Disney Dining Advice

[wayneg]

As many of you know this August is 1st time we have done Disney Dining plan.
The time has come when I have to start making choices, less than 1 month I can start with the ADR's. Below is a list but looking for thoughts on what I have picked out, can easily change choices. I know its difficult as we all like different food. 2 main things, only meat DW really eats is chicken(no bones) and for me I eat absolutely anything but lots of it, I hate small arty farty portions. Lots of pics I have seen look very small portions. 15 nights to plan but have 16 credits.

Chef Mickeys - Contemp

Trails End - Fort W

Ohana - Poly

Grand Floridian 1900 Park Fare - GF

Mama Melrose - MGM

Hollywood & Vine- Fantasmic seating - MGM

Whispering Canyon Cafe - WL

Crystal Palace - MK

Cape May Cafe - Beach Club

Le Cellier Steakhouse - Epcot

Coral Reef - Epcot

Tepan Edo - Epcot

Rose & Crown - Epcot

Tutto Italia - Epcot
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Disney's Spirit of Aloha - Poly(2 credits)

 

[cherjp]

Hi Wayne,

We have had breakfast at Chef Mickeys, it was really good, buffet and lots of it.
Dinner at Grand Floridian also a buffet and really nice choices and again lots of food.
Hollywood and Vine, we did this last year , didnt have the reserved seating tho although i dont thinks that matters,H&V was very busy, food was buffet was ok and again lots of it.
Le Cellier was fantastic, i would do this again no problem at all, we ended up having to change our ressie to lunchtime due to travelcity and the only ressie we could get was around 12.15 ,so it was a lot of eating for us at lunchtime, thoroughly enjoyed this one.
Next time i would defo do Le Cellier again and Chef Mickeys is now a tradition for us too.
Rose and Crown we did the 1st time we went and to be honest i wouldnt bother with it again, felt the food wasnt too great for what we paid, but did time it for Illuminations so thats really what mattered.

hope this is helpful

 

[Young Pooh]

Looks good to me Wayne.

You have picked a few buffets so that should satisfy your appetite.

We've not tried all the ones you mention but we are looking to do some of them this Aug/Sept - don't you just love free dining!! Not sure about Tutto Italia - have heard that you don't get too much for your money.

Something to bear in mind at Le Cellier is that you can get the Chef's menu (or whatever it is called) on the DDP and it includes a starter. Another option at Epcot would be Restaurant Marrakesh - you can get the Moroccan Feast or any of the Sampler Platters on the DDP by just paying an extra $5.95 - looks like it would be good value (particularly the Feast).

Hope that helps.

 

[Claire L]

Oh looking good but if you are staying for 15 nights you will only get 15 TS credits, or are you staying 16 nights?

Claire

 

[gemmybear83]

Hi Wayne looks great - I love Ohanas so glad to see thats on there!

Have you thought about Biergarten we ate there last year and thought it was great - plenty of food choice, great service and entertainment

 

[wayneg]

Hi Wayne,
Rose and Crown we did the 1st time we went and to be honest i wouldnt bother with it again, felt the food wasnt too great for what we paid, but did time it for Illuminations so thats really what mattered.
hope this is helpful

R&C was not on list but I heard they changed menu and was a lot better so added it, its a possible change if anyone comes up with a better option.

Looks good to me Wayne.

You have picked a few buffets so that should satisfy your appetite.

We've not tried all the ones you mention but we are looking to do some of them this Aug/Sept - don't you just love free dining!! Not sure about Tutto Italia - have heard that you don't get too much for your money.

Something to bear in mind at Le Cellier is that you can get the Chef's menu (or whatever it is called) on the DDP and it includes a starter. Another option at Epcot would be Restaurant Marrakesh - you can get the Moroccan Feast or any of the Sampler Platters on the DDP by just paying an extra $5.95 - looks like it would be good value (particularly the Feast).

Hope that helps.

I like the buffets, think I ate half a cow and a whole salmon at boma
Tutto Italia I actually deleted before posting but didn't know where else to add so left it for now, our cast member friends told us they had heard a lot of bad reviews about it. Didn't know about Le Cellier chefs menu, will look into that. Will also look at Marrakesh.

Oh looking good but if you are staying for 15 nights you will only get 15 TS credits, or are you staying 16 nights?

Claire

There for 16 nights but 1st we wont check in until about 11-12pm(land in Tampa 8:45pm) and leave on our last day early for cruise so 16 credits over 15 days.

Hi Wayne looks great - I love Ohanas so glad to see thats on there!

Have you thought about Biergarten we ate there last year and thought it was great - plenty of food choice, great service and entertainment

Will have a look at it.

Thanks for quick replies, 2nd half of football now before I look at more menus

 

[Stageman]

You've got some good choices there but I would give the R&C a miss, we were booked in there for the first time in January and it was pretty dreadful. The curry was bad, fish was tasteless and the apple crumble was sliced apple with muesili sprinkled on top.

You also might want to consider trying something new, perhaps Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Villas, the menu looks interesting

 

[Claire L]

Cape May is a nice buffet if you want a selection of food.

Claire

 

[Claire L]

Doh! Just seen you have Cape May!! The Turf Club is nice for a quieter bite, but will need an ADR during free dining.

Claire

 

[paulh]

i personly think you have too many buffets there wayne.this is comeing from someone who likes to eat as well,as after a while the buffet stile gets a bit bland
As your staying at OKW why not eat there at Olivia's,it gets good reviews
,Head out to ALK to try the new resturant there(should be on the plan when it opens)will be the closest to our curry type food as the yanks arnt that keen on spicey stuff
Of you picks would say give rose and crown a miss as it over rated i would change it to raglen road as there fish n chips far better.but have fun planning
Paulh

 

[juehan]

Hello,

Some great choices there we loved Hollywood & Vine, Chef Mickeys, Biergarten and the Yachtsman Steakhouse.

Our only disappointment was Marrakesh really bland and rushed in and out in about 20 mins!!!

We're going Aug too but will have to miss the Biergarten as our 4 year old just doesn't like the experience.

Looking forward to trying Olivias and a fab holiday.

 

[wayneg]

Thanks Stageman & Paul, thats made my mind up for R&C, too many advising against it now

Don't fancy Raglan rd for some reason. reviews I have read are about 50/50 for and against. Think I would rather try places that have more positive reviews.

I know what you mean so many buffets Paul, I am trying to cut them down and try other places, I just keep reading all these reviews and the portions look so small, like this at Le Cellier http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=143990 a steak and nowt else on the plate
I know I don't eat as much as I used to but I know with a buffet I can have as much or as little as I like. Boma was great 1st time, 2nd time I didn't enjoy as much, Trails end been 3 times and could eat there every night, could just have their ribs and shrimp, delicious.

 

[wilma-bride]

As you probably know, I am a pretty fussy eater. Some of the places we enjoyed on the DDP (or otherwise) were:

Wolfgang Puck Cafe - definitely not arty farty portions, the portion sizes were HUGE. I can highly recommend the pork chop

Whispering Canyon Cafe - again, good portion sizes and the antics are fun.

Grand Floridian Cafe - never been there myself but friends have and, from what I have read, it gets pretty decent reviews.

 

[Elise79]

Have you thought about the Garden Grill in Epcot? It is all you can eat and we have always had really good meals there the most recent being in March.

We are trying the Turf Club at SSR this time too as it seems to get good reviews.

Places on our list for September so far are:
Coral Reef
Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue
Mama Melrose
Maya Grill
Le Cellier Steakhouse
Liberty Tree Tavern (if they bring the Characters back per the rumour!)
California Grill
Garden Grill
Grand Floridian Cafe
Turf Club

 

[stephensmum]

Hi Wayne. If you do Fantastmic package at Mama Melrose instead of V&H you get a starter. We found that at Chef Mickey's & Crystal Palace this year compared to last they were a bit tight with the meat but dh asked for more. Garden Grill was an old favourite of ours, they always offer you more platters although last year we had to ask & they had substituted the turkey for chicken, which was not nice & the server was quite rude, still we would go again as the other 4 times we had great servers. WCC had large portions of good food. We love Coral Reef & Kona Cafe. R&C poor food & service for us in 07, RR like food, good portions but disappointed last year with the atmosphere. WPC for counter service is brilliant. I'l let you know if I think of anymore.

 

[aaronandterri]

lots of buffets, they always go down well and good choices at them too
R and c id give a miss, just always had somethong wrong there (where as fish and chip qs meal is great)

Whispering Canyon Cafe, Le Cellier, chef mickeys and garden grill are our firm faves.


Tutto Italia ...hmmm the kids loved this but i came away starving, the portion sizes were tiny, i had like 4 bits of ravioli for a main!

 

[fuse04]

Hi Wayne, it will be interesting to see what you think of the DDP. We did in it 2007 and it worked well for us but not worth it this time round. Following much deliberation and research for May we have

Boma ( Great)
Sanaa (new)
Le Cellier ( really enjoyed the steak and Choc milkeshake but not much else with it!)
Narcoossees (not been before)
Ohana breakfast (ohana we liked for dinner)
Trails End (someone reccomended it )
Mama Melrose (food ok service slow)
Crystal Palace (Good)
1900 park Fare (new to us)
Teppon Edo (New to us)
Chef Mickeys and possibly Biergarten, Beaches and Cream

We are in the minority in not liking Whispering Canyon and Jiko. Califorrnian Grill is nice but probably too "arty farty" for you, Brown Derby similar. H&V not bad food, bit noisey. Chef Mickeys family like but I am not so keen. Have you thought about Chef De France?

Have seen bad reviews of Coral Reef, good reviews for

Our choices are similar so happy to report back if that helps

 

[wayneg]

Thanks Sharon, never knew Garden Grill was that style of dining, always thought it was a regular table service serving mainly salad for some reason.

We have removed Rose and Crown, and Tutto Italia. Just going to watch Rugby then back to reading thru recomendations again and look at menus.

Rob, will have to follow you around in May and look at what you get

 

[fuse04]

Rob, will have to follow you around in May and look at what you get

Well I always look on the bright siode of things and I have never (knowingly) been stalked before, and of course that means there will always be someone nearby to pick up the tab )

 

[stephensmum]

Wayne, know you wanted TS but thought I'd mention some CS- Pecos Bills at MK & Restuasaurus at AK have a area where you can add salad, mushrooms etc, Norman gets double bacon & cheese burger & adds the extras. At Cosmic Rays in MK Norman gets chicken,ribs,mash & green beans.