CathieArms
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2008
- Messages
- 2,010
We had a great trip and really enjoyed the restaurants. Here's what we did and what we thought:
Garden Grill (dinner): Hmmm...food was okay. Character interaction was really good. I wouldn't call it a must-do, but it was a nice and relaxing "introduction" to WDW on your first night. I'm not sure I'd do it again. I think I'd do Chef Mickey's or Crystal Palace the first night if I wanted a character meal that first night.
Biergarten (lunch): FANTASTIC. Of all of my ADRs, this is the one I was least looking forward to, but it would absolutely be a "must do" for our next trip. The food was excellent, the show was really fun, and the service was outstanding. The only thing I'd do different next time is request a table FAR from the stage. We were right in front of the stage and the music was wayyyyyy too loud. Other than that, it was outstanding.
Crystal Palace (breakfast): The food was fantastic, the setting was beautiful, but it was my least favorite for character interaction. Probably because of the way it was set up...We were entirely through with our meal and had to wait before we met any of the characters. BUT, I will say that the characters were fun when we met them. Tigger was soooooooo much fun.
Ohana (dinner): I don't have anything really to say about this restaurant because I missed most of it. DS had to go to the bathroom *4* times, so I spent the entire meal in the bathroom. The food was good, but I will say that the beef was *very* rare. The bread pudding that I've heard so much about absolutely lived up to it's reputation. Yum!
Tutto Italia (lunch): Excellent. Most of us had the lasagna, but dd had the bowtie pasta with ham an peas and that was awesome, too.
Cape May Cafe (breakfast): Excellent. They didn't seem to have as many offerings on the buffet as Crystal Palace, but the atmosphere was relaxed, the food was good, and the character interaction was excellent.
Akershus (dinner): This was a last minute modification, as we had intended to do Whispering Canyon until my 13 year old had a hissy that we weren't doing any character meals for her. LOL! As far as atmosphere and character interaction were concerned, this was my favorite by far. We met Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Ariel and Aurora. For $38 (adult) and a party of six, I ended up with two 8x10 photos and eight 4x6 photos plus our meals. Not a bad deal. We met the princesses, the food was good, and we got photos. I was surprised that my 4 year old ds was wayyyy more excited about the princesses than you'd ever imagine. The only recommendation I would make is to skip the sjikake (sp?). Most of us ordered it and, though it was good, it wasn't what we expected...it was basically sweedish meatballs. It was good, but not what we'd expected.
50s Prime Time (lunch): Good, but overrated. The chocolate shakes were GREAT, but the atmosphere and food was so-so. This is the 2nd time we've done 50s Prime Time, and I do believe we'd skip it next time.
Sci-Fi Dine-In (lunch): The burgers were AWESOME and the atmosphere was really fun. I think - for atmosphere - this was our favorite restaurant.
Teppan Edo (dinner): This was dh's favorite restaurant. The chef was *a lot* of fun, and the food was good...though I didn't feel like they gave us enough noodles. This would be another "must do" for next time.
Overall, we didn't have a bad meal or atmosphere experience. Our "must dos" for next time would be: Biergarten, Sci-Fi, Teppan Edo and probably Akershus. Maybe we'd do Crystal Palace again since the setting is beautiful and it eliminated standing in line for Pooh and friends. I'd probably skip Garden Grill and 50s Prime time.
Garden Grill (dinner): Hmmm...food was okay. Character interaction was really good. I wouldn't call it a must-do, but it was a nice and relaxing "introduction" to WDW on your first night. I'm not sure I'd do it again. I think I'd do Chef Mickey's or Crystal Palace the first night if I wanted a character meal that first night.
Biergarten (lunch): FANTASTIC. Of all of my ADRs, this is the one I was least looking forward to, but it would absolutely be a "must do" for our next trip. The food was excellent, the show was really fun, and the service was outstanding. The only thing I'd do different next time is request a table FAR from the stage. We were right in front of the stage and the music was wayyyyyy too loud. Other than that, it was outstanding.
Crystal Palace (breakfast): The food was fantastic, the setting was beautiful, but it was my least favorite for character interaction. Probably because of the way it was set up...We were entirely through with our meal and had to wait before we met any of the characters. BUT, I will say that the characters were fun when we met them. Tigger was soooooooo much fun.
Ohana (dinner): I don't have anything really to say about this restaurant because I missed most of it. DS had to go to the bathroom *4* times, so I spent the entire meal in the bathroom. The food was good, but I will say that the beef was *very* rare. The bread pudding that I've heard so much about absolutely lived up to it's reputation. Yum!
Tutto Italia (lunch): Excellent. Most of us had the lasagna, but dd had the bowtie pasta with ham an peas and that was awesome, too.
Cape May Cafe (breakfast): Excellent. They didn't seem to have as many offerings on the buffet as Crystal Palace, but the atmosphere was relaxed, the food was good, and the character interaction was excellent.
Akershus (dinner): This was a last minute modification, as we had intended to do Whispering Canyon until my 13 year old had a hissy that we weren't doing any character meals for her. LOL! As far as atmosphere and character interaction were concerned, this was my favorite by far. We met Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Ariel and Aurora. For $38 (adult) and a party of six, I ended up with two 8x10 photos and eight 4x6 photos plus our meals. Not a bad deal. We met the princesses, the food was good, and we got photos. I was surprised that my 4 year old ds was wayyyy more excited about the princesses than you'd ever imagine. The only recommendation I would make is to skip the sjikake (sp?). Most of us ordered it and, though it was good, it wasn't what we expected...it was basically sweedish meatballs. It was good, but not what we'd expected.
50s Prime Time (lunch): Good, but overrated. The chocolate shakes were GREAT, but the atmosphere and food was so-so. This is the 2nd time we've done 50s Prime Time, and I do believe we'd skip it next time.
Sci-Fi Dine-In (lunch): The burgers were AWESOME and the atmosphere was really fun. I think - for atmosphere - this was our favorite restaurant.
Teppan Edo (dinner): This was dh's favorite restaurant. The chef was *a lot* of fun, and the food was good...though I didn't feel like they gave us enough noodles. This would be another "must do" for next time.
Overall, we didn't have a bad meal or atmosphere experience. Our "must dos" for next time would be: Biergarten, Sci-Fi, Teppan Edo and probably Akershus. Maybe we'd do Crystal Palace again since the setting is beautiful and it eliminated standing in line for Pooh and friends. I'd probably skip Garden Grill and 50s Prime time.
kids !! thanks anyway x
