Grand Gatherings & more! 1 year of Disney Dining! Illuminations Grand Gathering 5/26

[habg1]

Keep er' going...

 

[iluvpluto27]

Which ones? I loved the deluxe plan! It just took away so much time. Next time I'll do it but it'll be done differently.

Really enjoying your reviews. We're doing Crystal Palace (hope we get a different waitress to you!! ), Tonys, sci-fi, tusker house and kona, out of the restaurants you visited.

I'm expecting the dining to take up a fair few hours, but we're mostly doing signature dinners so only have two TS a day. We're also there for 21 days, so hopefully we'll still have plenty of time to see everything in between all the eating!

 

[bentleygirl22]

enjoying your food report .. I'm so ready to be back that the world eatting...

 

[HonnyDipp]

I am LOVING your pics! Precious children!!!!

 

[blinkered]

Your pics of Tepan Edo are FAB!

 

[MarieA]

Enjoying your reviews and the pics!!! Keep them coming.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Great reviews! Your photos have good lightning. Great to hear a good review of the Garden Grill, I'm considering for next year's trip.

Love your signature! No special lighting...just a plain old flash. GG was one of our favorite places to eat. We may just have to stop in for dinner next year, we'll see. I hate that they're taking lunch away.

I'm in too! I love the reviews and pics so far!

Thanks. I loved these boards while I was planning. I hope I can help someone with their planning now.

We are also eating at:

Princess Storybook
OHana
LeCellier
Chef Mickey’s
50’s Prime Time
(Possibly Kona)

Where did you find those Tinkerbelle drinks? Tell me more about them. Thanks!

You have to go to Kona. At least for Breakfast! The drinks are really sour. The only place I've ever seen them was right over the bridge into Liberty Square beside the castle. There's a little shop there on the right (I think it's called Scuttles???) I need to pull out a map and get this right huh? It's where the funnel cakes and ice cream sandwiches are too! It's a real good stop.

 

[DLo]

Great reviews and fantastic pics. What kind of camera did you use? I just bought a Canon Power Shot (step below SLR) . I wanted more zoom than my little digital. Hope I learn how to use it before my trip.

Looking forward to the rest of your reviews.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Just added Teppan Edo for lunch on arrival day- hope lunch is as good as dinner looks!

I'm in....a little late We are leaving in a 11 days for our first trip with deluxe dining, and we chose a lot of the same places. Can't wait to see the rest of your pics

Wonderful review and great pictures! Thank you for taking the time to post. Off to find your trip review...

I'm enjoying your reviews
what lousy service at CP! How can someone demand a tip? And if my math is correct (may not be, LOL) isn't $10 actually 15% of the total, and when did that become an amount to be combative over? I thought that the customary tip is generally 15-20% for GOOD service. Mind you, we generally leave at least 20% unless the service is lousy (which it sounds like it was here!)

What are those Tinkerbell drinks and where did you get them?

Yes it was horrible! That was definitely our last trip to that place. Never again. Personally $10 was way too much for the service we'd gotten but after she pulled that it kind of made my husband mad. He just kept it all. We left extra for the next two servers. I'm sure they didn't mind. Did she really expect someone to hand over $2-$3 more dollars after acting that way? I would have been fired on the spot if I had pulled something like that back when I waited tables.

The tink drinks are really sour frozen drinks. The real soft ice. As soon as you enter Liberty Square over the bridge by the castle the place will be on your right. They are sooooooooooooooo good!

Keep er' going...

I will but I'm slow with all that's going on here.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Enjoying your reviews and the pics!!! Keep them coming.

Thanks. I have a lot more to add still!

Your pics of Tepan Edo are FAB!

Thank you. The food was a big help in that though. I could totally have dinner there tonight!

I am LOVING your pics! Precious children!!!!

Thanks! They're my pride and joy.

enjoying your food report .. I'm so ready to be back that the work eatting...

Welcome to this report girlie! You should do one too since ya'll did a lot of eatin' this time!

Which ones? I loved the deluxe plan! It just took away so much time. Next time I'll do it but it'll be done differently.

Really enjoying your reviews. We're doing Crystal Palace (hope we get a different waitress to you!! ), Tonys, sci-fi, tusker house and kona, out of the restaurants you visited.

I'm expecting the dining to take up a fair few hours, but we're mostly doing signature dinners so only have two TS a day. We're also there for 21 days, so hopefully we'll still have plenty of time to see everything in between all the eating!

I pray that you do get another woman. If she fits my description you better ask for another section! 21 days is plenty of time. We went last year for 17 days and that was perfect! 21, even better. Are you on the plan the whole 21 days? That would be cool...you could eat at every single place or at least knock most of them out!

Great reviews and fantastic pics. What kind of camera did you use? I just bought a Canon Power Shot (step below SLR) . I wanted more zoom than my little digital. Hope I learn how to use it before my trip.

Looking forward to the rest of your reviews.

Thanks! The camera I used here is an Olympus E-500 SLR w/ the simple 14-45 mm lens. I couldn't do food pics with the other lenses I brought with me. Practice and read your instructions and you should be fine. I hate reading the manuals but you learn a lot. I hope to get a review up tonight, but it is 90210 night. We'll see.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

September 1st, 2008. We spent the day ay DHS and had three meals planned. Hollywood and Vine for breakfast, Sci Fi for lunch, and 50's Prime Time for dinner. H & V we skipped. Already three meals a day was taking it's toll on us. Plus there was EMH at the MK the night before and all the breakfast ADR's I made in the 8 o' clock hour. So, we had a couple of snacks upon arrival at DHS. Frozen lemonades, a spicy cheese filled pretzel (yum) and a plain salted pretzel.

For lunch we waited about 5 minutes to be sat at Sci Fi. We had a very sweet server and she took good care of us. She wanted us to get everything we could out of the dining plan. She suggested milkshakes or floats for drinks (and she said this was the only place that does this.) Even the kids can get shakes! I got a vanilla shake, DD got a strawberry shake, Sidney ordered a coke float, and DS was brought an orange soda float even though he ordered a plain soda. She went back and got the drink right away but left the float in case someone else wanted it. Here are pictures of the drinks. (Which were very good by the way!)

Next up were the appetizers. I ordered the onion rings and Sidney ordered the chili. Both superb.

For our entrees I ordered the ribs, Sidney got the burger, DD ordered a hot dog and DS ordered Pizza.
The rib sauce was pretty good but the meat was a little tough. I'm used to Lonestar's melt in your mouth baby back ribs and this was far from that! I was still a mess. hehe Next time I'll go for a burger too. Sidney loved his! The kids all liked their food too! Here are our meals...

And for dessert I ordered the apple crisp which was amazing! And Sidney ordered the cheesecake. His cheesecake came covered in cracker jacks...ewww! I like cheesecake and I like cracker jacks but NOT on one another! I thought this was gross! He said the cheesecake was pretty good, but not as good as mine.

We love this restaurant and the little cars you sit in. The atmosphere is wonderful. My kids think it's the coolest place ever! Would I go again? Of course. This is my fave place to eat at DHS! The meal totaled $106.55 and was one table service credit.

A few hours later it was time for Dinner. We were headed to 50's Prime Time.

This was our first time going. I'd heard many good stories about the place and could not wait! We had to wait about 15 minutes for our table. We were seated in a little room which was kind of neat. Only weird thing was the big family next to us. They kept staring at us and gawking. (In a Charlie Manson way) Freaky! At first our server seemed sweet. She sat down and chatted with us for a few and took our drink orders. We were her only table back in this room. Another server had the other two tables. So anyway, she brings back the drinks. For appetizers we order the Chicken Noodle Soup and Shrimp Cocktail.

About 25 minutes later she shows up w/ the apps and blamed the kitchen for the delay. Then she left. Someone else brought out our food. (Which took another 30 minutes or more) and she never came back! For our dinner (which was ordered at the same time as the apps) I got the fried chicken and Sidney ordered the beef stew. DD ordered mac n cheese. DS ordered the chicken tenders.

Sidney took our drinks to the bar to get them refilled. We never saw her again!? This picture shows what our table looked like for the duration of the meal! Nothing was ever pre bussed! Not one drink was refilled! Not one person asked how the food was. Nothing! We were ignored for over an hour.

Normally we would ask WTH was going on but we wanted to wait it out and see how long it would actually take for her to come back. After everyone finished eating (keep in mind we'd been in the place for well over an hour) DD had to go to the bathroom. I said great! She'll come while you guys are gone. And she did. I was sitting there with the baby and she decides to sit down at the table and act like my best friend! I was calling her very bad names in my head. I never said a word to her I just stared (like the Manson family had done to us our whole meal). Must have been very awkward. She acted as if nothing was the matter even after seeing the table full of dishes and a mute po'ed person straring at her in awe! Sidney comes back, thank God, and asks her to remove the mess from the table. I was po'ed at him now since I had to deal with her alone. He told me to go get a manager. Which I did. I sent him to the table and left the place. I was disgusted by now and felt I'd wasted way too much time since we were now hitting the two hour mark since we had walked into the place. Sidney talked with the manager for a while, did a write up on the woman, and ordered milkshakes to go. (Manager felt bad and offered them since we had walked out on dessert!) Really ~ what was she thinking? Had I been a cash paying customer I would have gotten up and walked out of the place! I think this one outdid the woman over at Crystal Palace! This was my first and last time ever eating at 50's Prime Time. The food was decent but the service was horrible! The wait times were super long and to me, the fried chicken just wasn't worth it! The meal came to $87.33 and was one table service.

 

[arbolita]

Aww that makes me sad to hear your dinner at the 50s Prime Time Cafe was a bust! FI and I loved it when we were there for lunch in June, and one of the places we're definitely making another trip to when we're there for our honeymoon

 

[scottny]

Hi again,
Ok caught up here. Sorry about your PTC experience, we ate there in January and had the best experience. The food was fantastic, the waitress was amazing. Guess it really depends on who you get.

 

[BellaSoleil]

Goodness! I'm so sorry you had such a terrible experience at 50's Prime Time. We have ADR's there and I will be getting the manager early on, if our server starts to act like that. Thanks for the warning!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Aww that makes me sad to hear your dinner at the 50s Prime Time Cafe was a bust! FI and I loved it when we were there for lunch in June, and one of the places we're definitely making another trip to when we're there for our honeymoon

I had read many good things about it. I was shocked myself. If nothing else she has one strike against her now so maybe she'll change up the service a little. The food was pretty good there. But I don't think I'll go back after all of this.

Hi again,
Ok caught up here. Sorry about your PTC experience, we ate there in January and had the best experience. The food was fantastic, the waitress was amazing. Guess it really depends on who you get.

I guess. All I can say about our server was she aced at being absent. I liked the little room we were in though. It was like eating in someones kitchen back in the 50's. The decor was fab!

Goodness! I'm so sorry you had such a terrible experience at 50's Prime Time. We have ADR's there and I will be getting the manager early on, if our server starts to act like that. Thanks for the warning!

Well the bar wasn't too too far away and DH went and got himself and the kids refills on their drinks. At this point we wanted to see if she'd ever come back! Thank God it was EMH that night. Otherwise the park would have been completely cleared out and empty. We were in there forever!

 

[kimgof]

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences at CP and 50s PT. Sounds like you had some really bad servers. We actually have ADRs at both this trip. We have always loved CP and we have never tried 50s PT before. I hope our servers are better than the ones you had. Love all your reviews. Great pictures!

 

[BellaSoleil]

I just got caught up on your trip report. I passed on your Michael Phelps story to the Snowbirds (our January group). We have some huge Phelps fans over there.

I'm with you. I would have said "WHO?"

 

[iluvpluto27]

Great update, pleased you enjoyed sci fi, and sorry you had such bad service at 50's.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences at CP and 50s PT. Sounds like you had some really bad servers. We actually have ADRs at both this trip. We have always loved CP and we have never tried 50s PT before. I hope our servers are better than the ones you had. Love all your reviews. Great pictures!

Thanks, I hope so too! CP was so drity this time! That makes me think twice about a place when I go there to eat. If that's what we see!? What are we not seeing? The food itself was good though and looked very good.

50's...I went..I ate...and now I'm done. No desire to go back.

I just got caught up on your trip report. I passed on your Michael Phelps story to the Snowbirds (our January group). We have some huge Phelps fans over there.

I'm with you. I would have said "WHO?"

At first I thought he was talking about a character! One time at a party Charles Barkley (I think he plays basketball?) was trying to pick up my friend Gretchen (in a really dirty tone of voice) and she thought it was one of our co workers. She smacked him a good one and told him where to go. It was hilarious. Here he thought he was this big shot that any woman would want and that happened in front of everyone! She had no clue who he was. And after she found out she still didn't care! I'm sports ignorant!

Great update, pleased you enjoyed sci fi, and sorry you had such bad service at 50's.

Sci Fi is always fun!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Okay, I'm back with new pictures!!! Finally. I t feels like I've been uploading pictures now for a week. Ugh! Anyway today we have some yummy places! First for Breakfast we have O'Hana. We always eat here on every trip and it's always good! The service, the food, the characters.....all of it! Here you get to meet Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, and Stitch. The food is served family style. You get a big platter like this:

The potatoes are sooooooooooo delicious and the meats too. I don't like the eggs but that's just me. DD and DH can't get enough of them! You also get pineapple bread and plate of fruit. All very good. Somehow the bread and fruit disappeared before I could get pictures. (Yeah, that good.) They have their own juice there too. (Very good, not too sweet)

This is all you can eat. They'll replenish your food as long as you want. During the meal they do a little character conga line around the restaurant. Kids love this! Make sure you have your cameras ready because you'll want some pics.

This meal came to $65.66 for the four of us. The baby eats for free. This is one table service on the dining plan.

This is the specialty cupcake they brought out for us.

Next up we went to The Plaza for lunch. This was our first time eating here. I had read mixed reviews so I wasn't sure how we'd like it, but this place is AWESOME!!! This was one of the best meals we had the whole trip. On the deluxe plan you get an appetizer but nothing appealed to me. Our server asked if I'd like some fruit and she brought me this! Does it look good or what!? And yes it was just as good as it looked.

Sidney ordered a salad and loved it.

Then for our entrees he ordered the club sandwich. He said it was phenominal.

And I ordered the chicken sandwich (also very good)

The kids each got a grilled cheese

For dessert the kids tried the Mickeylodeons

I ordered the banana split

And Sidney ordered the Cheesecake

Everything was delicious and we were stuffed. Two people can easily share a sandwich in this place! Also the sweet potatoe chips...wonderful! She brought us a side of those out too. No charge. We had a great server! This meal totaled $68.66 and was one table service on the dining plan. We will be back! I think it's my new favorite table service at the Magic Kingdom!
Dinner is at 1900 Park Fare....pictures downloading now. I'll have a post soon I hope.