Steelersfan
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2002
- Messages
- 289
We just got back yesterday from a seven night stay using the dining plan.
Before we start, just a little about our group:
I am 40 and have been to Disney World six times total.
My wife is a few years younger and this was her 5th trip.
Our daughter is 5 and this was her second trip.
This was our second trip using the dining plan, so hopefully I'll be able to explain how we used it and how it worked out. The restaurants I'll be reviewing are:
Chef Mickey's Dinner
1900 Park Fare Dinner
Akershus Breakfast
Play-N-Dine Breakfast
Biergarten
Tusker House Breakfast
Crystal Palace Lunch
as well as:
Flame Tree BBQ
Earle of Sandwich
Liberty Inn
Cosmic Ray's
All-Star Sports food court
El Pirata et el Perico
Keep in mind as I go that we are not super picky eaters. we like the basics and really don't like seafood. Our daughter is a pizza, hot dog and chicken nuggets kind of kid. As I review, I'll try to tell you about out Ressie time, character interaction, service and food quality.
I'm going to call it like I see it. For example, if a counter service place serves cheeseburgers, I'm not going to be critical because it is a cheeseburger. I hear so many people say things like "It was just a burger." The way I look at it is that's what it is supposed to be.
Feel free to ask any questions you need as we go. I'll do it day by day.
Day One:
We arrived at MCO at about 9:30 and got to All Star Sports by 11:00. We waited a little and got our room. Nobody was really hungry so we just went to the Magic Kingdom since we had a 6:30 at Chef Mickey's. It was pretty crowded in the park, but that was to be expected since it was the middle of the afternoon.
We did manage to ride several things and see the afternoon parade before we had to leave for our reservation. We got there about 6:15 and there were a lot of people waiting. It was well after 6:45 until they called us in.
We posed for a picture, which we didn't buy (more on that later) and finally sat down close to 7:00.
Here are a few pics of the food:
This was my first plate. I had some ribs which were very good as well as green beans and some mashed potatoes and Mickey shaped ravioli. Below that is the salad I got the 1st time through also.
Here is my daughter's plate from the kids section and the salad she had:
And my wife's plate and her salad:
Now the food here was very good and the place was clean. We did have a very long wait to get in which kind of put a damper on things. The characters all stopped and signed autographs and posed for pics but they moved through kind of fast and didn't really do anything special. The characters present were Mickey, Donald, Pluto, Minnie and Goofy. As far as the interaction goes, I'd have to just say it was OK. The last time we went in July 07 it was much better, but we had a ressie right as it opened, so it wasn't as crowded.
Plus, in fairness, our daughter was having a little stomach issue so she wasn't really being super demanding of the characters, so they might have spent more time if she wanted it.
The service was fine. The waitress filled our drinks and took away the dishes just fine.
the only two real negatives were things that repeated many times the whole trip:
1. The waitress really and I mean really fished for a tip. I never see this at regular restaurants where the server keeps bringing it up. She kept pointing out that I could charge it to my room if I wanted although it was very clearly marked how to do it. It was also very obvious on the bill that the tip wasn't included.
Call me a jerk, but at that time I made a policy that anyone who asks for a tip or brings it up will lose some money and that will go to those who just bring the check like a professional without busting my chops. I just don't want to feel pressured by the server while I'm on vacation!
2. The picture! Granted, it was a nice picture and all but one 8x10 and a few 5x7's for $30 seemed a little steep. It also kind of bugs me that they have the audacity to try and get this out of you when the bill for the 3 of us would have been close to $100 had we not been on the dining plan. If Akershus can give away the picture with the meal, so can every place else! It just kind of makes you feel cheap turning away the pic in front of your child, but we would have put out close to $100 extra dollars on pics had we taken them from every restaurant. It just seems wasteful to print them up and just throw them away.
I wish they would either eliminate the pics completely or just give them to you. It would even be acceptable if they just put it on a photopass so you could sort it out when you get home rather than have to make that decision right there on the spot.
For some reason, whether it was the wait to get in, the photo or just the fact that our daughter wasn't feeling 100%, my wife and I both felt that Chef Mickey's just wasn't the same as the last time. Granted, the food was good, it was just missing something. Maybe it was just that we were very tired from the trip also.
We do like this place and have already decided that we will go back in all likelyhood next time.
I'll get to day two as soon as I can...
I'm still recovering from the flight back last night!
Before we start, just a little about our group:
I am 40 and have been to Disney World six times total.
My wife is a few years younger and this was her 5th trip.
Our daughter is 5 and this was her second trip.
This was our second trip using the dining plan, so hopefully I'll be able to explain how we used it and how it worked out. The restaurants I'll be reviewing are:
Chef Mickey's Dinner
1900 Park Fare Dinner
Akershus Breakfast
Play-N-Dine Breakfast
Biergarten
Tusker House Breakfast
Crystal Palace Lunch
as well as:
Flame Tree BBQ
Earle of Sandwich
Liberty Inn
Cosmic Ray's
All-Star Sports food court
El Pirata et el Perico
Keep in mind as I go that we are not super picky eaters. we like the basics and really don't like seafood. Our daughter is a pizza, hot dog and chicken nuggets kind of kid. As I review, I'll try to tell you about out Ressie time, character interaction, service and food quality.
I'm going to call it like I see it. For example, if a counter service place serves cheeseburgers, I'm not going to be critical because it is a cheeseburger. I hear so many people say things like "It was just a burger." The way I look at it is that's what it is supposed to be.
Feel free to ask any questions you need as we go. I'll do it day by day.
Day One:
We arrived at MCO at about 9:30 and got to All Star Sports by 11:00. We waited a little and got our room. Nobody was really hungry so we just went to the Magic Kingdom since we had a 6:30 at Chef Mickey's. It was pretty crowded in the park, but that was to be expected since it was the middle of the afternoon.
We did manage to ride several things and see the afternoon parade before we had to leave for our reservation. We got there about 6:15 and there were a lot of people waiting. It was well after 6:45 until they called us in.
We posed for a picture, which we didn't buy (more on that later) and finally sat down close to 7:00.
Here are a few pics of the food:
This was my first plate. I had some ribs which were very good as well as green beans and some mashed potatoes and Mickey shaped ravioli. Below that is the salad I got the 1st time through also.
Here is my daughter's plate from the kids section and the salad she had:
And my wife's plate and her salad:
Now the food here was very good and the place was clean. We did have a very long wait to get in which kind of put a damper on things. The characters all stopped and signed autographs and posed for pics but they moved through kind of fast and didn't really do anything special. The characters present were Mickey, Donald, Pluto, Minnie and Goofy. As far as the interaction goes, I'd have to just say it was OK. The last time we went in July 07 it was much better, but we had a ressie right as it opened, so it wasn't as crowded.
Plus, in fairness, our daughter was having a little stomach issue so she wasn't really being super demanding of the characters, so they might have spent more time if she wanted it.
The service was fine. The waitress filled our drinks and took away the dishes just fine.
the only two real negatives were things that repeated many times the whole trip:
1. The waitress really and I mean really fished for a tip. I never see this at regular restaurants where the server keeps bringing it up. She kept pointing out that I could charge it to my room if I wanted although it was very clearly marked how to do it. It was also very obvious on the bill that the tip wasn't included.
Call me a jerk, but at that time I made a policy that anyone who asks for a tip or brings it up will lose some money and that will go to those who just bring the check like a professional without busting my chops. I just don't want to feel pressured by the server while I'm on vacation!
2. The picture! Granted, it was a nice picture and all but one 8x10 and a few 5x7's for $30 seemed a little steep. It also kind of bugs me that they have the audacity to try and get this out of you when the bill for the 3 of us would have been close to $100 had we not been on the dining plan. If Akershus can give away the picture with the meal, so can every place else! It just kind of makes you feel cheap turning away the pic in front of your child, but we would have put out close to $100 extra dollars on pics had we taken them from every restaurant. It just seems wasteful to print them up and just throw them away.
I wish they would either eliminate the pics completely or just give them to you. It would even be acceptable if they just put it on a photopass so you could sort it out when you get home rather than have to make that decision right there on the spot.
For some reason, whether it was the wait to get in, the photo or just the fact that our daughter wasn't feeling 100%, my wife and I both felt that Chef Mickey's just wasn't the same as the last time. Granted, the food was good, it was just missing something. Maybe it was just that we were very tired from the trip also.
We do like this place and have already decided that we will go back in all likelyhood next time.
I'll get to day two as soon as I can...
I'm still recovering from the flight back last night!
.
