Dining Reviews 4/18 - 4/25 - ADDED CRT: POST 25

[Mom2BCCC]

Before our trip I had planned on doing detailed reviews with pictures because I learned so much from reviews I had read here. Well I now really appreciate the time and effort that goes into these reviews. Here we are back 1 1/2 weeks and life has already taken over. I've realized my limitations and know that if I don't get this down I'll forget all the good parts.

For most of the trip, we had a big party of 6 adults and 6 kids. Myself, DH and our four kids, plus DH's family (MIL, FIL, SIL, BIL, 2 nephews) Overall I was pleasantly surprised at how most restaurants accomodated our party size. Here's the shocker - we made every ADR with no changes! I'm still amazed.

We were on the ddp for the first 3 nights, but when the rest of the family arrived we changed resorts and opted not to do the ddp.

I'll be reviewing:

Tutto Italia - dinner
Chef Mickey's - breakfast
Boma - dinner
Olivias - dinner
Cinderella's Royal Table - breakfast
Liberty Tree Tavern - dinner
Biergarten - dinner
Raglan Road - dinner
Pizzafari Counter Service Lunch

Tutto Italia dinner - ADR was for 5:45. This night started off crazy. It was our first day, which overlapped with our best friends trip (they had a different school break). We spent the day with our friends (before the in-laws arrived). Friends stayed at BCV and we stayed at SSR. My DS9 went back to BCV with them for an afternoon swim. We were to meet at Epcot at 4PM. Well, the kids ended up staying in the pool, etc. until 5:00. Ok fine, we'll meet at Tutto Italia. As we (DH, me and DS11, DS7 and DD2) are going thru the turnstile at Future World my cell phone rings. Its our friends - DS9 has no ticket Of course he doesn't, its in my bag! It was now 5:30. I said no problem, I'll meet you at the International Gateway entrance. DH and the kids will go straight to the restaurant. I knew Epcot was big. You really can't appreciate how big it is until you have sprinted from one entrance to the other and then all the way to Italy. I knew I'd get a lot of exercise at WDW, but not all on day one. Needless to say, by the time we arrived I was starving and thirsty!

We were about 15 minutes late, but still waited about 30 minutes. We did have a party of 13 (yet another family of friends joined us), so I suspect they were waiting for a large party to leave. We sat in the room in the back at a table for 9 (including DD2) and another table of 4 (4 of the kids sat here).

Our server started out good, but soon realized that half of us were on the ddp and half were not. He did not look thrilled. He took our drink orders and disappeared for a looooong time. More to come...

 

[Angelrose]

Great start. Can't wait for more.

 

[Mom2BCCC]

We finally got our drinks. The bread arrived also. It was a basket with a couple of different options. Tasted great to me as I could have eaten the table cloth at this point. DH and I ordered the special which was a trout dish. It was good but not spectacular. I remember wishing I had ordered a pasta dish. DH was very pleased with his. My friend got the soup (pasta e fagioli) and she loved it. She also got the Lasagna al Forno, which the server tried to talk her out of but she ordered it anyway and thought it was ok. Friends' DH got the "Fish Filet all'acqua pazza" - he raved about it.

The kids all got plain pasta with no sauce. Pitiful I know. They did get the kids mozzerella sticks as an appetizer and those were a hit.

We loved the deserts. I got the tiramisu, it was good. DH and Friends DH got the Copetta Sotto Bosco (berries, zabaglione cream gelato and chocolate sauce) they both thought it was great.

All in all the food was good, not great. The service was good, but slow. Our waiter was nice, just seemed overwhelmed. We love Italian, so will undoubtedly go back when they open the new restaurant. I did ask the server if he had an update on when they would be closing. He shrugged and smiled but did not offer any inside info.

One more thing: remember when I mentioned that some of us were on the ddp and some not? I guess I just assumed that this was a common occurance and they had a system in place to work everything out. The kids were getting antsy (can't blame them it had been 2+ hours) so us women folk decided to take the kids out and started walking toward future world. The men stayed behind to pay the bill. It was about 8:30 and people were lined up for Illuminations. I have never seen Epcot so packed. Wall to wall people. So we started walking and browsing. It was difficult to walk and took us about 1/2 hour to get through the crowds to the walkway to future world. I called DH and asked where he was. He said still at Tutto Italia. There's a problem with the bill. Apparently we had confused the server to the point that he had to get another server and ultimately the manager involved to figure out how to charge us. All I know is that the 3 DH's finally showed up looking shell shocked. I decided to not even ask what the specific problem was - I was determined to just let it go and enjoy our vacation.

Next up: Chef Mickey's breakfast.

 

[Mom2BCCC]

Sat. 4/19 was DD2 (almost 3) day. We were going to MK to do Fantasyland and Barnstormer and then to Chef Mickey's for an 11:50 ADR with her favorite (non princess) characters.

Well, we arrived at rope drop and made it to all the rides on our list in true commando style. I was the drill sargeant, the kids were the soldiers. No smelling the roses for us on this day.

As an aside, I lost DH about 10:30, he claimed he was going to pass out from hunger so off he went to the Main Street Bakery to get a muffin. He insisted it was the best muffin he'd ever had. I can not either confirm or deny his contention, the muffin did not make it back to fantasyland where I was dragging the kids from ride to ride.

I guess sprint style touring was too much for DD. As we were heading out to the monorail she fell asleep in the stroller. We arrived at Chef Mickey's a few minutes early and were seated within 5 minutes. I was a little apprehensive about the last ADR of the day (in fact they had extended the hours because of the large crowds that week). But the food was fresh and hot and we weren't rushed at all. The food was typical breakfast. Scrambled eggs/cheese omlet, Mickey Waffles (kids favorite), bacon, etc. The kids all loved the cinnamon buns also. Our CM was great. Attentive and funny.

The character interaction was really good. Even though we were the end of the breakfast shift we never felt rushed. Characters were Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Donald. Goofy was particularly good. I'll try to figure out how to post pictures, since I do have pictures of this restaurant.

I woke DD up when Minnie Mouse was coming to our table. Goofy saw she was finally awake and came back to say hi. Pluto and Minnie also came back twice.

If you have young kids who like characters Chef Mickey's is a great option. It is very bright and noisy (shockingly not on my list of the best romantic breakfast experiences).

While at Chef Mickey's we got a call from Grandma and Grandpa. They had arrived and were at SSR waiting for us. So off we went for a pool break before our Boma ADR.

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

enjoying it so far!!! your dining choices are similar to mine so it works outwell!! I found Goofy was the best whenever i went to CM ! Looking forward to the rest!

 

[mmmears]

Thank you for posting your reviews! I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip!

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent

 

[phabric]

Enjoyed your reviews. Will be looking for more.

 

[TigerKat]

I'm joining in......

 

[polyfan60]

Thanks for posting your reviews!

 

[suzimar57]

enjoying your reviews so far - i'm on board, too!

 

[Mom2BCCC]

I thought I would at least share a couple of the pictures we took at Chef Mickey's - I wish we had taken pictures of food, but when you are in the moment and wanting to eat...

Obviously I'm new at this and having trouble with the picture size. I'll figure it out.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Mom2BCCC]

We recently became DVC members with AKV as our home resort. Since we had never been we wanted to check it out this trip. I had read mostly positive reviews of Boma on these boards but was a little unsure. I am a rather plain Jane meat and potatoes type. DH, however, loves spicy and different. We are not great fans of buffets. With four kids it seems like constant up and down getting food for everyone but yourself.

We arrived about 20 minutes early for our 5:45 ADR. We also brought MIL and FIL b/c they had arrived earlier than expected. Our party went from 6 to 8. They were able to accomodate us with no problem. We were seated at exactly our ADR time. It was very crowded. We had a big table in the middle of the restaurant. It felt a little tight but not bad. The server was very good. He took our drink orders and left us to do our thing at the buffet. The line for food was really long. Unlike many buffets at WDW and elsewhere, there was only one starting point. Maybe that is why we had a wait. Althought the CM did say that he couldn't believe how crowded it was and he apologized for the wait. Luckily the wait was worth every second.

The food was great. We all loved it. Even my boys who eat only when threatened all found something they loved and went back for seconds (unheard of in my family). For the kids the chicken tenders and fries were a big hit. DD had 3 bowls of Mac and Cheese (I must say it was better than the standard Disney Mac and Cheese. DD kept ordering Mac and Cheese in other restaurants and was very upset when it wasn't the same as at Boma).

The highlights for me were the ribs (yummy) and the prime rib. I liked the potatoes with afritude but they were a little spicy (again my tastes run to plain and dull). I tried the grilled salmon dish, it was good but too spicy for me. DH tried everything and was very happy and full. He loved the soup! MIL and FIL both enjoyed there food. I wish I could remember more detail about the choices, but hopefully this is enought to get an idea.

The desserts were not inspiring. We were not blown away by the zebra cakes or anything else on the dessert menu. One thing I did question is several of the choices had a card that said "contains alcohol". I figured this out after my DS9 had returned with a big plate of goodies. Does "contains alcohol" mean kids should not eat the item? I wasn't sure so I discouraged further foraging at the dessert table.

One very funny story before I end - at the AKL they have short trails to walk around and view the animals. So after dinner we were watching some giraffes in the savannah. The hotel rooms also face out onto the savannah. Here is a picture to illustrate:

My DH was taking pictures and standing next to another man also taking pictures. The man turned to DH and said: "Hey look at the giraffe, hey look at the zebra, hey look at the naked guy standing on his balcony!". DH started laughing. Apparently (I missed it thankfully) there was a guy out on his balcony displaying his attributes. He was not clearly visible from where we were but you could see him with the camera lens. All of the men with cameras were cracking up. So I guess you could say that Boma offers entertainment too - if you are into that sort of thing!

Bottom line. Boma is really good. We'll be going back for sure.

 

[devonsmommy]

Enjoying your reviews so far!

 

[averill94]

Glad to see you liked Boma- we are set to go for the first time. I am not into "too spicy" DH is- but we are giving it a go!

Thanks

 

[Mom2BCCC]

Glad to see you liked Boma- we are set to go for the first time. I am not into "too spicy" DH is- but we are giving it a go!

Thanks

I think you'll like it, plenty of choices for every taste!

 

[Mom2BCCC]

We had dinner at Olivia's at Old Key West on Sunday 4/20. There were 12 of us seated at two tables of six. We were all pleasantly surprised. I had prime rib and Olivia's potatoes (see the meat/potatoes trend?). The Olivia's potatoes are really good. Probably really bad for you, but its vacation, right? They were full of cream and cheese. I was sitting with my BIL and SIL they both got the penne pasta with shrimp. They both loved it. It did look good. The kids food was the same as it is most everywhere at WDW. The standard pizza, chicken fingers and pasta.

Breakfast was also great. The Olivia's potatoes were available at breakfast also. Although we had bought cereal for the room, my DS9 went to breakfast everyday and got the kids pancakes. He is underweight so when he finds something he likes to eat we encourage it. The adults took turns going to breakfast with him (not a big sacrifice!).

One other thing about Olivia's. The day (Sunday) we moved to OKW I called the Disney Cake Hotline (found on these boards). I wanted to order a cake for my MIL birthday on Thursday. My hope was to get a cake at Olivia's but to bring it back to our villa to eat it. I had tried the number from home before we left and gotten a message machine. I'd almost given up but decided to try one more time. I was re-routed through the system and finally got a woman who was very nice and accomodating. I was told no problem we'll order the cake from the Boardwalk Bakery and have it delivered to Olivia's for pickup Thursday afternoon. The next day I was at breakfast and given that I am a paranoid planner - type I asked at the checkin desk at Olivia's if they knew about the cake order. The CM at the desk was the person I had spoken to! After all that I could have just walked 100 yds. over to the restaurant and ordered my cake.

The cake pickup went off without a hitch. It was delicious and beautiful:

This was the 10 inch. It was way too much for the 12 of us. But really good. I think MIL was impressed.

We had no ADR's for the Monday. We had decided to get Pizza delivered to our villa. We used Giordanos in Lake Buena Vista. www.giordanos.com. The delivery came exactly one hour from when we ordered. We got an extra large thin pizza for the kids and it was huge! They ate it for dinner the first day and lunch again the second day. The pizza was ok. Better than at the parks. We are used to New Haven style pizza. The salads were good. We got the greek salad and the chopped salad. Both were good and a welcome respite from all the eating we had been doing.

Next up Cinderella's royal table for Breakfast.

 

[toocherie]

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Blood on the saddle]

"We are used to New Haven style pizza."


Just curious. What's a New Haven style pizza?

 

[kleldridge]

I'm joining in.

We are planning for dining June 6-20 and need recent reviews.