minutes. That's when DH informed me he had just been up there and asked as well. FINALLY around 7:30pm or so we were seated...for our 6:40pm reservation!

I ordered a glass of wine and my DH ordered a Wasabi Mary. The waiter looked at DH and knew we must be longtime customers of Kona Cafe...since that drink has not been on the menu in YEARS he told us and only longtime customers tend to order it...and they do still make it!

I already knew what I wanted here..the Sticky Wings for Two! I love those wings. I decided to start with the Kona Salad - Mixed greens, Maytag blue cheese, fresh fruit, red onions, and smoked almonds with a citrus vinaigrette - MINUS the onions! My DH got the steak...for the life of me I'm not sure which one...I know we miss the prime rib there...so maybe it was the NY Strip? Others at the table also ordered steak...some liked it, others said it was a bit tough. I think my SIL ordered the Braised Mussels and she really liked those. My BIL got the Shrimp and Scallops and he seemed to enjoy that.

I LOVED my salad...the mix of flavors was so good that I totally could have just had that and been fine. I ate about half of my sticky wings and saved the rest for a later lunch in the week. It was what I expected.

I had no room for dessert...but my DS 11 got the Kona Kone which he LOVED and I think other kids got the make your own sundaes. They all enjoyed their desserts. I think my FIL even got the Creme Brulee...it seemed to disappear so I can only assume it was good.

Overall my only frustration with this restaurant is that even in off-season we tend to wait well beyond our ADRs and it's a bit frustrating. So glad I fed the kids early...no way were they waiting until 7:30pm to eat dinner! Well they did have some bread which helped while there. I loved my food, not sure the steaks were as much of a hit as they have been when they used to serve the prime rib. The comment throughout our trip was that we noticed most restaurants tended to overcook the steaks. DH LOVES him some red meat and usually gets it med rare but most came out medium to med-well for him.

We would probably return though...I just loved my salad and wings and would be back for those!

 

[kittylady1972]

Contempo Cafe - Contemporary - breakfast/dinner/snack

Since we had a One-Bedroom DVC unit at Bay Lake Tower, we tended to fix meals in our room like lunches and dinners on nights we did not have ADRs. Sometimes we wanted a change of pace from leftovers and cereal, so we did make a few stops at the Contempo Cafe.

One morning we went there for breakfast. The kids had waffles. DS 6 got his with sausage patties. I snapped photos because this is how he chose to eat his waffles...with the sausage on top and syrup spread over the whole thing...ugh! I'm not sure if this was a kid portion...or he just got a regular portion. Here it is though:

I had the grilled ham, egg and cheddar sandwich. It was really good, served on some kind of flatbread, but it was pretty big...I could not finish it and ended up taking half back to our room. DH got the Breakfast Burrito...he really enjoyed it.

There was another evening where we got back from a park and had no ADRs and decided we wanted some fresh food. That night we went to the Contempo Cafe for dinner. I wasn't feeling too good but the Hot Open-faced Roast Beef Sandwich - roast beef on toasted French bread with rosemary wine sauce and roasted wedge potatoes topped with cheesy breadcrumbs - sounded pretty good. I guess I'm just used to a nice basic brown gravy because I did not enjoy the sweet flavor at all of the sauce on this one. I managed to eat most of the beef but not the bread and I don't even remember it being served with the potatoes with breadcrumbs. If so and if I tried them they were clearly not good either. I think DH got the same and he wasn't thrilled with it either. My DD 8 got a turkey sandwich which she also didn't enjoy...she mostly tried to eat just the turkey. The boys...I think they got chicken nuggets and it was served with two sides...I remember applesauce and pudding on the table at some point. Now the EXTRA added fun this evening was that all of the ordering kiosks at the Contempo were NOT working. DH ordered from them twice with no luck. So while I sat down with the kids, he had to walk up to the counter and try to recall everybody's orders from memory, sides included, so he could order and pay there. It was a bit chaotic obviously but it turned out okay.

I believe it was this same night that I noticed the desserts at the Contempo Cafe...there were some YUMMY looking cupcakes. Ok remember that no more food porn...I lied...I took photos of all of these desserts. I'll have to share them later! Anyway, when we got back to the room after dinner I was informed by DH that his SIL needed to take a trip to Walmart to get some stuff and he asked if I'd take her there. I SOOO wanted a shower and to relax...but I went and left him to get the kids ready for bed.

However when I returned from that trip I requested dessert...specifically this from the Contempo Cafe:

So while I hopped in the shower, DH wandered over to the Contemp Cafe to get my dessert and milk. OMG it was so worth it. This was a Black Forest Cupcake so it had a chocolate covered cherry on the top, it was a moist chocolate cupcake with a cherry pie filling and had the fluffy icing...so so good! I could not finish it but I tried my very best!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Might have to squeeze TRex in for lunch on our DTD movie day...those ribs look sooo good, thanks for posting a pic of them!

 

[kittylady1972]

Might have to squeeze TRex in for lunch on our DTD movie day...those ribs look sooo good, thanks for posting a pic of them!

Funny I was JUST reading your dining reviews...and your Fultons Review...and the ribs there! See I have to have my ribs fall-off-the-bone tender and flavorful but not drenched in sauce. These were REALLY REALLY good. I tell you we must have talked about them at least a dozen times during our trip. We will definitely go back to try them.

Fultons used to be a favorite but those prices scare us away...and now just reading your review I can see now that I have no desire to go back there either. What a shame!

 

[kittylady1972]

Chef Mickey's - Breakfast - Contemporary Resort
Ok this is always a must-do restaurant for us...mostly for the family photo. So that was the main reason for the review but the price for the breakfast truly is crazy...especially for what we eat there.

I usually make it a point to make at least two trips to a buffet...but I must say this time I filled my plate only once and even then I barely eat much from it.

I got sausage links...good but a little bit on the spicy side. Not much. Bacon was okay...it was bacon and I like mine more floppy and less crispy so I found some of that. I got some scrambled eggs with cheese...they were eggs, not much could go wrong there. Where they went VERY wrong...the sausage gravy! OMG...truly terrible. I love some biscuits and gravy being almost from the south (Maryland) but the gravy had very little flavor to it and had that more flour taste than anything. YUCK! I didn't even bother having more than a bite or two. It wasn't worth it.

Kids of course had waffles and and some fruit and the rest of the party appeared to be okay with their food. DH did confer with me on the gravy...we'll stick to Bob Evans only thankyouverymuch.

However at least I got our family photo here...but seriously wondering if I want to continue the tradition just for the photo.

 

[kittylady1972]

California Grill - Dinner - Contemporary Resort
This is a more recent tradition for us that started in 2008 when my DH and I had our first meal here. We loved this place...and my FIL was paying so even better right?

Our reservation was for for 7:25pm but we showed up earlier...more like 6:45pm I think. They actually seated us within about 10 minutes or so. Great!

We were seated in the Wine Room. I had no idea what this was...and I admit it had a nice view of the water and EPCOT in the distance, but I prefer seating in the main dining room to view the castle. However I knew we would most likely not be there for Wishes! so it was okay.

The kids had some goldfish crackers for snacking...but they were all very hungry. I think the server even brought cherries for each of them since the adults were drinking some drinks with cherries and the kids couldn't have any of them.

We ordered a few things for starters...the Triple Cheese Flatbread (I LOVE the flatbreads here) and the Spicy Kazan Roll. Everybody liked them all. I think there was another flatbread ordered that I did not try...maybe the wild mushroom? I can't recall, but I know it was all gone between the six adults.

I got another favorite...the Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli. I make this at home all the time and even my VERY picky DS11 LOVES it. So he also ordered himself a Goat Cheese Ravioli. Go figure....he also loved it but since he did not order anything else he was still hungry when he finished...so my FIL insisted on ordering him a second one...which he also ate!

I don't recall if there were other starters at our table, or maybe I was just too into my food. I know there were no complaints.

I probably could have skipped a meal, but I decided on the Grilled Pork Tenderloin and my MIL got the same. We both enjoyed it and the goat cheese polenta was VERY good with it. I maybe ate half of mine and DH had it a few days later in the room...still good. I'm sure my DH probably got the Beef or the Veal. I think I recall trying a little bit of it, which means it was beef. He didn't complain.

Afterwards I had NO room for dessert...and neither did DH but I know a few people did order some. They emptied their plates of that as well...so it must have been good.

Oh and my three kids HAD to get the kids' dessert sushi. DS 11 had it last trip and remembered it. He finished off his younger siblings portions.

Here he is in December 2009:

And this year:

(PHOTO COMING SOON!)



This is just a favorite restaurant of ours and it never disappoints...we will be back!