girlpenguin
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2008
- Messages
- 81
Greetings! My family just returned on Friday from 7 nights at WDW. It was so hard to come home! We had a great time. There were 4 adults - my husband, myself, his parents and our daughter, age 3. We all had the free dining plan. Here's a brief recap of our eating experiences:
Friday, Sept. 11 - Whispering Canyon Cafe dinner
We ate here because we were staying in the Wilderness Lodge. Our ADRs were at 5:30 p.m. and it was packed when we checked in. Only had to wait a couple of minutes before being seated. We all ordered the skillet. It was good, but the pulled pork was awesome! I don't even like pulled pork but this was great! DH got an orange milkshake for a beverage. Our server threw straws and napkins at us, but otherwise left us alone. We were a bit frustrated with how slow he was...took forever to get our desserts and then finally our bill. However, this was the only place all week that did anything special for the in-laws 42nd anniversary. He made them stand up and introduced them and had the whole resturant clap and cheer for them while they kissed. He also brought them champaign. So that was nice. Overall, I reccomend the WCC.
Saturday, Sept. 12 - Pizzasafari, lunch
Everyone except me had the Italian sandwich. It looked good. I had the pizza. It was fine. The 3-year-old also had the kids pizza and she ate it. I didn't think this was quite worth the hype it has gotten on here, but it certainly wasn't bad.
Teppan Endo - dinner
Now THIS place was great! One of our favorites of the entire trip. We all got the steak and shrimp, except DD, who got the shrimp kids meal. Service was GREAT and our chef, a female named Ari? was very funny...made the shrimp wave at DD, made a castle out of onions, Mickey out of some seeds, etc. She was really funny. Everything was delicious! For dessert, I had the ginger cake, which was quite tasty but didn't seem very ginger-ish to me. In-laws had the pudding which they said was good. Highly reccomend this place!
Sunday, Sept. 13 - CRT breakfast
We had 9 a.m. reservations, but they let us in early (it was great getting let into the park before everyone else!) and they even seated us as soon as we arrived...probably about 20 minutes before our actual reservation began. DD had her picture taken with Cinderella, then we walked up the stairs and were seated. It was a bit frustrating, because the wishing ceremony took place as soon as we were sitting down...so that sort of "spoiled" it for DD. As soon as we sat down, the waiter asked us what we wanted and started bringing out the food. We had no time to eat before the princesses started coming around. And wow, they came fast! We hardly had time to take a picture! It was really sort of stressful trying to eat and take pictures and it all felt very, very rushed. The whole thing took less than 45 minutes. Honestly I thought it was pretty overpriced for what we got. I don't think we'll do this again.
Cosmic Rays - lunch
Yum! I was full from breakfast so I just got a turkey club wrap. It was tasty. Hubby got the ribs and chicken, and I can't remember what the in-laws got. DD got a burger (the CM told me I could get whatever I wanted for her - no need to order off the kids menu). It felt like we had a TON of food! The carrot cake was a tasty dessert. DD got a huge bottle of chocolate milk with her meal, so that was nice. We left full and very satisfied. Highly reccomend this CS.
Hollywood & Vine - Fantasmic Package dinner
Well, this was the only place I could get the Fantasmic package. Food was average. Certainly not as awful as these boards have made it out to be, but not great either. It was nice to get the Fantasmic pass though. Not much to say about it here, it was just your typical average buffet. The service was pretty good, so that was nice.
Monday, Sept. 14
Princess breakfast - Norway
Well, we arrived 30 minutes early for our 9:30 ADR and we didn't get seated until close to 10. So we had to wait outside for an hour...and it was hot. So that was a bummer. But once we got inside, it was very nice. The cold bar had a great selection of fruit and yogurt and other things. The fruit selection was the best of any resturant we ate all week...blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc. The hot plates were brought out with eggs/sausage/bacon/cheesy potatoes...all very good. The princesses came around at a much slower pace here and didn't feel as rushed as CRT. All and all, we greatly prefered this to CRT, and it was only 1 table service credit! DD saw Belle, Snow White, Aurora, Cinderella and Ariel. Highly reccomend.
Le Cellier - dinner
Well, this was very tasty. We each ordered a cup of the cheddar cheese soup OOP and it was good with the delicous pretzel bread. I ordered the mushroom filet, but everyone else had the coffee rubbed KC strip. They were HUGE!! My filet was delicous. My MIL thought her strip was too rare, but everyone else seemed happy with theirs. DD got the kids steak and she ate it up. For dessert, DH got the chocolate mouse (that's gotten a lot smaller since the last time were there) and we all got the maple creme brule, which was VERY tasty. The maple really gave it a good flavor. Also we ordered the mango smoothies, which were DELICOUS! My favorite beverage of the trip!
Tuesday, Sept. 15
Lunch - Roaring Forks
This was good! I had the chicken nuggets with pasta salad, DH got a huge double cheeseburger, and I can't remember what the in-laws got. DD got a kids pizza and it was pretty good. The desserts were huge - cookies, rice crispy treats, and magic cookie bars for all of us. We were pleased. I felt like this had a pretty good variety. If I had to eat here every day, sure, I'd be tired of it, but who eats at the same place every day for lunch?
Dinner - Fulton's Crab House
DH and I had a night out while the in-laws took DD and stayed at the hotel. They ate at Roaring Forks again and we ate at Fultons out of pocket. This was good, but not as good as I thought it would be for the price. I had the lobster and crab claws. The crab claws felt a bit dry. Honestly, I've had better crab at Red Lobster. Hubby had the prime rib, which he said was excellent. We shared a peice of key lime pie, which was also good, but not excellent. Overall we enjoyed this meal, but it wasn't as good as we had hoped it to be.
Wednesday, Sept. 16
Sunshine seasons - lunch
Hubby got some sort of chicken meal, which looked very good. I got a sandwich of some sort and it was huge and delicous! The in-laws got the beet salad and it was very nice as well. The selection here was great! And of course, the desserts in the bakery counter were fabulous. We got key lime pie, snickers cheesecake and a chocolate mouse cake. Mmm.
Casey's hot dog - dinner (DD, DH and me)
Well, we loved it here for a simple CS. DD was able to get the corn dog nuggets and yum, they were good! We got the hot dog and it was good too -big and plump, with lots of toppings that we could put on it. What was fun about this meal is that we were able to get cracker jacks as the dessert. So that was fun, and different.
Bistro de Paris - inlaws
We surprised them with a gift card to eat here for their anniversary. They enjoyed it - they had the salmon and creme brule sampler platter for dessert, with escargot as an appetizer. They've eaten at Chefs de France before and they said they didn't think the food was all that much better than Chefs de France. They said the presentation was prettier, but the food itself wasn't better. They had good service and nice wine though, and they brought out a fruit plate for their anniversary.
Thursday -
Cosmic Rays - lunch
Yep, we ate here again! This time, I had the rotisserie chicken and DH got the chicken and ribs again (which seriously is a HUGE meal!) Mine came with delicous mashed potatoes and green beans. DD got chicken nuggets (not the kids, the adult) and the in-laws got chicken sandwiches. All was good. The carrot cake was better than the brownie as the dessert option here.
Ohana - dinner
This was the first time any of us ate here, and we all LOVED it! The potstickers are SO good...and the wings...and the meat...and the noodles...we loved it ALL! And of course, the bread pudding was to die for. We were SO stuffed! This was one of my favorite meals - probably this, Teppan Endo and Le Cellier were my 3 favorite meals of the whole trip. I'm not sure if I could pick which of those 3 were my favorites! They did not have any coconut races while we were there (our reservations were 5 p.m.) but they did have the kids walk around for a little parade, taught them the hula and gave them leis. So that was fun for DD.
Saturday -
Chef Mickey's - breakfast
We got here early, but were not seated until a few minutes after our ADR. The food was very good - not sure where the negative reviews about this were coming from. We enjoyed tasty cheesy eggs, mickey waffles, breakfast pizza, pancakes, pastries, fruit, etc. The characters came around a bit fast again, and didn't interact a whole lot with us. But I saw Goofy interacting with another table in the "main" area a ton - he sat down at the table with them and was doing funny stuff. So it was a bit of a bummer that we didn't get much of that. But, overall DD loved seeing them all, so this was fun. The photo package was way overpriced and we did not choose to buy it. Also they said they couldn't put it on our photopass, which was kind of annoying, because I would have liked to have looked at it more closely once we got home. Instead, I had about 2 seconds to look at the picture because Minnie was on her way to our table, and I just told them no. Seems like they could make more sales if they added the pictures to the photopass.
Earl of Sandwich - lunch
Wow. This place was PACKED. We wanted to pick up sandwiches to go, since we had to catch the Magical Express to the airport. We got two Originals (roast beef), a BLT, a meatball sub and a kids' pizza sandwich. The CM told us we could cash in our two "leftover" CS credits for 6 desserts, so we got cookies and brownies with those credits and got chips for our side with our sandwiches. We ate these while waiting in the WL lobby for Magic Express and they were GOOD! I loved my roast beef sandwich. Highly reccomend.
Snacks:
During the course of our trip, we had: 1 aloha whip float (OMG this was great!), a couple of Mickey ice cream bars, a couple of root beer floats, kids ice cream cone, bagels, bottles of water, a bag of chocolate coins for DD, a few frozen lemonades, popcorn, and I can't even remember what else. Honestly it felt like we were constantly eating and we still had 9 credits remaining our last day! So, we went to Goofy's Candy Co. and got lots of tasty treats to take home with us, including 2 squares of fudge, 2 chocolate covered mickey pretzels, a bucket of cotton candy, a huge Dory sugar cookie, an ice-cream cone shaped chocolate covered rice crispy treat, and 2 chocolate covered strawberries. We've been enjoying those treats over the past couple of days!
Overall we were very happy with the dining plan. It was tons of food for all of us, and we enjoyed great resturants!!
Friday, Sept. 11 - Whispering Canyon Cafe dinner
We ate here because we were staying in the Wilderness Lodge. Our ADRs were at 5:30 p.m. and it was packed when we checked in. Only had to wait a couple of minutes before being seated. We all ordered the skillet. It was good, but the pulled pork was awesome! I don't even like pulled pork but this was great! DH got an orange milkshake for a beverage. Our server threw straws and napkins at us, but otherwise left us alone. We were a bit frustrated with how slow he was...took forever to get our desserts and then finally our bill. However, this was the only place all week that did anything special for the in-laws 42nd anniversary. He made them stand up and introduced them and had the whole resturant clap and cheer for them while they kissed. He also brought them champaign. So that was nice. Overall, I reccomend the WCC.
Saturday, Sept. 12 - Pizzasafari, lunch
Everyone except me had the Italian sandwich. It looked good. I had the pizza. It was fine. The 3-year-old also had the kids pizza and she ate it. I didn't think this was quite worth the hype it has gotten on here, but it certainly wasn't bad.
Teppan Endo - dinner
Now THIS place was great! One of our favorites of the entire trip. We all got the steak and shrimp, except DD, who got the shrimp kids meal. Service was GREAT and our chef, a female named Ari? was very funny...made the shrimp wave at DD, made a castle out of onions, Mickey out of some seeds, etc. She was really funny. Everything was delicious! For dessert, I had the ginger cake, which was quite tasty but didn't seem very ginger-ish to me. In-laws had the pudding which they said was good. Highly reccomend this place!
Sunday, Sept. 13 - CRT breakfast
We had 9 a.m. reservations, but they let us in early (it was great getting let into the park before everyone else!) and they even seated us as soon as we arrived...probably about 20 minutes before our actual reservation began. DD had her picture taken with Cinderella, then we walked up the stairs and were seated. It was a bit frustrating, because the wishing ceremony took place as soon as we were sitting down...so that sort of "spoiled" it for DD. As soon as we sat down, the waiter asked us what we wanted and started bringing out the food. We had no time to eat before the princesses started coming around. And wow, they came fast! We hardly had time to take a picture! It was really sort of stressful trying to eat and take pictures and it all felt very, very rushed. The whole thing took less than 45 minutes. Honestly I thought it was pretty overpriced for what we got. I don't think we'll do this again.
Cosmic Rays - lunch
Yum! I was full from breakfast so I just got a turkey club wrap. It was tasty. Hubby got the ribs and chicken, and I can't remember what the in-laws got. DD got a burger (the CM told me I could get whatever I wanted for her - no need to order off the kids menu). It felt like we had a TON of food! The carrot cake was a tasty dessert. DD got a huge bottle of chocolate milk with her meal, so that was nice. We left full and very satisfied. Highly reccomend this CS.
Hollywood & Vine - Fantasmic Package dinner
Well, this was the only place I could get the Fantasmic package. Food was average. Certainly not as awful as these boards have made it out to be, but not great either. It was nice to get the Fantasmic pass though. Not much to say about it here, it was just your typical average buffet. The service was pretty good, so that was nice.
Monday, Sept. 14
Princess breakfast - Norway
Well, we arrived 30 minutes early for our 9:30 ADR and we didn't get seated until close to 10. So we had to wait outside for an hour...and it was hot. So that was a bummer. But once we got inside, it was very nice. The cold bar had a great selection of fruit and yogurt and other things. The fruit selection was the best of any resturant we ate all week...blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc. The hot plates were brought out with eggs/sausage/bacon/cheesy potatoes...all very good. The princesses came around at a much slower pace here and didn't feel as rushed as CRT. All and all, we greatly prefered this to CRT, and it was only 1 table service credit! DD saw Belle, Snow White, Aurora, Cinderella and Ariel. Highly reccomend.
Le Cellier - dinner
Well, this was very tasty. We each ordered a cup of the cheddar cheese soup OOP and it was good with the delicous pretzel bread. I ordered the mushroom filet, but everyone else had the coffee rubbed KC strip. They were HUGE!! My filet was delicous. My MIL thought her strip was too rare, but everyone else seemed happy with theirs. DD got the kids steak and she ate it up. For dessert, DH got the chocolate mouse (that's gotten a lot smaller since the last time were there) and we all got the maple creme brule, which was VERY tasty. The maple really gave it a good flavor. Also we ordered the mango smoothies, which were DELICOUS! My favorite beverage of the trip!
Tuesday, Sept. 15
Lunch - Roaring Forks
This was good! I had the chicken nuggets with pasta salad, DH got a huge double cheeseburger, and I can't remember what the in-laws got. DD got a kids pizza and it was pretty good. The desserts were huge - cookies, rice crispy treats, and magic cookie bars for all of us. We were pleased. I felt like this had a pretty good variety. If I had to eat here every day, sure, I'd be tired of it, but who eats at the same place every day for lunch?
Dinner - Fulton's Crab House
DH and I had a night out while the in-laws took DD and stayed at the hotel. They ate at Roaring Forks again and we ate at Fultons out of pocket. This was good, but not as good as I thought it would be for the price. I had the lobster and crab claws. The crab claws felt a bit dry. Honestly, I've had better crab at Red Lobster. Hubby had the prime rib, which he said was excellent. We shared a peice of key lime pie, which was also good, but not excellent. Overall we enjoyed this meal, but it wasn't as good as we had hoped it to be.
Wednesday, Sept. 16
Sunshine seasons - lunch
Hubby got some sort of chicken meal, which looked very good. I got a sandwich of some sort and it was huge and delicous! The in-laws got the beet salad and it was very nice as well. The selection here was great! And of course, the desserts in the bakery counter were fabulous. We got key lime pie, snickers cheesecake and a chocolate mouse cake. Mmm.
Casey's hot dog - dinner (DD, DH and me)
Well, we loved it here for a simple CS. DD was able to get the corn dog nuggets and yum, they were good! We got the hot dog and it was good too -big and plump, with lots of toppings that we could put on it. What was fun about this meal is that we were able to get cracker jacks as the dessert. So that was fun, and different.
Bistro de Paris - inlaws
We surprised them with a gift card to eat here for their anniversary. They enjoyed it - they had the salmon and creme brule sampler platter for dessert, with escargot as an appetizer. They've eaten at Chefs de France before and they said they didn't think the food was all that much better than Chefs de France. They said the presentation was prettier, but the food itself wasn't better. They had good service and nice wine though, and they brought out a fruit plate for their anniversary.
Thursday -
Cosmic Rays - lunch
Yep, we ate here again! This time, I had the rotisserie chicken and DH got the chicken and ribs again (which seriously is a HUGE meal!) Mine came with delicous mashed potatoes and green beans. DD got chicken nuggets (not the kids, the adult) and the in-laws got chicken sandwiches. All was good. The carrot cake was better than the brownie as the dessert option here.
Ohana - dinner
This was the first time any of us ate here, and we all LOVED it! The potstickers are SO good...and the wings...and the meat...and the noodles...we loved it ALL! And of course, the bread pudding was to die for. We were SO stuffed! This was one of my favorite meals - probably this, Teppan Endo and Le Cellier were my 3 favorite meals of the whole trip. I'm not sure if I could pick which of those 3 were my favorites! They did not have any coconut races while we were there (our reservations were 5 p.m.) but they did have the kids walk around for a little parade, taught them the hula and gave them leis. So that was fun for DD.
Saturday -
Chef Mickey's - breakfast
We got here early, but were not seated until a few minutes after our ADR. The food was very good - not sure where the negative reviews about this were coming from. We enjoyed tasty cheesy eggs, mickey waffles, breakfast pizza, pancakes, pastries, fruit, etc. The characters came around a bit fast again, and didn't interact a whole lot with us. But I saw Goofy interacting with another table in the "main" area a ton - he sat down at the table with them and was doing funny stuff. So it was a bit of a bummer that we didn't get much of that. But, overall DD loved seeing them all, so this was fun. The photo package was way overpriced and we did not choose to buy it. Also they said they couldn't put it on our photopass, which was kind of annoying, because I would have liked to have looked at it more closely once we got home. Instead, I had about 2 seconds to look at the picture because Minnie was on her way to our table, and I just told them no. Seems like they could make more sales if they added the pictures to the photopass.
Earl of Sandwich - lunch
Wow. This place was PACKED. We wanted to pick up sandwiches to go, since we had to catch the Magical Express to the airport. We got two Originals (roast beef), a BLT, a meatball sub and a kids' pizza sandwich. The CM told us we could cash in our two "leftover" CS credits for 6 desserts, so we got cookies and brownies with those credits and got chips for our side with our sandwiches. We ate these while waiting in the WL lobby for Magic Express and they were GOOD! I loved my roast beef sandwich. Highly reccomend.
Snacks:
During the course of our trip, we had: 1 aloha whip float (OMG this was great!), a couple of Mickey ice cream bars, a couple of root beer floats, kids ice cream cone, bagels, bottles of water, a bag of chocolate coins for DD, a few frozen lemonades, popcorn, and I can't even remember what else. Honestly it felt like we were constantly eating and we still had 9 credits remaining our last day! So, we went to Goofy's Candy Co. and got lots of tasty treats to take home with us, including 2 squares of fudge, 2 chocolate covered mickey pretzels, a bucket of cotton candy, a huge Dory sugar cookie, an ice-cream cone shaped chocolate covered rice crispy treat, and 2 chocolate covered strawberries. We've been enjoying those treats over the past couple of days!
Overall we were very happy with the dining plan. It was tons of food for all of us, and we enjoyed great resturants!!
