A Reservation for 13 Please! 5/27/07-6/2/07: 2 years later Liberty Inn, Raglan Rd.

[lovehoney]

Hey, I think I know that big round table! If it's the one I'm thinking of, we sat there on our first big family trip, back in 2000. We were a party of 13, too, but 1 of our 13 was in a high chair. That's probably why we all fit.

I'm really enjoying your reviews. We usually travel with a big group, too, and I'm always looking for hints. Keep 'em comin'.



Pat

143 days and counting . . . again!

The big table was right in the middle of the room. It was probably entertaining to watch us try and wrangle 7 kids around the characters. I think next time I would put all the kids on one side so the characters don't have to go to both sides of the table.

 

[lovehoney]

Great reviews - thanks so much for 'introducing' the cast Were the pizzas included on the dining plan or did you pay OOP?

We had to pay OOP for the pizzas. I think it cost us about $120. I'm not sure about the tip. Probably another $20. Really not too bad for 13 people. We had bottled water for drinks. We had a grocery run on the first day for breakfast items, water and gatorade. I think we spent $120 in groceries.

 

[Belle5]

Enjoying your review! We were a party of 13 in 2006. I thought the most difficult part of dining was that we often had to wait a really long time to be seated even with an ADR and we were split up a few times. You really don't make Garden Grill sound too appealing. I think we won't even consider it.

 

[lovehoney]

Enjoying your review! We were a party of 13 in 2006. I thought the most difficult part of dining was that we often had to wait a really long time to be seated even with an ADR and we were split up a few times. You really don't make Garden Grill sound too appealing. I think we won't even consider it.

Garden Grill was not my favorite but the kids loved it! This was the only place they met Chip and Dale. The kids especially loved that the restaurant rotated. We ate there on Memorial Day. We originally had reservations at Rose and Crown but when our party went to 14 they had no room. Garden Grill was available.

Here's a picture of the corner of our table. I cropped out the kids since they are not mine.

I did just find a picture of the adult dessert. I didn't remember taking it. Even though I didn't rave over the dessert, my niece ate all my berries and I managed to eat most of the puff pastry.

 

[lagunaseca]

Loving your dining report. Can't wait for more. Thank you!

 

[canwegosoon]

loving your report...esp. since we are going to be 13+ over Easter 08...feel free to PM me with any paticular advice(I would appericate it). We are staying in 3 studios at BWV...celebrating 4 birthdays too, a 5yo, 2-10yo's and a 73yo during that week. These are my target restaurants for TS

Concourse Steak House(early)
Cape May Cafe(or YC Grill)
Hoop Dee Do
Mama Melrose(FDP)
1900 Park Fare(dinner)

CS will depend if people in the party come in the parks(1 disabled/w/Down's syndrome)-but targets are

Pizzafari
Pecos Bill
Mexico CS or American
Pizza on the Broadwalk
Backlot Espress or other at MGM

 

[DisneyJo]

So the baked beans at FT aren't Heinz then Is someone being strangled by Goofy at GG?

 

[lovehoney]

So the baked beans at FT aren't Heinz then Is someone being strangled by Goofy at GG?

Well they might be Heinz and since I've never eaten Heinz beans before my unitiated palate may have confused them for something tasty.

Mickey was strangling DS4.

 

[lovehoney]

Loving your dining report. Can't wait for more. Thank you!

thanks!

 

[lovehoney]

Cinderella’s Royal Table Lunch

This is a pretty long review. I guess the 2 TS credits are making the review twice as long.

The kids were really looking forward to this lunch. I made reservations for 12 six months ago before we had 13 people in our party. DSFIL volunteered to sit this one out.

We had reservations for 12:20 and we arrived at 12:10. They ushered us in right away to see Cinderella. There were about 5 families in line before us. Since we were a party of 12 we had 3 picture packages. We decided to split it up into 3 families with DMIL in all of the pictures. The only problem was Dneph 5 who absolutely loves Cinderella got cold feet and wouldn’t go anywhere near her.

DSBIL tried to talk him into it and was getting really frustrated. I explained to DSBIL that sometimes we build things up in our minds and then when the real thing appears we just freeze. I told him to have DMIL talk to him. The teacher magic worked. She was able to carry him and get him in a picture. Don’t worry he is a very slight 5 year old.

We had to change our picture plans because it took awhile for DNeph 5 to come around. It was going to be me, DH, DS6, and DS3, then DSIL and her 4 girls and then everybody. Well DSBIL wasn’t really paying attention so he just popped himself into my family’s picture without his kid. I would suggest writing out how you plan on taking the pictures and handing it out to everyone beforehand and being a little more forceful if somebody pops in your picture.

We were taken upstairs to our table. It was on the opposite wall of the entrance. Our area was raised above the main floor and there were no windows. The back wall was all booth seats with chairs on the outside of the table. They seated all the children at one table (might have been combined) and the adults next to them at another booth/chair table. Between the two sets of tables we made an L shape.

As we walked in each child was given a sword or wand. As they were handing them out to our kids, Dneph5 didn’t want a sword. He wanted a wand. The Castmember gave him a double-take and said “Are you sure you want a wand?” All of the adults just started nodding yes. Of course when the girls found out you could get either/or we had all sorts of exchanges going on. When I counted later that night we ended up with 2 wands and 6 swords for 7 kids. Oops! Only the children with wands were given wishing stars. When I told the waitress she had a castmember come over (within 2 minutes) with a stack of stars. Can’t beat that Disney Magic!

The characters were Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle and the Fairy Godmother. Only the girls would gather for pictures. The boys took a picture with Snow White (first to visit the table) but then wouldn’t take anymore pictures. My DS3 was too busy eating to see princesses. DS6 was too busy playing his Nintendo. Dneph5 was eating and playing with the swords and wands.

The Dnieces got in trouble from me for ignoring the Fairy Godmother. They didn’t gather to get her picture. When she came back around I had them get in a picture and told them “It’s bad luck to dis the Fairy Godmother.”

The Dnieces in our group were dressed as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel and Jasmine. DNeph5 had a prince cape and was Prince Charming. DS3 had a pirate vest. Cap'n Jack at your service. DS6 said "No costumes for me!"

Dn4 just loves Aurora. She was in heaven when she met her. My DH fell in love with Snow White. He just couldn’t get over her helium voice.

Next up: An actual review of the food.

 

[lovehoney]

This is a dining review so I guess I should talk about the food. The kids had a choice of appetizer of chicken noodle soup or salad. Most ordered the salad. They then had the choice of hot dogs or chicken strips. I think there were more choices but our waitress was great and she offered these to the kids. (Side-note – Kathy was our waitress and she was amazing) I’m sure if they said neither she would have come up with another choice.

All the kids had a side of mashed potatoes and a side of green beans. It worked out great. The kids really enjoyed their food here. I didn’t taste anything, however the green beans looked crisp and fresh and there was not one drop of mashed potatoes leftover on any plate (Dn9 was helping others finish their potatoes ).

All the children had ice cream with chocolate sauce for dessert (except for DN4 who doesn’t eat chocolate – she had plain ice cream). A chocolate crown was on top. I ended up with two of those crowns. They were delicious. If you can wrangle one away from your kids do it.

The adults had the appetizer provided. It was cheese, some kind of chicken and deli meat with cheese. We were pretty busy with the kids. Nothing stood out as incredible. The adults ordered the Major Domo, the pan-seared salmon and the herb-crusted pork tenderloin.

The Major Domo was a favorite. The meat was simmered in a cabernet sauce that was dark, rich and had that hint of wine that just makes the sauce. The vegetables were crisp and flavorful. I love it when I have vegetables that still look and taste like vegetables and are not mushy. Everything was on top of creamy, rich mashed potatoes.

I tasted the salmon. I’m not a fan of salmon; it just tastes too fishy for me. My DSIL seemed to enjoy it. The risotto looked good. DSIL said the vegetables were good. My DH and DMIL had the pork tenderloin. She said it was overcooked. This seemed to be a theme of any pork ordered at WDW. I’m sure it must be some internal temperature rule that they must abide by.

The dessert for the adults was chocolate buckle with chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce - a little overload on chocolate. I ate the buckle and let the kids have my ice cream. The buckle was crunchy on the outside and gooey in the middle - a perfect combination for this wonderful dessert.

Here’s a pic with our foster croc Fauna and the chocolate buckle.

Overall we had a wonderful experience at CRT. It was so worth the 2 TS credits. Even though most people say to pay OOP here and use your credits elsewhere, it was just easier for us to use the credits.

Pros: The service was excellent!

Cons: Bathrooms are small and "9 steps down to the right."

 

[Busymom85]

Great reviews. Can't wait to read the rest.

 

[DisneyJo]

Great review of CRT we're going for lunch in August Good to know the kids food is good although one of mine will be off the adult menu but I expect she'll prefer the kids

 

[lovehoney]

I was going to post my Boma review separately but I've changed my mind. I'm just going to add it here.

My DH and I had date night at Boma while the rest of the crew stayed at the resort and ate leftover pizza and/or cereal. We were excited about eating at the world kid-free! Many thanks to my DSIL and DMIL for watching them while we were gone. I picked out something for both of them at the Animal Kingdom Lodge gift shop.

Boma

For this meal it was just the two of us plus one little foster croc. We were seated at a super small table for 2. It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten at such a small table. Our reservations were for 8:20 and we were probably seated by 8:35.

This is what we saw while we waited.

fuzzy giraffes (I need a steadier hand)

pink flamingos

and a croc!

Just to let you know I’m a little biased about Boma. I love this place . I love the atmosphere and the food. The room is decorated in dark woods, rope and African designs. The food is great. I’m more of a fan of the sides and starters than the entrées.

We started our meal off with cocktails. My husband had a beer and I had the Glowtini. The Glowtini was inspired by the YOMD. I can’t remember what was in it but it was very strong and very blue. The drink came with a blue glow cube. The kids are still playing with the cube. According to the waitress the cube is good for 8 continuous hours.

Here is a pic of my Glowtini with our foster croc Fauna.

Next up: appetizers and salad

 

[lovehoney]

My first stop was for hummus dips and salad. The hummus is served with what looks like pita chips. The chips are large chunks of toasted flat bread. There were three types of hummus. I can’t remember the flavors. I think one is black olive. They actually taste pretty similar to me. I really like the, I always get all three and eat every bite.

The salad was mixed field greens that are served at most of the WDW restaurants. I chose two dressings: mango vinaigrette and the chili cilantro. The mango was sweet and tangy – my favorite. The chili cilantro was tart but didn’t have too much of a chili bite. The cilantro flavor was smooth and not overpowering. I actually liked it when the mango and chili cilantro dressings mixed together. They made a great combo!

My next foray included soup, lentils, couscous and avocado salad. I had the chicken curry and the ginger carrot soup. The coconut chicken curry soup is one of my favorites. I always think it is a little too thick and glutinous for soup but the flavor is out-of-this-world. The not-so-spicy curry combined with the creamy sweet coconut makes a wonderful mixture. There is just enough spice to give it a kick but not a burn. The ginger carrot was very sweet and orange. I did not really taste much ginger, just a light hint of it.

The lentils were mixed with tomatoes and some other chopped vegetables. They were next to some crispy bread puffs that you are supposed to eat with the soups but I threw my lentils in one. It ended up being a very nice mixture of the crunchy with the soft lentils. The lentils had a Mediterranean flavor to them but on the bland side.

I also had the Avocado, Grapefruit, Papaya, Curry Cucumber Salad. The avocados were the perfect ripeness. Not so soft that they fell apart but soft enough to pleasantly melt in your mouth. The grapefruit and papaya provided a nice tart and sweet depth to this salad. It was supposed to be a curry salad but I really couldn’t taste any curry flavoring. It tasted more like a light vinaigrette.

The vegetable couscous was slightly bland, but a good starchy side dish.

part 3. The entrées, sides and desserts

 

[lovehoney]

My next stop was a perusal of the entrées and side. I had the prime rib with a spoonful of all three condiments. There was a bbq sauce, a mustard sauce and then another sauce of a pasty consistency with nuts in it. The mustard sauce was a nice balance of sweet and tart. Sorry I can’t remember the names of the condiments.

On this same plate I also had the saffron rice, a falafel ball with some unknown type of sauce, the slow cooked ribs, chicken corn cake, potatoes with Afritude, and pap (I think that is the orange stuff). The rice was bland. The falafel ball was not very spicy but the mayonnaise type sauce added a nice cool, sweet vinegar topping to the fried ball. The ribs fell off the bone and were sweet but just too fatty for my liking. The corn cake was thick and a little dry. The potatoes reminded me of fried breakfast potatoes at a Denny’s. The spices were just a little too ho hum. The pap tasted just like whipped sweet potatoes. All tasted okay but none were my favorites.

For dessert I had the mango tart, the zebra dome, the bread pudding, the fried banana dish and another banana bread pudding type dish. I didn’t like either of the bread pudding dishes. They were sweet but pretty tasteless except for the bananas. The zebra domes are a nice fluffy mousse round that is very popular here on the dis. I just think it is okay. The mango tart had a very nice smooth mango flavor. I think it was my favorite dessert. Of course I was so full by the time I had dessert that my judgment on these items may have been a bit harsh. I liked the mango tart the best.

Pros: the hummus dips
cons: the bread pudding

 

[wilma-bride]

Loving your reviews - CRT sounds good but I think my girls are probably past the 'princesses' thing and my littel boy is not into them at all.

Boma sounds wonderful though

 

[lovehoney]

Sunshine Seasons in the Land Pavilion at EPCOT

I was in charge of getting all seven kids meals and my DH was in charge of getting lunches for him and me. The other adults picked their own meals. DMIL and her DH ate on their own elsewhere.

The kids had the mac-n-cheese, make your own turkey sandwich and chicken legs with mashed potatoes. The sandwich station only had ham out for the kid’s sandwiches but Dnieces can’t eat pork so we requested the turkey – CM had no problem getting this for us. All of the kids wanted grapes but the chicken station only had apple sauce. We had to go over to the sandwich station to get grapes.

DSBIL ended up getting 3 different kids meals for Dneph 5. We first bought him mac n cheese using the dining plan and he didn’t want it. Then DSbil purchased him the chicken leg and potatoes. Well Dneph5 had a fit that the leg was touching the potatoes. We were able to wipe off the mashed potatoes and he ate his chicken leg. He wouldn’t touch the mashed potatoes. After the chicken leg he was still hungry so DSBIL went and purchased him another kid’s meal with the chicken leg.

The other kids ended up eating the extra mac-n-cheese and mashed potatoes, so nothing went to waste. The kid’s meals were just a tad small for DN9 and 8 so they had no problem finishing the extra food.

DsBil had the seared tuna. He said it was good. DSIL had the salmon – she said it was okay. I was really disappointed that they no longer had the flatbread meals. I was looking forward to it. That is why I had my DH pick out my meal; I couldn’t decide after I found out they didn’t have what I wanted

You cannot believe how upset I was when my husband came back with a grab-n-go tuna sandwich, a pre-packed salad, water and a cheesecake. The salad ended up being a snack credit. DH still doesn’t under the concept of the dining plan. I had assumed he would get me a combo meal, diet coke and a dessert. I was super hungry after getting all the kids food and by the time he got our food I was famished. I get really cranky when I’m hungry. Oh, and he got me cheesecake. We’ve been married almost 12 years - you think he would have figured out I’m lactose intolerant by now (okay that was a cheap shot toward my husband ; I eat dairy on occasion – I just can only handle a little dairy at a time.)

I opened up the salad and the lettuce was black and slimy in places. I was already hungry and furious about DH using a snack credit on a slimy salad. I stomped back to the register and complained, they said feel free to exchange it. The castmember was super nice and I asked if I could exchange for a fruit bowl. It was no problem. Kudos to the castmember for handling the hungry, crazy lady.

DMIL and DsFIL met up with us and they split my butterfinger cheesecake. They said it was delicious!

I finally get to my tuna salad sandwich. It was on a croissant with lettuce (not slimy) and tomato on the side. I took a bite and I was in heaven! The tuna salad was just as tasty as Columbia Harbor House and the buttery croissant just melted in my mouth. It was the best grab-n-go sandwich I’ve had in my life. I had thought it would be a dry, yucky sandwich. The fruit bowl was good as well. I did tell my husband how good it was and apologized for my anger. I really need to make sure I eat every couple of hours.

DH had the black forest ham sandwich. It was a very large sandwich so you don’t really need a side with this sandwich. DH recommends!

pros: sandwiches were great
cons: pre-packaged salads were slimy.

Next up: Hollywood and Vine Fantasmic Package

 

[Princess_Michelle]

You had chocolate buckle at CRT lunch?? On the menu it only lists the blueberry? Was there a change? I wasn't looking too forward to the bluberry buckle.....

 

[OKWMom]

Great reviews! We normally travel with a large party - minimum 8, maximum 15, so I know how difficult it is to schedule meals and especially to wrangle all the kids and adults for CS. It sounds like you did a great job.