Family of 4 Dining Reviews from last month's (May 2008) 10th Anniversary Trip!

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Hello!

Introduction~

We are a family of four from PA and this was our third WDW trip and our second experience with the dining plan. There is myself, my DH, and our 2 boys, 9 & 6 1/2 (very picky eaters).

I don't have a lot of "food" pictures, I have some. I do have a lot of restaurant pictures though!

I will be giving our opinions and reviews of~

Table Service:

Mama Melrose Dinner (DHS)
LeCellier Dinner (EPCOT)
Ohana Breakfast (POLY)
Chef Mickey's Dinner (CONT)
Cape May Breakfast (BC)
Crystal Palace Dinner (MK)
Sci-Fi Dine-In Lunch (DHS)

Counter Service:

Pepper Market (CSR)
Rix Cafe (CSR)
Wolfgang Puck Express (DTD)
Electric Umbrella (EPCOT)
Casey's Corner (MK)
Restaurantosauros (AK)
Siesta's Pool Bar & Grill (CSR)
Earl of Sandwich (DTD)

ENJOY!

 

[wink13]

 

[suzimar57]

looking forward to your reviews!

 

[danalee]

cant wait, we will be at alot of the same places in august!

 

[~Fisharefriends~]

looking forward to readin your reviews.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Okay, well I hate to start off with a negative review, but I guess I will just go in order of where we ate during the week.

We arrived on Saturday May 10th. We had an afternoon flight out of Pittsburgh - 2:00pm. We took ME from the airport and arrived at our resort - Coronado Springs, around 5:30. We weren't going to any parks that day so we had already planned on just getting unpacked, swimming, and eating at Pepper Market. Pepper Market is the food court at CSR. I had read reviews on it prior to the trip and had heard that the set up and process was confusing. But we had also heard that it was the best deal for a CS meal on the DDP in all of WDW because the prices were comparable to most TS meals.

We got there and got seated and our waitress came to the table. It was a good thing that we already knew the whole process because her accent was so thick that we could hardly understand her. Basically they give you a "food ticket" and you take it with you to be stamped at each food station with what you got and then you take it to the register when you are done eating and pay. We were excited to try out Pepper Market and figured we would probably eat here many times during the week. After this visit we knew we were not impressed. When we got up to the stations the CM's were very rude. What a nightmare! My DH went to the grill station to get us the "Ribeye Steak, Potato, & Vegetables - $20.95". I took the kids and went to the kids station to get their meals. I was the only one at the kids station, yet I waited and waited for a CM. Finally one came and got the kids meals for me. DH had even worse luck. He ordered after quite a wait, then got one of the steak dinners but got fries instead of a baked potato like he asked for. When he questioned it he was told - you get what you get. He brought me the dinner, as I was already at the table with the kids and they were nearly done eating because this had gone on so long. He was told 10 more minutes for the other steak dinner. He finally got it and it had the steak and fries again, but no veggies this time. Again - you get what you get. . . By now the kids were done eating and I was about half way through my dinner by the time he finally got his meal.


On the plus side the food was pretty good. Our steak was very tender and tasty. The kids both had the kids "Chicken Strips, chips and a cookie $4.75". The chicken strips were average WDW chicken strips. They had pizza later in the week and it was very good. Too bad the service was so poor. The few bakery items that you could choose from for dessert on the dining plan were not very good though.


The whole system at Pepper Market is just not very efficient, especially with the CM's they have.

We did give the place another try. . . Will tell about that later!

Pepper Market rating: Overall 3 out of 5
Food 4.5 out of 5
Service 2 out of 5

 

[MickeyNicki]

Very interested in your Ohana breakfast and Sci Fi lunch, cannot wait!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Pictures of Pepper Market:

 

[wink13]

Great start, can't wait to hear more.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Thanks for reading everyone!

Next up will be Sunday May 11th ~ Mother's Day: Wolfgang Puck Express lunch and Mama Melrose dinner!

BTW MickeyNicki - Ohana and Sci-Fi were both awesome experiences. . . . . more to come!

 

[danielle.st]

We're going to be eating at a lot of the same TS places/meals as you did, so I am very itnerested in your report!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Sunday May 11th ~ Mother's Day ~ Wolfgang Puck Express lunch

Today we planned to sleep in and spend the day at DTD and the evening at DHS. This was also the day I was meeting up with some friends I met on the DIS and had been chatting with for over a year. Very exciting! We met up for lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express in DTD. This restaurant had just been remodeled so it was very nice and clean and bright. You order at the counter and then get your own fountain drinks and find a seat and then a waitress brings you your food. I got the "BBQ Chicken Quesadilla - Flour tortillas filled with mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, red onions, fresh cilantro, Ranch dressing, BBQ sauce and pico de gallo $9.95". It was very good, I wish it would have been a little warmer, the cheese was barely warm in the middle, but it was still very good. Very big, I only ate about half of it. DH got the "Meatball and Parmesan Pizza - Niman Ranch meatballs, fresh basil pesto, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, tomato-basil garlic sauce and fresh basil $10.95". He really enjoyed it. The kids again got the Chicken Fingers meals $6.95. They thought it was the best chicken in all of WDW! DH and I got the "Fresh-baked Brownie $2.95" for dessert to go since they were already prepackaged and we were stuffed. The kids got the "Frozen Yogurt with one Topping $3.95". They got chocolate chips for their topping! Very good. We all had a nice lunch and a great time meeting our DIS friends!

Wolfgang Puck Express rating: Overall 4 out of 5
Food 4 out of 5
Service 4.5 out of 5

 

[cmf06]

I am looking forward to the reviews!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Sunday May 11 ~ Mother's Day ~ Mama Melrose dinner

We were going to DHS (MGM) tonight to ride a few rides and have dinner and see Fantasmic and then coming back to DHS on Friday to spend the day. There are 3 choices for dinner if you get the Fantasmic Package - Hollywood & Vine (which we did last year and thought it was just okay food), Brown Derby, and Mama Melrose. We chose Mama Melrose and had a 5:20pm ADR. We waited about 20 minutes past our ADR time to be seated. After being seated and waiting for what seemed like forever we finally got our waitress. She was very nice, but very slow. She informed us that because we had the Fantasmic plan that we each got an appetizer even though we were just on the regular DDP. I hadn't heard that before, so we were pleasantly surprised.

We immediately loved the atmosphere! It is a very nicely decorated restaurant. It felt like we were eating outside under the stars. Very neat!


Our food took forever to get there, but once it did it was all very good. DH said it was probably the best meal of his trip. He got the "Spicy Italian Sausage with rigatoni pasta, peppers, onions, and a tomato basil sauce topped with caprino cheese". I got the "Wood-grilled Chicken tossed with Pipette pasta with artichokes, peas, roasted red peppers in a basil and four cheese cream sauce". The kids had spaghetti with butter sauce, so that was a nice alternative to all the chicken they had been eating!


We all got the tiramisu for dessert. It was okay. We were all pretty full already though and didn't eat much of it.


Like I said, the food was very good, but we were in there forever! It was over 2 hours total. Every time our waitress left we knew it would be at least 15-20 minutes before we saw her again. Even when she took our card to check us out she took forever. To me over 2 hours is way too much of my park time wasted in a restaurant, and a long time for kids to sit! We would probably return since the food was very good, but we would probably have to make it on a night that we had nothing else planned because it does take up a huge chunk of your time.

Mama Melrose rating: Overall 4 out of 5
Food 4.5 out of 5
Service 3 out of 5

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Pictures of Mama Melrose:

 

[KatMark]

Enjoying your reviews. We have or will be dining at several of the places you have listed.

I am sorry you had such trouble at Pepper Market. I hope you complained to the manager about the fries/potato situation. I must say we've been very fortunate and have never had an issue with Pepper Market besides not very friendly servers bringing us drinks.

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[TigerKat]

Great so far, I'm signing on for the rest!!

 

[mari360]

YAY shelly.... great report.....

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Monday May 12 ~ Electric Umbrella lunch


Today was our Epcot day. We wanted to stay until closing to see IllumiNations, so we slept in and went to Epcot around noon. We wanted a CS lunch since we had a 6:00 dinner ADR at LeCellier, so we went to Electric Umbrella. It is a very colorful and neat looking place. The line was long when we got there but it moved fairly fast. DH and I both got the "Grilled Chicken Sandwich - with lettuce and tomato served with a wheat bun with apple slices $7.19" and the "Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce $3.49" for dessert. I was all very good. The kids didn't like any of the choices on the children's menu so I got them the "Chicken Breast Nuggets served with apple slice $6.89" to share with the "No Sugar Added Brownie $2.89" for dessert. We grabbed a seat upstairs where it was less crowded and sat by the window and watched everything that was going on outside while we ate. A very nice place for a good and quick CS meal!

Electric Umbrella rating: Overall 4 out of 5
Food 4 out of 5
Service 4 out of 5

 

[Mickeefan]

Okay, well I hate to start off with a negative review, but I guess I will just go in order of where we ate during the week.

We arrived on Saturday May 10th. We had an afternoon flight out of Pittsburgh - 2:00pm. We took ME from the airport and arrived at our resort - Coronado Springs, around 5:30. We weren't going to any parks that day so we had already planned on just getting unpacked, swimming, and eating at Pepper Market. Pepper Market is the food court at CSR. I had read reviews on it prior to the trip and had heard that the set up and process was confusing. But we had also heard that it was the best deal for a CS meal on the DDP in all of WDW because the prices were comparable to most TS meals.

We got there and got seated and our waitress came to the table. It was a good thing that we already knew the whole process because her accent was so thick that we could hardly understand her. Basically they give you a "food ticket" and you take it with you to be stamped at each food station with what you got and then you take it to the register when you are done eating and pay. We were excited to try out Pepper Market and figured we would probably eat here many times during the week. After this visit we knew we were not impressed. When we got up to the stations the CM's were very rude. What a nightmare! My DH went to the grill station to get us the "Ribeye Steak, Potato, & Vegetables - $20.95". I took the kids and went to the kids station to get their meals. I was the only one at the kids station, yet I waited and waited for a CM. Finally one came and got the kids meals for me. DH had even worse luck. He ordered after quite a wait, then got one of the steak dinners but got fries instead of a baked potato like he asked for. When he questioned it he was told - you get what you get. He brought me the dinner, as I was already at the table with the kids and they were nearly done eating because this had gone on so long. He was told 10 more minutes for the other steak dinner. He finally got it and it had the steak and fries again, but no veggies this time. Again - you get what you get. . . By now the kids were done eating and I was about half way through my dinner by the time he finally got his meal.


On the plus side the food was pretty good. Our steak was very tender and tasty. The kids both had the kids "Chicken Strips, chips and a cookie $4.75". The chicken strips were average WDW chicken strips. They had pizza later in the week and it was very good. Too bad the service was so poor. The few bakery items that you could choose from for dessert on the dining plan were not very good though.


The whole system at Pepper Market is just not very efficient, especially with the CM's they have.

We did give the place another try. . . Will tell about that later!

Pepper Market rating: Overall 3 out of 5
Food 4.5 out of 5
Service 2 out of 5

I would have to agree about the Pepper Market. I had never eaten there until this last trip and, frankly, I was not impressed. I would not make a special trip to eat there again. Our waiter was inattentive. We had to ask for refills (we were drinking water). The nachos I had were good, but I also got the carrot cake and it was not good. It didn't even have cream cheese icing. What's the point of carrot cake without the cream cheese icing? I found it to be overpriced, too. Unless I'm staying at Coronado Springs, I will not be going back to the Pepper Market.