TsLoveMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2013
- Messages
- 277
I just wanted to share quick reviews of our Disney dining experiences last week! I didn't take pictures -- trying to dine with two small kids was challenging enough! We were not on the dining plan and opted to eat table service more than counter service but we ate at less frequent intervals and supplemented with snacks we brought.
The Mara dinner
On arrival night at AKL, we went down to The Mara. It was pretty much typical CS fare, which we're not big fans of, but everyone was happy just to eat after a long day of travel! The chicken Cesar salad was not bad, and we tried the zebra domes which was fun -- but I wasn't a big fan of them.
1900 Park Fare breakfast
On our first Magic Kingdom morning we left the park via boat to the Grand Floridian for a late brunch (11:20). We had to wait about 20 minutes because the monorail had broken down that morning and they were running behind due to missed/late ADRs. Once we did sit down, it was fun. The characters came by right away and the interaction was really good, I thought. Tigger and Pooh came by a few times afterward. The buffet was good with decent options, but word of advice -- go to the omelet station first, because by the time my omelet was ready, all of the other food on my plate was cold. Our server was not great, came by maybe four times to fill drinks and that's about it. I'd had it noted that we were celebrating our tenth anniversary but nothing was said or done during the meal. (I didn't really mind because it was only noted because the CM when making the reservation asked if we were celebrating anything and I told her it was our anniversary trip.)
Via Napoli dinner
This meal was probably our biggest letdown but it still wasn't awful. Luckily we arrived about 15 minutes beforehand, because the line just to check in for the ADR was about 10 minutes long. I thought this was ridiculous! I'm not sure what the hold-up was, but fortunately they called us after only 5 minutes of waiting. The servers were really nice, but ours put the order in wrong -- instead of doing half and half so the kids would have half pepperoni on the metro pizza, it was all the eggplant pizza with pepperoni added to half of it on top of that. The kids weren't thrilled about the eggplant but other than stating it wasn't exactly what we'd ordered we didn't complain and just pulled the other stuff off for the kids. We'd waited about 20 minutes for the pizza so we didn't want to wait another 20 for a new one. The manager and server were very nice about it and gave us the Tables in Wonderland discount (since we did eat the majority of it) for the mistake. I thought the pizza was pretty tasty, but my 5 year old wasn't a fan.
Le Artisan de Glaces snack
Ice cream all around! I had the vanilla, chocolate and pear; my husband had the coffee; my daughter had strawberry sherbert. No complaints!
Sanaa lunch
After our morning at Animal Kingdom, we got off the first AKL stop at Kidani for Sanaa. I was so looking forward to this meal and had noted it was our anniversary meal -- this one I wanted to be special. Unfortunately, the only thing that was really special was we got a window table and the food was exceptional. The server, to say the least, was terrible. He tried to upsell everything -- he literally made a face when I ordered water -- he pointed out the most expensive bread service option, the most expensive entree, etc. My husband enjoyed the African beer, and my Tandoori chicken was phenomenal. Both kids ate the butter chicken which surprised and pleased me! My husband had the pork sandwich which looked just okay but he said it was good. I would absolutely go back to this restaurant as long as we had a different server (all of the other ones were chatty and helpful when ours hadn't even come back to our table for about 20 minutes after the food was delivered). Again, not one thing said/done about our anniversary celebration.
Beaches & Cream dinner
We walked from Hollywood Studios ... my husband thought it was a bit much, but I didn't mind the walk too much. We'd just missed the boat so it was the faster option. We were bussed-out by this point. Anyway, we were seated within about 10 minutes and our server was fun and sweet. I got the burger and onion rings, my kids split a burger a fries, and my husband got the patty melt. The food was pretty good! Then we ordered a No Way Jose which was divine. And someone ordered a Kitchen Sink while we were there which was a lot of fun with the way they present it! I'd go back, if only for the ice cream.
Boma breakfast
We had an ADR for Ohana breakfast but decided to take it easy on our MVMCP day and stay at AKL for breakfast. The buffet was clean, fresh and had several great options. It wasn't as extensive as the buffet at Tusker House that we'd enjoyed on our last trip, but it was really good. I would have to give Tusker House the upper hand if comparing the two. If I was staying at AKL again, I'd definitely eat here again but I wouldn't go out of my way from somewhere else on property to go back. The ham with Boma mustard was my favorite.
Pinocchio Village Haus dinner
We decided to do CS during MVMCP so we could maximize our time in the park. This place is so chaotic and not great, but it's one of the better MK options I guess. I had the caprese flatbread which was actually pretty tasty. My kids and husband had the pepperoni flatbread which was nothing special.
The Mara breakfast
On our check out morning we ran down to The Mara and got two bounty plates to share. This was a lot of food! We even had some leftover ... it included potatoes, eggs, bacon and sausage, Mickey waffle, and a biscuit. I would definitely recommend this for a quick, shareable breakfast when staying at AKL!
Overall, we enjoyed our meals. However the only one(s) we're likely to repeat are Sanaa and maybe Beaches & Cream.
The Mara dinner
On arrival night at AKL, we went down to The Mara. It was pretty much typical CS fare, which we're not big fans of, but everyone was happy just to eat after a long day of travel! The chicken Cesar salad was not bad, and we tried the zebra domes which was fun -- but I wasn't a big fan of them.
1900 Park Fare breakfast
On our first Magic Kingdom morning we left the park via boat to the Grand Floridian for a late brunch (11:20). We had to wait about 20 minutes because the monorail had broken down that morning and they were running behind due to missed/late ADRs. Once we did sit down, it was fun. The characters came by right away and the interaction was really good, I thought. Tigger and Pooh came by a few times afterward. The buffet was good with decent options, but word of advice -- go to the omelet station first, because by the time my omelet was ready, all of the other food on my plate was cold. Our server was not great, came by maybe four times to fill drinks and that's about it. I'd had it noted that we were celebrating our tenth anniversary but nothing was said or done during the meal. (I didn't really mind because it was only noted because the CM when making the reservation asked if we were celebrating anything and I told her it was our anniversary trip.)
Via Napoli dinner
This meal was probably our biggest letdown but it still wasn't awful. Luckily we arrived about 15 minutes beforehand, because the line just to check in for the ADR was about 10 minutes long. I thought this was ridiculous! I'm not sure what the hold-up was, but fortunately they called us after only 5 minutes of waiting. The servers were really nice, but ours put the order in wrong -- instead of doing half and half so the kids would have half pepperoni on the metro pizza, it was all the eggplant pizza with pepperoni added to half of it on top of that. The kids weren't thrilled about the eggplant but other than stating it wasn't exactly what we'd ordered we didn't complain and just pulled the other stuff off for the kids. We'd waited about 20 minutes for the pizza so we didn't want to wait another 20 for a new one. The manager and server were very nice about it and gave us the Tables in Wonderland discount (since we did eat the majority of it) for the mistake. I thought the pizza was pretty tasty, but my 5 year old wasn't a fan.
Le Artisan de Glaces snack
Ice cream all around! I had the vanilla, chocolate and pear; my husband had the coffee; my daughter had strawberry sherbert. No complaints!
Sanaa lunch
After our morning at Animal Kingdom, we got off the first AKL stop at Kidani for Sanaa. I was so looking forward to this meal and had noted it was our anniversary meal -- this one I wanted to be special. Unfortunately, the only thing that was really special was we got a window table and the food was exceptional. The server, to say the least, was terrible. He tried to upsell everything -- he literally made a face when I ordered water -- he pointed out the most expensive bread service option, the most expensive entree, etc. My husband enjoyed the African beer, and my Tandoori chicken was phenomenal. Both kids ate the butter chicken which surprised and pleased me! My husband had the pork sandwich which looked just okay but he said it was good. I would absolutely go back to this restaurant as long as we had a different server (all of the other ones were chatty and helpful when ours hadn't even come back to our table for about 20 minutes after the food was delivered). Again, not one thing said/done about our anniversary celebration.
Beaches & Cream dinner
We walked from Hollywood Studios ... my husband thought it was a bit much, but I didn't mind the walk too much. We'd just missed the boat so it was the faster option. We were bussed-out by this point. Anyway, we were seated within about 10 minutes and our server was fun and sweet. I got the burger and onion rings, my kids split a burger a fries, and my husband got the patty melt. The food was pretty good! Then we ordered a No Way Jose which was divine. And someone ordered a Kitchen Sink while we were there which was a lot of fun with the way they present it! I'd go back, if only for the ice cream.
Boma breakfast
We had an ADR for Ohana breakfast but decided to take it easy on our MVMCP day and stay at AKL for breakfast. The buffet was clean, fresh and had several great options. It wasn't as extensive as the buffet at Tusker House that we'd enjoyed on our last trip, but it was really good. I would have to give Tusker House the upper hand if comparing the two. If I was staying at AKL again, I'd definitely eat here again but I wouldn't go out of my way from somewhere else on property to go back. The ham with Boma mustard was my favorite.
Pinocchio Village Haus dinner
We decided to do CS during MVMCP so we could maximize our time in the park. This place is so chaotic and not great, but it's one of the better MK options I guess. I had the caprese flatbread which was actually pretty tasty. My kids and husband had the pepperoni flatbread which was nothing special.
The Mara breakfast
On our check out morning we ran down to The Mara and got two bounty plates to share. This was a lot of food! We even had some leftover ... it included potatoes, eggs, bacon and sausage, Mickey waffle, and a biscuit. I would definitely recommend this for a quick, shareable breakfast when staying at AKL!
Overall, we enjoyed our meals. However the only one(s) we're likely to repeat are Sanaa and maybe Beaches & Cream.
We DID send ours back because my youngest looked distraught when he saw it. We waited a long time for the next one. A $35 salad bowl on top of that (I was a VN novice) made it a not so great experience.
