Just back, just a few notes on Dining

[Nicole276]

Just back from 1/29 - 2/2 stay at POR. Visited MK and AK. Me, DH, DD 3 and DS 1. I just wanted to note a few things as I am not doing a full didning review. We were on the Deluxe Dining Plan and my family is really pretty easy to please.

We ate at:
Rainforest Cafe DTD
Ohana dinner
CRT breakfast
Crystal Palace lunch
Cosmic Rays
1900 PF breakfast
Hoop Dee Doo
Tusker House
Yak and Yeti
Raglan Road
Chef Mickey's breakfast

We really enjoyed most of the restaurants we ate at. They were usually what i expected or better. So the things I am going to write about, was what I didn't like

Ohana - Arrived at 5:30 and checked in for 6:30 ADR. The place was a mad house as many others have said. We were seated at 6:45 which is only 15 mins after our ADR time, so I guess that isn't bad, but the previous 1 hour of 15 mins of waiting was hard with the little ones. We did many laps around the building We thought the food and experience was excellent though. We will go back again despite the long wait.

Rainforest Cafe DTD- I know not to expect too much from this place food wise, but the kids love it. We needed to have one meal OOP, and we chose to go here. Really, the service was just bad here. They got my DS's order wrong. I had order him Chicken Tidbits ( I think thats what they are caled on their menu, chicken nuggets) and they brought him a turkey burger?? Completely wrong. Then I had ordered a mushroom and swiss burger and he asked my how I would like it cooked. I responded medium well. Well when my plate arrived, it was a portabella mushroom sandwich that they have on their menu, you know, like a veggie burger or something. So again, not what I ordered. I ate it anyway, and was just ready to go at that point. Probably won't be back there.

Chef Mickey's- We almost canceled this ADR becuase it was our last day, and we kind of just wanted to relax a little. But, the kids got up early so we decided to go ahead and go to get a good breakfast becuase we were leaving later that day. Awful food!! Very Stale Tater Tots, and then I got this cheesy hasbrown casserole that I thought would be good, and it was not good at all. Did we find something to eat? Yes, but I was very dissappointed with the selection of food and taste. Compared to the other breakfasts we had, this was way worse. Will not be back. And for Price comparison, this meal was more expensive than 1900 PF and I LOVED their breakfast.

I would be more than happy to answer any questions about any of the places we visited.

 

[jmkjr72]

on our trip last january we had issues at rainforest cafe dtd also
we had a large group 11 people
so they split us between 2 tables no big deal as they were next to each other
and 2 separate servers still no big deal
they did manage to get both servers over at the same time to take our orders
the one table had gotten there appetizers and we didnt get ours ok no big deal maybe our were just a bit behind
the other table got there main course we still hadnt gotten our appetizers
ours server came by we asked about our food and she said there was a back up in the other kitchen
so 1/2 our party was done eating before we even got our appetizers
had the the other 1/2 not had there food we proably would have left after waiting for our food as long as we did
and yes one of our orders was wrong but at that time we just didnt care

i will say they did try and smoth things over by bring out 2 lava cakes on the house

and the worst part of it is rain forest cafe is our first meal at disney we grab some snacks at arrival but they are our first real meal on all our disney trips

 

[Pugmalion1]

We've eaten at Rainforest Cafe several times in, I think, every Disney parks location (including Disneyland), but it's always for breakfast and usually as the first seating. I do enjoy their breakfast, and we've never had bad service, but that place gets absolutely swamped as the day wears on, especially the WDW Downtown Disney location.

I can see them having a lot of problems daily due to the wait staff being understaffed and the kitchen getting congested. Just take the amount and duration of issues you might see at a busy mall Chili's and multiply them by ten. This is why, even though we enjoy their breakfast, we've never had any interest in going there for any other meal.

Sorry you had such a bad time there, but judging from similar things I've read from others, it's unfortunately to be expected. They could probably open another full-size Rainforest Cafe right next door and still have issues.

 

[bellenbuzz]

We were going to try this on our next trip and would like to hear feedback from those who have been there.

How's the food?
Atmosphere?
Music & Dancers??

Thanks

 

[jandm]

Just back from 1/29 - 2/2 stay at POR. Visited MK and AK. Me, DH, DD 3 and DS 1. I just wanted to note a few things as I am not doing a full didning review. We were on the Deluxe Dining Plan and my family is really pretty easy to please.

We ate at:
Rainforest Cafe DTD
Ohana dinner
CRT breakfast
Crystal Palace lunch
Cosmic Rays
1900 PF breakfast
Hoop Dee Doo
Tusker House
Yak and Yeti
Raglan Road
Chef Mickey's breakfast

We really enjoyed most of the restaurants we ate at. They were usually what i expected or better. So the things I am going to write about, was what I didn't like

Ohana - Arrived at 5:30 and checked in for 6:30 ADR. The place was a mad house as many others have said. We were seated at 6:45 which is only 15 mins after our ADR time, so I guess that isn't bad, but the previous 1 hour of 15 mins of waiting was hard with the little ones. We did many laps around the building We thought the food and experience was excellent though. We will go back again despite the long wait.

Rainforest Cafe DTD- I know not to expect too much from this place food wise, but the kids love it. We needed to have one meal OOP, and we chose to go here. Really, the service was just bad here. They got my DS's order wrong. I had order him Chicken Tidbits ( I think thats what they are caled on their menu, chicken nuggets) and they brought him a turkey burger?? Completely wrong. Then I had ordered a mushroom and swiss burger and he asked my how I would like it cooked. I responded medium well. Well when my plate arrived, it was a portabella mushroom sandwich that they have on their menu, you know, like a veggie burger or something. So again, not what I ordered. I ate it anyway, and was just ready to go at that point. Probably won't be back there.

Chef Mickey's- We almost canceled this ADR becuase it was our last day, and we kind of just wanted to relax a little. But, the kids got up early so we decided to go ahead and go to get a good breakfast becuase we were leaving later that day. Awful food!! Very Stale Tater Tots, and then I got this cheesy hasbrown casserole that I thought would be good, and it was not good at all. Did we find something to eat? Yes, but I was very dissappointed with the selection of food and taste. Compared to the other breakfasts we had, this was way worse. Will not be back. And for Price comparison, this meal was more expensive than 1900 PF and I LOVED their breakfast.

I would be more than happy to answer any questions about any of the places we visited.

On our May trip we are doing 'Ohana for dinner --we have a 7:00 ADR and I'm wondering what time we need to get there. Do we really have to get there more than an hour early? Our kids will get impatient as well! We are doing 1900 PF breakfast and I am so excited for that one! I've heard the Mad Hatter is a riot.

 

[kamik86]

I'm not the OP but I ate at Raglan Road during my Jan. visit for lunch.

The food was excellant. The atmosphere was great. The only thing that was a bit annoying is if your on the dining plan they process everything differently from what you are used to from everywhere else (but closer to how a normal place does a CC) so it took us a bit to figure everything out.

We were there for lunch so there was no band or dancers though.

 

[bellenbuzz]

We would be there for dinner, a group of 8....

 

[Nicole276]

We were going to try this on our next trip and would like to hear feedback from those who have been there.

How's the food?
Atmosphere?
Music & Dancers??

Thanks

The food was great. I had a scallop dish and cheese soup for an appetizer. DH got the Guiness stew, and I had a steak for donner. It was all really good. The atmosphere was loud, which we don't mind becuase we have little onese that tend to act up sometimes. There was a guy playing music, and every 20 minutes or so, a dancer would get up and dance. There way a boy and a girl, but they would dance seperatly. We really liked it!

 

[Nicole276]

On our May trip we are doing 'Ohana for dinner --we have a 7:00 ADR and I'm wondering what time we need to get there. Do we really have to get there more than an hour early? Our kids will get impatient as well! We are doing 1900 PF breakfast and I am so excited for that one! I've heard the Mad Hatter is a riot.

When we we arrived at 5:30, it was not too busy as far as people waiting out in the halls and lobby. Now somewhere between 5:30 and when we got seated at 6:45 it got swamped. People everywhere. They have little tables to sit at out in the waiting area. We snagged one of those, there was also a waiter that would get you drinks if you wanted while you waited. There is a shop up there to look around in too. Im glad we checked in as early as we did even though it was a little rough with the kids. After I saw the masses of people, I was worried that we would ever get in.

Oh, and I wanted to add that the 1900 PF was my favorite breakfast. Lobster eggs benedict, and the strawberry soup were so good!!

 

[hannahdrewmom]

So I guess I'm confused You got there at 5:30 and it wasn't busy but it still took you an hour to check in? Did you wait to check in? I guess I don't understand why you got there so early... it sounds like while the waiting area was busy you were seated at the right time.

I'm not trying to criticize but it seems like everyone showing up an hour early for ADR's (as people are suggesting in other threads) might be why the area is appearing so crowded since the actual meal seems to be going as scheduled?

 

[Nicole276]

So I guess I'm confused You got there at 5:30 and it wasn't busy but it still took you an hour to check in? Did you wait to check in? I guess I don't understand why you got there so early... it sounds like while the waiting area was busy you were seated at the right time.

I'm not trying to criticize but it seems like everyone showing up an hour early for ADR's (as people are suggesting in other threads) might be why the area is appearing so crowded since the actual meal seems to be going as scheduled?

I didn't intend to get there that early. That meal was our first day and we were still getting the hang of how long it would take us to get everywhere using Disneys transportation. So, when we got there, again, our first time using an ADR, I went and asked them if I needed to go ahead and check in. I explained, that I knew I was early, but wondered what they would like me to do and they went ahead and checked me in, and told me I probably wouldn't get seated until around my ADR time. I was fine with that, I wasn't trying to get in "early" or anything, but hoped I would get seated as close to our ADR time as possible. When I say they weren't too busy, I meant no long line to check in, There were some groups of people waiting for tables, but the entire waiting area wasn't full. By the time we got seated, the waiting area was very full of people sitting and standing and the check in line was pretty long. I am not upset at all that we got seated at 6:45. If had gotten to 7:00 I probably would have gone up to check and see where we were in line just to make sure we didn't get lost in the mess of things.

 

[KungFoomF]

Reminds me a lot of the doctor's office. You get there 15 minutes early, but you are still not going to be seen until 20-30 minutes after your appointment. But, for sure, getting to an ADR early will get you in early sometimes. It all depends on crowds and cancellations. But getting there early, it sure would be nice to be sat on time.

 

[Cee]

Love it there. Favorites are the Shepherd's Pie, Irish Stew, Dalkey Duo appetizer and of course.....drum roll, please...............BEER FLIGHT.

 

[bellenbuzz]

We don't mind the loud/busy atmosphere....
We like the music & dancers; that should be a nice touch.

We enjoy restaurants that have a little something extra like that.


SIDE NOTE QUESTION: What are these "Flights" I read about.
It seems to apply to different beverages, not just beer.
Please let me know

 

[Tigger's ally]

We don't mind the loud/busy atmosphere....
We like the music & dancers; that should be a nice touch.

We enjoy restaurants that have a little something extra like that.


SIDE NOTE QUESTION: What are these "Flights" I read about.
It seems to apply to different beverages, not just beer.
Please let me know

Flights are like sampler platters only for drinks. You will usually get three or four or five smaller glasses of different kinds of drinks. At LaHacienda, you get three different margarita's. The flight I had at Ragland Road had either four or five types of beers starting with a Harp and progressing up to and including an Black and Tan (of which I asked for Harp and Guinness). Gives your tastebuds quite a sensation.

p.s. Take the bus back

 

[danielle821]

We don't mind the loud/busy atmosphere....
We like the music & dancers; that should be a nice touch.

We enjoy restaurants that have a little something extra like that.


SIDE NOTE QUESTION: What are these "Flights" I read about.
It seems to apply to different beverages, not just beer.
Please let me know

Dalkey Duo is an appetizer of beer-batter fried little sausages that you dip in this mustard sauce. Heaven!! We usually can't resist the appetizer sampler that comes with ribs, dalkey duo, scallops, and chicken skewers. I also love the fish and chips and guiness stew for entree, and bread pudding for dessert. Below is a picture of the appetizer sampler and fish and chips just in case you were curious.

Flights are samples of drinks. RR has one of beers and I just read that Kouzzina has some of different wines. It's a nice way to taste small samples of a couple of different drinks rather than order a big glass of something you're not sure you'd like.

 

[bellenbuzz]

OH BOYYY

Sounds like our kind of thing!

We are totally using WDW Bus system, won't even have a car....

Hey, it's a vacation for Mommy & Daddy Too !!!

 

[bellenbuzz]

Now that's an Appetizer!

Ummmmmm No Calories or Fat There.....

Thank Goodness that when you are on vacation at Disney World, there are no calories or fat in the food, it's magical how that is !!!

Must be some sort of Special Pixie Dust Seasoning they use!

The appetizer looks like a meal

 

[pilferk]

Now that's an Appetizer!

Ummmmmm No Calories or Fat There.....

Thank Goodness that when you are on vacation at Disney World, there are no calories or fat in the food, it's magical how that is !!!

Must be some sort of Special Pixie Dust Seasoning they use!

It's an offshoot of the "Brown food has no calories" tenet.