Dining Reviews Sep 2008 & Feb 2009 Update 8/13 - Complete!

[disneyfav4ever]

This looks so so good. We're not eating at the Poly but I think an afternoon break from the MK would be perfect to enjoy one of these. Mmmmmm Mmmmm - Looks (and sound) awesome.

I think it may be a generic drink that is available at several lounges. I'm not sure though.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I don't know how you used up that many snack credits with all of the wonderful food i have seen in your reviews so far. I doubt we would have a problem in May since my son is 16 and a human garbage disposale. I am really enjoying your reviews and getting some ideas on where to eat.

I'm really not sure how I managed at all either. The booths being open on the last day were really a big help, otherwise I probably would have come home with a dozen or so packaged snacks.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I have yet to go during the Festival to sample all the foods ,but it is on my list of times to go !!

You should definatly go for the Food and Wine Festival sometime. I've been to the Festival twice, (really been twice, I'm not including just gorging on the snacks like I did this time.) But I was there for the 2005 and 2007 festivals, and they were both wonderful.

I love Boma, can't wait to go back in February.

thanks for your cocktail pictures, never had much to drink at WDW as we have always been in October/november and I have found that in the hot weather all I want is soft drink or beer. Maybe if the weather is chillier in February I will give some of those cocktails a go.

Great reviews

Yeah, I found it to be too hot to be drinking during the days most of the time, but I was all right as long as I stuck to only drinking around dinnertime, and I limited myself to one drink a day. Most days anyway.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Thanks soooo much for the Boma review. As soon as you mentioned the 'best' days I was rechecking our ADR - ours is SUnday, and I thought, Oh well - never mind..... Until I reached the end of your post and read your comment about the chefs saying that Sunday was the best night - yaayyyy!

You'll have to let me know how it is on a Sunday night. And my idea of the best, may be different from yours, but all of the days are good, the only real difference for me is the soups. It's not that they were bad on Monday / Thursday, they just weren't as amazing as they were on other nights, KWIM?

 

[suzimar57]

thanks for listing how you used all your snack credits!

 

[BCV513]

Thanks for the Spoodles review! I've never eaten there, but now I really want to try it.

One quick question. You mentioned that another restaurant has opened since the Wave. Which one is that? I'm so behind in news!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Thanks for the Spoodles review! I've never eaten there, but now I really want to try it.

One quick question. You mentioned that another restaurant has opened since the Wave. Which one is that? I'm so behind in news!

T-Rex, personally I'm not so excited about it, since it's owned by the same company that has Rainforest Cafe, but they also gave Disney Yak and Yeti, and that's one of my new favorites. So it could be really good.

 

[Piglets Mommy]

Thanks for all the great updates...I think I need to leave the kids at home and go to WDW during F&W

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Thanks for all the great updates...I think I need to leave the kids at home and go to WDW during F&W

LOL. I'm trying to get a friend to come with me on my next trip, but she says her husband would kill her if she left him home with the kids for a week.

 

[TigerKat]

We usually have snack credits left - not this past trip! F&WF booths are the best use for those credits. We used them all up in two days!!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

On day seven, I spent the day at Animal Kingdom. I woke up early as I had an pre-park opening breakfast ADR at the new character breakfast at Tusker House.

I had always wanted to eat at Donald's Breakfastasaurous when it used to be at Restaurantasaurous, and I'd had two reservations there before, but once I overslept, and once I was sick. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to try it, and I was bummed when I heard when they were moving it to Tusker House, mainly because Tusker House was one of my favorite counter service locations.

I considered eating breakfast at Boma instead, and having dinner at Tusker House, but the menus seemed so similar that I decided to eat breakfast here, since it had the fun addition of characters, and have dinner at Boma. Though as you read in my previous review, I switched the night I ate at Boma so I could be there on a Saturday. My original plan actually included Boma three times, once for breakfast, and twice for dinner, then it changed to once for breakfast, once for dinner, and Tusker House once for dinner, but then it went to the plan I actually used which was Boma once for dinner, Jiko once for dinner, and Tusker House once for breakfast. Needless to say my original plan never looks the same as my final plan.

I had an 8:05 ADR, which was an hour before opening. It's a stradegy I've used several times at Magic Kingdom, usually when I eat at Crystal Palace, that puts me in the park before other guests, and lets me be at the front of rope drop.

I arrived at Animal Kingdom, early as usual, and was seated a few minutes before my ADR time. I had a table in a smaller room, with only a dozen tables or so. I think that the tables were a little too close together though, since when anyone got up from a nearby table, we had to be very careful not to step on each other's toes. Luckily I had some very nice people sitting near me, who also took my picture for me. I didn't even have to ask, they offered right away.

My server this morning was Mike, and he was very nice, and very funny. I started with a glass of frunch a.k.a jungle juice, which was delicious. I ended up having a couple glasses of it. I was told by Mike that I had enough time to go up to the buffet before the characters started coming around, and there was no line yet, so I took advantadge of that.

Everything looked so good, and I didn't even get some of everything I wanted to try, but I didn't want to overcrowd the plate so much that I wouldn't be able to indentify anything in the picture, (this is seriously how my brain works, LOL,) so I only took as much as I could without resorting to dumping food on top of each other. Still, as the picture shows, I took a lot.

Starting with the cheese blintz in the back, and going clockwise, there is; yam casserole, quiche, beef hash, leek fritatta, potatoes, and a piece of bacon.

The cheese blintz was good, and had an apple topping, that was also quite good, but a little sweet, and this was my "savory" plate. The yam casserole I really enjoyed, but I enjoy almost anything with sweet potatoes and the like. This had coconut in it, and a maple syrupy sauce. The quiche was good, but I can make better. Still for a mass-produced item for a buffet, it was very good. The beef hash was good, a little unusual, and a little salty, but good. The fritatta was kind of dried out, but I'm picky with eggs, and I really only took this because it had leeks in it, and I love leeks. The potatoes were wonderful, cooked perfectly, and very nicely seasoned. The bacon was good, but it was just bacon.

As I was eating I saw Donald. Remember how I said the tables were too close together? I got hit in the shoulder by Donald's beak. I think he knew he hit me to, because he seemed to get worried for a minute there. I was fine though, and just wanted a picture. But the tables really are too close together.

Every time I go to a breakfast buffet, I try and do a plate of savory items first, and then a plate of sweet items. I think that's because I can't just eat sweet stuff first thing in the morning before I have anything else in my system.

In the back of the plate there's a cheese danish, then a piece of what I think was some kind of orange bread or something, honestly I can't quite remember exactly what it was, bread pudding, a doughnut, and chocolate mango bread.

The cheese danish was good, but nothing special. Both of the breads were good as well. The doughnut I only took because it was a Krispy Kreme, and I just can't get Krispy Kreme doughnuts anywhere around where I live anymore, so that was a bit of nostalgia. The bread pudding was out of this world good. There were pecans on top that had kind of caramelized like they do on pecan pies, and it was just super yummy.

I then saw Mickey, Daisy, and Goofy. Really, the tables are way too close together. Goofy accidentally stepped on my foot, which hurt for a second, as Goofy has big shoes, and I was just in little sandals, but again, I was fine, and just wanted a picture.

I finished eating a few minutes before the park opened, and was at the front of the crowd in Africa, and was able to walk right onto Kilimanjaro Safari.

Overall Tusker House is a wonderful breakfast buffet, and I enjoyed it even more then the breakfast buffet at Crystal Palace this time. (Though that may have more to do with this being all new, and me having tried everything at Crystal Place mutiple times.)

 

[TigerKat]

I should not read reviews on an empty stomach........

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I should not read reviews on an empty stomach........

I know what you mean, I should've had lunch before writing the review, LOL.

 

[Piglets Mommy]

Awesome, review, but now i want a Krispy Kreme...Just one more reason to convince DH we need a WDW trip in 2009

 

[disneyfav4ever]

After spending all morning in Animal Kingdom, I got a little hungry, and decided to see if Rainforest Cafe had any room for a walk up. I'd always put off trying Rainforest Cafe before, as it's a chain restaurant, and I'd rather go to restaurants I can't go to anywhere else while I'm in Disney, but a friend had said that he always takes his family there, and the food was good, so I decided to try it.

I was told that there was no seating in the restaurant, but the bar was almost empty, and I could sit there if I wanted, since they serve the full menu as well.

Here's a small gripe of mine. I know it's Disney World, and there's going to be kids, but must they sit at the bar. I can see allowing them in the bar area, at the tables, but I don't think they should be allowed to sit at the bar. It just doesn't seem right, and I know in some cases it's illegal for children to sit at the bar.

Anyway, I decided to order the awesome appetizer adventure, which is a sampling of four of the restaurant's different appetizers, and I thought it would be a nice meal. It was nice for a change to be in a restaurant, and not feel like I had to order an appetizer, entree, and dessert.

Included was; spinach dip, calamari, chimi cha cha, and chicken tenders. The spinach dip was all right, though I prefer the kind I make out of soup mix. The calamari were good, but nothing special, as were the chicken tenders. The sauces that came with them, marinara, and something like a honey mustard, were both good as well, though nothing special.

My favorite thing was also the most original, the chimi cha cha, which was, a Mexican egg roll, for lack of a better description. I thought it was really good. It was an egg roll wrapper filled with chicken, corn, beans, peppers, and cheese. I love Mexican, and I love Asian, so even though this wasn't incredibly authentic, it had a nice flavor, and was very good.

Would I go back to Rainforest Cafe? Maybe. The food was good, but not incredibly original or gourmet, but there are a few menu items I wouldn't mind trying, and it was a decent meal, and I have no complaints.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

Everything sounds so good!

Thank you for taking the time to share all this with us!

 

[wilma-bride]

Great updates - I am disappointed that I am at work and, as such, can't see any of the pictures but will look again when I get home. Meanwhile, keep up the good work

 

[TarheelPrincess]

Thanks for the Tusker House pics...we'll be there next month for breakfast and the review has me really excited!

 

[rkwells]

Thanks for the updates! Restaurantsaurus has always been a tradition for us...next March I'm hoping to get an 8:05am ADR at Tusker house. Did you go straight to Expedition Everest? If so, how did that work out?

Thanks!

 

[CharacterFan]

Thanks for the updates! Restaurantsaurus has always been a tradition for us...next March I'm hoping to get an 8:05am ADR at Tusker house. Did you go straight to Expedition Everest? If so, how did that work out?

Thanks!

When you get done if it's after 9, the park is wide open and you can go anywhere, if it's before 9, they'll hold you, until the walk gets there you can go with them to EE. We always go to Safari first and then head over to EE to give our food a little bit to settle.