Here's a quick run down:
12/8 late lunch at Hollywood Brown Derby (Fantasmic package): Food was good (I had the prawn appetizer, filet, and bananna white chocolate dessert) in that it was definately better than your average 1 credit TS restaurant but, overall, not as good as any of the resort signatures we visited. Service was slow (we were seated about 30 minutes after our ADR and, once seated, the meal took about 2 hours).
12/9 breakfast at Kona Cafe. Had the Tonga Toast and the berry smoothie. Both were very good and I'd say the Tonga Toast lived up to the hype (berry smoothie came topped with whipped cream and a cherry, which was a nice surprise). We were staying at the Poly, so this made for a nice, relaxed breakfast.
12/9 dinner at 'Ohana. We had the earliest ADR (5 pm), which, IMO, is the key to insuring good food and service at this restaurant. We were seated promptly at 5 pm and within minutes bread, drinks, and salad were brought to our table. All of the meat off the skewers was hot and tender (not dry) and the chicken was particularly good (even the pork, which, IMO, is the weakest skewer item, was pretty good). The bread pudding dessert, as always, was delightful indulgence. The entire meal took just over an hour.
12/10 breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. Even though our ADR wasn't until 8:15 we were the 3rd party to show up at the podium and were seated accordingly. I liked that the menu had a lot more selection than previously (and am saddened to hear that they are going back to more limited choices). I had the steak and eggs, which was, overall, somewhat better than the standard bacon, sausage, and eggs that they've served for years. But, as everyone knows, this place isn't about the food, it's about the princesses and the overall experience (we were with my parents who were going for the first time and they loved it). Meal took less than an hour.
12/10 dinner at Citricos. I had the sauteed shrimp appetizer, veal entree, and warm chocolate bananna torte. While everything was very good (dessert, in particular, was excellent), the overall meal didn't stand out versus the other resort signatures. Service was very good albeit slightly slow (meal took nearly two hours). The best part was seeing the Grand Floridian lobby with all of the Christmas decorations. Truly spectacular.
12/11 breakfast at Crystal Palace. We had an 8:15 ADR and were seated at about that time. The restaurant seemed a bit off today (food and selection, while decent, weren't quite as good as I remembered from a previous trip). Still love the ambiance of the restaurant and the overall experience of a pre-park ADR in the Magic Kingdom. Meal took less than an hour.
12/11 dinner at Artist Point. One of the very best meals of the trip as this restaurant, in my opinion, is the most underrated/underappreciated at Disney World (the boat driver between MK and WL agreed with this assessment). I had the portabello mushroom soup, buffalo steak, and berry cobbler. Food and service were outstanding (meal took around 90 minutes) and the atmosphere very relaxed. And, as with the Grand Floridian, the Christmas Decorations in the Wilderness Lodge lobby were amazing.
12/12 lunch at Chefs de France. Ordered the prix fixe lunch with the french onion soup, ham & cheese sandwich, and profitoles dessert. Food quality was, overall, very good but not quite great (although I loved the fresh, piping hot baguettes and the dessert). Service was very friendly. Atmosphere was nice (we were seated near a window). Meal took about 75 minutes. Overall, we were pleased and would return.
12/12 dinner at Yachtsman. We transfered resorts to Beach Club and checked in right before dinner. I ordered the scallops, filet, and flourless chocolate cake. While the filet was outstanding (perhaps the most flavorful entree of the week), the rest of the meal was only so-so (found the appetizer disappointing) and found the restaurant ambiance and food presentation to be somewhat lacking compared to other resort signatures. The meal took around 100 minutes.
12/13 breakfast at Tusker House. We had an 8:15 ADR and were finished before 9 (we skipped the picture with Donald). The restaurant was mostly on its A game today, as everything was fresh and the selection wonderful (especially love the donuts). The only disappointment was that the ham was way too salty (and I'm a saltaholic).
12/13 dinner at Jiko. On a previous deluxe dining trip, this was, perhaps, my overall favorite. This time, however, the restaurant seemed just a bit off. Our server was extremely slow (didn't order our drinks until 20 minutes after being seated and meal took nearly two and a half hours). I ordered the boar appetizer, the filet, and cheesecake (while the boar was very good, I should have stuck with the roasted chicken flat bread, which my dad ordered and was delicious). While everything was very good, it just wasn't quite as outstanding as I remembered from a previous visit. Still one of my favorites at Disney World and I love visiting the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
12/14 lunch at 50's Prime Time. I ordered the crabcake appetizer, fried chicken (white meat only), and PB&J milkshake. Everything was very good, in a comfort food, Craker Barrel kind of way (the PB&J milkshake is an absoulte can't miss). But for me, what makes this restuarant work is that it's just so much fun. Our ADR was for 11:30 and we were done in a little over an hour.
12/14 dinner at Flying Fish. I ordered the crab cake, steak & snapper combo, and sinful chocolate indulgence. Last time I ate here, I ordered the snapper by itself, which, IMO, is worth the price of admission in and of itself (even the leek fondue it's served on tastes amazing) but the steak was just about equally as good (when you order the combo, they give you a half-size serving of each). Service was outstanding (meal took around 90 minutes). Overall, one of our top three dining experiences of the trip (and enjoyed watching a magician on the Boardwalk after the meal).
12/15 lunch at Via Napoli. I read all the hype about this place and all I can say is that I'm a firm believer. I ordered the arancini, sausage pizza, and ugly but good sunday. The arancini surprised me in that it was far less heavy and greasy than I was anticipating. What makes the pizza so outstanding, IMO, is the crust. Perhaps the best I've ever tasted on a pizza. My only disappointment was with the sausage on the pizza (I was expecting big pieces of sausage, instead, the pizza has thinly spread ground sausage - in retrospect, I probably should have ordered the pepperoni). This is a very, very good restaurant for 1 TS and we will definately return.
12/15 dinner at California Grill. On a previous visit, we ate here and I was somewhat underwhelmed and went away thinking the restaurant was a bit overrated. On this evening, however, the restaurant was on its A+ game. I ordered the triple cheese flatbread, filet, and chocolate cake. Everything was outstanding (even the purple puree the filet is served on was amazing). My father ordered the rock shrimp appetizer, which was out-of-the-park good. Service was excellent (meal took about 90 minutes) and it was fun walking out on the balcony and seeing the castle lit up with Christmas lights.
12/16 breakfast at Cape May. We love Cape May's breakfast and find the food quality, selection, and character interaction to be very good. However, this was our last meal of the trip and after 8 days of deluxe dining, we were sort of fooded out. The nice thing was that we were staying at the Beach Club so it was very easy to get to the restaurant.
Overall, we had a great experience (even though it sometimes felt like too much food, especially at the end) and didn't have one meal that I would classify as bad. Even managed to use all of our snack credits.
California Grill, Artist Point, and Flying Fish were our overall favorites this time around (Via Napoli and 'Ohana were 1 credit favorites).
12/8 late lunch at Hollywood Brown Derby (Fantasmic package): Food was good (I had the prawn appetizer, filet, and bananna white chocolate dessert) in that it was definately better than your average 1 credit TS restaurant but, overall, not as good as any of the resort signatures we visited. Service was slow (we were seated about 30 minutes after our ADR and, once seated, the meal took about 2 hours).
12/9 breakfast at Kona Cafe. Had the Tonga Toast and the berry smoothie. Both were very good and I'd say the Tonga Toast lived up to the hype (berry smoothie came topped with whipped cream and a cherry, which was a nice surprise). We were staying at the Poly, so this made for a nice, relaxed breakfast.
12/9 dinner at 'Ohana. We had the earliest ADR (5 pm), which, IMO, is the key to insuring good food and service at this restaurant. We were seated promptly at 5 pm and within minutes bread, drinks, and salad were brought to our table. All of the meat off the skewers was hot and tender (not dry) and the chicken was particularly good (even the pork, which, IMO, is the weakest skewer item, was pretty good). The bread pudding dessert, as always, was delightful indulgence. The entire meal took just over an hour.
12/10 breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. Even though our ADR wasn't until 8:15 we were the 3rd party to show up at the podium and were seated accordingly. I liked that the menu had a lot more selection than previously (and am saddened to hear that they are going back to more limited choices). I had the steak and eggs, which was, overall, somewhat better than the standard bacon, sausage, and eggs that they've served for years. But, as everyone knows, this place isn't about the food, it's about the princesses and the overall experience (we were with my parents who were going for the first time and they loved it). Meal took less than an hour.
12/10 dinner at Citricos. I had the sauteed shrimp appetizer, veal entree, and warm chocolate bananna torte. While everything was very good (dessert, in particular, was excellent), the overall meal didn't stand out versus the other resort signatures. Service was very good albeit slightly slow (meal took nearly two hours). The best part was seeing the Grand Floridian lobby with all of the Christmas decorations. Truly spectacular.
12/11 breakfast at Crystal Palace. We had an 8:15 ADR and were seated at about that time. The restaurant seemed a bit off today (food and selection, while decent, weren't quite as good as I remembered from a previous trip). Still love the ambiance of the restaurant and the overall experience of a pre-park ADR in the Magic Kingdom. Meal took less than an hour.
12/11 dinner at Artist Point. One of the very best meals of the trip as this restaurant, in my opinion, is the most underrated/underappreciated at Disney World (the boat driver between MK and WL agreed with this assessment). I had the portabello mushroom soup, buffalo steak, and berry cobbler. Food and service were outstanding (meal took around 90 minutes) and the atmosphere very relaxed. And, as with the Grand Floridian, the Christmas Decorations in the Wilderness Lodge lobby were amazing.
12/12 lunch at Chefs de France. Ordered the prix fixe lunch with the french onion soup, ham & cheese sandwich, and profitoles dessert. Food quality was, overall, very good but not quite great (although I loved the fresh, piping hot baguettes and the dessert). Service was very friendly. Atmosphere was nice (we were seated near a window). Meal took about 75 minutes. Overall, we were pleased and would return.
12/12 dinner at Yachtsman. We transfered resorts to Beach Club and checked in right before dinner. I ordered the scallops, filet, and flourless chocolate cake. While the filet was outstanding (perhaps the most flavorful entree of the week), the rest of the meal was only so-so (found the appetizer disappointing) and found the restaurant ambiance and food presentation to be somewhat lacking compared to other resort signatures. The meal took around 100 minutes.
12/13 breakfast at Tusker House. We had an 8:15 ADR and were finished before 9 (we skipped the picture with Donald). The restaurant was mostly on its A game today, as everything was fresh and the selection wonderful (especially love the donuts). The only disappointment was that the ham was way too salty (and I'm a saltaholic).
12/13 dinner at Jiko. On a previous deluxe dining trip, this was, perhaps, my overall favorite. This time, however, the restaurant seemed just a bit off. Our server was extremely slow (didn't order our drinks until 20 minutes after being seated and meal took nearly two and a half hours). I ordered the boar appetizer, the filet, and cheesecake (while the boar was very good, I should have stuck with the roasted chicken flat bread, which my dad ordered and was delicious). While everything was very good, it just wasn't quite as outstanding as I remembered from a previous visit. Still one of my favorites at Disney World and I love visiting the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
12/14 lunch at 50's Prime Time. I ordered the crabcake appetizer, fried chicken (white meat only), and PB&J milkshake. Everything was very good, in a comfort food, Craker Barrel kind of way (the PB&J milkshake is an absoulte can't miss). But for me, what makes this restuarant work is that it's just so much fun. Our ADR was for 11:30 and we were done in a little over an hour.
12/14 dinner at Flying Fish. I ordered the crab cake, steak & snapper combo, and sinful chocolate indulgence. Last time I ate here, I ordered the snapper by itself, which, IMO, is worth the price of admission in and of itself (even the leek fondue it's served on tastes amazing) but the steak was just about equally as good (when you order the combo, they give you a half-size serving of each). Service was outstanding (meal took around 90 minutes). Overall, one of our top three dining experiences of the trip (and enjoyed watching a magician on the Boardwalk after the meal).
12/15 lunch at Via Napoli. I read all the hype about this place and all I can say is that I'm a firm believer. I ordered the arancini, sausage pizza, and ugly but good sunday. The arancini surprised me in that it was far less heavy and greasy than I was anticipating. What makes the pizza so outstanding, IMO, is the crust. Perhaps the best I've ever tasted on a pizza. My only disappointment was with the sausage on the pizza (I was expecting big pieces of sausage, instead, the pizza has thinly spread ground sausage - in retrospect, I probably should have ordered the pepperoni). This is a very, very good restaurant for 1 TS and we will definately return.
12/15 dinner at California Grill. On a previous visit, we ate here and I was somewhat underwhelmed and went away thinking the restaurant was a bit overrated. On this evening, however, the restaurant was on its A+ game. I ordered the triple cheese flatbread, filet, and chocolate cake. Everything was outstanding (even the purple puree the filet is served on was amazing). My father ordered the rock shrimp appetizer, which was out-of-the-park good. Service was excellent (meal took about 90 minutes) and it was fun walking out on the balcony and seeing the castle lit up with Christmas lights.
12/16 breakfast at Cape May. We love Cape May's breakfast and find the food quality, selection, and character interaction to be very good. However, this was our last meal of the trip and after 8 days of deluxe dining, we were sort of fooded out. The nice thing was that we were staying at the Beach Club so it was very easy to get to the restaurant.
Overall, we had a great experience (even though it sometimes felt like too much food, especially at the end) and didn't have one meal that I would classify as bad. Even managed to use all of our snack credits.
California Grill, Artist Point, and Flying Fish were our overall favorites this time around (Via Napoli and 'Ohana were 1 credit favorites).
My son had the pork and polenta which was also amazing!
I felt like I was carrying twins though by the end of the trip! 
