8 Days of DDP! First-Our review of Liberty Tree Tavern

[ribbot]

Hi all~

This is my first time posting restaurant reviews with pics--so I hope it all comes across ok. These are our opinions and hope nobody gets offended or upset if they don't agree with yours. I am only trying to offer an opinion to someone that might be thinking of trying this restaurant. So on that note---here we go....

We are a family of 3---Myself, DH and DS (7). We have gone to Disney 1 other time (2 years ago), as a family, without being on the DDP. So this trip we opted to try it to see what we thought about it. We stayed for 9 days, 8 nights at Pop Century. I will be reviewing the restaurants separately---as I was unable to get pics of everything because I ran out of room on our camera card (I know, shame shame on me). My husband said we have more pics of food than we do of our family this trip! I actually wanted to take a lot more, but thought we better have some of the family for the picture album, ya know.

Sunday-August 5th

We had 7:00 pm Liberty Tree Tavern Reservations. We arrived approximately 6:40ish, just because it was so darn hot out and we just wanted to suck up some air condition. They took our name, asked if we were on the DDP and told us to take a seat. Well, there wasn't any seats--but a LOT of people standing and waiting. And waiting, and waiting, and waiting......... I noticed one party in front of us waited an hour, finally got seated, read the menu and decided they didn't like what was going to be served and got up and left!!!

In fact, we waited until 7:35 to be seated. All we kept thinking was, "Is this how the rest of our trip is going to be on the DDP?"

Finally, we got seated and our server, Samira, came to the table asking what we'd like to drink. We all ordered root beer, which came in a big, plentiful mug. She also brought out rolls and honey butter.

She explained the menu and how it was going to be a family style dinner. We were fine with that and knew what to expect (thanks to the disboards!). She also explained what characters would be there and how they'd come around to each table (and they sure did--a few times I might add).

We had Declaration Salad (mixed greens with a strawberry vinaigrette dressing), which was very fresh and good tasting. Next she brought out the Patriot's Platter, which included roasted turkey breast, carved beef, smoked pork loin served over a heaping mound of herb bread stuffing (possibly Stove Top?). Also served were mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans and macaroni and cheese (Stouffer's as this is who sponsors this meal). Dessert was warm apple cobbler with ice cream--served family style.

We were greeted by Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale. Isn't Mickey supposed to be at LTT? He was a no show. But all of the other characters came around at least twice if not three times. We took pics and signed autographs and life was good.

The food was not fancy by any means. Like I said, we are pretty bland eaters and the food here was average. If you have a taste for homemade type foods, you could tell some of the items were from the "box". Which is ok-we don't have a problem with that. Personally, we decided we probably wouldn't pay $28 per person ($13 for children) for this type of food again. The service was good and the character interaction was excellent. We got full bellies and were happy anyway. It's just that we will pass next time. Total bill $85.88 ($69.70 + $16.18) I don't know how they figured the bill out because according to what I read--it's $27.99 for adults and $12.99 for kids, which should make it 68.97 + 18% gratuity ($12.41), that adds up to $81.38 So somewhere they made an extra $4.50?? Does anybody know, did they raise their prices? or why does our bill add up to a higher amount?

The picture below is of the Patriot's Platter--sorry, I didn't get the rolls, salad, potatoes, green beans, mac n cheese or gravy. They were all pretty much your average sides. We had already eaten from this platter (oops, didn't get the camera out fast enough), but I tried to decorate it back up to its originality for you all. This is what we had left. Not that there was a lot on the plate to begin with, but by the time we had our rolls, root beer and everything else, we were just too full and didn't want to stuff ourselves before dessert.

Next report will be of Pizza Planet and 50's Prime Time Cafe.....

 

[TigerKat]

You're off to a great start......I'm hopping on for the ride!!

 

[atisikitabasket]

I'm here too! Can't wait!!!!


Also we were at LTT in Feb. and no Mickey it was Minnie, Chip, Dale and Goofy.

 

[ENSOCK]

I am looking forward to more. I am glad to know that the stuff tastes "out of the box". We will skip this then since we like foods with alot of flavor.

 

[wilma-bride]

Total bill $85.88 ($69.70 + $16.18) I don't know how they figured the bill out because according to what I read--it's $27.99 for adults and $12.99 for kids, which should make it 68.97 + 18% gratuity ($12.41), that adds up to $81.38 So somewhere they made an extra $4.50?? Does anybody know, did they raise their prices? or why does our bill add up to a higher amount?

Tax maybe

Anyway, great start to your reviews - I don't fancy LTT for dinner myself although it gets pretty good reviews for lunch

 

[tluvstink]

Thanks for posting! I'm looking forward to reading more

Terri

 

[familyS]

Thanks for the review and photo.

The cost difference is tax. Food at WDW is taxed at 6.5 percent, so tax on $68.97 is $4.48.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Great start!
I love where you wrote you had more photos of the food than your family. Well I guess that is what photopass is for.
Character dining sure beats the heck out of standing in a long line on a hot August day.
Oh -- and I don't know that Mickey is ever at LTT. I recall Minnie C&D and Pluto. (And Goofy??? Don't recall now.)

 

[ribbot]

Thanks for the replies---maybe that $4.50 was tax? Not sure either. One thing I did not like about the DDP receipt thing was that when they first bring your bill to you, it has everything itemized---you then give them your card and they come back with a receipt that has everything listed as $0.00 I wish they would just give you a copy of the first receipt with everything listed--would make writing these reports much easier

Monday, August 6th

We were going to MGM for the day, so decided we just "had" (as my DS says) to visit Pizza Planet. We had just come out of the Muppets 3D movie and it was approximately 11:45, so we thought we'd beat the crowds, as we remembered the last time we were here, there was no seating whatsoever. This time it was pretty much empty in the outside area (probably because it was too hot) and inside we waited a few moments, but snagged a table upstairs.

We ordered 1 Buzz's Meal Deal, which is an individual (4 cut) plain cheese pizza and salad ($7.59) and 1 Woody's Meal Deal, which is an individual pepperoni pizza and salad ($7.89). With these 2 CS meals, we got 2 drinks, 1 oatmeal raisin cookie and 1 bag of chips (substituted for a dessert). This was a LOT of food for us 3. The crust on the pizza was very thick on the edges and really filled us up. I believe we had 1 slice left. We polished off the small bag of chips, salads and packed the cookie for another time. (which was excellent btw--even though we ate it like 2 days later!!)

The pizza at Pizza Planet is the same pizza you can get at any of the Value Resorts in the food court. So if you're going there thinking it's something "special" and different, it's not. It's good and tasty, but it's not any different than the resorts. Sorry, I don't have pics of the pizza. We enjoyed it all and was stuffed and ready to walk it off. I was sure glad we didn't use 3 CS for all of us or we would have had to throw a lot away.

After sweating some more during the jaunt through MGM, we landed at Indiana Jones and had to stand in the back for the show. It was soooooo hot that day! Anyway....our reservations for 50's Prime Time Cafe were for 6:05. Indiana Jones ended around 5 (was delayed due to someone from the audience getting hurt while helping out during the show), so I told DH to go check at PT to see if we could get in any earlier. Nope---they said come back at 6:05.

So we sat outside on a bench until about 5:40 and then went inside PT for some well-needed air. We checked in at 6:05 just like they commanded us to do and got seated within a few minutes.

We were seated at Cousin Mendi's table--who was a hoot! My DS was sooooo intimidated by Cousin once he told him to get his elbows off the table and sit up straight. Everytime Cousin would come back, DS's elbows flew off the table and his back arched right up! Total riot!

Cousin knew we were on the DDP and told us exactly what we were "allowed" to have. So I started off with a non-filling, fat-free (I wish!) peanut butter & jelly shake--I had heard these were really good and it did not disappoint. Plus it was HUGE! A big tall glass, plus you got what was left in the shaker, which was 1/2 full. YUMMY! ($4.99) Sorry I must have forgotten to take a picture of it because I had to wait quite awhile to get it. Cousin said it took awhile to get it "all shook up".

DH ordered a root beer float ($4.29).....which he said was very good:

and DS ordered a root beer. (no pics, but I think you all know what it looks like)

For our appetizers, I ordered the Fried Herb Cheese ($6.49) which included a wedge of some kind of funky cheese (did not stretch or wasn't smooth like a mozzarella would be), grapes (yummy), strawberry and toasted french bread. I would not order this again, the taste was just "off the wall" for me. But the fruit was great.

DH ordered the Beer Battered Onion Rings ($5.99) with horseradish sauce. He said they were awfully greasy, as you can tell by the picture. I didn't try them, so I don't know. (I was too busy suckin' down that milkshake!)

DS ordered Chicken Noodle Soup (Kids Pick $7.49 w/mac N cheese and dessert) He said it was all "ok", but thought the mac n cheese tasted a little "different". Probably because it wasn't Kraft!

For DH's and my entree, we both ordered the Golden Fried Chicken, which came with mashed potatoes, gravy and southern greens ($14.99). As I stated in another post, this chicken has definitely changed since we were there in 2005. As you can see by the pic, you can't even identify which part of the chicken is sitting on my plate. It had NO meat on it whatsoever. The only meat I did get to try was the leg. The batter tasted heavily like flour with no seasoning. The potatoes were just "eh". DH tried to get a swap of the greens for something else, but Cousin said "just keep em, you'll like em". Which he didn't even try and I took one bite and said "pass". Here's the pic:

Ok and onto desserts. I ordered the Brownie Sundae ($5.99) If anybody knows what a Little Debbie Cosmic Brownie is raise your hand. That's what this dessert was. 2 brownies smothered in whipped cream with a handful of stale caramel popcorn and some m&m's thrown on top. I ate a few bites and left most of it. DS enjoyed the m&m's from it.

DH ordered a Caramel Sundae ($4.99) which he said was good. I wouldn't know because he was awfully stingy with it.

DS ordered a Build A Sundae (came with his $7.49 Kids Pick Meal). It was a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a waffle bowl. It must have been good, because one minute I looked over and saw the bowl, and the next, it was gone.

Total price was $85.40 for DH and myself and $4.97 for DS.

This was the one meal that we had been talking about ever since our last trip. We couldn't WAIT to get to MGM to get that chicken again. Boy, were we disappointed. So much so, that we have crossed off 50's PrimeTime for any near future trips. We decided we would like to try someplace else. I feel bad because I had kept telling people how good it was from our last trip. I hope theirs ends up better than ours was. Service was excellent and so were the antics---that part was great. But the food was not good at all. Worst meal of our entire trip.

Now don't go and get all spoiled with these pics because I didn't take as many with the other restaurants and none of the buffets. Next up is Crystal Palace and the Concourse Steakhouse at Contemporary.....

 

[eemmie1]

Sorry you didn't enjoy your meal at 50's PT. My husband and I have gone there every trip we have taken. I left it out this time and am trying Mama Melrose.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Another great review! Thanks for sharing!

 

[ribbot]

I forgot to mention that the day we arrived (Sunday, 8/5) we had eaten at Pop's food court for lunch after checking in. We had been up since 4:30 am and hunger was upon us at 12:30 pm.

We were kind of lost when we first got there (although familiar with ASMo's food court), but we weren't sure about the DDP. I just kept in my mind the advice I was given before we left----just order what you normally would (sandwich, salad, or whatever) and add a drink and dessert.

So DH ordered Chicken Parmigiana w/arugula, Nestea Iced Tea and Chocolate Cake. I ordered a Chicken Caesar Salad, Dasani Water and a piece of that famous tie dye cheesecake ($3.59). DS ordered kids spagetti and meatball that came with jello and a cookie. (we actually still have the cookie!) DH said his was very good, mine was excellent and DS enjoyed his spaghetti. We all split the desserts. I wasn't as impressed with the cheesecake as I had hoped to be. It was sort of dry and it really made you notice how many days food takes to get through your intestines. If you know what I mean....

Tuesday, August 7th

We had an early 9:05 reservation at Crystal Palace. We had loved this place last time and it did not disappoint this time either. I noticed that it didn't seem as crowded as when we were there before for some reason. Maybe we had a later time last time around.

The only thing I don't like about the place is the seating arrangement. It's always so congested and you have to fight people going this way or that way to make it to the food. The parade causes a lot of congestion too. We were seated way back against the wall and it was quite a hike to get to the food without accidentally dumping a waiters tray with 14 different drinks on it.

We were seated and were offered milk, juice or coffee. DH had coffee and orange juice, DS and myself had milk. DS and I went to the buffet to pick out his food. There were a lot of different type breakfast foods here. For the kids was an egg-type pizza and really yummy french toast. Lots of fruit, cheeses, and breads. Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potato casserole, pancakes, character waffles and they will also make to order your eggs if you'd like. The one thing that I got because I had heard it was so good was the "breakfast lasagna". I guess I was expecting an egg/meat dish, but it ended up being like bread pudding with bananas? or strawberries?...I'm not really sure what it was, but I didn't care for it. It was like mush. Everything else was very good.

Great character meets too. One thing that kind of irked me was the waitress dropped the "bill" off early in the meal and kept coming back to see if I had signed it yet. She would slam the cover of the receipt holder down everytime. I finally looked at her and said, "I haven't had the time to sign it yet, as I was trying to get my DS's meal, my meal and fight the characters and parade to get back to my seat." Geeez lady, gimme a break. So I did finally sign it and I let her know it was signed. That's awful to be reminded of paying the bill every 5 minutes during a meal.

Sorry, no pics, but we would do Crystal Palace again. Maybe for dinner next time. ($47.29 + 13.69)

That evening, we ate at Pop's food court again. I had the double cheeseburger which I split with DS because he had ordered the spaghetti again and this time he said it "smelled" funny (as he sat all scrunched up in the corner of the booth in a hissy fit). I actually think he was smelling the chinese food which smelled very garlicky and powerful that evening. Apparently, it just didn't agree with him. With the burger came fries (which I wish I would have known or I would have gotten something else) and dessert, in which I ordered the Twinkie Tiramisu. I thought the burger was excellent, the fries were average and the TT was awful. I had high expectations for it also from reading on the board and it didn't taste like anything to me. So far, I was pretty disappointed in the desserts. I got a Cranberry Juice with my CS and DS got milk. ($18.39)

DH ordered Chicken Penne Alfredo and iced tea and carrot cake. He said the penne was very good. We saved the cake and put it in the fridge for another time. We were already getting "desserted" out from all of the other meals.

Pop's food court was always very crowded. The drink station was always busy. I did notice how dirty the carpeting was in the court. You would find pizza crusts on the floor under the table and spills from drinks everywhere. For as busy as Disney is with employees, you'd think they could have someone scrub the carpet at night. I mentioned in another post that the Icee drink machine did not work until the 6th day of our trip. We were kinda disappointed about that, but got full use of it once it was up and running. Coke and Blue raspberry were the flavors. I also noticed a lot of watery fountain drinks coming out. They definitely need someone to keep on top of the drinks station to be sure everything is filled.

Next will be Rainforest Cafe Downtown Disney (not on the DDP) and The Concourse Steakhouse at the Contemporary....

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent reviews, looking forward to reading more.

 

[my3disneygirls]

Thanks for the reviews

 

[kelleigh1]

I remember reading your comments about 50's in that other thread. I see what you mean about the chicken. Guess I will stay away from that. It looks awful.

Thanks for the reviews! I suspect we'll have more pics of food than family too since it's just hubby and I. We do have 2 digital cameras now though, which means I get one and he gets one, so there could be more photos of me from this trip. Usually I control the camera which means I'm not in many pictures...which is how I like it.

 

[ribbot]

Wednesday, 8-8

We got up and went to Downtown Disney. We planned on shopping a bit and then eating at Rainforest Cafe. We had enjoyed it so much last time and it did not disappoint us again. It's nice to have a different style of atmosphere with the busy rainforest scenes going on.

We started with the Lava Nachos--which were tri colored chips with beef, peppers, onions, black beans, corn and queso sauce. Garnished with sour cream and pico de gallo. ($12.99) We are big nacho fans (although normally we don't dress ours up so much) and these were good, although the chips were a little on the stale side. It was a huge plate and we had probably 1/3 left or more.

I had a raspberry/lemonade smoothie that was very, VERY good. They dipped the rim in sugar and when it melted it made the glass very sticky though. Thank goodness for the wet wipes I had packed in the sling bag.

DS had one of those huge tri colored slushies. It was $6.99 I believe. He enjoyed that and the little toy that was tucked away at the bottom of the cup. DH had a soda of some sort.

DS ordered a Gorilla Grilled Cheese Delight, which was a grilled cheese on on texas toast $6.99 It came with kettle cooked potato chips on the side.

DH and I split a cup of Seaside Clam Chowder ($5.99) and a Rumble in the Jungle Turkey Wrap--which was shaved turkey breast, roma tomatoes, bacon and romaine lettuce tossed with caesar dressing wrapped in a tortilla. Served with a small serving of cole slaw and kettle cooked chips. (12.49)

Everything was very good and we would definitely eat here again. Total was around $55 and they would not take the DDP or our Disney Rewards card for payment.

Wednesday, 8-8

After coming back from DDT--we went to Pop's Arcade for the afternoon and then rested awhile before heading out to the Contemporary for our 8:30 reservation. We arrived a little after 8 pm, checked in and they said it would be within 15 minutes of our reservation time. So we played some heavy duty "I Spy" for awhile to pass the time. We were called to our table at 8:25
and we were seated at the first table by the entrance way.

DH and I ordered a banana/strawberry/mango smoothie which was very good and refreshing. DH ordered an apple juice.

For appetizers, I ordered the Mozzarella and Tomato Salad (7.99) It was just "ok" to me. I liked the tomatoes but the cheese was a little spicey to me. I picked on it a bit, but was saving up for my entree.

DH ordered the Onion Soup ($5.49) and sorry, I didn't get a picture of that. But just picture a bowl of soup covered in cheese dripping around the top. He said it was good, but not as good as mine that I make at home (yeahhhh that's one for me!)

DS ordered the chicken soup.

For our entrees, I ordered the Filet Mignon ($26.99) that came on top of Bread Salad and broccolini. I do not see this listed on their menu. It was EXCELLENT and the best meal of my trip. I did not eat the bread salad, it was like large bread croutons that were soggy with juices from the meat. The broccolini was great though. I didn't eat the big gob of butter on it either--I couldn't imagine smearing another 1000 calories across that piece of meat. Here's the pic:

DH ordered the 10 oz. New York Strip with mashed potatoes ($22.99) He said it was just ok, but that my filet tasted better to him. But, he still says it was the best meal of the week to him. Here's that pic:

DS ordered the steak, which was the same meat as mine--the filet--it came with mashed potatoes and green beans and carrots:

The waitress was a little forgetful on a few things, one of them being that she forgot our steak knives. She brought them out when we were almost done and we didn't even need them! The steak was so tender we cut it with our butter knives.

For dessert I had the Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee ($5.99), which I thought was outstanding. Nice and light and was a very delicate ending to a great meal. Here's the pic:

DS ordered a make your own sundae---and so did DH. The waitress said that was fine to do that, as DH wasn't interested in anything else on the menu for dessert. No pics, but it was a scoop of vanilla ice cream (2 for DH) and cookie crumbles, m&m's and banana chips.

We were all thrilled with this meal and will definitely do it again, even if out of pocket. Total was $108.10 + $7.46 Great food and good service.

Thursday, 8/9

We had 10:30 reservations for Chef Mickey's. We arrived right at 10:30 and was seated within a few minutes. A GREAT time of day to go. Character interaction was wonderful. Donald was upset at my DS because he was wearing his Mickey ears and motioned as to say, "What's up with that?" and then pointed to himself with a #1. It was very cute.

The meal was VERY good. We had eaten here 2 years ago for dinner and did not enjoy it that much. So we gave breakfast a try this time around. Everything was fresh and well stocked. They had pb&jelly pizza for the kids for one thing that I remember. Other items were your typical buffet fare--eggs, bacon, potatoes, waffles, donuts, rice krispy treats, brownies, cereals, fruits, etc. We will definitely go back here for a late breakfast again. $47.29 + $13.69 Our server Don V was attentive and was constantly around with more drinks for us. It was hard this trip to decide which buffet was better, Crystal Palace or Chef Mickeys----we think Chef Mickey's has the lead by a touch. Just less congested.

Next will be Rose and Crown and Whispering Canyon Cafe....

 

[Schucraig]

Great reviews and pictures! I can't wait for more!

 

[momofdbsdc]

Great reviews so far! I can't wait for the rest!!!

 

[kelleigh1]

Our Chef Mickey's breakfast is around 10:30, actually...may be closer to 11:00. Glad to hear your thoughts on that time. We had a late morning reservation at Crystal Palace last year and it was just ok.

Characters still seemed rushed, although hubby enjoyed a little extra attention from Pooh since he was wearing a tshirt that I'd made with a picture of Pooh flipping pancakes and with the caption "Nothing Beats Breakfast with Pooh!"

 

[ribbot]

Our Chef Mickey's breakfast is around 10:30, actually...may be closer to 11:00. Glad to hear your thoughts on that time. We had a late morning reservation at Crystal Palace last year and it was just ok.

Characters still seemed rushed, although hubby enjoyed a little extra attention from Pooh since he was wearing a tshirt that I'd made with a picture of Pooh flipping pancakes and with the caption "Nothing Beats Breakfast with Pooh!"

Thanks all for your nice replies. Writing these things are a lot of fun!

Yes, the characters are very rushed at Crystal Palace. Both times we've been there, they only got around once to our table. At Chef Mickey's we must have seen them at least 3 times a piece, maybe more. They were more "chipper" at CM's too. I think it's hard for the characters at CP to maneuver around those tight squeezed tables.

Sounds like a cute shirt! All I had on was a drippy, sweaty tank top HA HA HA Seems like that was the shirt of the week last week! EVERYBODY was wearin' them!