Donald is #1
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Free Dining Trip 8/24-8/31/08 Reviews
- Thread starter JerseyJanice
- Start date
I had it in May and thought it was excellent.
Great reviewing! Thanks for the CM review....we have an ADR for our 1st night next trip. (We decided this would be our tradition a few years back) I thought maybe we'd had enough of CM's, but feel differently after reading your review. At the worst I think the food is ok and you cant beat the characters and atmosphere to start your trip!
Thanks
Thanks
JerseyJanice
A Disboards original...
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As I mentioned, the four boys stayed up until 3:00 a.m., so waking them in time to make our breakfast at the Cape May Cafe was impossible. The best laid plans...
We were supposed to meet Bro (who'd spent the previous two nights at home in Tampa) for the breakfast at the Beach Club along with the neighbor parents and their middle son. We were too late, though. The oldest neighbor boy had told me the day before that he really wanted to go to the ESPN Club so I suggested we head there for lunch instead. All the boys loved that idea so we boarded the boat for the Boardwalk at the International Gateway and called Bro on his cell. He'd gone ahead and eaten breakfast at the Cape May Cafe with our neighbors and their other son.
The kids were more interested in the arcade and gift shop at ESPN than the food. I ordered the warm roast beef sandwich I had there in February. I just love the horseradish sauce it's served with. I also got the cucumber salad instead of the fries.
My son ordered the Red Wings appetizer as an entree. The older neighbor boy got something called a Dingers sandwich, which is basically boneless Buffalo wings on a roll. The two other boys (nephew and youngest neighbor) got hot dogs. The waitress seemed to think that DN was on the child's meal plan (he was not), so I had to insist that they give him the adult hot dog. The night before, he literally stole the other kid's food out of their plates, so I wanted to make sure he ate enough of his own.
After lunch, we went back in Epcot and scored Soarin' Fastpasses for 6:55 p.m. Our ADR at the Garden Grill was for 7:10 p.m., so that worked out well. The only issue was that our ADR was for four people, but we were now six with the neighbor boys. The guy who checked us in first said it might be a significantly longer wait, but then he backed down a bit and gave us a 20 to 25 minute wait. What could we do, but wait? It's not like we could have left and went to the Coral Reef instead, which is where I now wished we had an ADR. (The boys were all fascinated by the sea life in the Living Seas exhibit.)
This was the first time I'd eaten at the Garden Grill. I liked the food very much, but I didn't care for the atmosphere. We were seated in the "inside ring" of tables. On one side, you could view the Land greenhouses, nice enough, but to our other side, it was just a blah-looking wall along a narrow path. Character interaction was lots of fun, though, with the boys teasing Chip and Dale about which chipmunk is tougher and buffer.
The meal started with a salad that had a very tasty ranch dressing. The bread had oats on the crust so I didn't think the boys would like it, but they did. We asked for a platter of chicken nuggets and fries since both my nephew and the oldest neighbor kid didn't like the look of the regular menu.
Our meal came on three platters. One contained the chicken nuggets and fries, another with fresh green beans and catfish, and the third with everything else, which was flank steak, rotisserie chicken, and cheesy potatoes.
Bro, my son and I thought the food was delicious. Everything was well-seasoned. As I write this and remember it, my mouth is watering. The fish, the steak and the chicken were all so good, it's impossible to say which I liked most.
The older neighbor and DN filled up on the nuggets and fries. The younger neighbor didn't seem to eat much of anything--his loss. We asked for a second round of steak, mainly because my son ate so much of it. (That boy of mine is such a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy.)
We asked to get the dessert and check together, as we were trying to make Illuminations. The dessert was as tasty as the rest of the meal. It consisted of two vanilla custard-filled puff pasties topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
Somehow or other, the waitress had trouble totalling up our meal--I guess because we split the bill between two meal plans. We ran out of there and toward the World Showcase. With trying to walk through the huge crowd, we missed most of Iluminations, and I'll tell you--I was mad!
After the show, the boys wanted to use the Fastpasses we had gotten earlier for Test Track. I was pretty bend of shape and needing to regroup, so I sent them to ride TT while I sought out the French drink stand. I was anxious to try the Grand Marnier drink featured on one of Samantha Brown's shows. I found it and asked specifically for the Sam Brown drink. The man working there told me that a lot of people ask for that drink.
Next up--1900 Park Fare and Ohana's
We were supposed to meet Bro (who'd spent the previous two nights at home in Tampa) for the breakfast at the Beach Club along with the neighbor parents and their middle son. We were too late, though. The oldest neighbor boy had told me the day before that he really wanted to go to the ESPN Club so I suggested we head there for lunch instead. All the boys loved that idea so we boarded the boat for the Boardwalk at the International Gateway and called Bro on his cell. He'd gone ahead and eaten breakfast at the Cape May Cafe with our neighbors and their other son.
The kids were more interested in the arcade and gift shop at ESPN than the food. I ordered the warm roast beef sandwich I had there in February. I just love the horseradish sauce it's served with. I also got the cucumber salad instead of the fries.
My son ordered the Red Wings appetizer as an entree. The older neighbor boy got something called a Dingers sandwich, which is basically boneless Buffalo wings on a roll. The two other boys (nephew and youngest neighbor) got hot dogs. The waitress seemed to think that DN was on the child's meal plan (he was not), so I had to insist that they give him the adult hot dog. The night before, he literally stole the other kid's food out of their plates, so I wanted to make sure he ate enough of his own.
After lunch, we went back in Epcot and scored Soarin' Fastpasses for 6:55 p.m. Our ADR at the Garden Grill was for 7:10 p.m., so that worked out well. The only issue was that our ADR was for four people, but we were now six with the neighbor boys. The guy who checked us in first said it might be a significantly longer wait, but then he backed down a bit and gave us a 20 to 25 minute wait. What could we do, but wait? It's not like we could have left and went to the Coral Reef instead, which is where I now wished we had an ADR. (The boys were all fascinated by the sea life in the Living Seas exhibit.)
This was the first time I'd eaten at the Garden Grill. I liked the food very much, but I didn't care for the atmosphere. We were seated in the "inside ring" of tables. On one side, you could view the Land greenhouses, nice enough, but to our other side, it was just a blah-looking wall along a narrow path. Character interaction was lots of fun, though, with the boys teasing Chip and Dale about which chipmunk is tougher and buffer.
The meal started with a salad that had a very tasty ranch dressing. The bread had oats on the crust so I didn't think the boys would like it, but they did. We asked for a platter of chicken nuggets and fries since both my nephew and the oldest neighbor kid didn't like the look of the regular menu.
Our meal came on three platters. One contained the chicken nuggets and fries, another with fresh green beans and catfish, and the third with everything else, which was flank steak, rotisserie chicken, and cheesy potatoes.
Bro, my son and I thought the food was delicious. Everything was well-seasoned. As I write this and remember it, my mouth is watering. The fish, the steak and the chicken were all so good, it's impossible to say which I liked most.
The older neighbor and DN filled up on the nuggets and fries. The younger neighbor didn't seem to eat much of anything--his loss. We asked for a second round of steak, mainly because my son ate so much of it. (That boy of mine is such a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy.)
We asked to get the dessert and check together, as we were trying to make Illuminations. The dessert was as tasty as the rest of the meal. It consisted of two vanilla custard-filled puff pasties topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
Somehow or other, the waitress had trouble totalling up our meal--I guess because we split the bill between two meal plans. We ran out of there and toward the World Showcase. With trying to walk through the huge crowd, we missed most of Iluminations, and I'll tell you--I was mad!
After the show, the boys wanted to use the Fastpasses we had gotten earlier for Test Track. I was pretty bend of shape and needing to regroup, so I sent them to ride TT while I sought out the French drink stand. I was anxious to try the Grand Marnier drink featured on one of Samantha Brown's shows. I found it and asked specifically for the Sam Brown drink. The man working there told me that a lot of people ask for that drink.
Next up--1900 Park Fare and Ohana's
JerseyJanice
A Disboards original...
- Joined
- Aug 20, 1999
- Messages
- 10,764
Our last full day in WDW! Always a bittersweet day.
We had an ADR for breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, where I'd been trying to get to for years. It was rainy out, so Bro decided to drive us in his van instead of taking the MK bus and monorail. He hurt his back sometime during the trip and was trying to rest it, so he valet-parked once we got to the Grand Floridian.
We checked in and got our beeper, then left Bro sitting on a sofa in the lobby with DN who was just plain exhausted. DS, who is always a ball of energy, and I went exploring around the lobby and its shops. I'd never been inside the Grand Floridian before; I'd only passed through the monorail. Of course, it was gorgeous and I just loved looking in the Basin shop.
A carafe of coffee was waiting for us on our table. It wasn't as awful as I expected it to be. Back in February, I couldn't get over how terrible the WDW coffee was. It didn't seem quite as bad this trip; maybe they're brewing Nestle coffee now as opposed to adding hot water to make Nescafe Instant. (That IMO is one vile tasting beverage.)
All the guys ordered orange juice while I got tomato juice. I tasted DS's juice to see how fresh it was. I hate being served Minute Maid from concentrate in Florida, and fortunately 1900 Park Fare's was a better quality juice.
I went up to the omelet station while the boys did their thing. I had to duck out of the line to supervise DN at the buffet. He didn't quite understand that you're supposed to fill a plate and bring it back to your table before you start eating the food.
Sometimes, his table manners made me wonder if he was raised by wolves, but his parents are lovely people. They are big into physical fitness, so I doubt they hit buffets often, if ever, and that was really the problem.
Finally, I got my omelet and a bowl of strawberry soup. Ahhh! Strawberry soup! They could name it "Heaven in a Bowl." I loved it and can see why it's the signature dish at 1900 Park Fare. Bro thought it was more like a smoothie than a soup, but I disagreed with him. They left enough solids in the mixture to necessitate eating it with a spoon rather than sipping it through a straw. And I swear--any dish that has cream in it is awesome at Disney! They don't skimp on using good cream at WDW restaurants.
We loved the characters at this meal. Pooh and Tigger came around and were cute, but the "face" characters were fantastic since they could talk to you. We had Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter. All three of these characters play their parts very well. In fact, Alice scolded me for saying that out loud about Mary Poppins. (Mary is not playing a role, don't you know? It's really her!)
It's taken me almost 10 years to get to 1900 Park Fare, and let me say that it was worth the wait. We loved the meal and the characters. Next trip (don't let my husband hear me say that!), we eating dinner there for sure.
I took my boys (DN and DS) to the Magic Kingdom that day while Bro stayed in the room messing up my bed to rest his back. (j/k, but I do get peeved about going to sleep in a messy bed.) It was raining on and off, but that worked in our favor. It cooled down the air considerably and kept the crowd levels low in the park; we walked onto everything.
We took the monorail over to the Polynesian Resort while Bro drove himself over in his van. We waited the standard 20 minutes and got a table near the window that faces out to the MK. Great! We could stay there to see Wishes. Since we sat down around 8:00 p.m., Bro couldn't believe we wouldn't have time to get back into the MK for the fireworks, but I told him we'd be best off taking our time and watching them from our table.
As in February--when I was too sick to enjoy our Ohana's dinner--we started with coconut bread and a salad dressed in honey-lime vinigarette. Everybody except me hated the bread. DS is crazy for Ohana's salad though. He loved it back in February and jumped on it this meal.
Next came the dumplings and wings. Bro and DS went crazy over the wings and ordered a second dish of them. DN wouldn't try a thing after the bread. He looked miserable, so I asked the waiter to bring him a dish of chicken nuggets and fries. Bro got annoyed by this--a result of our own upbringing because my parents loved to feed us--so I was like, "you're kidding, right? For a whole week, this kid wouldn't eat any adult foods. We're going home tomorrow, and I'm not going to start fighting with him over it now."
We got our noodles (they were potatoes in February) and vegetables, then the skewers started coming around. The noodles were too soft for my liking, but everything else was terrific, even the broccoli and garlic. The skewered, grilled shrimp were outstanding--much larger than the ones they served in February.
Bro was blown away by Ohana's and swore he's taking the next date he wants to impress there. The soft lighting and fire glow does provide a romantic backdrop.
DN did the coconut race in which--according to DS--he came "dead last." Both boys joined the singing Hawaiian lady for hula dancing.
Dessert at Ohana's is fantastic! One of the best things I've ever eaten! It's coconut bread pudding topped with vanilla ice cream and served with bananas foster sauce. The texture and flavor are out of this world!
Ten o'clock approached quickly, as I told Bro it would. They dimmed the lights and put on the soundtrack to Wishes. DS and DN moved closer to the window to watch. Wow! It looked great from there--a perfect ending to an absolutely perfect meal.
Yes, we saved the best meals for our last day. 1900 Park Fare and Ohana's both get big thumbs up from Bro, DS and me.
Next (and last--boo hoo!), Day 8, Captain Jack's and Everything Pop Food Court.
We had an ADR for breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, where I'd been trying to get to for years. It was rainy out, so Bro decided to drive us in his van instead of taking the MK bus and monorail. He hurt his back sometime during the trip and was trying to rest it, so he valet-parked once we got to the Grand Floridian.
We checked in and got our beeper, then left Bro sitting on a sofa in the lobby with DN who was just plain exhausted. DS, who is always a ball of energy, and I went exploring around the lobby and its shops. I'd never been inside the Grand Floridian before; I'd only passed through the monorail. Of course, it was gorgeous and I just loved looking in the Basin shop.
A carafe of coffee was waiting for us on our table. It wasn't as awful as I expected it to be. Back in February, I couldn't get over how terrible the WDW coffee was. It didn't seem quite as bad this trip; maybe they're brewing Nestle coffee now as opposed to adding hot water to make Nescafe Instant. (That IMO is one vile tasting beverage.)
All the guys ordered orange juice while I got tomato juice. I tasted DS's juice to see how fresh it was. I hate being served Minute Maid from concentrate in Florida, and fortunately 1900 Park Fare's was a better quality juice.
I went up to the omelet station while the boys did their thing. I had to duck out of the line to supervise DN at the buffet. He didn't quite understand that you're supposed to fill a plate and bring it back to your table before you start eating the food.
Sometimes, his table manners made me wonder if he was raised by wolves, but his parents are lovely people. They are big into physical fitness, so I doubt they hit buffets often, if ever, and that was really the problem.Finally, I got my omelet and a bowl of strawberry soup. Ahhh! Strawberry soup! They could name it "Heaven in a Bowl." I loved it and can see why it's the signature dish at 1900 Park Fare. Bro thought it was more like a smoothie than a soup, but I disagreed with him. They left enough solids in the mixture to necessitate eating it with a spoon rather than sipping it through a straw. And I swear--any dish that has cream in it is awesome at Disney! They don't skimp on using good cream at WDW restaurants.
We loved the characters at this meal. Pooh and Tigger came around and were cute, but the "face" characters were fantastic since they could talk to you. We had Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter. All three of these characters play their parts very well. In fact, Alice scolded me for saying that out loud about Mary Poppins. (Mary is not playing a role, don't you know? It's really her!)
It's taken me almost 10 years to get to 1900 Park Fare, and let me say that it was worth the wait. We loved the meal and the characters. Next trip (don't let my husband hear me say that!), we eating dinner there for sure.
I took my boys (DN and DS) to the Magic Kingdom that day while Bro stayed in the room messing up my bed to rest his back. (j/k, but I do get peeved about going to sleep in a messy bed.) It was raining on and off, but that worked in our favor. It cooled down the air considerably and kept the crowd levels low in the park; we walked onto everything.
We took the monorail over to the Polynesian Resort while Bro drove himself over in his van. We waited the standard 20 minutes and got a table near the window that faces out to the MK. Great! We could stay there to see Wishes. Since we sat down around 8:00 p.m., Bro couldn't believe we wouldn't have time to get back into the MK for the fireworks, but I told him we'd be best off taking our time and watching them from our table.
As in February--when I was too sick to enjoy our Ohana's dinner--we started with coconut bread and a salad dressed in honey-lime vinigarette. Everybody except me hated the bread. DS is crazy for Ohana's salad though. He loved it back in February and jumped on it this meal.
Next came the dumplings and wings. Bro and DS went crazy over the wings and ordered a second dish of them. DN wouldn't try a thing after the bread. He looked miserable, so I asked the waiter to bring him a dish of chicken nuggets and fries. Bro got annoyed by this--a result of our own upbringing because my parents loved to feed us--so I was like, "you're kidding, right? For a whole week, this kid wouldn't eat any adult foods. We're going home tomorrow, and I'm not going to start fighting with him over it now."
We got our noodles (they were potatoes in February) and vegetables, then the skewers started coming around. The noodles were too soft for my liking, but everything else was terrific, even the broccoli and garlic. The skewered, grilled shrimp were outstanding--much larger than the ones they served in February.
Bro was blown away by Ohana's and swore he's taking the next date he wants to impress there. The soft lighting and fire glow does provide a romantic backdrop.
DN did the coconut race in which--according to DS--he came "dead last." Both boys joined the singing Hawaiian lady for hula dancing.
Dessert at Ohana's is fantastic! One of the best things I've ever eaten! It's coconut bread pudding topped with vanilla ice cream and served with bananas foster sauce. The texture and flavor are out of this world!
Ten o'clock approached quickly, as I told Bro it would. They dimmed the lights and put on the soundtrack to Wishes. DS and DN moved closer to the window to watch. Wow! It looked great from there--a perfect ending to an absolutely perfect meal.
Yes, we saved the best meals for our last day. 1900 Park Fare and Ohana's both get big thumbs up from Bro, DS and me.
Next (and last--boo hoo!), Day 8, Captain Jack's and Everything Pop Food Court.
JerseyJanice
A Disboards original...
- Joined
- Aug 20, 1999
- Messages
- 10,764
Well, here I am posting about our last day. What a fun trip it was overall. We have some great memories we will laugh about for years. (Remind me to post about what happened at Club Cool in Epcot. My son and the neighbor's youngest are still cracking up over it.)
After the dinner at Ohana's, Bro went back to the room and left WDW after packing his stuff. We went into the Magic Kingdom to see Spectromagic, which was fabulous. The next morning, I talked to BFF about the possibility of meeting them at Blizzard Beach. We had the admission, but it looked like rain, and honestly at that point, my feet were shot. I couldn't stand the thought of walking up hills and ladders to ride the slides and I couldn't let DN do those things alone. (He is not the strong swimmer that my son and the neighbor kids are.)
We wished the R family farewell over the phone. Our trip was Sunday-to-Sunday, while theirs was Tuesday-to-Tuesday. We spent a solid three days with them and enjoyed their company very much. Maybe next year or the year after, we'll be able to do it again and with our other neighbors too. We three families do a lot together at home, and Disney World is the ultimate family get-together.
After Bell Services took our luggage and carry-on bags, we decided to go to Downtown Disney. I had the Concierge desk swipe my card to see how many meal credits we had left. We were at 2 TS credits, 2 CS credits and 6 snack credits. Not bad, considering we missed our CP dinner.
Once Downtown, I decided we should eat lunch at Captain Jacks to burn up the 2 TS credits that were left. I ordered DN a kid’s meal since that’s all he ever ate anyway. I got the crabcake and DS got the pot roast. I really liked the melted, smoked mozzarella cheese on my crabcake and the sauce drizzled on it was good too. DS liked his pot roast, but said my pot roast is much better. (He’s a smart boy!) I tasted it and agree. Mine is better seasoned.
DN got either a cheeseburger or chicken nuggets. I forget which. Didn’t matter because by this point, I was just so grateful that my own kid eats and enjoys regular food. I couldn’t put up with a kid of mine eating only junky food. (I don’t think I would either, but that’s another matter.)
We used up the rest of our meal credits when we got back to Pop to meet the Magical Express. The two boys got CS meals (probably cheeseburgers) while I ordered a bowl of chili that I paid for with a snack credit. We used up the remaining snack credits on rice krispy treats and candy, then left for the airport.
Overall trip impressions--in a word--excellent! All of our meals were very good to fantastic. On the whole, I’d say we got better food and service than we did in February when we paid for everything out of pocket. None of our servers or any WDW staff made us feel self-conscious or cheap by using the free dining plan. Disney seemed to be on its game in every way.
I can hardly wait to go again.
In case you're interested in reading my resort review, here's a link:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1947536
After the dinner at Ohana's, Bro went back to the room and left WDW after packing his stuff. We went into the Magic Kingdom to see Spectromagic, which was fabulous. The next morning, I talked to BFF about the possibility of meeting them at Blizzard Beach. We had the admission, but it looked like rain, and honestly at that point, my feet were shot. I couldn't stand the thought of walking up hills and ladders to ride the slides and I couldn't let DN do those things alone. (He is not the strong swimmer that my son and the neighbor kids are.)
We wished the R family farewell over the phone. Our trip was Sunday-to-Sunday, while theirs was Tuesday-to-Tuesday. We spent a solid three days with them and enjoyed their company very much. Maybe next year or the year after, we'll be able to do it again and with our other neighbors too. We three families do a lot together at home, and Disney World is the ultimate family get-together.
After Bell Services took our luggage and carry-on bags, we decided to go to Downtown Disney. I had the Concierge desk swipe my card to see how many meal credits we had left. We were at 2 TS credits, 2 CS credits and 6 snack credits. Not bad, considering we missed our CP dinner.
Once Downtown, I decided we should eat lunch at Captain Jacks to burn up the 2 TS credits that were left. I ordered DN a kid’s meal since that’s all he ever ate anyway. I got the crabcake and DS got the pot roast. I really liked the melted, smoked mozzarella cheese on my crabcake and the sauce drizzled on it was good too. DS liked his pot roast, but said my pot roast is much better. (He’s a smart boy!) I tasted it and agree. Mine is better seasoned.
DN got either a cheeseburger or chicken nuggets. I forget which. Didn’t matter because by this point, I was just so grateful that my own kid eats and enjoys regular food. I couldn’t put up with a kid of mine eating only junky food. (I don’t think I would either, but that’s another matter.)
We used up the rest of our meal credits when we got back to Pop to meet the Magical Express. The two boys got CS meals (probably cheeseburgers) while I ordered a bowl of chili that I paid for with a snack credit. We used up the remaining snack credits on rice krispy treats and candy, then left for the airport.
Overall trip impressions--in a word--excellent! All of our meals were very good to fantastic. On the whole, I’d say we got better food and service than we did in February when we paid for everything out of pocket. None of our servers or any WDW staff made us feel self-conscious or cheap by using the free dining plan. Disney seemed to be on its game in every way.
I can hardly wait to go again.
In case you're interested in reading my resort review, here's a link:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1947536
wilma-bride
<<This space intentionally blank>>
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- Jul 13, 2005
- Messages
- 22,681
Thanks for finishing your reviews. Love the idea of watching Wishes from 'Ohana
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