Sammy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2000
- Messages
- 3,006
Some more reviews of the places we ate. Some reviews are long....I get carried away!! We are mostly a "counter service" family because we don't like to spend a lot of time at a meal. We did eat at three sit-down's though.....
Studios:
Sci-Fi Diner one of the only sit-down meals we had all week. Atmosphere was totally fun and the kids had a great time. It was really funny to watch all the old (and really bad) horror flicks. We were laughing through the whole meal! Our server was awesome and told bad jokes to go along with the bad movies! The food was good, but I thought was overpriced. I ordered the smoked turkey sandwich ($11.99) which came on soft, thick wheat bread. Piled with turkey, it was delicious. DD ordered BBQ chicken breast sandwich ($13.49) which she had to eat with fork and knife because too sloppy to pick up. She enjoyed it and said it was really good. DH, always the burger man, had the All-American burger ($10.99) which was very large. I had a nibble and it was juicy and fresh-tasting. Both younger kids had the Space Mush which is mac and cheese. Pasta was way overcooked, but they liked the cheesiness of the sauce. All-in-all, Im glad we did the lunch because it was an experience and it was fun, but with a bill of $70 for sandwiches and subpar mac and cheese, we wont be returning soon.
Dolphin:
Dolphin Fountain. Truly a hidden gem. Unfortunately, we didnt discover this restaurant until our last day. This is located in the back of the Dolphin hotel, right by the doors going out to the boat dock and walkway to the Swan. They are set up like an old-fashioned soda fountain and the food was wonderful! We had an awesome server who went way above the usual call when she had the chef specially make sweet and sour sauce for DDs chicken strips! I ordered a Grilled Chicken Ceasar Salad which was served in a huge herbed bread bowl. It was awesome!! DD-13 ordered a crispy chicken sandwich which she deemed super!. DH ordered (can you guess??) a build your own burger where he picked all his toppings. It was enormous and was soooo good (I had a bite!). DD-8 had the aforementioned chicken strips with special-made sauce, and DS-11 ordered grilled cheese and curly fries. The kids meals were served in wonderful cardboard replicas of a 1957 Chevy convertible with tailfins and all! The fries rode in the back seat, and the main sandwich (and chicken strips), were under the hood. The cars folded flat so we could take them with us as souveniers. As full as we were from the food, we all wanted to get ice cream, which is all homemade. Everyone got a sundae except for me, who just ordered a waffle cone with dark chocolate ice cream. Ive died and gone to heaven. Easily one of the best meals we had the entire vacation. I wish we had decided to eat here earlier in the week because we certainly would have had at least one more meal here.
Tubbis Buffeteria: Ate here very late one night when we couldnt get anything else. Not a very good meal. DS-11 had chicken noodle soup which I think was canned because the noodles were pretty mushy. DD-13 and I had small garden salad which was mostly iceburg lettuce with 2 cucumber slices and a sprinkling of carrot shavings. Also split a grilled cheese sandwich which was actually pretty good .freshly made. It was ok for a quick, late night meal, and maybe the meal would have better if served during a normal meal time (not sitting around for too long). Not too impressed with this place.
Boardwalk:
Boardwalk Bakery: Great pastries! The biggest doughnuts Ive ever seen! We got bagels, pastries, and coffee one morning and just sat at a table by the edge of Crescent Lake watching the world go by. Very relaxing way to start the day.
Spoodles:
Ate here for Breakfast on our last morning because the line at the Bakery was out the door and all the way to the railing of the lake! Seated immediately and had coffee poured into huge latte mugs. We had: Ham and Cheese Frittata ..very good and very large served with seasoned potatoes; Breakfast Flatbread which is actually a wheat pizza crust topped with scrambled eggs, sausage, and cheese; DH ordered the Rotollo which is a breakfast wrap with scrambled eggs, chorizo sausage, onions, peppers and cheese, I had a bite and it was fresh and delicious! The two younger kids got Mickey pancakes which were huge and filled the whole plate! The décor in this restaurant is lovely and relaxing. We had a table right next to the window so we could look out over the Boardwalk and the lake. A nice meal and didnt break the bank.
Fort Wilderness:
Trails End Buffeteria - Ate here our first night because we were meeting up with friends who raved about the Buffet saying it was one of the best-kept secrets of WDW dining. I have to say that they were right! The price is way less than the other buffets around Disney and the quality of the food was wonderful. There were 10 of us and every one of us waddled out after dinner. The buffet included: chili, potato/bacon soup, biscuits, corn bread, cinnamon & sugar butter, apple butter, fresh cut fruit, salad fixings, bbq ribs, fried chicken, some pork and vegetable casserole (which sounds gross, but was very good), summer s squash and zucchini medley, sauteed green beans with onions and bacon, and steamship carved roast beef. For dessert they had apple cobbler, marble bread pudding, and cinnamon crisps which were triangle pieces of dough fried until crispy and sprinkled with cinnamon powdered sugar. It was an awesome meal and was a bargain (by WDW standards) at $60 for 3 adults and 2 children. After dinner, the kids walked through the animal petting area and then the horse stables. Its a nice place to just walk around so woodsy and relaxing.
Polynesian:
Poly Luau. We wanted to do one big dinner this trip and couldnt do the Hoop de Doo (dont ask). Overall, we enjoyed the food .they kids were impressed with the big metal serving plates shaped like leaves! I liked the mango dressing on the salad .very light. The pineapple bread was good too .asked for seconds on that! The roast chicken was juicy and very tasty. The ribs were pretty non-descript though, and drenched in BBQ sauce. I found the rice to be bland, but the veggies were delicious and crisp. Dessert was fun as it was served from platters complete with smoking volcanos and brought out with much fanfare from the servers! They called it lava cake but was actually white chocolate mousse shaped like a mini volcano and had either chocolate or raspberry inside. DD-8 didnt like it at all and I was a little disappointed that they had no other option for her. The show itself was very entertaining, although I thought the long lost niece returning home from the mainland storyline was lame and unnecessary. The dancing however, was awesome and all the performers seemed to be having a great time ..in spite of the on & off downpours! We, especially the kids, really enjoyed doing the Luau because it was something so totally different. My 8-year old daughter spent most of the show up next to her seat hula dancing along with the performers (not in anyone elses way, BTW) ..priceless memory! Would I do it again? Probably not .there are still so many other things we have to experience, but Im glad we went to the Luau this time.
Sorry so long, but with all the great information I've gotten from the boards these past few years, I wanted to contribute some myself!
Sammy
Studios:
Sci-Fi Diner one of the only sit-down meals we had all week. Atmosphere was totally fun and the kids had a great time. It was really funny to watch all the old (and really bad) horror flicks. We were laughing through the whole meal! Our server was awesome and told bad jokes to go along with the bad movies! The food was good, but I thought was overpriced. I ordered the smoked turkey sandwich ($11.99) which came on soft, thick wheat bread. Piled with turkey, it was delicious. DD ordered BBQ chicken breast sandwich ($13.49) which she had to eat with fork and knife because too sloppy to pick up. She enjoyed it and said it was really good. DH, always the burger man, had the All-American burger ($10.99) which was very large. I had a nibble and it was juicy and fresh-tasting. Both younger kids had the Space Mush which is mac and cheese. Pasta was way overcooked, but they liked the cheesiness of the sauce. All-in-all, Im glad we did the lunch because it was an experience and it was fun, but with a bill of $70 for sandwiches and subpar mac and cheese, we wont be returning soon.
Dolphin:
Dolphin Fountain. Truly a hidden gem. Unfortunately, we didnt discover this restaurant until our last day. This is located in the back of the Dolphin hotel, right by the doors going out to the boat dock and walkway to the Swan. They are set up like an old-fashioned soda fountain and the food was wonderful! We had an awesome server who went way above the usual call when she had the chef specially make sweet and sour sauce for DDs chicken strips! I ordered a Grilled Chicken Ceasar Salad which was served in a huge herbed bread bowl. It was awesome!! DD-13 ordered a crispy chicken sandwich which she deemed super!. DH ordered (can you guess??) a build your own burger where he picked all his toppings. It was enormous and was soooo good (I had a bite!). DD-8 had the aforementioned chicken strips with special-made sauce, and DS-11 ordered grilled cheese and curly fries. The kids meals were served in wonderful cardboard replicas of a 1957 Chevy convertible with tailfins and all! The fries rode in the back seat, and the main sandwich (and chicken strips), were under the hood. The cars folded flat so we could take them with us as souveniers. As full as we were from the food, we all wanted to get ice cream, which is all homemade. Everyone got a sundae except for me, who just ordered a waffle cone with dark chocolate ice cream. Ive died and gone to heaven. Easily one of the best meals we had the entire vacation. I wish we had decided to eat here earlier in the week because we certainly would have had at least one more meal here.
Tubbis Buffeteria: Ate here very late one night when we couldnt get anything else. Not a very good meal. DS-11 had chicken noodle soup which I think was canned because the noodles were pretty mushy. DD-13 and I had small garden salad which was mostly iceburg lettuce with 2 cucumber slices and a sprinkling of carrot shavings. Also split a grilled cheese sandwich which was actually pretty good .freshly made. It was ok for a quick, late night meal, and maybe the meal would have better if served during a normal meal time (not sitting around for too long). Not too impressed with this place.
Boardwalk:
Boardwalk Bakery: Great pastries! The biggest doughnuts Ive ever seen! We got bagels, pastries, and coffee one morning and just sat at a table by the edge of Crescent Lake watching the world go by. Very relaxing way to start the day.
Spoodles:
Ate here for Breakfast on our last morning because the line at the Bakery was out the door and all the way to the railing of the lake! Seated immediately and had coffee poured into huge latte mugs. We had: Ham and Cheese Frittata ..very good and very large served with seasoned potatoes; Breakfast Flatbread which is actually a wheat pizza crust topped with scrambled eggs, sausage, and cheese; DH ordered the Rotollo which is a breakfast wrap with scrambled eggs, chorizo sausage, onions, peppers and cheese, I had a bite and it was fresh and delicious! The two younger kids got Mickey pancakes which were huge and filled the whole plate! The décor in this restaurant is lovely and relaxing. We had a table right next to the window so we could look out over the Boardwalk and the lake. A nice meal and didnt break the bank.
Fort Wilderness:
Trails End Buffeteria - Ate here our first night because we were meeting up with friends who raved about the Buffet saying it was one of the best-kept secrets of WDW dining. I have to say that they were right! The price is way less than the other buffets around Disney and the quality of the food was wonderful. There were 10 of us and every one of us waddled out after dinner. The buffet included: chili, potato/bacon soup, biscuits, corn bread, cinnamon & sugar butter, apple butter, fresh cut fruit, salad fixings, bbq ribs, fried chicken, some pork and vegetable casserole (which sounds gross, but was very good), summer s squash and zucchini medley, sauteed green beans with onions and bacon, and steamship carved roast beef. For dessert they had apple cobbler, marble bread pudding, and cinnamon crisps which were triangle pieces of dough fried until crispy and sprinkled with cinnamon powdered sugar. It was an awesome meal and was a bargain (by WDW standards) at $60 for 3 adults and 2 children. After dinner, the kids walked through the animal petting area and then the horse stables. Its a nice place to just walk around so woodsy and relaxing.
Polynesian:
Poly Luau. We wanted to do one big dinner this trip and couldnt do the Hoop de Doo (dont ask). Overall, we enjoyed the food .they kids were impressed with the big metal serving plates shaped like leaves! I liked the mango dressing on the salad .very light. The pineapple bread was good too .asked for seconds on that! The roast chicken was juicy and very tasty. The ribs were pretty non-descript though, and drenched in BBQ sauce. I found the rice to be bland, but the veggies were delicious and crisp. Dessert was fun as it was served from platters complete with smoking volcanos and brought out with much fanfare from the servers! They called it lava cake but was actually white chocolate mousse shaped like a mini volcano and had either chocolate or raspberry inside. DD-8 didnt like it at all and I was a little disappointed that they had no other option for her. The show itself was very entertaining, although I thought the long lost niece returning home from the mainland storyline was lame and unnecessary. The dancing however, was awesome and all the performers seemed to be having a great time ..in spite of the on & off downpours! We, especially the kids, really enjoyed doing the Luau because it was something so totally different. My 8-year old daughter spent most of the show up next to her seat hula dancing along with the performers (not in anyone elses way, BTW) ..priceless memory! Would I do it again? Probably not .there are still so many other things we have to experience, but Im glad we went to the Luau this time.
Sorry so long, but with all the great information I've gotten from the boards these past few years, I wanted to contribute some myself!
Sammy
