Eat at ALL the buffets! 8/13-8/19

[wdwpirates]

Great reviews so far!! Loved seeing the Garden Grill pics and reading your thoughts on that meal. We haven't been there in years and made a ressie for our upcoming trip. Gotta say I'm looking forward to it now!! Tusker breakfast has to be my favorite breakfast on property. So good. Such a huge and varied selection. YUM!

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[Elevationist]

Hi, Gretchen! I'm following! Great reviews, great photos!

I'm sooooo glad to hear you had such a wonderful experience at Garden Grill as a solo traveler! I nearly cancelled my reservation next month, because I was worried about not being able to enjoy it by myself.

About the salad there... Do you remember what all was in it? Is it possible to order it without certain things? I'm horribly picky about veggies, and hate radishes, cucumbers, and onions.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Subscribing to your thread!

My cousin is finishing up her AuD at PITT this year - Good luck with yours too!!

Can't wait to read all about your trip.

Yay for fellow AuDs! In addition to this dining thread, I also have a separate TR going, the link is in my sig.

Tusker House looks SO good! You have definitely convinced me to go there on our next trip! Restaurantosaurus looks pretty good too- I may have to try the chicken sandwich as a light lunch!

Loving your reviews and can't wait for more!

It was great! I'd definitely go again. I think the quality and variety at Restaurantosaurus has definitely improved since I last ate there a couple of years ago.

Great reviews so far!! Loved seeing the Garden Grill pics and reading your thoughts on that meal. We haven't been there in years and made a ressie for our upcoming trip. Gotta say I'm looking forward to it now!! Tusker breakfast has to be my favorite breakfast on property. So good. Such a huge and varied selection. YUM!

Can't wait to read more!!

I hope your experience is as great as mine was! I liked Tusker House, but I think my favorite breakfast is still Crystal Palace-my mom and I go there almost every trip we take together.

Hi, Gretchen! I'm following! Great reviews, great photos!

I'm sooooo glad to hear you had such a wonderful experience at Garden Grill as a solo traveler! I nearly cancelled my reservation next month, because I was worried about not being able to enjoy it by myself.

About the salad there... Do you remember what all was in it? Is it possible to order it without certain things? I'm horribly picky about veggies, and hate radishes, cucumbers, and onions.

Don't worry about being by yourself. All of the character meals I went to, there were always other guests nearby willing to take my photos. If you can, find a Mom-they'll take great pics like you're their own child!

As for the salad, upon examining the picture closer, it looks like there were radishes, cucumbers, and onions, as well as tomatoes, egg, and bacon. I don't see why they couldn't modify it for you, as they have to be able to make adjustments for people with dietary restrictions or allergies. I would let them know at the podium though, and notify your server as well.

 

[hckymominMI]

Loving your reviews. Tusker House looks so good I may consider it for our next trip.

 

[Elevationist]

Don't worry about being by yourself. All of the character meals I went to, there were always other guests nearby willing to take my photos. If you can, find a Mom-they'll take great pics like you're their own child!

YAY! I love this advice, thank you! I have one other character meal booked, Tusker House, so I'll apply this concept there as well!

As for the salad, upon examining the picture closer, it looks like there were radishes, cucumbers, and onions, as well as tomatoes, egg, and bacon. I don't see why they couldn't modify it for you, as they have to be able to make adjustments for people with dietary restrictions or allergies. I would let them know at the podium though, and notify your server as well.

See, now a tomato, eggs, bacon, and ranch salad is RIGHT up my alley! I will certainly ask them to leave out the other stuff. Thank you!!

 

[disnut1149]

Enjoying your reviews. Thanks for sharing!

 

[rachel09985]

Bummer that disneyfoodblog didn't email you back! The mickey waffles look plentiful and delicious!!

I really liked that panna cotta stuff at Boma! I don't think we had strawberry and mint though, I am not sure what flavor it was.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Loving your reviews. Tusker House looks so good I may consider it for our next trip.

Thanks for reading! Definitely give it a try. It's a few dollars more than Crystal Palace, though I'm not really sure why, but the benefit of getting early is totally worth it!

YAY! I love this advice, thank you! I have one other character meal booked, Tusker House, so I'll apply this concept there as well!

See, now a tomato, eggs, bacon, and ranch salad is RIGHT up my alley! I will certainly ask them to leave out the other stuff. Thank you!!

I see you're staying at Pop, and next year POFQ. Two of my favorite resorts, and I've stayed solo at both-although POFQ was only for one night. Is Belle your favorite princess too?

Enjoying your reviews. Thanks for sharing!

Glad you like them, thanks for reading!

Bummer that disneyfoodblog didn't email you back! The mickey waffles look plentiful and delicious!!

I really liked that panna cotta stuff at Boma! I don't think we had strawberry and mint though, I am not sure what flavor it was.

Yeah, I was kind of bummed. I was hoping I might get my 15 minutes of fame! As far as the panna cotta, the flavor and texture were weird. I think it was DFB that actually called it milk jello; in their review it was passionfruit flavored.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Old Port Royale
Saturday morning I chose another kid’s meal from the breakfast. This time it was Mickey waffles, with the same sides as two days prior.

Again, I was there early, before 7:45am, so had no trouble finding a seat at all. The waffles were good, but come on, has anyone ever had a bad Mickey waffle?!

After a very hot morning at Magic Kingdom, I returned to the resort for lunch around noon. My selection was the Royale Sandwich, based on Jack Spence’s (from allears) recommendation. However, this seems to have disappeared from the menu since last week! This is the description: Turkey, Ham, Salami, Roast Beef, Provolone, Lettuce, Tomato, and Red Pepper Ranch Spread on Foccacia Bread. I asked for house made chips, but pasta salad was also an option.

This was a good sandwich but it was massive. I could barely eat half of it! One of the things I liked about the OPR food court was the soft serve ice cream machine. I didn’t take a picture, but I think I chose twist, and there were chocolate and butterscotch sauces to choose from.

1900 Park Fare-Grand Floridian
This was my first time eating dinner at 1900 Park Fare; I’d done breakfast there in March 2012 and thought it was just okay. Since I was going back to MK after this meal, I parked at the TTC. Well, then the tram sat for like 10 minutes before going up to the monorails, then the monorail was stopped at the Poly for another few minutes. I pretty much ran into the GF…and saw a bridal party in the lobby that I creepily took a picture of.

My ADR was at 4:45, and I took a picture of the sign at 4:47.

There was pretty much no wait to take my picture in front of the mural.

And as soon as that was done, my table was ready…and it was the exact same table I was seated at the last time!

First plate was a mixed greens salad with ranch dressing and croutons, potato salad, coconut carrot raisin salad, and a dinner roll.

The salad was just a salad and I did not care for the coconut carrot raisin salad at all. It was just too sweet, I think. The potato salad was great and the dinner roll…I have no idea what was different about this roll but I swear it was the best thing I’d ever tasted!

Next course was a little more hearty. I had a bowl of potato casserole, which was yummy…

And a bowl of mashed potatoes, which I topped with Guinness Stew. This was way more filling than I had anticipated!

Prince Charming and Cinderella waltzing:

Drizella found a husband!

Cinderella stopped by around 5:30.

Followed immediately by Prince Charming.

I went on to my main plate: a slice of some type of bread, pasta alfredo, another awesome roll, a potsticker, striploin, and vegan noodle salad. All of it was very good, except the noodle salad. It was cold, which isn’t what I expect from that type of noodle.

And a bowl of Strawberry Soup, because you can't eat here and NOT get some!

Ten minutes later, Lady Tremaine came by. She asked if I was there to babysit and I said no, I was there by myself. She goes, “Oh, I wish I could be here by myself but I need a babysitter for my children.” My reply was, “Really? Do they need babysitting?” And in a perfect moment of timing the step -sisters start yelling across the restaurant to her about each other. She just looked at me and went, “Yes, this is why I need a babysitter!”

Drizella dropped in a few minutes later. I love this picture!

And then Anastasia. I told her she was my favorite step-sister. She asked what it was about her that I loved so much and my answer was that she has red hair like me. So we took a sassy ginger photo-she said she’d been working on her sass!

She also drew in her little hair ornament on the cartoon picture of her that was on the autograph card because it wasn’t there and she “needed it”.

Finally, some mini desserts to finish up. A rice crispy treat (standard, but good), cheesecake and a fruit tart (both delicious), a key lime tart (not so great, it was in a chocolate shell and I don’t love meringue), and carrot cake (the best part of which was the little decorative pearls).

Sylvia was my server here and she was constantly checking on me and always made sure my drink was full. This was another great meal with some fantastic character interaction!

Up Next: Old Port Royale x 2 (again), & Wolfgang Puck Express

 

[vettegirl]

Love the reviews!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[weswife]

Great review! Your pics are awesome!

I love the GF! We plan to eat at 1900 Park Fare this year. We did eat there a few years ago and my family enjoyed it! The step sisters were so much fun.

 

[princess aleya]

I'm really enjoying your reviews!!!!

 

[happy2012]

Enjoying your review!!! We missed you by a few days.

 

[HeidiGW]

Great job on the reviews! Looks like you had a lot of fun!

 

[bellebookworm9]

Love the reviews!

Thanks!

Great review! Your pics are awesome!

I love the GF! We plan to eat at 1900 Park Fare this year. We did eat there a few years ago and my family enjoyed it! The step sisters were so much fun.

Thanks! I think the "bad" characters can be more fun to interact with because they have a little bit more leeway in the way they can act.

I'm really enjoying your reviews!!!!

Glad you like them!

Enjoying your review!!! We missed you by a few days.

Oh, darn, I love meeting DIS friends.

Great job on the reviews! Looks like you had a lot of fun!

Thanks, yes it was a lot of fun!

 

[bellebookworm9]

Old Port Royale
Sunday I threw all my plans out the window and slept in, making my way to OPR after 11am. Of course, breakfast was no longer being served but the Grab ‘n’ Go section has plenty of fruit, pastry, bagel, and muffin options to keep you satisfied throughout the day. I chose a cheese Danish and a container of pineapple.

Not much to say about this, actually. It was a pastry and fruit and it’s hard to go wrong with that!

Wolfgang Puck Express-Downtown Disney Marketplace
Around 1:30, I decided to brave the parking and traffic mess that is Downtown Disney at the moment in order to get some lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express. I parked across the street in the Casting building lot, and then it was a very short walk across Buena Vista Drive, where I found myself between Basin and World of Disney.

WPE was busy, but the line was pretty short and I was able to find a table without too much trouble. For the first time I ordered the Macaroni and Cheese.

OH MY GOD, WHY HAVE I NEVER ORDERED THIS BEFORE?! It was so good! It was just perfect, everything a mac n cheese dish should be. And the slightly crunchy breadcrumb topping was the proverbial cherry on top.

For dessert, I picked another first here, the Vanilla Bean Cheesecake. While I’ve never met a cheesecake I didn’t like, this honestly paled in comparison to the main course. This was almost a bit to soft; I prefer my cheesecakes to have a more dense quality.

Old Port Royale
PB and I met up at OPR around 6:45 for dinner. I ordered the Jerk Marinated Chicken, with cornbread, mashed potatoes, and a green bean/veggie medley.

PB ordered almost the same thing, but his meat option was pork rather than chicken. He started eating before I was able to get a picture. Normally he knows better but he had just come off a 21-hour shift and was super hungry and tired. The chicken was delicious and the potatoes were very good as well. The cornbread was kind of dry and not very sweet. PB ate my veggies in addition to his own so they must have been good.

My dessert here was this cute little Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

It was very tasty and perfectly moist-definitely give it a try if you’re at this resort!

 

[gericoronado]

Oh my gosh! Just love reading your reviews and looking at the photos. Now I MUST go back and read ALL your trip and food reviews. You have a new fan!

 

[Elevationist]

WPE was busy, but the line was pretty short and I was able to find a table without too much trouble. For the first time I ordered the Macaroni and Cheese.

OH MY GOD, WHY HAVE I NEVER ORDERED THIS BEFORE?! It was so good! It was just perfect, everything a mac n cheese dish should be. And the slightly crunchy breadcrumb topping was the proverbial cherry on top.

That's it, I'm sold. I was very seriously considering trying WPE for lunch on the last day of my upcoming trip, before starting my drive home. I've been looking at this very same dish and going "Hmmm. Maybe." But after a review like that? MUST. EAT. IT. So thanks for settling that for me!

 

[Ears2You]

Thanks for this dining review! I am really enjoying it. I see that you are a future Au.D. I am an Au.D. myself and have been practicing for over 7 years

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

Enjoying your reviews!