Excuse me waiter, I dropped my fork-July dining review with lots of pics! Update 8/8

[CanadianPaco]

I am really enjoying your reviews -your writing style is very enjoyable and your pics are awesome! Thanks for taking the time to share!

 

[rachel09985]

I am in! I won't hold it against you that you are a Steelers fan.

 

[jcchicago]

I'm in too!

 

[vettegirl]

Really enjoying the reviews. I love EOS as well, I have never been to the one at WDW, but enjoy them here in San Antonio. Great insight on Chef Mickey's, the food kind of reminds me of Goofy's Kitchen at Disneyland.

 

[JDUB]

Great DR! Looking forward to more!!

 

[ilovepete]

I love your report so far!

 

[Steelersfan]

After a good night's sleep we were up at 6:00 am (at least I was) to head to Hollywood Studios for the early hours. We love Toy Story Mania and like to get there first, get a fastpass for the ride, then jump in the regular line.

Every morning I am like a little kid, making sure we have a wake-up call, then I try and wake up the girls and go to the food court for coffee and pop (being from Pittsburgh it is pop to us, not soda). I had heard all these stories about the beignets at Sassagoula, so I cashed in snack credit #1 and got three.

Now, I don’t know if I just had really high expectations or I took too long to walk back to the room, but we all felt these didn’t live up to the hype. Don’t get me wrong, they were not terrible or dog food quality by any stretch, but they just didn’t get it done. We wanted to get hot ones right out of the fryer at some later point, but never really got it done (along with mini golf, Tower of Terror, Rock N Rollercoaster, Voyage of the Little Mermaid and the Magic Kingdom train) but whose really keeping track!

Back to Hollywood Studios, we got a TON done. We rode Toy Story twice, Star Tours, the Muppets and got many autographs then it was time for lunch. I hate getting any counter serve lunches late due to crowds, plus we had a relatively early 1900 Park Fare, so we were at Toy Story Pizza Planet a little before 11:00 and they were already serving. We got through the line very fast and got a table upstairs. The meal was peaceful, but it did start getting crowded towards the end of our meal, so I wouldn’t recommend waiting too much past 11:00 if you want a table.

I had the vegetable pizza with a Caesar salad and a cappuccino cupcake.

The pizza was OK at best. I thought it was a little skimpy on the toppings and a little heavy on the crust. I wasn’t expecting a Chicago deep dish or New York thin crust or anything, but this just wasn’t quite as good as pizza I have had at WDW in the past. The salad was a nice complement to the pizza and I’m not the biggest Caesar salad nut. It was exactly what I expected. Now the cupcake was another story. This thing was a meal in itself. I was looking for milk because it was so rich. We only made it back to Hollywood Studios once more for Fantasmic or I would have happily used a snack credit for another one. I am hoping they keep them on the menu (or someplace else picks it up) when we go again. It was that good.

My daughter had the cheese pizza as in her opinion pepperoni is too “spicy.” She had applesauce and a cookie with it. She ate most of it and had no complaints.

My wife went with the pepperoni with a salad and cookie. We both had fountain drinks and our daughter went with chocolate milk.

If you stand up right now and walk back from your monitor, you may notice that all three of these meals resemble a “Hidden Mickey.” My daughter was usually in charge of making the meals look presentable for a picture and she did it on purpose.

Overall I would honestly say that this place has a cool atmosphere with the arcade and theme and is better suited for guests with kids. I had read reviews that were not overly fond on this place and I can see why. Like I said, it isn’t terrible, but far from great. Keep in mind I’m comparing this to WDW pizza I had the last few trips. It seemed like it took a little step backwards. If you are tired of the burger/nugget thing give it a try. Please keep in mind, I am talking about the pizza and to a lesser extent, the salad… NOT that cupcake! That thing deserves its own Facebook page or something!

I’ll get to 1900 Park Fare, our day two sit-down meal soon!

Thanks again for the comments! I hope this helps!

 

[OThopeful35]

Those beignets have to be eaten immediately after they get out of the grease..LoL...you cannot walk back to your room...you can't sit them down until after you finish your meal This is what i found on our trip last year.

My son loved Pizza Planet..it was one of the places I let him pick. Loving your DR!!

 

[tinkerbells mum]

I know what you mean about beignets we were really looking forward to trying them when we went last year (after watching princess and the frog!) but they were cold by the time we ate them and they weren't up to much we are determined to try them hot next year.

 

[Susan121302]

I'm loving your review so far. Your pics are awesome and your commentary is dead on. Love it!

 

[lmbcdb]

I agree with your review of the pizza. It seemed like I took two bites and was done with the slice, since all that was left was crust. Now I love crust, but not enough to only eat that for my meal!

 

[Steelersfan]

I agree with your review of the pizza. It seemed like I took two bites and was done with the slice, since all that was left was crust. Now I love crust, but not enough to only eat that for my meal!

Well put. Plus, I don't think I mentioned, the crust wasn't really all that great. If it was a really good crust that's one thing. Again, it wasn't terrible, in fact it tasted a lot like the made up brand name rising crust frozen pizzas we always grab at our local bulk food store, Aldis. I would not buy them there either if they were horrible, it just isn't all that fantastic. That's why I did not give it more praise.

However, if I did not mention it, that cupcake could have rescued any meal. I left with "a good taste in my mouth!"

 

[Steelersfan]

I know what you mean about beignets we were really looking forward to trying them when we went last year (after watching princess and the frog!) but they were cold by the time we ate them and they weren't up to much we are determined to try them hot next year.

I think that is exactly it with those beignets. That's why I am mad that I never got to get them hot... and we could have done it at anytime returning from the parks...I just forgot!

We were in building #7 and I had my knee and hip replaced last summer so I am still a little gimpy first thing in the morning until I loosen up so it did take me awhile to get to the room. Plus, I found at French Quarter, you are always dodging those little lizards that sit on the sidewalks then jump into the garden areas as you walk. I definitely didn't want to step on one as they were kind of a neat little perk of any walk to and from the room. My wife almost stepped on a little black snake the one evening and I tapped it so it would get off the walkway so it didn't get killed.

I think we will be staying there again because it is small, had great bus service and there were NO TOUR GROUPS! Staying at a value you almost have to pay the extra for a preferred room if you don't want to walk a mile to your room. Here they don't have that so it is only a couple of hundred dollars more that a preferred value with all the crowded hassel. It's definitely worth the upgrade.

 

[Steelersfan]

By the way... dumb question but how do you guys get the quotes you use from other posts to include who posted the original quote.

I copied and pasted, highlighted it, then hit the quote tab and all it does is put the quote... not the quote and who originally posted it.

Thanks

 

[Tracerr00]

Those beignets have to be eaten immediately after they get out of the grease..LoL...you cannot walk back to your room...you can't sit them down until after you finish your meal This is what i found on our trip last year.

My son loved Pizza Planet..it was one of the places I let him pick. Loving your DR!!

I completely agree! We'd gotten the beignets several times and they were fabulous and one time we took them back to the room with us to eat them there and they were just meh. They were lukewarm and kind of chewy so we learned our lesson! Eat your lunch/dinner and then go back to get your hot beignets! Or you could just eat beignets for dinner!

 

[Tracerr00]

By the way... dumb question but how do you guys get the quotes you use from other posts to include who posted the original quote.

I copied and pasted, highlighted it, then hit the quote tab and all it does is put the quote... not the quote and who originally posted it.

Thanks

If you want to quote a few posts, just click on the little button at the bottom of those posts that looks like this "+ and then go to the next post and click the same button and then when you've got them all, then click on the "quote" button. If you just want to quote one post, then just click on the quote button at the bottom of that one. No need to highlight. Give it a try, I hope I explained clearly!

 

[PeanutButterMom]

Really enjoying the review so far! We're in the 'Burgh too. I think a better example of the burger situation would be comparing Burgatory to a Sheetz MTO But then, we're big Burgatory fans in this house.

I'm starting to plan our very first family Disney trip and POFQ is one at the top of my list (with POR and AoA). I had staying in Dixie Landings way back when it was Dixie Landings and have fond memories.

 

[iloveeeyore]

By the way... dumb question but how do you guys get the quotes you use from other posts to include who posted the original quote.

I copied and pasted, highlighted it, then hit the quote tab and all it does is put the quote... not the quote and who originally posted it.

Thanks

On the bottom right hand corner of each post, there are some icons. One says Quote and the one to the right of that is ". If you hit the Quote one, you automatically bring up a window to type your reply that has that person's quote in it. The " mark is for quoting multiple people in the same reply. When you finish hitting all of the "s you want, the select reply and you will have all the quotes you selected in your ressponse.

 

[happy2012]

What I meant by the negative reviews is I think some may have overly inflated expectations when they eat... especially the counter service. I LOVE WDW but I also refuse to apologize for them when they drop the ball. You will see this later in my Cosmic Ray's review.

I do agree totally that it isn't out of line to expect a good burger at a counter service, but I don't think it is realistic to expect it to be something you might get at Red Robin or somewhere you sit down and they make it to order.

That's what I meant about the negative reviews. I try to consider that it is indeed a counter service burger, not a sit down burger. For example, I would expect a much better burger at Beaches and Cream or ESPN which are sitdowns that I would at Pecos Bill's which is designed to feel a ton of people fast and move them through the lines.

Some reviewers want the same quality one might expect at a sitdown at a counterserve and that just won't happen at any restaurant, theme park etc. I am doing my reviews with that standard in mind, especially considering I have been there enough to know what is good and what was substandard. In other words I think it is the same disservice to be overly critical which might cause someone to skip a good restaurant due to a reviewer's inflated expectations as it is to dismiss a lousy product. You just have to look at it in a realistic way. It would be like being mad and saying WDW is horrible because you went in July, slept in until noon, then had to wait two hours for Space Mountain. That is what one might and should expect. I try to do my reviews the same way.

I wasn't trying to bash folks who give the negative reviews at all. Trust me... if it sucks, you will know it.

I do agree 100% about the good and bad days. Sometimes luck plays a big part both in the restaurants and parks!

All this is so true!!!! Being from PGH I'm sure you know how much BETTER WDW QS FOOD IS than say our Zoo or local parks. Cedar Point has horrible food. I mean horrible. [& lines for that matter but that's another thread] I just 100% agree w/ you. People need to compare apples to apples. IMO I think there is no better place to get a quick service meal than WDW. Other parks might have some fantastic goodies but all around I think WDW takes the CAKE!!!

 

[Sheaboys]

Loving your review, I can not wait for more!