Just back from our fabulous vacation at Disney. We were obviously one of the FEW who actually paid for the dinning plan (which I had to mention a few times during the trip to get better service). Here's our (DH, DS (5) and myself) review of our dinning (table service only) experience....
9/15 - Garden Grill at Epcot - 4:30 reservation. Just arrived this day, and by the time we arrived at the hotel after that aweful "magical express transportation" we were feeling anything but "magical". Got there about 4:15 and were seated by 4:30 (I think it was earlier, but I wasn't watching the clock). Dinner was fabulous. The service was great. It's famly style - salad, turkey, beef, potatoes (love these), bread, butter. My son took the mac and cheese with chicken fingers, but ended up just eating off of our plate of items anyways (which was fine). The characters were great - we saw each of them more than once - which was a big hit. What I didn't realize was that this restaurant rotates - it was a huge hit with my son. We took this reservation because we couldn't get into chef mickeys. We loved it, and would recommend it.
9/16 - Cap 'n Jacks - 7:10 reservation. We got downtown way to early - I think about 6 pm. So we wandered a bit (avoiding lego and World of Disney - wanted to do that after dinner) and got to Cap 'n Jacks at 6:30. Figured we could always grab a drink prior. Checked in at the hostess stand, told her that we were early - no problem. We got a table within 15 minutes - we were all loving that. DH had spinach and artichoke dip for appetizer, fettucini alfreado for main dish and raspberry swirl cheesecake for dessert. All of which were great. DS had clam chowder soup for appetizer, mac and cheese for dessert and fruit cup for dessert (although ended up eating most of DH cheesecake), oh and of course - pirate punch. I had crab cakes for appetizer, shrimp and liguini with lobster sauce for dinner (son ate 1/2 of my shrimps) and key lime pie for dessert. Everything was great. Service was good. I would recommend it.
9/17 - Hollywood and Vine Character Lunch - 11:40 am reservation. Apparently this is the first seating for lunch so there's no getting in early. When we got it, food was fabulous. The characters were awesome, and they really get the kids involved with the singing. The buffet was great for both DH and DS - I think they loved the dessert buffet the best! I would highly recomend this.
9/18 - Crystal Place - 7:50 pm reservation. Arrived prior to 7:50, but unlike the other night - there was no getting a table early. The service and the food were aweful. I thought something might be up, when they asked me at the reservation if we were on the dinning plan. The server was non-existant, and acted like we were a complete bother. The food looked as though it had been sitting since 5pm, and the desserts looked like they had been picked over and not freshened up the entire evening!! My DS did say that it was the best character dinning because of all of the interaction they did - with parades around the restaurant, etc. I'll admit, the character interaction was awesome, but compaired to Hollywood and Vine from the day before it wasn't even in the same ball park. I wouldn't recommend this at all!!
9/19 - Tony's Town Square - 6:10 pm reservation. I'm was hoping that the previous night's experience at the MK was a rarity and not the norm. Unfortuantley, given our experience with MK table service it IS the norm. Again we were asked if we had the dinning plan prior to being seated. When we were seated close to our reservation time. Our waiter however must not have wanted us to "camp" out in his section in any way shape or form. He took our appetizer plates prior to us being finished, was shocked when my son order fish for dinner, and then wanted to bring us dessert prior to us even finishing our dinner! My DH had spinach and artichoke dip for appetizer - which was good, but they didn't given enough bread to use with the dip, he had spegetti and meatballs for dinner, and the trio (canolli, trimisu, cheesecake - excuse my spelling here) for dessert. I had calamari for appetizer, baked ziti for dinner, and the same for dessert. The calamari was great. The baked ziti was bad - how you can mess this up I don't know. I would not recommend this.
9/20 - Spoodles - 5:10 pm reservation. This time when we checked in and they asked if we were on the dinning plan, I said yes, but we paid for it, so I hope the service isn't going to be poor. Got seated right away. Ordered "party beverages" aka alcohol for DH and myself and Pirate punch for DS. DS had soup for appetizer, chicken for dinner, and create your own sundae for dessert. Everything was fabulous. DH ordered 4 cheese flatbread for appetizer, hen for dinner, and chocolate postacho cake for dessert. He thought everything was great, although thought the hen was a little over cooked. I order the Mediterranean dips for appetizer, the beef kabobs for dinner and creme brule for desert. Everyting was awesome. I know that people don't talk much about spoodles on this board, but it was AWESOME. The food was good and the service was good (by the way, I did tip over and above at all the restaurants except for the MK dinning disasters). I would highly recommend this.
9/21 - Kona - 8:15 pm reservation. Again, when we checked in and they asked if we were on the dinning plan, I said yes, and followed it with, but we paid for it. We got there a bit early, but didn't get seated until our reservation time. The food here was fabulous as well. DH had potstickers for appetizer - which were good, filet mignon for dinner, chocolate lava cake for dessert. All were awesome. DS chose fish (swordfish) and make your own sundae for dessert, all were fabulous. I chose crab cakes for appetizer, filet for dinner and cheesecake for dessert - again everything was great. I would highly recommend this as well.
9/15 - Garden Grill at Epcot - 4:30 reservation. Just arrived this day, and by the time we arrived at the hotel after that aweful "magical express transportation" we were feeling anything but "magical". Got there about 4:15 and were seated by 4:30 (I think it was earlier, but I wasn't watching the clock). Dinner was fabulous. The service was great. It's famly style - salad, turkey, beef, potatoes (love these), bread, butter. My son took the mac and cheese with chicken fingers, but ended up just eating off of our plate of items anyways (which was fine). The characters were great - we saw each of them more than once - which was a big hit. What I didn't realize was that this restaurant rotates - it was a huge hit with my son. We took this reservation because we couldn't get into chef mickeys. We loved it, and would recommend it.
9/16 - Cap 'n Jacks - 7:10 reservation. We got downtown way to early - I think about 6 pm. So we wandered a bit (avoiding lego and World of Disney - wanted to do that after dinner) and got to Cap 'n Jacks at 6:30. Figured we could always grab a drink prior. Checked in at the hostess stand, told her that we were early - no problem. We got a table within 15 minutes - we were all loving that. DH had spinach and artichoke dip for appetizer, fettucini alfreado for main dish and raspberry swirl cheesecake for dessert. All of which were great. DS had clam chowder soup for appetizer, mac and cheese for dessert and fruit cup for dessert (although ended up eating most of DH cheesecake), oh and of course - pirate punch. I had crab cakes for appetizer, shrimp and liguini with lobster sauce for dinner (son ate 1/2 of my shrimps) and key lime pie for dessert. Everything was great. Service was good. I would recommend it.
9/17 - Hollywood and Vine Character Lunch - 11:40 am reservation. Apparently this is the first seating for lunch so there's no getting in early. When we got it, food was fabulous. The characters were awesome, and they really get the kids involved with the singing. The buffet was great for both DH and DS - I think they loved the dessert buffet the best! I would highly recomend this.
9/18 - Crystal Place - 7:50 pm reservation. Arrived prior to 7:50, but unlike the other night - there was no getting a table early. The service and the food were aweful. I thought something might be up, when they asked me at the reservation if we were on the dinning plan. The server was non-existant, and acted like we were a complete bother. The food looked as though it had been sitting since 5pm, and the desserts looked like they had been picked over and not freshened up the entire evening!! My DS did say that it was the best character dinning because of all of the interaction they did - with parades around the restaurant, etc. I'll admit, the character interaction was awesome, but compaired to Hollywood and Vine from the day before it wasn't even in the same ball park. I wouldn't recommend this at all!!
9/19 - Tony's Town Square - 6:10 pm reservation. I'm was hoping that the previous night's experience at the MK was a rarity and not the norm. Unfortuantley, given our experience with MK table service it IS the norm. Again we were asked if we had the dinning plan prior to being seated. When we were seated close to our reservation time. Our waiter however must not have wanted us to "camp" out in his section in any way shape or form. He took our appetizer plates prior to us being finished, was shocked when my son order fish for dinner, and then wanted to bring us dessert prior to us even finishing our dinner! My DH had spinach and artichoke dip for appetizer - which was good, but they didn't given enough bread to use with the dip, he had spegetti and meatballs for dinner, and the trio (canolli, trimisu, cheesecake - excuse my spelling here) for dessert. I had calamari for appetizer, baked ziti for dinner, and the same for dessert. The calamari was great. The baked ziti was bad - how you can mess this up I don't know. I would not recommend this.
9/20 - Spoodles - 5:10 pm reservation. This time when we checked in and they asked if we were on the dinning plan, I said yes, but we paid for it, so I hope the service isn't going to be poor. Got seated right away. Ordered "party beverages" aka alcohol for DH and myself and Pirate punch for DS. DS had soup for appetizer, chicken for dinner, and create your own sundae for dessert. Everything was fabulous. DH ordered 4 cheese flatbread for appetizer, hen for dinner, and chocolate postacho cake for dessert. He thought everything was great, although thought the hen was a little over cooked. I order the Mediterranean dips for appetizer, the beef kabobs for dinner and creme brule for desert. Everyting was awesome. I know that people don't talk much about spoodles on this board, but it was AWESOME. The food was good and the service was good (by the way, I did tip over and above at all the restaurants except for the MK dinning disasters). I would highly recommend this.
9/21 - Kona - 8:15 pm reservation. Again, when we checked in and they asked if we were on the dinning plan, I said yes, and followed it with, but we paid for it. We got there a bit early, but didn't get seated until our reservation time. The food here was fabulous as well. DH had potstickers for appetizer - which were good, filet mignon for dinner, chocolate lava cake for dessert. All were awesome. DS chose fish (swordfish) and make your own sundae for dessert, all were fabulous. I chose crab cakes for appetizer, filet for dinner and cheesecake for dessert - again everything was great. I would highly recommend this as well.
