I Only Gained 4 Lbs-A Week of Dining Reviews-COMPLETED

[dmja716]

Cast of this review:

Me, I have been obsessed with planning this vacation for the past 6 months. I don’t know what I’m going to do now that it’s over, except plan another Disney vacation

DH, big kid and Disney lover

DS 3, loves rides and ice cream.

We stayed at the WL from 9/30 – 10/6. I’ve always wanted to stay there and b/c my DH is an outdoorsman, I thought he would really love the theming of this hotel. He has only seen pics on the Internet. The theme I think really helped me to justify staying in a DeluxeJ He was impressed from the minute we walked in the doors. We booked a Standard View and were upgraded to a Courtyard View and it was awesome. We were in 4029 overlooking the little patio where you can eat outside Roaring Forks and we could see the pool and Bay Lake no problem.

Ok Back to the dining reviews.

I will be reviewing the following restaurants:

CS
Roaring Forks
Cosmic Rays
(Yes only 2)

TS
Wolfgang Pucks Café
Crystal Palace Breakfast
Kona Cafe
Coral Reef
Donald’s Breakfastosaurus
Ohana
Whispering Canyon

We were on the DDP.

Day 1
Arrived at the WL around 1pm via ME, we were starving, so we decided to grab our first CS meal at Roaring Forks.

DH, Double Cheeseburger and Fries. He said it was delicious.
DS was sleeping so he didn’t eat.
I ordered the Flatbread Pizza. It was OK, nothing to rave about.
We got an Oatmeal Cookie, which was delicious, and a Chocolate Mini Bundt Cake, which was OK.

We hung out at the pool and had a wonderful time. When we got back up to the room around 4:30 our luggage was there. We showered and got ready to go to DTD for our 7pm ADR at Wolfgang Puck’s Café. We were 5 minutes late and were seated immediately. It took 1 hour to get to DTD from Wilderness Lodge via bus. We stopped at the GF, Poly and Contemporary first. Ugh….

Wolfgang Puck Café is on the ground level next to Bongos. The atmosphere was good. Restaurant was packed. My uncle and aunt live locally and joined us for dinner.
DH ordered the Barbecue Chicken Quesadilla for appetizer, Macadamia Nut Crusted Breast of Chicken for his entree and Chocolate Cake for dessert. He said the chicken was outrageous. And we all agreed the quesadillas were delicious. The chocolate cake was also very good.
I ordered the Mahi Mahi, which was my favorite meal of the trip and was soooo delicious. I ordered the Tuna Tartare for appetizer, which was not good at all, it was tuna diced with avocadoes. I didn’t like this combination at all. The Key Lime Pie was very good.
DS ordered the Tic Tac Toe Pepperoni Pizza, which he ate all of it. And make your own sundae, which he had devoured since he had no lunch.
My Uncle ordered Wolfgang’s Meatball, he said it was very good.
My Aunt ordered the Wolf-fredo Fettucini, which she raved about as well.
We all shared the desserts and appetizers.
Our server was not that great, never around when we needed anything and was not that helpful.
I’d rate this restaurant 9/10. I would definitely return also.

We grabbed milk from the Mercantile for the room for a snack credit.
Days 2 and 3 are coming later.
Thanks for reading

 

[dmja716]

Day 2
Our Magic Kingdom Day

We woke up and were excited for our first Character Breakfast, 10:25 am at Crystal Palace. We took the boat over and it took about 20 minutes. We arrived just as the grand opening ceremony was starting. That was very cute.
Crystal Palace is beautiful; it was my first time eating there. Everything was delicious. The characters did not come by until after we were done eating. Character interaction was good. My son was acting very cranky and didn’t even want to stay by our table. We got our pics with all the characters and hightailed it out of there to go on some rides.

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I would definitely recommend eating here. The service was excellent and if you like Winnie the Pooh and friends this is a must do.

Tonight was extra evening hours, so we stayed till around 2 and headed back to the hotel for naptime. We went right back to the MK after DS woke up for dinner. We decided on Cosmic Rays. We had the whole place to ourselves at 5pm.
DH got a chicken sandwich, which he enjoyed; he was really impressed by the fixins bar. His brownie went uneaten sorry to say.
I ordered a cheeseburger, which was really good with the mushrooms from the fixins bar. The carrot cake was pretty good too.
DS got an Uncrustable, which was his first one ever and he liked it.
MK was really not crowded so we got to ride almost everything with no linesJ

Day 3

Breakfast at Roaring Forks. We got 2 bounty platters, which came with 2 pancakes, hash browns, scrambled eggs, a biscuit and bacon. The 3 of us shared this and we still had food leftover. Everything was fresh and delicious.

We originally just planned to hang out at the hotel and rent Sea Raycers. But….we wanted to go to MGM. We hit Playhouse Disney, which my DS loved. Then we got to take pictures with Little Einstein characters right outside. DS started getting very cranky again and we wanted to get back to the hotel to meet up with my in-laws who were driving up from SW Florida to spend 2 nights with us. We arrived back at WL at about 11:45am and were ready to have lunch.
We hit Roaring Forks for lunch, yes again.
DH got the Smoked Turkey sandwich for lunch, which was ok. We both don’t like Brie cheese and it was loaded with Mayo.
I just got the Tomato Basil Soup, which was delicious. I ate every last drop of it.
DMIL got the Grilled Chicken Salad which she said was delicious. Roaring Forks makes your salad to order right in front of you in a bowl, which was interesting.
DFIL got the Ham sandwich and really liked it.
DS got another Uncrustable and ate it all.
We got Chocolate Chip Cookie for dessert, it wasn’t as good as the Oatmeal Cookie. We also got a Mickey Head Rice Krispie Treat which was ok.
The sandwiches were huge. Roaring Forks has a fixins bar and lots of different condiments.

After lunch DH and I headed back to MGM by ourselves while the in-laws stayed with DS. Everyone met up at the Polynesian for our dinner.

We had a 5:10 reservation at Kona Café. I originally had a reservation for Spoodles, but changed my ressie last week b/c of all the wonderful reviews here on the DIS on Kona.

Kona Café was impressive from the minute we walked in. Beautiful décor, great service and delicious food, it was my favorite restaurant of the trip.

DH ordered the Macadamia Mahi Mahi, which he said was absolutely delicious. He ordered the Sticky Wings for appetizer and they were delicious. He also ordered the Apple Betty for dessert and it was also tasty. How could you go wrong with warm apples and ice cream?
I ordered the Shrimp and Scallops, the sauces that it came with definitely made the dish. I thought it was tasty, but I wouldn’t order it again.
Here is a picture:

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I ordered the Duck Pot Stickers for an appetizer, it came with 4 so we each had one. They were ok.
DMIL ordered the Beef Teriyaki and couldn’t stop raving about it.
DFIL ordered the Filet Mignon and boy was it delicious, the potatoes were amazing.
DS got the Mac and Cheese and it was very good. He got the make your own sundae again of course. Also he ordered a virgin Pina Colada and I tasted it and it was soooo delicious. Our server allowed him to order that as a drink on the DDP.
Day 4 & 5 coming up.

 

[Busymom85]

Great reviews and pictures. Your son is adorable. Looking forward to the rest.

 

[my3disneygirls]

Thanks

 

[Minniespal]

Brillant

 

[swankybeth]

Enjoying your reviews, what a little cutie your son is!

 

[suzimar57]

excellent photos - but "only" 4 lbs? - amateur.....

(i gained 12 last year in a week!!! oink, grunt, snort!)

 

[dmja716]

excellent photos - but "only" 4 lbs? - amateur.....

(i gained 12 last year in a week!!! oink, grunt, snort!)

Enjoying your reviews, what a little cutie your son is!

Brillant

Thanks

Great reviews and pictures. Your son is adorable. Looking forward to the rest.

Thank you for your complements and for reading I will get some more reviews up today. I thought with the heat and all the walking I wouldnt have gained that much, but there was a lot of food and what the heck you're on vacation.

 

[dmja716]

Day 4

Epcot

We woke up and we all went to Roaring Forks for breakfast. 4 Adults and 1 child shared 3 Bounty Platters. They were delicious again and we were on our way.

It was the hottest day there and we had a Raspberry slushie and pretzel for snacks and a powerade too.

We were still so stuffed from Breakfast and we knew we had a somewhat early dinner reservation so we didn’t try any of the Food and Wine Festival Offerings. If you want to count a Labatt’s beer from Canada, then maybe we did

We had ADR’s for 4pm at Coral Reef. This is the restaurant I was looking forward to the most. I was so excited when we went into the Living Seas pavilion and saw how amazed DS was at the aquarium.

We arrived and they weren’t seating dinner yet. As soon as it was 4pm our waitress Kelly came out and sat us at our table. She was an excellent server. We didn’t get to sit up against the tank, but we had a lovely view. She even brought my son down by the tank to see the fish for a few minutes before people were seated down there.

For appetizers:
DH got the Land and Sea, which is shrimp and a beef skewer. When it came out, my first reaction was how small the 2 pieces of shrimp and the beef was. The taste was ok, nothing spectacular.
DFIL got the Cod Cake and said it was ok and tasted a little fishy.
DMIL and I both got the Lobster Soup, which was very delicious.
DS got the Mushroom Soup, he didn’t like it, but I ate every drop of it. It was heaven.
For entrees:
DH and I both got the Mahi Mahi. It was very good, not as good as Wolfgang Pucks, but good.
DFIL got the NY Strip Steak, which he said was absolutely scrumptious.
DMIL got the Salmon, which she said was ok, nothing fabulous.
DS got the Pizza with Chicken on it, it was standard pizza.
For Dessert:
DS got the Make your own Sundae AGAIN. He loves it!!
I got the Chocolate Wave which was delicious, it did not disappoint. I wasn’t too crazy about the brandied cherries on top, but you can just pick them right off.
DH got the Bailey’s and Jack Daniels Mouse. Everyone at the table LOVED it except me. It was too alcoholy tasting. I don’t know if that’s a word???
All I know, it was the hottest day today and I still wanted to do more at Epcot. So my in-laws took DS back to the hotel and hung out and DH and I stayed at Epcot and had a wonderful time. We both couldn’t eat a thing for the rest of the day we were sooo stuffed.
I would totally recommend this restaurant. The service was wonderful and it was definitely worth it being on the Dining Plan.


Day 5

Animal Kingdom

We had 10 am ADR for Donald’s Breakfastosaurus. We arrived about 10 minutes early and you have to wait outside in the scorching heat to be seated. It seemed like an eternity but it was only about 10 minutes. The buffet food was good, not as good as Crystal Palace. Our server was nice and sufficient. The characters came just as we were finishing. They were very rushed in my opinion. I would not come back here. Although I think they are discontinuing this breakfast anyways. I would go back to Chef Mickey’s or try somewhere else. We paid OOP for this b/c we were doing another table service this evening.

During the day we had some waters and a frozen banana, which DS loved at Animal Kingdom. Expedition Everest is AWESOME by the way. We left AK around 230ish b/c DS needed a nap and we were overheated again. We got to see a lot of this park and had a great time. We all napped which was needed. We freshened up and headed downstairs to our next meal.

We had a 5:50pm ADR at Whispering Canyon

DS loved playing with the Lincoln Logs in the waiting area and we brought some back to the table for him to play with. I really wanted to come here for the antics and my DH loves this kind of food.
For appetizer, I got the chicken wings, they were pretty good.

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I wasn’t that hungry so I didn’t want to get the all you can eat skillet, which DH got of course, so I got the Western Chicken Pasta. It was ok. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

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If you order the Skillet on the DDP, you forego ordering an appetizer. By the way DH ordered a second skillet, they say "all you can eat". He didnt finish the whole second skillet.

DH loved his skillet. The cornbread was good. The pork was my favorite. He liked the Ribs and chicken too. The potatoes were yummy and the beans weren’t that bad.
DS got the Macaroni and Cheese, which he ate a few bits, and he got the Worms in Dirt for dessert. He didn’t eat much.
For dessert I got the Banana Dustbowl, which was ok, nothing spectacular

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and DH got the Apple Pie, which was really good.
Ok the only antics we got were straws and napkins thrown at us. Then came the Pony Rides for the kids, my son got up to do it and they ran out of ponies and didn’t have another race while we were there, which we were upset about.
The service was so SLOW. It really ruined this experience for us. Our waitress was horrible and she was blaming the kitchen. I really hate it when you see people who were seated way after you get their food first. Our waitress was hamming it up a little with a table next to us, but nothing funny. I was really disappointed in this place. I guess it all depends on what server you get and I really wouldn’t go back for the food.

Days 6 & 7 will come soon! Hope everyone is enjoying the reviews.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

dmja716, we ate at many of the same places but I came home 2 pounds (or more) lighter HOWEVER since I get lost a lot I probably walked twice as far as you (in circles).

Thanks for the reports and pics. Puck's is our favorite place and our servers were excellent. One even remembered what we had ordered the week before.

BTW, we were at DW for 24 days of Free Dining. (burp_

Slightly Goofy

 

[TigerKat]

Subbing......

 

[IlovemythreeC's]

I am loving your report so much! I hope that I only gain 4 lbs.on my upcoming trip. I can totally relate to your trip planning- I am wondering what in the world I will do after my trip is over.

 

[momtoccc]

Thanks for the reviews.. We are going to WL in 3 weeks with our almost 4yo dd and eating at some of the same places. I was thinking Dh and I could probably split 1 of those bounty platters for breakfast!

Sorry WCC wasn't better for you - I hope it works out for us.. it is the one place that has not gotten consistent reviews lately but I figured since we are staying at WL we should definitely eat there once.

Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[dmja716]

Day 6

We went to MK for our last park day. We ate breakfast at Roaring Forks, we had a blueberry muffin, which was very good, DS had a donut and some of my muffin. The donut was chocolate glazed with sprinkles and was way too sweet. DH got a corn muffin which was good also.
We had a wonderful morning/early afternoon at MK. DS had his first Itzakadoozie and we had some water and powerade again. We went to MK early for the Magical Beginnings and boy was that great. There were sooo many characters walking around, riding the rides and playing games with the kids. It felt like we had the place to ourselves. I would highly recommend going if they offer it while you are there.

We went back to the hotel for our afternoon Siesta and had some lunch, yes at Roaring Forks again. DH got a Double Cheeseburger again and loved it. I got a Tuna Sandwich on multigrain bread. It was ok. Not enough tuna and too much lettuce. They put cucumbers on it too, which was good. DS got chicken nuggets, which he enjoyed. I tasted them and they were pretty good. With the kids meals there, you get two sides. You can choose, grapes, applesauce, jello or carrot sticks.
We ate at Roaring Forks every day and loved every meal there. It was convenient, quick and you can eat inside or outside. I liked their selection and the coffee wasn’t bad there either. I think its Nescafe too.

If I had my choice I would have eaten at more CS locations in the parks, but DH needed his nap or we would've all been miserable.

We napped and went back to MK for the rest of the afternoon. We planned on staying there and going right to the Polynesian for our dinner ADR, but….we went on the Indy Speedway and it wasn’t raining, next thing you know we just got in our cars and were on our way and it started pouring like Ive never seen. No ponchos, just us in our cars. We got drenched, so we had to go back to the WL to change first, so I was so mad that cut into our park time on our last day
We had a 6:25 ADR for Ohana. I was really looking forward to this meal and I knew this would be great for DH who is a meat lover and big eater. We were cutting it close time wise. We got to the boat dock and we could see a MK boat just left. There is another boat that loops to the Contemporary and Fort Wilderness coming. We jump on that boat get off at the Contemporary and take the monorail to the Polynesian. I have to say the boat transportation to the MK from the WL was awesome, we never waited long and it was a nice ride. The busses were another story. We never waited that long, but because if was a slow time of year, we had to stop at the GF, FW and sometimes the Poly or Contemporary.
Back to Ohana’s, we were sat immediately. We got a nice table against the windows with a nice view of the monsoon outside. I felt so bad for people going to the MNSSHP, it was pouring.
If it were a nice night, we would have had a nice view. Our server came over and explained how everything works. Just then a kids parade started and DH and DS got some maracas and marched a loop around the restaurant. DS wanted another Pina Colada so I ordered it for him thinking it would be on the DDP b/c it was allowed at Kona, but no it wasn’t.

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The salad came out, which I didn’t like too much. I wasnt there for the salad though. The fried wontons were ok. The dipping sauces were brought out too, I’m still not sure if they are for the wontons or the meat?? Then the server brought out the plate with the potatoes, veggies, sticky wings and shrimp. Nothing was rushed about this meal. I’ve read a lot of complaints about the rushing. I would say service was a little slow.
Ok the potatoes were so darn delicious; I wish I were eating some right now. The shrimp was ok and the wings were decent. The veggies were delicious also. So here comes the meat.
The turkey was my favorite. The pork was a close second. The steak was awesome too. The sausage was ok. I tried to save room for dessert.
The bread pudding was soo good I almost asked for a second plate, but I couldn’t. They had the coconut races too, but DS didn’t want to get up. It was really cute for the kids. The lady that walks around and talks seems really sweet and entertaining.
I would definitely go back for just the potatoes and bread pudding alone. I would definitely recommend going to this place. The Polynesian is also fun to shop and walk around. Again we were stuffed beyond our means. We headed back out into the Monsoon and returned to our room to pack

Day 7
We had 3 snack credits left over. I was so mad I never got a Dole Whip or something from the Main Street Bakery, there is always next time. I used up the balance with some cookies and candy in the gift shop.
We also had 3 counter service credits. We used 2 for breakfast, yes the Bounty Platters again. We always got two drinks with the breakfasts even though we ordered the bounty platters.
On our way out we grabbed a lunch for the airport. Magical Express was picking us up at 11:30. We got a turkey sandwich and had them pull off the Brie cheese. It was much better without it. The sandwich was so big we all managed to share it.

This concludes my dining report. I hope this helps for anyone planning an upcoming trip. I know how much reading these helped me plan my trip.

If anyone has questions please let me know.

I know I ate too much, but the DDP was awesome and I wouldn’t change a thing about it. I don’t know if I would do it again now that they are changing it. We really got our money’s worth.

 

[John's Mom]

Great reviews and pictures. Thanks for posting.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

That was a nicely detailed report. I like to know why folks liked or disliked something as that tells me what I might think.

Sounds as if you and I were in the same place at the same time when you were drowning at the Indy Racers. When it dried off I took my hubby on it and let him drive. He does not drive anymore and that attraction remined me why. It was rough going. I think he enjoyed it though. Me, not so much.

Slightly Goofy/Linda

 

[FirstMagic]

Thanks for the reviews and the pictures. That's just an adorable pic of your son and the big pink Piglet!

 

[dmja716]

Thank you everyone for your complements.
I wish I was back already.

 

[Clutterbug]

Great report! That picture of your DS with Piglet is darling!

I was especially interested in all the Roaring Forks reviews. We are staying at the WL in December and I haven't see much written about what RF has to offer. Do you know if they offered a kid's breakfast platter?

 

[dmja716]

Roaring Forks did have a children's breakfast, but I dont remember what it was. We always just gave our son some of our Bounty Platters. Have a great trip!!