Down memory lane at some Disney restaurants.

[Uncleromulus]

With our upcoming trip in May just over the horizon, I started thinking about all the meals we've had in the "old days" and it brought back some memories. Here's one:
Narcoossee's used to be a very different restaurant--at least menu wise. One trip we were staying at the Poly and decided to walk over to Narcoossee's for dinner. Walking was a good move as it turned out. They had an appetizer then called "Seafood nachos". Sounded good, so we ordered it. Out came a HUGE platter (had to be almost two feet long) of nachos with all sorts of seafood--absolutely beyond any appetizer sized portion--could have really been the meal itself . Mrs U and I downed the whole thing--with me doing a yard -of beer-also
Then out came MRs U's alligator (yes--alligator) and my steak. Then dessert.
Well--guess what?? When we got up from the table we could hardly walk. Not just full--extreme discomfort. It was a SLOW walk back to the Poly along the beach and we were glad to get back to the room!!
The good things to come out of this were 1) Mrs U never again ordered alligator and 2) we realized that when you order something that is obviously too large, it's ok to leave some on the plate, at the expense of perhaps stuffing yourself to the point of sickness. We never did anything like that again!!

 

[CamColt]

ROFL! Sounds like quite an experience.
I have a hard time with that "you don't have to finish everything" rule too.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Thanks for the great memories. That must have been something to see them bring out Alligator on MRs plate. I think that is one food I would pass up. One of our favorite memories was dinning at Tony's in the MK for a late breafast. It was so nice to just sit and relax and enjoy a wonderful breakfast that was not a buffet. We would get to the park and enjoy the rides for a few hours and then walk back to Tony's and enjoy our breakfast. The free cinnamon rolls were great also. Too bad they had to stop breakfast here.

 

[Uncleromulus]

I agree completely. Breakfast at Tony's was a tradition for us too. A SAD day when they stopped serving it--.

 

[Hopefully]

Who remembers when Fulton's was the Empress Lilly?
We had a wonderful meal here years ago, and we also made a special trip back to go to the Lounge. They had good drinks, great atmosphere, good appetizers and an entertainer who was awesome. I think his name was John Thomas? Anyone remember. We had a great relaxing evening then.

 

[DisMN]

MMMMmmm great thread. Loved the stuffing yourself story!

Does anyone remember the Fireworks Factory? Oh man, the cornbread, the delicious smokey shrimp and ribs, and ohhhhhhhh those homemade onion rings! It was always our first restaurant of the trip, as we'd arrive late afternoon and didn't want to use a park ticket to eat in one of the park venues.



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[wendym]

I remember Empress Lily! Probably the first Disney restaurant we went to.
Wendy

 

[Uncleromulus]

I remember both the Empress Room and the Fireworks factory!! Sad to see both places go--.
Recall one early trip to the Empress Room, when we were also at the Poly. Having no car (then) we got all dressed up and got on a Disney bus. Here we were--me in a dark blue suit, and Mrs U in a long black dress. On a bus full of folks in shorts and T-shirts. I swear I saw a # of little kids looking and giggling at us--obviously a pair of geeks

Oh-- and we spent a fine evening in the Empress Lilly lounge listening to John--he married the girl who was the hula dancer with the combo that entertained over at Papeete Bay Verandah.

 

[Cookie Princess]

MMMMmmm great thread. Loved the stuffing yourself story!

Does anyone remember the Fireworks Factory? Oh man, the cornbread, the delicious smokey shrimp and ribs, and ohhhhhhhh those homemade onion rings! It was always our first restaurant of the trip, as we'd arrive late afternoon and didn't want to use a park ticket to eat in one of the park venues.
.

We LOVED this place. The ribs and cornbread were DELISH!!

 

[La2kw]

With our upcoming trip in May just over the horizon, I started thinking about all the meals we've had in the "old days" and it brought back some memories. Here's one:
Narcoossee's used to be a very different restaurant--at least menu wise. One trip we were staying at the Poly and decided to walk over to Narcoossee's for dinner. Walking was a good move as it turned out. They had an appetizer then called "Seafood nachos". Sounded good, so we ordered it. Out came a HUGE platter (had to be almost two feet long) of nachos with all sorts of seafood--absolutely beyond any appetizer sized portion--could have really been the meal itself . Mrs U and I downed the whole thing--with me doing a yard -of beer-also
Then out came MRs U's alligator (yes--alligator) and my steak. Then dessert.
Well--guess what?? When we got up from the table we could hardly walk. Not just full--extreme discomfort. It was a SLOW walk back to the Poly along the beach and we were glad to get back to the room!!
The good things to come out of this were 1) Mrs U never again ordered alligator and 2) we realized that when you order something that is obviously too large, it's ok to leave some on the plate, at the expense of perhaps stuffing yourself to the point of sickness. We never did anything like that again!!

Though it wasn't very long ago at all, we miss the character-free lunch and dinner at both CRT and Akershus the most. We also used to spend a lot of time at Minnie Mia's in DD. DS and DD loved the pizza there, and it was pretty reasonably priced by Disney standards. We would usually head over to Donald's Dairy Dip after dinner for some dessert. Both places are long gone now. Adventureland Verandah is also sorely missed. They had some unique menu offerings there.

 

[LiteBrite]

We *loved* breakfast at Tony's. There's no longer anything available like it - a nice, sit down breakfast in a park that's not a buffet and doesn't involve characters. It is sorely missed. I also miss the old, non-character breakfast at Hollywood and Vine, when it was a cafeteria rather than a buffet. Another great start to a park day.

 

[Kim&Chris]

Ahhh, the memories.

I remember when O'Hanas was the Papeeta Bay (spelling is most definitely wrong ), and breakfast with Minnie was a buffet. It was alot of fun, and all guests received a pin that said "I had breakfast with Minnie". Also, the Kona Cafe used to be called (I think) Seasons. They definitely made the right choice by ripping that place out and building Kona

I also remember Chef Mickey's being in the Marketplace. It was a sit-down meal back then.

Remember when Artists Point (Wilderness Lodge) had the Pooh character meal? I was lucky enough to go there right before they cancelled it

 

[majortom]

Fireworks Factory was one of my favorite restaurants at WDW. Julio, their Executive Chef, used to make a habanero barbecue sauce that he would use for specials on occasion. I loved this and had him make an even hotter version of it for me, that he would keep on hand for when my friends and I would eat there. Their cornbread, mashed sweat potatoes (with smoked gruyere cheese) and habanero chicken breast sandwich were all excellent.

It was the first place on Pleasure Island to do a Cast Night (I cannot remember if they did it on Monday or Thursday).

As a regular there, I knew most of the wait staff and managers. I remember one occasion when I arrived with a large group (I think about 14 people) and all of our favorite waiters' sections were full, Reece (one of the managers, now at Jimmy Buffet's at City Walk) asked if we would rather wait or try sitting with one of their new servers.

After polling my group, we decided not to wait and try this new server. We sat down and started by ordering a special Lemon Drop from the bar that only one of the bartenders and one or two of the managers knew how to make (it did not appear on their drink menu) for everyone in our party. Our waiter came back a few minutes later and said they did not that have that on their menu and asked if we wanted something else. I suggested that he should ask Reece about it (which he did and shortly returned with 14 or so of these drinks).

As regulars there, we were used to ordering items that were not (or were no longer) on their menu. Each time someone would ask for something that he did not recognize, he would say we do not have that and I would tell him to go ask Reece about it. He would leave, find Reece and then return saying it was ok. I figured that after doing this for all our appetizers, he would figure out that before he said no, he should just our whole order and go check with Reece (or one of the other managers) and then come back with specific problems from our entree orders.

No such luck. When he came back to take our entree orders, we exactly repeated the process (order something not on the menu, have him say no, tell him to check with Reece).

Finally, it came time for dessert and after dinner drinks. I always ordered hot chocolate (another item not on their menu which they made by walking through their kitchen to Portobello Yacht Club's esspresso machine and heating milk with chocolate syrup). By this point I felt sure that he would just write it down and check, but he looked at me and said very seriously: "I know we do not have Hot Chocolate here."

Before I could respond, my friends responded in unison: "Go check with Reece!"

After we finished, I tipped my traditional 20% giving him the benefit of the doubt as a new waiter and for the entertainment value he provided. As we were filtering out to head to PI, I stopped and talked to Reece and Wendy (another of the managers, last seen as GM of Race Rock). I recounted our experience to them which had them laughing hysterically. I suggested that they might want to coach our waiter that in similar circumstances he might want to just take the order and check all at once. They said that they had put us with him knowing that we would be like a "problem table" but would not get angry with him or the restaurant so they could teach him the proper way to respond. In other words, we were a training exercise!

I miss that place. I also miss King Stefan's, California Grill (when it was great under George and Cliff), Liberty Tree (pre-character meal), Akershus (pre-character meal), Nine Dragons (when it was great under Jessie), Diamond Horseshoe and Aunt Polly's (both used to have lunch) and Stromboli's at Disneyland and a few others.

Someone asked me the other day if there were any restaurants that had improved since I started going to Disney World regularly. After a bit of thought I came up with two: Crystal Palace (new chef has improved their menu quite a bit), and Rose and Crown (similar improvement).

When I started thinking about it, I got a little depressed about how many restaurants (and other experiences) had deteriorated (some precipitously) over my 30 plus years of visiting Disney World and Disneyland.

I just hope that Mr. Iger will finally decide that investing in their parks is a critical task to ensure Disney's future.

/carmi

 

[Cookie Princess]

Ahhh, the memories.

I also remember Chef Mickey's being in the Marketplace. It was a sit-down meal back then.

I remember this one! They had this enormous rack of ribs that was yummy. Your ordered off the menu, it wasn't a buffet. The food was good and Mickey in his chef's attire would visit your table. I liked the food and subdued atmosphere better then the current Chef Mickey's!

 

[majortom]

I thought of another restaurant that has changed for the worse - Spoodles.

When it opened, it was a Tapas bar with great food and service. Guests were not familiar with Tapas-style dining and so often complained. Instead of fixing this by offering some suggested standard combinations, they changed to a standard restaurant with nothing to really set it apart. Oh well.

/carmi

 

[Hedy]

I loved the Empress lily.

 

[Hopefully]

I loved the Fireworks Factory too!! I loved their skillet dessert. I never understood why it closed, as it was always busy.

 

[DisTeach1]

We went to a fun character breakfast at the Empress Lily-that's the boat right? Anyways, they had a pre-plated breakfast there that was a lot of fun. But what we miss the most is the breakfast at Garden Grill. It was our first character meal ever, and I thought the sausage was the best I've ever had!

 

[DisMN]

MajorTom HYSTERICAL story about your waiter having to ask Reece every time you ordered something!
Oh yeah and Fireworks factory was the first place I had horseradish mashed potatoes, MAN were they good. I still miss the homemade onion rings the most though. You can't get them anywhere!

I agree too about Spoodles having gone downhill but I think there's a recent reason for that trend. I'm gonna start a new thread I think.

What was the name of the little fast food joint at Downtown Disney where they had the best takeout spaghetti I've ever had, better than most sitdown restaurants in fact! I THINK the place was where Puck's Express is now or close to that area.



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[2ofUs]

WOW is this ever brining back memories. We went to the Empress Lilly Character breakfast on our first trip (DD was 6 - she's now nearly 24 with a 1 year-old of her own).

We even rented a camcorder for the day and got GREAT film. The character interaction was wonderful and Mickey & Minnie even KISSED - right out in public!

The food was very good and the atmosphere was spectacular.

I also agree about Spoodles. We too miss the 'pre-character' Norway. My DH is a 3rd generation Norwegian and we ALWAYS went there at least 2x per visit. He still has his certificate as "VIKING OF THE DAY" which I framed for him.

Has Rose & Crown changed since January 2005? We really did not enjoy our lunch there on our last trip. Still plan to drop in for a traditional black & white, but took it off our dining list.

Ah, memories. Now, anyone want to warn me AWAY from anywhere for our September visit?

Besides planning to eat our way at least 1/2 way around WS on the first day of the Food & Wine Festival, we plan to try:
POLY - Ohana & Kona,
AKL - Boma (a favorite - love it),
WL - Artist Point,
MK - Crystal Palace Character lunch,
MK - LTT dinner,
EPCOT - Le Cellier (another favorite),
EPCOT - Coral Reef (iffy) or Italy or Germany
and currently have a ressie for HDDR, but may cancel.