jenrose66
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2005
- Messages
- 2,248
My mom had a free dining PIN so me, her, and DD 3 took a quick girls trip last week! I haven't done TS in Disney for quite some time so I was looking forward to trying some new places to eat 
Our first TS meal was supposed to be the Princess dinner in Norway. I had scheduled it for our arrival day and I underestimated how tired we'd all be from traveling. We did not feel like going into a park so I called Disney Dining to see if they would waive the cancellation fee. The girl on the phone told me no, so I asked for a supervisor who went ahead and waived the fee for me. I did not feel guilty about doing this because that is a popular restaurant and there was most certainly someone in the parks that day which would enjoy the table I just made available.
That night we ate in the food court at POR. Everyone had burgers and ice cream.
The next afternoon we ate at 11:30am at LTT in Magic Kingdom. This was a really good restaurant. It's quiet and the food is tasty. DD had mac and cheese (which is a huge portion) and she choose ice cream for dessert. I had the Pot Roast. It was delicious, I really liked the sauce it was in and the potatoes were extra creamy and buttery. I had the toffee cake for dessert and it was one of my favorite of the trip. I really enjoy dense chewy desserts. My mom had a burger and she said it was good.
That night we had an 8:40 ressie for BOG. We were starting to get tired and hungry around 6:15 so I went up to the check in and asked if we could get in earlier. She said that we could and we were seated by 6:30! It just shows it never hurts to ask. This restaurant was so fun! DD got a kick out of being led by candle to our table. The hostess showed us where we could meet the beast and explained all the rooms. We were in the music box room. Our server was friendly and even gave us meal recommendations. My mom and I had the Steak and DD had grilled cheese with french fries. Our food was perfect! The french fries with the truffle mayonnaise was great and the steak was cooked to specifications. We were full so we took dessert to go. We had a strawberry cupcake, a lemon cupcake, and the grey stuff (which was a chocolate torte stick with what tasted like rich buttercream that was dyed grey. Everything looked beautiful and we enjoyed the treats for breakfast the next morning.
The next day we decided to take it easy and swam for the morning. In the afternoon we went to DTD and were going to eat at Earl of Sandwich but decided to try T-Rex instead. The wait for the table wasn't long and we thought the inside of the restaurant was so cool...however, my mom thought it was way too loud. The food wasn't bad, but the service was so slow that now I barely remember anything about the food because we were so annoyed with the service. We didn't have apps so for just our lunch entree it took 2 hours and 45 minutes. Our waiter only came for drink orders and then again about 15 minutes after we were done eating to take dessert orders. After about 15 (maybe 20) minutes hoping the waiter or dessert would come by we got fed up and decided to just give up. I left the tip on the table and we walked out of the restaurant. It really put a damper on the afternoon. It took about twice as long as it should have for our lunch and we were starting to feel like hostages.
We ate in Norway for the Princess lunch the next day. This was a great experience! Belle had a very pretty dress on, service was exceptional, and the princess interaction was great. It was well organized and efficient. You start with a cold buffet with salads and bread and cheeses. DD and I enjoyed this, my mom, not so much but she isn't an adventurous eater. DD and I tried a bit of everything and I thought everything tasted good. For our main course mom and I had the meatballs. I thought these were great. The potatoes and green beans were nice accompanists and meatballs had a tasty flavor and the gravy that was on them was nice and hot. I thought the lingonberry sauce cut the heaviness of the dish and really made the meal. Dessert was also very good. DD and I enjoyed the chocolate torte, my mom liked the apple cake and the rice pudding was my favorite of what was given to us. I would not hesitate to do this meal again!
Our last sit down was at Boatwrights. I enjoyed this meal very much too. Again we just walked up and were seated within 15 minutes. I ordered the pimento cheese poppers and shared them with DD. We enjoyed these. They were hot and gooey and the sauce them came in was sweet with just a touch of heat. For dinner DD got pizza and fries and she enjoyed them. I got the short ribs with cheesy grits and found them to be fantastic. Cooked perfect and again a really yummy sauce. My mom got the prime rib with horseradish potatoes and didn't like it that much...but she doesn't really like anything. I took a bite and thought it tasted fine. Again we were too full for dessert so we took it to go and enjoyed it the next morning. My mom had pecan pie and it was the one thing on this trip that she enjoyed every bite of! I had creme brulee and it was your typical disney brulee and I like that. DD had sliced strawberries because she enjoys fruit. The berries were a bit mealy by the next morning.
So I have a couple thoughts on dining in general. I don't like the credit card requirement for booking restaurants. I think if you cancel instead of not showing up within a couple hours of your meal time you shouldn't be charged, I like having flexibility and if I'm tied to a meal or risk a $30 charge ($10 pp) that doesn't allow me to easily make changes. After the whole issue with Akershus the first night I cancelled my remaining reservations for later in the week and decided to take my chances with walking up and we had success with that. I do like that they have nice dessert choices for the kids in the sit down locations. The kids meals at CS places kind of stink...plus when DD sees me with a cupcake she doesn't want a sad package of grapes or that generic looking chocolate chip cookie. I think Disney is smart and knows this and are banking on making extra cash by having parents purchase an extra dessert for the kids. Personally I just ordered DD adult meals at CS and never had a problem.
For the way my family likes to eat, we will not purchase the DDP. We use i when it's "free" but I prefer a good room discount and paying OOP for what I want to eat. I also will not be making anymore dining reservations. If I can't walk up to a restaurant within a couple hours of when I'd like to eat and get a table I will just do CS or eat offsite as we are considering renting a vacation home and trying offsite for our next trip anyway.
Our first TS meal was supposed to be the Princess dinner in Norway. I had scheduled it for our arrival day and I underestimated how tired we'd all be from traveling. We did not feel like going into a park so I called Disney Dining to see if they would waive the cancellation fee. The girl on the phone told me no, so I asked for a supervisor who went ahead and waived the fee for me. I did not feel guilty about doing this because that is a popular restaurant and there was most certainly someone in the parks that day which would enjoy the table I just made available.
That night we ate in the food court at POR. Everyone had burgers and ice cream.
The next afternoon we ate at 11:30am at LTT in Magic Kingdom. This was a really good restaurant. It's quiet and the food is tasty. DD had mac and cheese (which is a huge portion) and she choose ice cream for dessert. I had the Pot Roast. It was delicious, I really liked the sauce it was in and the potatoes were extra creamy and buttery. I had the toffee cake for dessert and it was one of my favorite of the trip. I really enjoy dense chewy desserts. My mom had a burger and she said it was good.
That night we had an 8:40 ressie for BOG. We were starting to get tired and hungry around 6:15 so I went up to the check in and asked if we could get in earlier. She said that we could and we were seated by 6:30! It just shows it never hurts to ask. This restaurant was so fun! DD got a kick out of being led by candle to our table. The hostess showed us where we could meet the beast and explained all the rooms. We were in the music box room. Our server was friendly and even gave us meal recommendations. My mom and I had the Steak and DD had grilled cheese with french fries. Our food was perfect! The french fries with the truffle mayonnaise was great and the steak was cooked to specifications. We were full so we took dessert to go. We had a strawberry cupcake, a lemon cupcake, and the grey stuff (which was a chocolate torte stick with what tasted like rich buttercream that was dyed grey. Everything looked beautiful and we enjoyed the treats for breakfast the next morning.
The next day we decided to take it easy and swam for the morning. In the afternoon we went to DTD and were going to eat at Earl of Sandwich but decided to try T-Rex instead. The wait for the table wasn't long and we thought the inside of the restaurant was so cool...however, my mom thought it was way too loud. The food wasn't bad, but the service was so slow that now I barely remember anything about the food because we were so annoyed with the service. We didn't have apps so for just our lunch entree it took 2 hours and 45 minutes. Our waiter only came for drink orders and then again about 15 minutes after we were done eating to take dessert orders. After about 15 (maybe 20) minutes hoping the waiter or dessert would come by we got fed up and decided to just give up. I left the tip on the table and we walked out of the restaurant. It really put a damper on the afternoon. It took about twice as long as it should have for our lunch and we were starting to feel like hostages.
We ate in Norway for the Princess lunch the next day. This was a great experience! Belle had a very pretty dress on, service was exceptional, and the princess interaction was great. It was well organized and efficient. You start with a cold buffet with salads and bread and cheeses. DD and I enjoyed this, my mom, not so much but she isn't an adventurous eater. DD and I tried a bit of everything and I thought everything tasted good. For our main course mom and I had the meatballs. I thought these were great. The potatoes and green beans were nice accompanists and meatballs had a tasty flavor and the gravy that was on them was nice and hot. I thought the lingonberry sauce cut the heaviness of the dish and really made the meal. Dessert was also very good. DD and I enjoyed the chocolate torte, my mom liked the apple cake and the rice pudding was my favorite of what was given to us. I would not hesitate to do this meal again!
Our last sit down was at Boatwrights. I enjoyed this meal very much too. Again we just walked up and were seated within 15 minutes. I ordered the pimento cheese poppers and shared them with DD. We enjoyed these. They were hot and gooey and the sauce them came in was sweet with just a touch of heat. For dinner DD got pizza and fries and she enjoyed them. I got the short ribs with cheesy grits and found them to be fantastic. Cooked perfect and again a really yummy sauce. My mom got the prime rib with horseradish potatoes and didn't like it that much...but she doesn't really like anything. I took a bite and thought it tasted fine. Again we were too full for dessert so we took it to go and enjoyed it the next morning. My mom had pecan pie and it was the one thing on this trip that she enjoyed every bite of! I had creme brulee and it was your typical disney brulee and I like that. DD had sliced strawberries because she enjoys fruit. The berries were a bit mealy by the next morning.
So I have a couple thoughts on dining in general. I don't like the credit card requirement for booking restaurants. I think if you cancel instead of not showing up within a couple hours of your meal time you shouldn't be charged, I like having flexibility and if I'm tied to a meal or risk a $30 charge ($10 pp) that doesn't allow me to easily make changes. After the whole issue with Akershus the first night I cancelled my remaining reservations for later in the week and decided to take my chances with walking up and we had success with that. I do like that they have nice dessert choices for the kids in the sit down locations. The kids meals at CS places kind of stink...plus when DD sees me with a cupcake she doesn't want a sad package of grapes or that generic looking chocolate chip cookie. I think Disney is smart and knows this and are banking on making extra cash by having parents purchase an extra dessert for the kids. Personally I just ordered DD adult meals at CS and never had a problem.
For the way my family likes to eat, we will not purchase the DDP. We use i when it's "free" but I prefer a good room discount and paying OOP for what I want to eat. I also will not be making anymore dining reservations. If I can't walk up to a restaurant within a couple hours of when I'd like to eat and get a table I will just do CS or eat offsite as we are considering renting a vacation home and trying offsite for our next trip anyway.
