new_yawka
<a href="http://www.wdwinfo.com/dis-sponsor/" targ
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2002
- Messages
- 610
We just got back from a truly magical week at WDW. I figured I would share some of our wonderful (and not so) dining experiences at the world. Overall it was GREAT!
We were, for the most part, a Party of 10 (my family - Me, DW and DSs 4 and 1; my parents; and my sisters family - Dsis, DBIL, and DNieces 9 and 7).
One note: My DSis and DNs have SEVERE food allergies and require significant special attention. For the most part the received the attention and the chef's were excellent about preparing great, gourmet meals for them. Special Kudos to Denis from Tony's Restaurant for making great food and contacting other restaurants to discuss the issues ahead of our arrival.
10/13 -
Dinner - Olivias (at OKW) - Party of 6 - The food and the service were both very good. This was a very relaxing way to begin our trip. I Shared a crab cake appetizer with my parents and DW (very tasty). My DW had red snapper. She said it was a bit spicy (She is not a spicy food lover), but was also good. My parents and I had the Filet Mignon and Lobster stuffed shrimp. The shrimp were delicious, the filet was good. I also had a glass of a tasty cabernet (St. Michel). My DSs had "Goofy's spaghetti and meatballs" which was actuall served with mickey pasta, instead of spaghetti. They gobbled it up! After receiving mixed reviews about Olivias, I walked away very pleased and will gladly dine there again.
10/14 -
Breakfast - Tony's Character Breakfast with Pooh and friends - The food was really good. The Healthy option (granola, yogurt and fresh berries) was delicious (my DW and I had it) and the regular pre-plated food was also very good. The Characters were great (It is always fun to watch Tigger bounce around a restaurant.) As stated above, Denis was great with my sister's food allergies.
Dinner - Tony's - Big contrast with the quality of lunch. I find the italian food to be downright BAD. Tony's is a cute restaurant...do it for breakfast!
10/15 -
Breakfast - Ohana Character Breakfast with Mickey, Goofey and Chip and Dale - I LOVE this breakfast. There is nothing quite like seeing mickey in a hawiian shirt dancing around a restaurant to "I just can't wait to be king". The food, family style was very good, especially the pinaple bread and the mickey waffles. ALOHA!
Dinner - Boma - This I did because of all the discussions on this board - and it was great! Thank you all! The atmosphere at the AKL is wonderful (I put it right up with the WL). The food at Boma was both interesting and delicious. My favorites were the Bowbowtie (sweet lamb and beef suoffle) and the fried bananas with nuts. Of course the desserts are wonderful too (zebra domes - a chocolate mouse with a hint of mocha - included). The wine list was very interesting - we ordered a bottle of cabernet from South Africa. It was very good.
10/16 -
Breakfast - Donald's Breakfastosaurus - This was the best breakfast food I ate while at Disney. Served buffet style, the fruit and good eats were plentiful. The made to order omlets where very good and the chocolate chip pancakes were fun too. In addition, this is the best group of characters available IMHO (Donald, Mickey, Goofey and Pluto). The atmosphere is fun (a paleontologists shack) and the service was very good. I'll continue to do this breakfast whenever we visit AK
Dinner - at MGM - Hollywood and Vine Fantasmic Dinner Package - HandV is a nice buffet. The food was good (not spectacular), but it was great to get the fantasmic priority seating (with two DSs 4 and 1, not having to wait more than 25-30 minutes was a real bonus!). If you are looking for a nice meal, I'd probably pick a different restaurant (Prime Time Cafe or Brown Derby), but HandV was great for a quick, good dinner to get back into the park before heading off to fantasmic.
10/17 -
Lunch - Rain Forest Cafe - I love the atmospher of this restaurant, as do my DW and DSs. That said, the service was abismally slow. The server started the meal by saying "we're understaffed, so I'll be running around like a chicken with it's head cut off." Sadly, it took us 1 1/2 hours (from being seated) to have a "quick" lunch of appetizers and salads. The food is ok, but realistically they sell the atmosphere. It is just fun to eat in the middle of a rain forest.
Dinner!!!!!! - CALIFORNIA GRILL - This is the highlight of a bunch of wonderful restaurant experience. My DW and I went out and left the boys to my parents. We got there early (5:50 PS) and asked for a window seat. We got one of the Window seats facing the Seven Seas Lagoon. Ihave long been a proponent of the great view from CG...Now, I'm an ADDICT! It was simply spectacular. We watched the sun set to the west over the Grand Floridian and watched as the lights came up all around the lagoon (the GF, Poly and especially, the MK). It was doubly special because it was a MNSSHP night, which added fun ghosts and pumkin lights all over.
As for the food...I can't say enough! It was wonderful. We started with a tripple cheese, triple garlic flatbread. It was delicious. I then had an arugula salad with pears, candied pecans and gargonzola cheese. WOW, was it good. My DW had a lamb shank for entree and I had a delicious grilled salmon over ham and beans. I also enjoyed a wonderful glass of cabernet. This was a five star dinner (I mean it! I have eaten in many five star restaurants and this was all absolutely top notch). The service was very friendly. It's not white glove, but it shouldn't be. It is a resort casual atmosphere which is the perfect way to finish off a Disney day.
The Wine list is great. CG has 80 different wines from which they pour glasses of wine. In addition they have an extensive additional list of bottles. It was fun just looking through the selections. Our waiter, Don, was very knowledgable about wines and helped me make an exellent choice.
This dinner was clearly a special dining experience for me and DW. Not inexpensive (we spent $110 for two with tip), but worth it.
10/18
Non-Disney - We ate at Sharks underwater grill at Sea World. It is a fun restaurant and the food is very good. You sit in a darkened restaurant where one whole wall is a huge shark tank. It is great to have a fork near you mouth as you stare into the jaws of a tiger shark! I won't elaborate, unless someone asks, but siffice it to say, we enjoyed it.
OKW - Good's Take out - this was a relaxing final dinner. We ate outside at OKW on a picnic table. We order burgers, hot dogs and fruit cup. It was all good and very nice to eat outside in such perfect weather. For those at OKW, it's worth trying Good's as a change of pace.
10/19
Breakfast - Maya Grill - CSR - This is a breakfast buffet. We tried this, having never visited CSR before. The food was good, but the atmosphere was very nice. It's fun to eat in the shadow of a huge Mayan temple. For those at CSR, it is certainly a nice way to have a convenient buffet breakfast.
Overall, a great vacation with lots of fun dining!
We were, for the most part, a Party of 10 (my family - Me, DW and DSs 4 and 1; my parents; and my sisters family - Dsis, DBIL, and DNieces 9 and 7).
One note: My DSis and DNs have SEVERE food allergies and require significant special attention. For the most part the received the attention and the chef's were excellent about preparing great, gourmet meals for them. Special Kudos to Denis from Tony's Restaurant for making great food and contacting other restaurants to discuss the issues ahead of our arrival.
10/13 -
Dinner - Olivias (at OKW) - Party of 6 - The food and the service were both very good. This was a very relaxing way to begin our trip. I Shared a crab cake appetizer with my parents and DW (very tasty). My DW had red snapper. She said it was a bit spicy (She is not a spicy food lover), but was also good. My parents and I had the Filet Mignon and Lobster stuffed shrimp. The shrimp were delicious, the filet was good. I also had a glass of a tasty cabernet (St. Michel). My DSs had "Goofy's spaghetti and meatballs" which was actuall served with mickey pasta, instead of spaghetti. They gobbled it up! After receiving mixed reviews about Olivias, I walked away very pleased and will gladly dine there again.
10/14 -
Breakfast - Tony's Character Breakfast with Pooh and friends - The food was really good. The Healthy option (granola, yogurt and fresh berries) was delicious (my DW and I had it) and the regular pre-plated food was also very good. The Characters were great (It is always fun to watch Tigger bounce around a restaurant.) As stated above, Denis was great with my sister's food allergies.
Dinner - Tony's - Big contrast with the quality of lunch. I find the italian food to be downright BAD. Tony's is a cute restaurant...do it for breakfast!
10/15 -
Breakfast - Ohana Character Breakfast with Mickey, Goofey and Chip and Dale - I LOVE this breakfast. There is nothing quite like seeing mickey in a hawiian shirt dancing around a restaurant to "I just can't wait to be king". The food, family style was very good, especially the pinaple bread and the mickey waffles. ALOHA!
Dinner - Boma - This I did because of all the discussions on this board - and it was great! Thank you all! The atmosphere at the AKL is wonderful (I put it right up with the WL). The food at Boma was both interesting and delicious. My favorites were the Bowbowtie (sweet lamb and beef suoffle) and the fried bananas with nuts. Of course the desserts are wonderful too (zebra domes - a chocolate mouse with a hint of mocha - included). The wine list was very interesting - we ordered a bottle of cabernet from South Africa. It was very good.
10/16 -
Breakfast - Donald's Breakfastosaurus - This was the best breakfast food I ate while at Disney. Served buffet style, the fruit and good eats were plentiful. The made to order omlets where very good and the chocolate chip pancakes were fun too. In addition, this is the best group of characters available IMHO (Donald, Mickey, Goofey and Pluto). The atmosphere is fun (a paleontologists shack) and the service was very good. I'll continue to do this breakfast whenever we visit AK
Dinner - at MGM - Hollywood and Vine Fantasmic Dinner Package - HandV is a nice buffet. The food was good (not spectacular), but it was great to get the fantasmic priority seating (with two DSs 4 and 1, not having to wait more than 25-30 minutes was a real bonus!). If you are looking for a nice meal, I'd probably pick a different restaurant (Prime Time Cafe or Brown Derby), but HandV was great for a quick, good dinner to get back into the park before heading off to fantasmic.
10/17 -
Lunch - Rain Forest Cafe - I love the atmospher of this restaurant, as do my DW and DSs. That said, the service was abismally slow. The server started the meal by saying "we're understaffed, so I'll be running around like a chicken with it's head cut off." Sadly, it took us 1 1/2 hours (from being seated) to have a "quick" lunch of appetizers and salads. The food is ok, but realistically they sell the atmosphere. It is just fun to eat in the middle of a rain forest.
Dinner!!!!!! - CALIFORNIA GRILL - This is the highlight of a bunch of wonderful restaurant experience. My DW and I went out and left the boys to my parents. We got there early (5:50 PS) and asked for a window seat. We got one of the Window seats facing the Seven Seas Lagoon. Ihave long been a proponent of the great view from CG...Now, I'm an ADDICT! It was simply spectacular. We watched the sun set to the west over the Grand Floridian and watched as the lights came up all around the lagoon (the GF, Poly and especially, the MK). It was doubly special because it was a MNSSHP night, which added fun ghosts and pumkin lights all over.
As for the food...I can't say enough! It was wonderful. We started with a tripple cheese, triple garlic flatbread. It was delicious. I then had an arugula salad with pears, candied pecans and gargonzola cheese. WOW, was it good. My DW had a lamb shank for entree and I had a delicious grilled salmon over ham and beans. I also enjoyed a wonderful glass of cabernet. This was a five star dinner (I mean it! I have eaten in many five star restaurants and this was all absolutely top notch). The service was very friendly. It's not white glove, but it shouldn't be. It is a resort casual atmosphere which is the perfect way to finish off a Disney day.
The Wine list is great. CG has 80 different wines from which they pour glasses of wine. In addition they have an extensive additional list of bottles. It was fun just looking through the selections. Our waiter, Don, was very knowledgable about wines and helped me make an exellent choice.
This dinner was clearly a special dining experience for me and DW. Not inexpensive (we spent $110 for two with tip), but worth it.
10/18
Non-Disney - We ate at Sharks underwater grill at Sea World. It is a fun restaurant and the food is very good. You sit in a darkened restaurant where one whole wall is a huge shark tank. It is great to have a fork near you mouth as you stare into the jaws of a tiger shark! I won't elaborate, unless someone asks, but siffice it to say, we enjoyed it.
OKW - Good's Take out - this was a relaxing final dinner. We ate outside at OKW on a picnic table. We order burgers, hot dogs and fruit cup. It was all good and very nice to eat outside in such perfect weather. For those at OKW, it's worth trying Good's as a change of pace.
10/19
Breakfast - Maya Grill - CSR - This is a breakfast buffet. We tried this, having never visited CSR before. The food was good, but the atmosphere was very nice. It's fun to eat in the shadow of a huge Mayan temple. For those at CSR, it is certainly a nice way to have a convenient buffet breakfast.
Overall, a great vacation with lots of fun dining!
