5 Days of Dining Fun with Two Toddlers

[lightningmcqueen]

Whew! We just arrived home from five days at WDW. Four would have probable been enough since the kids fell apart on the last day. It was more fun than not though and well worth the adventure!

Let me start by saying that I am very excited to be writing this report. I’ve been to Disney seven times in the past but this was the first trip I’ve personally planned with my own children. I have been reading the message boards for months and planning our ADRs. I can’t begin to describe how excited I was to try many of the foods on our trip. And best of all, with the dining plan, it was all free!

Cast
Me 28 three words- I LOVE FOOD! I tried to make good food choices as I’m on Weight Watchers but used the rule “If I walk 10 miles a day I’ll eat dessert!”
DH 29- classic meat, potatoes, and beer guy. If it lived in the water, he won’t touch it
DS 3 ½- recently (as in two days prior to departure day) told to cut all gluten, dairy, and sugar from diet.
DS 2- Just like DH minus the beer

Restaurants I’ll be reviewing:

Table Service
Coral Reef (dinner)
LeCellier (lunch)
Whispering Canyon (dinner)
Kona Café (dinner)
Spoodles (dinner)
Hollywood and Vine Play and Dine (breakfast)
Boma (dinner)

Counter Service
Liberty Tavern
Boulingerie Patisserie
Restaurantasaurus
Pizzafari
Columbia Harbor House
Hurricane Hannah’s
Beach Club Marketplace (breakfast and lunch)
Sunshine Seasons (breakfast)

Snacks
Most snacks were bottles of water but we did try out a couple popular spots
Beach Club Marketplace (gelato)
Aloha Island
Goody’s Candy Company

Let me apologize in advance for not taking pictures. I had every intent to document the eating extravaganza through the world but traveling with two toddlers put a damper on that. Hopefully my descriptions will be enough!

 

[lightningmcqueen]

We arrived at MCO on 9/22 at 1:30. After taking the Not-So-Magical Express, we arrived at the Beach Club around 4:00. We checked in and went right to Epcot. Initially I had an ADR for Spoodles for that evening. I’m glad I cancelled it. The boys were so cranky and tired from traveling that I think a sit-down meal would have put them over the edge. Since DS1 has some new-found food sensitivity issues we decided to take him to the Liberty Tavern in the American Pavilion. We had received information from Disney about the better places to find food that’s gluten-free. I spoke with the manager and he let me look through a binder of their “special” food with labels so I could check the ingredients. They prepared gluten-free french fries in a special fryer to prevent cross contamination and a gluten-free hot dog. DS1 also had an apple juice and a gluten-free, lactose-free chocolate chip cookie. DS2 had a cheeseburger, fries, cookie, and water. I totally forgot that the 2-year-old was suppose to share with the rest of us but I bought his meal anyway. It really didn’t affect the dining plan though. There was plenty of food to eat! I tried the gluten-free food and it was great. The boys ate a ton! Hats off to the Liberty Tavern for making it easy to give my son a filling meal.

Total cost for hot dog, cheeseburger, two fries, water, apple juice, and two cookies- $25.10 (2 counter service credits)

DH and I decided to share a meal from Boulingerie Patisserie since we weren’t really that hungry. We got a ham and cheese croissant and a peach tart with water. They warmed the croissant and it was delicious. The tart was quite tasty too! Total cost $12.10 (1 counter service)

 

[lalagrace]

I'm going in Jan with my son, who will turn 3 on our trip. I love reading reports with young ones involved. I am a little worried that he will be too wild for us to enjoy all the nice places at WDW ( we don't eat out with him often). so thanks for posting!

 

[deezeealum]

subscribing

 

[atisikitabasket]

Our DS4 is on the Autism Spectrum and we just found out he is allergic to everything we go back the first of Nov. and the Dr. said once all the test results come back we might have to do the GF/CF diet also. We are going to Disney in Dec. I am worried because he limits what he will eat so bad now I don't know what will be left with the diet so please tell us everything you experienced with it. Also I would love a list of the more accomidating places for us to eat!


Thanks can't wait for more.

 

[Minniespal]

Thanks, looking forward to reading more.

 

[TigerKat]

Looking forward to more......

 

[Honeymooner04]

Great reviews so far! Can't wait to read more!

 

[NewRocDad]

Thank you so much for starting this thread! We're going in Feb. DW and I enjoy food very much and we are VERY curious/scared to see how DS & DD handle eating out 9 days in a row! Tell us everything!

 

[lightningmcqueen]

Day 1- Animal Kingdom
We ate breakfast in the room and headed to the park. I had heard that it was going to be hard to find gluten-free food. That’s an understatement! There was hardly anything my son could eat. Since we’re still unsure if DS1 really has these food sensitivity issues, we had to be a little relaxed here since he was starving and there was not many food choices. We ended up going to Restaurantasaurus and getting a 10 piece chicken nugget meat with fries and a strawberry shortcake for the boys to share. There’s not much to say about this. It was typical McDonalds food. They boys loved it. What toddler doesn’t like McDonalds? Total cost: $13.10 (1 counter service credit)

DH ate the strawberry shortcake so we got the boys orange popsicles from some cart during a rain shower. Then we headed over to Pizzafarri where DH and I split a meal. We got the hot Italian-style sandwich. It had turkey, ham, American, and provolone topped with ceaser salad and pesto marinated tomatoes. Let me tell you, this was a monster-sized sandwich and so good! While in line I saw people getting the pizza and it didn’t look too appealing. The sandwich was delish! It came with chips and we got the apple pie and a water. I had some of the sandwich and DH ate the rest of the meal. Total cost: $13.04 (1 counter service credit)

Coral Reef

We had a 6:40 ADR for The Coral Reef. I was very much looking forward to our first sit-down meal but also a little nervous. There have been some less than stellar things reported about this restaurant. We headed over there around 5:30 because we wanted to see if we could ask for a table next to the tank. They said there were running 15 minutes behind and to come back at 6:20. When we returned and checked in, they were now running 20 minutes behind. We ended up being seated at 6:45. We didn’t get a table right next to the tank but we were on the first tear in a booth. It was probably a better table. The seats face the tank and the kids loved it!

Because of my son’s food sensitivities, the waitress immediately got the chef to come talk to us. He said that they only had limited foods to meet his needs. He said that he could prepare some rice pasta with a tomato based sauce and chicken. That sounded great. So he got right to work on that. The waitress took our drink order first. DH got a 22 oz.Reef Amber beer (obviously not included on the dining plan) and she offered to bring him a bottle of water as well. I ordered the strawberry freeze and the boys got one as well. When she brought our drinks back, she took our complete meal order. I liked ordering all three courses at the same time. It helped so I didn’t have to think about it later on.

For appetizers, I ordered the land and sea combo. It came with two shrimp on a skewer on a bed of a tangy cucumber salad as well as three beef tenderloins on a skewer over polenta. DH ordered a ceasar salad and the DS’s shared a fruit cup. The fruit is suppose to be a dessert option but since the kids wouldn’t eat the veggies, they were allowed the fruit. My appi was great. It was just enough food to get a taste. I hate it when your appetizer fills you up before dinner. DH liked his salad and the boys ate all the fruit.

The special gluten-free pasta dish appeared not long after. For my very picky DS1, he loved it! He’s not a big chicken fan unless it’s breaded and in the shape of a dinosaur so DS2 ate all the chicken, but DS1 loved his rice pasta. For an entrée, I ordered the blackened catfish over cheese grits with a spicy tomato compote. DH ordered the 12 oz. NY sirloin steak with a gratin potatoes and broccolini. Let me tell you, the food was fantastic. The catfish was slightly spicy but I really enjoyed it. I didn’t finish it because I wanted to save room for dessert. DH ate all of his steak (well he shared with DS2) and said it was great.

I was most looking forward to dessert. Pictures of the chocolate wave looked so yummy and it didn’t disappoint! The warm chocolate center was so good. And unlike many people, I liked the brandied cherries. Eaten by themselves, they can be strong, but mixed in with the cake, they were quite tasty. DH got the butterscotch crème brulee and loved it. He ate every last bite. The boys got the make-your-own ice cream sundae. DS1 only had a couple bites since he may have a milk sensitivity. DS2 ate most of it!

Our experience was fantastic. We loved the entire experience of eating at the Coral Reef. The atmosphere was amazing and the food to die for. Total cost- $132.68 (3 table service credits, 2 adults, 1 child)

Up next: LeCellier lunch and Whispering Canyon dinner

 

[lightningmcqueen]

Our DS4 is on the Autism Spectrum and we just found out he is allergic to everything we go back the first of Nov. and the Dr. said once all the test results come back we might have to do the GF/CF diet also. We are going to Disney in Dec. I am worried because he limits what he will eat so bad now I don't know what will be left with the diet so please tell us everything you experienced with it. Also I would love a list of the more accomidating places for us to eat!


Thanks can't wait for more.

Send me an email at jaciejwelch@yahoo.com
I can forward you a listing from a Disney cast member who gave me a bunch of attachments of the more gluten-free friendly restaurants. Also make sure you let Disney dining know about the allergy. They'll make a note on all of your sit down meals and the chef will come and speak to you directly about what he can make for your son.

 

[lightningmcqueen]

Le Cellier

We arrived at 11:20 for our 11:40 lunch ADR. We were seated within 15 minutes. The place was pretty empty but filled up quickly. We didn’t have the best table (right outside the kitchen) but we aren’t too picky. Our waiter was Matthew. He was very helpful and immediately got the chef to explain the gluten-free options. The chef came right out and asked us what foods our DS1 likes. DS1 really wanted chicken nuggets but they couldn’t do that so I suggested a hot dog. He prefers hot dogs without the bun so I asked if they could bring the bread out with our bread.

For drinks, we all chose the specialty, non-alcoholic ones. I had the chocolate-raspberry shake. It was SO good! The boys all had the mango smoothie with a splash of cranberry. Again, not a drop left! We ordered our appetizers next. The boys shared carrot sticks (they gave us double carrots since the boys aren’t a fan of celery). DH and I both had the cheddar cheese soup. The bread came out while we were waiting for the appetizers. Let me tell you, the pretzel bread was everything I’d hoped it would be and more. Oh my gosh, it was so yummy! Warm, chewy, with just a hint of salt. The sourdough and multi-grain were also good but they didn’t compare with the pretzel bread. Needless to say, the bread didn’t last long until we were on refills of the pretzel sticks. The appi’s appeared and I took the opportunity to dip the pretzel bread in my soup. It was pretty good. The soup wasn’t what I expected. Not to say it wasn’t good, it was just different. It was thicker and lumpier than I thought it would be. I didn’t eat the whole thing because I know there was more food to come. DH loved his soup. I think it was the hint of beer that did it for him.
For entrees, DH ordered the steak burger. “It was real good. Fries were good, liked the pickle.” That’s about all I got for a review from him. I ordered the 5 oz. filet mingon accompanied with sweet potato mash. It wasn’t the best steak I’d ever had but it was good. I wasn’t expecting the sauce that they put on it. It had a hint of heat but it was tasty.

For dessert, we decided to take them to go since the boys were getting a little fussy. We got a fruit cup for the kids, DH ordered the chocolate whiskey cake, and I had the campfire s’mores. I was a little disappointed that the maple crème brulee was gone so this seemed to be the next best thing to me. Plus I needed something for transporting. The s’mores were delish. Very chocolaty and rich. I needed help finishing them!

All in all, Lecellier was a good meal. I’m glad I got to experience it. I think our meal at the Coral Reef was a bit better but this was good in it’s own right. Total cost- $92.76 (3 table service credits, 2 adults, 1 child)

Whispering Canyon
We arrived at 6:30 for our 6:50 ADR. The line of people checking in was about 10 people deep. We were seated at 7:00. Not let me start by saying I’ve eaten at Whispering Canyon about five times in the past. I was looking forward to eating here with my boys because of all the antics they’re known for. I thought they would love the pony rides especially.

When we were seated, our waiter came over (not that memorable so I can’t recall his name) and looked at the little slip of paper noting DS1’s food allergy. He promptly got the chef who came and looked over the menu with us. They did not have a huge selection of gluten-free products that DS1 would eat. We ended up getting him a fruit cup with a gluten-free roll, hot dog and carrots, and ice cream for dessert. This was the first place in the park that carried tofutti soy ice cream. We also asked if they could make him a milk shake. The stars must have aligned that night because they were able to make him a vanilla milk shake with rice dream rice milk and tofutti ice cream. He was so excited!

I ended up ordering the blue glowtini for a drink and a side of water. DH got the yard of beer. For those of you who are not familiar with Disney water, let me warn you. Tap water is not good. It has this sort of chemical taste to it. I recommend strictly sticking to Dasani in the parks. I had this vision of saving money by bringing my water bottle from home and just filling it up in the sink. Bad idea. The stuff is nasty. Anyway, that’s the kind of water they were serving at Whispering Canyon. If our waiter had made a more routine presence, I would have ordered a diet coke. But he was only at our table about 3 times during the meal. Anyway, when he brought us our drinks, he threw about 10 straws on our table. I know, how exciting. That was about as adventurous as this guy got.
I ended up ordering the all-you-can-eat skillet, basically so I could share some food with DS2. Coleslaw and salad with apple vinaigrette were the included appetizers. DH ordered the southwestern soup as an appi and some chicken and pasta dish. Again, not that memorable so the name escapes me. As I’ve said, I’ve eaten here in the past and liked it. Well after this meal, I doubt I’ll be back. The skillet was icky. All of the meat was very fatty. Some of it was cold. The corn on the cob didn’t taste right, almost like it was over cooked. The best part about it was the peel and eat shrimp. They were alright. DH said his pasta was alright but nothing spectacular. DS1 ate some of his hot dog but he really wanted chicken nuggets and they couldn’t do those gluten-free.

The food left such a bad taste in our mouth that we skipped dessert. Nothing looked overly appealing. We decided to get a gelato when we got back to the Beach Club. So back to the main reason I chose Whispering Canyon- for their antics. Yea, nothing happened. They sang happy birthday once and that was it. No pony rides, no public ridiculing. I was very tame and boring. Accompany that with lousy food and it doesn’t make for a good experience. The only real positive was DS1’s milk shake. Total Cost-$103.43 (3 table service, 2 adults, 1 child)

Beach Club Marketplace
After seeing many pictures of the gelato at the marketplace, I was dying to try one. And man, am I glad I did. They even let you sample them before buying and each one is better than the last. Ohh I was in heaven. I decided to get a small and the cast member said I could get two flavors. I chose sugar-free chocolate and strawberry. It was to die for! You couldn’t even tell the sugar-free was sugar-free and the strawberry had such a real flavor. You know how sometimes you can automatically tell something is artificially flavored? Well this tasted like pureed strawberry. So good. And mix it was the chocolate and it was a great flavor! Total cost- $3.29ish (1 snack credit)

Up next: Beach Club Marketplace, Columbia Harbor House, Aloha Island, Kona Café

 

[my3disneygirls]

 

[MeLaNie9]

Thanks for the reviews. We are heading to the World in Nov and our youngest son has a severe allergy to dairy and is also allergic to eggs so I am interested to hear about your experiences (we are also eating at Kona, Boma, Le Cellier, and haven't figured out which CS places will be best for us yet). We are wondering how its going to go as he will only be 1 and we really weren't planning on paying OOP for food for him (we will be on the DDP) - he would have just eaten off our plates. We are debating ordering one adult meal that is dairy and egg free each time to share with him or to just order our older son's (3) meals as dairy and egg free for them to share together.

 

[lisaj]

Great reviews so far, got me worrying about WCC though.

 

[Mallow]

great reviews!

 

[lightningmcqueen]

Beach Club Marketplace

We decided to try out the marketplace for breakfast. I had spoken with a cast member a couple nights prior about what they have for gluten-free diets and she said that they could make waffles. When I showed up that morning asking for gluten-free waffles, they kind of looked at me like I had two heads. I explained the conversation I’d had and they called up to the Cape May Café. Apparently the chef told them that it was take about 10 minutes. No problem. I ended up getting this fabulous yogurt parfait that they make their. The choices are low-fat vanilla yogurt mixed with granola, fresh blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries. I went for the yogurt mixed with all of the berries, no granola. The yogurt was a little too bitter for my taste so I mixed a packet of splenda into it. Mmm, it was good and healthy. DH got a grapefruit and plain croissant and it came with two drinks. I chose a bottle of oj and a bottle of cran apple juice. It took about 20 minutes but someone brought DS his waffles. We were pleasantly surprised when we opened the container and there were 4 Mickey waffles smiling up at us. The boys LOVED that! They were a bit over-cooked but the surprise of them being Mickey shaped was worth it for them. Total cost $8.21 (We used two counter service because we had a ton of them left and a snack for this)

Columbia Harbor House

I think I’ve said how I tried really hard to eat healthy on this trip. Eating at Columbia Harbor House helped this. Their menu had a great selection of healthier varieties so it was a welcome change from the traditional burger joints. The kids were pretty fussy so we had an early lunch. We arrived a little after 11:00 and the place was empty. I asked to speak with someone about DS1’s gluten-free diet. The manager said the only thing he could eat was a salad. Yea, what 3-year-old wants to eat a salad? Not mine! She said the only place that would have something for him was Cosmic Ray’s and I was not about to schlep all the way across the Magic Kingdom, especially if we’ve yet to truly understand if DS1 really needs this gluten-free diet. So we decided to take our chances on the chicken strips and French fries for him. The kids meal came with a choice of apples or something else…sorry drawing a blank. He got apples.

I ordered the tuna fish sandwich with apple slices and chocolate cake and I ordered DH the veggie chili with ½ ham sandwich, chips, and an apple pie. My tuna sandwich was great. It came on toasted multi-grain bread and lettuce and tomato. The portion was huge. You could easily share this meal. I’m not a huge pre-packaged dessert kind of girl so I don’t think I ever ate my chocolate cake. DH liked his chili and sandwich. Again, nothing too specific about his review. They were very kind there. When a cast member watched my two DS’s fight over their little container of fries, she brought an extra one out for DS2. That was very thoughtful and we appreciated her trying to keep the peace.
Total cost: $33.32 (3 counter service, 2 adults, 1 child)

Aloha Island

Since I didn’t want the pre-packaged chocolate cake, I decided to stop off for a pineapple float on our way back to the hotel for naps. This place is so intriguing. It’s a little hole in the wall on Adventureland. The float is fairly large. The fill a cup with pineapple soft-serve and then fill fresh pineapple juice around it. Let me tell you, on a hot day, it is quite refreshing! I gave DH a bite and de didn’t understand the appeal but I loved it. Total cost $4.00 and change (1 snack credit).

Kona Café

I was very much looking forward to eating at Kona since I’d read so many great things about it. We arrived at 4:50 for our 5:10 ADR. We were seated within 10 minutes. I know it has been mentioned that Kona isn’t really a private restaurant. There is a 3-foot high metal gate around it but other than that it overlooks the second floor lobby. We didn’t have a very good seat. We were right next to the gate and the two DS’s were fascinated by all the people walking by. It was hard to keep them occupied so they’d stay in their seats.

As with all of our other table service meals, the waitress got the chef to come talk with us about DS1’s dietary needs. We decided to get him fruit for an appetizer along with a gluten-free roll, a hot dog without a bun for an entrée (served with carrot sticks) and the chef said he had tofutti ice cream for dessert. All that sounded alright.

For appetizers, I started out with the lump crab cakes. They came as a group of three served in a pool of pineapple relish and a bit of salad in the middle. I thought they were delicious. DS2 ate more than I did. He kept calling them chicken nuggets even though they really had no chicken taste. I liked how much crab was in them. There wasn’t much breading, mostly crab. DH got the sesame sticky wings. Those were terrific. They were a meal in and of themselves. There had to have been at least six wings covered in a sweet, slightly crunchy coating with sesame seeds on top. Along with the appetizers came a loaf of Hawaiian sweet bread served with macadamia nut butter. That bread was out of this world. It was warm and chewy and the macadamia nut butter complimented it nicely. Between the bread and appetizers, that was enough food for a meal. For drinks, DH got some sort of beer native to some Polynesian country and I got the mango passion fruit smoothie. That was so yummy! It tasted like the freshly squeezed the juices right into my cup!
For entrees, DH ordered the pan-seared noodles which came with chicken and fresh veggies. I had intended to taste it but honestly was just too full. I ordered the teriyaki beef which was served with mashed potatoes and broccoli. The steak was alright. DS2 helped me eat it and he really enjoyed it. To me, it wasn’t the best meat I’d had. I did enjoy the pineapple teriyaki glaze that was on it. It was especially good on the broccoli. I didn’t eat a whole lot of the entrée. Between the appi’s and wanting to taste dessert, that kinda got pushed down to a last priority. DS2 had a few bites of hot dog but I think he was getting sick of eating those things. He liked his fruit and carrots though.

For dessert I ordered the Kailua torte served a la mode. I guess I was expecting something different because it was very similar to the chocolate lava cake at Coral Reef. This one wasn’t as moist and gooey though. It had a harder shell to it. It was served on a plate with drops of some sort of fruit puree (strawberry and mango maybe?). It was nice to dip the cake in the fruit though. I only had a few bites. I gave the bowl of ice cream to DS2. DH ordered the apple brown betty served with vanilla ice cream. DH eats anything with apples in it and he loved this dessert. Since the troops were getting restless, I decided to take them to the stroller while DH finished his dessert and paid.

All in all Kona was very good. Their bread was amongst the best on the trip. It’s definitely a nice restaurant to check out if you like different food. Total cost- $132.32 (3 table service credits, 2 adults, 1 child)

Up Next: Sunshine Seasons, Hurricane Hannah’s, Goofy’s Candy Company, Spoodles

 

[Mallow]

Lightning, I'm really enjoying your reviews. Did you count points while you were there? I've done WW in the past & had great success. It sounds like you made really great choices. I, however, on my last trip did not fair as well & paid for it. Hope your still doing well @ WW.

 

[deezeealum]

I am now also, reconsidering my WCC dinner. I thought since we were staying at WL it might be fun to go when we arrive at the resort. I'll be looking for something else.

 

[lightningmcqueen]

Lightning, I'm really enjoying your reviews. Did you count points while you were there? I've done WW in the past & had great success. It sounds like you made really great choices. I, however, on my last trip did not fair as well & paid for it. Hope your still doing well @ WW.

Yeah right! I did well the first couple days and then it went right in the garbage. I gained 4 pounds when I was there. I've been home 2 days and have already lost 2 of it! I should be ok for weigh in next Sat.