The second part of this review will cover our sit-down/buffet meals. While during the day we ate lightly, at least for us, dinner was another story. We ate at a buffet or all you can eat meal every night for 7 nights, plus 1 buffet breakfast, 1 buffet lunch and 1 sit-down lunch.
Day 1 Our first dinner was at Cape May in the Beach Club Hotel. We had eaten here many years ago and had enjoyed it so we thought it would be a good first night dinner since it was close to our hotel, the Swan. DH and DS are not seafood lovers, but DD and I are. The mussels, clams, fish, shrimp, and crab claws were all delicious. We also enjoyed the ribs, carved beef, and chicken. I don't recall exactly what we had for dessert, after all we'd been up since 3:30 am, but I do know we had more than our fill. This restaurant remains on our list of must-do's for our next visit.
Day 2 Hollywood and Vine was my choice for our dinner at MGM Studios as part of the Fantasmic dinner package. The restaurant was noisy and crowded, but the food was delicious. I especially enjoyed the seafood pasta and the sweet potatoes. Even the turkey pot roast, which sounded weird was delicious. Even without the Fantasmic tickets we would return here, esp. since we are not thrilled with the other dining choices at this park. I feel they are too overpriced to justify eating at most of them. Having the tickets to Fantasmic was much better than having to get to the theater an hour and a half early.
Day 3 Our visit tonight to Restaurant Akershus is our family's absolute number one favorite restaurant in all the world, not just Disney. I was a little unsure going into this one whether or not everyone, or any one of my picky eaters would enjoy their meal here. It turns out I had nothing to worry about. I had chosen this restaurant because DD had requested a Princess meal and because we had eaten here years ago when it was still a buffet. As a buffet we had loved it, but then the kids were able to find basic foods that they love such as sliced turkey, meatballs and mac and cheese. Those choices were no longer available. The menu is extremely limited so I could only hope that the kids would find at least one acceptable item. The meal started with a tossed salad and Norwegian flatbreads. My kids don't eat salad, but any kind of bread is okay with them. DH who rarely eats salad loved it so much that when our server asked if we would like seconds he eagerly asked for another bowl. The salad is huge and was probably meant for the 4 of us to share. DH and I had no problems finishing the 2 bowls we were given. We were also served a huge tray of appetizers. I know that many people have said they don't like them, but DH and I devoured them. The cold scrambled eggs that so many don't like are actually egg salad, and while I didn't feel they went well with the smoked salmon that they are served with, I just ate them separately. I asked for ther kids appetizer for DS because knew he wouldn't eat the adult appetizer and he was brought the same huge appetizers as his sister. They each were given a large portion of cubed cheddar and muenster cheese, fresh fruit, and carrot sticks. They didn't eat too much of the cheese but they are big fruit and carrot eaters. I think they ended up with 3 servings of appetizers. I was already satisfied after the appetizers and salad and could have left at that point, but the best was yet to come. I ordered the braised lamb, DD had the kid's cheese ravioli and DS and DH both had the Pasta Akershus with grilled chicken. The portions were huge but that didn't stop us from finishing them and then having seconds. People have said that they aren't sure if seconds are allowed. They are not only allowed, but encouraged. Plus, in most restaurants second portions are usually smaller than first portions, but not here. I don't know how we ate as much as we did. DH had some of my lamb the second time around and I tried his pasta. They were both outstanding. Of course, we weren't finished yet. There was still dessert to come. Chocolate mousse, rice pudding with strawberry sauce and ligonberry tarts, all of which were superb. At least according to the kids the chocolate mousse was great. DH and I didn't get a bite of it, even after we ordered seconds on the desserts. This was probably the one meal of the week that was worth the money charged, and maybe even more. The only disppointing part, at least to me, was the interaction with the Princesses. I found it to be very brief and superficial. Not even an attempt at conversation from any of them. DD9, however, didn't seem to mind. Most of the other girls around us were about 4 years old and they got most of the attention. DS 14, was glad that the princesses passed us by rather quickly. Princesses in attendance were Cinderella, Alice (not sure when she became a princess), Princess Aurora, and Belle. Despite the lack of Princess interaction, none of us would hesitate to go here again.
Day 4 One of our favorite meals was tonight's dinner at Boma. I had really been looking forward to this meal from all the great reviews I had read on these boards. We were not disappointed. The selection was varied and the food flavorful. The kids loved the chicken tenders, which according to our server, are coated not in bread crumbs but in mashed potatoes. The chicken corn chowder was a big hit with all of us. I also loved the various types of hummus and the couscous salad. The zebra domes were good, but IMHO not the best dessert on Disney property. Maybe I just had eaten too much by this point to really enjoy them. The only downside of this restaurant is its location. We had chosen it for this night because of its proximity to Animal Kingdom, our park for the day. However, we had gotten drenched at Kali River Rapids because it was just too hot and humid to put on our ponchos. We ended up returning to our hotel to change clothes and then taking the bus back to Animal Kingdom and then another bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge. The hotel really is too far out of the way for us to ever consider staying there but we will make the trip to return to Boma again.
Day 5 Our least favorite of all our dinners was at Chef Mickey's. The character interaction was actually the best we had all week and we even saw Donald Duck, which was an unexpected surprise. Our waiter was also wonderful. DS is a huge water drinker and whenever we eat out he asks for huge quantities of water. It is the rare waiter who can keep up with his thirst. This night he made a request for 10 glasses of water, and sure enough that is exactly what he was brought. He was thrilled. The food was okay, better than I had expected given the recent reviews, but nothing special. It was just regular food that I could have cooked myself. At the prices they charge they should do better.
Day 6 and we were back at EPCOT. At lunchtime DH wanted to head back to Morocco for another Tabouleh wrap, but he was outvoted by hunger pangs and sore feet. We were in China when hunger struck and we decided that since we were having a slower paced day we would try a sitdown restaurant for lunch. I had read some pretty horrible reviews about Nine Dragons but a friend had said she and her family had enjoyed it. We decided to take the risk. We ordered 3 different types of dim sum and then the lunch sampler for 4 which included soup and 5 main dishes. We have eaten a lot of Chinese food in our time, esp. being from New York City and living in an area with a large Chinese population. I have to say that Nine Dragons is the best Chinese food we have ever eaten. DH and I barely got to try the dim sum because the kids devoured all but one piece which they were kind enough to leave us to share. We had ordered the lunch sampler knowing that DS might only eat the General Tso's chicken. He did eat some of that, but also dug into the sweet and sour pork and the pepper beef. We also enjoyed a vegetable stir fry and a mixed seafood dish. The only negative thing I have to say about this place was that tea was not included with the meal. I have never eaten at any Chinese restaurant where a pot of oolong tea was not complimentary with the meal. I guess they are just going along with the rest of the Disney restaurants, but it did seem odd not having tea. We could have ordered it but I was afraid to ask the price. The charge was not for a pot, but per cup. Since I usually drink several cups worth it probably would have made an expensive lunch even more so. Our usual counter service meals had been running us about $32 a day. This meal came to around $75 but it was a pleasant surprise and a nice afternoon break.
Dinner tonight was back at our hotel at Gulliver's Grill. They have a different themed character buffet every night. Tonight's theme was Italian. It was not quite the food I had expected. I had thought it would be more typical Italian food such as chicken parmigiana. But everyone found something good to eat and there was a pasta bar which the kids enjoyed. I did love the lamb shank which was in a thick brown sauce. I only wish I had tried it earlier in the meal so that I would be able to eat seconds of it. The two characters were Goofy and Pluto. Actually I think it was one person who changed costumes since thet were never seen at the same time. Since the restaurant is small we got to see alot of them (him). I don't think I would return here but mainly because there are other places I would like to try instead. It was convenient going to dinner in our hotel though, esp. since we had spent the afternoon at the pool. It was nice not to have to hurry to get back to the park or another hotel.
Day 7 and our last dinner at Disney. Tomorrow night would be a quick dinner at the Orlando airport. How disappointing. Liberty Tree Tavern was a meal that I had been looking forward to. I had read lots of good things about the food and they were not wrong. We did have to wait a bit to be seated; the place was packed. Once we were seated the service was good, not slow at all as I had read. We had a 6 pm adr and didn't need to be anywhere until Spectromagic at 9 so I could have dealt with slow service, but didn't need to. Dinner started with another delicious bowl of salad, similar to the one served at Akershus. There were also delicious rolls served with honey butter. I had to limit DS's roll intake as I knew he would only eat the meat at dinner if it was on a roll. I think he had 3 before dinner and at least 2 with his turkey. The main course came as a large platter of turkey, flank steak and ham. The kids wanted only the turkey so DH and I shared the ham and steak until our second platter arrived. There was also mac and cheese, gravy, mashed potatoes, and string beans. DS does not usually eat mashed potatoes. He had almost an entire bowl. He also loved the mac and cheese and the string beans. Dessert was cherry cobbler and vanilla ice cream, neither of which the kids are big fans of. Finally, DH and I got most of the dessert. DS had another helping of string beans for his dessert!
Day 8 Our last day at Disney. We started the day with a character breakfast ot our hotel before checking out. Gulliver's Grill is called Garden Grove for breakfast and lunch. On the weekends they have a character buffet. Goofy and Pluto appeared again. By this time we weren't there for the characters, we'd certainly had more than enough thruout the week. DD racked up 50 autographs by week's end. The food was great. They had made to order omelets, smoked salmon, and the crispiest bacon I have ever had. I always order bacon crispy, but no restaurant has ever suceeded in fulfilling my request until now. It was great. DD loved the Mickey waffles. DS is a very fussy breakfast eater. He basically eats only muffins, bagels, and fruit. Occasionally some cold cereal, without milk. There is a continental breakfast listed for about half the price of the regular buffet but I didn't ask about it because it included juice, but not fruit. Obviously our server was paying attention to what DS ate because we were charged only for the continental breakfast for him. A very nice Disney surprise for our last day.
Finally it was time for our last Disney meal. DD had wanted to eat with Pooh and friends and none of the dinners I had wanted to do included Crystal Palace. Since we had an evening flight home and would most likely eat dinner at the airport I agreed that we could do Crystal Palace for a late lunch. This was a great meal and I'm glad we were able to squeeze it in. They had many typical lunch foods, such as salads and sandwich fixings, but also a good variety of hot foods. I thought that this place would be great for vegetarians since in addition to the salads there was a terrific tofu and vegetable curry stir fry as well as another hot vegetable dish. I also enjoyed the Thai chicken and the carved meats. Of course, no final meal at Disney would be complete without dessert. I had some wonderful caramel flan and DH had a red velvet cheesecake. The kids enjoyed the sundae bar. Service was great and our soda and water glasses were kept filled and our empty plates cleared quickly. It was a great end to a great week. We finished our meal and said a tearful goodbye to Disnay as we were rolled down Main Street after our 8 day eating fest.
Day 1 Our first dinner was at Cape May in the Beach Club Hotel. We had eaten here many years ago and had enjoyed it so we thought it would be a good first night dinner since it was close to our hotel, the Swan. DH and DS are not seafood lovers, but DD and I are. The mussels, clams, fish, shrimp, and crab claws were all delicious. We also enjoyed the ribs, carved beef, and chicken. I don't recall exactly what we had for dessert, after all we'd been up since 3:30 am, but I do know we had more than our fill. This restaurant remains on our list of must-do's for our next visit.
Day 2 Hollywood and Vine was my choice for our dinner at MGM Studios as part of the Fantasmic dinner package. The restaurant was noisy and crowded, but the food was delicious. I especially enjoyed the seafood pasta and the sweet potatoes. Even the turkey pot roast, which sounded weird was delicious. Even without the Fantasmic tickets we would return here, esp. since we are not thrilled with the other dining choices at this park. I feel they are too overpriced to justify eating at most of them. Having the tickets to Fantasmic was much better than having to get to the theater an hour and a half early.
Day 3 Our visit tonight to Restaurant Akershus is our family's absolute number one favorite restaurant in all the world, not just Disney. I was a little unsure going into this one whether or not everyone, or any one of my picky eaters would enjoy their meal here. It turns out I had nothing to worry about. I had chosen this restaurant because DD had requested a Princess meal and because we had eaten here years ago when it was still a buffet. As a buffet we had loved it, but then the kids were able to find basic foods that they love such as sliced turkey, meatballs and mac and cheese. Those choices were no longer available. The menu is extremely limited so I could only hope that the kids would find at least one acceptable item. The meal started with a tossed salad and Norwegian flatbreads. My kids don't eat salad, but any kind of bread is okay with them. DH who rarely eats salad loved it so much that when our server asked if we would like seconds he eagerly asked for another bowl. The salad is huge and was probably meant for the 4 of us to share. DH and I had no problems finishing the 2 bowls we were given. We were also served a huge tray of appetizers. I know that many people have said they don't like them, but DH and I devoured them. The cold scrambled eggs that so many don't like are actually egg salad, and while I didn't feel they went well with the smoked salmon that they are served with, I just ate them separately. I asked for ther kids appetizer for DS because knew he wouldn't eat the adult appetizer and he was brought the same huge appetizers as his sister. They each were given a large portion of cubed cheddar and muenster cheese, fresh fruit, and carrot sticks. They didn't eat too much of the cheese but they are big fruit and carrot eaters. I think they ended up with 3 servings of appetizers. I was already satisfied after the appetizers and salad and could have left at that point, but the best was yet to come. I ordered the braised lamb, DD had the kid's cheese ravioli and DS and DH both had the Pasta Akershus with grilled chicken. The portions were huge but that didn't stop us from finishing them and then having seconds. People have said that they aren't sure if seconds are allowed. They are not only allowed, but encouraged. Plus, in most restaurants second portions are usually smaller than first portions, but not here. I don't know how we ate as much as we did. DH had some of my lamb the second time around and I tried his pasta. They were both outstanding. Of course, we weren't finished yet. There was still dessert to come. Chocolate mousse, rice pudding with strawberry sauce and ligonberry tarts, all of which were superb. At least according to the kids the chocolate mousse was great. DH and I didn't get a bite of it, even after we ordered seconds on the desserts. This was probably the one meal of the week that was worth the money charged, and maybe even more. The only disppointing part, at least to me, was the interaction with the Princesses. I found it to be very brief and superficial. Not even an attempt at conversation from any of them. DD9, however, didn't seem to mind. Most of the other girls around us were about 4 years old and they got most of the attention. DS 14, was glad that the princesses passed us by rather quickly. Princesses in attendance were Cinderella, Alice (not sure when she became a princess), Princess Aurora, and Belle. Despite the lack of Princess interaction, none of us would hesitate to go here again.
Day 4 One of our favorite meals was tonight's dinner at Boma. I had really been looking forward to this meal from all the great reviews I had read on these boards. We were not disappointed. The selection was varied and the food flavorful. The kids loved the chicken tenders, which according to our server, are coated not in bread crumbs but in mashed potatoes. The chicken corn chowder was a big hit with all of us. I also loved the various types of hummus and the couscous salad. The zebra domes were good, but IMHO not the best dessert on Disney property. Maybe I just had eaten too much by this point to really enjoy them. The only downside of this restaurant is its location. We had chosen it for this night because of its proximity to Animal Kingdom, our park for the day. However, we had gotten drenched at Kali River Rapids because it was just too hot and humid to put on our ponchos. We ended up returning to our hotel to change clothes and then taking the bus back to Animal Kingdom and then another bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge. The hotel really is too far out of the way for us to ever consider staying there but we will make the trip to return to Boma again.
Day 5 Our least favorite of all our dinners was at Chef Mickey's. The character interaction was actually the best we had all week and we even saw Donald Duck, which was an unexpected surprise. Our waiter was also wonderful. DS is a huge water drinker and whenever we eat out he asks for huge quantities of water. It is the rare waiter who can keep up with his thirst. This night he made a request for 10 glasses of water, and sure enough that is exactly what he was brought. He was thrilled. The food was okay, better than I had expected given the recent reviews, but nothing special. It was just regular food that I could have cooked myself. At the prices they charge they should do better.
Day 6 and we were back at EPCOT. At lunchtime DH wanted to head back to Morocco for another Tabouleh wrap, but he was outvoted by hunger pangs and sore feet. We were in China when hunger struck and we decided that since we were having a slower paced day we would try a sitdown restaurant for lunch. I had read some pretty horrible reviews about Nine Dragons but a friend had said she and her family had enjoyed it. We decided to take the risk. We ordered 3 different types of dim sum and then the lunch sampler for 4 which included soup and 5 main dishes. We have eaten a lot of Chinese food in our time, esp. being from New York City and living in an area with a large Chinese population. I have to say that Nine Dragons is the best Chinese food we have ever eaten. DH and I barely got to try the dim sum because the kids devoured all but one piece which they were kind enough to leave us to share. We had ordered the lunch sampler knowing that DS might only eat the General Tso's chicken. He did eat some of that, but also dug into the sweet and sour pork and the pepper beef. We also enjoyed a vegetable stir fry and a mixed seafood dish. The only negative thing I have to say about this place was that tea was not included with the meal. I have never eaten at any Chinese restaurant where a pot of oolong tea was not complimentary with the meal. I guess they are just going along with the rest of the Disney restaurants, but it did seem odd not having tea. We could have ordered it but I was afraid to ask the price. The charge was not for a pot, but per cup. Since I usually drink several cups worth it probably would have made an expensive lunch even more so. Our usual counter service meals had been running us about $32 a day. This meal came to around $75 but it was a pleasant surprise and a nice afternoon break.
Dinner tonight was back at our hotel at Gulliver's Grill. They have a different themed character buffet every night. Tonight's theme was Italian. It was not quite the food I had expected. I had thought it would be more typical Italian food such as chicken parmigiana. But everyone found something good to eat and there was a pasta bar which the kids enjoyed. I did love the lamb shank which was in a thick brown sauce. I only wish I had tried it earlier in the meal so that I would be able to eat seconds of it. The two characters were Goofy and Pluto. Actually I think it was one person who changed costumes since thet were never seen at the same time. Since the restaurant is small we got to see alot of them (him). I don't think I would return here but mainly because there are other places I would like to try instead. It was convenient going to dinner in our hotel though, esp. since we had spent the afternoon at the pool. It was nice not to have to hurry to get back to the park or another hotel.
Day 7 and our last dinner at Disney. Tomorrow night would be a quick dinner at the Orlando airport. How disappointing. Liberty Tree Tavern was a meal that I had been looking forward to. I had read lots of good things about the food and they were not wrong. We did have to wait a bit to be seated; the place was packed. Once we were seated the service was good, not slow at all as I had read. We had a 6 pm adr and didn't need to be anywhere until Spectromagic at 9 so I could have dealt with slow service, but didn't need to. Dinner started with another delicious bowl of salad, similar to the one served at Akershus. There were also delicious rolls served with honey butter. I had to limit DS's roll intake as I knew he would only eat the meat at dinner if it was on a roll. I think he had 3 before dinner and at least 2 with his turkey. The main course came as a large platter of turkey, flank steak and ham. The kids wanted only the turkey so DH and I shared the ham and steak until our second platter arrived. There was also mac and cheese, gravy, mashed potatoes, and string beans. DS does not usually eat mashed potatoes. He had almost an entire bowl. He also loved the mac and cheese and the string beans. Dessert was cherry cobbler and vanilla ice cream, neither of which the kids are big fans of. Finally, DH and I got most of the dessert. DS had another helping of string beans for his dessert!
Day 8 Our last day at Disney. We started the day with a character breakfast ot our hotel before checking out. Gulliver's Grill is called Garden Grove for breakfast and lunch. On the weekends they have a character buffet. Goofy and Pluto appeared again. By this time we weren't there for the characters, we'd certainly had more than enough thruout the week. DD racked up 50 autographs by week's end. The food was great. They had made to order omelets, smoked salmon, and the crispiest bacon I have ever had. I always order bacon crispy, but no restaurant has ever suceeded in fulfilling my request until now. It was great. DD loved the Mickey waffles. DS is a very fussy breakfast eater. He basically eats only muffins, bagels, and fruit. Occasionally some cold cereal, without milk. There is a continental breakfast listed for about half the price of the regular buffet but I didn't ask about it because it included juice, but not fruit. Obviously our server was paying attention to what DS ate because we were charged only for the continental breakfast for him. A very nice Disney surprise for our last day.
Finally it was time for our last Disney meal. DD had wanted to eat with Pooh and friends and none of the dinners I had wanted to do included Crystal Palace. Since we had an evening flight home and would most likely eat dinner at the airport I agreed that we could do Crystal Palace for a late lunch. This was a great meal and I'm glad we were able to squeeze it in. They had many typical lunch foods, such as salads and sandwich fixings, but also a good variety of hot foods. I thought that this place would be great for vegetarians since in addition to the salads there was a terrific tofu and vegetable curry stir fry as well as another hot vegetable dish. I also enjoyed the Thai chicken and the carved meats. Of course, no final meal at Disney would be complete without dessert. I had some wonderful caramel flan and DH had a red velvet cheesecake. The kids enjoyed the sundae bar. Service was great and our soda and water glasses were kept filled and our empty plates cleared quickly. It was a great end to a great week. We finished our meal and said a tearful goodbye to Disnay as we were rolled down Main Street after our 8 day eating fest.
Thanks for posting. Glad to hear good news about Gulliver's Grill. We're going to Gulliver's Grill in October for the first time.
