Vicksterp33
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2009
- Messages
- 92
Hey Everyone!
We just got back last night!
We were on the free dining plan and I wanted to give some mini-reviews of the places we ate. Hope it helps!
Mon dinner- Trails End Buffet.
We had just arrived a couple of hours before. We were supposed to go to afternoon tea at the GF but we got in a bit late, had to wait for our room, and were just worn out from traveling. So we called the dining line, switched out our res for GF tea to Wednesday afternoon and added a dinner ADR for that night at Trails End.
The food here was pretty good. Nice salad bar with fresh lettuce, some good things on the cold bar. Hot food had some good choices (mac and cheese, fried chicken, rotisserie chicken, sliced steak, etc.) dessert bar with cookies, ice cream, brownies, etc.
Our waitress was very nice. Laid back and cool. Not crowded at all!
Tues lunch- Crystal Palace:
Okay, we HATED it. We had been there about 4 years before and it was great. But this time it was simply awful. The waitress we had was just bad. She was friendly enough but just didn't "get" her job. She came to ask us what we would like to drink, all was good, no problem. And then disappeared. The hostess had let us know that the chef would be out to talk to Mom since she had some allergies and he was great, came right out and was super nice and friendly. When the waitress finally came back after we'd all gotten some salad and were patiently chatting and enjoying the salad, she said "The chef is supposed to come out and talk to you, I don't know where he is..." all mean like he was the one behind schedule, we explained he had already come out and we were all set. She was surprised but no problem. She went on to her other tables. The characters were so fun but they literally were rushing to get to all the tables and get to the entire restaurant, I felt bad for the folks that were dressed up that day. It couldn't have been fun for them. We went up to get the main part of the meal on the hot buffet side and the food was just not good. Not up to par. Like I said, we had been here before a few years before but it wasn't good this time. Weird flavors, overcooked, ugh.
And then here's the fun part. We were sitting and waiting for the check. The chef has said he was going to have a sugar free cheesecake for my diabetic Mom brought out for dessert and to just let our server know when we were ready. Well, we couldn't find her for a long time and when we did, we could not catch her eye. It was crazy! Finally we got her attention and told her not to worry about bringing out the cheesecake and just to bring the check (We had now been in there for over an hour!) She insisted on bringing it out and took off. 10 minutes went by and she came back by without the check or dessert. I got her eye and again asked for the check and said to please not bring the dessert. She again insisted and took off. She came back out 5 minutes later with the check but no dessert, we were relieved. We were all set to pay and tip and she ran off. ugh. Finally she came back, we took care of the check and were now waiting for her to bring back my KTTW card so we could leave. She came back with it and said to not go as she was bringing out the dessert right away (I forgot to mention we were celebrating my Mom's 74th birthday and that's why she was so insistent even though we kept telling her not to worry about it!) Mom was worn out and we needed to go back to take a break at the hotel.
I had to go to the restroom, so I told Mom and sister I'd meet them outside when they were done. To make a long story short the waitress did bring it out as we were all getting up to go. Crazy. I think what annoyed me more than anything was that we could see a number of tables with fantastic waiters/waitresses right near us. I didn't get how it could get messed up when it's a buffet atmosphere. Funny.
Tuesday dinner- Liberty Tree Tavern:
This was great! Our server was fun, down to earth, nice, and personable. We had a good time with him. The food was hot and tasty. I know many folks don't like the food here but I think we really enjoyed it after the gross lunch experience. We opted out of dessert as we were full with dinner.
Wednesday lunch- Coral Reef
Again, I know many folks don't like this place but we really enjoyed it. Mom has steak and said it was good. Sister had the braised short rib. She was impressed. I had the mahi mahi which was great! Surprised it was one of our favorite meals on the trip.
Thursday Fantasmic pkg - hollywood brown derby.
We paid out of pocket for this one. Great meal! We were seated in a back quiet room and it was so great. Our waiter was wonderful! Funny, sarcastic, and friendly. We had fun with him. We all split the cobb salad and crab cake for the appetizer, Mom and Sister both had steak, I had ahi tuna. Very good. Had the grapefruit cake for dessert. I was so full, so I couldn't finish it.
Just a note: the fantastmic pkg for this is $47. per person. App, entree, dessert. And they did do a separate entrance for the fantasmic pkg folks. You walk like you are going to Fantasmic and then there was a CM that took part of our golden pass and pointed us up a big back road that went right to the reserved seating area (Caution: a very long walk! if you have kids of elderly folks, it's quite a way to go!).
Friday dinner- Ohana
We have eaten here again before too, so we knew what to expect. But didn't realize they've made some changes to the menu. They had lo mein that was okay, and they've changed some of the spices on the meats. We loved the salad, dumplings, and chicken wings! The turkey and steak were very tender and tasty but we didn't enjoy the shrimp or pork which we all loved last time, so strange. Our waitress was awesome! She was so friendly, cool, knowledgeable and fun. She knew Mom was diabetic and brought her a sugar free ice cream apple stack dessert. (sf van ice cream with fried wonton, apples/cinnamon). Just very genuine lady and nice!
For CS meals:
Roaring Fork- some breakfasts, snacks, and a lunch. We actually enjoyed this place too. Again, some folks didn't like it but we did. We tended to split a lot of meals as the portions were huge, so we were able to eat breakfast pretty much every day.
Restaurantasaurus- lunch- it was fine. Standard park food.
American pavillion-Epcot- not our first choice but we wanted to go to the American Experience show and had 30 minutes until that started and then we would still be able to do the fireworks. The food here was okay. Nothing to write home about but not awful.
Earl of Sandwich- Downtown Disney-
We really enjoyed this place! good hot sandwiches, great service, good choices for sides/desserts. Very good.
Hope this helps! I know I mentioned waitstaff a lot but I waited tables for over 15 years all through High School, College, and then for a few years to make some extra money. I know what it's like to be on that side of the table, I know how hard it can be. That's why I wanted to mention what our wait staff experiences were like at the different restaurants.
Thanks!
Oh! and tea at the GF was Awesome as usual! Great waitress, very nice, cool, funny. Tea and scones were so good! We all really loved it!
We just got back last night!
We were on the free dining plan and I wanted to give some mini-reviews of the places we ate. Hope it helps!
Mon dinner- Trails End Buffet.
We had just arrived a couple of hours before. We were supposed to go to afternoon tea at the GF but we got in a bit late, had to wait for our room, and were just worn out from traveling. So we called the dining line, switched out our res for GF tea to Wednesday afternoon and added a dinner ADR for that night at Trails End.
The food here was pretty good. Nice salad bar with fresh lettuce, some good things on the cold bar. Hot food had some good choices (mac and cheese, fried chicken, rotisserie chicken, sliced steak, etc.) dessert bar with cookies, ice cream, brownies, etc.
Our waitress was very nice. Laid back and cool. Not crowded at all!
Tues lunch- Crystal Palace:
Okay, we HATED it. We had been there about 4 years before and it was great. But this time it was simply awful. The waitress we had was just bad. She was friendly enough but just didn't "get" her job. She came to ask us what we would like to drink, all was good, no problem. And then disappeared. The hostess had let us know that the chef would be out to talk to Mom since she had some allergies and he was great, came right out and was super nice and friendly. When the waitress finally came back after we'd all gotten some salad and were patiently chatting and enjoying the salad, she said "The chef is supposed to come out and talk to you, I don't know where he is..." all mean like he was the one behind schedule, we explained he had already come out and we were all set. She was surprised but no problem. She went on to her other tables. The characters were so fun but they literally were rushing to get to all the tables and get to the entire restaurant, I felt bad for the folks that were dressed up that day. It couldn't have been fun for them. We went up to get the main part of the meal on the hot buffet side and the food was just not good. Not up to par. Like I said, we had been here before a few years before but it wasn't good this time. Weird flavors, overcooked, ugh.
And then here's the fun part. We were sitting and waiting for the check. The chef has said he was going to have a sugar free cheesecake for my diabetic Mom brought out for dessert and to just let our server know when we were ready. Well, we couldn't find her for a long time and when we did, we could not catch her eye. It was crazy! Finally we got her attention and told her not to worry about bringing out the cheesecake and just to bring the check (We had now been in there for over an hour!) She insisted on bringing it out and took off. 10 minutes went by and she came back by without the check or dessert. I got her eye and again asked for the check and said to please not bring the dessert. She again insisted and took off. She came back out 5 minutes later with the check but no dessert, we were relieved. We were all set to pay and tip and she ran off. ugh. Finally she came back, we took care of the check and were now waiting for her to bring back my KTTW card so we could leave. She came back with it and said to not go as she was bringing out the dessert right away (I forgot to mention we were celebrating my Mom's 74th birthday and that's why she was so insistent even though we kept telling her not to worry about it!) Mom was worn out and we needed to go back to take a break at the hotel.
I had to go to the restroom, so I told Mom and sister I'd meet them outside when they were done. To make a long story short the waitress did bring it out as we were all getting up to go. Crazy. I think what annoyed me more than anything was that we could see a number of tables with fantastic waiters/waitresses right near us. I didn't get how it could get messed up when it's a buffet atmosphere. Funny.
Tuesday dinner- Liberty Tree Tavern:
This was great! Our server was fun, down to earth, nice, and personable. We had a good time with him. The food was hot and tasty. I know many folks don't like the food here but I think we really enjoyed it after the gross lunch experience. We opted out of dessert as we were full with dinner.
Wednesday lunch- Coral Reef
Again, I know many folks don't like this place but we really enjoyed it. Mom has steak and said it was good. Sister had the braised short rib. She was impressed. I had the mahi mahi which was great! Surprised it was one of our favorite meals on the trip.
Thursday Fantasmic pkg - hollywood brown derby.
We paid out of pocket for this one. Great meal! We were seated in a back quiet room and it was so great. Our waiter was wonderful! Funny, sarcastic, and friendly. We had fun with him. We all split the cobb salad and crab cake for the appetizer, Mom and Sister both had steak, I had ahi tuna. Very good. Had the grapefruit cake for dessert. I was so full, so I couldn't finish it.
Just a note: the fantastmic pkg for this is $47. per person. App, entree, dessert. And they did do a separate entrance for the fantasmic pkg folks. You walk like you are going to Fantasmic and then there was a CM that took part of our golden pass and pointed us up a big back road that went right to the reserved seating area (Caution: a very long walk! if you have kids of elderly folks, it's quite a way to go!).
Friday dinner- Ohana
We have eaten here again before too, so we knew what to expect. But didn't realize they've made some changes to the menu. They had lo mein that was okay, and they've changed some of the spices on the meats. We loved the salad, dumplings, and chicken wings! The turkey and steak were very tender and tasty but we didn't enjoy the shrimp or pork which we all loved last time, so strange. Our waitress was awesome! She was so friendly, cool, knowledgeable and fun. She knew Mom was diabetic and brought her a sugar free ice cream apple stack dessert. (sf van ice cream with fried wonton, apples/cinnamon). Just very genuine lady and nice!
For CS meals:
Roaring Fork- some breakfasts, snacks, and a lunch. We actually enjoyed this place too. Again, some folks didn't like it but we did. We tended to split a lot of meals as the portions were huge, so we were able to eat breakfast pretty much every day.
Restaurantasaurus- lunch- it was fine. Standard park food.
American pavillion-Epcot- not our first choice but we wanted to go to the American Experience show and had 30 minutes until that started and then we would still be able to do the fireworks. The food here was okay. Nothing to write home about but not awful.
Earl of Sandwich- Downtown Disney-
We really enjoyed this place! good hot sandwiches, great service, good choices for sides/desserts. Very good.
Hope this helps! I know I mentioned waitstaff a lot but I waited tables for over 15 years all through High School, College, and then for a few years to make some extra money. I know what it's like to be on that side of the table, I know how hard it can be. That's why I wanted to mention what our wait staff experiences were like at the different restaurants.
Thanks!
Oh! and tea at the GF was Awesome as usual! Great waitress, very nice, cool, funny. Tea and scones were so good! We all really loved it!
