10 Adults---Lots of Good Food!

[kristenhh]

All reviews are finally done!!!

Cast:

There were 10 adults all together, some from my side of the family, and some from my husband’s side.

We used the DDP and most of us stayed at Pop Century, 2 of us stayed at AKL.

Plan:

Everyone would be on their own for breakfast, and a CS lunch, but every night we would all get together for a nice TS dinner.

How did the DDP worked for us? It was great. We had a big party, some of which were not quite as enthusiastic about park going, and it was nice that they could eat at the hotel. Because of our party size, an 18% gratuity was added automatically to each meal. We had 5 rooms in the group, and the servers had no problem splitting up each group and letting each room charge the gratuity to the room. We had fun getting snacks everyday, sometimes we used them for breakfast, sometimes just for a treat.

The TS Places that will be reviewed:

Crystal Palace
Whispering Canyon Cafe
Mama Melrose
Grand Gathering International Dinner
Ohana
50's Prime Time Cafe
Boma
Le Cellier

The CS places that will be reviewed:

Flame Tree BBQ (Animal Kingdom)
Sunshine Seasons Cafe (Epcot)
Pecos Bill Cafe (Magic Kingdom)
Yak & Yeti (Animal Kingdom)
Wolfgang Puck Express (Downtown Disney)
Everything Pop Food Court (Pop Century)
Pizza Planet (Hollywood Studios)
Yakatori House (Epcot)
Cosmic Ray's (Magic Kingdom)

Table Service Reviews:

Crystal Palace:

Food: A Atmosphere: A Service: A Would we go back?: Definitely

This place was fabulous as our opening night. First of all, they were very nice about most of our party being late and still gave us a table. (Our group soon learned that it takes a while on Disney Transportation!)

The food was great – one of the best buffets in my opinion. Our entire party enjoyed the food – and my DSIL who is a vegetarian, found plenty of good stuff.

All the characters came to our table – even though we were all adults– and we had fun taking some pictures.


Whispering Canyon Café:

Food: B Atmosphere: D Service: A Would we go back?: No

The food was good – most of our party had the skillet. My in-laws had a steak, and my DSIL had the veggie burrito. All of us enjoyed the food, except my DSIL who did not like the veggie burrito. (However, both I and my mom took a bite of it, and we thought it was delicious – just different tastes I guess)

I knew there would be antics at this restaurant, but none of us liked the constant yelling and banging. We were so glad that we had not gone there the first night because all of us had been up for 36 hours and had headaches!

The kids would probably enjoyed it, but I swear there was a Birthday announcement every 60 seconds and everything was screamed. And the meal lasted 2 ½ hours so we heard a lot of screaming.

Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package:
Food: A Atmosphere: A Service: A Would we go back?: Absolutely
This place was the greatest surprise of the trip! I had read almost all negative reviews on this board, but we were already doing the 50's Prime Time Café another night, and we didn’t want another buffet on the docket, like Hollywood and Vine, so I chose this place. I totally made a disclaimer on the way to the restaurant and told them that this was the one place I wasn’t very sure about on our plan.

Wow, the food was absolutely fantastic...And many of our party are food snobs and have eaten fine cuisine around the world (not me, though).

Because we had the Fantasmic Package, we got an appetizer included. Our party had: Crispy Calamari, Artisan Breads and Spreads, Caesar Salad, Mozzarella and Tomatoes, and Bruschetta. I heard no complaints from anyone.

For entrees we had : Pork Marsala (The majority had this and it was excellent), the butcher steak, spaghetti fra diavolo, 4 cheese flatbread, and the wood grilled chicken pasta (only shrimp was substituted). Everyone loved their meal.

For desserts: The warm truffle cake (mmmmm) and the Tiramasu. Again, all good.

We finished in plenty of time to get over for our great Fantasmic seats too. I would encourage anyone to make this place a stop on their dining experience.


Next Up: Grand Gathering International Dinner! (Here's a hint: It was terrible)

 

[luvmills]

When did you go to Mama Melrose?? Were you on the 2007 or 2008 Dining Plan?? The reason I ask is because we are going to Mama Melrose in Feb. on the Fantasmic Package and wondered if an appetizer was included...

 

[kristenhh]

We went on January 6th 2008 so it was the 2008 DDP and you did get an appetizer.

 

[kristenhh]

Grand Gathering International Dinner

Food: D Atmosphere: B Service: F Would we go back?: Never!

While I was still at WDW, I wrote my report for this dinner on this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1684090

I couldn't make the link work, apparently!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1684090

 

[KatMark]

Cast:

There were 10 adults all together, some from my side of the family, and some from my husband’s side.

We used the DDP and most of us stayed at Pop Century, 2 of us stayed at AKL.

Plan:

Everyone would be on their own for breakfast, and a CS lunch, but every night we would all get together for a nice TS dinner.

How did the DDP worked for us? It was great. We had a big party, some of which were not quite as enthusiastic about park going, and it was nice that they could eat at the hotel. Because of our party size, an 18% gratuity was added automatically to each meal. We had 5 rooms in the group, and the servers had no problem splitting up each group and letting each room charge the gratuity to the room. We had fun getting snacks everyday, sometimes we used them for breakfast, sometimes just for a treat.

Table Service Reviews:

Crystal Palace:

Food: A Atmosphere: A Service: A Would we go back?: Definitely

This place was fabulous as our opening night. First of all, they were very nice about most of our party being late and still gave us a table. (Our group soon learned that it takes a while on Disney Transportation!)

The food was great – one of the best buffets in my opinion. Our entire party enjoyed the food – and my DSIL who is a vegetarian, found plenty of good stuff.

All the characters came to our table – even though we were all adults– and we had fun taking some pictures.


Whispering Canyon Café:

Food: B Atmosphere: D Service: A Would we go back?: No

The food was good – most of our party had the skillet. My in-laws had a steak, and my DSIL had the veggie burrito. All of us enjoyed the food, except my DSIL who did not like the veggie burrito. (However, both I and my mom took a bite of it, and we thought it was delicious – just different tastes I guess)

I knew there would be antics at this restaurant, but none of us liked the constant yelling and banging. We were so glad that we had not gone there the first night because all of us had been up for 36 hours and had headaches!

The kids would probably enjoyed it, but I swear there was a Birthday announcement every 60 seconds and everything was screamed. And the meal lasted 2 ½ hours so we heard a lot of screaming.

Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package:
Food: A Atmosphere: A Service: A Would we go back?: Absolutely
This place was the greatest surprise of the trip! I had read almost all negative reviews on this board, but we were already doing the 50's Prime Time Café another night, and we didn’t want another buffet on the docket, like Hollywood and Vine, so I chose this place. I totally made a disclaimer on the way to the restaurant and told them that this was the one place I wasn’t very sure about on our plan.

Wow, the food was absolutely fantastic...And many of our party are food snobs and have eaten fine cuisine around the world (not me, though).

Because we had the Fantasmic Package, we got an appetizer included. Our party had: Crispy Calamari, Artisan Breads and Spreads, Caesar Salad, Mozzarella and Tomatoes, and Bruschetta. I heard no complaints from anyone.

For entrees we had : Pork Marsala (The majority had this and it was excellent), the butcher steak, spaghetti fra diavolo, 4 cheese flatbread, and the wood grilled chicken pasta (only shrimp was substituted). Everyone loved their meal.

For desserts: The warm truffle cake (mmmmm) and the Tiramasu. Again, all good.

We finished in plenty of time to get over for our great Fantasmic seats too. I would encourage anyone to make this place a stop on their dining experience.

Thanks for the reviews so far. And we are SO GLAD that you liked Mama Melrose. We have been so disappointed in all the negative reviews lately. We have gone the last three years and love it.

 

[ciera321]

I'm glad to hear the positive review of Mama Melrose. We love to eat there and have not heard very many good things about it...

 

[faberj]

I might have to try Mama Melrose too. I have read SO MANY bad reviews that I did not have it on my list for our December trip. I really would like to do the Fantasmic package though.

 

[kristenhh]

Ohana:

Food: B Atmosphere: B Service: A Would we go back?: Probably
This was a new restaurant for us. The food was good – especially after last night’s dinner! They served everything listed on the menus I had seen, except the wontons. The things that stood out as really excellent were: the potatoes, the grilled shrimp, and the bread pudding dessert. The rest of the meat was okay, but my husband and I found the pork and turkey overcooked. The rest of the family raved. They made my sister in law who is a vegetarian a special dish, and I thought this was really nice.

I did learn something about my brother and his wife: they do not like entertainment (i.e. someone with a microphone) while they are eating. It was very mild, but they were annoyed. Thank goodness they had not arrived when we went to the Whispering Canyon Café!

A side note and a plea: It was my Birthday on this day, and my sister-in-law spent good money (that she didn’t have) on one of those ridiculous Birthday Cake hats they sell at the park, and made me wear it. Don’t do it to people you like! I felt like a 10 year old. Maybe I am just Grumpy...

 

[kristenhh]

50's Prime Time Café

Food: A Atmosphere: A Service: A+ Would we go back?: Yes

We had so much fun at this restaurant. I wish I could remember the name of our server, but she told us to call her mama. She was on the elderly side and absolutely fabulous.

First to the food... Here are the entrees we had: Pot Roast, The fried chicken, and I believe 1 person had the sirloin steak. I had the pot roast, and that amount of meat could have fed 3 adults. And I love pot roast and am not a timid eater. It was excellent and tender. My advice if you want to conserve TS credits and you like pot roast: share this meal with someone! It came with a few julienned veggies on the top and some mashed potatoes: all good. The people with chicken also got greens. Everyone liked the chicken, more on the greens later.

They still let you get a milkshake for your drink. Or a smoothie.

For Dessert: We had most of the desserts between us: Ice Cream Sundae, Brownie Sundae, Apple Cobbler with Ice Cream, and Angel food cake with Berries. We had seen other tables with the brownie sundaes, and they were served with caramel popcorn and M&Ms on top. The people who ordered this requested no candy, and they were happy to make any adjustments we needed.

The Service: Besides being totally in character, we never wanted for anything. Our server was also hilarious. My husband’s brother knew nothing about this place, and was resting his elbows on the table while he conversed with others. She called him Mabel the whole time, as in “Mabel, Mabel, elbows on the table”. She also decided that he really needed to drink more and brought him endless Diet cokes. He had like 3 full glasses by him at all times.

My father in law had the chicken, and does not care for greens and did not eat them. She came at the end of the meal, and noticed that he had not eaten them. She got the whole room to make airplane sounds and tried to get to eat them off her airplane. He wouldn’t budge. She actually reached over and pinched his nose trying to get him to open his mouth. Our whole table was howling with laughter. Finally she took them away and said he would like them better when she got done with them. We forgot about them, and she came back about 5 minutes later with the same greens covered in whipped cream and sprinkles. It was very funny – at least to the rest of us.

Now my brother, (the one who does not like entertainment–at least with a microphone) saw all this happening, and hid his greens underneath his chicken bones. His wife, also not a fan of loud entertainment, told our waitress when she came back that he had done this. She was in for a shock, because instead of going after my brother, our waitress announced to the whole room that she was “tattling on my boy” and had the whole room denounce her as a tattletale. It was very amusing, especially to me. They took it like good sports.

It was a fun experience and great for our large group. We all definitely gave our server a good deal more than the mandatory 18% gratuity, because she really made the meal.

 

[lynn46356]

I'm enjoying your reviews so much! We also had a lot of fun at 50's PTC. Our waitress made us laugh so much. I often wonder if she's still there? We're going back next month and we have another ADR for 50's. Thanks for sharing with all of us.

Lynn

 

[phabric]

Enjoyed reading your reviews. Looking for more.

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent

 

[wilma-bride]

Really enjoying your reviews - we are travelling with a large party in April so interested to hear about your experiences.

 

[familyS]

Thanks for writing and posting reviews!

Sorry to hear about the Grand Gathering

 

[biggroofy]

Thanks for the reviews. I am travelling with a party of six (actually five, but I believe they count my 6-month-old baby too) in March on Deluxe Dining Plan. Since my parents will be in another room, I am glad that it is easy to separate the bill.

How does it work? If they separately the bills into 2 (my parents) + 4 (me, DW, DD4, baby), do they automatically add 18% to each bill.

Two more questions -
1). Do you still get a Zero balance bill after you pay with your Resort ID, or you get a bill with only the gratuity amount?

2). Do you still have an option to pay the 18% gratuity by CASH?

 

[kristenhh]

Boma

Food: B+ Atmosphere: B Service: B Would we go back?: Yes
I went to Boma on our last trip a couple of years ago and loved it. I think it is always fun to try some new things, and this is a good place to do it. Our server was fine– she kept the plates cleared and drinks coming.

Most of our party, had never been here (or any of the other restaurants, for that matter) so I suggested they follow my strategy: take about a teaspoon of everything and see what you like. It is fun to do, and you are not wasting something if you really hate it!

Of course, some of the party went with familiar foods like the Prime rib and the kids Mac and Cheese (I made fun of her a little!). But most of us were adventurous and found some tasty things. My favorite find was an orangish squash that tasted like cinnamon and felt like eating dessert. We also really liked the falafel with this sauce they served by it. Our favorite dessert was the bread pudding. The zebra dome really didn’t do it for me. Also there was a pineapple cheesecake on a white chocolate wafer that was really good.

Everyone gave this meal a thumbs up and would go back in the future.

 

[kristenhh]

Thanks for the reviews. I am travelling with a party of six (actually five, but I believe they count my 6-month-old baby too) in March on Deluxe Dining Plan. Since my parents will be in another room, I am glad that it is easy to separate the bill.

How does it work? If they separately the bills into 2 (my parents) + 4 (me, DW, DD4, baby), do they automatically add 18% to each bill.

Two more questions -
1). Do you still get a Zero balance bill after you pay with your Resort ID, or you get a bill with only the gratuity amount?

2). Do you still have an option to pay the 18% gratuity by CASH?

My best attempt at answers:

Yes they add the 18% gratuity to each bill. (I don't think they would count your 6 month old, so you probably won't get the automatic 18%)

You do get 2 receipts at the end: 1 with the zero balance and also tells you the amount of TS meals you have left. (The CS balance only appears when you get a CS receipt). The other receipt is for the 18% gratuity, which you can pay by cash, credit card, or charge to your room, if staying on property.

I hope I answered what you needed to know!

 

[TigerKat]

Enjoying your reviews!

 

[marianas00]

I love the grading system! Good reporting. Thank you.

 

[kristenhh]

Le Cellier

Food: A+ Atmosphere: A Service: A Would we go back?: Yes

My husband and I had come here in 2005 and I had the best meal I have ever had in my life. So for years my husband has been telling me that the next time I come it will never live up to my first experience. (I was willing to risk it!)

We saved this meal for our last night as a final hurrah of our dining adventure. One of our party left a few days early, so I had booked a lunch here for him and his wife earlier in the week. They enjoyed it so much, that my sister in law came again for lunch during our stay. The rest of our party went for dinner.

We had a great server, who loved explaining things from the menu – we laughed because he told everyone the same thing all down the line – he really didn’t want us to be surprised at how our steak was cooked. He always made sure we had everything that we needed. For drinks, we were allowed to have milk shakes or smoothies, and they were included on the DDP.

A few of us had appetizers: Duck confit, Caesar salad, and the Mussels. All enjoyed their appetizers, although for artistic effect, the salad just had whole pieces of romaine lettuce – you had to cut them in bite size pieces. (My husband had this and I stole a bite and did not like the dressing – just my opinion)

For our entree, each and everyone of us had the mushroom filet mignon, so I can only tell you about that one dish: It was delicious! I was not disappointed after building this meal up for myself and the group. I highly recommend it to anyone. Actually, my sister in law had the butternut squash ravioli for lunch and raved about that too. Every bite seemed to melt in my mouth.

For dessert, there was a variety ordered: Creme Brulee (outstanding), Sugar free chocolate mousse (good), Apple Crumple (good), and a chocolate raspberry shake (good). I heard no complaints about dessert, and I know that the creme brulee that I had was great.

This is a must do for any trip in my opinion.