It Rained and Rained, So Thank Goodness for Great Meals!

[sandym718]

Who on Earth would have anything bad to say about Chef Mickey's dinner? We just got back too, and it's a tossup which was our favorite meal- Chef Mickey's dinner or CRT lunch! I loved them both!!!

Oh, love to hear this!! We're doing both for the first time in May (we did CM breakfast, but not dinner yet).

 

[iluvpluto27]

Enjoying your reviews.

 

[suzimar57]

great reviews and photos - aren't those desserts at coral reef the best!!??

 

[*Emily*]

Great reviews... I can't wait to read more!

 

[Donald is #1]

Who on Earth would have anything bad to say about Chef Mickey's dinner? We just got back too, and it's a tossup which was our favorite meal- Chef Mickey's dinner or CRT lunch! I loved them both!!!

Awesome, another positive vote!

 

[HappyCamper87]

Great Reviews - Thanks for taking the time to share.

One question, what exactly is a Kir Royale?

I'm asking under the rule that there are "no dumb questions".

 

[loveDmouse]

Great reviews. Looking forward to your Hoop de Doo Review review. We are going there for the first time in December.

 

[jkswimming]

Great review of Chef Mickey's. I will be there for dinner for the first time in November and I had heard some mixed review about dinner. So it is awesome to hear from someone who really enjoyed it!

I guess if you're used to gourmet restaurants CMs might not be your thing, but we usually end up at Chilis, so prime rib was a step up for us!

Who on Earth would have anything bad to say about Chef Mickey's dinner? We just got back too, and it's a tossup which was our favorite meal- Chef Mickey's dinner or CRT lunch! I loved them both!!!

They're both such fun places -- I love to have a good time when I'm out to eat.

Oh, love to hear this!! We're doing both for the first time in May (we did CM breakfast, but not dinner yet).

Our first time at CMs and we will definitely go back -- I'd love to go for breakfast.

Enjoying your reviews.

Thanks!

great reviews and photos - aren't those desserts at coral reef the best!!??

They are fab, but then I never met a dessert I didn't like.

Great reviews... I can't wait to read more!

Thanks, I'm going to try to post some more, but my lap top has been fussy lately.

Awesome, another positive vote!

Thanks so much.

Great Reviews - Thanks for taking the time to share.

Writing the reviews definitely helps with the WDW withdrawal symptoms.

One question, what exactly is a Kir Royale?


I'm asking under the rule that there are "no dumb questions".

Welllllll, the way I make them -- sparkling wine, I prefer Prosecco, and raspberry liquor splashed on top, Chambord is the high end liquor, but I've also used other kinds and they were just as good.

The Epcot version was not as good as mine, but after the first one, I didn't care.

Great reviews. Looking forward to your Hoop de Doo Review review. We are going there for the first time in December.

Coming up .......

 

[jkswimming]

Before I add today's reviews, I thought I'd post a picture of our custom menus from the Coral Reef. I know when I was planning mine I looked all over for a photo of them.

Here it is:

I included photos from two of our previous trips to Disney, the last of which was 8 long years ago!

Kona Cafe

We slept in Saturday, planning to have lunch at Le Cellier but it was pouring. We had closed down the Magic Kingdom the night before (got back to the room around 2:30 a.m.) and DD19 was sleeping soundly. After a family conference, we decided to horror of horrors, cancel our ADR because we were tired and no one felt like putting on their ponchos again.

DD16 and I went to see if we could get in to the Kona Cafe for breakfast while DH stayed at the room with the sleeping DD. They said they could seat us, gave us a pager, and it was not more than 10 minutes before we were happily sitting at a table. I had the eggs and bacon, which were cooked exactly as I had requested. DD in a break from her Mickey Waffle breakfast routine had pancakes – also shaped like a Mickey Head – thank goodness! After pretty much racing to eat each morning at Captain Cooks, it was nice to take it easy and have a leisurely breakfast. Sorry, no ordering of Tonga Toast (I know, sacrilege) but I just don’t like bananas. After breakfast, we got DH and DD19 a couple of pastries at the coffee bar and headed back to our room.

Lottawatta Lodge

So what to do when it’s raining?? Why go to Blizzard Beach, or course. I mean if you’re going to get wet anyway, you might as well have your bathing suit on. While there the sun came out – finally – and we ate at Lottawatta Lodge.

I thought the food was great. If you’re on the dining plan, they let you come back for your ice cream dessert treat so it won’t melt all over the place while you eat your lunch. I had a cheeseburger – seriously the same cheeseburger I had at every counter service place and the girls and DH had chicken. I really enjoyed this meal. But it might have been because while hubby was ordering lunch, I went over to Frost Bite Freddies and ordered myself a Raspberry Tea. The name may be innocent sounding, but there was nothing innocent about this drink, so I must admit my review of the Lottawatta Lodge might be just a tad skewed.

Just a little side note here, since I raved about a Kir Royale in my last post, I really, honestly, cross my heart and hope to die, drink mostly Diet Coke. It's just I was on vacation and well way more than ready to cut loose a little bit.

Before we left, we purchased the most yummy, delicious, did I say yummy, delicious??? mini donuts! Thanks again Disers, because I never would have known to look for them if it wasn’t for all of you!

Samoa Snacks???

We left Blizzard Beach with plans to watch the Water Parade and Fireworks from the beach at the Poly. It was still early enough to snag some chairs, which DD16 and I did while DH and DD19 went back to the room to change. DH got us drinks from the pool bar (please see the note above) and my plan was to order appies to go from the lounge, but it was a zoo. So plan B get something at Captain Cooks – also a zoo, and plus I really didn’t want another burger. So we ended up buying chips and snacks from Samoa Snacks – not exactly dinner, but after all the eating we’d done so far I didn’t feel too bad about it.

Next up: Hollywood and Vine

 

[HappyCamper87]

Looking forward to more!

And, thanks for the education...

 

[loveDmouse]

Looking forward to it.

 

[jkswimming]

Guess What? We liked it!

Okay, I know Hollywood and Vine gets a lot of bad press. So much so that I almost cancelled our ADR there. But we had the Fantasmic package, and the family really wanted to go, and really didn’t want to have to wait on line for an hour and a half. I figured we’d find something that we’d like, even if it was just salad and bread.

Well, guess what? We loved H&V! So far we had had counter service, which was fine, the Coral Reef, which was fabulous, Chef Mickey’s, which was terrific, and bags of chips, bags of chips? for dinner. Sunday was the only day of our vacation that the sun was out for the entire day, and we spent it riding Sea Rays and sitting by the pool at the Poly. We had an early ADR, 4:50, so we never had lunch. We were all starving when we got to DHS. We sent DH for fast passes to Rock N Roller Coaster while the DDs and I checked in for our ADR. We had a short wait – which surprised me because there were so many people waiting to be seated – and DH arrived just as we were seated.

The restaurant is large and noisy and looks like a cafeteria. Well guess what, that’s what it’s supposed to be like. It is themed after the old style Hollywood studio cafeterias. I can’t say how authentic it is because I haven’t done the research, but it definitely had a nostalgic air about it.
At the beginning of the buffet, there were several delicious salads and breads. There might have been peel and eat shrimp, but I can’t remember. Following the salads was one of the more delicious things we ate all week – an oriental chicken dish that we all really loved and even went back for more. (Well all of us but DD16, but really the only things so far, she liked all week were Mickey waffles, the steak at Coral Reef and counter service hamburgers and chicken fingers.) I also had more prime rib, mac and cheese from the kid’s section, potatoes and some kind of veggies.

What I found ironic about this meal was that I had read many reviewers that were unhappy with the food, but wrote that the desserts were “to die for.” I guess that raised the bar for me because while I enjoyed the desserts (when do I not) I didn’t find them better than those at CMs, or 1900 Park Fare, which I’ll be reviewing later. I did have more apple cobbler, which was yummy, cheesecake, also yummy, carrot cake (that DD16 actually liked) and something chocolate.

The bottom line, we would eat here again. It is not a two-credit signature restaurant, but then it doesn’t say it is. If you like the food, it’s a good way to get preferred seating at Fantasmic, and not have to arrive there until ½ hour before show time.

 

[loveDmouse]

We might need to check that one out too.

 

[jkswimming]

Once DHS shut down for the evening, the girls and I headed over to the MK for EMH while DH went back to our room to do some work. We were hungry so we decided to stop for a snack at Casey’s. Younger DD had fries, while older daughter and I split an order of corn dog nuggets. If Disney would sell these in the frozen food section of supermarkets they’d never have to worry about their bottom line again. They were so good, if you haven’t already, you should really try them. A hot dog, wrapped in corn bread, deep fried – what’s not to like?

 

[jkswimming]

Akershus

DD19 wanted to eat with the princesses, so she suggested we eat at Akershus. If you read my first page, then you know I identified three of us as Picky, Pickier and Pickiest, so I just didn’t think a lunch or dinner at Akershus would fly. The absence of Mickey Waffles at breakfast worried me a bit, but I figured Pickiest could survive on the breads from the buffet and the bacon brought to our table. Also, food is pretty much secondary at character breakfasts, if it’s good (which for us was) than it’s a bonus.

Once again, we had closed down the MK, and since it was open for resort guests until 3:00 a.m., we were out late. I told the girls we had to go to Akershus, they take your credit card number and if you don’t show, they charge you anyway. Fortunately, our ADR wasn’t until 10 a.m., so we didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn – it just felt like it.

This was definitely the longest wait for a table than any other restaurant we ate at. Even still, it wasn’t too long before our pager went off. First we had our picture taken with Belle – DD19s favorite princess. We were seated right after which was good because by that time we were all ready to dive bomb the buffet.

Our waiter was there right away to take our drink order. We ordered the usual – 3 OJs and a diet coke. What can I say, I really needed caffeine after our late night at the MK. He told us to help ourselves to the cold buffet and that he would bring us our platter of scrambled eggs, bacon and potatoes right away. We opted not to include the sausage, no one would eat it and I didn’t want it to go to waste.

From the cold buffet we had cheese, fruit, muffins, croissants, bagels and danish. I didn’t see any butter, so I took some lingonberry cream cheese instead and it was outstanding. I’m fairly certain there was lox – in case you wanted to add to your bagel with a smear, and other meats, but we didn’t take any of them.

The scrambled eggs were very good, as was the bacon and potatoes. I’m not sure if the eggs were as good as Captain Cooks, but we enjoyed them. Our waiter brought more without us asking, which was very nice, but not really necessary.

Meanwhile there were princesses a plenty, and they pretty much rendered the food secondary.

We saw Aurora, Snow White, Mulan and Mary Poppins. My girls may be a teenager and an almost 20-year-old, but they still dressed up for, and anticipated, each princess’s arrival at our table.

We enjoyed meeting the princesses, but I’m not sure we would eat here again. It’s not that there was anything wrong with the food, but I prefer the buffets with more choices.

The girls with Belle

Aurora

Mulan

And Snow White, teaching my girls how to "pose like a princess"

 

[Lexxiefern]

Great reviews!! I love the Norway princess breakfast (maybe more than my girls!) did you get the chocolate cinnamon buns? Those are so good - I eat at least 4 every time we go.

 

[loveDmouse]

 

[loveDmouse]

Trying to keep track of this thread so I can catch the Hoop dee Doo Review.