A First Timer's Review - Six Days of the DDP!

[JaimJaim76]

Well, we're back and we had a wonderful time our first trip to WDW! Some of our favorite memories will most definitely be the yummy food and dining experiences we had. We arrived late Sunday afternoon so we used our dinner that night and saved our lunch for our last day, which was Friday.

Here is where we dined:

DAY 1: Planet Hollywood - Downtown (Dinner)

DAY 2: Pecos Bills (Lunch) - Tony's Town Square (Dinner)

DAY 3: ABC Commissary (Lunch) - Sci- Fi Dine In Theater (Dinner)

DAY 4: Flame Tree BBQ - AK (Lunch) - 50' Prime Time Cafe - HS (Dinner)

DAY 5: Sunshine Seasons - Epcot (Lunch) - Rose & Crown Pub (Dinner)

DAY 6: Wolfgang Puck's Express - Downtown (Lunch)


OK, here we go! Since I knew we would be arriving late Sunday, we figured we would just spend the evening Downtown and I made our ADR for Planet Hollywood for dinner. We actually arrived about 30 minutes prior to our reserved time and waited less than 10 minutes for our table. The hostesses were super friendly.

The first thing I noticed was the noise...wow! It is very loud in there but I guess that is their thing. We were seated at a nice table in a corner and were greeted by our waiter within a few minutes, who said he would be right with us but it took several more minutes before he came back for our drink order. After a while, we kind of got over the noise and were actually singing along to the Michael Jackson videos they were showing, lol. Our waiter was a little odd but friendly, lol and was not super quick about getting our refills, extra napkins, etc, infact he just seemed a little frazzled at times.

One thing I found a little confusing and disappointing was the dessert menu. Most of their desserts serve 2 people, so on the dining plan you can split some of them into a smaller portions if you'd like or just order one of the other desserts that are a single portion, however some desserts could not be split into a single serving. It really didn't work out well for us because there are 3 of us. The thing I wanted was a double portion and could not be split and my husband and son wanted something else, so I had to opt for a single serving dessert that I didn't really want...it was good but just not what I really wanted. So, a heads up on the dessert menu if you're heading there for the first time.

Overall, we had a good experience at Planet Hollywood. I would recommend it to everyone but be aware of the constant noise and dessert menu options when using the dining plan.

Finally, here is what we ordered...

PLANET HOLLYWOOD: I ordered the Glazed Salmon with sticky white rice and sauteed veggies. It was YUMMY. The salmon was tender and flavorful and the rice and veggies were hot and cooked perfectly...

My hubby ordered the Ribs. He had no idea it would be a huge rack that covered the plate! He said they were very good...

Our son ordered the BBQ Bacon Cheddar Chicken Sandwich (?) and asked for mashed potatoes instead of fries, which was no problem. He loved the sandwich but that big hunk you see was lettuce...he took it off so he could actually get his mouth around it, lol. The mashed potatoes were just so-so...

The Strawberry Cheesecake I opted for...my husband and son dug into their desserts so fast I didn't have a chance to take a picture, lol. They had brownie sundaes and said they were good but I think my son enjoyed his more...

MORE REVIEWS AND PICS COMING UP!!

 

[Symans3honeybees]

Cool, more food reviews and pictures.

 

[JaimJaim76]

On day two we decided to eat lunch at Pecos Bills...not my first choice but we were already drained from the heat, hungry and it just happened to be right there.
I didn't take pictures but I ordered the Taco Salad, hubby had the Double Bacon Cheeseburger and our son had the Chicken Wrap. We all had Carrot Cake for dessert. It wasn't bad but it also wasn't that great...a typical fast food style meal to me. On a good note, I did like the fresh toppings bar, where you can put your own toppings on your sandwiches and salads. Everything was definitely fresh. There was plenty of seating and we found a nice table by the window.

We had dinner at Tony's Town Square. We arrived about 20 minutes before our ADR time, were greeted by a friendly hostess and seated within 10 minutes. We were seated in the covered patio area. The table was nice but I felt a little cramped, as the other tables were pretty close...(it didn't help that the table next to us was letting their kids run all over the place and squeeze in between the chairs. Luckily they werent there long or I probably would of spoke up.)

Anyway, we were welcomed immediately by our friendly waitress, who noticed our 1st Visit buttons right away and asked where we were from and wished us a wonderful time.

I must say right off the bat, the desserts here are WAY better than the meals. I ordered the Pork Tenderloin with Angel Hair Pasta which was bland and flavorless...just not appetizing at all. Hubby ordered the Mushroom Ravioli which he liked but said the portion wasn't big enough. Our son had the Chicken Parmigiana which he wasn't too enthused about, which is really rare for him, considering he loves Italian food.

For dessert I had the Tiramusi, which was absolutely delicious! (I actually have a picture of this but it is MIA at the moment) Hubby had Tony's Cheesecake, which happened to be Pumpkin that night. He liked it but it was super tiny. Our son had the Lemon Walnut cake. Not only did it look yummy, it WAS yummy. It was a BIG slice, so I stole a couple bites and it was moist and had a really fresh lemon flavor, the icing was really good as well.

While we were disappointed in our dinner, dessert was good and the service was GREAT. Our waitress was very nice and attentive, she even brought our son a second glass of apple juice without charging for a refill.

Overall, if I had to do it again, I would skip it but I might get dessert to go...

NIGHT TWO - We stayed at Pop Century, so of course we had to try the Tie-Dye Cheesecake. My goodness, it was yummy. I think the Red Velvet cake on the bottom just adds to it. It was even nicer that we were able to use a Snack Credit!

 

[KatMark]

Great start. I'm here for the duration.

 

[jeminni]

Your salmon looked really good at Planet Hollywood. Looking forward to more reviews.

 

[JaimJaim76]

Since my Day 3 pics seem to be MIA at the moment, Im going to skip to Day 4. We began our day eating lunch at the Flame Tree Barbecue. What a surprise it was! Yummy food and lots of friends to entertain us in the dining area...the birds were surrounding us...tons of ducks and cranes, who I guess were looking for handouts, though we didn't feed them of course. They were hilarious!

I couldn't believe the quality of our meals. I had the quarter chicken with baked beans and cole slaw, Hubby ordered the turkey sandwich (it was HUGE) and our son ordered the ribs that also included baked beans and cole slaw. My son and I had the chocolate cake and hubby had Key Lime Pie. We all thought our meals were very good. I didn't take any pictures of our food because we were so entertained by the birds but I did manage to snap a pic of one of our visitors, lol...

We park hopped back to HS for dinner at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. Where do I begin? What a fun time. We were greeted by a hostess who referred to us as "kids" and were seated within a few minutes of our ADR time. We were promptly greeted by our waitress, "Aunt Sue" who immediately scolded my hubby for wearing his hat at the table. When he didn't take it off, she said "You dont listen very well do ya?" and she proceded to yell across the room at another table and tell one the guys, "see what you did, you're a bad influence...Sparky over here won't take his hat off either!" lol

We loved the decor of the place and the old televisions playing the black and white shows. I am very into retro things myself so I particularly enjoyed the decor. It was just fun to sit and listen to the waitresses going off on everyone across the restaurant. I was a little worried that my hubby would be a little uncomfortable with the picking because he is quite reserved but he went right along with it and had a lot of fun.

She took our drink order and then went over and raised heck with one of the guys at another table for not eating his green beans. Then she yelled "you know what we have to do now, dont ya?" and force fed him his green beans while doing the choo choo train. Everyone in the room was laughing. Then another waitress yelled at someone in the living room, apparently someone letting their kids go crazy and she told them to stop jumping on the furniture, "what were you, born in a zoo?" LOL

I ordered the steak with augratin potatoes and green beans. Hubby ordered the Meatloaf and our son had the Tuna Casserole. Everything was very good, my son thought it was "fancy" Tuna Casserole because it had a whole fillet on top, lol and by God, we made sure we cleaned out plates, lol. When Aunt Sue came back, she said she was proud of us and she could see tongue marks on the plates.

My dessert, The 50s Hula Hoop Boston Cream Cupcake...it looked so cool I almost didn't want to eat it but I couldn't resist, lol and it was DELICIOUS. Very moist and the boston cream was yummy, it was covered in a chocolate ganache like coating. It was a large cupcake, about twice the size of a standard one.

Our son had the sundae and there were actually a couple brownies under all of that stuff! He absolutely loved it. I believe "wow, cool" were his actual words.

Hubby had the Apple Cobbler ala Mode which he said was very good cobbler.

I would highly recommend both Flame Tree Barbecue and 50s Prime Time, especially if you want to enjoy some fun entertainment and a unique dining experience.

 

[Tink2312]

WOW that cupcake looks mamouth!

Glad you enjoyed Flame Tree and 50's PT

 

[KatMark]

Those desserts look yummy. We haven't been to PT in over ten years and think it is time for a return visit. We love Flame Tree too.

 

[brad3640]

that cupcake looks delicious! I haven't ever seen that on the menu.. I will be giving that a try when we go in Nov.

 

[JaimJaim76]

OK, back to day three! We spent this day at Hollywood Studios and had lunch at ABC Commissary. I didn't take pictures but my husband and I both had the Bleu Chicken sandwich (I think it was called), it was grilled chicken with sliced ham and cheese, and our son had the cheeseburger. We all had the Chocolate Mousse for dessert, which was really good, infact I thought it was the best part of the meal. The sandwiches weren't bad but just like Pecos Bills, were like a typical fast food style meal to me. The place was super clean and everyone was friendly.

Dinner was at Sci-Fi. Oh...my...goodness, we LOVED that place! Upon arrival though, we were greeted by a very snotty and rude hostess. She told us we were too early and we couldn't check in until 10 minutes prior to our ADR time (we were about 20 minutes early), which was fine if that is truly their rules but there was no reason to be so rude about it. Anyhoo, we sat outside and came back in 10 minutes later and were greeted by a different and much more polite host that time. We waited about 5 minutes or so and were taken back to our car.

We sat in a car in the back row and had the front two seats. Our waiter greeted us right away and explained the menu to us and recommended his favorite dishes. He was extra nice to our son, which was great.

I ordered the Beef and Blue **** (that's four stars, lol) I apologize for taking a couple bites first and I know it doesn't look that great but believe me, the picture does it no justice...

This was seriously my favorite meal. Simple but DELICIOUS. I ate every bite and almost wanted to lick the plate! Hubby had the Butcher Steak and was really happy with it and our son ordered the chicken sandwich, it was on a ciabatta type of bread and had a chunky tomato topping (cant remember the name of it) and was served with a black bean salad, he really liked it. He was thrilled that he was able to order an Oreo milkshake with his meal. I thought it was really nice that we could do that on the dining plan!

My son and I had the Cheesecake for dessert. It was small but very good and we loved the garnish. Hubby had the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake that included a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. He liked it a lot. Unfortuntaely I didn't get pictures of his because he was in the front seat but here is our Cheesecake:

We really had a blast watching the old movie clips, so much that we were cracking up. The car next to us probably thought we were nuts, lol. Our waiter was excellent and we didn't have to ask him for anything, which made the whole experience even more enjoyable.

I highly recommend Sci-Fi to anyone. Kids of all ages would enjoy dining in the car and none of the movie clips were inappropriate for even small kids in my opinion. It is definitely a great time and a DELICIOUS meal!

 

[Nadjalu]

Love your review! So glad to hear such a rave about Sci Fi! We are eating there on our upcoming trip and can't wait. We've never been before, and I have to admit your review makes me want it more!

 

[JaimJaim76]

Love your review! So glad to hear such a rave about Sci Fi! We are eating there on our upcoming trip and can't wait. We've never been before, and I have to admit your review makes me want it more!

Thanks!! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did

 

[JaimJaim76]

On day 5, we spent the day at Epcot and had a great lunch at Sunshine Seasons. We arrived right at 11:00 when they had just started to serve lunch. We were a little confused about the ordering process and our choices there but one of the cashiers was very friendly and helpful. It turned out that we could get anything we wanted!

I ordered a Ham and Salami Sandwich that was served with an Italian style potato salad. The sandwich was HUGE and was cut into a big wedge shape that was taken from one giant sandwich. Everything on the sandwich was fresh and delicious...it included freshly grated cheese, I think it might of been Asiago (?) and it was very yummy.

Hubby ordered a Turkey Sandwich from the same spot that was similar to mine and was served with the Italian style potato salad. He really liked it. This is a group photo (haha) that shows his meal, plus his Strawberry Shortcake, which he thought was very good but the strawberries were just a little mushy. In the background is my son's Butterfinger Cheesecake that must of been good because it was gone in 30 seconds...

My son ordered rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes and cooked carrots from another spot. The lady there was very nice and wished us a happy first visit. He liked everything and I tasted one of the carrots, they were quite tasty.

I could not believe their dessert selection!! They had so many little fancy things to choose from, it was unbelievable. However, I decided to go simple since I had been spoiled by so many wonderful desserts on previous nights, lol. I went with the Blondie and it was DELISH!! I was very happy...

There is plenty of seating there and the tables are well spaced. Everything was very clean and organized as well.

I would highly recommend Sunshine Seasons. They probably have the best selection out of all of the QS restaurants and the food is fresh and delicious!!

DINNER REVIEW COMING UP SOON...

 

[GovieMom]

Love the wonderful reviews and pics; thanks for posting and keep 'em coming!

 

[pumba]

thanks so much for your great photos and reviews......we went to prime time for our first time .....and we had a giant milk shake for our drink and for dessert WOW we had the hot fudge sundae........that thing filled me up....oh yah for our meals we tried the fried chicken.....I even had green things for the first time ever.....collard I think..
thanks again for your reviews

 

[JaimJaim76]

We enjoyed our dinner this night at Rose and Crown Pub (United Kingdom at Epcot). We arrived about 20 minutes before our ADR time and were greeted by a VERY jolly host! He asked if we were enjoying our first visit and which resort we were staying in and told us that he hoped we enjoyed the rest of our vacation. We were seated in about 10 minutes.

I noticed immediately how friendly EVERYONE was. We were greeted by our waitress within a couple minutes and she was just adorable! She was more than friendly...she described the menu to us and told us all about their special beers...when we told her we weren't normally beer drinkers, she even offered us some samples, lol. She had a great welcoming personality and was very talkative, she even told us about her home in the UK and all about her work program at WDW and how much she loved it. I noticed that she was very nice and talkative to all of her customers, which I think actually slowed her down some but she was so sweet, we overlooked it...and our son just loved her accent, lol.

We were very happy with our table, which was out on the patio overlooking the water. It was perfect.

Hubby and I ordered the Surf and Turf dinner. The Yorkshire Pudding that was on the menu was unavailable, I guess they discontinued it for a while, the waitress explained this when we ordered...so we were given a Cheddar Popover in place and it was good. The steak wasn't the best but everything else was very good...even the potatoes, and we also liked the tartar sauce.

Our son ordered the Fish and Chips. Wow, I didn't expect such a HUGE piece of fish! It was longer than that plate! He LOVED it and thought the newspaper was neat that they serve it on. He really wanted to try the Mushy Peas, which were only $2.99, so we ordered him a side of them and just paid separately for them. He really liked them as well, I gave them a taste and they were very yummy.

For dessert, I had the Bakewell Tart...

I hate to give it a bad review but I just didn't like it. It had a very unusual taste and texture, nothing like Ive ever tasted before. It looked pretty though That doesn't mean someone else wouldn't like it, maybe its just one of those things that is an acquired taste?

My hubby and son had the Sticky Toffee Pudding and they both liked it a lot and thought the sauce was very yummy.

I did take pictures of our dinners but unfortunately they didn't turn out well...I do have some of our view from the table that I may post later.

I would recommend Rose and Crown to anyone. Though I wasn't overly pleased with the steak and didn't like my dessert, everything else was great and our waitress was a joy to meet. You cant beat the view when dining outside and the super friendly service is a huge plus at Rose and Crown!

MORE REVIEWS STILL TO COME...

 

[JaimJaim76]

We loved visiting the Kringla and we were very happy we could use snack credits to try several treats! The service was fast and friendly and everything was boxed and bagged well, as I explained we would like to take them with us to our resort.

We had the ever popular School Bread, which definitely lived up to my expectations! They are baked and not fried like a donut. They are very tender and the filling is delicious and the coconut adds a nice texture...

Also, we tried the Cream Horn but they called it something else...It was similar to the cream horns we are used to but was more tender and the filling was very light and buttery...yummm!

And, the HUGE and VERY tasty Sweet Almond Pretzel. Big enough for all three of us to share without fighting, lol. It was literally covered in almonds and was sweet but not overpowering...

Everything was very fresh and delicious and had just the right amount of sweetness. Everyone should make sure they stop at the Kringla to try their yummy treats!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Thank you for the reviews ... love your pictures! That cupcake at PT looks amazing! I am sorry that we can't fit it in this year! Glad to see a review of R&C. It is DH's only request for next trip. We are planning lunch, looking forward to the Sticky Toffee cake!

 

[MyTalula]

Great pictures and reviews!!!

 

[brad3640]

that cupcake from 50's PTC was it on the menu or was it a special order? I don't see it on the menu but didn't know if it was added it looks so yummy!!