5 days on the DDP -- will we eat here again?

[PixieMama]

We spent Oct 7th through the 13th at WDW and had a GREAT time! This was our DDs first trip to WDW and they already want to go back. Its been 20 years since my DH or myself had been ...alot has changed since 1987!!!


It was myself, DH, DD6 and DD4 on this trip. Once we decided to do the DDP, I purchased a WDW guide book and also came across the DISboards to get all the info I could on where to eat. Our table-service meals were at:

Tony's Town Square
Princess Storybook Lunch at Akershus
Boma
Breakfast with Pooh & friends at the Crystal Palace
Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater
Chef Mickey's




Our first TS meal was lunch at Tony's Town Square. We checked in about 10 minutes early but the girls were ok waiting since they were able to sit in the lobby and watch the "Lady & the Tramp" movie. We all love Italian food so I thought this would be a good place to eat.

Both girls had a small garden salad as their appetizer; DD4 had mac & cheese while DD6 had spaghetti. Both said their meals were good.

DH had pumpkin soup as his appetizer and I had the mixed greens salad. We both really liked our appetizers; the balsamic vinegarette dressing on my salad was yummy! I had chicken parmesan as my entree while DH had the spaghetti. Both were ok, not the best we've ever had.

The atmosphere of the resteraunt was nice, and the girls were tickled that Lady and Tramp were in the back and were able to get their autographs (something I learned about here on the DISboards!). Our waiter was nice but a little slow about refilling our drinks. Another small drawback was that we were in Fantasyland and when it was time for lunch we had to trek all the way up to Main Street to the resteraunt. Then of course, after lunch, the girls wantde to go back to the rides in Fantasyland!

I don't think we would eat here again during another trip to WDW. The food was ok, just not someplace we really really loved. I think I would like to try Liberty Tree Tavern if and when we get back to WDW.


Here are my DDs in front of the fountain inside Tony's.

Next up will be our lunch with the Princesses!

 

[PixieMama]

DDs were very excited about meeting the princesses. We got to see Belle, Ariel, Aurora, Jasmine and Cinderella.

About a month before our trip, I stumbled upon some reviews of Akershus here on the boards, and wondered if I should have done breakfast instead of lunch. DH will try any kind of food, but our girls and myself are pretty picky! I looked at the menus on allears.net and actually called the dining phone# to switch to breakfast. But lunch was all booked for the day I wanted... and I didnt want to try for another day since that would mean I would probably have to rearrange other ADRs. So I stuck with lunch and hoped for the best!

I knew the girls would be ok, since the resteraunt does have a kids menu... both DDs ordered pizza. For myself and DH, our appetizers were selections from the "cold table"... sort of a mini buffet of cold salads and fish. At least that is all I can remember it had! Oh yeah, there were some cheeses and fruit, too. The bread basket was very good... we even asked our waitress for more.

I had the Traditional Kjottkaker... to me, it was like a Salisbury Steak. It was a meat patty covered in a brown gravy. It was ok. Again, I am a bit picky when it comes to food. I think I may have eaten half of it. DH had a chicken dish that was pretty good. He liked it anyway. I'm not sure what it was called (its not listed on the menu posted on allears.net) but it was either 1/2 or 1/4 of a chicken in some kind of sherry sauce.

The dessert plate was ok. We didn't care for the rice cream or the cappucino/chocolate mousse, but the lingonberry tart was pretty good.


I would definitely recommend the experience of getting to meet with the Princesses and eat in a "castle". Though we were seated near the door where the Princesses came out of, so it was a bit difficult to get our girls to eat their food. They were more interested in seeing who would come out next! We would eat here again, even lunch. DH and DDs were happy with their meals.



Some pics of DDs and the Princesses:

Next is Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge!

 

[PixieMama]

This was my and DH's favorite meal while at Disney. We highly recommend!

The atmosphere was great... and the AK Lodge is sssssooooooo nice! When we walked in the lobby of the resort, DH said "I so want to stay here next time!" (we were at All-Star Movies --- big step up to AKL!).

Boma is downstairs, and in the waiting area there were African drums that all the kids were playing on. Needless to say, it was a little loud but the kids loved it.

The food was great! Very flavorful! I really liked the ribs and the potatoes with Afritude. Both DDs had mac & cheese and chicken strips. DD6 was a little adventurous and tried some selections from the "adult" buffet... she said the ribs were good but too spicy for her but she really liked the saffron rice. I don't remember what all DH had to eat, but he loved everything he tried.

Boma is definitely on the list of places we would eat at again!

 

[PixieMama]

We enjoyed our breakfast at the Crystal Palace very much. This place did have the longest wait time, out of all of our TS meals... I think we checked in maybe 5 minutes earlier than our ADR, and we still had to wait about 25 minutes. The waiting area outside was packed!

Once we were seated, it was just a minute or two before Piglet came around to our table. Then came Eeyore and Tigger. Pooh must have made his way to our area right before we were seated, because we had to wait for Pooh to make another round before we got to see him. We had actually already finished eating and were just sitting there at the table waiting for Pooh to come see us.

Our waitress was nice and she kept our juices refilled
The breakfast buffet is your standard fare; bacon, pancakes, sausage, muffins, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, etc. DDs thought the Pooh waffles were cute.

DDs during the children's parade:

I think character meals are great... its a good way to get autographs and pics without having to stand in lines!!! Plus our girls enjoed the interaction with the characters... both got kisses from Piglet and loved it
We actually skipped lunch this day since we were so full from breakfast. I would recommend this character meal and would consider doing this one again for our next trip!

 

[suzimar57]

your daughters are adorable - excellent pix!

(enjoying the reviews, too!)

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent, thanks for posting.

 

[AFL]

Your daughters are adorable!!

Thanks for sharing!

I've been cosidering booking a princess lunch next year for my sons 16th birthday. After seeing your pics, I think I will - he'll love the attention and having his pic taken with all the pretty girls.

AFL

 

[Busymom85]

Thank you for the reviews. Great pictures of your daughters also.

 

[tiggersmom2]

Great reviews and your DD's are just too precious! I am really considering the Princess lunch.....

 

[Avivasmom]

We love BOMA...as long as DH is with us BOMA is a must...the food is great and we love the atmosphere.

Great reviews and pics.

 

[PixieMama]

Thanks, everyone, for the comments and feedback! Up next is our dinner at Sci-Fi! Stay tuned!

 

[MadiMouse]

Great reviews & pics! Your daughter's are lovely.
Waiting for more...

 

[PixieMama]

My mom, brother and sis-in-law had eaten at Sci-Fi last year and had recommended it. They all raved about the burgers. We actually did dinner, so burgers weren't on the menu, but what we had was really good.



DDs playing in the car outside the restaurant:

We would go back to Sci-Fi for the food and the atmosphere. Our DDs thought eating in the "car" was neat, and the campy 50s-era sci-fi movie trailers are too funny. I do have to give a thumbs-down for the service, though. It was the worst of all the TS meals we had.


We waited about 5 minutes after checking in before getting seated in our "car". The girls sat in front, while DH and I were in the middle row... our waitress took our drink orders. About 10 minutes later, a couple was seated in the last row. The waitress came back to our car to get their drink order... but she still had yet to bring my family our drinks. Drinks finally came and she took the whole car's orders.

DH ordered the onion rings for his appetizer; I ordered the spinach dip. Both were yummy! Sooo good! We also both ordered ribs with fries & coleslaw for our entrees, and the ribs were very good as well.

DD4 had carrot & celery sticks as her appetizer, mac & cheese (again!) for her entree and fruit cup for her dessert. DD6 ordered tomato soup, hot dog and ice cream sundae. When I told the waitress what DD4 wanted, she mentioned that the adult appys would come out first, but the kids appetizers are brought with their meal. This was fine. So then it was time for me to tell the waitress what DD6 wanted. I said she wants the tomato soup... waitress asks, "And what entree?" and I said "Hot dog, and she wants the ice cream sundae for dessert". Waitress then moves on to the couple in the back row and gets their order.

So when the food comes out, everything is correct... but DD6 has a side of green beans with her hot dog. The kids menu just said HOT DOG. Waitress never once mentioned that the hot dog comes with a side order, never says, "That is served with a side of green beans, would she rather have fries or something else?" ...I mean, who eats green beans with a hot dog????

Anyway, it was another server who had brought out the food, and I mentioned that we were not aware the hot dog came with a side... the server said she would tell our waitress that we needed a side of fries for DD. Of course, by the time the fries came, DD was done eating the hot dog. And, guess what? We actually had to flag another waiter to ask for drink refills.


DDs in the front seat of our "car"

As I said, we would go back to Sci-Fi again and I would recommend the place... the food is really good and the atmosphere is great. DDs liked looking at the "night sky" while eating dinner. And the next day, DD4 asked if we were going back to the "place that had the car" to eat.



Next is Chef Mickey's

 

[wilma-bride]

Thanks for the reviews - your DDs are really cute

 

[PixieMama]

Our last TS meal was dinner at Chef Mickey's. We ate here on our last night at WDW.

We were almost 10 minutes late checking in, but once we got there I think we waited less than 5 minutes. For this meal, I had ordered a cake as a surprise for my DH to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We were given the anniversay buttons to wear. DH is not one who likes attention of any kind... he actually asked me if he had to wear the pin! Of course I made him!

Our waitress was nice and was pretty good about keeping our drinks refilled. If you haven't noticed, that's sort of a big deal for me!

The buffet was good and had alot to choose from. I had a really good chicken dish... it was some sort of herb crusted chicken in a marinara-type sauce. DH said the ham and prime rib were good. There were also rolls & corn muffins, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, and salads. DD6 really liked the Mickey-shaped ravioli. DD4 mostly ate (what else?) mac & cheese... although this was the first Mickey-shaped mac & cheese she had!

The characters were great. Minnie was the first one to come to our table (she gave lots of kisses to the girls), followed by Donald, Goofy and Mickey. But we missed getting to see Pluto! Every so often an announcement is made for everyone to waive their napkins in the air to celebrate those who are having a special occasion. This happend twice while we had our meal... the first time this happend was just after we were seated and I was alone at the table since DH took the girls to get their plates. Apparently, each charater is assigned a section of the restaurant to come dance in while the celebrate, and we were in Minnie's section. So Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto come around... only before Pluto gets to our table, its time for another "celebration". By this time, the cake for DH had been given to us and our waitress said to Minnie "We have an anniversary couple here!" so Minnie came over to hug DH and I. Then once the "celebration" time was over, Minnie left to go back to wherever she was before, but Pluto never came back to our section! Mickey soon came to our table. By this time we had finished eating and were not going to wait for Pluto to make another round. We wanted to get back to Epcot, anyway, so we left without getting to see Pluto. Oh well, maybe next time!

Here are some pics of DDs:

Here is the cake I ordered (its inscribed "10 years of magic")

The cake was really good; very moist. DH and I could have done without the confetti sprinkles, but DDs liked them! DDs also made ice cream sundaes at the dessert bar. The dessert bar also had alot of choices ...cookies, brownies, german chocolate cake, carrot cake, rice krispie treats.



I've said before, I think character meals are great... get pics and autographs of the characters without having to stand in line! We did three character meals, but if we had not been on the dining plan we may have done one. It probably would have been the Princess meal, just because of our girls (though DH also liked seeing Belle and Jasmine!) but I think breakfast with Pooh was our favorite one.

I would recommend Chef Mickey's and would consider it for another trip to WDW.

 

[wilma-bride]

We are considering Chef Mickey's for a late breakfast next trip - would you say dinner is probably better?

 

[my3disneygirls]

Thanks for the great reviews!

 

[DisneyRN51207]

We are considering Chef Mickey's for a late breakfast next trip - would you say dinner is probably better?

We've done breakfast at Chef Mickey's twice and it's fabulous. Enjoyed it very much. Someone at one of our dinner outings at the table next to us suggested it for dinner, stating that it's better for dinner. Needless to say that we're eating dinner there in December.

 

[PixieMama]

We are considering Chef Mickey's for a late breakfast next trip - would you say dinner is probably better?

If the breakfast food is the standard (bacon, sausage, waffles, eggs, etc...) I'm sure it would be fine. There was alot of variety in the dinner buffet, not sure how the breakfast buffet would be. But I'm sure the whole experience of meeting Mickey & company would be just as great as it was for our dinner.

 

[PixieMama]

First, I want to again thank everyone for their lovely feedback and comments


Of the TS meals we had, Boma, Sci-Fi and Crystal Palace would be "definitely eat here again"! They were very, very good in food, fun and atmosphere and I would recommend (even though we did have semi-lousy service at Sci-Fi)!

Chef Mickey's was good, as well. It would be one to consider going back to if and when we make another trip to WDW.
The experience of meeting the Princesses made our meal at Akershus worth it. If we did this character meal again, we would do breakfast instead of lunch.
I would recommend both of these character meals to anyone who has not yet been to either one.


Probably would not go back to Tony's. The food was just ok. If anyone asked me about this one, I would give my honest opinion... unless you're big fans of Lady & the Tramp its probably best to skip.


I hope everyone enjoys reading my dining reviews and maybe I've helped someone with their dining plans! Thanks!!!