Jen D
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2001
- Messages
- 1,789
Just back from the world. It was me and my five year old girl. Another meal report from a woman in the first trimester of pregnancy-- you know the complicated relationship we have with food. It occupies our every thought, and it's either very good or very bad.
This was a loosely planned budget trip, and not planning meals leads to bad meals. I had some good times, some bad times. Here goes. (It gets better, don't read the first two days and decide I'm too negative!)
Thur 2/20, Day one:
Chef Mickey's, dinner. Well, I can't claim I wasn't warned. The food was truly and completely mediocre. It was basically like a Luby's. The buffet wasn't even that neat or stocked. Yes, I ate a complete meal (the nice thing about buffets is you can just load up your plate hoping you'll get something you can eat), and I smiled and made the best of it and the kid loved the whole Chef Mickey thing, but we won't be trying this again. Also, the server was all friendly and Disneyish, but disappeared for long periods, didn't clear plates, refill drinks, bring us check. Overall rating: 5 (gets extra points for atmosphere and kid-friendliness.) Cost about $43
Friday 2/21 Day two:
Lunch: MGM: Rosies / Fairfax fries.. A burger. Aceeptable, nothing special. Fries McDonalds fries, fine.The kid had chicken strips. Overall rating: 5 About $14
Dinner: POFQ Food Court. We never intended to eat here, but Fantasmic messed with our dinner schedule and we were stuck with it. I had Jambalaya, the kid had mac n' cheese. Truly terrible. We threw most of it out. Overall rating: 2 $14.
Saturday 2/22 Day three:
Breakfast: Magic Kingdom Crystal Palace. Got off to a bad start with a 30-40 minute wait, but I was very happy with my meal. Eggs or omelets can be made to order. The bacon didn't look too good, but sausage and ham were fine, and I was in heaven eating Southern favorites like biscuits and gravy and grits. Also enjoyed lots and lots of fruit. I really ate a shocking amount, because of the disappointments of the last two days. I think with character buffets, breakfasts are the way to go, even if it does cut into touring time. The food is just harder to screw up. The server was good and attentive, too. Overall rating: 7.5. About $35 I think.
Late Lunch: Casey's Corner. Hot dogs. Fine, but a mistake for me. Should have had a nice piece of fruit. I'll rate this a respectable 6, but it really punished me for the rest of the day. $11
After the hot dog debacle, dinner consisted of a big bottle of milk and some peanut butter and saltines in the room. One of the more satisfying meals of the week.
Sunday 2/23
Lunch: AK, Tusker House. I had eaten here last time and was looking forward to a healthy, well-balanced counter service meal. I had rotisserie chicken with potatoes and veggies. Veggie a little overcooked, but getting veggies at all in fast food is a nice treat. Mashed potatoes quite good, red skins still in them. Interesting potatoes seem to be real and fresh at Tusker House and out of a box at Chef Mickey's. Chicken was surprisingly moist and juicy. The kid had pb/j, uncrustables. Was disappointed it was not made fresh but whatever. Overall rating, 8 (grading on a counterservice curve!) About $15
Dinner: Epcot, Teppanyaki. Thought the kid might enjoy it. In fact, all she wanted was a California Roll, which she ate and promptly fell asleep while the chef worked (we had waited over an hour for a table, no ps. But while waiting, we had a Deb Wills sighting!) So, this highly festive social restaurant I had to enjoy solo with a sleeping child in my lap. No matter, I enjoyed it. Yeah, I know it isn't "real" Japanese food but it is still tasty. I had steak and shrimp. All good, except the salad was drowned in dressing. I like their dressing alot, but no need to murder the lettuce, it can't swim. Overall rating, 7.5. About $43
Monday, 2/24
Lunch: Epcot, Patisserie, France. Bingo! Counter service nirvana. Limited menu, you have to like ham and cheese. Ham and cheese sandwich, ham and cheese croissant, ham and cheese quiche. Luckily, we like ham and cheese. The kid had the sandwich and I had the quiche. And a chocolate croissant for desert. Truly wonderful, eaten outside on a glorious day. Rating, 9. $14, plus $6 since we went and picked up 2 more chocolate croissants to snack on later!
Dinner: AKL, Boma.
Oh. My. Gawd. Truly, truly fabulous. First, the cast members are all extra friendly, extra attentive, and seem very proud to be working in what is clearly one of the great Disney restaurants. Beautiful, classy ambience-- without the humilation and infantilization that often seems a part of buffet dining. I wanted to eat everything-- it was all amazing. The hummus was all great-- the ground lamb pie (can't remember the name) was a two-helping winner, prime rib very good-- I had too big helpings of pap-- and squash and all the salads and soup were great. Deserts were truly special (and a nice change from the thumb-sucking junk at Chef Mickey's.) The children's buffet was the usual, but it was attractively displayed, the macaroni and cheese actually looked good and not like paste... I can't say enough about this meal. I should probably not be so effusive and deduct points for it being a buffet or something, but I can help rating this one a 10! About $43.
That's all folks. Thanks for reading.
This was a loosely planned budget trip, and not planning meals leads to bad meals. I had some good times, some bad times. Here goes. (It gets better, don't read the first two days and decide I'm too negative!)
Thur 2/20, Day one:
Chef Mickey's, dinner. Well, I can't claim I wasn't warned. The food was truly and completely mediocre. It was basically like a Luby's. The buffet wasn't even that neat or stocked. Yes, I ate a complete meal (the nice thing about buffets is you can just load up your plate hoping you'll get something you can eat), and I smiled and made the best of it and the kid loved the whole Chef Mickey thing, but we won't be trying this again. Also, the server was all friendly and Disneyish, but disappeared for long periods, didn't clear plates, refill drinks, bring us check. Overall rating: 5 (gets extra points for atmosphere and kid-friendliness.) Cost about $43
Friday 2/21 Day two:
Lunch: MGM: Rosies / Fairfax fries.. A burger. Aceeptable, nothing special. Fries McDonalds fries, fine.The kid had chicken strips. Overall rating: 5 About $14
Dinner: POFQ Food Court. We never intended to eat here, but Fantasmic messed with our dinner schedule and we were stuck with it. I had Jambalaya, the kid had mac n' cheese. Truly terrible. We threw most of it out. Overall rating: 2 $14.
Saturday 2/22 Day three:
Breakfast: Magic Kingdom Crystal Palace. Got off to a bad start with a 30-40 minute wait, but I was very happy with my meal. Eggs or omelets can be made to order. The bacon didn't look too good, but sausage and ham were fine, and I was in heaven eating Southern favorites like biscuits and gravy and grits. Also enjoyed lots and lots of fruit. I really ate a shocking amount, because of the disappointments of the last two days. I think with character buffets, breakfasts are the way to go, even if it does cut into touring time. The food is just harder to screw up. The server was good and attentive, too. Overall rating: 7.5. About $35 I think.
Late Lunch: Casey's Corner. Hot dogs. Fine, but a mistake for me. Should have had a nice piece of fruit. I'll rate this a respectable 6, but it really punished me for the rest of the day. $11
After the hot dog debacle, dinner consisted of a big bottle of milk and some peanut butter and saltines in the room. One of the more satisfying meals of the week.
Sunday 2/23
Lunch: AK, Tusker House. I had eaten here last time and was looking forward to a healthy, well-balanced counter service meal. I had rotisserie chicken with potatoes and veggies. Veggie a little overcooked, but getting veggies at all in fast food is a nice treat. Mashed potatoes quite good, red skins still in them. Interesting potatoes seem to be real and fresh at Tusker House and out of a box at Chef Mickey's. Chicken was surprisingly moist and juicy. The kid had pb/j, uncrustables. Was disappointed it was not made fresh but whatever. Overall rating, 8 (grading on a counterservice curve!) About $15
Dinner: Epcot, Teppanyaki. Thought the kid might enjoy it. In fact, all she wanted was a California Roll, which she ate and promptly fell asleep while the chef worked (we had waited over an hour for a table, no ps. But while waiting, we had a Deb Wills sighting!) So, this highly festive social restaurant I had to enjoy solo with a sleeping child in my lap. No matter, I enjoyed it. Yeah, I know it isn't "real" Japanese food but it is still tasty. I had steak and shrimp. All good, except the salad was drowned in dressing. I like their dressing alot, but no need to murder the lettuce, it can't swim. Overall rating, 7.5. About $43
Monday, 2/24
Lunch: Epcot, Patisserie, France. Bingo! Counter service nirvana. Limited menu, you have to like ham and cheese. Ham and cheese sandwich, ham and cheese croissant, ham and cheese quiche. Luckily, we like ham and cheese. The kid had the sandwich and I had the quiche. And a chocolate croissant for desert. Truly wonderful, eaten outside on a glorious day. Rating, 9. $14, plus $6 since we went and picked up 2 more chocolate croissants to snack on later!
Dinner: AKL, Boma.
Oh. My. Gawd. Truly, truly fabulous. First, the cast members are all extra friendly, extra attentive, and seem very proud to be working in what is clearly one of the great Disney restaurants. Beautiful, classy ambience-- without the humilation and infantilization that often seems a part of buffet dining. I wanted to eat everything-- it was all amazing. The hummus was all great-- the ground lamb pie (can't remember the name) was a two-helping winner, prime rib very good-- I had too big helpings of pap-- and squash and all the salads and soup were great. Deserts were truly special (and a nice change from the thumb-sucking junk at Chef Mickey's.) The children's buffet was the usual, but it was attractively displayed, the macaroni and cheese actually looked good and not like paste... I can't say enough about this meal. I should probably not be so effusive and deduct points for it being a buffet or something, but I can help rating this one a 10! About $43.
That's all folks. Thanks for reading.
Seriously, one of the most refreshing things about Boma after days of pretty ordinary food is how creative and unusual some of the offerings are.
