D L and K's Mom
<font color=blue>D, L and now baby Kennedy's mom!<
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2001
- Messages
- 3,501
We had scheduled 2 grand gathering events. We went to the Illuminations Dinner/Dessert Buffet and the Character Breakfast at Tony's. I have to say I was a little disappointed in both but for very different reasons.
The food at the Illumintations Buffet was not as good as we thought it would be. The "show" was entertaining, the waitress was very nice but the food was just not as good as we expected. The fish and chips were not from Harry Ramseys (like in EPCOT), the kids station was not refilled and we waited 20 minutes for chicken nuggets. The pasta station was good. Quite a bit of the food was cold. We were just not WOWed. The spot for watching Illuminations was nice but again the Dessert Buffet consisted of some desserts but not ones from the countries. There were some small eclairs, cream horns, brownies and lots and lots of different kinds of rice crispie treats. Most of the desserts were soggy from the humidity. I was not the only one who noticed this. The family who was standing near us complained about how "Squishy" the desserts were. They were very disappointing. When I said something to one of the CMs about how we thought that they were supposed to be entrees and desserts from the different countries at EPCOT he sort of smiled and said, "no, they are INSPIRED by the countries and foods at EPCOT. It was not worth 2 dining points.The only saving point was the nice spot to watch the fireworks.
The food at the character breakfast was good (eggs, breakfast potatos, bacon, sausage, and danish). The children loved the show but....we were a gathering of 9 people. We scheduled the breakfast on our last day. We were so excited going but when we got our seats we were split up into 2 boothes. The waitress thought we should put the 5 children at one table. Ummmm no, that will not work at all. My son is a special needs child and needs assistance and the thought of putting the children at the same table just was not going to work at all. I asked why we were not all at the same table. There were numerous tables set for 10, 12, 8 even 14 people. I was told that we were "pre-assigned" a table and that there was nothing that could be done. I reminded the waitress that this was booked as a grand gathering for 9 and it was our last day and we wanted to all be sitting together. When I booked it I was not told there was even a chance of sitting at 2 tables. I know that a few of our other dinner ressies were booked as a table of 5 and 4 but we were always at one table. The waitress we spoke to went to get another hostess and when I explained my disappointment I was again told that there was nothing they could do. I pointed out how some of the boothes had a table next to them and asked if they could do the same with one of the booths. I was told that that would block the walkway for the characters. I didnt understand that because it was done at all the other booths. I also pointed out that the waitress had put my DS wheelchair in the aisle so that was blocking it anyway. I was told we could speak to a manager but it would be a few minutes. . We sat down and waited for the manager the food was brought and since the children were hungry we let them eat. The manager never came. When the waitress brought the coffee I again said I was waiting for a manager. When the manager finally came it was to late and I just expressed my disappointment at an event being billed as a Grand Gathering and not being able to seat us at the same table. He said he understood but that the tables are assigned and that they are not always able to seat parties together. I said that perhaps it should be mentioned when the Gathering is booked like it was with other AP's. Oh well. The food was good, the show was cute. The characters were great with the children and Tony was funny. I was just very disappointed that on our last day and our last meal before leaving WDW we were not able to sit together as a family. If you book this ask about seating in advance.
The kids like the pins they got at both events.
The food at the Illumintations Buffet was not as good as we thought it would be. The "show" was entertaining, the waitress was very nice but the food was just not as good as we expected. The fish and chips were not from Harry Ramseys (like in EPCOT), the kids station was not refilled and we waited 20 minutes for chicken nuggets. The pasta station was good. Quite a bit of the food was cold. We were just not WOWed. The spot for watching Illuminations was nice but again the Dessert Buffet consisted of some desserts but not ones from the countries. There were some small eclairs, cream horns, brownies and lots and lots of different kinds of rice crispie treats. Most of the desserts were soggy from the humidity. I was not the only one who noticed this. The family who was standing near us complained about how "Squishy" the desserts were. They were very disappointing. When I said something to one of the CMs about how we thought that they were supposed to be entrees and desserts from the different countries at EPCOT he sort of smiled and said, "no, they are INSPIRED by the countries and foods at EPCOT. It was not worth 2 dining points.The only saving point was the nice spot to watch the fireworks.
The food at the character breakfast was good (eggs, breakfast potatos, bacon, sausage, and danish). The children loved the show but....we were a gathering of 9 people. We scheduled the breakfast on our last day. We were so excited going but when we got our seats we were split up into 2 boothes. The waitress thought we should put the 5 children at one table. Ummmm no, that will not work at all. My son is a special needs child and needs assistance and the thought of putting the children at the same table just was not going to work at all. I asked why we were not all at the same table. There were numerous tables set for 10, 12, 8 even 14 people. I was told that we were "pre-assigned" a table and that there was nothing that could be done. I reminded the waitress that this was booked as a grand gathering for 9 and it was our last day and we wanted to all be sitting together. When I booked it I was not told there was even a chance of sitting at 2 tables. I know that a few of our other dinner ressies were booked as a table of 5 and 4 but we were always at one table. The waitress we spoke to went to get another hostess and when I explained my disappointment I was again told that there was nothing they could do. I pointed out how some of the boothes had a table next to them and asked if they could do the same with one of the booths. I was told that that would block the walkway for the characters. I didnt understand that because it was done at all the other booths. I also pointed out that the waitress had put my DS wheelchair in the aisle so that was blocking it anyway. I was told we could speak to a manager but it would be a few minutes. . We sat down and waited for the manager the food was brought and since the children were hungry we let them eat. The manager never came. When the waitress brought the coffee I again said I was waiting for a manager. When the manager finally came it was to late and I just expressed my disappointment at an event being billed as a Grand Gathering and not being able to seat us at the same table. He said he understood but that the tables are assigned and that they are not always able to seat parties together. I said that perhaps it should be mentioned when the Gathering is booked like it was with other AP's. Oh well. The food was good, the show was cute. The characters were great with the children and Tony was funny. I was just very disappointed that on our last day and our last meal before leaving WDW we were not able to sit together as a family. If you book this ask about seating in advance.
The kids like the pins they got at both events.
