Family Dining:A joint report by mom and son w/pics *11/7 Complete

[SmallWorld71]

On Day 2 we were on hand at Epcot for the opening ceremonies.
The mandatory Spaceship Earth photo:

After hauling ourselves all over Future World and hitting the rides we headed over to WS for some culture and food. (A bowl of cereal in the hotel room doesn't go very far.)
Our 1st stop was Canada where the kids picked up their masks.

Donald also grabbed some kind of maple/ chocolate candy bar which we shared. Yummy, but didn't go very far.

We headed to Great Britain. By now, we were famished, but before we could get food we saw these guys come out and had to watch.

After the show, we got our famished selves 2 orders of fish 'n' chips w/ drinks and shortbread cookies from the Yorkshire County Fish Shop which we shared. I was lucky enough to snag some seating in the shade. On a scale of 1 to 5 we all rated this a 3. Perfectly edible, but nowhere near as good as my grandfather or Donald can make. We would get it again if that is where we happened to be, but we wouldn't go out of our way for it.

We continued around WS and stopped for Kaki Gori in Japan. The kids each got a rainbow flavored one. The green is honeydew, the orange is tangerine, and according to Allears, the red is strawberry but, Bambi says he thinks there was cherry as well. Bambi says these were very good on a hot summer day. I will caution you though, Alice made quite a mess with it as the shaved ice kept falling in her lap in the stroller. Here is Bambi with his Kaki Gori:

When we got to China, we spotted this guy all alone so we got to hang out for a while with him.

While we were gone, Donald got himself "some kind of Mongolian Beef Sandwich" at Lotus Blossom Cafe which he enjoyed. He also got some red bean ice cream for everyone to try which only Bambi and Donald2 enjoyed.

Our last food stop was in Norway at the Kringla Bakeri og Cafe where we tried the School Bread. Pretty good, but too sweet in our opinion and we only ate about 1/3 of it. (I also think the heat was hurting our appetites.) Donald also got a piece of Strawberry Cheesecake we he thought was great. I had a taste and liked it fine.
School Bread:

Strawberry Cheesecake:

We were a little disappointed that we didn't try more foods in World Showcase, but the heat was really getting to us. Hopefully, we'll get back to WS some day in less than 90 degree temps. We did have good appetites for Cinderella's Gala Feast though.

Here are the kids, happy to be in air conditioned Mexico:

Thanks to everyone who is still reading! Bambi and I appreciate your kind words.

 

[my3disneygirls]

Your children are so cute! They have the most amazing eyes.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Your children are so cute! They have the most amazing eyes.

Thanks for the nice compliment. Bambi has very long eye lashes and when he was a baby many older ladies used to doubt me when I said he was a boy. One actually insisted I must be wrong! Sheesh! I was the one changing his diapers.

 

[KimAshton]

Thanks for the nice compliment. Bambi has very long eye lashes and when he was a baby many older ladies used to doubt me when I said he was a boy. One actually insisted I must be wrong! Sheesh! I was the one changing his diapers.

You should have held him out and go you want to change his diaper

 

[SmallWorld71]

You should have held him out and go you want to change his diaper

 

[my3disneygirls]

Thanks for the nice compliment. Bambi has very long eye lashes and when he was a baby many older ladies used to doubt me when I said he was a boy. One actually insisted I must be wrong! Sheesh! I was the one changing his diapers.

 

[SmallWorld71]

This was the day we had our O.K. Sci-Fi lunch at a very crowded MGM. The plan was for CS for dinner. This was good because we arrived back at our hotel tired and cranky and probably could not have handled a table service. Anyway, after a nice long swim we were feeling much better and decided we had enough energy to head to Downtown Disney. We also had some relatives who were down visiting in another part of Florida and they drove over to POR to visit with us and then join us at Downtown Disney.
*Side Note - When I called the front desk to see if it was O.K. if we had visitors from out of town they said that was fine and they were able to park their car no problem at POR. I know this can be an issue at the deluxe resorts because of their close proximity to the parks.

Anyway, the weather was cooperating so we all decided to take the boat to Downtown Disney. Here are my kids on the boat with the couple's 8 year old daughter we'll call Daisy. You can see Alice with her thumb in her mouth. She only does this when she's exhausted. She really needed a nap, but there was no way she was going to let the "big" kids do stuff without her.

The boat ride was quite nice. It is a little long, but I have found the ride to DD to be long by bus from other resorts because of the traffic. This was a pleasant change.

I had suggested WP because I knew they had a good variety and I figured there would be something for everyone as I wasn't sure of what kinds of food our guests enjoyed. I took this picture on the way to the restaurant. DD is full of such fun photo ops.

On to the food. There were plenty of people there but we were able to give our orders quickly and had no trouble finding outside seating. One nice thing about WP is they give you a card with your # on it and bring your food to your table so there is not a lot of the standing in line. Instead you get to relax while eating.

Minnie and Daisy's mother - We each had the Chinois Salad which allears describes as "fresh Asian vegetables, sliced pan-roasted chicken breast, crispy wontons & Wolfgang's famous honey mustard dressing."
This was delicious! I was looking for something light after that burger and sundae earlier and this was the perfect choice. It was a huge portion also. It could have been a meal for 2 and neither one of us was able to finish ours.

Chinois Chicken Salad

Donald - Warm Barbecue Chicken Sandwich - "Sliced Chicken Breast in sweet & tangy bbq sauce with melted provolone, tomato and red onions."
He really liked this. He did not care for the chips that came with it, but thought the sandwich was delicious.

Donald2 - Spicy Chicken Pizza - He really enjoyed this. It had quite a kick to it but he ate every bite. *Side note - when he was little he used to shovel in the salsa and then cry because he didn't know why his tongue hurt.

Bambi and Alice - Both had the kids' cheese pizza. (I didn't tell Alice there was Mac&Cheese on the menu) Alice did a good job on this. Bambi says he liked it.

Daisy had chicken strips with fries. This was a huge portion and she shared it with her father. It was your standard fare and they both liked it.

Dessert - We got some cookies which we took to go. We also tried the Creme Brulee which was very good, but at this point we were all too full to eat much of it.

Bottom Line: This place had great food for a CS. We had 8 people and we all enjoyed our food. The portions were big and could probably be shared. We will definitely be back!

After shopping we headed to Goofy's Candy Co. where the kids got the create your own marshmallows. Although we used snack credits, they were not very expensive and the kids had fun deciding what to put on them. Here are pictures of Donald2 and Bambi's. I don't have a picture of Alice's. Shh! Don't tell. The kids snacked on these for days.

Bambi says that there is lots of different kinds of candy here and that every kid should go!

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

These are some awesome reviews and the pics really make it!! Keep it up Smallworld71

 

[SmallWorld71]

These are some awesome reviews and the pics really make it!! Keep it up Smallworld71

and thank-you to everyone who is still with us. Hopefully we will get this report wrapped up this week. I didn't mean for it to take so long. Ah, the best laid plans...... Sadly, I don't have any more food pics so I will continue to throw in other pics that are somewhat relavant. I think pictures really help break up the text. I always thought that reading text books in college would be much better with pretty pictures.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Although it wasn't in our original plans, we headed back to MGM this day. The kids were disappointed that they hadn't had the chance to meet some of the characters they had been hoping to see here. It was the day after an eveningEMH so the crowds were much lighter, less than 1/2, what they had been the day before. Live and learn I guess!

When we got hungry we decided to head to Pizza Planet for lunch.

Donald had the Junkyard Meal Deal (veggie pizza and salad)
Donald2 had the Woody's Meal Deal (pepperoni pizza and salad)
Bambi, Alice and I shared a Buzz's Meal Deal (cheese pizza and salad) as well as an additional cheese pizza
We all had cookies for dessert (Chocolate chip and sugar)

Even though it was only 4CS, we had more than enough food and ended up taking most of the cookies to go.

Bottom Line:
Minnie - I've eaten her several times over the years and although it is only pizza, the quality is consistent. It's a great CS if you have Toy Story fans with you. While Donald2 and I ordered the food, Donald, Alice and Bambi found us some seats upstairs with a nice window view. The nice thing about eating upstairs is that you can eat without the kids being distracted by all the video games. The bathrooms are also upstairs. I'm sure we'll be back.

Bambi - The pizza was good at Pizza Planet. I liked that it looked like the Pizza Planet from Toy Story.

Some of the reasons we were back at MGM: (Thrown in for good measure.)

Left to do:
Day5 - Animal Kingdom: Frozen treats and Pizzafari
Day6- Breakfast from Riverside Mill and using up all those snack credits!

 

[winniethepoohsmom]

Great update! Nice pics! It sounds like a nice day, your children are cute! That sandwich sounds good at WP. Linda

 

[sandym718]

Great reviews!! Nice job!!

I know what you mean about Bambi. My son has very long eyelashes, too, is quite petite with kind of delicate features and has naturally curly hair (that is now always buzzed, he's 5 now). When he was a baby, people constantly thought he was a girl. The worst was about 10 months old. No hair cut yet and his curls were starting to get a little long in back. DH took him to the feed store, the little guy was wearing a "Daddy's Little Boy" t-shirt. Cashier actually ARGUED with DH that he had to be a girl. He thought the same thing- what, do I need to open his diaper to show you???!!!! Needless to say, by 10 1/2 months he had his first haircut!

I'm really enjoying your report, sounds like you had a blast!!

 

[DLo]

Great reviews. I like that you added a kid's point of view. Appreciate your detail and pics. We leave in 2 weeks. I can't wait. After reading several reviews and seeing pics., I MUST go to Goofy's Candy CO. this trip. I just can't decide what I want smothered in chocolate.

 

[wilma-bride]

Just got all caught up with your reviews - I seem to have missed loads

Great pics and may I also congratulate you on your cute-looking kids

 

[SmallWorld71]

Thank- you to everyone for their nice comments. For anyone still out there, we thank-you too! I've learned a valuable lesson - finish your dining report before the baseball playoffs and Halloween. Now that we are back to a normal schedule, Bambi and I are going to try to finish this tonight.

Day 5 - Another quick in room breakfast then we headed over to AK and got there not too long after rope drope. After a morning filled with roller coasters and dinosaurs

we found ourselves hungry mid-morning in Asia. So we used some snack credits at one of the little ice-cream carts. Donald2 and I got a Nestle Crunch bar. Alice got the classic Mickey Head Chocolate cover bar. They were just what you would expect. Bambi got the frozen banana covered with chocolate and nuts. I don't like nuts but Bambi says he "loved it!"

A while later we found ourselves in Africa with safari fast passes, time to kill and very hungry bellies. Since Tusker House is gone there is no good place in Africa for lunch. We thought we would head on over to Flame Tree but we were so hot and tired that as we passed Pizzafari we decided to try there instead. Bonus - there is plenty of inside seating here! Nice on a hot summer day.
Alice and Bambi shared an adult cheese pizza meal.
Donald2 had the pepperoni pizza meal.
Donald had the Caesar Salad with chicken.
I had the Hot Italian Style Sandwich with chips.
We had 4 frozen lemonades for dessert.

Bambi - The pizza was good. About the same as Pizza Planet's. The frozen lemonade was really good. Sometimes it seemed really sour.

Minnie-The Italian sandwich was O.K. I ate it but wasn't overly impressed. Donald really enjoyed his salad and I was kind of wishing I got that too.
The lemonades were good, but we were not able to finish them.
Although it is not the best CS ever, I think Pizzafari is a good option when you are at AK. Also, even though pizza was not on the kids menu, the cashier said it was fine if the kids ordered it. Don't know if that is true for all the cashiers or if we just got lucky.

*Side note: We went on the safari after this and were seated in the back. I was a little disappointed at 1st but it turned out to be a great seat. This guy kept following us:

Continued in next post.....

 

[SmallWorld71]

Our last full day was our P&P party day so we slept in. Donald got 2 create your own omelet meals (1 swiss, 1 sausage) from the Riverside Mill food court and brought them back to the room. They each came with potatoes and 2 juices and we shared them along with other food we had left in the room. The omelets were delicious, the poatoes O.K.

It was our last day and we still had a lot of snack credits left (12 I believe!) so after breakfast and packing we headed to the gift shop to use some of them up. We got:
2 boxes of "Mickey Roni & Cheese" to bring home.
2 boxes of Entemman's muffins, some which we ate on the plane the next day, the rest we brought home
2 bags of Goofy's Candy Co. candy (jelly beans and sprees) which we gave as gifts
2 boxes of Minnie's Bake shop cookies (peanut butter and white chocolate macadamia nut) of which we kept one box and gave the other as a gift
I thought that it was great that they let you get all these things with the snack credits and that we didn't have to waste them!

Goofing around at the gift shop:

Later that evening at MK, we finally were able to try a dole whip float. We were pretty full from our dinner at CP, but Bambi had been wanting one all week and this was our last chance so we got him one and we all liked it so much that we kept trying to take some from him.

Much later that evening,while waiting for the second parade, Bambi, Alice and I used up our last 3 snack credits by getting ice cream from the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor. Bambi and I each had a rainbow sherbert with sprinkles. We both enjoyed them. Alice had a Mickey Mouse cone with vanilla ice cream with chocolate ears. It was very cute and she enjoyed it although she made a mess.

A couple of P&P party pics:

A few final thoughts: We really enjoyed the Disney dining. I thought that we had great service even though it was free dining. With a few exceptions, the food was much better than I thought it would be. We would gladly return to any of the restaurants again, although we would limit our choices at Sci-Fi. Also, I really thought that it was helpful choosing places that had some kind of entertainment for the kids. Another thing, even though I had read some mixed reviews here on the DIS, I approached each place with an open mind and positive attitude. To those of you with upcoming vacations, I hope you enjoy yourselves - we can't wait to go back!
Thanks for reading and if you have any questions about any of the places Bambi and I would be happy to try and answer them.
Bon Appetit!

 

[TigerKat]

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your reviews with us!

 

[wilma-bride]

Thank you so much for finishing your reviews - I really enjoyed them

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your thoughts with us! Your report was very helpful to me! We will be leaving very soon!!! Can't wait to have that afternoon treat at Sci-fi!

 

[got2luvtink]

Bottom Line: This place was fantastic! I wish they were keeping the character meal here instead of moving it back to Park Faire. Anyway, a trip to the Grand Floridian is always a nice addition to a vacation.

What do you mean by, moving back to PF? I want to ressies here for Cinderella in Sept. I thought PF was at the GF.


BTW, love your report!