10 days of dining for a party of 10! (8/15-8/24) **Upd. 5/27 Via Napoli

[ThinkTink09]

Great reviews! Can't wait to read more

 

[roxysmum123]

So sad to hear the short ribs aren't on the menu anymore! That was what I was going to order for my lunch in a few weeks, along with the butter chicken. Sigh. Guess I'll take a look at the sandwiches they offer, I feel I have similar tastes to you and dont think i'd care for the Bison either.

 

[devonsmommy]

So sad to hear the short ribs aren't on the menu anymore! That was what I was going to order for my lunch in a few weeks, along with the butter chicken. Sigh. Guess I'll take a look at the sandwiches they offer, I feel I have similar tastes to you and dont think i'd care for the Bison either.

The ribs might still be on the lunch menu! Don't give up hope...

Just have a second choice instead.

 

[devonsmommy]

We officially checked in at the Polynesian on Thursday. Our room wasn't ready when we arrived, so we hit Kona Cafe because we were STARVING! And...it's one of my fave restaurants in all of Disney.

Here are a few menu pics:




Kid's Cheeseburger with salad:

Yummy, she ate most of it!

Kid's Hot Dog with fries:

Standard hot dog She ate the whole thing.

Pan Asian Noodles with Chicken:

This was my meal. I ate every single bite! I just love this dish. I've had it before and contemplated trying something new, but just couldn't resist!

Lava Roll sushi:

Dh ordered this. He loves sushi and said this was very good.

Kid's ice cream sundae:


Some other notes...I LOVE the sticky wings here! But we were eating at Ohana later in the week and they have practically the same thing there. Also, we were not on the dining plan yet, so I didn't order dessert. The first three days we were there we were not on the plan. From Sunday through Saturday, we had free dining. Sushi is now served during lunch as well. You don't have to just order it at the counter.

Overall, I love this restaurant and would eat here every trip! I've always had great servers. You can view all of the desserts on the back counter.

 

[margareton27]

So sad to hear the short ribs aren't on the menu anymore! That was what I was going to order for my lunch in a few weeks, along with the butter chicken. Sigh. Guess I'll take a look at the sandwiches they offer, I feel I have similar tastes to you and dont think i'd care for the Bison either.

I've seen a few posts on here where they have ordered the butter chicken as both choices if that is what you would prefer. Maybe you can ask and try that.

 

[klacey1]

Mmm, I've never been to Sanaa but I love butter chicken!! That version looks delicious.
And your dish at Kona looks fabulous, too-- so fresh looking!

 

[ciera321]

I'm in! Sanaa is one of our must do restaurants at DW and that new choolate dessert is calling me!!!

 

[bostonminnie]

I'm enjoying your reviews. We love Sanaa and Kona! Can't wait to read more.

 

[devonsmommy]

On our first official night, we usually do the Hoop DD Revue. But we decided to change it up a bit and tried Mickey's Backyard BBQ at Ft. Wilderness. We were staying at the Poly, so our plan was to take the monorail to MK, then hop on the boat to Ft. Wilderness. Well that was all fine and dandy until the monsoon started! We were not poncho prepared since we weren't touring, and we had to wait a little bit extra while at the MK until they could bring in a covered boat.

We made it over about 15 minutes late along with a bunch of other people and the party had already started. We were seated on the outskirts of the action.

Here was the buffet:

Potato salad, coleslaw, and salad that was SWIMMING in dressing
The only thing I tasted from here was the salad. It was okay, but completely drenched in dressing. Wayyyy toooo much! So I didn't love it. My husband had the potato salad and the coleslaw and liked both.


Watermelon and cornbread
I had both of these, and they were good. Watermelon was super sweet. Cornbread was good, but Whispering Canyon Cafe's is way better!


Baked beans, mac n cheese, tomato/onion/blue cheese salad, carrot and celery sticks with dip
Here I had the mac n cheese...two helpings, it was so good! And the tomato salad. Also very good. It was so hot and humid and I really was craving something cold and light. This was perfect!


Hamburger and hot dog rolls, corn on the cob
I attempted the corn on the cob but it was gross! Cold and way over cooked. It was all smashed like. The kernels were popped maybe??


Hamburgers and hot dogs
I did have a hot dog and it was a standard hot dog.


Ribs, pulled pork, chicken
I tried the ribs which were very good, and the pulled pork which was my favorite meat.


Dessert! Mickey bars and some other bars
Who can pass up a Mickey bar? It was the perfect dessert for a hot night!

Overall this was a fun night! It was a great way to kick off our trip. The characters came out and danced either on the main floor or sometimes they had them on either end on smaller "dance floors." We were right next to one of the smaller ones and my girls had a great chance to dance with the characters. There also was a man who did some lasso and rope tricks. They threw in some popular line dances as well. At one point one or two of the characters were in the back with a line for pictures. We didn't even attempt that.

 

[Disneymom77]

I totally agree with your review of Mickey's Backyard BBQ. Most of the food was ok/good, but didn't blow us away. Except that mac n cheese! We went back for seconds of that! I'm glad we tried it, but not sure we'll do it again anytime soon. IMO, Hoopdeedoo is better!

 

[devonsmommy]

Our first park day was DHS. We had to eat an early lunch because we had the Fantasmic dining package reservation at 4:50 p.m. My first choice was Studio Catering Company. I had eaten here last October and thought it was very good!

Menu pics:







Kid's chicken nugget meal


Grilled vegetable sandwich with apples as a side

I'm not sure what happened...I forgot to take a pic of the meal DH and I shared! We got the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich with fries. It was so good. And it was big enough to share. I also forgot to get a picture of the special cupcakes not shown on the menu. The past two times I've been here they had a special cupcake that you could get as your dessert with the dining plan. This one was vanilla with strawberry frosting. DELICIOUS! I could have eaten two...

Overall, I love this counter service. It's outside but the seating is plentiful and they have fans up above you. It's also next to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area which our kids loved. We let them run around here right after lunch while we finished our desserts and got reorganized for the rest of our day. The sandwiches here are huge, and the cupcake seals the deal!

 

[DisneyJo]

Loving your reviews - thank you!

Cookes has definitely made it onto our CS list and I so wish my family liked spicy food as I'd love to dine at Sanaa

 

[devonsmommy]

We had dinner at Mama Melrose with the Fantasmic dinner package. This works out well on the dining plan because you get an appetizer per person, the meal, and a selection of desserts.

Here are the appetizers:


My mother in law ordered the Vegetarian Minestrone. She said it was good!


Two people may order the Mama's Antipasto to share. My DH and FIL shared this. We all actually nibbled on it. It was very good!


Niece ordered Crispy Calamari. It came with a few dipping sauces. I think she thought they were just okay, but my DH said they were good.


BIL ordered the mussels which are not listed on allears as an appetizer. I think they were good, he ate them all!


Fresh mozzarella and vine ripened tomatoes. Also very good!


This was mine...the caesar salad. It was good, and I loved the big crouton!

And for the main courses:

Charred Strip Steak--DH ordered this. It was VERY good. Very flavorful. I snagged a few pieces.


FIL ordered Braciola Di Maiale - grilled pork chop with apple-mustard butter and potato watercress salad over broccolini. I was surprised, because he doesn't like broccoli, or onions, or anything funky really! I think he liked the pork though because he ate that.


MIL and SIL both ordered this. Penne alla Vodka. SIL got chicken in hers. They both loved this. The portion was huge though and they actually could have shared one dish!


This was my dish. The Chicken Parmagiana. I was torn between this and the Pollo Di Forno chicken dish and asked the waitress her opinion. She said the chicken parm was her favorite. Ugh...I didn't love it. In fact I barely even liked it! It was pretty tasteless IMO. And the spaghetti was weird. I'm not sure how to describe it. It was watery under my plate, but was extremely al dente. I ate maybe half.


Kid's pizza. My youngest DD loved this and ate almost the whole thing.


BIL ordered this Pesco all' Acqua Pazza - Fish of the day in a spicy tomato butter sauce, fennel, peppers, and tomatoes served over basil gnocchi pasta. I don't remember what the fish of the day was, but he LOVED this. Couldn't stop raving over it after every bite!


Kid's chicken parm. DD7 ordered this and ate almost all of it. She loves chicken parm...it's her favorite thing!


Adult spaghetti and meatballs. Niece ordered this and it was just okay she said. Probably the same spaghetti issue I had!


Kid's spaghetti and meatball cupcake. My DD5 ordered this. If you remember correctly she is extremely picky and has some feeding issues. So she was not thrilled with this. It had too many textures and the strawberry sauce drizzled on it was the deal breaker. That's okay...good thing for mommy I thought it was GREAT! I loved the strawberry sauce on it!


These were the shared desserts they brought for all of the adults. They brought two plates like this for us to share. I didn't love any of them and was happy with the cupcake! Everyone enjoyed them though.

Overall, some in our party thought this was the best meal of the week. I would not hesitate to return here, but would definitely order something different. The Fantasmic! package is a great deal on the dining plan since it's one credit and you get an appetizer too.

 

[Tinker12]

Great reviews! Thank you fro sharing! Some applause to you for standing up to the family in the serving line!

 

[DisMom1981]

How do you reserve F! Dinner packages? Through MDE or do you have to call? Also, dessert parties? Call or MDE?

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[DisMom1981]

PS Mama Melrose sounds like a must try. We did not have one "real" meal on property during our week except Biergarten which I hated so I didn't eat anything. Quick/counter service gets old!

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[devonsmommy]

How do you reserve F! Dinner packages? Through MDE or do you have to call? Also, dessert parties? Call or MDE?

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

If I remember correctly we just did it when calling to make all of our reservations and just specified Fantasmic dinner package. They do take a credit card to hold this one. I'm not sure about the dessert party!

PS Mama Melrose sounds like a must try. We did not have one "real" meal on property during our week except Biergarten which I hated so I didn't eat anything. Quick/counter service gets old!

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Honestly I was NOT excited to eat at Mama Melrose because of all the bad reviews it gets, but it was a favorite of the group!

 

[disneymom1229]

Fantasmic is a must do for our trip in 2014. It is something we have not done as a family on any of our trips and I would love to do the Fantasmic dinner package. We will be on the dining plan. Did I read right that it was only one table service credit?

We hadn't really considered Mama Melrose, but definitely would if we could do the package on our dining plan.

 

[RGirl]

Joining in and loving your reviews!!!!

I have got to comment on Sanaa! I am blown away by the kids' menu - how cool that there are actually some interesting options on there. I wish all the WDW restaurants would do that. I was so disappointed with the kids' menus at most of the places we went in August - the same boring stuff over and over and over. Sanna's looks great! AKL is a dream resort for me, so I am thinking more and more about staying there and eating at all of the restaurants there in one trip. How awesome would that be?

 

[Linda67]

Great reviews

My DH really wants to try the fish and chips at DTD and we just never seem to get round to it. We always get distracted by EOS!