5 nights of free dining- Report Card

[TenThousandVolts]

Pop Food Court: We ate there a few times as we were staying at POP.
I thought the pasta and meatballs and parmesan crusted chicken with salad were pretty good. Kids ate standard kids fare like chicken strips, hot dogs - they were fine. Large portions of everything we tried. The dessert selection was pretty dismal. Atmosphere, clean and bright- but always loud and crowded there. HUGE crowds at breakfast.
Grade: B-

DAY 1- Magic Kingdom

Cinderella's Royal Table- breakfast-
Pros: Atmoshere was spectacular, the food was good (loved the fresh fruit and stuffed French toast) Service was TOP NOTCH. Never had to ask for more coffee or O.J... Princesses
Cons:
Had to wait a long time to be seated (45 minutes after our ADR time), We had 14 people (5 families on one ADR) and they only gave us 3 photo packages. We expected at least 4. There were no male characters at all. The princesses were busy and didn't spend much time talking to the kids- maybe it was because we had so many kids at our table.
Expensive ($$$ or 2 TS credits)
Grade: B

Liberty Tree Tavern - dinner
Loved this meal. We had a large party- about 20 of us. We were seated promptly (within 10 minutes of checking in) and our server was quick with drinks and rolls and butter. This was great because our 3 year old was about to go into nuclear meltdown after a long hot day in the park and we thought he would not be able to stay for dinner. Once had some milk and bread- POOF- like magic- he was happy again. I wasn't expecting much as far as food- and was pleasantly surprised. A platter with ham, beef and turkey and stuffing arrived along with mashed potatoes,gravy, mac and cheese, and fresh green beans. Everything was tasty (except the beef was pretty salty and kind of yucky) I have heard people equate the food with a TV Dinner- IMO food was much fresher and tastier. Apple cobbler and ice cream for dessert. The highlight was seeing the characters. They were so sweet to all of our kids. Great character interaction.
Grade: A

Must go finish unpacking.
Coming up next: Epcot: England, France, Le Cellier

 

[TigerKat]

Thanks for the great reviews, can't wait for more!!

 

[snowwhite84]

I am getting the feeling I should skip the food court when I go to Pop next week...

 

[Buzzandthemermaid]

Thanks for your reviews.

 

[TenThousandVolts]

OK.
Day 2 Epcot
We woke up and ate cereal and Entemann's Donuts for breakfast. (A box of Entemann's can be purchased at the POP Fod court for 1 snack credit on the DDP. I think it is 12 donuts. TIP: Buy your donuts the night before- the food court is less crowded and they run out of Entemann's in the morning.)

Off to Epcot. We were all pretty hungry by noon so headed to the World Showcase. DH, DD and I wanted to try fish & chips from the stand in England. Our 2 DS's wanted ham and cheese sandwiches in France. DH grabbed a beer and 3 fish & chips meals. One drawback was that the only dessert option at the Fish and chips place was a little packet of shortbread cookies. Then he headed to France where I was getting lunch for the boys at La Pattissere (sp?). We got one ham and swiss cheese croissant and one ham and swiss cheese baguette sandwich. Plus drinks and our choice of 2 desserts. Very hard to choose, and lots of fun looking at all the sweets- it is a beautiful little bakery. I asked the CM which is the best pastry and she recommended the Napoleon. We also got a chocolate Mousse. We went into the little souvenier shop and there is a kidcot station in there and tables. Hooray- we got to eat in air conditioning- it was lovely to get out of the heat!
The fish was really crispy and tasted good, we used malt vinegar for flavoring, but after eating about 1/3 of the meal I just didn't want anymore. Too heavy/greasy for a hot day. The chips were not very good. They were limp and flavorless.
The ham and cheese (which was quickly converted to a plain ham sandwich by my DS- he hates Swiss) were good. They would have been a bit dry for my taste, but the kids like them that way. They did offer packets of mustard and mayo. The Napoleon dessert was too sweet for my taste but the boys liked it. The chocolate mousse was very good.
Fish & Chips Stand- Grade C
La Patissere- Grade B

Dinner- Le Cellier
We showed up right on time (not early, as we are supposed to) for our reservation. We had to wait about 30 mins. They have a kidcot station right by the waiting area so I took the kids over there and colored. I liked the atmosphere here. It has an old world feel. It is a basement but somehow cozy. It was hard to choose an appetizer but we settled on Mussels (very good), cheese soup (very, very good) and salad (excellent). I can't say enough good things about the salads. Both the house and the Caesar were excellent. The kids LOVED the pretzel bread. DH and I ordered the mushroom filet (one rare, one medium rare) and a NY Strip, med rare. (Plus 2 kids meals which I can't review because I didn't eat them) The NY Strip was cooked to perfection and delicious. The filets were very good. They were tender but each was a bit over cooked IMO- they were so tender and juicy it didn't really matter. I thought the risotto had a good flavor but was overseasoned.
We were all way too full for dessert BUT we orderred it anyway. 2 choc moose for the kids. One creme brulee sampler. The kids liked the choc. moose, and the presentation was very cute, a moose with maple leaf shaped antlers. The vanilla creme brulee was delicious, but I didn't care for the maple. The service was somewhat slow. LONG lag time between courses. Still- it was a very good meal.
Grade A-

 

[TenThousandVolts]

Coming up next- our day at MGM- Play N Dine with Little Einsteins and JOjo and Goliath, and dinner at the SciFi Dine In Theatre

 

[TenThousandVolts]

Play N Dine Lunch @ Hollywood and Vine
This was me, SIL, ds3 and my niece 4.
We had to wait about 15 minutes for our table. This restaurant has a 50s diner look about it. Bright and clean with chrome accents everywhere. We sat in a half booth and in no time flat, June from Litle Einsteins cozied up with my niece and I don't know when I have seen my niece smile so big. The character interaction was very good. Characters came by about every 5 minutes, which was perfect- giving us time to play and breaks for enjoying our food (hence the name Play N Dine, I guess). There was Plahouse Dinseny background music playing the whole time and the kids were bopping to the beat as they ate. The music was the theme songs from the shows: MM Clubhouse, Bear in the Blue House, Little Einsteins... Plus they played Dan Zanes and other kid friendly music. Twice while we were there the characters gathered near the buffet to dance and sing with the kids in a group. The kids were having a ball.
The food: I never expect much from a buffet and this was like most buffets. There were several things that were what I call "filler" on the buffet, and I didn't try everything but I will say the green salads were very good. The pasta salad was blah. The chicken satay skewers were yummy. The herb encrusted salmon was excellent. The pot roast was a little fatty but pretty good otherwise. The desserts were yummy. The chocolate mousse in chocalate shell cups were FABULOUS. Better then the mousse from the patisserie. The service was also very good. This one is hard to grade because even though a lot of the food was not great- I still had a great meal-and the kids had such a good time that it really compensates for any yucky food on the buffet. Considering that it is a buffet and no one is forcing you to eat everything I will give a high grade.
Hollywood & Vine Play N Dine: Grade: A-

Dinner Sci-Fi
The atmosphere at this place is so good that it makes up for the lackluster food. Our server was excellent. We got BLT soup (not good IMO), Onion Rings (super good onion rings), Salad (decent salad), Kids salad (fresh but plain), Rueben (Delicious), Ribs (Not falling off the bone tender- but they tasted good) Kids Burgers (decent burgers), Milkshakes (not good- tasted exactly like plain old melted soft serve ice cream), We skipped dessert- but our server forced us to take home a box of cakes... I have no idea what happened to it. We never ate it. My 9 and 10 year olds were cracking up at the films - they especially loved the old public service announcements- this was right up their alley- they have that kind of sence of humor. The movies are hilarious and the place is just too cool. I loved this meal and it had little to do with the food.
Grade: A-

 

[kaybird]

Thanks for posting the great reviews! Sci-Fi is an slways stop for us, such a great fun place!

 

[Schucraig]

Thanks for the reviews!

 

[TenThousandVolts]

DAY 4 - Magic Kingdom
Lunch- Pecos Bills
My first complaint about this place is the confusing way the lines are set up. I have seen this at other places in WDW too. There is one CM taking orders behind a cash register but he swivels back and forth serving 2 separate lines. While I was orderining, there were 3 people waiting in line behind me. Then a forth person walks right up to the opposite side of the cashier and gets served next. Of course all the folks who were waiting in line were upset. That place gets so busy they should make the lines easier to navigate. It is kind of dank and dark in Pecos Bills- rustic in keeping with the Frontierland theme. The menu is limited, especially the kids meals. I can't recall the choices but we got burgers and chicken wraps. The chicken wrap was yummy, fresh tasting and HUGE. The burgers (also generously sized) were average. The best part of this place is the fresh fixings bar. This meal was fine, nothing special- it served its purpose as a counter service burger joint.
Grade: C

Dinner: Crystal Palace
The atmoshere is very nice in this restaurant. It is very much like a garden conservatory. Very pretty and sunny inside. The buffet had interesting food that was very good accross the board. They had a fabulous mediterranean pasta salad. Couscous with mint and tomatoes, plaintain salad, and curry mussels were some of the unexpected but yummy choices. The prime rib was very good. The salmon (with pesto I think) was good also but I actually preferred the salmon at Hollywood and Vine. They had small to medium sized peel and eat shrimp and carved turkey and pork loin which I didn't try. The desserts we tried were coconut flan, key lime pie, and banana bread pudding all were good. The character interaction was ok. The characters were sweet but seemed rushed. There was a dance line around the restaurant inwhich my 3 year old happy took part. Once again, we had excellent service. I would say atmosphere was very good, food was very good, character interaction was fair.
Garde: B

 

[TenThousandVolts]

The DDP
I don't think I would do the DDP again. It was nice trying all these great restaurants but it was too much eating for me. (And I am not a light eater by any means) Also- even though I am a planning junky- it made planning more difficult, and as restaurants started booking up- my plans suddenly became inflexible. If my kids were all under 10 it might be worth it but if I were paying for the DDP paying for 4 adults and 1 child would just be to pricey. Next time I go I will go on a room discount as opposed to free dining. And I will just plan on 1 character meal, and the rest of the time grab sandwiches and salds at counter service. I think the DDP would be better for those who tour the resorts as I am sure the resorts have higher caliber restaurants. I ate all my TS in the parks to maximize my time seeing park attractions.

Anyway- Thanks for reading my reviews! Hope they helped someone out there!!! TTFN- TENTHOUSANDVOLTS

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying reading your reviews ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[swankybeth]

Great reviews, thanks for posting. We're planning to try Crystal Palace for lunch in January, hope it's as good as dinner.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I enjoyed your reviews, thanks! It sounds like the H&V character meal is a lot of fun, I'm thinking about adding it to our May trip.

 

[Tikitoi]

Thank you for the reviews. The info on POP resort was helpful since we will be staying there when we go next time. As well as will be going to LeCellier, Crystal Palace and SciFi.

 

[lexmelinda]

They were tender but each was a bit over cooked IMO- they were so tender and juicy it didn't really matter.

Same experience...filets should have been medium and were well done. We were starving and dinner was free so we ate up with no regrets. Filets were still delicious and service was excellent. We would go back in a heart beat!