Dining Review - October 2009

[Noreen411]

Hi

My name is Noreen. My husband is Paul. We are from Northern, NJ. Originally from Brooklyn, NY but have been living in NJ for almost 12 years.

My husband and I went on a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas for a week and then spent a week at Disney World.

We spent one night pre-cruise at Disney World (had to fly to Florida a day before the cruise so we didn't stress about missing the ship).

My sister Jennifer, her husband Kevin, and their daughter Jillian met us for the Disney portion of the trip after the cruise.

I booked ADRs for our trip at the 90 day mark (when it used to be 90 days) and ended up cancelling several of them as my sister and her family didn't want to eat as many sit down meals as were booked.

I tried to take pictures but there were a few times I forgot.

Saturday 9/26/09

We arrived at Disney World in the afternoon. After taking care of some shoe shopping (Paul forgot his sneakers at home) we were hungry for dinner.

We went to Wolfgang Puck Express at Downtown Disney's Market Place. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me this night so no pictures.

I ordered the BBQ Chicken quesadilla. This is very artfully presented and tastes great. I really enjoyed it and other than a small piece I gave Paul I devoured the whole thing.

Paul ordered the sausage pizza. He said it was just OK.

We both had soda which the waiter was quick to refill our glasses as needed. It's counter service in that you order at the counter and you take a number to a table. When your food is ready a waiter (maybe that's not the correct term for the server) will bring your food over. He/she also will refill your beverages if you wish. There is a self serve beverage station, but the server refilled for us pretty frequently.

We tried to order the creme brulee for dessert, but they were out of them.

Next up - breakfast at Kona Cafe

 

[Noreen411]

Breakfast at Kona Cafe

We had breakfast at Kona Café at the Polynesian. There were tons of people milling around by O’Hana. We checked in at Kona and were given a pager. Despite seeing empty tables in the restaurant we waited about 25 minutes before we were seated.

I had a Sprite and the Pineapple Macadamia pancakes with bacon. Paul had the Big Kahuna breakfast and coffee. Our food was very good. We both enjoyed it but neither of us finished our meals.

I have pictures from this one and am trying to post them below. I hope this works...

This is the Pineapple Macadamia pancakes with bacon:




This is the Big Kahuna:


After our breakfast at Kona Cafe we drove to Port Canaveral to board the Freedom of the Seas. We'll be back in Disney in a week. More to come...

 

[Noreen411]

After the cruise we drove our rental car back to Disney and got checked in.

Jen, Kevin, and Jillian (Sister, Brother in Law, and Niece) arrived shortly after we got to our villa.

Lunch at Hooters:

Everyone was hungry for lunch and Kevin suggested Hooters. My sister and brother in law are creatures of habit. No matter where they go they like to stick to chain restaurants that they are familiar with. Paul and I are the opposite; we would rather try places unique to where we are. But we were OK with heading to Hooters for lunch so that's what we did.

No pictures from Hooters but I'm sure most people are familiar with the food there - chicken wings, lots of tots, etc. It was actually very good - better than I expected.

Dinner at Chef Mickeys

We had an ADR for dinner at Chef Mickey's. We all headed over ready to enjoy a cute buffet with characters.

The food was just OK at Chef Mickey’s tonight. I know you go more for the characters than the food, but we have always enjoyed the food in the past. There was a nice selection. When I was taking pictures of the dessert trays one of the cast members even helped me by holding up trays to the light so I could get a better shot.

The character interaction was fantastic. They were all in character, playful, and happy to be there (or so it seemed). At one point we wanted to get a group picture and were trying to get our waiters attention to take the pictures when Mickey Mouse walked over to another guest at the next table and motioned to him to take our picture. That was so cute.

Paul and I bought annual passes so also bought a Tables in Wonderland Card so we saved 20% off our bill.

This is the menu at the entrance




Some salads at the buffet:




The carving station:



Mickey Ravioli:



Desserts:







I took more pictures of dessert than food

Next up - Tusker House

 

[Noreen411]

Breakfast at Tusker House

The food here was very good. Even the scrambled eggs which I normally would not eat at a buffet since they are usually runny were perfect – fluffy and not runny. The character interaction was OK. Mickey especially seemed very rushed and didn’t do a good job signing my niece’s autograph book. It was a messy scrawl that you couldn’t even read. My sister complained to a cast member and they got a better signature.

Mickey Waffles:


Carving Station:


Next up - unexpected dinner at Cookes of Dublin

 

[Noreen411]

Dinner at Cookes Of Dublin

We abandoned our original plans to eat at O’Hana tonight and Paul and I had Cookes of Dublin. My sister and her family wanted to go to TGI Fridays (back to the sticking with things they know). Paul and I weren't interested so we went on our own to dinner.

I had the fish and chips. This was delicious. The fish was fresh with a crispy outside and flaky inside. The fries were fresh and hot. Many of them were nice and crispy too. Paul had the fish sandwich which he also enjoyed though it wasn’t as good as the fish and chips. His sandwich came with fries. We both had soda. We were able to use Tables in Wonderland for a 20% discount. This was the best value for the money so far this trip. We really enjoyed it and will definitely be back.

A cup of soda - I took the picture since the cup had the name of the place on it rather than a generic Disney picture:


Fish and Chips:


Fish Sandwich:


Notice the onion baked into the top of the bun - shaped like Mickey:


Next up - lunch at the Plaza Restaurant in Magic Kingdom

 

[Noreen411]

Lunch at the Plaza Restaurant in Magic Kingdom

We met Jen, Kevin, and Jillian at the Plaza Restaurant for lunch. We had a reservation for 2:05. Paul and I were standing in front looking for them, and Jillian popped out the door and said “We’re here”. They had already gotten seated and were waiting for us.

Jillian had one of the kids meals – the grilled chicken strips with fries which also came with a few apple slices, soup (she had chicken and rice) and dessert (she had ice cream). When they brought her ice cream it was very cute; a scoop of ice cream in the bowl with an upside down cone to look like a hat and two thin mint chocolate cookies to look like Mickey Mouse ears on the side of the hat.







I had the cheese steak sandwich with French fries.



Paul had the Club sandwich with broccoli slaw



Jen had the chicken sandwich with fries



Kevin had a cheeseburger with fries.



We all had soda and the waitress was quick to bring us refills. She wasn’t that quick with bringing out other requests such as honey mustard or more ketchup. Actually when the food first came out everyone except Kevin was served. She said she’d be right back with his so we just assumed she couldn’t carry it all. However it took another maybe 5 minutes for her to return.

We all enjoyed our food and for once everyone cleaned their plates. Or maybe we were just hungry.


Snack - Gummy Mickeys
During the afternoon Paul was looking for candy. He was thinking of gummy bears. We're in Disney so what did he find...Gummy Mickeys


Dinner - Earl of Sandwich
Dinner was from Earl of Sandwich to go – an Original and a Full Montagu. We brought them back and had our dinner. It was very good, but unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of it.

Coming up - lunch at the Biergarten in Epcot

 

[Noreen411]

Lunch at the Biergarten in Epcot

We were seated at a table for 10 with 5 other people who were already eating. They were friendly and we said hello. One couple was getting married tomorrow. The food was very good. We all enjoyed our food except maybe Jillian who didn’t eat too much.

Soda glasses with children's soda in the background:


Pretzel Bread:


Various Sausages:


Spaetzle:


Various Hot Food Pictures:






Desserts:




After lunch we did some atractions together and later in the afternoon Jen and her family wanted to go back and re-do some attractions they did earlier. Paul and I spent some time wondering around World Showcase and sampling a few items from the Food and Wine Festival.

I finally tried the Grey Goose Slush Lemonade. It was very tasty and refreshing and not very strong.



At the New Zealand booth, Paul got a seared scallop to try. I didn’t like it but he said it was good. I’m not a huge fan of scallops.


Paul got a spicy tuna roll from the Japan booth. I don’t like spicy tuna so didn’t want any.


In Italy we got a Canneloni from the booth. This was good and we shared it. I was happy to have Paul here for the food and wine festival. Last time I was here during this, I ended up wasting a lot of food since I wanted to try different things but not necessarily finish them all. This way we could share.


We stopped in Norway and I got a Rice Cream and a School bread to go to have for dessert later.


I don't have a picture of the rice cream but it was delicious.

After all our snacking into the evening we didn't need to have dinner.

Coming up - dinner at T Rex

 

[stefplus3]

I'm loving hearing all about the food. Can't to hear more

 

[Noreen411]

My sister and her family needed a day to rest and just hang out by the pool.

Paul and I went to Hollywood Studios.

Snack - Carrot Cake Cookie:
We were looking for a sweet snack and stopped in the Writer’s Stop. It’s nice and cool in there and a good place to spend a few minutes. We saw a carrot cake cookie so got that to share. It was pretty tasty. It was like a big soft oreo but the outside cookies were carrot cake and the inside cream was made out of that cream cheese type carrot cake frosting.





Dinner at T Rex:
We called my sister when we were leaving Hollywood Studios and they already put their name in at TRex and the table should be ready in about 20 minutes. We headed to the car and drove over to Pleasure Island. We got a great spot right in front of TRex. Our table was ready when we got there.

We shared an appetizer of Colossal Nachos. This was huge and very good. I forgot to take a picture of it.

Jillian had the kids Macaroni and Cheese


Jen had a chicken sandwich with fries


Kevin had chicken quesadillas


Paul had the appetizer sampler with ribs. His came on various plates on a tiered serving thing. He separated the plates for me to take pictures of each one

Bruschetta:


Chips and dip:


Quesadilla and Onion Rings:


Ribs:


I had the Mahi Mahi tacos.


I wasn’t thrilled with my dish, but everyone else enjoyed theirs. I had some of Paul’s food. All the dishes were so huge no one finished their food.

Coming up - Commissary and Buffalo Wild Wings

 

[Noreen411]

We spent the day at Hollywood Studios with my sister and her family.

For lunch we ended up eating in the Commissary. I had the Asian salad which was surprising good. Paul had a burger and fries. Jen had a kids chicken nugget meal. Jillian had a kids chicken nugget meal. Kevin had a burger and fries. After we ate Jen was feeling nauseous so we gave her chewable Rolaids. I pack everything with me. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of our food.

Kevin (my sister's husband) gets motion sickness pretty easily. After Star Tours he felt really sick so him and my sister left and Jillian stayed with us to enjoy the park.

We cancelled our reservation at Cape May Cafe since Kevin wasn't feeling well and we figured he would want to eat something light.

When we got back Kevin was feeling better and suggested we go to Buffalo Wild Wings in the Crossings. I had 8 boneless wings. Paul had Ribs and Wings. We had a basket of onion rings and a basket of potato wedges for the table. Kevin had boneless wings. Jen had a flatbread and Jillian had kids boneless wings. We all had soda. The food was pretty good. Sorry again no pictures.

Coming up - Snacks at the Food and Wine Festival and Cape May Cafe

 

[Noreen411]

My sister and her family spent the day at Magic Kingdom. Paul and I wanted to go back to Epcot. So we split up for the day with plans to have dinner at 1900 Park Faire. Paul and I decided we were not in the mood for a Princess Dinner so made reservations at Cape May Cafe. My sister and her family went to 1900 Park Faire for dinner.

We headed towards World Showcase because we wanted to snack on some of the food offered at the booths for the food and wine festival.

At the Ireland Booth we shared the lobster and scallop fisherman’s pie. Paul liked it but I wasn’t crazy about it.



From the France booth we shared the braised short ribs with mashed potatoes. We both enjoyed this.



I also got the Grand Marnier Slushie. This was very good and refreshing on such a hot day. I liked the Grand Marnier better than the lemon one I tried the other day. We walked around the countries browsing the shops and booths and just wandering around.



When we got to Germany we got a pretzel and a Coke.



Later on we headed to the Beach Club and checked in at Cape May Café a little after 7:30. There was a long line just to check in. They gave us a beeper and said they would do their best to get us in early (our reservation was later). I told them whatever they can do would be great. We walked across the lobby towards the gift shop and didn’t even step into the gift shop and our beeper went off and we were seated.

This was the best meal we had this week. Crab Legs were included on the buffet. They didn’t have that last time we were here. We enjoyed the crab legs, clams, peel and eat shrimp, etc.








Our waitress was pretty good about coming by to refill our soda and take the dirty plates and buckets.

I like how they have these little metal buckets for the clams.



We also ate some of the other hot selections such as ribs, meat, and chicken, but most of our meal was the seafood.

There were two dessert buffet areas, one when you first walk into the restaurant and the other on one of the sides of the regular buffet area. In the regular dessert buffet area, they had this apple cobbler type of dessert. It was warm with apples and crumbly bits on top. As I’m standing near it, I suddenly smell the most delicious smell. The same smell in Mickey’s Philharmagic when they have the desserts going by – kind of apple and cinnamon. So of course I had to get some. I bring it to our table and ask Paul to smell the apple dessert and tell me what it smells like to him. He says the same thing – Philharmagic. It tasted OK, but smelled better than it tasted. Paul laughed at me because I kept smelling it rather than eating it.



Oreo Bon Bons:


Flan:


Key Lime Tarts:


Our dessert plate:


This was a great meal - our favorite of the week.

Coming up - last stop at Earl of Sandwich before heading to the airport

 

[Noreen411]

We had an early afternoon flight home.

We headed to Down Town Disney and stopped at Earl of Sandwich. We got a breakfast sandwich (bacon, egg, and cheese) to share now for breakfast which we ate in the rental car on the way to the airport. This was very tasty.

We also picked up an Original and Cannonballs (meatballs) to take on the plane to eat later. Also very good.

Unfortunately, no pictures.

Our next trip will be in February 2010 for 12 days. When they changed the ADR to 180 days in advance we were caught up in that crazy day making reservations when the system crashed and the wait times on the phone took forever. I finally got through and made all sorts of reservations that I'm looking forward to. That trip right now is just Paul and I so we'll probably make it to more of our ADRs than we did this trip.

Thank you for reading and please ask any questions. I love talking about Disney and reliving my trips.

Noreen

 

[KatMark]

Great reviews--thanks for sharing.