I had absolutely no idea where we would eat lunch at the Magic Kingdom, so I studied up on all of the menus and decided we could find something good no matter where we happened to be. It ended up that we ate a Columbia Harbor House, which always gets good reviews on the DIS. Here is the outside corner of the building:
(I took these photos after we left the Little Ones Extra Magic Hours in Fantasyland earlier in the day thats why no ones there!)
The only problem was that it was 12:30 the height of the lunch rush.
Yikes! I didnt want to eat this late, but circumstances made it impossible to eat any sooner and we were just too hungry to eat later on. We entered through the door closest to our exit from Country Bear Jamboree (oh, how I miss this show at
Disneyland!), and were amazed at just how many people were packed into the space. Definitely a
wowza.
But this is the door where we entered.
We
somehow made it through the crowd to the far left ordering line, which had the shortest line about 20 people. And to make matters worse, we had two very cranky kids in tow, who wanted to eat
NOW. Sweetie Girl was at the antithesis of her nickname, doing the pouting routine that she is so very famous for. This routine includes plopping down on the floor wherever she happens to be, arms crossed and not speaking a word to anyone or moving from her designated drop zone. It is not something that you really want to happen in a place that is literally packed wall-to-wall with people.
Knowing all about the controversy surrounding saving tables at CS places that Ive read about on the DIS, Handsome & I made the executive decision that it was much more appropriate for us to plop the kids down at a table rather than have Sweetie Girl lying down underfoot and Buddy Boy doing his Tigger imitation (bouncy, pouncy, flouncy, trouncy you get the idea) in the food line with us. I dragged them upstairs with me and was lucky enough to find an open table. I left them there with Mick (Pal Mickey) to baby-sit them and prayed that they wouldnt start to fight while we were away in line. I made sure to go and check up on them every 5 minutes to ensure they were still in one piece.
The nice thing about CCH was that they had laminated menus that were passed along the people standing in line so you could figure out what you wanted to eat before getting to the ordering station. There was no way you could see the menu above the serving counter from the end of the line, which happened to be almost at the back wall. I have no idea if they do this at any other CS places, but this day it was a lifesaver. Everyone knew what they wanted to eat by the time they needed to order, and the CM taking the orders in our line was fast and efficient, all while being calm, cool & collected. Quite a fete considering there were many cranky-hungry people in the place.
I started doing the math: 20 (or more!) people in line + 2 unattended kids upstairs saving a table = a disaster waiting to happen. Yet amazingly enough, we had stood in line, ordered and received our food in about 20 minutes. I was very impressed!
It was a good thing that I waited in line with Handsome because there was no way he couldve carried all of the food upstairs with him in one trip. Heres what we ordered:
Handsome ordered the Vegetarian Chili & Starboard Deck Sandwich combo - ham with tomatoes, broccoli slaw and cheese
along with a large bottled water to drink later & apple crisp.
The chili was good, definitely made for any taste. It wasnt spicy enough to keep away those who like it mild, yet not mild enough for those who like it spicy. The sandwich was good, too, especially with the broccoli slaw in it. I didnt get a good shot of it. (By now I was getting to the point of not wanting to take photos of our food.
) It was a nice twist on an old favorite. I dont think that Id add it to a sandwich on purpose, but it was nice. Its kinda like putting cole slaw on your pulled pork sandwich, I guess.
CCH only had two dessert choices here on the
DDP apple crisp and chocolate cake. I had also read a lot of negative comments on the apple crisp, but we got one anyway just so we wouldnt be eating chocolate cake all of the time (I cant believe that I actually said that!!). It really wasnt that bad. Yes, the crust was a bit soggy, but it wasnt foul in any way. Would I go out of my way to eat one? Definitely not. But since it was included in the DDP, we didnt complain and gobbled it up.
I ordered the clam chowder & Anchors Aweigh Sandwich combo - white tuna with lettuce and tomato, a large Fanta & chocolate cake.
This meal was nothing to write home about, which means it was nothing special. It was good basic fare. I got the tuna sandwich since I know Sweetie Girl would eat a good portion of it, which she did. She does love her tuna fish sandwiches.
The clam chowder is the same here as it is at Disneyland. Don't get me wrong - it was very good, but I've had better chowder elsewhere, like the Dungeness Crab and Corn Chowder at the
Blue Mermaid Chowder House & Bar in San Francisco. Again, that's a whole 'nother story...
Now, the bowls of soup were huge! Remember this if you are coming here not being too hungry. If we werent on the DDP, we wouldve most likely split one of these meals. I had a hard time finishing mine.
Sweetie Girl ordered the Kids meal tossed salad with chicken, applesauce, carrots, chocolate chip cookie & apple juice.
Her choice really surprised us since she does not eat salad at all which means anything you would put into a salad. There wasnt much in the way of chicken on it, but it was enough for her to eat. I also liked that it was grilled and not fried chicken.
I ended up eating most of Sweetie Girls salad since I was in the mood for some veggies. She actually took a bite or two of the salad, amazingly enough. One of her best friends is a vegetarian, and I think that shes having a bit of an influence on her!
Buddy Boy ordered the mac n cheese Kids meal, with applesauce, chocolate pudding, chocolate chip cookie & apple juice.
This was another place where the kids received two sides AND a dessert. I dont know if it is the norm here, but basically he got two desserts this meal! We saved the cookies for them to eat later.
I dont think that we would go out of our way to eat here again, but if were hungry and in the neighborhood, wed be sure to stop in and chow down. Were still in the mindset that we try to eat at different places when were at Disney World since were there so infrequently. We just dont get there very often to have chosen too many favorite places yet.
Well, except for Le Cellier, Kona Café & Boma. There are exceptions to every rule. Right?
Next up: Riverside Mill, POR
And good for your DD eating some salad 
