ReneeA
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2000
- Messages
- 3,678
Sorry my reviews are so late. I meant to do this as soon as I returned home, but with a 2 & 3 year old, finding the time is often a problem 
I'm going to post about our sit down meals since none of the counter service were spectacular (not a complaint...counter service is, well, you know...counter service 
. We had the free dining plan, and it was Awesome. We are usually very budget conscious on vacation, and we ate places that we normally wouldn't have tried.
Arrived on Aug 21st at 3:00 p.m., and headed right to MK. We just ate CS that day since I hadn't made an ADR. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take for Magical Express, how soon we could get to the park, or even if the kids were going to be hungry since it was going to be a traveling day. It all worked out and we had fish and chicken at Columbia Harbor House. I thought it was fine and got tons of food with the plan.
Aug 22nd. Had dinner at LeCellier. We were about 10 minutes late for our 5:40 ADR here due to long naps by the kids. Park touring really wore them out. Anyway, dinner was fabulous. We all had the cheese soup to start. I had the prime rib...it was really tender and cooked just right. DH had the huge prime rib...I can't remember the name; but he said it was good, just too much meat
DUH!! That's what you get when you order the biggest piece of meat on the menu. DS3 had the cowboy steak. He usually doesn't eat a ton, but he ate most of his steak and fries. DD2 had nuggets since I knew she wouldn't eat the steak off anyone's plate. We paid seperately for DD's meal. DH had the maple creme brulee (thought he had died and gone to heaven), I had the chocolate whiskey cake, and DS had the smore desert. Everyone ate way too much and had to waddle through the World Showcase the rest of the evening. The total for the dinner was around $130.00, plus we paid cash for the nuggets and tipped and extra $5.00. Later I found out the our server had deducted 4 credits from us instead of only 3, but it was easily cleared up at the front desk later.
Aug. 23rd We went to the Yacht Club Galley for dinner. I had tried last minute to get into Boma's for dinner, but couldn't. I had tried before leaving for any dinner reservation for Boma's, but never any openings
Anyway, dinner was okay...nothing spectacular. I had a caesar salad and dh had Clam Chowder for an appetizer. DH had a pasta with seafood for entree, I had a mushroom swiss burger that was huge and surprising good. DS3 had burger off the kid's menu. DD2 shared everyone's food. I don't think our server here was very familiar with the dining plan since he didn't even offer us dessert. We were all stuffed anyway, but I was a bit surprised since most servers really wanted us to make the most out of our plan since it upped their tip. We were also only one of 2 or 3 tables he had when we were there. Anyway, total was about $85.00.
Aug. 24th O'hana's for dinner. This place was AMAZING. We didn't wait but 5 minutes for a table, and they were packed. I told the server that I have a shellfish allergy first thing since I've read that some of the appetizers have shrimp in them, in addition to the shimp from the grill. They were very accomodating, and even the chef came out to personally discuss with me what to eat and what not to. The sides were all very good, even the potatoes that get such a bad rap on these boards . Then the skewers started coming, and we were in heaven. My DH loved the turkey and the shrimp, the kids both adored the turkey. Once again, both kids who don't really eat a lot on a daily basis ate like hogs. I wasn't a huge fan of the turkey...I liked it, but by eating it I took room away from the beef. I must have ate a whole side of beef myself. I just loved the cilantro sauce to dip it in...I could've scooped it up with a spoon and ate it like soup. Then we had the pineapple and caramel for dessert. The total for this meal was about $72.00. We had a very good, attentive server and tipped an extra $7.00.
Aug. 25th Whispering Canyon for dinner. Such a fun time! Kids love the horse races, even though DS3 was a whiny beast during the meal. All four of us had the All you care to eat skillet, which was really good. Both DH and I like the pulled prk the best. I ordered the 18 inch drink of the day which happened to be a triple berry margherita. It was good, but so strong. I started to get really silly about halfway through, and thought DH was going to have to carry me out of there. I did manage to finish it, however
Then we each had dessert...DH had the banana dustbowl (just so-so), I had the chocolate cake, and DS3 and DD2 shared the worms and dirt. DS was in such a mood that he bawled like crazy when I ordered his dessert at the thought of us making him eat worms 
. He decided it was okay after he saw what it was. 
Total was about $70.00 for the meal, $11.00 for the drink, and we tipped an extra $50.00 for Hedda Lettuce since she was such a cut-up 
.
Aug. 26th Crystal Palace for breakfast with Pooh and Friends. I really liked this! The atmosphere was fun, and the food was good...better than most breakfast buffets, yet not stop you in your tracks fabulous. The puffed french toast was great. My kids are chocolate milk fans and when offered orange juice to drink, DD2 spoke up and said in no uncertain terms that she wanted chocolate milk. Our server was very gracious and brought out the milk ASAP> DD2 didn't eat a thing...she was all amazed at Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore entertaining the crowd. We got some really nice pics at this place, and had a nice cool breakfast. Total was about $52.00. Originally they had charged for DD2, but the server was really good about taking off the charge and just using 3 of our TS credits when it was all settled. We tipped an extra $5.00 here for really good service.
Aug. 27th Called last minute in the morning to cancel dinner at Cape May Buffett, and make ADR for Sci-Fi since we were going to be at MGM. Knew the kids would love to "drive" the cars and watch the corny movies, and they did. We had the onion rings (best I have ever eaten) and Spinach artichoke dip, which was also very good for appetizers. DS3 had a milkshake and cheeseburger, I had the mushroom swiss burger, and DH had the steak sandwich. My burger was really good, DS ate really good, but DH wasn't thrilled with his sandwich. He's not sure if it was the sandwich or the fact that he had eaten too much meat already that week . The desserts here were just so-so. I had the cheesecake and DH had the pecan apple Crisp which was really YUCK. The only bad thing I tried the whole week. The service here was pretty slow, also. Total for this meal was about $85.00.
We had 3 TS credits left on our last day, and no CS. A really nice guy at the Food Court called a manager over, they swiped a card and Presto! We used out TS credits for a CS meal. I've seen people say on the boards that you can't do that, but we had no problem...I just had to wait about 3 minutes for a manager. I regret that we still had 5 snack credits left when we left...we forgot until it was too late to go grab snacks for our trip home. Most of the snack credits were used for bottled water in the parks.
We estimated that we ate about $800.00 on the free dining plan. We ate like kings that week and we loved it!The only thing that I was a little sad about was that both my kids NEED naps, so everyday we went back in the afternoon for naps. That, in addition to travel time to resorts for meals, and then travel back to the parks seemed to waste a lot of time. We ended up seeing almost everything that we wanted to, but it definitely was different with young children...commando is not possible, and wouldn' t be nearly as enjoyable. Overall, a really fun trip for everyone.
Whew!!! Long post!
ReneeA
I'm going to post about our sit down meals since none of the counter service were spectacular (not a complaint...counter service is, well, you know...counter service . We had the free dining plan, and it was Awesome. We are usually very budget conscious on vacation, and we ate places that we normally wouldn't have tried.Arrived on Aug 21st at 3:00 p.m., and headed right to MK. We just ate CS that day since I hadn't made an ADR. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take for Magical Express, how soon we could get to the park, or even if the kids were going to be hungry since it was going to be a traveling day. It all worked out and we had fish and chicken at Columbia Harbor House. I thought it was fine and got tons of food with the plan.
Aug 22nd. Had dinner at LeCellier. We were about 10 minutes late for our 5:40 ADR here due to long naps by the kids. Park touring really wore them out. Anyway, dinner was fabulous. We all had the cheese soup to start. I had the prime rib...it was really tender and cooked just right. DH had the huge prime rib...I can't remember the name; but he said it was good, just too much meat
DUH!! That's what you get when you order the biggest piece of meat on the menu. DS3 had the cowboy steak. He usually doesn't eat a ton, but he ate most of his steak and fries. DD2 had nuggets since I knew she wouldn't eat the steak off anyone's plate. We paid seperately for DD's meal. DH had the maple creme brulee (thought he had died and gone to heaven), I had the chocolate whiskey cake, and DS had the smore desert. Everyone ate way too much and had to waddle through the World Showcase the rest of the evening. The total for the dinner was around $130.00, plus we paid cash for the nuggets and tipped and extra $5.00. Later I found out the our server had deducted 4 credits from us instead of only 3, but it was easily cleared up at the front desk later.Aug. 23rd We went to the Yacht Club Galley for dinner. I had tried last minute to get into Boma's for dinner, but couldn't. I had tried before leaving for any dinner reservation for Boma's, but never any openings
Anyway, dinner was okay...nothing spectacular. I had a caesar salad and dh had Clam Chowder for an appetizer. DH had a pasta with seafood for entree, I had a mushroom swiss burger that was huge and surprising good. DS3 had burger off the kid's menu. DD2 shared everyone's food. I don't think our server here was very familiar with the dining plan since he didn't even offer us dessert. We were all stuffed anyway, but I was a bit surprised since most servers really wanted us to make the most out of our plan since it upped their tip. We were also only one of 2 or 3 tables he had when we were there. Anyway, total was about $85.00.
Aug. 24th O'hana's for dinner. This place was AMAZING. We didn't wait but 5 minutes for a table, and they were packed. I told the server that I have a shellfish allergy first thing since I've read that some of the appetizers have shrimp in them, in addition to the shimp from the grill. They were very accomodating, and even the chef came out to personally discuss with me what to eat and what not to. The sides were all very good, even the potatoes that get such a bad rap on these boards
. Then the skewers started coming, and we were in heaven. My DH loved the turkey and the shrimp, the kids both adored the turkey. Once again, both kids who don't really eat a lot on a daily basis ate like hogs. I wasn't a huge fan of the turkey...I liked it, but by eating it I took room away from the beef. I must have ate a whole side of beef myself. I just loved the cilantro sauce to dip it in...I could've scooped it up with a spoon and ate it like soup. Then we had the pineapple and caramel for dessert. The total for this meal was about $72.00. We had a very good, attentive server and tipped an extra $7.00.Aug. 25th Whispering Canyon for dinner. Such a fun time! Kids love the horse races, even though DS3 was a whiny beast during the meal. All four of us had the All you care to eat skillet, which was really good. Both DH and I like the pulled prk the best. I ordered the 18 inch drink of the day which happened to be a triple berry margherita. It was good, but so strong. I started to get really silly about halfway through, and thought DH was going to have to carry me out of there. I did manage to finish it, however
Then we each had dessert...DH had the banana dustbowl (just so-so), I had the chocolate cake, and DS3 and DD2 shared the worms and dirt. DS was in such a mood that he bawled like crazy when I ordered his dessert at the thought of us making him eat worms . He decided it was okay after he saw what it was. Total was about $70.00 for the meal, $11.00 for the drink, and we tipped an extra $50.00 for Hedda Lettuce since she was such a cut-up .Aug. 26th Crystal Palace for breakfast with Pooh and Friends. I really liked this! The atmosphere was fun, and the food was good...better than most breakfast buffets, yet not stop you in your tracks fabulous. The puffed french toast was great. My kids are chocolate milk fans and when offered orange juice to drink, DD2 spoke up and said in no uncertain terms that she wanted chocolate milk. Our server was very gracious and brought out the milk ASAP> DD2 didn't eat a thing...she was all amazed at Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore entertaining the crowd. We got some really nice pics at this place, and had a nice cool breakfast. Total was about $52.00. Originally they had charged for DD2, but the server was really good about taking off the charge and just using 3 of our TS credits when it was all settled. We tipped an extra $5.00 here for really good service.
Aug. 27th Called last minute in the morning to cancel dinner at Cape May Buffett, and make ADR for Sci-Fi since we were going to be at MGM. Knew the kids would love to "drive" the cars and watch the corny movies, and they did. We had the onion rings (best I have ever eaten) and Spinach artichoke dip, which was also very good for appetizers. DS3 had a milkshake and cheeseburger, I had the mushroom swiss burger, and DH had the steak sandwich. My burger was really good, DS ate really good, but DH wasn't thrilled with his sandwich. He's not sure if it was the sandwich or the fact that he had eaten too much meat already that week
. The desserts here were just so-so. I had the cheesecake and DH had the pecan apple Crisp which was really YUCK. The only bad thing I tried the whole week. The service here was pretty slow, also. Total for this meal was about $85.00.We had 3 TS credits left on our last day, and no CS. A really nice guy at the Food Court called a manager over, they swiped a card and Presto! We used out TS credits for a CS meal. I've seen people say on the boards that you can't do that, but we had no problem...I just had to wait about 3 minutes for a manager. I regret that we still had 5 snack credits left when we left...we forgot until it was too late to go grab snacks for our trip home. Most of the snack credits were used for bottled water in the parks.
We estimated that we ate about $800.00 on the free dining plan. We ate like kings that week and we loved it!The only thing that I was a little sad about was that both my kids NEED naps, so everyday we went back in the afternoon for naps. That, in addition to travel time to resorts for meals, and then travel back to the parks seemed to waste a lot of time. We ended up seeing almost everything that we wanted to, but it definitely was different with young children...commando is not possible, and wouldn' t be nearly as enjoyable. Overall, a really fun trip for everyone.
Whew!!! Long post!
ReneeA
. We gave $5.00!!
