Family Dining:A joint report by mom and son w/pics *11/7 Complete

[JamesLynn]

Thanks for your review of Chef Mickey's! My DH has been bugging to try it sometime! He really likes the location of it.

 

[Faeriefan]

Great reviews
Love the idea of having your DS adding his input in. Definately nice to see a child's view on the food.

Thanks for the tips on the characters as well. I can't wait to get to Disney!!

 

[Keyana]

Enjoying your report. Thank you for taking the time to write and post pictures....they always make me want to be in the world NOW!
K

 

[SmallWorld71]

A great big welcome to our new readers. And a great big thank-you to those who are still with us.
Bambi and I promise a new installment tomorrow night - 'Ohana.
See you then.

 

[Booknut]

Fabulous reviews from you guys, love the photos! Thanks for the tip on character interaction too, will keep that in mind when baby is older!!

 

[SmallWorld71]

We spent this day at Animal Kingdom. We ended up not leaving AK until close to 3 and our 'Ohana reservation was for six. We were a hot and sweaty bunch and my daughter had fruit punch on her shirt, but it was near the end of our vacation and quite frankly we were exhausted and didn't have the energy to return to our hotel, shower and hurry to the poly. So, we went as is. All right, I know this is probably more than you wanted to know, but we decided to go right to the Poly and as a result were about 2hours early for a place that wasn't even open yet.

We needn't have worried. Can I just say, we loved the Poly! The Grand Floridian was lovely, and the Contemporary was fine, but we all hope to stay at the Poly some day. The lobby was beautiful and there were CM's in the lobby making leis (spelling?) with the children and doing arts & crafts with the kids. Also, Alice was chosen to do the "Yaka Dula Keiki Hula" as part of the YOAMD. Here she is:

After a while, Donald went upstairs to enjoy an adult beverage and I plopped into a lobby chair and relaxed in the nice air conditioning. The CM's were so nice and the kids were having such a good time they were disappointed when it was time to go upstairs for dinner.

Continued in next post.....

 

[SmallWorld71]

So, as we made our way upstairs, I finally connected on my cell phone with my mother at home. (We had been playing phone tag for a few days.) So, while the kids talked to their grammy, I sent Donald to check us in. So, about 5 or so minutes later, our pager goes off and we are escorted to our seats. As we follow the hostess, I realize my mistake. I was supposed to do the checking in! Donald didn't know that we were supposed to request in the main room, near the fire pit. He doesn't DIS. My heart sank as we were led to the back right behind a wall. (At a table for 4, no less.) I was so mad at myself that I got all tongue tied and didn't say anything. Bad, bad DISer. All that reading and I had learned nothing. After 3 wonderful tables, the seating gods had left me. Anyway, on to the meal:

We all had this wonderful, Minute Maid juice that Donald had noticed earlier at the bar. It was delicious. I wish I knew the name. Maybe someone else does? Anyway, the appetizers (wontons with dipping sauces, shrimp, and wings) arrived. We enjoyed them. Not long after that, the entertainment started. We could not see the action but could hear it and when the kids were invited to join in the parade mine went to check it out. Here's Alice:

By the time they were back, all the other food had arrived. I know this bothers a lot of people, but we actually liked it because we were able to get the kids' plates all ready, their meat cut etc... before they came back.
They ate for a while and then went back over to do the Hula. I snuck over and took a couple pictures and then came back to the table.
A little while after the kids returned it was time for dessert.

Some comments from Minnie: Our servers (cousins) were absolutely wonderful here. They were friendly and efficient. They checked in on us frequently and when Donald inquired if he could by one of the wooden back scratchers without having the drink, they got him a complimentary one.
Other than the veggies, which were so-so, I thought the food was well prepared. My favorites were the steak and potatoes, the boys all loved the shrimp and Alice loved the turkey. The dessert was out of this world. It was my favorite of the whole week and I think I would return just to have more.

Our seats turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It gets very noisy and crowded on the other side of the restaurant. Donald and I actually got to enjoy a few minutes alone and had a nice view of Space Mountain also. With Donald2 there I was able to send my kids over by themselves. However, this would be a problem if you had very young or shy kids, so be sure to make your seating preferences known.

Comments from Bambi:
I liked that they did the hula and a parade with the kids. They had some good drinks and food. I really liked the shrimp, sausage and the juice drink. I really liked the bread pudding with bananas foster sauce. I would go back again.

Bottom Line:
We all enjoyed it here. We would definitely return!

Donald2 and Bambi:

 

[CRZYINNJ]

Subscribing to this thread. Thanks so much for these reviews, there's a lot of detail and great tips in here! It definately helps when in the planning stages (I've become a little obsessed, or so I've been told!) Looking forward to the rest of your reviews, keep 'em comin'! A big thanks to Bambi too for his take on the disney dining experience!

 

[Luv2Roam]

Wonderful reviews!

 

[ILoveDisney&Cruising]

Oh and am I weird for thinking that the Kid's Beef and Macaroni Cheese looks really tastey?

Looks delicious to me too!!!!!!!!

 

[SmallWorld71]

Our final day we had dinner reservations at CP. I picked CP primarily because we were going to the P&P party that night and I didn't want to be running all over the place. When I made the ADR, the best I could get was 4:00. So, we slept in, had a big breakfast and skipped lunch. We headed over to MK at around 2:00 where we were witness to the craziest thunder and lightning storm I've ever seen.

Luckily the storm didn't last too long and after doing a couple rides at MK we headed over to CP from tomorrow land. And this is how it went:
Minnie - "Wait a minute, what are all those people standing around for? How are we going to get to our restaurant?"
Bambi - "What time is it?"
Donald - "3:20"
Bambi - "Uh, ma, they're waiting for the 3 o'clock parade."
Minnie - "Oh, duh" (You would think it was my 1st trip to MK. They have been having an afternoon parade as far back as I can remember. )

Anyway, we made it over to near CP and found that the benches on the road to Adventureland provide a completely unobstructed, albeit a little far away, view of the parade. Unexpected bonus.

After the parade we went to check in. There was a long line to check in, but once we were checked in we only waited a few minutes to be seated. I held my breath as we were led to our seats. Were the seating gods still angry with me? ............

Continued in next post..

 

[SmallWorld71]

The hostess led us to our seats. It was a nice big table with a lovely view of Cinderella castle. Wait, it gets better. A very sweet, friendly server came right over and explained how the buffet worked, that there was a parade every hour on the hour, and that it usually took about 1hr 15min. to see all the characters, but if we needed to leave, just let her know and she would help us out. She then went on to say that we were seated at table #1 which meant that when the characters started the rotation, they would start with us! How cool is that?

Anyway, she took our drink orders and left and since it was just 4:00, it was parade time. (You can't see it in the picture, but Pooh is right in front of Alice.)

This is a great place for a parade because you can see your kids the whole time.

We then went to the buffet. I don't have pictures of the food, but I will say that we all thought the food here was very good. The selection was much better than I had imagined it would be. It was very fresh and there was good variety from salads to meats to seafood to simple selections for the kids (including some tasty mac & cheese.) Some family favorites included prime rib, mahi mahi, salmon, spoon bread, pickled beets, kid's chicken tenders, mashed potatoes, roast chicken, broccoli and the ratatouille. Our only complaint was the small selection of unlabeled salad dressings.

While we were eating we met these friends:

And, just as we were contemplating desset we met this guy:

As we were eating dessert, it was 5:00 and time for another parade, so the kids joined in one more time before we left.

Bottom line-
Bambi- I liked the parade. The food was great, my favorite was the mahi mahi. The characters here are not my favorite ones; my mom and sister really like them. I would go back again for the food.

Minnie- This place is a great choice if you need a MK dining option, the food was fresh and there was a decent variety. Also, if you want to meet the Pooh characters, this is a great way to do it.

 

[gregrmike1]

Subscribing. Thank you for the great reviews and providing Bambi's opinion!

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

This isn't food related but I wanted to jump in and tell you that was very cool what you did to your son's shorts for the P&P Party! Very creative!

 

[SmallWorld71]

This isn't food related but I wanted to jump in and tell you that was very cool what you did to your son's shorts for the P&P Party! Very creative!

Thanks! It was very easy. Throw in a bandana and eye patch and you have a quick, easy and inexpensive costume! Since we're off topic anyway, here are a couple of pics from that night. Donald thought we were crazy at 1st with the bandanas, but then he got into the spirit of things once he saw that most of the other people were as crazy as we were.

As far as food goes, Bambi and I will start on the CS and snack portion of the report either tomorrow or Wednesday night. Our TS are all done though.

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

Very cool! And I love that your daughter was piratey instead of princessey!

 

[SmallWorld71]

O.K. after a crazy week, we are finally back to review the CS and snacks. To help our brains remember, I'll go in chronological order.

Arrival Day- Riverside Mill Food Court at POR
After a long day of traveling, unpacking etc... we were famished by the time we got to the food court for our dinner. We were paying OOP for this one because free dining didn't start until the next day.
What we had:
Minnie and Donald - Grilled Chicken Sandwich w/fries for Donald & pasta salad for me- These were fine. Nothing special, nothing bad.

Donald2 - Bacon Cheeseburger, fries - He enjoyed these.

Bambi - Kids fish basket w/ fries & chocolate chip cookie. "The fish was horrible." (We all agreed. If you've been reading the report you know Bambi loves seafood. This was just not good! Stay away!)

Alice - Kids Mac & Cheese w/ grapes and a cookie. She loved this and ate every bite! She gave her grapes to a very hungry Bambi.

This was not our best meal. We had better luck the next time we ate here. Since I don't have a picture of the food court or food, how about one of the main pool?

 

[SmallWorld71]

On our 1st day we woke, full of energy and anticipation. (All our breakfasts, unless otherwise noted, were cereal and pop-tarts in the room to save time in the morning.)

We headed out and got to MK about 7:50 for the Little Ones EMH. We had a blast. Here is Alice on the carousel with Chip:

Since we had such an early breakfast, we found ourselves getting hungry around 10:30. We were in Adventureland, so we decided to try a Dole Whip. Sadly, the place didn't open until 11. So, we crossed the Hub and worked our way over to the Enchanted Grove near the tea cups in Fantasyland. This is what we ordered:

Minnie, Donald, & Donald 2 : Strawberry Swirls (Vanilla Soft Serve with Strawberry Sherbert)

Bambi: Raspberry Lemonade Slush - "I really liked it! "

Alice:Vanilla Soft Serve (boring if you ask me, but she liked it!)

The CM here was very nice. This was our 1st time using our cards for the dining and she nicely explained how the snacks worked and what was available. She also gave Bambi and Alice theirs for free (smaller servings) and only charged us 3 snack credits. While I was ordering these guys walked by and the boys really wanted to get their autograph.

They were very funny, taking the boys' hats and joking around with them. So, we ended up juggling our snacks along with our autograph books, cameras, etc. but we really enjoyed them and will definitely return to Enchanted Grove again.

By 1:00 we were tired so we headed back to POR and had lunch at Riverside Mill again.
Donald and I each had the Muffaletta, him with fries, me with pasta salad. We both got fruit bowls for dessert which we had another time back in the room. The Muffaletta's were good, although they had a very strong olive taste. So, if you don't like olives, stay away. Also, this station had a "create your own salad" which I wanted to try, but never had the chance to. It looked like a nice, light, healthy option though.

Donald2- Pepperoni pizza with a cookie for dessert. He liked this and ate it all. It was your standard Disney pizza.

Bambi- "Create your own Pasta" He picked penne, marinara sauce, shrimp and cheese. "This was good. Much better than the fish!" (They also had other proteins, sauces, and lots of fresh vegetables to choose from.) He chose a brownie for dessert which he ate later. "It was very good."
*Note- This was an adult choice but they let him get it. It was a big serving. Definitely enough for 2kids.

Alice - Mac & Cheese with grapes and cookie-again! She enjoyed it again.

Bottom Line- There are lots of choices here. Much more for kids than in the parks. I recommend the "create your own" stations for fresh ingredients tailored to your tastes.

POR:

 

[SereneOne]

LOVE your review! Lovely family too.

 

[SmallWorld71]

LOVE your review! Lovely family too.

Thank-you and welcome.