Can you die from overeating? A deluxe dining complete!

[flipflopmom]

Well..... we cancelled. After not getting to CRT until 8:30, not finishing until 9:30, we just weren't hungry at 12. Plus, it was out first day touring in MK, and no one really wanted to stop to eat. Oh well, next trip, maybe!

 

[flipflopmom]

By dinner we were hungry. Yet another ADR mistake though. Our ADR was for 6pm. We had gotten our FP's for BTMRR, ridden a lot in Fantasyland, had a great hour in the barber shop, and everyone was beat. We had gone back to Pop for a break. DD did not nap, Dh and I did. The girls were actually more tired after doing this than the day before with no nap!

*BTW, DD was fine once we got out of Boma that night. We walked around and looked at AKL and saw some animals. Glad she felt better, wished she'd perked up in time for me to enjoy Boma, though!

Anyway, we got back to MK and to CP by 5:30. HUGE LINE at CP. Dh went over to check in, and teh CM told him it would be at least 20 minutes past our ADR time of 6pm when we were seated, so we take off to POTC. NO line at ALL! Rode it, and were back at CP by 5:55. He checks back in, and it told they called us 3 times, and moved on. He wasn't happy at all. Live and learn. Next time, we'll stick around. We ran into some nice people we had met the day before at the AK parade, and they said they called us right after we walked off. No more leaving for us!

We were finally seated around 6:20. No big deal. We were hungry by then.

I started with a salad, as did DD. DH tried some of the various salads on the bar, he liked a pasta salad, maybe meditterranean? a lot. The girls dined on chicken fingers, fruit, didn't like the pizza or mac and cheese. For Dh and I, we liked the corn spoon bread, prime rib was pretty good, I liked the broccoli with key lime dressing, DH tried the pork and salmon and liked it, and the garlic potatoes were good.

This was a forgettable meal, food wise, for us. It was okay, nothing we ate said "We have to come back here". The characters were fun, but they didn't spend a lot of time at the tables during dinner. The little one said Eeyore looked sad, and told him he needed a haircut from the barber shop to make him feel better. The oldest DD had gotten pink stripes in her hair, and Tigger made a big deal of them both having stripes. But it was mostly a sign, pose, move on deal!

Doubt we'd go back, unless the kids are just itching to see Pooh and gang!

 

[flipflopmom]

This was supposed to be our "down day". Not having it! We didn't finish all I wanted at MK, so we were up and at MK by 7:30 for AM EMH. I so totally recommend this! We saw the rope drop ceremony, headed for the castle, where we were held again! DH knew getting the little one on the teacups was our first priority, as the lines were too long the day before. She had gotten to ride Dumbo, which was a priority for her.

While we were being held in the castle, I noticed the Tinkerbell Fairy Treasure's sign. Without saying a word, I headed the kids there, Dh was confused, I whispered to my oldest "ask if Tink is awake yet?" She was sooo confused. I hadn't mentioned reading about this on Dis to anyone, but thought we'd try. She finally asked, and they got to wake up Tink! I know this is a dining review, but had to add that in. We went to the teacups, and Alice was riding with someone. Of course she got off when we got on, but it was cool to see her on the ride. We got to talk with her after our ride with no wait!


After doing some must do's we went to Ohana for breakfast, 9:50 ADR. The kids enjoyed meeting Lilo, and of course Stitch, then Mickey and Pluto I truly didn't feel like we had character overload, the kids loved it and are eggs, bacon, and fruit breakfast lovers. For us, the same foods got kind of old. Eggs, bacon, sausage links, some sort of potatoes, breads, fruit, juice. At Ohana, they have a version of the OJ mixed with other fruits pineapple, guava, something. It was really good. Potatoes were also good. You can also request Mickey waffles, but you won't get them if you don't ask!

So my thoughts on Ohana - great opportunity to meet Stitch, Lilo, Mickey, and Pluto. Foods were good. I would put this on list of good character breakfasts. The kids got to be in a parade again, the juice is GREAT! A definite must do if you are a Stitch lover. Not a ton of time with him, though. He wasn't being really wild that morning! Our server was really, really, sweet, and did a great job making sure we wanted for nothing!

 

[irongirlof12]

CRT- so pleased that you enjoyed this but a shame you were rushed- I think they feel that you want to scoff and be on your way to get to the rides etc, but this isn't always th case!

CP- our girls adore pooh and gang so it is a must do venue for us.

looking forward to more ..

p.s. I wish your DH and family all the very best with his dialysis, life throw some curve balls, but your outlook in life will get you through the bad times

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Your line-up looks similar to our upcoming one. Thanks for the great reviews so far. Try CP breakfast next time. I think you will like it. Looking forward to hearing more.

 

[flipflopmom]

After Ohana, we went back to MK. Around parade time, DD and I decided we'd do splash using our FP'sduring the parade, she wanted to ride it more than watch the parade, DH and little DD got a spot where they could see us on the outside part of Splash and the parade. Well, it started POURING rain just as the parade got to them. We got wetter on that outside part than on the drop splash. When we got back to them, it stopped raining a few minutes after the end of the parade, and we were a mess! It was close to 3:30, our ADR for Narcoosee's was at 5. We knew there was no way we could get back to Pop and get presentable by then. Another call to Disney dining, and there was a 7:30 open. We took that, and then headed back to rest a bit, shower, and change.

We enjoyed dressing a little more for this meal. DD has a halter dress she loves, wore that and did her hair a little fancier than her pony she'd sported all week. At 9, she felt more like a teenager. We took the boat over to GF, and got there right at time for our ADR. This restaurant is gorgeous! We had a great view of the castle! This meal was sooo nice, it was a great break from the parks, we slowed down, enjoyed a nice meal, and each other's company. DH laughingly asked our CM if he would sign the girls' autograph books and lead them in a parade, since that was what we were used to at this point! (We'd had 5 character meals out of 7!) He laughed and said he'd be glad to sign, but no parade!

We started with apps. I got the crab cakes, there were 2 of them, and they were absolutely delicious!!!!! Lots of great crab, not a lot of filler! DH got the calamari, and it was good, not as good as my crab cakes, though! He said the squiggly ones, not the rings, were the best, but I cannot eat those! DD got the chicken noodle soup, she loves the broth from the soup, and then little DD ate more of it! The bread was really yummy, also, and DD ate a lot of that!

For entrees, Dh and I both got surf and turf. As others have reported the lobster was rubbery, and not that great. The filet was very, very good, but small. Oldest DD got a plain pasta meal, but didn't eat a lot of it. She had filled up on bread! We did order a kids meal here for little one, she absolutely loves steak. She ate every bite of it!

I had a glass of the celebration rose champagne, it was lovely. First adult beverage of the week, but the place seemed to call for it! For dessert, the kids split a make your own smores, and really enjoyed those. I got the ckkey lime creme brulee, which was really good. I couldn't finish it though. DH got a celebration dessert, which was an almond cheesecake, I think. It was very, very, almondy. I didn't care for it. Since I had gotten water as my meal beverage, I also got a pressed pot of coffee with dessert as my drink on the DDP. Very, very good!

All in all, this was a great experience for us. We enjoyed each other's company, the girls' behaved well for the signature dinner, and we felt it was a good use of two credits. We were there for a good hour and a half, very leisurely. Not at all crowded. When we came out the EWP was in front and we watched it, then got on the boat back to MK just before the crowd from Wishes. It was a great ending to the night!

However, we will probably try Cali Grill or another signature next time, just to compare!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

great updates, We went to CRT for my birthday breakfast and had a good time but now my son wants to go back but I don't know if its worth 2 credits for breakfast...then my husband would say they are young once so book it...We love eating at Narcoossee's and the first time my husband got the cakes and they were yummy. I ordered the surf and turf (love my turf and did not like my lobster and the CM later told me its frozen lobster tail) but my husband got the Maine lobster which was fresh and he loved it and shared me a piece. I really liked the Maine Lobster so my husband made it up to me by taking me back there the next night and I ordered the crab cakes and the Maine Lobster and the celebration dessert and I was one happy person. Love your reviews and can't wait to read more.

 

[flipflopmom]

ANother morning, more eggs and bacon! We got here really early! Our ADR was for 8am, and they didn't let us in until 7:50. We were probably there by 7:30. A really sweet older CM brought our girls Mickey pictures and stickers while we waited!

Once checked in, we had our pictures made with Belle, they were beautiful! We were seated near the back of the restaurant, away from the buffet. At first we were bummed, but we were right beside the door where the princesses came out! We had Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White, and Ariel, the girls were really excited. Snow White was the best, she had the funniest little laugh!

The potato casserole was very good here, as was the cinnamon roll. You can go to the buffet for fruit, breads, spreads, and some smoked salmon and lox. DH was the only one that ventured in those areas, I can't do fish for breakfast! I did get a bagel, which was a nice change. DD again loved her cinnamon roll and bacon. We cleaned our plate of hot items, and it was yummy!

I will say that for those that want a castle experience, be forewarned. If you are seated in the area that we were, there is nothing castle-like about it. The main area had more of the feel to it, and it seemed like they filled our little side room first, so maybe not the first ADR of the morning would get you there?? Where we were looked like an old house, white painted bricks, and some really sweet old pictures on the wall.

Since we got to see Cinderella twice, (the Akershus one was nicer) and the girls got to meet "human Ariel" we were glad we were there. Even though Cindy's is more expensive, we would chose it over Akershus anytime, for the food, atmostphere, and experience! Again, that's my opinion! If you don't care about the castle experience, this is a great way to meet princesses without a line!

 

[flipflopmom]

Needless to say, I was very, very apprehensive about this meal based on reviews. Our ADR was at 11:55, only 3 hours after breakfast. We weren't that hungry, but honestly, we were ready for a break. Epcot really overwhelmed us, and it was so, so hot! We had done TT w/ rider swap, gotten our Soarin FP's, done Nemo and Turtle Talk, visited the dancing fountains. We hadn't accomplished much, so I was frustrated going in.

We were seated promptly, and had asked for a table by the tank, which we got. It was very lovely, cooling, and calming for our senses. We had a sea turtle, stingray, and stripey fish that kept visiting us, so we made friends! It is very dark in there, so for atmosphere it gets a perfect 10. We had no one approach our table wanting a closer look, the server was nice, rapid, and at times difficult to understand!

We got the girls the Tinkerbell drinks, and I got a magical star cocktail. That room screamed for glowy drinks! For appetizer, we both got the land and sea. It was good, but very small portions. I did not care at ALL for the lobster soup, I'm not a fan of fish and cream! The app bread was yummy, and once again DD filled up on that. The girls got the child's pizza, we ordered one for the little one OOP, and should have saved our money. It was very nasty. They did get fries with it, and ate a few. They had the ice cream sundaes for their desserts, had fun decorating their ice cream, but only picked at it. They absolutely loved their raspberry lemonade Tink drinks, got free refills, and brought the cups and tinks home, so that was a good purchase.

On to the adults. I had read that the blackened catfish was outstanding. DH went against his desire for steak and ordered it. I felt bad, because it was very tasteless, small, and blah. I got the grilled Mahi Mahi, and IT was outstanding! The fish, and the rice underneath, were very, very good. I only ate half, and then gave it to him since his was so bad.

For dessert, I got the Bailey's and Jack mousse, and he got the Chocolate Wave. Once again, mine was better. I felt so bad. I again ate half, and gave him the rest.

Since we had gotten water and other drinks with our meals, we got Smoothies that we could have had as our meal drinks to go. They were really good, we were full at the time, though. We went to the Land after lunch, and by the time we'd finished up in there they were melted and nasty. But I wanted to throw in a shout out for them, as they were good!

So a mixed review again. The kids pizza was awful, a trend we found all week. The mahi mahi and Bailey's and Jack Mousse were great! It was a relaxing time by the tank. We might go back, years down the road, once we've exhausted all the other Epcot possibilities!

 

[flipflopmom]

When we were planning our ADR's, we were more about the experiences than the food. We are from a very small town, and dining options are limited here. We have a great Mexican place, and a 45 minute drive to good steak and Japanese, so we chose Marrakesh as an experience. It was very, very, close to empty, with maybe only 6 or 7 other tables of diners. It is a beautiful restaurant, the male servers were all dressed with the little Aladdin hats, which DD got a kick out of. The females had beautiful clothes on as well.

Our 2 year old fell asleep on the way over, so they seated us at a half bench/half chair table, she stretched out and slept through the meal!

We started with the flatbreads and they were good. Yet another fill up on bread for the 9 year old. The mint tea was good, unsweet of course, but it was definitely refreshing.

Having no idea what to order, we both chose the Marrakesh Royal Feast. The starter was Harira soup and a beef brewat roll. For those Moroccan challenged, the soup tasted very, very much like my mom's homemade vegetable soup. The beef roll was like a spring roll filled with taco meat, sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar. Both were very good, but it was just too hot for soup!

The main course was Lemon Chicken, Roasted Lamb Meshoui, coucous with vegetables. The lemon chicken was good, the pieces were thighs and wings, as best I can remember. I am not a fan of those pieces, I prefer white meat, but it had a good flavor, not overly lemon. The lamb tasted again like Mom's pot roast. I didn't care for the coucous, and the veggies were okay.

This meal would have been much better in the fall or winter when it is chilly. For us, it was like a comfort food Sunday at Mom's. It didn't do anything for us at 97 degree Florida weather. It wasn't bad, just not what we needed.

DD had the kids chicken, and it was some of the better chicken she'd had during the week, so a hit for her!

During the meal, two musicians came out and played and sang, and I really, really enjoyed it. I have a CD of similar sounding songs, and listening to it will bring back fond memories. The belly dancer definitely took DH's mind off the hot meal for a while! She came and got DD to come onto the floor with her, and she loved it!

Dessert was assorted pastries, all very much like baklava. We love baklava, but a few pieces had a different flavor I didn't like.

So for experience, a hit! Beautiful decor, great entertainment. Decent food, just not what we needed.

I will say that this day hit us hard. It was very, very hot. We didn't even tour any countries, other than to do a Kim Possible mission in Japan and stroll through Morroco. I was actually ill during the night, which was not a testament to the food, as much as the combo of food, sun, heat.

 

[flipflopmom]

Yet another day I was apprehensive about the meal. THIS WAS THE BEST CHARACTER BREAKFAST OF THE WEEK!

Since the characters were JoJo, Goliath, June, and Leo from Einsteins, I was worried about the kids' excitement. The restaurant is very open, bright, and cheery. The waitresses all had on outfits that reminded me of Al's Diner, but longer. Definitely a diner type decor. But they were the happiest of any collective group.

The kids had a blast. They had two CM's that sang and danced with the kids to Playhouse Disney songs, the kids got up and danced with them 3 or 4 times during the meal. The characters had a blast with each other during the song and dance times!

This was a complete buffet, not family style. They had Mickey waffles, pancakes, make your own breakfast burritos, yogurt, fruit, eggs, bacon, frittata, Gravy and biscuits. It was a nice break from the family style same old.

I sought out the manager to tell him I loved the breakfast, and how much we enjoyed it. The saddest part was, very few people were there. I wish more people would step out to see this. My 9 year old even got over herself and had fun dancing. It wasn't at all rushed, people seemed to enjoy their jobs, just can't say enough good stuff about it.

We finished at 9, and we were right behind the rope drop crowd to TSM. Standby wait was posted 35 minutes, but we were out of TSM by 9:25. That was a mad house. I put this info in to let all you TSM goers know it is a viable option to do 8am ADR's and be done for RD!

 

[flipflopmom]

We hadn't planned for a lunch this day, and didn't need one! We got snacks while we waited for the HSM block party bash (milkshakes and Doritos from the Dockside Diner) and water and popcorn before the parade for the girls, but as adults we were just thirsty. Those milkshakes are HUGE and can EASILY be shared!

Once again, another ADR with mixed reviews. This meal ended up being one of our top 3 of the week!

We did wait a bit for our 5pm ADR, but not bad. People were being turned away constantly while we waited! Since we were on the DXDp, we could get the Antipasti for 2 and the calamari, which surprised me. Maybe b/c reg dining plan gets 1 app on DXDP, so they added an ap? Both of these were outstanding! The calamari was cooked perfectly, and the proscioutto and cheeses were really good on the antipasti platter.

For the kids, we did order the 2 year old her a plate here, and were glad we did. Hands down, best kids meal of the trip. They both had house made flatbread pepperoni pizzas, and for the first time all week, they were finished. The oldest got a salad as her ap.

I ordered the chicken parm, which is my Italian standby, and it didn't disappoint. Dh had a pork tenderloin, which he really, really loved! Very, very good meals!

For dessert, I had the tiramisu, and DH had the celebration dessert, which I think was like a chocolate lava cake, they were both good!

I was so glad we had taken a chance here! Great service, even a little fast since we hadn't finished the apps before the entrees came.

 

[flipflopmom]

I know you are thinking, wait a minute, this is supposed to be Boma. Here is where the trip report effects the dining review. This was our last full day, and we knew we wanted to go to MK for RD. Boma was at 10, and by that time, we were DONE with the buses. So, so, so done. We called and asked if CP had any openings after 10, and got a 10:20 ADR, and cancelled Boma. I think if I had had to spend another trip transferring on those buses, I would have screamed!

So we went to MK for RD, were the first ones on Dumbo, met Ariel, did Pooh, and rode the carosel three times in a row. I just sat on it and cried. We had had the best week, and I knew our time was drawing to a close.

Anyway, so we went to CP. I was worried about the time, and they did start taking the breakfast stuff away within 20 minutes or less. We had plenty though. I think they must wait for all the breakfast diners to clear out before letting lunch ones in, because they seemed to rush us at the end, and weren't letting ANYONE in, despite only 3-5 tables being full and a huge line outside. The upside was that the characters were HILARIOUS! Tigger was full of himself, and kept tackling everyone else. He and Pooh were fighting. So much fun!

So, to address the PP, Crystal Palace breakfast wins out over dinner ANY DAY! We enjoyed the food, stuffed french toast IS ALL THAT! I got to have my chocolate croissants again, and they had huge berries with great whipped cream! I don't really remember any other stand outs, I did most pastries and fruit this time, burned out of the other stuff!

Will definitely return! Just beware if you have a later ADR they might not want you to linger!

 

[flipflopmom]

Finally - that place with the skewers. Dh had been asking all week when we got to go here. We arrived on time for our ADR, and asked to be seated in the main room, and were willing to wait. Our littlest hadn't napped, and we had a very hard time corralling her, but it was worth the wait. We were at a window table, with the castle directly behind us. The "show" portion of the evening was right in front of us, as far as I'm concerned, best seat in the house!

The funniest thing happened, we live 12 hours away from WDW, as the waitress was explaining the welcome bread, one of my favorite students, first students of all time runs up and gives me a hug. We had no idea her family, who are DVC members, would be there. When we were seated, we were right beside them. I taught both of their daughters, and they were both very, very special to me and the parents are good friends! It was great! They were finishing up, and the Dad says to Dh - "You're gonna love it here. It's a carnivore's paradise". He was right!

We started with the barbeque chicken, pork dumplings,and salad. I loved the salad, ate one piece of the chicken, it was tasty. The dumplings were food, too. I was very melancholy about leaving the next day. Well, I ordered a lapu lapu, which is a rum drink in a pineapple. SOOO WORTH $13! It was sooo sooo good, and I enjoyed the rest of my evening immensely!

The noodles and broccoli were just okay, but there was so much more to eat, it didn't matter! Then out came the skewers: pork loin, peel and eat shrimp, sirloin steak, and turkey. The steak and shrimp were really good! The turkey was also really good. My DD, the picky picky child, ate probably 8shrimp, and they were HUGE!!! The dipping sauces were really yummy, too, especially the peanut sauce!

The entertainer lady was soo much fun. I called her the Polynesian Charro. She was so Kitsche, but it was great. My big old DH got up and did the hula with us so he could get a lei ( no pun intended). They did coconut races with brooms, the limbo, and a little parade around the room to one of my all time favorite songs, Isreal K's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Yes, I cried a lot during that, right into my lapu lapu.

Be sure to save room for that bread pudding, the best dessert of the week! So, so yummy!!! The kids didn't care for it, but the server brought them some ice cream.

THe kids loved it, great food, lots of fun, we were there for 2 hours, and finished just in time to sit on the dock and watch Wishes. A great great way to end the week!

 

[flipflopmom]

Since it all started with a mouse, we chose to start and end our trip with a Mouse. The breakfast foods were good. I got my chocolate croissants and cheese blintzes one last time. The kids had their bacon and waffles, cereal, Rice Krispies and fruit. DH loved the omelet, someone raved to him at the bar about how great the bacon and cheddar potatoes were, but we didn't like them. The breakfast pizza was good. When Mickey came by, I hugged him and teared up. Told him I would miss him!

Lots of variety here, but rushed character interaction. There was a very large family here, like 7 or 8 tables worth. They did the same thing with needing about 10 poses with each character, running from table to table, which I think made for the character interaction. We enjoyed this meal, and it was a good send off!

 

[flipflopmom]

After we left CM, we stared up at the new Bay Lake Tower, and talked about how absolutely wonderful it would be to stay on the monorail. Our honeymoon had been to the WL, so we had a skewed vision of what it meant to stay on property.

We went on to DTD before we left, for an hour in the Emporium, and to finish off our 5 meal credits and 15 snack credits at Goofy's. We got a few made to orders, several Mickey Krispies, some Nemo cookies, Mickey peanut butter cups (YUMMMMMMY!), water bottles, and a piece of fudge. We ate on those for 2 weeks, but the Mickey Krispies were the first to go!

We stopped by the DVC booth, but DH was ready to hit the road, and the CM said he couldn't really do anything without an hour of our time!

So our final stop was at Earl of Sandwich. We had 5 credits to use, so we got 5 bags of chips, a PB&J for the little ones, and 2 sandwiches each for the adults. We decided to go ahead and eat one there, by that time it was around 4, and we weren't really hungry, but didn't want to have to stop again in a couple of hours. The kids had the PB&J, and I think DH and I had a roast beef. We took a full Montague to go. We ended up eating that around 11pm on the road. It was good.

EoS would be a great place to use a CS credit! The sandwiches and chips were really good!

 

[flipflopmom]

THis one will be long. Thanks for reading! I'll keep checking this thread to answer questions and read comments. I hope I've shed some light on our experiences, thanks for understanding my wordiness. After all the help from Dis I got, I felt obligated to share!

1. The DxDP thoughts. Well, mixed. It was great to prepay for our meals, have them planned, and never have to worry about where we will eat. It was a royal pain to be on such a schedule. 3 meals a day was definitely overkill! We only did it 3 times during the week, but 2 of those I was sick that night! We didn't feel obligated to eat everything, but we did order all three courses to try them. A few times, the apps were better than the entrees! With our kids ages, it was great. However, next year, we would have to add an adult and a child. The kids meals were generally not that good, and our oldest will never eat and adult meal. Since she is sooooooo picky, and the kids meals so yucky, the buffets worked well for us, and aren't a good deal on the DDP, so I've heard. At regular TS places, she would do well with an app or a salad, and maybe dessert.

However, the regular dining plan won't work for us either, since the kids will eat breakfast well, and we much enjoyed the character breakfasts. We will be saving our money and just paying OOP for meals from now on. Breakfast and dinner works well for us. It was wasteful to have 5 credits left at EoS! I paying OOP will be much less limiting and a better use of money!

2. Snacks As I said, we had 15 snack credits left. We weren't conservative with them at all, we just weren't hungry. I can't imagine having 14 more next year once the little one aged up, yet another reason the DxDP would be over kill. We got frozen lemonade a couple of times, Mickey bars a couple of times, milkshakes once, popcorn once, Kaki Gori's in Japan while waiting for illuminations, they were good and HUGE! Since it was sooo hot in Epcot, we didn't snack around the world, and I never got my Dole WHip!!!! The Pop food court had a HUGE order of nachos and cheese as a snack, and we got that a couple of times. I got 2 for the four of us to share, and once we didn't even finish one. We did get waters, but ice water was free and we got that to go along with it.

3. General observations - buffets worked better for our picky girl. Character breakfasts were better than dinners. Early breakfast worked well, as it FORCED us to get out of bed and not say "let's just skip rope drop". Even 2 ADR's a day took a lot of touring time, but we loved the breaks. Having them in the parks, we opened and closed MK, AK, and DHS! Ohana was Dh's fav. followed by MM, then Narcoose's. Fav breakfast - Play and Dine and CRT tied, totally different reasons for being first, then CP.

We had great service, and always tipped right at 20%, rounded to nearest whole number! Character meals are the way to go! We didn't feel like we had to wait in lines, so the times balanced out from 2 ADRS vs. waiting, and we got to sit in AC and eat while we did it!


As I said before, it was a great, great, great week, and we can't wait to go back! Thanks for reading, and LMK if you have any questions!

 

[mefordis]

Thank you so much for your reviews! I usually don't read reviews without pics, but yours are very good and descriptive without the pics! And I am sooo glad I booked H&V breakfast for my 5 yr old and 1 yr old this Sept! You reassured me! I plan to go at 8am and get out in time for RD to hit TSM FP machines!

Yet another day I was apprehensive about the meal. THIS WAS THE BEST CHARACTER BREAKFAST OF THE WEEK!

Since the characters were JoJo, Goliath, June, and Leo from Einsteins, I was worried about the kids' excitement. The restaurant is very open, bright, and cheery. The waitresses all had on outfits that reminded me of Al's Diner, but longer. Definitely a diner type decor. But they were the happiest of any collective group.

The kids had a blast. They had two CM's that sang and danced with the kids to Playhouse Disney songs, the kids got up and danced with them 3 or 4 times during the meal. The characters had a blast with each other during the song and dance times!

This was a complete buffet, not family style. They had Mickey waffles, pancakes, make your own breakfast burritos, yogurt, fruit, eggs, bacon, frittata, Gravy and biscuits. It was a nice break from the family style same old.

I sought out the manager to tell him I loved the breakfast, and how much we enjoyed it. The saddest part was, very few people were there. I wish more people would step out to see this. My 9 year old even got over herself and had fun dancing. It wasn't at all rushed, people seemed to enjoy their jobs, just can't say enough good stuff about it.

We finished at 9, and we were right behind the rope drop crowd to TSM. Standby wait was posted 35 minutes, but we were out of TSM by 9:25. That was a mad house. I put this info in to let all you TSM goers know it is a viable option to do 8am ADR's and be done for RD!

 

[flipflopmom]

Thanks. I felt really bad about not getting the pics, but oh well. Glad you go something from it. I will say the the TSM FP lines were much longer than the standby line. But we had tour groups to contend with, each leader had huge stacks of tickets!

 

[dolfinjuls]

Wow you guys did have lots of food! We were full with our basic dining plan. I was thinking if we do a trip w/out kids we'll try the deluxe!

I'm so glad your girls liked Play & Dine! This was our 2nd time having breakfast there and we just love it. Definitely the best character interaction! And it is always pretty empty. We also had the same experience w/ the kids meal pizza @ Coral Reef...disgusting! Everything else was very nice there though! Overall it seems like your family had a great dining time!

And congrats on becoming DVC members! We did a BLT event while we were down there this past Wednesday and it's just beautiful! The rooms are really amazing!