3D: Disney's Dining & Desserts! Oct 2014 review :)

[SmallWorld71]

Day 4:




We checked in at Crystal Palace and waited maybe 8 minutes before we were seated - they had water available for the people waiting...

Love the hidden Mickey in the water!

 

[nanhol]

Once inside you wait to go to a counter that verifies you are on the list of people that have paid for a ticket. I think tickets were $55 for regular admission and $90 for "sweet seats" which gives you a goodie gift bag, reserved seating near the stage, and special sweet treats through the night. The event was only on October 3, 10, and 17th - we went the 17th and it was completely sold out!

I'm loving your dining report! Your pics are great. The 3-d dessert party looks like it was a lot of fun & had some really yummy treats. Did you guys have regular admission or "sweet seats"? Would you recommend people pay for the more expensive tickets?

Thanks for sharing your trip & food...I'm so hungry now!

 

[mzpoirot]

Love the hidden Mickey in the water!

Haha I loved it too! I missed it looking around the first time. My Mom was amazed that it stayed together even with the water going down...I'm assuming they used toothpicks

 

[mzpoirot]

I'm loving your dining report! Your pics are great. The 3-d dessert party looks like it was a lot of fun & had some really yummy treats. Did you guys have regular admission or "sweet seats"? Would you recommend people pay for the more expensive tickets?

Thanks for sharing your trip & food...I'm so hungry now!

Thanks for reading my trip/food reviews so far! We had the regular seating during the 3D party...I don't see much of an added advantage to paying more for the sweet seats...unless you like to be close to the stage for performers. The little gift bags I'm sure are amazing...but not worth the added cost for our group of 3!

 

[mzpoirot]

Day 4 continued...

We left Crystal Palace and headed towards Adventureland - we rode Pirates of the Carribean (my all time fav ride) and Jungle Cruise (tour guide was hilarious). We went to the Tiki Room...it's something I could def skip in the future

After this I wanted to take advantage of being so close to one of the best snack venues ever......we HAD to get dole whip floats, right? Right. Right?





This thing was massive. I had pineapple juice with pineapple whip. Mom had pineapple juice with orange/pineapple whip. I would definitely get the combo of orange and pineapple in the future...sooo good. Hubby had the pineapple spear - he said it was just ok and I don't think he would order it in the future. Overall, this was a snack credit well spent

After this we headed to Liberty Square and went in the Christmas shop - very cute. We watched the Hall of Presidents show...it's better than I thought it would be/remember it being. We went to the Haunted Mansion again then headed to the Under the Sea ride in Fantasyland (again with the big spaces of walking in between things)! We may have done something else in between?!?! and then we headed for lunch at Columbia Harbour House. Looking back at it we should've stopped by Gaston's due to it's proximity, but I had a goal in mind...I wanted the lobster roll sandwich!

Here it is...(sorry it's sideways)


and for dessert we had Peach Cobbler - it was warm


Mom had the salad - I know there was chicken, peas, broccoli and sunflower seeds in it, unsure of everything else in it. Gluten free. We ate her cobbler


Hubby had the chicken nuggets and fries.


Overall, it was a pretty tasty lunch and a good use of a quick-service credit. I would definitely eat the lobster roll again - however, it tasted just like seafood salad...not specifically lobster-ish. The side of chips was verrrry good. Mom LOVED her salad. Hubby said the chicken was good. This place is not good for those who do not specifically like seafood I would say - Hubby would've appreciated some other quick service place better.

After lunch we grabbed a spot (right across from Sleepy Hollow this time) to watch the Festival of Fantasy Parade.









We left the park after just a bit more shopping and then headed to the resort for a nap before our return to MK for our Cinderella's Royal Dinner reservation at 8:20pm.

 

[mzpoirot]

Onto the rest of our night

We returned to MK by 7:30-ish I believe. We slowly made our way to Cinderellas Royal table for dinner. I stopped for this pic first...



We arrived at the line for Cinderella's Royal Table (which is located in the walk-through space of the castle near the back) and I was instantly surprised at how little space they have reserved for those checking in and waiting. Very small space. While I was waiting I took these pics...





Once we checked in (approximately 10 minutes early) we were informed that we could not check in until our official reservation time. We waited around with maybe 12 other people waiting for our time. I know why they have people wait - it's because the next area you are moving into is also small....

Once we checked in right at 8:20p we went into another room immediately into a line to get our picture with Cinderella - I didn't post this pic because I don't think it turned out that well

Once we got our picture with Cinderella we waited for another 15 minutes before our party was called to head upstairs. There is a winding staircase and also an elevator. We were seated almost immediately once upstairs! This panoramic didn't turned out the best, but here you go...



We were immediately greeted by our waiter - we informed him of Mom's gluten free preference - he stated that the Chef would have to stop by the table (which we were def. used to by this point). We were brought yummy bread and the hubby and I devoured it all. You're given a menu at the start of the meal and asked for all your choices when you order.

We thought the table setting was interesting...



I ordered the crawfish and shrimp with grits for an appetizer. It was pretty good. I was wishing that I had ordered my Moms salad (seasonal salad) though because it was on a bed of arugula - I LOVE arugula!





Here is a pic of Hubby's appetizer - A Royal Tasting of Cheese. He said it was ok...but was hoping for cheddar, swiss, and provolone!!!! Haha



For our entree's we all ordered the same thing - the steak and shrimp. To be honest, my steak was pretty good but the shrimp were HARD! Not like hit against the table hard, but much harder then you would an expect a shrimp to be. So much so that I thought the shell was still on it. Hubby's plate was on fire but his steak was kinda cold. My plate was cooler and my steak was hot (which again, my steak was tasty). Hubby was disappointed that there were no caramelized onions in the dish - as advertised.



For dessert I had the Chef's Dessert Trio. I loved the plating and the chocolate cake bites. I also liked the pistachio pudding. I really disliked the little cake thing on the far left....it had raspberry sauce in front of it, which I usually love anything raspberry flavored and the sauce was good, but the cake was blech.



Mom had the lemon sorbet and hubby had the cheesecake - both said they were ok but nothing spectacular.

During dinner the princesses came to visit us - we tried coming up with interesting questions such as:
1) How old is Rajah? (Jasmine)
2) What is Prince Eric doing? (Ariel)

The princesses visited a short amount of time which was fine with us. They also do a pre-recorded intro for each princess which was VERY hard to hear with all the noise in the dining room (and I know for a fact that I have good hearing )

Ariel seemed to be the most at ease with visiting tables and joked about adding this picture to my collection of things!



Aurora seemed like she was going to fall asleep - fitting for her character - but still...



I loved how high Snow White made her voice - just like the movie



We watched a couple get engaged - which from the reports I've read seems to happen every meal there!

At the end of our meal the waiter and Chef came to ask how our meal went. Mom answered for us saying that the meal was great but just wanted to mention that the shrimp were hard and we felt like the shell was still on them. The Chef instantly replied "I think we have a difference in opinion, let me go try one". He left and came back stating "They are fine." and went on to explain how the shrimp are cooked in batches and the reasons why she may have felt they were hard. Mom checked that he didn't need a knife and fork to cut the shrimp and that he didn't feel like the shell was still attached - he denied noticing this again. Mom just smiled and said "Ok" and he left our table. Our waiter was wonderful, however, I was DEFINITELY NOT HAPPY with how the Chef interacted with my Mom and the comments he made.

Who cares if you (Chef) feel the shrimp are fine - it's not about proving the customer wrong...he could've acknowledged her complaint and expressed concern over the status of the shrimp! I didn't even mention to him that my shrimp were hard also or that the hubby's steak was not warm.

Once we left the castle they had the whole area roped off for Wishes! We had to choose - go to the front or the back of the castle - we chose the front and were let past the roped area right to the VERY FRONT of the viewing area at the base of the castle!!!! We sat down immediately so we didn't block others' views. We felt bad to immediately go to the front of the viewing area, however, we couldn't move anywhere else so we just settled in

Wishes was amazing





Overall, the fireworks were AMAZING. As far as dinner, I wouldn't recommend others go to Cinderella's Royal Table. I was so put off by how the Chef handled Moms comment that now I view our experience there as being negative If you have children it may be worth going to see the princesses - but we had MUCH better food during our visit elsewhere (BOG, Crystal Palace, Ohana).

 

[mzpoirot]

p.s. - sorry some of the images are sideways!!! I tried rotating them multiple times...they look fine on photobucket but do not transfer well

 

[OasterP]

Great report! It's fun to see the same places we went in someone elses view.

I thought CP was so pretty.

I loved BOG and I have to say - that special dessert sounded kind of gross - glad I didn't try it!

I would have loved to try the dessert party - I think we are going to do the Tomorrowland one on our next trip, but I liked the looks of the one you went too more!

Oh and I forgot to add we had the exact same experience with Wishes. When we got out of dinner the castle doors were already shut and roped off, so you are right - really nowhere to go! So we did the same as you. Sadly it poured during ours, but still nice. And I am INSANELY jealous you got to see that parade - it's one of my regrets of the trip - UG. We missed the first parade and the second was rained out.

 

[mzpoirot]

Great report! It's fun to see the same places we went in someone elses view.

I thought CP was so pretty.

I loved BOG and I have to say - that special dessert sounded kind of gross - glad I didn't try it!

I would have loved to try the dessert party - I think we are going to do the Tomorrowland one on our next trip, but I liked the looks of the one you went too more!

Oh and I forgot to add we had the exact same experience with Wishes. When we got out of dinner the castle doors were already shut and roped off, so you are right - really nowhere to go! So we did the same as you. Sadly it poured during ours, but still nice. And I am INSANELY jealous you got to see that parade - it's one of my regrets of the trip - UG. We missed the first parade and the second was rained out.

That's awesome that we both had a chance to experience one of the best views of Wishes!!! I haven't heard much about the Tomorrowland Dessert party yet....hmm...I'll have to do some research

 

[mzpoirot]

I haven't forgotten about the rest of my review - my computer is being worked on by the Hubby...hopefully I'll be back up and running tonight!

 

[mzpoirot]

Day 5: Our last day and 1 year anniversary!

We started off the day by taking a taxi from Coronado Springs to the Yacht Club Resort for our breakfast at Captain's Grille. Once we arrived we checked in and were told it would be a few minutes wait....literally 30 seconds later we were called to be seated!



I had been VERY anxious/excited trying this place out for breakfast - I reallly wanted to try the lemon ricotta hotcakes or the chocolate waffles....BUT once I walked through the buffet I then chose that!

Hubby ordered a bloody mary which was pretty tasty



My favorite thing on the buffet was the little tomatoes with spinach and cheese baked on top and the bread pudding. I usually REALLY dislike bread pudding...however, this one was really good



I ordered iced tea for breakfast thinking that it would be served with a mini pitcher or simple syrup (read this in someone else's dining review) and it did not come with the simple syrup! Slightly disappointed in this...but owell.

We all enjoyed our breakfast at Captain's Grille and we really enjoyed walking around the Yacht Club - we even saw a wedding party and bride getting pictures taken

From the Yacht Club we took the boat at the end of the pier to Hollywood Studios. We had walked sooooo much every other day that we (Mom, Hubby, and myself) were basically dead for our last day in WDW. We made our way in to HS and went to the Toy Story Midway Mania (loved it), Great Movie ride, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Muppet Vision 3D, Tower of Terror, Star Tours and then we stood in line to do the Animation Studio thing but there was such a lonnnnng line that the people in front of us were the last people allowed to enter for that session and we didn't feel like waiting so we went to see Indiana Jones instead! (those rides weren't in order or we would've walked our feet off )

For lunch we used our last quick service credits and ate at Fairfax Fare (near Tower of Terror). I had the Barbecue Pork and Coleslaw Gourmet Hot Dog with a banana pudding dessert. Hubby had the half a chicken and beans (IDENTICAL to Flame Tree BBQ) and Mom had the BBQ Beef Salad.







I LOVED my hot dog - I love hot dogs in general - but this one was really good. Mom loved her salad and Hubby loved his chicken (sorry, didn't take a pic of it because it looked the same as Flame Tree's).

To use up my last snack credit I had a frozed Coca-Cola after we left Indiana Jones while we watched The Plumber group perform - they told a Halloween "scary" story (not sure of their official name).

We left HS around 4:30 to head back to the resort at the request of Hubby and Mom - if I had my way we would've stayed allll the way up until we had to leave for our O'hana dinner!

 

[mzpoirot]

Here is a pic from earlier in the day - love this one!



Sooo once we packed up most of our stuff and rested a bit we left for our dinner at O'hana. We purposely checked in a little bit early with the hopes of getting a window seat to see Hallowishes - our dinner reservation was for 9:15pm and we arrived around 9pm. Wellll....arriving early definitely paid off and we were seated at a window seat with a wonderful view of the Hallowishes fireworks! I love that they streamed the music from Hallowishes through the restaurant





I ordered the infamous Lapu Lapu to drink - it was pretty good, but I don't think I would go out of my way to order it again



Our waiter (cousin) was friendly - but very INCONSISTENT with service throughout the meal. We LOVED the chicken wings and dumplings. I really liked the peanut soy dipping sauce that came with the meal too - I dunked my dumplings in them



We had the lettuce wraps - they were good and flavorful, but I wanted to save room for the other yummy stuff so I only ate a few bites



The skewers of steak were WONDERFUL - hubby and I are steak snobs and we LOVED the steak. We weren't offered the pork but we were offered a TON of shrimp!

I was really looking forward to having the lo mein, but the waiter forgot about it until the VERY end of the meal when he asked what else we would like and we mentioned that we never got the lo mein and he said "oh, more lo mein?" and I stated again that we didn't get any to start and his response was "ok, some more lo mein....". We didn't get the vegetables that are usually served with this dish. To clarify, we also asked to try some pork at this time!



We ended with dessert - HOLY Bejeezus...I should've just had this for dinner. BEST. BREAD. PUDDING. EVER!



By the end of the meal we were pretty irritated that we needed to keep asking for things that should've been included in the normal service - the food in addition to drink refills. Our ticket took a while to arrive to the table. Hubby and I became grouchy because of this, and because we were absolutely beat by this point, so that didn't help matters much. Mom clarified with our waiter to see if we should've been served the sauteed vegetables...which then clued him into the fact that we never got the Lo Mein to start. He apologized profusely for the mixup in service - he seemed very sincere

Even though we left kinda grouchy/grumbly we would DEFINITELY visit O'hana again and just hope for a better waiter. During this meal the Chef visited the table to help Mom with gluten free options and he was the NICEST and most informed Chef we met during the whole trip. He really knew his food facts! Here is a pic of Mom's plate - she also had the meats, shrimp, and a little lettuce wrap plate too




Overall, we loved our Disney trip. Hubby and I have been reminiscing over all the fun we had while we were there. I think next time we would visit Be Our Guest and O'hana again and then try some new places! Next time we visit will be in January or February in the hopes that the humidity will be less then in October. We definitely recommend going to "hard-ticket" events if you can - worth every penny.

Thanks for reading my review - feel free to ask questions if you have them!

 

[disnut1149]

Thanks for your reviews and happy anniversary!! I just wanted to say that I think the chef at CRT was completely wrong to talk to your mother like that. She had a valid complaint and he should've try to resolve it, not just say that the shrimp were fine. They weren't ok with her. Also, did you get to try the breakfast potatoes at CP? They were so delicious the last time we ate breakfast there, we had to ask for the recipe, and they did email it to me. Sounds like you had a great trip!!

 

[mzpoirot]

Thanks for your reviews and happy anniversary!! I just wanted to say that I think the chef at CRT was completely wrong to talk to your mother like that. She had a valid complaint and he should've try to resolve it, not just say that the shrimp were fine. They weren't ok with her. Also, did you get to try the breakfast potatoes at CP? They were so delicious the last time we ate breakfast there, we had to ask for the recipe, and they did email it to me. Sounds like you had a great trip!!

Thank you! Haha yea, I am def. not wanting to run back to CRT and eat there just because of the chef

I don't think I got a chance to try the breakfast potatoes at CP I should've asked them for the recipe for those bacon scones...nom nom nom