Just back - a brief overview of highly variable dining

abolanwoski

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 15, 2007
Messages
492
Well, I have to say, I'm somewhat dissapointed. Historically, I've always been impressed by most of the TS restaurants, but either my standards have shot through the roof, or quality has gone way down.

As has previously been reported, ADRs were an absolute neccessity, and thankfully, I had one for every day. We were a party of 5 adults, one pre-teen and 2 pre-schoolers. Here's the lowdown:

Hoop-de-doo: We had a 5pm seating, and got there a little late, but the show hadn't started yet and the salad and bread were waiting for us on the table. Everything was of good quality and excessive quantity. The salad was crisp, the corn bread moist, the fried chicken was tasty and those who had the ribs liked them as well. The mashed potatoes were a little cool and consequently somewhat cement like, but still tasted good. The adults all loved the bottomless beer and wine! The dessert was just ok, a little cloyingly sweet for my taste, but the kids liked it. Overall, it's not haute cuisine, but it's tasty and filling. The show is corny and my Dad got a lot of attention (which you know he secretly loved). My three year old was enraptured and it was all I could do to get her to eat.

CRT lunch: The appetizer plate was kind of sparse, with not much of each offering on it, but they were all tasty. As per reccommendations, most of the adults had the shepards pie, and they all liked it. I had the pasta dish which had a minimal amount of veggies in it (which was what I ordered it for in the first place) but it was otherwise fine - not terrific. The kids had the mini hot dogs which were nice bacause they could handle them without assistance. For dessert, I had the chocolate cheesecake thing, which tasted just like my grandma's creamcheese cupcakes but with chocolate sauce on top. It could have used more ice cream on top.

50's PTC: My family loved this place. We had Aunt Janice who gave everyone a hard time. My nephew (12) has issues with authority figures, and he couldn't believe that we would let her withhold his dessert if he didn't eat his veggies (we would have!) The food was (again) fine but nothing special. The shrimp cocktail was small, but they were well cooked. The cocktail sauce was sweet to me. A few folks had the fried cheese and this was popular although they complained about how small it was. The chicken noodle soup was good (std disney fare served everywhere on the kids menu). Pot roast and pork tenderloin were the entrees of choice for most - no one had any complaints and my husband said it was the best pot roast he'd had (not saying much as MIL is a BAD cook :rotfl: ) Overall, I think the floor show was the highlight, rather than the food.

Le Cellier: Now for the piece-de-resistance. I have tried 5 times to eat here and this is the first time I've been successful. So, you can only imagine my chagrine, BECAUSE IT SUCKED! :scared1: The pretzel bread was good, but I can get a soft pretzel anytime. I had a mixed green salad and DH the ceasar. Both were fine and plentyful. The entrees were awful. Apparently, there is a sale on Canadian salt right now bacause everything was coated in it. I had the salmon and the surface was like a salt lick. I had ordered it medium and it was cooked solid through and firm like canned tuna. The risotto was overly sweet and had an oil slick on top. DH had the filet with mushrooms and his too was coated with salt. His rissoto was salty as well. DN even had to send his fries back because they were too salty to eat. I was so dissapointed. The best thing about this restaurant was the kids menu which had steak on it (in addition to the standard chicken nuggets and mac/cheese)

LTT: This was probably the best meal of the week. I loved the turkey and those who had the ham enjoyed it as well. My only negative comment was the gravy was too cold/thick and sort of lumpy by the time it got to us. The mashed potatoes were really good and the stuffing great as well. The character interaction was really good and we never felt rushed. They let my dad sit with us without paying (he didn't want to eat) and overall it was a great experience.

Coral reef: I know lots of people complain about the food here and it's somewhat spotty. The menu really has minimal seafood on it and that's my main complaint. I had a mixed green salad (very good) and DH felt the same about his ceasar. Others had the lobster soup and commented that it was good. I had the shrimp with pasta. The shrimp was cooked just right and was plentiful. The pasta was al dente and again, lots of volume. But the sauce was not good. It tasted like Chef Boyardee. DH had salmon and he liked it. The kids had pizza and this went over well. Also, they had a good selection of wines.

Overall, at these prices and with a 6 month advance for reservations, I really wish the food was better. At least at LC and CR, you'd think they would pretend to be nice restaurants. I don't use DDP, and I know lots of folks rely on it to be able to afford their trips, but I have to say - I really do think its' ruining TS dining at WDW. Flame away! :cool2:
 
No flames here. I don't know if DDP is to blame but we have witnessed a downturn in the quality of food overall lately.

I do have to say we had a very different experience with lunch at CRT. Although I agree the appetizer/salad was way too small for the 4 adults at our table. The pork dish, the salmon & the sandwich the adults ordered were all very good. Our little one enjoyed the mickey pasta & loved her dessert. We all enjoyed the blueberry buckle that was served at the time.

Thanks for posting!
 
Enjoyed reading your reviews, thanks for posting.
 
I'm curious, did you complain at LC? We have dined there every trip for the last 7 years and did have one episode with my entree. I was preggo at the time, I ate one bite and was done. The server asked what was wrong, I shared what was wrong, my meal was comped. I expect food to be edible no matter the price.
 

I agree Liberty Tree was very good and the potatoes were very yummy here. We also went to Hoop Dee Doo, Food was good other then the mashed potatoes I agree they firmed up real fast.
 
I'm curious, did you complain at LC? We have dined there every trip for the last 7 years and did have one episode with my entree. I was preggo at the time, I ate one bite and was done. The server asked what was wrong, I shared what was wrong, my meal was comped. I expect food to be edible no matter the price.

My sister (who is a Chef and a true PIA to dine with anywhere) commented to the waitress that whoever was working in the kitchen had a very heavy hand with the salt. She told her that 4 of us had unseasonably salty entrees and prior to that my nephew had sent his fries back for the same reason with the same server. Her response was "Oh, really? I'll let the Chef know" That was it. I wasn't going to make a stink about it, and I managed to eat the inner part of my salmon (it was only the exterior that seemed crusted in salt). I filled up on the salad and pretzel bread which were both good and plentiful. I just expected better from the illustrious Le Cellier!
 
Thanks for the reviews. I hope Le Cellier doesn't over do the salt when we are there. I don't care for much. My husband on the other hand loves it.
 
Thanks for the reviews. We have ressies at 50's PTC, but my DS7 isn't much on eating veggies...gonna be interesting to see how that goes, I wonder if they have ever made anyone cry?
 















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