Our original plans for today had included breakfast at 1900 Park Fare and then skipping lunch, as we had our first signature dining experience waiting for us for dinner.
Now however, as I wrote before, the pressing need had arisen to cancel the 1900 PF breakfast so we opted for an early lunch instead, and visiting Lobby Concierge managed to get an 11:45 ADR at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Restaurant.
I had read lots of reviews about this place before our vacation, and most of them had been pretty bad. Apparently, downright dismal food was awaiting us. So was I mad or just masochistic to want to eat there? Well, it was neither: I was really looking forward to the atmosphere, and I didnt really care if the food was bad since I was expecting a great dinner
.
Therefore, we were happy and optimistic (and hungry!) when we arrived at the Sci-Fi Dine-In.
Upon check-in, I asked for a car table as I did not want to sit off to the side, but the CM assured me that they guaranteed a car table with every advance reservation anyway (I hadnt known that).
We had to wait about 8 or 10 minutes for our table, to which we were escorted by a really sweet lady who escorted us into the dining room with a happy Time warp! Woohoo!. And right she was: Here we were in our night-time drive-in cinema in the Fifties.
I loved, loved, loved the setting! It was soo gorgeous, and soo Disney. (Unfortunately, by the way, it was also soo cold, and I had to borrow DHs shirt which he was wearing over his T-Shirt.)
Our car was a bit off to the left when looking at the screen, and we had the front row. Pretty soon, a really nice couple was seated behind us and we said hello to each other. When our server, Jannelle, arrived, she told us that we had picked us up a couple of back-seat drivers and should say hello, and we could happily say that we had already done so.
She then announced that they would pay for our meal as we gave them a ride we thanked them profusely, but then reassured them that they were off the hook this time as we were on the Dining Plan
. (They got back at us by asking the server, when she put ketchup on their table and telling them sternly not to squirt each other with it, asking if they could squirt us instead
)
We both started by ordering milkshakes vanilla for DH, strawberry for me. Those were our first normal milkshakes (so not counting MegaBerry smoothies) of the vacation, and they were great! Yummy, thick, not too sweet, and so plentiful that they almost flowed over the brim.
(You cant really see much in the picture, and I gave up on taking pics afterwards as it simply was too dark. We could just about read the menu and guess what was on our plates, but that was about it. Didnt worry us, though after all we were here to see the movie
)
I then proceeded with the BLT soup. The menu sums it up by saying it is a creamy tomato basil soup, topped with an herb crouton, shredded lettuce and bacon. Very nice, tasteful and creamy! DH had the mixed greens for starters.
As an entrée, I took the Beef and Blue Salad (Sliced butcher-tender steak with a Wedge of Iceberg Lettuce with Blue Cheese Dressing, Tomatoes and Bacon) which was a great choice very yummy, especially the blue cheese dressing and the great steak slices. The only thing I had not been prepared for what the salad I mean, I was expecting something tossed or chopped, and found like half a head of salad on my plate, I couldnt believe it!
DH found this really funny so he took a picture of it:
I was good, though, I finished about two thirds of it!
DH went with the Angus Chuck Burger with fries, and he liked that very much as well.
At this point we were the happy recipients of some pixie dust as our back-seat drivers asked us whether we would be in the park for the afternoon, as they were planning to leave right after lunch, and they gave us their Toy Story Mania fastpasses! I was so happy - we didnt know that ride yet and we didnt get fastpasses as the return time was like five hours away, and now we got to ride it that day after all!
For dessert, DH had ordered the fruit salad and I had planned on having the Hot Fudge Sundae. However, at this point, I was so full that no matter how much I would have loved to try the Sundae, I decided to go for the sensible choice instead and asked our server to bring me the fruit salad instead. She said, of course, but that will be a five dollar dessert-changing fee. I was still busy making up my mind whether this was worth it, and being slightly angry at Disney for imposing such a fee, when her and DHs laughter told me that she was putting me on!! Gosh, Im always so gullible
So of course I got my fruit salad, and DH got his, and we got the bill, and this was the moment when I realized I had lost my KTTW card
. I started digging through my bag and DHs bag and the car, and all in near total darkness. I couldnt really enjoy my fruit salad that way, Im afraid
. (I never found that card again by the way, so I had to go to Guest Services and get the old one voided and a new one issued this only cost us a few minutes, though, so a big thank you to DHS Guest Services!
)
All in all, it was a great experience we were very happy with the setting, the food, our very friendly server Jannelle, simply everything (except for the excessively cold air-conditioning). We strongly differ from all the negative reviews and will definitely eat here again! I cant say why we feel so much against the trend, though maybe the kitchen was just having a good day? Generally, we ARE pretty critical of what we eat, but there just wasnt much to criticize here. The only thing I cant really comment on is the presentation of the food as we hardly saw it anyway!
Coming up next: On top of the world dinner at the California Grill.