I would love to hear reviews and comments on our dining selections!

[KarenB]

After 7 nights on the Magic, we will be ending our vacation with four additional nights in WDW this July. We have booked the WDW part through DU and they have made our PSs for us with very prompt service. A tradition for us is that each family member gets a choice of a restaurant and we work around those choices. Here is our plan for dining:

Saturday July 10

Lunch:
POR (food court or by the pool)

Dinner:
Teen DSs at Disney Quest
DH and I will enjoy an evening meal alone at DD. Any suggestions??

Sunday July 11

Lunch:
Rainforest Cafe at AK (PS 11:30)

Dinner:
Mama Melrose at MGM (PS 4:50 only time we could get that night!)

Monday July 12

Lunch: Blizzard Beach

Dinner: Big River Bar and Grill

Tuesday July 13

Lunch: Beaches and Cream

Dinner: Nine Dragons (PS 6:30)


Thanks for any comments!
Karen

 

[disney queen]

for your night out i would recommend artist point at WL, jiko at AKL, or california grill at the contemp. either of these would make a delightful evening out. we have dined at all and would not hesitate to return. we have enjoyed several lunches at big river. you might want to return to big river for lunch; we have dined at beaches and cream and found big river to be better. but i would suggest you all try and compare the two. happy eating!

 

[Kaycee]

Hi KarenB! For your dinner alone with DH at DTD, I've heard good things about Wolfgang Puck Cafe or, if you like the Blues and Cajun food, House of Blues.

For Mama Melrose's, is that a Fantasmic dinner package? If so, I've heard that you can sometimes get later times if you call back at around 30 to 35 days out.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Just curious as to why you chose Big River. I havent seen too many favorable reviews about the food there. Saw you have teen ds, as do we. We just went to ESPN. Our ds were in sports heaven, if you could put up with that kind of atmosphere.

 

[honeymo78]

Even if your Mama Melrose's isn't part of a fantasmic dinner package ask your TA to call back later this month or in June and see if later times are available. We had this problem last summer and more times opened up closer to our departure.

 

[KarenB]

Kaycee-no, Mama Melrose is NOT the dinner package. We thought about it, but felt we would not get our $$ worth on the meals. Also, we don't want our day to be too set on a time schedule. We really enjoy doing things on a whim, and with our DSs as teens, that makes it much easier! We have an early lunch, so this early dinner time may work out okay. Plus that will give us some time for MGM after dinner. We may ask our DU agent to check again as the time gets nearer.

luvmarypopppins-we choose Big River first for the location. This day we will spend all day at Blizzard Beach and the evening on the Boardwalk. We looked at the menu and thought it would fit all tastes in our family. We have been to ESPN in Baltimore, NYC, and Washington DC fairly recently and decided to try something different.

 

[rcyannacci]

Its been a while since I've been there, but my husband and I really enjoyed the Portobello Yacht Club ( close to Pleasure Island). The atmosphere was laid-back, but upscale at the same time, and the food was wonderful. And, it wasn't as loud as some places we'd been to for dinner. Definitely relaxing.

 

[Tina]

For dinner at Downtown Disney, you may want to give Wolfgang Puck's a try. Downstairs for a nice, casual meal or upstairs for something a little more upscale. We always enjoy the food here at the downstairs restaurant.

You may also want to reconsider the Big River Grille and consider something at one of the resorts in the Boardwalk area if you don't like the menu offerings at Spoodles or The Flying Fish. My sister and I ate lunch here in September and it was by far the WORST restaurant we'd ever encountered ANYWHERE. I ordered a hamburger (which came with only chips, they don't offer fries) and the first one came out completely charred. It looked like a lump of charcoil - inside and out. I sent it back, waited nearly 30 minutes and the 2nd burger came out exactly the same. I gave it one more try and sent it back again. After about 15 minutes, the burger once again came out the same way. I finally left hungry and grabbed a burger at Beaches and Cream. We also thought the wait staff looked bored and uninterested in waiting tables. Every request appeared to be an extraordinary task on their part.

One other thing that turned me off from this restaurant, but was not 100% the fault of the restaurant was the family at the table next to us. They had a fussy baby with them and the mother handed the baby a handful of sugar packets to keep her busy. The baby took great joy in sucking on the packets until they were a sticky, gooyey mess. After the family left, the person clearing the table took the sugar packets and stacked them back in the little cup on the table. Now perhaps they had dried out since the family left, but I kind of doubt it. I found it VERY disgusting.

 

[TammyC]

I wasn't thrilled about the menu at Spoodles, but DH insisted we go and we all really enjoyed it. Our waitress was one of the best we had.. she anticipated our every need, which is not always easy with a 2 year old! The pasta portions are large, so 4 adults shared 3 dishes and had a great variety.

 

[Eeyore2003]

The only place we've eaten at DD is Wolfgang Puck cafe. We HAVE wanted to try Fulton's Crab House though or House of Blues. Depends on your taste and what kind of meal you want.

INHO, it's hard to find a really good resturant that satisfies everyone's tastes at MGM. We've tried Sci Fi, Brown Derby, Mama Melrose, and 50's Prime Time. All have pros and cons. We usually end up at the Sci Fi only for the shake and malts. Go with your taste's there.

We have eaten at Big River and ESPN Club at the Boardwalk. The Big River gets many bad reviews on the board, but we really enjoyed it for lunch. We had a hamburger, fries and their special "Christmas Brew". BUT, with two teen-age sons, I'd consider the ESPN Club. Our sons were 12, 13 and 16 on various
Disney trips and they always had to have a meal planned in there.

One time we saw Kevin Green the football player which they liked, and one time we watched the Green Bay Packer football game. That was just DH and I!!! Plan on doing the same in December. I would say that the food at the ESPN Club might be better and more fun too, and the guys might enjoy it more. Although, if this is DH's choice and he'd like a nice beer sampler or something like that, that would probably be the place.

This is just my opinion, but we think Nine Dragons to be one of the worst at Disney. Our boys really like the steak at Le Cellier, which is a not to be missed each time we go. Or else if you want something from that part of the world, Japan, usually gets good reviews. We've also eaten at Norway, and the food is not bad, but we are not big fish eaters and it has allot, I've also heard something about paying extra for certain things now days.
Although, if your heart is set on "Chinese", go for it, I'm sure you'll find people that like it too.

If possible, you might want to consider any of the "resort resturants" for one night, they overall, I think, have much better food than the parks.

 

[Eeyore2003]

Sorry, just read your note on the ESPN Club frequency. Another idea, might be to look at the menus and resturants at the Beach Club and Yacht Club. I see you have Beaches and Cream on the list, but it is just a boat ride across from the Boardwalk and also convenient for Yachtman's Steakhouse and Cape May Cafe.

But again, we DID like Big River. I just know it gets some really bad reviews here. When you go in, you walk into a bar, and the tables are off to the side in another room. I think it might be a little disappointing to allot of people right off the bat because when you're at Disney you expect a certain special "ambiance", and Big River could really be a resturant down the street in your hometown. It really has no "fantastic" theme or decoration type stuff. It's just kind of a tough one, cuz while I would recommend it, many would not.

Like what has already been mentioned there is Spoodles and Flying Fish. I've never been to either, so I can't say, and I'm sure you've checked out those menus. I'm sure that makes it clear as mud!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[KarenB]

Thanks for all the replies and comments both good and bad. We would really rather do all of our dining on a whim, but as we all know, WDW in July can be crowded and I would hate to spend valuable vacation time waiting in line for something to eat-hence the planning, reviews, and PSs.

It is so hard to decide on meals, and this thread is a good example of what one person enjoys, others may dislike. Even going to the same place at different times can make a huge difference. I know that we went to the place from Lady and the Tramp in Magic Kingdom two summers ago. (for the life of me I can"t remember the name! ) We loved it. Then we went back the folowing Christmas Eve and it was awful!!!!!

I guess when it comes to meals, we just have to hope for the best!

Karen

 

[lenshanem]

Nine Dragons, will probably never go back there. Can eat that at a restaurant near home. Nothing special. I like Morocco. Good food, interesting to watch the entertainment, especially for the men!

Same with Mama Merlrose. Blah. We really like Sci-Fi. It is just cool. Have you thought about that?

Rainforest Cafe is neat, pretty good food I thought.

I'm usually more concerned about the theme than the food. JMO

Good luck and have fun!