BOYS MEET WORLD... NEW! Crystal Palace review on p. 6

[kahluacream]

Thanks for thinking of Dash, SwankyBeth. The nurse said that his temperature was normal, and he ended up having so much fun at AK. The morning rain seemed to keep the crowds down and cooled things off for us, too. It was a great day!

 

[SandraVB79]

I must have seen you going to Restaurantosaurus, because I have been waiting at the park entrance for about an hour in the rain that day!! (yeah, stupid hotel shuttle drops you off that early)

I was the one in white t-shirt not wearing a poncho... green of envy of those who had breakfast-with-Donald ADRs!

 

[CrzyforPiglet]

Love the reviews! We haven't been to WCC for about 5 years but reading your review made me want to go back - today! Alas, I'll have to wait a little over a year to make that happen but it will definitely been in my plans. We were also thinking of Donald's Breakfastosaurus which doesn't sound like the best we could do but not the worst meal out there. We've never done it before and will have a 2 year old ourselves when we go again so I think we'll go for it.

Thanks again!

 

[richard_andmel]

Great reviews. Thanks for sharing.

 

[janets]

Because of Zurgswife, we made sure we had Bobby Joe for our server in February for ds8's birthday dinner. It was hands down the best meal we've ever had. He is absolutely the best server at WCC. When we went back in April, we had another server who was training. While a very nice woman, no special "character" behavior and she even mixed up some of our order. The supervising server quickly corrected it and I'm not one to get stressed, especially at WCC, so we were all very cool and easy about the whole thing. But w/o Bobby Joe, it's just not the same fun.

I also heard from the supervising server that due to some customer complaints, Bobby Joe was toning down his whole routine. What a shame! People go to WCC specifically for the interaction and to think patrons just didn't "get it" and therefore the best server had to tone himself down just upsets me. I could understand if this happened at CG or V&A (which it never would) but WCC is a "theme" restaurant. Too bad people get so easily offended.

Kimball, I know you and the family are going back during free dining (you'll be there shortly before we will) so when you see Bobby Joe, send regards from us. He probably won't remember us (so many guests to serve) but when we were there for ds8's birthday the first weekend of February, he did a song/dance for the men in the restaurant and while dancing across the room, tripped over a high chair and made a spectacular crash onto the floor. Popped up like it was part of the routine and kept going. As far as I was concerned, it was priceless. He also brought all the little girls in the restaurant over to our table to sing to ds8, as well as brought out 2 birthday desserts so that ds3 wouldn't feel left out. You can be assured my tip was well over 20% that night.

 

[Grumpy'n'Goofy]

GREAT reviews!!!

Do nicer-than-regular people visit Disney World or does being in Disney World just make regular people nicer???

I honestly think it's a little of both, we've witnessed some wonderful "niceness" at WDW that you just don't find in other places.

I sure hope Dash got over his sickness...

 

[SheenaXena21]

Great reviews! We didn't like the food at DB. Off day, I guess. Glad you all had a better experience.

 

[luciloo]

Great Reviews, can't wait to read more

 

[LK03]

I am absolutely loving your reviews over here! You should write children books, so much detail, you feel as if you are there with Little Mickey!

 

[tinagirl]

Please Please post more.

These are awesome!

 

[kahluacream]

May 9, 2006
Tusker House (Lunch)

Tucked away inside the Animal Kingdom’s version of Africa, we found a cool and quiet spot to graze: Tusker House. The kids and I sat down while DH went to grab our grub. I should mention here that the dining plan really threw poor DH for a loop. For some reason, this man who can manage multi-million dollar deals in the office had a hard time differentiating between what constituted a snack credit versus a dessert. Counter service??? Table service??? The lingo just didn’t seem to jive with my better half.

Fortunately, the CMs at Tusker House were as patient as they were friendly. They explained exactly what the dining plan covered, and even made sure that he included our desserts! DH headed for our table with a perfect assortment of drinks, entrees, kids’ meals, and sweets. He done good!

If you’ve been following along, you might have noticed that Dash and Little Mickey always order the same thing. Although their personalities are as different as night and day, they are best buddies who like to be “a match” in just about everything they do! So when Dash asked for mac ‘n cheese, it was a pretty safe bet that Little Mickey would want the same. Much to Little Mickey’s delight, the kids’ meal included tiny Mickey Mouse-shaped cheese crackers. Dash called them “hidden Mickeys” because they were hiding in his lunch! The boys were too full for their applesauce, but mysteriously found enough room for chocolate cake. Hmmmm…

As for the “grown-up food,” Tusker House didn’t disappoint. I tried the turkey wrap with corn chowder, while DH had the fried chicken sandwich with fries. A few bites of the chocolate cake completed our lunch; it was very rich. We didn’t realize until watching a Tusker House segment on a Food Network special after returning home that the rotisserie chicken probably would have been a better choice. It looked so good that I actually experienced post-trip entrée envy!!!!

While we were finishing up our lunch, DH leaned over and lowered his voice. “Hon,” he asked. “Why do you think that guy over there keeps taking pictures of his food?” This is when I had to explain to DH all about the DIS boards, and how people post pictures of Disney food to help others decide where to eat. I told him that this seemingly odd man was probably just one of my peeps from the DIS! DH just shook his head and looked at me in disbelief. So, if you were photographing your entire meal at Tusker House around 11:30 on Tuesday, May 9th…. We saw you!


Our ratings for Tusker House:
Fast- A (Awesome CMs!)
Food- B (Good food… should’ve ordered the rotisserie chicken, though!)
Fun- B (No real entertainment or fun factor here, but the kids were happy and this was a convenient stop after Kilimanjaro Safari.)

Next up: Can you guess where we ended up when we let the kids decide our fate for dinner???

 

[notnothin]

This is a great review. It sounds like you all had a wonderful vacation!

 

[SandraVB79]

While we were finishing up our lunch, DH leaned over and lowered his voice. “Hon,” he asked. “Why do you think that guy over there keeps taking pictures of his food?” This is when I had to explain to DH all about the DIS boards, and how people post pictures of Disney food to help others decide where to eat. I told him that this seemingly odd man was probably just one of my peeps from the DIS! DH just shook his head and looked at me in disbelief. So, if you were photographing your entire meal at Tusker House around 11:30 on Tuesday, May 9th…. We saw you!

TG it was a guy, otherwise, it would have been me!!!

PS: The salmon is DELICIOUS at Tusker House!!!

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent review ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[stacy347]

Awesome reviews, thanks so much for sharing!


We were watching that same Food Network show that featured Tusker House recently and as soon as we saw that food, we decided to switch our CS on AK day from Pizzafari to Tusker House ~ we can't wait to try it!!

 

[clhcpaca]

Great Reviews

Tusker House is one of my favorite counter service meals---both the chicken and salmon are fantastic. Plus, It is air-conditioned

Cindy

 

[phisigprincess]

The Hidden Mickeys in his lunch is too cute!!

 

[lissawynn]

Great reviews! I can totally relate to your entree envy. My DH gets this all the time when he orders something and what I've picked always seems better to him. I had a terrible case of sandwich envy on our last trip to Earl of Sandwich. My sister got the Chicken Florentine (sp?) and I had the mozzerella, tomato, and basil. No comparison there. Her sandwich kicked my sandwich's butt.
I also love the reference to Swiper. I'm going to be taking the Rescue Pack on my July trip.

 

[carolinagirl]

Enjoying the reviews....subbing!

 

[kahluacream]

After a long break (sorry!), I'm back with another review.

Still Tuesday, May 9th
Dinner at Roaring Forks (Wilderness Lodge Counter Service)

Our original plan for dinner at ‘Ohanas got scrapped by the dynamic duo, Little Mickey and his big brother Dash. They absolutely LOVED everything about the Wilderness Lodge, and begged us to have dinner and pool time at the hotel because they didn’t want to leave. Ever. So we did something that goes completely against my obsessive-compulsive nature…. We cancelled our ADR and just winged it!!!

When we entered Roaring Forks at 5:30, the newly refurbished restaurant looked more like a ghost town. If you don’t count a few pesky flies buzzing around the tables, we had the joint to ourselves. We looked around and took in the rustic feel of the place. In keeping with the “wilderness” resort theme, we noticed a slate floor and stone-covered walls. It was so dark in there that Little Mickey asked if we were eating in a cave!

As for the eats, the menu featured typical food-court fare (think pizza, cheeseburgers, chicken strips) as well as a few updated sandwiches (turkey and brie, roast beef and blue cheese, grilled veggies on multigrain bread). There were also large glass cases filled with plenty of options for snacks and dessert. Our boys wanted to skip dinner and just sample the large cookies and Mickey rice krispies (or is it rice krispy???) treats… It spells y-u-m-m-y either way for my kids!

Time to place our order. It went something like this:


Me- What would you boys like to eat?
Dash- A hot dog.
Me- They don’t have hot dogs.
Dash- Grilled cheese, please.
Me- Nope.
Dash- Well, do they have ANYTHING for five year-olds?
Me- Hmmmm…I see a four year-old menu and a six-year old menu, but it looks like the fivers are our of luck. Sorry. No food for you!
Dash- Confused look, then big brown eyes start to fill with tears… Uh-oh!
Me- I’m just kidding, sweetie. They have chicken nuggets.
Dash (now excited)- With a Happy Meal toy?!?!
Little Mickey- I want a Happy Meal toy! I want a Happy Meal toy!

You see, it wasn’t starting off so well. My little junk-food junkies ended up with kids meals consisting of chicken nuggets, apple sauce, and fries. They started with the fries, took about one bite of the apple sauce, and then refused to touch their entree. Roaring Forks chicken nuggets got two big thumbs down from the dynamic duo. Apparently, they just weren’t up to the impossibly high standards of my nugget connoisseurs. DH wasn’t overly impressed with his cheeseburger either. What a bunch of whiners!

As for me, I had a delicious sandwich. I’d highly recommend the roast beef and blue cheese on focaccia bread. I could have eaten two... or three. No more size 6 for me! Seriously, it was sooooo good.

Here’s how we rated Roaring Forks:
Food: C- (I was the only one who liked my food!)
Fast: A (for dinner around 5:30)
Note: We also grabbed breakfast there one morning around 8. The place was packed, and the line almost wrapped around the place. D rating for “fast” in the morning.
Fun: C (No entertainment value whatsoever… It’s just a quick & convenient place to grab a bite!)

Next up: Lunch at the Magic Kingdom with a prime table for people-watching… Can you guess where?