ToyStory3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 29, 2013
- Messages
- 1,298
Hi there. Just a brief review of my trip from 9/20-9/27 on Free Dining. It was my DH, myself, DS 7 and DD 10. We'd never done the dining plan before but decided to try it when free dining came out. We stayed at the Beach Club Resort. We had stayed there once before and loved it. Love the pool, the theming, and the distance to Epcot. It was another great stay!
First I have to say that we did decide that we are not Disney Dining Plan people. It's too much food, too many reservations, and not enough flexibility. We also thought the Beach Club was maybe not a great place to be on the DDP. The Marketplace doesn't have enough options in our opinion. And, it tends to feel crowded and chaotic in there. But, it was nice to try, we had a great trip, and we tried several new restaurants. So, we have no regrets!
Day 1 Lunch – Boardwalk Bakery
This was a great CS meal! I had the lobster roll, my husband had the salmon sandwich, and my kids both had turkey sandwiches. For desserts we had carrot cake, fruit tart, and a cheesecake brownie. All of the sandwiches and desserts were delicious! The dessert choices were wonderful. So much better than the standard chocolate cake CS dessert. The lobster roll was very tasty. Not too much mayo. It was a little chaotic in the bakery but the staff were helpful and it was worth the wait. My only complaint is that the kids’ meals didn’t come with a dessert. How does it make sense that everyone gets a dessert but the kids? Because…..what kids like dessert? I gave my fruit tart to my son and really we all shared a little.
Day 1 Dinner – Epcot’s Garden Grill
This was our first time at the Garden Grill and our very first EVER character meal. I was very nervous about this meal. I couldn’t tell what the food would be like from the pictures. And, I was nervous about my kids not liking the characters roaming around during their meal. I think I was worried that they would think it was babyish. But, everything was perfect!
The dining room was rotating which was a lot of fun. You would barely notice it unless you were looking for it. The characters were very subtle but fun…which is what I was hoping for. My kids didn’t want to get up to give hugs or anything. But, they lit up when they came by. The characters would put their arms around them, play with them a little, then wave and go to the next table. It was a nice way to ease into it all.
We all loved the food. The salad and rolls were delicious. And, we liked all of the meats and sides. Our favorite meats were the beef and turkey, and we liked the potatoes and dressing. My kids both got the kids meals with it, too. Neither of them ate the macaroni and cheese or the sweet potato fries. But, they liked the chicken drumstick and the adult main courses. The desserts were fine. The cobbler was good – not amazing. But, overall we really enjoyed our meal and the experience. We would love to go back.
Day 2 Lunch - Hollywood Studios Pizza Planet
We slept in, swam in Stormalong Bay, and then went to HS for the afternoon and evening. Soon after arriving we went to Pizza Planet for lunch. We’ve been there once before. I know it’s just typical Disney pizza. But, we actually like it and we are huge Toy Story fans. So, we were excited to go back. It was PACKED! The line was literally out the door. But, we were hungry and didn’t want to try to find a new place so we got in line.
We all got either pepperoni pizza or meatball subs. They all came with salads which was nice. And, they had huge Frozen themed carrot cake cupcakes. They were to die for! Cream cheese icing. Overall we left very satisfied.
Day 2 Dinner – Rosie's Cafe at HS
Dinner was a bit of a flop. We were still at HS and places were closing up all around us. We were waiting for Fantasmic so we didn’t realize all of the restaurants would be closing. We quickly got in line at one of the little counter service restaurants across from the Fantasmic Theater. They all blend together over there. We all got burgers and fries….and dessert again….nothing special. We were too full to eat dessert this time. We didn’t even attempt it.
Day 3 Lunch – Columbia Harbour House
I was very excited to have lunch here. I think they have great food and it’s just a nice place to sit and eat. My DH and I got the shrimp platter, DS got the kids fish and chicken, and my DD got the shrimp. We loved that we could all have the blueberry lemonade slushy as our drink. But, sadly not one of us touched our desserts. This was when I was realizing how much food we were getting and that the dining plan may not be for us. But, we did have a great meal.
Day 3 Dinner – Trails End Buffet
And here it is! The star of the week!!! This ended up being our absolute favorite meal of the entire trip. Partly because it was the surprising underdog. We took the boat from the MK over to the campground. After enjoying the relaxing boat ride over we thought the campgrounds were lovely! It had a nice, quiet, vibe about it. As soon as we were seated we were all smiling from ear to ear. The food looked amazing. We loved the mason jars as drinking glasses. It had a rustic, campy, theme. It was just what we needed.
It wasn’t typical buffet food at all. It was crispy, delicious, fried chicken. It was homemade, chunky, mashed potatoes. It was amazing! They had a baked potato bar, salad bar, beef, salmon, peel and eat shrimp. And, the desserts were wonderful, too. We had cobblers, pound cake, banana pudding, cookies. The service was great, too. I can’t wait to go back again! I won’t ever go to Disney without stopping here for a meal from now on.
Day 4 Breakfast – Tusker House
This was a reservation that I knew I wanted early on. It just always sounded fun to me. We were seated promptly by a window. You could see the characters throughout the restaurant in their safari gear. We were immediately given coffee and jungle juice which was very good.
The buffet was very nice with donut holes, pastries, muffins, fruits, oatmeal, sausage, bacon, cereal, eggs, etc. It had a nice, safari, theme and the characters were a lot of fun. They were very quick with us. We literally snapped a picture and they were off to the next table. But, I’m sure that’s partly because we didn’t engage them in conversations or interact with them much. We just wanted a quick hug, picture, and that’s about it.
We weren’t very hungry for this meal because we had the buffet the night before. So, we didn’t eat that much, overall. But, we had a very nice time and thought the food was good.
Day 4 Dinner – Cape May Seafood Buffet
This is a meal I was super excited for. Partly because it was in our resort and partly because I LOVE seafood! We ate here on our last trip in 2011 and really enjoyed it. This time it was a bit of a letdown. We were seated in a small room off to the side. So, we weren’t out in the main dining room and it just didn’t have the same feel to it. The food was good but we weren’t even remotely hungry. You just don’t enjoy your meals as much if you’re not hungry. But, the food that we did have we thought was good. I had peel and eat shrimp, salad, a couple crab legs, mashed potatoes, and that’s about it. I wish they had scallops somewhere on the buffet. The desserts at the buffet were completely and utterly disappointing. There wasn’t one dessert that any of us thought were good. A couple of them were barely edible. So, maybe we would have liked it more if we were in the main dining room and had just been hungrier. I would try it again.
Day 5 Lunch – Pinocchio’s at Magic Kingdom
This was just a quick lunch while we were gearing up for rides. We know it’s not the best but we honestly didn’t feel like roaming around to find another place. We wanted to get on the attractions! I believe we all had either flat breads or meatball subs. They were fine. Nothing fancy. And, I think we all got slushies again as drinks which was nice on a hot day. This time we asked for grapes instead of desserts. I was wishing we had thought of that earlier in the week!
Day 5 Dinner – Be Our Guest in the Magic Kingdom
This was another highlight of our trip. I had dined here once before but my family hadn’t. We met up with extended family for this meal who were also in town at the time. We had 3 tables all together since they couldn’t get 10 of us on 1 reservation. We knew it would be difficult to get us near each other but I got in line early to talk to them about it. They did a nice job and we were all very close to each other in the main dining room.
As soon as we walked in all 10 of us were delighted with the theming. We loved the Beauty & The Beast music, the chandeliers, the snow coming down outside the windows. It was great. The vast majority of us got steak, one got salmon, and one got the seafood pastry. The adults had beer or wine and couple people soup or salad to start. Each one of us liked the food and had a good meal. Our waiter wasn’t overly impressive and we did wait quite a while for our food. But, I’d rather be waiting in there than out in the hot sun. We looked around the other rooms while we were there and we had our picture taken with the beast before we left . All in all the experience was a lot of fun with very good food.
Day 6 Lunch – France Counter Service in Epcot
This was amazing!!! It was one of our favorite counter service meals of the week. Lots of fresh sandwiches, quiches, salads, and pastries to pick from. We loved it. And, the atmosphere was very nice…made you feel like you were in a little shop in France. I believe we had ham and cheese croissant, some type of BLT, and I had a piece of toasted bread with tomato sauce and cheese on it. It doesn’t sound like much but they were delicious! And, the pastries for dessert were so much better than the typical CS desserts. Lots of great choices!
Day 6 Dinner – Via Napoli
This is another meal that I was very excited about. I’ve been to Via Napoli once before and it’s a favorite. I love the atmosphere, the hustle and bustle, the delicious pizza and desserts!!! In the end this was a little disappointing but by no fault of the restaurant. Those who ordered pizza wished they had ordered pasta and vice versa. Again – we were barely having a chance to get hungry between meals so I know that added to it a little. I LOVE their desserts but we all took just a couple bites because we were so full. We had a good experience and the food was good. But, it wasn’t quite as magical as the last time I had been there. I was also slightly annoyed with all of the restrictions at this restaurant when you are on the dining plan. You can’t build your own pizza, the salad is only for 2 or more and states that it’s only for people who order pizza (although they allowed us to order it), we couldn’t get the frescas as our drinks, etc. Those things were a little disappointing. But, it’s still a favorite and I will definitely return again.
Day 7 Lunch – Sunshine Seasons
I won’t bore you with the details of how awful this meal was. Partly our fault. We went over wanting breakfast and they were just putting it away. We were overwhelmed with all of the choices, felt rushed, and couldn’t figure out what all came with our meals. We initially wanted a few separate items that apparently aren’t a “meal”. So, they were going to charge us individual snack credits for each item. It was very frustrating. We wandered around until we all just ended up in line for the stir fry. I don’t think any of us wanted it but it we were overwhelmed so we just went with it. None of us liked our meals. The Chinese food was not good. The whole meal was a bust. We were totally over the dining plan at this point. So…..we moved on.
Day 7 Dinner – Chefs de France at Epcot
This was our final meal of the trip. We were sad to be saying goodbye to WDW. Epcot was beautiful. I love how it looks at night with all of the lights on. We sat near the window and could see the fountain from our table. We had a very nice server and loved the bread at the beginning of the meal. My DH and I both got the short ribs. My kids both got the macaroni and cheese. The kids didn’t really like the pasta that much. It’s baked and just different from what they’re used to. We liked the short ribs and LOVED the French Onion Soup! And, our desserts were great. My DH and I both had crème brulee and our kids had some type of ice cream or sorbet. Overall, we had a very nice last meal at WDW.
Thanks!
First I have to say that we did decide that we are not Disney Dining Plan people. It's too much food, too many reservations, and not enough flexibility. We also thought the Beach Club was maybe not a great place to be on the DDP. The Marketplace doesn't have enough options in our opinion. And, it tends to feel crowded and chaotic in there. But, it was nice to try, we had a great trip, and we tried several new restaurants. So, we have no regrets!
Day 1 Lunch – Boardwalk Bakery
This was a great CS meal! I had the lobster roll, my husband had the salmon sandwich, and my kids both had turkey sandwiches. For desserts we had carrot cake, fruit tart, and a cheesecake brownie. All of the sandwiches and desserts were delicious! The dessert choices were wonderful. So much better than the standard chocolate cake CS dessert. The lobster roll was very tasty. Not too much mayo. It was a little chaotic in the bakery but the staff were helpful and it was worth the wait. My only complaint is that the kids’ meals didn’t come with a dessert. How does it make sense that everyone gets a dessert but the kids? Because…..what kids like dessert? I gave my fruit tart to my son and really we all shared a little.
Day 1 Dinner – Epcot’s Garden Grill
This was our first time at the Garden Grill and our very first EVER character meal. I was very nervous about this meal. I couldn’t tell what the food would be like from the pictures. And, I was nervous about my kids not liking the characters roaming around during their meal. I think I was worried that they would think it was babyish. But, everything was perfect!
The dining room was rotating which was a lot of fun. You would barely notice it unless you were looking for it. The characters were very subtle but fun…which is what I was hoping for. My kids didn’t want to get up to give hugs or anything. But, they lit up when they came by. The characters would put their arms around them, play with them a little, then wave and go to the next table. It was a nice way to ease into it all.
We all loved the food. The salad and rolls were delicious. And, we liked all of the meats and sides. Our favorite meats were the beef and turkey, and we liked the potatoes and dressing. My kids both got the kids meals with it, too. Neither of them ate the macaroni and cheese or the sweet potato fries. But, they liked the chicken drumstick and the adult main courses. The desserts were fine. The cobbler was good – not amazing. But, overall we really enjoyed our meal and the experience. We would love to go back.
Day 2 Lunch - Hollywood Studios Pizza Planet
We slept in, swam in Stormalong Bay, and then went to HS for the afternoon and evening. Soon after arriving we went to Pizza Planet for lunch. We’ve been there once before. I know it’s just typical Disney pizza. But, we actually like it and we are huge Toy Story fans. So, we were excited to go back. It was PACKED! The line was literally out the door. But, we were hungry and didn’t want to try to find a new place so we got in line.
We all got either pepperoni pizza or meatball subs. They all came with salads which was nice. And, they had huge Frozen themed carrot cake cupcakes. They were to die for! Cream cheese icing. Overall we left very satisfied.
Day 2 Dinner – Rosie's Cafe at HS
Dinner was a bit of a flop. We were still at HS and places were closing up all around us. We were waiting for Fantasmic so we didn’t realize all of the restaurants would be closing. We quickly got in line at one of the little counter service restaurants across from the Fantasmic Theater. They all blend together over there. We all got burgers and fries….and dessert again….nothing special. We were too full to eat dessert this time. We didn’t even attempt it.
Day 3 Lunch – Columbia Harbour House
I was very excited to have lunch here. I think they have great food and it’s just a nice place to sit and eat. My DH and I got the shrimp platter, DS got the kids fish and chicken, and my DD got the shrimp. We loved that we could all have the blueberry lemonade slushy as our drink. But, sadly not one of us touched our desserts. This was when I was realizing how much food we were getting and that the dining plan may not be for us. But, we did have a great meal.
Day 3 Dinner – Trails End Buffet
And here it is! The star of the week!!! This ended up being our absolute favorite meal of the entire trip. Partly because it was the surprising underdog. We took the boat from the MK over to the campground. After enjoying the relaxing boat ride over we thought the campgrounds were lovely! It had a nice, quiet, vibe about it. As soon as we were seated we were all smiling from ear to ear. The food looked amazing. We loved the mason jars as drinking glasses. It had a rustic, campy, theme. It was just what we needed.
It wasn’t typical buffet food at all. It was crispy, delicious, fried chicken. It was homemade, chunky, mashed potatoes. It was amazing! They had a baked potato bar, salad bar, beef, salmon, peel and eat shrimp. And, the desserts were wonderful, too. We had cobblers, pound cake, banana pudding, cookies. The service was great, too. I can’t wait to go back again! I won’t ever go to Disney without stopping here for a meal from now on.
Day 4 Breakfast – Tusker House
This was a reservation that I knew I wanted early on. It just always sounded fun to me. We were seated promptly by a window. You could see the characters throughout the restaurant in their safari gear. We were immediately given coffee and jungle juice which was very good.
The buffet was very nice with donut holes, pastries, muffins, fruits, oatmeal, sausage, bacon, cereal, eggs, etc. It had a nice, safari, theme and the characters were a lot of fun. They were very quick with us. We literally snapped a picture and they were off to the next table. But, I’m sure that’s partly because we didn’t engage them in conversations or interact with them much. We just wanted a quick hug, picture, and that’s about it.
We weren’t very hungry for this meal because we had the buffet the night before. So, we didn’t eat that much, overall. But, we had a very nice time and thought the food was good.
Day 4 Dinner – Cape May Seafood Buffet
This is a meal I was super excited for. Partly because it was in our resort and partly because I LOVE seafood! We ate here on our last trip in 2011 and really enjoyed it. This time it was a bit of a letdown. We were seated in a small room off to the side. So, we weren’t out in the main dining room and it just didn’t have the same feel to it. The food was good but we weren’t even remotely hungry. You just don’t enjoy your meals as much if you’re not hungry. But, the food that we did have we thought was good. I had peel and eat shrimp, salad, a couple crab legs, mashed potatoes, and that’s about it. I wish they had scallops somewhere on the buffet. The desserts at the buffet were completely and utterly disappointing. There wasn’t one dessert that any of us thought were good. A couple of them were barely edible. So, maybe we would have liked it more if we were in the main dining room and had just been hungrier. I would try it again.
Day 5 Lunch – Pinocchio’s at Magic Kingdom
This was just a quick lunch while we were gearing up for rides. We know it’s not the best but we honestly didn’t feel like roaming around to find another place. We wanted to get on the attractions! I believe we all had either flat breads or meatball subs. They were fine. Nothing fancy. And, I think we all got slushies again as drinks which was nice on a hot day. This time we asked for grapes instead of desserts. I was wishing we had thought of that earlier in the week!
Day 5 Dinner – Be Our Guest in the Magic Kingdom
This was another highlight of our trip. I had dined here once before but my family hadn’t. We met up with extended family for this meal who were also in town at the time. We had 3 tables all together since they couldn’t get 10 of us on 1 reservation. We knew it would be difficult to get us near each other but I got in line early to talk to them about it. They did a nice job and we were all very close to each other in the main dining room.
As soon as we walked in all 10 of us were delighted with the theming. We loved the Beauty & The Beast music, the chandeliers, the snow coming down outside the windows. It was great. The vast majority of us got steak, one got salmon, and one got the seafood pastry. The adults had beer or wine and couple people soup or salad to start. Each one of us liked the food and had a good meal. Our waiter wasn’t overly impressive and we did wait quite a while for our food. But, I’d rather be waiting in there than out in the hot sun. We looked around the other rooms while we were there and we had our picture taken with the beast before we left . All in all the experience was a lot of fun with very good food.
Day 6 Lunch – France Counter Service in Epcot
This was amazing!!! It was one of our favorite counter service meals of the week. Lots of fresh sandwiches, quiches, salads, and pastries to pick from. We loved it. And, the atmosphere was very nice…made you feel like you were in a little shop in France. I believe we had ham and cheese croissant, some type of BLT, and I had a piece of toasted bread with tomato sauce and cheese on it. It doesn’t sound like much but they were delicious! And, the pastries for dessert were so much better than the typical CS desserts. Lots of great choices!
Day 6 Dinner – Via Napoli
This is another meal that I was very excited about. I’ve been to Via Napoli once before and it’s a favorite. I love the atmosphere, the hustle and bustle, the delicious pizza and desserts!!! In the end this was a little disappointing but by no fault of the restaurant. Those who ordered pizza wished they had ordered pasta and vice versa. Again – we were barely having a chance to get hungry between meals so I know that added to it a little. I LOVE their desserts but we all took just a couple bites because we were so full. We had a good experience and the food was good. But, it wasn’t quite as magical as the last time I had been there. I was also slightly annoyed with all of the restrictions at this restaurant when you are on the dining plan. You can’t build your own pizza, the salad is only for 2 or more and states that it’s only for people who order pizza (although they allowed us to order it), we couldn’t get the frescas as our drinks, etc. Those things were a little disappointing. But, it’s still a favorite and I will definitely return again.
Day 7 Lunch – Sunshine Seasons
I won’t bore you with the details of how awful this meal was. Partly our fault. We went over wanting breakfast and they were just putting it away. We were overwhelmed with all of the choices, felt rushed, and couldn’t figure out what all came with our meals. We initially wanted a few separate items that apparently aren’t a “meal”. So, they were going to charge us individual snack credits for each item. It was very frustrating. We wandered around until we all just ended up in line for the stir fry. I don’t think any of us wanted it but it we were overwhelmed so we just went with it. None of us liked our meals. The Chinese food was not good. The whole meal was a bust. We were totally over the dining plan at this point. So…..we moved on.
Day 7 Dinner – Chefs de France at Epcot
This was our final meal of the trip. We were sad to be saying goodbye to WDW. Epcot was beautiful. I love how it looks at night with all of the lights on. We sat near the window and could see the fountain from our table. We had a very nice server and loved the bread at the beginning of the meal. My DH and I both got the short ribs. My kids both got the macaroni and cheese. The kids didn’t really like the pasta that much. It’s baked and just different from what they’re used to. We liked the short ribs and LOVED the French Onion Soup! And, our desserts were great. My DH and I both had crème brulee and our kids had some type of ice cream or sorbet. Overall, we had a very nice last meal at WDW.
Thanks!
