A Mom, A Dad and Two Princesses on the DxDP -- added Le Cellier and 1900 PF

[mousketexan]

I've been undecided on whether I would take the time to post dining reviews. I didn't want to start something I couldn't finish, and I'm not the kind of person who whips out the camera and takes photos of everyone's plates before they dig in. BUT...I found the reviews in this section to be so helpful in planning our dining that I wanted to give a little back. So I'll be posting some quick reviews (sorry, no food porn) on the following restaurants we visited last week (June 9-13, 2010):

Wednesday (6/9):
Columbia Harbor House CS Lunch (post #2)
Crystal Palace Dinner (post #3)

Thursday (6/10):
Capt. Cook's CS Breakfast (post #8)
Cinderella's Royal Table Lunch (post #11)
Le Cellier Dinner (post #13)

Friday (6/11):
1900 Park Fare Breakfast (post #17, page 2)
Capt. Cook's CS Lunch (post #18, page 2)
Kona Cafe Dinner

Saturday (6/12):
Ohaha Breakfast
Capt. Cook's CS Lunch
California Grill Dinner
Never Land Club (kids)

Sunday (6/13):
Sci-Fi Dine In Theater Lunch

Some background on us before I get started. We're a family of 4. I'm on a diet (but not when I'm on vacation). I tried to make good choices on this trip, but I kind of fell apart at the end (and the scale agrees with that assessment.) DH is a big eater...loves steaks and sushi, tries to eat somewhat healthy, but never passes up dessert. Our DD's are 6 and 4. The 6-year-old is a picky eater (loves hamburgers and yogurt...won't each much else). The 4-year-old eats everything, including whatever is left on my plate and DH's plate. She's a skinny little thing, so we have no idea where all that food goes.

 

[mousketexan]

After checking in at the Poly around noon, we headed over to the MK. We were hungry, and I knew food would take priority over rides. So when we got into the park, we headed to the left (because NO ONE goes left ) and the first CS we saw was Columbia Harbor House.

I'd read good things, so we went in and got in line. We waited probably 10 minutes to get to the order-taker (and this was at peak lunchtime). DH and I ordered the Anchors Aweigh sandwich (basically an albacore tuna sandwich on multi-grain bread). It was a very large sandwich, and the bread was very fresh. I was pleasantly surprised at how healthy it seemed for a quick service meal. I ordered the apple crumble for dessert, but ended up giving it to my DD because I was full.

My 6-year-old ordered the mac 'n cheese, which came with carrot sticks and grapes. She ended up eating about two bites of the mac 'n cheese, but all of the carrot sticks, plus most of my apple crumble.

My 4-year-old got chicken nuggets and ate every single thing on the plate, plus the yogurt my DH got as his dessert. I'm not really sure what the nuggets came with because she ate it all before I even saw what was on the plate.

For counter service, it was good. A little limited on the choices, but the food was decent and the service was fast, considering we hit it right at peak.

Overall, I would give Columbia Harbor House:
3 stars (out of a possible 5)

 

[mousketexan]

We'd been to CP for breakfast, so we knew basically what to expect. However, I had no idea what would be on the buffet, and I was still trying to eat healthy at this point.

We arrived at the CP around 7:10 and checked in (ADR was at 7:20pm). It was packed...the porch was wall-to-wall people, nowhere to sit. They gave us a pager, so we found an out-of-the-way place to stand. I took a couple of photos of my girls with the castle in the background and we kept waiting...and waiting...and waiting. During this time, my younger DD fell asleep with my DH holding her. We were finally seated about 7:40pm at a table near the windows. Fortunately, we caught a glimpse of Pooh when we were entering the restaurant, so that woke up my sleeping kiddo.

We were told that all four characters (Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet) would come to our table, but that we had plenty of time to go to the buffet before they started. So we went to the buffet. The kids selections were a little strange: green beans, mac 'n cheese and meatballs in marinara sauce. I was concerned. But then we went to the adult area and saw they also had chicken nuggets, cheese pizza, and mashed potatoes, so my DD's were all set.

I had peel 'n eat shrimp, a few different kinds of salads (marinated veggies, sliced tomatoes), steamed broccoli and salmon. I also had a few bites of Mediterranean Chicken, which was very tasty. My favorite thing was the Spoonbread, which was kind of like cornbread. Very yummy. The salmon was kind of overcooked and a little fishy tasting, but it was okay.

My husband had prime rib and steamed broccoli. I think he also had some kind of pasta. He said it was okay, not great.

The best thing about the buffet was definitely the dessert selection: carrot cake, bread pudding, key lime pie, apple cobbler, ice cream, flan...so much to choose from. I settled for a small sliver of carrot cake and a couple of bites of key lime pie -- both good. DH loved the bread pudding...he went back for seconds! Both girls loved the ice cream machine.

Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore arrived in quick succession. They signed our autograph books, gave the girls hugs and posed for photos. Pretty standard stuff. When they started the parade, Eeyore was right by our table, so my older DD grabbed onto his arm and marched right by his side through the restaurant. I was waiting for one of the handlers to make her step back, but they just let her go with it. We gave up on Piglet. He never even came over to our side of the restaurant, and we got tired of waiting for him.

Overall, Crystal Palace is a fun experience, but I prefer it for breakfast. For the dinner price ($32.99 per adult), the food is not really worth it. The characters are cute and it was a fun first dinner for my kids. I'm glad we went, but next time, we will stick with breakfast.

Crystal Palace gets:
2 stars (out of 5)

 

[KatMark]

I'm in.

Great start. We love Columbia Harbor House. We also love Crystal Palace for breakfast; we've never done dinner (we've given up on most buffets at Disney for lunch or dinner -- just not good food at all; the only ones we do are Biergarten and Cape May Cafe).

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Subscribing, great start, I'm a CP for breakfast fan but not so keen on dinner. Looking forward to the rest of your reviews.

 

[vinotinto]

I'm in! I'm a healthy eater too and we will be on the DxDP in September, staying at the Poly with our two kids! I try to eat lots of lean proteins, veggies, whole grains and avoid bad carbs, fried, and processed food as much as possible. I'm looking forward to your reviews!

 

[vettegirl]

Great line up!

 

[mousketexan]

Welcome everyone! Thanks for joining in!

On Thursday, our original plan was to wake up early and get to EMH at MK before 8am. Well, that didn't happen. Too many sleepyheads in my group, so we were running a little late. We stopped into Capt. Cook's with the plan of using snack credits for quick breakfast.

DD6 got a huge chocolate chip muffin, DD4 got a massive cinnamon roll, I grabbed a Yoplait yogurt and a bowl of pineapple. And DH broke the pattern and ordered the Adult Breakfast Platter -- bacon, eggs and potatoes, and a biscuit.

Both girls loved the pastries, and they were pretty filling since they were ginormous. The pineapple was very fresh and sweet, and it was a generous serving. DH thought the breakfast platter was good. The bacon wasn't very crisp and the eggs looked a little dry, but he said they were fine. He's not that picky.

We found it easy to get in and out, and the service was fast. My biggest complaint was the coffee. It wasn't good. It's in a Nescafe machine, which I guess does some kind of brewing, but it didn't have much flavor. It was watery and bland. Kind of a shame considering the Polynesian islands are known for their coffee. And seriously, it doesn't have to be 100% pure Kona. How expensive is it to brew a decent cup of coffee? Even Seattle's Best would be better than this stuff.

For quick service, I think Capt. Cook's is a good value, and it is possible to do a light breakfast on snack credits if you're into pastries). I give this meal at Capt. Cook's: 3 stars

Next up...lunch with Cindy!

 

[*Belle*]

Great reviews so far. The wonderful Kona coffee is at the coffee bar in the lobby I believe, as well as Kona Pressed coffee at Kona's. Saddly the refillable mug coffee at Capt. Cooks is not very good. I enjoy the Twing Breakfast tea.


Belle

 

[flipflopmom]

We have a lunch with Cindy next Saturday, and I am very apprehensive. Can't wait to hear about it!

 

[mousketexan]

This was the one I'd been looking forward to since I was a little girl. In five trips to Disney, I'd never dined at the castle. This was the first trip for my DD4, who considers Cinderella and Aurora to be her personal heroes, so I knew we HAD to have the "castle experience."

After the girls went to bed the night before, I snuck two princess dresses into the closet. So the morning of the CRT lunch, I opened the closet doors and said "Oh, it looks like Mickey Mouse left you a surprise!" That got them out of bed pretty quickly. DD4's dress was a blue cinderella dress, which she immediately put on. DD6 was being a poop and didn't want to wear hers (a yellow Belle dress) because either she was too cool for that or the dress looked itchy. Whatever.

We spent the full morning at the park, riding all the rides we could before our 1:15 ADR. We checked in around 1pm, and we were getting pretty hungry by that point. There were a ton of people milling around the reservation desk, but one of the CM's told me to "go right up to the front" because we had a reservation and the other people standing there were trying to get in without one. So the moral of that story is: you can't just walk into Cindy's in the middle of June without an ADR. Call ahead.

After we checked in, we went through the doors of the castle and got in line for our Cinderella pics. DD4 was a little tired and grumpy so the expression on her face in the photo is basically "Why are you taking another photo of me?" It's a shame because I really thought she would love interacting with Cinderella, but I think the crowd and the fact she was sleepy kind of ruined it for her. DD6 seemed to enjoy it though.

We sat along the wall until they called our name and then we walked up the red carpeted spiral staircase into the dining room. What a beautiful, fairy tale room that was: stained glass, heavy wood furniture, vaulted ceilings...it was very light and bright, and I was pleasantly surprised that the tables were not right on top of each other. We were escorted to a table near the windows, which provided great natural light for photos...BONUS!

When we were seated, the waiter brought our menus and presented each of my DD's a magic wand and a glittery star. They loved it, and I was instantly glad I had made the reservation.

The waiter also brought a plate of fruits, bruschetta, marinated artichokes and cheese chunks for our appetizer. It was okay...not very much food for four people to share, but a nice snack and fairly healthy.

The princesses that visited our table were: Snow White, Ariel, Belle and Aurora. Each of them signed autographs and chatted for a few minutes. They each asked my daughters' their names (my DD4 insisted her name was "Cinderella" every time, to which the princesses replied "Oh, of course. How silly of me!"). I asked Ariel if Sebastian was with her and she said "No, I had to leave him at home today because he was a little crabby." We all got a chuckle out of that.

The service was fine, maybe a little slow, but we were being entertained by watching the princesses, so it didn't matter. For food, I ordered the grilled chicken salad, which was a huge portion with about 1 1/2 chicken breasts sliced up on it. It was a good salad, but a little too large, so I only ate about half. DH had the Major Domo's Pie, which he said was pretty good. The puff pastry was very flaky, and it had a nice variety of vegetables mixed with shredded beef and served on a bed of mashed potatoes. It looked like the ultimate comfort food.

DD6 was being her picky self and announced there was nothing on the kid's menu she would eat. We ended up ordering the grilled fish and telling the waiter to bring the fish on a separate plate, so that DD would eat the rice pilaf and yogurt parfait. That worked out pretty well, but I was not thrilled that she ate so little protein. DD4 got chicken nuggets with green beans and, as usual, she ate everything on her plate, plus the grilled fish that came with DD6's meal.

After we'd finished eating the Fairy Godmother's voice came over the loud speaker and instructed all the princesses to make a wish on their Wishing Star and wave their magic wands and say "Bibbity, Bobbity, Boo!." My girls loved this, and I think they felt the magic as their wishes went up to the ceiling with a flash.

For dessert, the girls had the princess ice cream sundaes, which were adorable with a little chocolate crown on top. I had the Cream Cheese Buckle, which was honestly one of my favorite desserts of the whole trip. It's like a really big chocolate cupcake, filled with cream cheese icing, drizzled with chocolate sauce. It was delicious. The cake part was very moist and the cream cheese filling had a really subtle flavor and was not overwhelming. I planned to eat two bites, but ended up eating about 1/2 of it -- which was a lot more than two bites. I couldn't stop, though. It was really good.

DH had the Jasmine Sticky Rice Pudding, which I thought was an odd choice. He said it was good, but my DD4 tried it and nearly spit it out. If she won't eat it, I know it wasn't good.

I've read some pretty lukewarm reviews of CRT on these boards, but I have to say that I was pretty impressed with it. It's not the greatest food we had, but the experience of eating in that beautiful room, in that amazing castle that I've adored since childhood...well, it still makes me tear up a little. Plus, considering the 90+ degree heat, it was very enjoyable to meet the princesses in the air-conditioned castle from the comfort of our table, rather than waiting in line to meet them in the park.

Overall, dining in the castle was an unforgettable experience, and I'm so glad we did it. It was one of the highlights of the trip and definitely one of the most "magical." It was worth the two dining credits per person just to see the excitement in my girls' faces when they spotted each of the princesses walking around the room. I'd do it again just for that.

So my review of lunch at CRT is:
4 stars (out of a possible 5)

 

[catne]

enjoying your reviews...and agree with Kat that Crystal Palace breakfast is wonderful. Especially if you book it before the park opens. No crowds, no back-up at the check-in (we were seated within a couple of minutes of checking in - and that was on a Saturday, even.) Since it's not so busy, all of the characters get to every table --some managed to get to our area twice, even.)

 

[mousketexan]

I was a little skeptical of having a big dinner after our CRT lunch, but I felt so lucky to get the Le Cellier ressie only 10 days before we left that I just couldn't pass it up. DH loves steak -- it's his fave -- so I felt he deserved a manly treat for putting up with the princess lunch.

We arrived at Le Cellier almost exactly at our reservation time of 6:50pm. The lines to get into Epcot were a little crazy, so it took us longer to get to the restaurant than I'd planned. Lesson learned. But we made it on time, checked in and sat in the nicely air-conditioned waiting area (which was empty, except for us) for about 10 minutes until they were ready to seat us. We had a table along the back wall (part booth, part chairs), so it was out of the way. The waitress explained that the areas of the restaurant correspond to the provinces of Canada, and we were seated in Newfoundland. Lovely.

DD4 had fallen asleep again (are you sensing a pattern here...she's either sleeping or eating ALL the time), so DH put her on the booth side of the table laying down and squeezed in next to her. She didn't wake up until the entrees arrived, but we thought it best to let her get some rest, so we just went with it.

The restaurant has a very nice atmosphere, and it was relatively quiet on our visit. When we were first seated, there were a lot of empty tables. But by the time we left, I think it was completely full (and so was the waiting area).

There was a "tasting menu" that included appetizer, entree and dessert for a set price, but our waitress took those away when she found out we were on the DxDP, saying "You already get all those things anyway, so you can pick whatever you want."

For our appetizer, DH and I shared the Appetizer Trio, which includes tasting portions of the cheddar cheese soup, tomato stack and lump crab and corn custards. I really liked this appetizer because not only did I get to try several things, the portions were actually reasonable and the food was somewhat healthy. Ok, well maybe not the soup. It reminded me of loaded baked potato soup. It was cheesy, but it definitely had potatoes in it and was similar to what you could order at Chili's or TGIFridays. The tomato stack was very good (I love blue cheese crumbles!) and the vinagrette was not too oily or tart. My only complaint is that the tomatoes were not as ripe as you'd expect from Florida in June. (Maybe they flew them in from Canada!) The corn custards were a little like tiny crab cakes...two bites at the most. I liked them, but probably would not want the full appetizer portion. A few bites was all I needed.

For entrees, I ordered the Mushroom Filet Mignon. It was a larger cut than I expected for a filet, but the meat was extremely lean. It was served on a bed of creamy, wild mushroom risotto that was cooked to perfection. I could not stop eating it, unfortunately.

DH ordered the New York Strip Steak with Yukon Potato Gratin. He loved the potatoes (even lamenting the next night that he would love to have more of them), but he was not overly impressed with the Strip. It was a little overcooked (he ordered Medium Rare, and it was cooked Medium), so that might have had something to do with his less-than-overwhelmed attitude.

We ordered Spaghetti (with sauce on the side) for the sleeping DD, and plain noodles for the one that was awake. Oh, and they both had carrot and celery sticks (served with ranch dressing) for appetizers. I believe they both ate all of their pasta and quite a few carrot sticks, so it must have been good. How can you mess up spaghetti, though?

For dessert, I ordered the Maple Creme Brulee (recommended by the waitress). It was okay, but a little dense and heavy for creme brulee. I wouldn't order it again. DH had the Chocolate Whiskey Cake, which he said was rich, but good. I don't think he finished it.

The girls LOVED their make-your-own-sundaes and had a wonderful time making their ice cream look beautiful. And they did eat quite a bit of it, too.

While I liked the atmosphere at Le Cellier and the service was good, I'm not sure it completely lived up to the hype for me.

I give Le Cellier: 1/2
3 1/2 stars (out of a possible 5)

 

[iloveeeyore]

I really enjoyed your review of lunch at CRT. We are doing this in August!

 

[tink too]

Great reviews - looking forward to more.

Just the thought of the Major Domo Pie at CRT has made me hungry - and it's bedtime here!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

More great reviews, we love CRT - maybe not the most amazing food but the location can't be beaten, we have done breakfast and dinner multiple times now but going for our first lunch this trip. Also, trying Le Cellier first time this next trip. Looking forward to more of your reviews.

 

[mousketexan]

DD4's favorite movie is Mary Poppins, so I booked this one especially for her. We arrived at GF around 8am for our 8:20 reservation and there was a very long line stretching all the way into the lobby area. As we got closer, I realized they hadn't yet opened the doors. Once they did, the line moved very quickly and we were up at the desk in no time. They checked us in and pointed us to the line for the photo. We did it, but I thought it was kind of lame. It's basically a painted background on the wall that you stand against for the photo. Nothing special, and no characters anywhere near you. Definitely not worth the $20(?) they wanted for it.

After they snapped our photo, we took our slip to the door and were seated immediately. The first thing I noticed on our table was our very own pot of coffee. DH doesn't drink coffee, so I knew I would have the whole thing to myself (even though I couldn't possibly drink that much!). There's something about having control over your own coffee that I really love, so I was very happy to have that pot in front of my place.

Our waitress took our drink orders and said we could head to the buffet, which was just opening. It seemed like the entire crowd who was in front of us in line were now mobbing the buffet -- it was about 3 people deep in some places. But of course, my kids have no patience, so we joined the mob and started filling their plates.

They both grabbed a couple of Mickey waffles, plus some pancakes. I think DD4 also had French Toast for the ultimate carb overload. They also each ate some bacon and a few sausage links. They don't eat eggs, but there were some scrambled eggs with cheese in the kids section of the buffet that looked delicious. I was good and stayed away from that cheesy goodness, but it was definitely tempting.

As for me, I had the famous Strawberry Soup, which I enjoyed. It was pureed strawberries, probably mixed with some yogurt or cream. I swear I tasted yogurt in it. Neither of my kids would touch the soup, even though it was a lovely shade of pink, and DH wasn't interested in it either.

I also had some plain scrambled eggs, a slice (okay 2 slices) of bacon, some fresh fruit (pineapple and strawberries), and an eggs benedict. The egg on the eggs benedict was not poached, but cooked all the way through (which is common on buffets...guess it's a food safety thing?), so I didn't love it. It had a nice sauce on it though, which made me wish the egg had been prepared correctly. Probably could've been a great dish if it didn't have to sit on a buffet line.

DH loved the bread pudding...I think he had seconds and maybe thirds. He also said the sausage links were really delicious (to which I replied "lalalalalala..."). He also had a biscuit with gravy (yes, he's a good Southern boy). The biscuits were small and a little dry, and the gravy was really thick, so he was not impressed. Neither of us visited the omelet station, but it wasn't very crowded and appeared to have a good selection of fresh ingredients.

As soon as the characters came in, DD4 was captivated. She watched Mary Poppins and Alice and the Mad Hatter make their way around the dining room as she continued to stuff food in her mouth. At any other restaurant, I would've told her to turn around and stop staring, but I guess the whole point of a character meal is the characters, right? So I let her have bad manners and stare as much as she wanted while she ate her breakfast.

In addition to those three face characters, we also had Pooh and Tigger (again). DD6 didn't really want Pooh and Tigger to sign her autograph book again, but I assured her she had plenty of pages left, so she relented. Mary Poppins was thrilled to hear that her movie was DD's favorite and gave her a huge hug and let DD look at the lacy detail on her dress. Alice and the Mad Hatter were hilarious. They were perfectly in-character and so silly; they made all of us laugh. Alice freaked out because both of my DD's had hearts on their shirts. She was convinced they worked for the Queen of Hearts and were going to get her in trouble with the Queen, so she said she had to be extra nice and do everything they wanted. She even offered to refill DD's orange juice. It was great. At the table next to us, they didn't have a pen for her to sign autographs so Alice disappeared into the kitchen for what seemed like an eternity while the Mad Hatter stood around looking bewildered until she finally returned with a pen in hand. (She could've just borrowed ours!)

So to sum up...the character interaction was excellent -- probably the best of any of our character meals on this trip. We loved all these characters and they truly made an effort to engage everyone. While the food was somewhat mediocre (except for a few standout dishes), the environment was nice and the service was efficient.

I give 1900 Park Fare: 1/2
3 1/2 stars (out of 5)

 

[mousketexan]

After a big breakfast at 1900 PF, I wasn't very hungry for lunch, but DH and the princesses were, so we stopped by Capt. Cook's when we returned from the parks for our mid-day break.

DH ordered the Aloha Pork Sandwich, which is a very large sandwich served on soft, fresh ciabatta bread with pulled pork in a mild barbecue sauce and asian slaw. He couldn't stop raving about this sandwich. (In fact, he had another one the next day...more on that to come.) It was served with Polynesian Chips, which I believe they make in-house. They are a variety of colors and textures, but very crunchy, salty and delicious. (Yes, I ate a few.)

Because I wasn't super hungry, I ordered a cup of Vegetarian Chili, the soup of the day, using a snack credit. When I got to the register to place the order, the cashier asked "Have you had the chili here before?" She then proceeded to tell me how much she hated it because it tasted like olives. I almost changed my order, but there was nothing else I really wanted, so I told her to go ahead with it. (I like olives.) When it came out, it tasted nothing like olives to me. It had a variety of veggies in it (corn, beans, squash, carrots), and it was fine. Not the greatest chili, but certainly not as horrible as the cashier had made it out to be. And it was a perfect-sized portion.

The princesses ordered kid's hamburgers and devoured them, along with the grapes and carrot sticks that came with.

For dessert, DH got an oatmeal raisin cookie, which he was nice enough to share with me. It was soft and delicious, and a very generous size.

Capt. Cook's is not fine dining, but when viewed for what it is (basically, convenience food made to order), I think they do a pretty good job. It's slightly chaotic, but that's partly the nature of quick service.

For this lunch at Capt. Cook's, I would rate it:
3 stars (even though the cashier nearly ruined it for me)

 

[tink too]

I'm enjoying your updates. Glad your DD had a great time at 1900 PF. We've never been, but my parents took our DD a few years ago when we were off doing rollercoasters. They also said that the character interaction there was way above anything else they'd ever experienced.

 

[vinotinto]

Still enjoying your report. I hope you come back and tell us more.

Because I wasn't super hungry, I ordered a cup of Vegetarian Chili, the soup of the day, using a snack credit.

It's great to hear that you can use the snack credit to get soup at CC. What else can you use your snack credits there, that would not be pastries?