Reviews:
The Mara @ AKL
Boma
Crystal Palace Breakfast
Columbia Harbor House
Liberty Tree Tavern
Princess Storybook Breakfast
Biergarten
Le Cellier
Chef Mickeys Breakfast
Tusker House Lunch
Jiko
Disney's Playhouse Play and Dine Breakfast
Sci Fi Lunch
Mama Melrose Italiano
Coral Reef
Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe
Ohana
I'm going to try and make this brief. My family and I stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge (AKL)- DH 42, DD 5, DD, 18 mos. We had free dining and upgraded to Deluxe dining. This just seemed easier with a small child - trying to do cafeteria style quick service dining is very difficult when you have small children. It was very much worth it to us. I'll rate 0-5 stars - 5 being the best.
Day 1
Lunch
Mara - Quick Service at AKL
Me and DD 18 mos. - Rotisserie Chicken and couscous and Zebra domes for dessert.
DH Turkey on Ciabatta - pretty good, had olives
DD 5 Chicken nuggets and fries (not very good according to DH)
I thought it was decent and a good value. Decent for quick service and it was nice that it was at my hotel. I give it 3 stars.
Dinner
Boma - AKL
This is a buffet. It was not as good as I remembered 2+ years ago. While there are a lot of African influenced items on the buffet there are also some other items to appeal to those who may not like that type of food. We all sampled some couscous, pork (2 years ago the pork was a loin, this is now pork shoulder, didn't care for it), great desserts. I like the buffet. I just don't recall so many African items on it in the past. I like the breakfast much better. I give 3.5 stars.
Day 2
Breakfast
Crystal Palace - MK
This is a standard breakfast buffet and we sampled all of the main staples of a breakfast buffet eggs, bacon, sausage, etc. The food was terrible. The food was not fresh and the buffet was not clean. Also, I grabbed a bagel and went to put some cream cheese on my plate and there was all this hair in the cream cheese (and I dont mean one or two hairs either.) It was disgusting and gross. I was so disappointed in CP. We go to this buffet every time we are at Disney. Im willing to give it a chance again when we go back, but I was so turned off by it this time around. Hopefully, this was just a bad day. The Pooh characters were great but I didnt care for the little dance they do every ½ hour or so. It just made it longer before all of the characters got around to your table. Service was less than stellar. I give 2 stars mostly because of the characters otherwise I would give it less.
Lunch
Columbia Harbor House - MK
This is a Quick Service. We did not have any TS reservations for lunch.
DH Chicken Salad pretty good
Me Tuna Salad Sandwich alright
DD 5/18 mos Adult Chicken nugget meal hot decent for chicken nuggets.
I thought this was a decent QS restaurant. The food was hot and fresh. There was plenty of seating and the lines for food were not very long. The only issue I had was that there werent any chicken nuggets on the kids menu. I had to order my daughters chicken nuggets off the adult menu and that meant I was down an adult credit on the dining plan. We all ate our food. I give it 3 stars
Dinner
Liberty Tree Tavern - MK
This is a Character Table Service restaurant. I love this restaurant. At dinner, the food is served family style and it is like a Thanksgiving meal (turkey, ham/pork, roast beef, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans.) Every time I eat here, the food is great. This evening was no exception. The characters were great especially goofy falling down the stairs and the food excellent. The service was very good too. I heard from this board that in the future there will be no more character dining here or maybe just at certain meals. That is too bad. This a great restaurant and I love the characters here. The kids ate the food too. I give 4.5 stars. This is one of my favorite restaurants.
Day 3
Breakfast
Princess Storybook at Akershus in Norway @ Epcot
This is a character (princess) breakfast and is ½ buffet and ½ family style. The buffet is more your continental items (pastries, breads, jams, fruit, and some Nordic foods) and your hot items (eggs, sausage, bacon, and potato casserole) are served on a platter for the whole table to share. I really like this breakfast. I like the pastries on the buffet and the potato casserole is excellent. Everyone ate and we had plenty of time with the princesses (Belle, Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins). We had great service too. Oh yeah and you get a free picture with Belle at the end of your meal. I give 5 stars.
Lunch
Biergarten at Germany in Epcot
This is a buffet. Unfortunately, I thought there would be a show while we ate, but that is only at dinner. I didnt know that so that was disappointing. My husband who lived in Germany at one time thought the food was excellent. I thought the food was good. There was plenty to choose from, mostly German fare like weiner schnitzel, sausages, potato salad, some meatballs which the kids liked, spaetzle. I did notice the food was very fresh and they were always putting new food out on the buffet. My husband would give this 5 stars if you like German food. I say 3 stars if you dont or are neutral. I might have given it a higher rating had the show been going on like I expected.
Dinner
Le Cellier at Canada in Epcot
Me Soup, Mushroom filet, Smores
DH Salad, Mushroom filet, Maple Crème Brulee
DD Soup, mac n cheese, ice cream sundae
DD shared off our plates
Let me first say I heard over and over on these boards how great this place was. I called repeatedly for weeks to get a reservation here. I was sadly disappointed. This was one of our worst meals. The service wasnt very good either our waitress was MIA most of the time and never refilled our drinks. I did like the bread and the soup. I didnt care for the steak or the risotto. I thought the whole thing was bland and DH agrees with my assessment. For dessert, DH ordered the Maple Crème Brulee and liked it very much. I had the Smores and thought it was OK. DD had the ice cream sundae and she enjoyed playing with it. Frankly, I will not be going back here again. I would have complained had I not been on the dining plan I would never pay what that meal would have actually cost me. I give it 1.5 stars. This was a major disappointment.
Day 4
Breakfast
Chef Mickeys Contemporary Hotel
This is a character buffet. This has all the major staples of a breakfast buffet and a few extra desserts. I thought this was a great buffet. I didnt care for the cheesy potato casserole at all. I thought the pancakes were excellent. It takes a little longer for the characters to come around than at some of the other buffets and we missed Goofy. The service was great. I enjoyed this restaurant and all of the main characters were there. I give it 4 stars. I still like the Princess Breakfast the best.
Lunch
Tusker House - AK
This is a buffet. It used to be a quick service restaurant. There is a mixture of African foods and standard foods. I thought the food was great. DH and I had some chicken, couscous, and some great chocolate cakes. The kids had mini corn dogs and mac and cheese. There was also salad on the buffet. There is a lot of food to choose from. It was sooo hot out this day that it was great to escape the heat and sit down and be waited on. We had great service too never ran out of drinks. I give this 4 stars. Next time, Im going to try Yak and Yeti. It smelled great when I walked by
Dinner
Jiko - AKL
Me Taste of Africa, Filet and Mac n Cheese, Pistachio Crème Brulee
DH Meat filled phyllo pockets with peach chutney, Beef Ribs, Pistachio Crème Brulee
DD Carrot and celery sticks with peanut butter, Mac n Cheese, ice cream sundae
DD asleep the whole time
This is a Signature restaurant. The focus is African cuisine. Ive been here before and enjoyed it a lot. This time, my youngest daughter fell asleep while I held her which made it difficult for me to eat. I loved the Taste of Africa. DH loved his appetizer too. Our main courses were excellent. I love the crème brulee here. DH said the maple crème brulee at Le Cellier was better. Overall the food was excellent. I didnt think our server was very attentive and as a result, I give it 4 stars. Had the service been a little better, I would have given 4.5 or 5.
Day 5
Breakfast
Disneys Playhouse Play n Dine @ Hollywood Studios
This is a character buffet. This is your standard breakfast buffet. I thought the food was good but nothing spectacular on it. We had very good service. There is also a time about every 20 mins or so where the characters stop making their visits and do a dance. As a result, this meal took longer for the characters to visit. At one point, all of the characters were going to go away for 15 mins and then come back. We had finished our breakfast and already waited around a long time to see the last character, Jo Jo. The handler came over and asked us if we had seen all of the characters and we said we were still waiting on Jo Jo. So she brought Jo Jo over before Jo Jo took a break. That was really great. I give this 3.5 stars. That attention to service really put it over the top for me.
Lunch
Sci Fi Dine In Theater @ Hollywood Studios
Me BLT Soup, Ribs, Chocolate shake, Chocolate Tart
DH Salad, Burger, Apple crisp
DD Salad, Mac n cheese, ice cream sundae
DD Beefaroni
This is a really neat restaurant. You sit in a car and it is like you are at an old drive in. I really like this restaurant. I LOVE the BLT soup. It is some of the best soup Ive ever had. The ribs were a little fatty but good. Its hard to go wrong with a chocolate shake. DH thought his burger was good. The kids enjoyed their food and the French fries were great. The dessert was good. We had a great server, too. I give 4 stars.
Dinner
Mama Melrose @ Hollywood Studios
Me Ceasar salad, Penne alla Vodka, Tiramisu
DH ceasar salad, Flatbread pepperoni pizza, Tiramisu
DD salad, Pasta with cheese and butter, ice cream sundae
DD shared off of our plates
First, we were almost ½ hour late to our reservation due to issues with our bus from the hotel. They still let us in without any issues. I felt bad because they were turning away people walking in for a table but we couldnt help our tardiness. The Penne ala Vodka was good but greasy. DH said his pizza was alright. DDs had pasta with butter and cheese. The food was just alright but we had good service. I give 2.5 stars. I will probably not go back there again in the future. The food wasnt spectacular.
Day 6
Breakfast
Boma
I love the breakfast at Boma. It is a breakfast buffet but in addition to your standard breakfast items, they have some of the best pastries around. I love the blueberry muffins and the cinnamon rolls. The buffet also has a meat carving station and some African food items. I really think this is one of the best breakfast buffets at Disney. One reason we always stay at AKL is the hotel restaurants are so good.
Sunshine Seasons @ EPCOT
Me Rotisserie chicken and green beans and rice
DH Beef and broccoli w/ noodles
DD white rice and kids meal with peanut butter and jelly
DD shared my chicken
This is a quick service cafeteria experience at The Land pavilion. The food here was pretty good. My chicken was very flavorful and fresh. DH said his was as good as any other cheap Chinese he eats. Another thing I liked was there was refrigerated section where I was able to get a kids meal of a peanut butter and jelly uncrustable for DD. Because of the different stations it makes a good selection of food to eat. Overall I liked the meal. I give 3 stars.
Coral Reef
Me Sea and Land, NY Strip, Chocolate wave
DH Sea and Land, Grilled Chicken, Crème Brulee
DD Celery and carrot sticks with Ranch, Grilled Chicken, ice cream sundae
DD shared off our plates
After some negative reviews Ive happened upon recently, I was expecting a less than stellar experience here. I was pleasantly surprised. This was, in my opinion, one of the best meals we ate. DH and I both thought the appetizer was very good. DD liked the carrots and celery with ranch appetizer. Everyone enjoyed their main course, including DD. DD even mentioned how good the chicken was. I was happy that the kids menu offered something a little healthier for DD, too. We all enjoyed our desserts. I especially liked the brandied cherries on the chocolate wave. It gave it a little kick. We had good service and it was a nice, enjoyable meal. We were able to sit the closest we have ever sat before which was the first row up from the bottom and the side closest to the aquarium. After thinking about it, I much preferred sitting there than on the floor in front of the aquarium. Kids were running around down there and it seemed too distracting. I give 4.5 stars. We really enjoyed this meal.
Day 7
Breakfast
Boma
See Day 6 breakfast
Lunch
Cosmic Rays Starlight Café
Me Turkey Bacon wrap, grapes, carrot cake
DH Cheeseburger, fries
DD Chicken nuggets, fries
DD Peanut butter and jelly, grapes
The food was decent here. The fries were pretty good too. The negative about this experience was that half of the tables were taken up by people saving tables while people ordered in line. If people were to just order their food then go sit down, there would be plenty of table turn over. Now, I do understand if you have very young children the need to get seated and have other members of your party go order. But I was seeing mainly lone adults sitting at empty tables while the rest of their family stood in line and ordered. That was very frustrating and made it difficult to find a table. Not to mention tables were taken for a lot longer than needed resulting in low table turnover. It took well over 5 minutes with trays in hand walking around before we were able to find a table. Since the food was alright and the seating an issue, I give 2 stars.
Dinner
Ohana
This was another disappointment. Let me say Ive never been a huge fan of this restaurant in the first place, but I enjoy taking the boat over to the Polynesian so that is one reason we go to this restaurant. We had a 4:30pm reservation. When we got seated, they sat us right in front of the show. We asked about moving as half the restaurant was empty and the hostess assured us the show would not be going on but for 5 more minutes. Not true. There were two breaks in the entertainment but we had to sit as people crowded around our table to take pictures of their children. It was very distracting and rude. All in all there were maybe 15 minutes where there wasnt a show going on during our meal. Seating us right in front of the show made us leave sooner. Im sure that is what they wanted. Also, we barely sat down before food started to be brought to the table. DH ran to the restroom right after the salad/bread arrived and by the time he got back, the main courses were arriving. We were totally rushed. As far as the food goes, it was good not excellent or spectacular. In fact one of the pieces of steak was just a huge chunk of fat. The whole atmosphere and the rushing just turned me off. Then, both DH and I got sick that night. Im not sure if it was the food or what but we will not be going back here again. I dont care how popular it is. I give 1 star on this. So if you are unable to get a reservation here, it is probably a good thing!
Day 8
Breakfast
Boma
See day 6 breakfast
The Mara @ AKL
Boma
Crystal Palace Breakfast
Columbia Harbor House
Liberty Tree Tavern
Princess Storybook Breakfast
Biergarten
Le Cellier
Chef Mickeys Breakfast
Tusker House Lunch
Jiko
Disney's Playhouse Play and Dine Breakfast
Sci Fi Lunch
Mama Melrose Italiano
Coral Reef
Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe
Ohana
I'm going to try and make this brief. My family and I stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge (AKL)- DH 42, DD 5, DD, 18 mos. We had free dining and upgraded to Deluxe dining. This just seemed easier with a small child - trying to do cafeteria style quick service dining is very difficult when you have small children. It was very much worth it to us. I'll rate 0-5 stars - 5 being the best.
Day 1
Lunch
Mara - Quick Service at AKL
Me and DD 18 mos. - Rotisserie Chicken and couscous and Zebra domes for dessert.
DH Turkey on Ciabatta - pretty good, had olives
DD 5 Chicken nuggets and fries (not very good according to DH)
I thought it was decent and a good value. Decent for quick service and it was nice that it was at my hotel. I give it 3 stars.
Dinner
Boma - AKL
This is a buffet. It was not as good as I remembered 2+ years ago. While there are a lot of African influenced items on the buffet there are also some other items to appeal to those who may not like that type of food. We all sampled some couscous, pork (2 years ago the pork was a loin, this is now pork shoulder, didn't care for it), great desserts. I like the buffet. I just don't recall so many African items on it in the past. I like the breakfast much better. I give 3.5 stars.
Day 2
Breakfast
Crystal Palace - MK
This is a standard breakfast buffet and we sampled all of the main staples of a breakfast buffet eggs, bacon, sausage, etc. The food was terrible. The food was not fresh and the buffet was not clean. Also, I grabbed a bagel and went to put some cream cheese on my plate and there was all this hair in the cream cheese (and I dont mean one or two hairs either.) It was disgusting and gross. I was so disappointed in CP. We go to this buffet every time we are at Disney. Im willing to give it a chance again when we go back, but I was so turned off by it this time around. Hopefully, this was just a bad day. The Pooh characters were great but I didnt care for the little dance they do every ½ hour or so. It just made it longer before all of the characters got around to your table. Service was less than stellar. I give 2 stars mostly because of the characters otherwise I would give it less.
Lunch
Columbia Harbor House - MK
This is a Quick Service. We did not have any TS reservations for lunch.
DH Chicken Salad pretty good
Me Tuna Salad Sandwich alright
DD 5/18 mos Adult Chicken nugget meal hot decent for chicken nuggets.
I thought this was a decent QS restaurant. The food was hot and fresh. There was plenty of seating and the lines for food were not very long. The only issue I had was that there werent any chicken nuggets on the kids menu. I had to order my daughters chicken nuggets off the adult menu and that meant I was down an adult credit on the dining plan. We all ate our food. I give it 3 stars
Dinner
Liberty Tree Tavern - MK
This is a Character Table Service restaurant. I love this restaurant. At dinner, the food is served family style and it is like a Thanksgiving meal (turkey, ham/pork, roast beef, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans.) Every time I eat here, the food is great. This evening was no exception. The characters were great especially goofy falling down the stairs and the food excellent. The service was very good too. I heard from this board that in the future there will be no more character dining here or maybe just at certain meals. That is too bad. This a great restaurant and I love the characters here. The kids ate the food too. I give 4.5 stars. This is one of my favorite restaurants.
Day 3
Breakfast
Princess Storybook at Akershus in Norway @ Epcot
This is a character (princess) breakfast and is ½ buffet and ½ family style. The buffet is more your continental items (pastries, breads, jams, fruit, and some Nordic foods) and your hot items (eggs, sausage, bacon, and potato casserole) are served on a platter for the whole table to share. I really like this breakfast. I like the pastries on the buffet and the potato casserole is excellent. Everyone ate and we had plenty of time with the princesses (Belle, Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins). We had great service too. Oh yeah and you get a free picture with Belle at the end of your meal. I give 5 stars.
Lunch
Biergarten at Germany in Epcot
This is a buffet. Unfortunately, I thought there would be a show while we ate, but that is only at dinner. I didnt know that so that was disappointing. My husband who lived in Germany at one time thought the food was excellent. I thought the food was good. There was plenty to choose from, mostly German fare like weiner schnitzel, sausages, potato salad, some meatballs which the kids liked, spaetzle. I did notice the food was very fresh and they were always putting new food out on the buffet. My husband would give this 5 stars if you like German food. I say 3 stars if you dont or are neutral. I might have given it a higher rating had the show been going on like I expected.
Dinner
Le Cellier at Canada in Epcot
Me Soup, Mushroom filet, Smores
DH Salad, Mushroom filet, Maple Crème Brulee
DD Soup, mac n cheese, ice cream sundae
DD shared off our plates
Let me first say I heard over and over on these boards how great this place was. I called repeatedly for weeks to get a reservation here. I was sadly disappointed. This was one of our worst meals. The service wasnt very good either our waitress was MIA most of the time and never refilled our drinks. I did like the bread and the soup. I didnt care for the steak or the risotto. I thought the whole thing was bland and DH agrees with my assessment. For dessert, DH ordered the Maple Crème Brulee and liked it very much. I had the Smores and thought it was OK. DD had the ice cream sundae and she enjoyed playing with it. Frankly, I will not be going back here again. I would have complained had I not been on the dining plan I would never pay what that meal would have actually cost me. I give it 1.5 stars. This was a major disappointment.
Day 4
Breakfast
Chef Mickeys Contemporary Hotel
This is a character buffet. This has all the major staples of a breakfast buffet and a few extra desserts. I thought this was a great buffet. I didnt care for the cheesy potato casserole at all. I thought the pancakes were excellent. It takes a little longer for the characters to come around than at some of the other buffets and we missed Goofy. The service was great. I enjoyed this restaurant and all of the main characters were there. I give it 4 stars. I still like the Princess Breakfast the best.
Lunch
Tusker House - AK
This is a buffet. It used to be a quick service restaurant. There is a mixture of African foods and standard foods. I thought the food was great. DH and I had some chicken, couscous, and some great chocolate cakes. The kids had mini corn dogs and mac and cheese. There was also salad on the buffet. There is a lot of food to choose from. It was sooo hot out this day that it was great to escape the heat and sit down and be waited on. We had great service too never ran out of drinks. I give this 4 stars. Next time, Im going to try Yak and Yeti. It smelled great when I walked by
Dinner
Jiko - AKL
Me Taste of Africa, Filet and Mac n Cheese, Pistachio Crème Brulee
DH Meat filled phyllo pockets with peach chutney, Beef Ribs, Pistachio Crème Brulee
DD Carrot and celery sticks with peanut butter, Mac n Cheese, ice cream sundae
DD asleep the whole time
This is a Signature restaurant. The focus is African cuisine. Ive been here before and enjoyed it a lot. This time, my youngest daughter fell asleep while I held her which made it difficult for me to eat. I loved the Taste of Africa. DH loved his appetizer too. Our main courses were excellent. I love the crème brulee here. DH said the maple crème brulee at Le Cellier was better. Overall the food was excellent. I didnt think our server was very attentive and as a result, I give it 4 stars. Had the service been a little better, I would have given 4.5 or 5.
Day 5
Breakfast
Disneys Playhouse Play n Dine @ Hollywood Studios
This is a character buffet. This is your standard breakfast buffet. I thought the food was good but nothing spectacular on it. We had very good service. There is also a time about every 20 mins or so where the characters stop making their visits and do a dance. As a result, this meal took longer for the characters to visit. At one point, all of the characters were going to go away for 15 mins and then come back. We had finished our breakfast and already waited around a long time to see the last character, Jo Jo. The handler came over and asked us if we had seen all of the characters and we said we were still waiting on Jo Jo. So she brought Jo Jo over before Jo Jo took a break. That was really great. I give this 3.5 stars. That attention to service really put it over the top for me.
Lunch
Sci Fi Dine In Theater @ Hollywood Studios
Me BLT Soup, Ribs, Chocolate shake, Chocolate Tart
DH Salad, Burger, Apple crisp
DD Salad, Mac n cheese, ice cream sundae
DD Beefaroni
This is a really neat restaurant. You sit in a car and it is like you are at an old drive in. I really like this restaurant. I LOVE the BLT soup. It is some of the best soup Ive ever had. The ribs were a little fatty but good. Its hard to go wrong with a chocolate shake. DH thought his burger was good. The kids enjoyed their food and the French fries were great. The dessert was good. We had a great server, too. I give 4 stars.
Dinner
Mama Melrose @ Hollywood Studios
Me Ceasar salad, Penne alla Vodka, Tiramisu
DH ceasar salad, Flatbread pepperoni pizza, Tiramisu
DD salad, Pasta with cheese and butter, ice cream sundae
DD shared off of our plates
First, we were almost ½ hour late to our reservation due to issues with our bus from the hotel. They still let us in without any issues. I felt bad because they were turning away people walking in for a table but we couldnt help our tardiness. The Penne ala Vodka was good but greasy. DH said his pizza was alright. DDs had pasta with butter and cheese. The food was just alright but we had good service. I give 2.5 stars. I will probably not go back there again in the future. The food wasnt spectacular.
Day 6
Breakfast
Boma
I love the breakfast at Boma. It is a breakfast buffet but in addition to your standard breakfast items, they have some of the best pastries around. I love the blueberry muffins and the cinnamon rolls. The buffet also has a meat carving station and some African food items. I really think this is one of the best breakfast buffets at Disney. One reason we always stay at AKL is the hotel restaurants are so good.
Sunshine Seasons @ EPCOT
Me Rotisserie chicken and green beans and rice
DH Beef and broccoli w/ noodles
DD white rice and kids meal with peanut butter and jelly
DD shared my chicken
This is a quick service cafeteria experience at The Land pavilion. The food here was pretty good. My chicken was very flavorful and fresh. DH said his was as good as any other cheap Chinese he eats. Another thing I liked was there was refrigerated section where I was able to get a kids meal of a peanut butter and jelly uncrustable for DD. Because of the different stations it makes a good selection of food to eat. Overall I liked the meal. I give 3 stars.
Coral Reef
Me Sea and Land, NY Strip, Chocolate wave
DH Sea and Land, Grilled Chicken, Crème Brulee
DD Celery and carrot sticks with Ranch, Grilled Chicken, ice cream sundae
DD shared off our plates
After some negative reviews Ive happened upon recently, I was expecting a less than stellar experience here. I was pleasantly surprised. This was, in my opinion, one of the best meals we ate. DH and I both thought the appetizer was very good. DD liked the carrots and celery with ranch appetizer. Everyone enjoyed their main course, including DD. DD even mentioned how good the chicken was. I was happy that the kids menu offered something a little healthier for DD, too. We all enjoyed our desserts. I especially liked the brandied cherries on the chocolate wave. It gave it a little kick. We had good service and it was a nice, enjoyable meal. We were able to sit the closest we have ever sat before which was the first row up from the bottom and the side closest to the aquarium. After thinking about it, I much preferred sitting there than on the floor in front of the aquarium. Kids were running around down there and it seemed too distracting. I give 4.5 stars. We really enjoyed this meal.
Day 7
Breakfast
Boma
See Day 6 breakfast
Lunch
Cosmic Rays Starlight Café
Me Turkey Bacon wrap, grapes, carrot cake
DH Cheeseburger, fries
DD Chicken nuggets, fries
DD Peanut butter and jelly, grapes
The food was decent here. The fries were pretty good too. The negative about this experience was that half of the tables were taken up by people saving tables while people ordered in line. If people were to just order their food then go sit down, there would be plenty of table turn over. Now, I do understand if you have very young children the need to get seated and have other members of your party go order. But I was seeing mainly lone adults sitting at empty tables while the rest of their family stood in line and ordered. That was very frustrating and made it difficult to find a table. Not to mention tables were taken for a lot longer than needed resulting in low table turnover. It took well over 5 minutes with trays in hand walking around before we were able to find a table. Since the food was alright and the seating an issue, I give 2 stars.
Dinner
Ohana
This was another disappointment. Let me say Ive never been a huge fan of this restaurant in the first place, but I enjoy taking the boat over to the Polynesian so that is one reason we go to this restaurant. We had a 4:30pm reservation. When we got seated, they sat us right in front of the show. We asked about moving as half the restaurant was empty and the hostess assured us the show would not be going on but for 5 more minutes. Not true. There were two breaks in the entertainment but we had to sit as people crowded around our table to take pictures of their children. It was very distracting and rude. All in all there were maybe 15 minutes where there wasnt a show going on during our meal. Seating us right in front of the show made us leave sooner. Im sure that is what they wanted. Also, we barely sat down before food started to be brought to the table. DH ran to the restroom right after the salad/bread arrived and by the time he got back, the main courses were arriving. We were totally rushed. As far as the food goes, it was good not excellent or spectacular. In fact one of the pieces of steak was just a huge chunk of fat. The whole atmosphere and the rushing just turned me off. Then, both DH and I got sick that night. Im not sure if it was the food or what but we will not be going back here again. I dont care how popular it is. I give 1 star on this. So if you are unable to get a reservation here, it is probably a good thing!
Day 8
Breakfast
Boma
See day 6 breakfast
