Remember the Empress Room ?

[hometech99]

ate there in '92.

best caesar salad and lobster (the mustard sauce) i ever had!

anyone? anyone?

 

[McCall]

yes it was wonderful, On the Empress Lilly, somehow Fulton's crab house is just not the same.

 

[beachbunny]

I agree, the Empress Lily was soooo much better than Fulton's - the lobster was fabulous. We ate there on our honeymoon oh so many years ago.

 

[Tiziminchac]

I remember the old Empress Lilly. I haven't been there since it has changed though. It was just so hard to break away for the parks to go. I grew up here in Florida, so almost the entire Disney experience for me has been made up of day trips. When you only have a day, who wants to leave the park to eat? But my family did eat there a couple of times. Weren't there two restaurants. The Deck floor was the steakhouse and the upstairs the seafood one? It was about 1980 when I ate there last and all I really remember was they had some chili to die for! I also remember hearing that it was named for Walt Disney's wife, Lillian.

 

[BCV23]

We enjoyed both the Steerman's Quarters and Fisherman's Deck (or were those plural? ) on the Empress Lily but felt our children were too young for the Empress Room and we would wait for that. Well, we waited too long!

 

[honeymo78]

I remember going as a child and eating at the character breakfast on the Empress Lily. They used to give all the kids name tags - the characters never had to ask me my name but somehow the autograph was always addressed to me - of course I now know why but it really made me feel special when I was little.

 

[alexcturner]

Yes! we ate there (on a meal plan) with friends one time. It was a wonderful meal. Our friend was worried the rest of the trip that Disney would end up charging us extra for that meal because no way could that kind of meal be included in the plan! This was probly about 13 years ago and he just brought that up the other day. Lisa

 

[Uncleromulus]

We ate at the Empress Room twice (and also at the Steermans and Fishermans Deck). I remember the first time we ate there, we took the bus from the Poly to what was then only the Disney Marketplace. We were all dressed up, and the people on the bus were looking at us as though we'd come from outer space!!

Always thought it a real shame when Fultons took over the Empress Lilly.

 

[zippeedee]

I went to the Empress Room on a meal plan in the early 80's. We were all dressed up too! We checked in at the podium and waited, and waited, and waited.... we were just out of college and pretty clueless, so we just kept waiting. TWO HOURS later, we finally went back up and they had lost our names on the list. We finally got seated at 10pm. The waiter was the NICEST man in the world. When he heard what had happened, he took away our menus and just kept bringing plates out to the table. I think he cleaned out the kitchen for us. We got to try an assortment of just about everything they had. The highlight was a bit of ALL the desserts. He turn two grumbling hungry kids into very happy campers that night. I'll never forget it.

 

[ILUVDXL]

Oh how we loved the Empress Room on the Empress Lilly. This was the first place I ever tried pheasant. The crepe suzzetts (sp?)were to die for. We've never liked Fultons and find it a poor replacement for the Empress.

 

[Uncleromulus]

zippeedee:
That's a great story. Wonder if that server continued on to another WDW restaurant once the Empress Room closed???

 

[TimeforMe]

Yes! DH and I ate there on our 1st trip together--before kids. I remember I was flabbergasted when he ordered the lobster (as a special) and didn't ask the price. When the bill came, the price was something like $33 just for his entree. This was probably about 17 years ago. But it was very good and I still remember the evening quite well.

 

[UKDEB]

Originally posted by zippeedee
I went to the Empress Room on a meal plan in the early 80's. We were all dressed up too! We checked in at the podium and waited, and waited, and waited.... we were just out of college and pretty clueless, so we just kept waiting. TWO HOURS later, we finally went back up and they had lost our names on the list. We finally got seated at 10pm. The waiter was the NICEST man in the world. When he heard what had happened, he took away our menus and just kept bringing plates out to the table. I think he cleaned out the kitchen for us. We got to try an assortment of just about everything they had. The highlight was a bit of ALL the desserts. He turn two grumbling hungry kids into very happy campers that night. I'll never forget it.

That's the nicest story! You've got me all choked up!

 

[OaksPAC]

Hi everyone...........I read these forums all the time but this is my first post. I had to put my two cents in about the late ,great Empress. We spent our honeymoon in WDW in 1983 and part of our dining package included dinner in the Empress Room. What a meal and what an experience.! Since we were on a honeymoon package, the staff went out of their way to make everything as special and magical as they could including champagne and a long stemmed rose for the blushing bride! We stayed right across the water in the vacation villas and every night we would look out the back door and see the Empress glowing like a jewel! The tiny white twinkle lights in all the trees only added to the magic atmosphere that was the original Disney Village. We've been back 12 times since then and although my family and I love the Marketplace, I still feel a little tug on my heart for the early days when the Village wasn't so hectic and the Empress watched over us all from her waterfront home.

 

[Micca]

Welcome to the Dis OaksPac We definitely remember the Empress Lilly from the old days. Steermans Quarters was an absolute must. DW is not a fish/seafood fan, but I managed to eat in the Empress room a time or two. I have eaten at Fulton's once on a biz trip, but it was not the same.

 

[hometech99]

The waiter was the NICEST man in the world. When he heard what had happened, he took away our menus and just kept bringing plates out to the table.

Great story!

We were on our honeymoon in '92 and our waiter made it special also.
We were staying at the newly-opened DVC (OKW).
We had a "World Vacation Plan", so the Empress Room was included too!
(That plan included Victoria and Alberts also back then!)

 

[sotoalf]

OaksPAC:

I so agree: I miss the days of the quieter, low-key Disney Village Marketplace. The new DTD is so anonymous: it seems crasser, more commercial. No everyone feels that way however. When I posted on the Resorts board "Does anyone dislike the new DTD?" I got some pretty nasty replies.

 

[BCV23]

We're another family that preferred the Empress Lily's restaurants to Fulton's (although again we never dined in the Empress Room) and the charms of Disney Village to DTD.

Great stories, too!