livinintexas
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2007
- Messages
- 161
2011 was the year that was to be Disney "free" and a week of Discovery Cove, Sea World, and BG. Well, then "free" dining happened and the next thing I know we have 9 nights booked at CSR PLUS a week of Discovery Cove with the Sea World add on. Last night was our last dining plan ADR and the kids are still sleeping and we have nothing planned for the day so I thought I'd share my thoughts! Our family is me (41), dh (42), dd (13) and dd (11).
breakfast 1900 Park Fare (oop since dh was arriving from Anchorage later that day). We had an 11:00 ADR which worked perfectly with the 8:00am MK park opening! We took the boat to to GF and arrived right on time. We were seated quickly. There is a huge selection of food so easily something for everyone. My favorite was the bread pudding because what could better than dessert for breakfast!! We all had made to order omelets, which is pretty hard to mess up!! The food was all good, no complaints about anything, and we left stuffed. Mad Hatter wasn't there. The characters were Mary Poppins, Alice, and pooh and now I can't remember who else. We aren't so character crazy anymore.
breakfast Tusker House- I preferred this breakfast over 1900 PF because there was some more unique dishes but no made to order omelets. This time dh was with us. This was the only meal of the week that we had to wait longer than our ADR time. We checked in at 10:00 for a 10:15 ADR and weren't seated until 10:45. Not a good way to start off our first family meal, but we had a table in a shaded area so it was fine!! The characters were fun and the food was great. We all left stuffed and happy!!
dinner Yak and Yeti- This is our first time eating here and the service and food were excellent!!! We enjoyed everything we ordered! Dh had curry, I had honey chicken, dd had chicken lo mein, and dd 11 had steak and shrimp. Desserts were dh mango pie (loved it), fried wontons- good something different, dd chocolate cake, dd 11 sorbet (loved it). Great meal!!
Restaurant Marrakesh- This was our first time here and we really enjoyed it. The food was on the bland side but very, very good if that makes sense! dh loved his lamb, I had beef couscous, dd had chicken couscous, and dd 11 had "the feast" which she LOVED!! We had to pay an extra $7.99 but it was worth it as dh shared some with her! Desserts were a disappointment, but I knew that prior to the meal. I'm so glad we tried it and the entertainment was fun too!
Ohana- Service here was a let down and our server was almost unfriendly to us and rude to a table across from us. The food was good- I love the salad, potstickers, and desserts. The meat and noodles were good too. Although we enjoyed the meal and had great seats by the window, it wasn't our favorite overall meal.
Les Chefs de France- YUM-O!! This meal had it all, Remy, amazing service, and excellent quality foods from start to finish! We have eaten here twice before and as expected, it was awesome!!!
Cape May Clam Bake- this is not a favorite of mine or dd 13 but dh and dd 11 love it so we go every year. The 2 of them ate enough crab legs for a year, so all was good. The desserts aren't thrilling but the overall the food is good. I'm sure we will be back!
lunch Liberty Tree- the girls and I had pot roast and dh had lamb stew. I think this was my favorite meal of the trip. It was so good!! The ooey gooey toffee dessert was by far the best dessert of the trip!!! dh was full so he just had sorbet. Good service and fabulous food!
dinner Crystal Palace- very good food and lots of it. Good desserts and wonderful service (best buffet service). We all enjoyed the meal and left happy!
Kona Cafe- excellent food!! Dh and I had rib eye and the girls had Teriyaki-style New York Strip. It was really good. The girls were disappointed in their lava cake as the inside wasn't melted. I loved my creme brulee and dh liked his pineapple upside down cake. Service was good.
Our overall top meal for food and service was Les Chefs with Liberty Tree a very close 2nd if not almost a tie but we weren't disappointed in ANY of our meals at all. Dh said Tusker House breakfast was his least favorite, but he isn't a breakfast guy. Yak and Yeti was rated a close 3rd. We weren't disappointed in any of our meals. Liberty won for best dessert!!
Quick service- We loved Pepper Market and ate there a few times. Sunshine Season was good too. Starring Rolls had good food but only having outdoor seating makes eating a giant cupcake in the heat less appealing- great sandwich. Tomorrowland Terrace was good too but the desserts are just average. We also ate at ABC Commissary was very good
too. It was packed but they move the line really fast. We had 3 "surf and turfs" and dd 11 had fish and chips. We were starving because we didn't eat lunch until 2:00. We also ate at Earl of Sandwich which we love, but isn't a great value for the dining plan.
Thoughts on dining plan:
Free dining is a good value for our family of non picky eaters over the age of 10.
We tend to stay off site more and don't eat at Disney TS for more than 2 meals per trip as it is too $$$. Most of dinners averaged about $150. Our QS averaged around $55. Using our snack credits was fun!! Root beer floats were a hit!!
I wish we would have had park hoppers, but spending $54 x 4 to hop as an add on was more money than I could spend. Had I lumped it in with the package it would have been easier. We were more locked into our schedule since we had in park ADRs. With 10 park days (9 during dining plan) it did work out fine though.
I'm ready to not eat for a week!!! Somehow we ended up with 5 extra QS credits. There was a problem at Starring Rolls where they charged us 5 credits instead of 4 and it took forever forever for them to correct it, but I think they gave us an additional 5 credits. We used 1 of the extra credits at the pool at CSR, 1 at Casey's for a late night hot dog snack, and 3 yesterday at France for ham and cheese sandwiches which was our breakfast today!!
I would not pay for the dining plan, but if we were planning a trip and free dining was being offered, I do it again in a heartbeat!!
breakfast 1900 Park Fare (oop since dh was arriving from Anchorage later that day). We had an 11:00 ADR which worked perfectly with the 8:00am MK park opening! We took the boat to to GF and arrived right on time. We were seated quickly. There is a huge selection of food so easily something for everyone. My favorite was the bread pudding because what could better than dessert for breakfast!! We all had made to order omelets, which is pretty hard to mess up!! The food was all good, no complaints about anything, and we left stuffed. Mad Hatter wasn't there. The characters were Mary Poppins, Alice, and pooh and now I can't remember who else. We aren't so character crazy anymore.
breakfast Tusker House- I preferred this breakfast over 1900 PF because there was some more unique dishes but no made to order omelets. This time dh was with us. This was the only meal of the week that we had to wait longer than our ADR time. We checked in at 10:00 for a 10:15 ADR and weren't seated until 10:45. Not a good way to start off our first family meal, but we had a table in a shaded area so it was fine!! The characters were fun and the food was great. We all left stuffed and happy!!
dinner Yak and Yeti- This is our first time eating here and the service and food were excellent!!! We enjoyed everything we ordered! Dh had curry, I had honey chicken, dd had chicken lo mein, and dd 11 had steak and shrimp. Desserts were dh mango pie (loved it), fried wontons- good something different, dd chocolate cake, dd 11 sorbet (loved it). Great meal!!
Restaurant Marrakesh- This was our first time here and we really enjoyed it. The food was on the bland side but very, very good if that makes sense! dh loved his lamb, I had beef couscous, dd had chicken couscous, and dd 11 had "the feast" which she LOVED!! We had to pay an extra $7.99 but it was worth it as dh shared some with her! Desserts were a disappointment, but I knew that prior to the meal. I'm so glad we tried it and the entertainment was fun too!
Ohana- Service here was a let down and our server was almost unfriendly to us and rude to a table across from us. The food was good- I love the salad, potstickers, and desserts. The meat and noodles were good too. Although we enjoyed the meal and had great seats by the window, it wasn't our favorite overall meal.
Les Chefs de France- YUM-O!! This meal had it all, Remy, amazing service, and excellent quality foods from start to finish! We have eaten here twice before and as expected, it was awesome!!!
Cape May Clam Bake- this is not a favorite of mine or dd 13 but dh and dd 11 love it so we go every year. The 2 of them ate enough crab legs for a year, so all was good. The desserts aren't thrilling but the overall the food is good. I'm sure we will be back!
lunch Liberty Tree- the girls and I had pot roast and dh had lamb stew. I think this was my favorite meal of the trip. It was so good!! The ooey gooey toffee dessert was by far the best dessert of the trip!!! dh was full so he just had sorbet. Good service and fabulous food!
dinner Crystal Palace- very good food and lots of it. Good desserts and wonderful service (best buffet service). We all enjoyed the meal and left happy!
Kona Cafe- excellent food!! Dh and I had rib eye and the girls had Teriyaki-style New York Strip. It was really good. The girls were disappointed in their lava cake as the inside wasn't melted. I loved my creme brulee and dh liked his pineapple upside down cake. Service was good.
Our overall top meal for food and service was Les Chefs with Liberty Tree a very close 2nd if not almost a tie but we weren't disappointed in ANY of our meals at all. Dh said Tusker House breakfast was his least favorite, but he isn't a breakfast guy. Yak and Yeti was rated a close 3rd. We weren't disappointed in any of our meals. Liberty won for best dessert!!
Quick service- We loved Pepper Market and ate there a few times. Sunshine Season was good too. Starring Rolls had good food but only having outdoor seating makes eating a giant cupcake in the heat less appealing- great sandwich. Tomorrowland Terrace was good too but the desserts are just average. We also ate at ABC Commissary was very good
too. It was packed but they move the line really fast. We had 3 "surf and turfs" and dd 11 had fish and chips. We were starving because we didn't eat lunch until 2:00. We also ate at Earl of Sandwich which we love, but isn't a great value for the dining plan.
Thoughts on dining plan:
Free dining is a good value for our family of non picky eaters over the age of 10.
We tend to stay off site more and don't eat at Disney TS for more than 2 meals per trip as it is too $$$. Most of dinners averaged about $150. Our QS averaged around $55. Using our snack credits was fun!! Root beer floats were a hit!!
I wish we would have had park hoppers, but spending $54 x 4 to hop as an add on was more money than I could spend. Had I lumped it in with the package it would have been easier. We were more locked into our schedule since we had in park ADRs. With 10 park days (9 during dining plan) it did work out fine though.
I'm ready to not eat for a week!!! Somehow we ended up with 5 extra QS credits. There was a problem at Starring Rolls where they charged us 5 credits instead of 4 and it took forever forever for them to correct it, but I think they gave us an additional 5 credits. We used 1 of the extra credits at the pool at CSR, 1 at Casey's for a late night hot dog snack, and 3 yesterday at France for ham and cheese sandwiches which was our breakfast today!!
I would not pay for the dining plan, but if we were planning a trip and free dining was being offered, I do it again in a heartbeat!!
. We are looking forward to dinner at Crystal Palace and Cape May Clambake (among other places) so to have a recent review is fantastic! And thankfully, we have 
