emmabemmainc
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2007
- Messages
- 753
The cast:
Me: Turned 35 while we were down at WDW! I have never considered myself a picky eater and will try everything once.
My daughter: she's 6 and is also an adventurous eater.
My mother: 56 and loves exotic foods.
My grandmother: 80 and while I never thought of her as an adventuous eater, she definitely surprised me on this trip!
Day One: Got to POR around noon and checked in. We decided to go to DTD in the afternoon.
Ate at Earl of Sandwich--REALLY GOOD! My grandmother had the Cobb salad and she said it was great--a big serving and it looked really fresh. My mother had the Tuna Melt and loved it. I had a bite and I agree, it was really good. I had the All American (I think this was the name of it)--it was really good, also. It had turkey, cheese, cranberry sauce and tomato and lettuce. The bread there is so good!
Day Two:
Went to AK and ate at Flame Tree. I had the rib plate. The ribs were not my favorite. They had the dry rub on them, which I am not crazy about. I like sauce on my ribs. Plus, they were a little too spicy for me, and I normally like that, but there was something about the spices they used that I was not crazy about. I really liked the beans and cornbread muffin though. Those were both good.
My grandmother had the fruit plate, which she really liked. I can't remember what my mom had and my daughter shared mine with me.
For dinner we went to Coral Reef. I had been really looking forward to this meal. It was a disappointment, except for one part of it.
I had the Land and Sea which was probably the best thing I ate on the whole trip. The shrimp were so good and the pickle like salad underneath was excellent! The steak on the skewer was AMAZING and the polenta underneath was really good as well--really creamy and just had a really nice, clean taste.
The bad part was my entree--I got the steak (I know, what was I thinking ordering a steak in seafood restaurant???) and it was gristly and not tender at all. Yuck. I ate maybe 3 bites. The potatoes were good underneath, but nothing spectacular. The brocollini was not good either--hard and had no taste.
My grandmother also got the steak and was not impressed either.
I know that my mother got the cod cakes for an appetizer and she thought that they were "ok". She got the crab legs for dinner and thought those were good.
For dessert, I got the creme brule, which was ok. They got the chocolate mouse type dessert--I would look it up, but am trying to get this all typed out asap--it was layered and had some kind of liquor in it. They said that they couldn't taste the liquor and thought it was really bland.
Day Three: Went to MK for the day. Went to Pecos Bill for lunch. Blah.
I know some people on here like the toppings bar, but my feeling was, if the hamburger itself stinks, then it doesn't matter how much stuff you put on it, it is still going to taste bad. LOL! I got the cheeseburger and it was hard and rubbery. Yuck. The fries were good though.
My mother and grandmother got the chicken salad, and while they both said it was plain, they said it tasted ok. My mother said that it tasted like the premade chicken you can buy at the grocery store, cut up over lettuce.
My daughter split my meal and said the burger was ok, but she's 6.
For dinner we went to Liberty Tree Tavern. This was just ok too. The food is decent, but I can't ever imagine paying out of pocket for this. The steak was dry and was separating on the plate. The turkey was dry as well. The mac and cheese and stuffing were good, but you can get that at home, any night of the week.
The dessert was good, though. The character interaction was nice as well, with a couple of the characters spending lots of time at tables. That's what you pay for, I guess.
Day Four: My birthday! WOO HOO!
For lunch we went to 50's Prime Time cafe for lunch. We paid for this OOP.
This was one of the best meals of our trip. The food and the atmosphere was really nice.
I got the meatloaf meal which was really good, but I have a thing for meatloaf. I also got the s'mores for dessert, which--surprise! It tasted just like s'mores you make outside! LOL! I really liked it. Plus, they brought it out with a candle in it and the waiter made everyone in the room sing to me-that was cute. Our waiter was Cousin Joey and he also brought out a card signed by "mom" and himself. Very nice.
My grandma got the pot roast, which she loved. She also got the chocolate soda which she enjoyed as well.
I honestly can't remember what my mother or daughter got. But, both of them liked whatever it was they had.
A very nice experience!
For dinner that night, we went to the Luau at the Polynesian. I loved this! The food is excellent--we had chicken (out of this world!), ribs (also good, but not as good as the chicken), rice (ok), salad (again-ok), good bread and the chocolate raspberry mousse volcanoes for dessert--really good! My mother had purchased a cake for me which they brought out, but we just took that home and ate the volcanoes. The show was also really good and that fire dancing guy at the end blows my mind!
Day Five:
Went to the Princess Breakfast at Norway in Epcot. It was raining that morning, so not a fun trip to get there. There is a cold buffet to start out things and that was really good--they had lox, capers, onions, muffins, breads, some kind of sour cream mixture stuff, danishes and other things like that. There were these caramel danishes that were amazing.
The hot breakfast is scrambled eggs (ok), potato casserole (too salty), bacon and sausages. I have come to realize that every single Disney restaurant cooks their bacon way too long. It was ALL too hard and chewy.
The food was decent, but again, you go for the princesses, not the food. Interaction was good, but you could tell that a few of them (Snow White and Mulan) were at the end of their shift--rush, rush, rush.
For lunch, I went with just my daughter to Tangerine Cafe--I love this place. I had gone last year and wanted to go again--it was just as good. I got the chicken/lamb shwarma platter--so good! I love everyhing on that. I could eat that every day and be happy, I think. My daughter got the cheese pizza kids meal and was happy as well.
For dinner that night--LeCellier. The best meal on the trip. We were not seated right next to anyone--we had a four top in the end section--I believe we were in Nova Scotia, but I could be wrong about that. Our waiter was Patrick--he was the best. Very funny and attentive. We ended up tipping him extra, one of two times we did that on the trip.
Food: I had the mussels for an appetizer--very good, but I like mussels in some kind of garlic/white wine sauce better. It was a little salty, but I ate them all. LOL!
I had the mushroom filet for dinner--so good! Although, I was thinking later that I bet that filet would be better on the cream cheese mashed potatoes--the risotto was good, but a little gummy.
Dessert--the creme brule (they didn't have the sampler anymore)--I believe it was a vanilla bean brule --there were little specks of vanilla at the bottom of the dish. Very good!
My grandmother and mother had the same entree as I did--but they had different desserts--my GM had the whiskey cake--which she loved, and mother had the chocolate moose--which she loved also--I had a couple of bites of that and it was very good!
Day Six:
For breakfast we went to the CS location at POR and got the bounty platters--eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes and the little mickey waffles--all ok, but those waffles are incredible! I love them!
For dinner, we went to Crystal Palace. I really liked it for dinner! We went last year for breakfast, and while I think their breakfast was a little better, their dinner service comes very close.
I really likes their corn casserole thingie (LOL!), mac and cheese (I love mac and cheese) from the kids section, and pretty much everything else I tried. Their desserts were good too--the coconut flan is excellent, but their banana bread pudding was a little too sweet for me.
Day Seven: Went to O'hanas for breakfast--very cute! The food was good--almost the same thing as the Princess breakfast, but no cold buffet or potato casserole. The fresh fruit they brought to the table was excellent and I did like the breads too--they had a cinnamon raisin roll and the pineapple bread, which was ok to me, but I didn't like it as much as some of the people on this board do. The character interaction was very good though and the parade is sweet!
For dinner-we went to Boma. This place is amazing--visually. It's just a beautiful place to be. The whole building is amazing!
The food--ok, your satisfaction of Boma has to do with what kinds of foods you like. I do not usually like mixing fruits with a non sweet dinner food--example--no fruit in my rice, please. There is a lot of that at Boma. Also, interesting spices in foods that you are not used to. If you are into that, you'll love Boma. I thought some things were good--the crab soup, the desserts were almost all very good, and some other things. My mother LOVED it--it was one of her favorites. So, it all really depends. I would recommend it to anyone going to WDW, though. It is a neat experience.
Last Day: we were leaving this day--so went to breakfast at POR CS. Again, typical breakfast food.
MY DDP experience--overall, very good. It's neat to be able to go and try new foods.
Do NOT hoard your credits however! We had so many CS and snack credits left on our last day that were grabbing things we could take home with us. It was insane. Use them freely.
So, my rankings:
1. LeCellier
2. 50's Primetime Cafe
3. Luau
4.Crystal Palace
5. Norway Breakfast
6. Liberty Tree Tavern
7. O'Hana's
8. Boma
9. Coral Reef
Counter Service:
1. Tangerine Cafe
2. Earl of Sandwich
3. POR
4. Flame Tree
5. Pecos Bill
Snacks--the dole whip floats are amazing (like everyone says) and the school bread and rice cream (from Norway) are excellent too!
I'm sorry there are no pictures. I was too wrapped up in eating to take pics and my mother would have socked me in the face if I would have pulled out a camera and started shooting pics of her food!
Just wanted to add: the wait time at some of these restaurants was insane. Waiting 30-40 minutes after you check in EARLY (like 15 minutes early-like they tell you to!)--the only places we were seated almost immediately were O'Hana's and Boma--we were late to both of them, due to transporation issues which I will not get into here--I could go on for hours!
I'm sorry, but these restaurants should not take ressies if they can't fit everyone in. It was very frustrating. I know it was during free dining, but they should only reserve as many tables as they can allow. I hated that part of it.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Me: Turned 35 while we were down at WDW! I have never considered myself a picky eater and will try everything once.
My daughter: she's 6 and is also an adventurous eater.
My mother: 56 and loves exotic foods.
My grandmother: 80 and while I never thought of her as an adventuous eater, she definitely surprised me on this trip!
Day One: Got to POR around noon and checked in. We decided to go to DTD in the afternoon.
Ate at Earl of Sandwich--REALLY GOOD! My grandmother had the Cobb salad and she said it was great--a big serving and it looked really fresh. My mother had the Tuna Melt and loved it. I had a bite and I agree, it was really good. I had the All American (I think this was the name of it)--it was really good, also. It had turkey, cheese, cranberry sauce and tomato and lettuce. The bread there is so good!
Day Two:
Went to AK and ate at Flame Tree. I had the rib plate. The ribs were not my favorite. They had the dry rub on them, which I am not crazy about. I like sauce on my ribs. Plus, they were a little too spicy for me, and I normally like that, but there was something about the spices they used that I was not crazy about. I really liked the beans and cornbread muffin though. Those were both good.
My grandmother had the fruit plate, which she really liked. I can't remember what my mom had and my daughter shared mine with me.
For dinner we went to Coral Reef. I had been really looking forward to this meal. It was a disappointment, except for one part of it.
I had the Land and Sea which was probably the best thing I ate on the whole trip. The shrimp were so good and the pickle like salad underneath was excellent! The steak on the skewer was AMAZING and the polenta underneath was really good as well--really creamy and just had a really nice, clean taste.
The bad part was my entree--I got the steak (I know, what was I thinking ordering a steak in seafood restaurant???) and it was gristly and not tender at all. Yuck. I ate maybe 3 bites. The potatoes were good underneath, but nothing spectacular. The brocollini was not good either--hard and had no taste.
My grandmother also got the steak and was not impressed either.
I know that my mother got the cod cakes for an appetizer and she thought that they were "ok". She got the crab legs for dinner and thought those were good.
For dessert, I got the creme brule, which was ok. They got the chocolate mouse type dessert--I would look it up, but am trying to get this all typed out asap--it was layered and had some kind of liquor in it. They said that they couldn't taste the liquor and thought it was really bland.
Day Three: Went to MK for the day. Went to Pecos Bill for lunch. Blah.
I know some people on here like the toppings bar, but my feeling was, if the hamburger itself stinks, then it doesn't matter how much stuff you put on it, it is still going to taste bad. LOL! I got the cheeseburger and it was hard and rubbery. Yuck. The fries were good though.
My mother and grandmother got the chicken salad, and while they both said it was plain, they said it tasted ok. My mother said that it tasted like the premade chicken you can buy at the grocery store, cut up over lettuce.
My daughter split my meal and said the burger was ok, but she's 6.
For dinner we went to Liberty Tree Tavern. This was just ok too. The food is decent, but I can't ever imagine paying out of pocket for this. The steak was dry and was separating on the plate. The turkey was dry as well. The mac and cheese and stuffing were good, but you can get that at home, any night of the week.
The dessert was good, though. The character interaction was nice as well, with a couple of the characters spending lots of time at tables. That's what you pay for, I guess.
Day Four: My birthday! WOO HOO!
For lunch we went to 50's Prime Time cafe for lunch. We paid for this OOP.
This was one of the best meals of our trip. The food and the atmosphere was really nice.
I got the meatloaf meal which was really good, but I have a thing for meatloaf. I also got the s'mores for dessert, which--surprise! It tasted just like s'mores you make outside! LOL! I really liked it. Plus, they brought it out with a candle in it and the waiter made everyone in the room sing to me-that was cute. Our waiter was Cousin Joey and he also brought out a card signed by "mom" and himself. Very nice.
My grandma got the pot roast, which she loved. She also got the chocolate soda which she enjoyed as well.
I honestly can't remember what my mother or daughter got. But, both of them liked whatever it was they had.
A very nice experience!
For dinner that night, we went to the Luau at the Polynesian. I loved this! The food is excellent--we had chicken (out of this world!), ribs (also good, but not as good as the chicken), rice (ok), salad (again-ok), good bread and the chocolate raspberry mousse volcanoes for dessert--really good! My mother had purchased a cake for me which they brought out, but we just took that home and ate the volcanoes. The show was also really good and that fire dancing guy at the end blows my mind!
Day Five:
Went to the Princess Breakfast at Norway in Epcot. It was raining that morning, so not a fun trip to get there. There is a cold buffet to start out things and that was really good--they had lox, capers, onions, muffins, breads, some kind of sour cream mixture stuff, danishes and other things like that. There were these caramel danishes that were amazing.
The hot breakfast is scrambled eggs (ok), potato casserole (too salty), bacon and sausages. I have come to realize that every single Disney restaurant cooks their bacon way too long. It was ALL too hard and chewy.
The food was decent, but again, you go for the princesses, not the food. Interaction was good, but you could tell that a few of them (Snow White and Mulan) were at the end of their shift--rush, rush, rush.
For lunch, I went with just my daughter to Tangerine Cafe--I love this place. I had gone last year and wanted to go again--it was just as good. I got the chicken/lamb shwarma platter--so good! I love everyhing on that. I could eat that every day and be happy, I think. My daughter got the cheese pizza kids meal and was happy as well.
For dinner that night--LeCellier. The best meal on the trip. We were not seated right next to anyone--we had a four top in the end section--I believe we were in Nova Scotia, but I could be wrong about that. Our waiter was Patrick--he was the best. Very funny and attentive. We ended up tipping him extra, one of two times we did that on the trip.
Food: I had the mussels for an appetizer--very good, but I like mussels in some kind of garlic/white wine sauce better. It was a little salty, but I ate them all. LOL!
I had the mushroom filet for dinner--so good! Although, I was thinking later that I bet that filet would be better on the cream cheese mashed potatoes--the risotto was good, but a little gummy.
Dessert--the creme brule (they didn't have the sampler anymore)--I believe it was a vanilla bean brule --there were little specks of vanilla at the bottom of the dish. Very good!
My grandmother and mother had the same entree as I did--but they had different desserts--my GM had the whiskey cake--which she loved, and mother had the chocolate moose--which she loved also--I had a couple of bites of that and it was very good!
Day Six:
For breakfast we went to the CS location at POR and got the bounty platters--eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes and the little mickey waffles--all ok, but those waffles are incredible! I love them!
For dinner, we went to Crystal Palace. I really liked it for dinner! We went last year for breakfast, and while I think their breakfast was a little better, their dinner service comes very close.
I really likes their corn casserole thingie (LOL!), mac and cheese (I love mac and cheese) from the kids section, and pretty much everything else I tried. Their desserts were good too--the coconut flan is excellent, but their banana bread pudding was a little too sweet for me.
Day Seven: Went to O'hanas for breakfast--very cute! The food was good--almost the same thing as the Princess breakfast, but no cold buffet or potato casserole. The fresh fruit they brought to the table was excellent and I did like the breads too--they had a cinnamon raisin roll and the pineapple bread, which was ok to me, but I didn't like it as much as some of the people on this board do. The character interaction was very good though and the parade is sweet!
For dinner-we went to Boma. This place is amazing--visually. It's just a beautiful place to be. The whole building is amazing!
The food--ok, your satisfaction of Boma has to do with what kinds of foods you like. I do not usually like mixing fruits with a non sweet dinner food--example--no fruit in my rice, please. There is a lot of that at Boma. Also, interesting spices in foods that you are not used to. If you are into that, you'll love Boma. I thought some things were good--the crab soup, the desserts were almost all very good, and some other things. My mother LOVED it--it was one of her favorites. So, it all really depends. I would recommend it to anyone going to WDW, though. It is a neat experience.
Last Day: we were leaving this day--so went to breakfast at POR CS. Again, typical breakfast food.
MY DDP experience--overall, very good. It's neat to be able to go and try new foods.
Do NOT hoard your credits however! We had so many CS and snack credits left on our last day that were grabbing things we could take home with us. It was insane. Use them freely.
So, my rankings:
1. LeCellier
2. 50's Primetime Cafe
3. Luau
4.Crystal Palace
5. Norway Breakfast
6. Liberty Tree Tavern
7. O'Hana's
8. Boma
9. Coral Reef
Counter Service:
1. Tangerine Cafe
2. Earl of Sandwich
3. POR
4. Flame Tree
5. Pecos Bill
Snacks--the dole whip floats are amazing (like everyone says) and the school bread and rice cream (from Norway) are excellent too!
I'm sorry there are no pictures. I was too wrapped up in eating to take pics and my mother would have socked me in the face if I would have pulled out a camera and started shooting pics of her food!
Just wanted to add: the wait time at some of these restaurants was insane. Waiting 30-40 minutes after you check in EARLY (like 15 minutes early-like they tell you to!)--the only places we were seated almost immediately were O'Hana's and Boma--we were late to both of them, due to transporation issues which I will not get into here--I could go on for hours!
I'm sorry, but these restaurants should not take ressies if they can't fit everyone in. It was very frustrating. I know it was during free dining, but they should only reserve as many tables as they can allow. I hated that part of it.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
