Colleen27
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2007
- Messages
- 24,190
I think the title says it all. We've been back for months, and I just now got around to emptying my camera's memory card and pulling my thoughts together to start reviews and such! 
I'll be adding pics as I get them sorted and uploaded. And I'll include a total $$ analysis of the DxDDP in the final post.
The basics:
11 nights, staying at the Wilderness Lodge and playing guinea pig for the new deluxe dining plan. 2 adults and 2 kids, all with reasonably adventurous appetites and very excited to try out the signature restaurants
Day 1:
The Plaza
This was the perfect choice for a first day lunch! I wanted something right in the middle of the action, because I knew the kids wouldn't want to hang at the hotel long enough to eat when there were rides to be found. We checked in about 5 minutes before our ADR and had a long enough wait for DH to have a cigarette at the nearby smoking area before we were seated.
I really liked the food here, but the service was just okay. I had chili, a reuben, and the brownie sundae with mint chip ice cream (YUM!). DH had a tossed salad, which DS promptly ate most of, a cheese steak sandwich, and a banana split. DS was feeling a little "ick" from the flight, and ate a lighter-than-usual meal for him, PB&J and grapes, but also snacked off the adult plates. DD was thrilled to see a chef's salad on the kids menu. Both kids passed on dessert to share ours. Everything was really good. The sandwiches were HUGE! If we'd been paying OOP, we could easily have ordered soup/salad apps and shared one reuben & fries between DH & I. The service was on the slow side, especially when it came to dessert and cashing out, and it wasn't because the restaurant was busy.
Overall, it was a good lunch and I'd gladly go back. We're looking forward to this one on our next trip as one of few sit-down meals on baby's first Disney trip.
Chili:
Garden Salad:
Reuban:
Kids' Chef Salad:
Kids' PB&J:
Cheesesteak:
Banana Split:
Brownie Sundae:
DDP Cost - $61.45
OOP Cost - $11.50
Chef Mickey's
For the sake of fairness, I need to start this review with a disclaimer - I'm not a fan of buffets. I much prefer to be waited on, and find most buffets to be loud, chaotic, and generally not the relaxing experience I want when eating out. But since nothing screams "We're finally at Disney!" louder than dinner with the Mouse, I booked this for our first night anyway.
I'll start with the good - the food was good as far as buffets go. I really enjoyed the salmon, and the parmesan mashed potatoes are as good as all the reviews here promise. DH wasn't really impressed with anything here and thought the carved meats were just okay, but he didn't dislike the food either. It was just typical buffet food. The kids ate their weight in peel & eat shrimp and sampled some of the salads & sides before hitting the dessert bar for what has become a Disney tradition - a bowl of gummy bears.
The character interaction was very fun. DS was being a bit sulky and not wanting to have pictures taken with the characters (oh the joys of a tired 10yo!), and Donald and Pluto both teased him into smiling. DD was thrilled that Mickey & Minnie both came around twice, since we were there at the end of the night and the place was starting to empty out, and she was so happy to meet Mickey after missing him on our August trip because the line in Toontown was just too long.
The service here was flat-out bad. We had to track the waitress down to get the bill at the end of the meal, which is never fun when the kids are full and ready to get back to the room & unwind. She was slow on refills and hard to find all night, so much so that DH passed on having a second mixed drink because he didn't want it if it wasn't going to get to the table until dessert. And the atmosphere was really loud & chaotic. Lots of ill-mannered, under-supervised little ones, especially around the dessert buffet. I don't mind the expected noise and chaos of the napkin twirling and parade, but I don't like tripping over little ones when I'm trying to carry my plate and I *really* don't like seeing kids eating right off the buffet!
Would I go back? Well, I probably will brave it once more, when the baby is old enough to want to meet Mickey & Minnie. But then again, maybe not... We did have much better experiences with other character meals later in the week.
DDP Cost - $95.81
OOP Cost - $24.79 (including an $8.25 rum runner for DH)
Snacks
Lunching Pad -
Bottled water
Blue Raspberry slush
Roaring Forks -
Cheetos
Doritos
WL Mercantile -
2 rice krispy treats with sprinkles
And we got our refillable mugs as soon as we checked in.
Snacks cost - $12.79
Mugs cost - $52.23
I'll be adding pics as I get them sorted and uploaded. And I'll include a total $$ analysis of the DxDDP in the final post.
The basics:
11 nights, staying at the Wilderness Lodge and playing guinea pig for the new deluxe dining plan. 2 adults and 2 kids, all with reasonably adventurous appetites and very excited to try out the signature restaurants
Day 1:
The Plaza
This was the perfect choice for a first day lunch! I wanted something right in the middle of the action, because I knew the kids wouldn't want to hang at the hotel long enough to eat when there were rides to be found. We checked in about 5 minutes before our ADR and had a long enough wait for DH to have a cigarette at the nearby smoking area before we were seated.
I really liked the food here, but the service was just okay. I had chili, a reuben, and the brownie sundae with mint chip ice cream (YUM!). DH had a tossed salad, which DS promptly ate most of, a cheese steak sandwich, and a banana split. DS was feeling a little "ick" from the flight, and ate a lighter-than-usual meal for him, PB&J and grapes, but also snacked off the adult plates. DD was thrilled to see a chef's salad on the kids menu. Both kids passed on dessert to share ours. Everything was really good. The sandwiches were HUGE! If we'd been paying OOP, we could easily have ordered soup/salad apps and shared one reuben & fries between DH & I. The service was on the slow side, especially when it came to dessert and cashing out, and it wasn't because the restaurant was busy.
Overall, it was a good lunch and I'd gladly go back. We're looking forward to this one on our next trip as one of few sit-down meals on baby's first Disney trip.
Chili:
Garden Salad:
Reuban:
Kids' Chef Salad:
Kids' PB&J:
Cheesesteak:
Banana Split:
Brownie Sundae:
DDP Cost - $61.45
OOP Cost - $11.50
Chef Mickey's
For the sake of fairness, I need to start this review with a disclaimer - I'm not a fan of buffets. I much prefer to be waited on, and find most buffets to be loud, chaotic, and generally not the relaxing experience I want when eating out. But since nothing screams "We're finally at Disney!" louder than dinner with the Mouse, I booked this for our first night anyway.
I'll start with the good - the food was good as far as buffets go. I really enjoyed the salmon, and the parmesan mashed potatoes are as good as all the reviews here promise. DH wasn't really impressed with anything here and thought the carved meats were just okay, but he didn't dislike the food either. It was just typical buffet food. The kids ate their weight in peel & eat shrimp and sampled some of the salads & sides before hitting the dessert bar for what has become a Disney tradition - a bowl of gummy bears.
The character interaction was very fun. DS was being a bit sulky and not wanting to have pictures taken with the characters (oh the joys of a tired 10yo!), and Donald and Pluto both teased him into smiling. DD was thrilled that Mickey & Minnie both came around twice, since we were there at the end of the night and the place was starting to empty out, and she was so happy to meet Mickey after missing him on our August trip because the line in Toontown was just too long.
The service here was flat-out bad. We had to track the waitress down to get the bill at the end of the meal, which is never fun when the kids are full and ready to get back to the room & unwind. She was slow on refills and hard to find all night, so much so that DH passed on having a second mixed drink because he didn't want it if it wasn't going to get to the table until dessert. And the atmosphere was really loud & chaotic. Lots of ill-mannered, under-supervised little ones, especially around the dessert buffet. I don't mind the expected noise and chaos of the napkin twirling and parade, but I don't like tripping over little ones when I'm trying to carry my plate and I *really* don't like seeing kids eating right off the buffet!
Would I go back? Well, I probably will brave it once more, when the baby is old enough to want to meet Mickey & Minnie. But then again, maybe not... We did have much better experiences with other character meals later in the week.
DDP Cost - $95.81
OOP Cost - $24.79 (including an $8.25 rum runner for DH)
Snacks
Lunching Pad -
Bottled water
Blue Raspberry slush
Roaring Forks -
Cheetos
Doritos
WL Mercantile -
2 rice krispy treats with sprinkles
And we got our refillable mugs as soon as we checked in.
Snacks cost - $12.79
Mugs cost - $52.23
I can relate with the "better late than never..." part. I still have a dining review from January that I've been procrastinating on. 
Maybe you'll inspire me to get started on it! 
We also all liked the pork loin, and enjoyed trying it with the sauces. But what was really impressive here were the side dishes and vegetarian options. I didn't write down what the dish was called, but they serve a veggie dumpling that is a lot like the crab rangoons from a take-out Chinese place, and they were amazing! Crispy-fried but not greasy, with lots of veggies inside. The kids & I enjoyed the hummus more than DH did - he's used to the red pepper hummus I buy at home, and thought plain hummus was a little blah. He really enjoyed the apple & endive salad, which I didn't get around to trying. DD & I liked the spiced tofu, but DS & DH, not being tofu fans, didn't especially care for it. Actually, DS picked out the tofu, set it aside, and ate the veggies it was blended with, so I suppose he liked the seasoning even though he didn't like the tofu. 
