Overall, we had mixed impressions of Disney dining. The PS system did not work as well for us as I expected it would. I knew that they were not âÂÂreservationsâ per se, but I did not anticipate some of the long waits that we had. In some cases, this really through off our game plan.
If I had it to do over again, I would only schedule one sit-down meal per day. Even if money is not an issue, it simply takes too much time. With small kids, a long meal is not the best way for us to relax!
One major dining tip for sit-down restaurants: If you do not plan to order dessert, go ahead and request the check after your main entrée has arrived. This would have saved me a great amount of grief if I had started doing this early on.
HereâÂÂs a list of where we ate, with comments. The restaurants are listed in order of most favorite to least favorite:
Crystal Palace (lunch) - food was great (above expectations â cheese soup was really good), service was good (although it took a while to be seated), and character interaction was good. Very nice looking place for a family meal. A definite repeater for us in the future.
Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner) â we ate here before MVMCP. Very good food and character interaction. Service was excellent (they offered to let me recharge my camcorder battery, etc.). Excellent atmosphere. No negatives. Another repeater.
San Angel Inn (dinner) â Excellent atmosphere (we had a table on the water), good food, and satisfactory service. Long wait for the check on this one (which was a recurring problem). Another repeater.
Chef MickeyâÂÂs (dinner) â Good food, service, and character interaction. Mashed potatoes were really good. It did, however, take a long time to be seated (with PS). WeâÂÂll probably do this one again.
50âÂÂs Prime Time (dinner) â Fried chicken dinner was excellent. However, we had a lousy waitress (grumpy!!), we were already really tired, and (again) a long wait for the check. This will not be a repeat for us.
Sci-Fi Drive-In (lunch) â food and service were fine. But we did not experience anything here that justified the high price tag. Sorry Sci-Fi fans, not a repeat for us.
AlfredoâÂÂs (canâÂÂt remember the fancy name) (dinner) â two huge thumbs down. When I first went into the lobby, I thought âÂÂWow, this place is going to be really nice.â When we went in and were seated, we found it extremely noisy â we could not even talk across the table. The décor, however, was very nice. I ordered a three-pasta- combination. When my food arrived, it was on a huge platter, but there were only three small piles of pasta on it â this for $21??????? Maybe I donâÂÂt have enough class to appreciate a place like this, but it looked to me as though there was about $1.50 worth of pasta on this $21 plate. After that I thought, âÂÂWell, at least the service has been fast, weâÂÂll be able to get out of here early and get a couple more things done â WRONG !!!! It took the next 30 minutes (30 MINUTES !!!!!!) to get the bill paid, and there was nothing unusual about the bill. If you are planning to go here - RECONSIDER (in my opinion).
I know everyoneâÂÂs opinions on restaurants are different, and we did have some really good experiences (especially with the character meals). But I think weâÂÂll put a little less emphasis on sit-down dining next time.
If I had it to do over again, I would only schedule one sit-down meal per day. Even if money is not an issue, it simply takes too much time. With small kids, a long meal is not the best way for us to relax!
One major dining tip for sit-down restaurants: If you do not plan to order dessert, go ahead and request the check after your main entrée has arrived. This would have saved me a great amount of grief if I had started doing this early on.
HereâÂÂs a list of where we ate, with comments. The restaurants are listed in order of most favorite to least favorite:
Crystal Palace (lunch) - food was great (above expectations â cheese soup was really good), service was good (although it took a while to be seated), and character interaction was good. Very nice looking place for a family meal. A definite repeater for us in the future.
Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner) â we ate here before MVMCP. Very good food and character interaction. Service was excellent (they offered to let me recharge my camcorder battery, etc.). Excellent atmosphere. No negatives. Another repeater.
San Angel Inn (dinner) â Excellent atmosphere (we had a table on the water), good food, and satisfactory service. Long wait for the check on this one (which was a recurring problem). Another repeater.
Chef MickeyâÂÂs (dinner) â Good food, service, and character interaction. Mashed potatoes were really good. It did, however, take a long time to be seated (with PS). WeâÂÂll probably do this one again.
50âÂÂs Prime Time (dinner) â Fried chicken dinner was excellent. However, we had a lousy waitress (grumpy!!), we were already really tired, and (again) a long wait for the check. This will not be a repeat for us.
Sci-Fi Drive-In (lunch) â food and service were fine. But we did not experience anything here that justified the high price tag. Sorry Sci-Fi fans, not a repeat for us.
AlfredoâÂÂs (canâÂÂt remember the fancy name) (dinner) â two huge thumbs down. When I first went into the lobby, I thought âÂÂWow, this place is going to be really nice.â When we went in and were seated, we found it extremely noisy â we could not even talk across the table. The décor, however, was very nice. I ordered a three-pasta- combination. When my food arrived, it was on a huge platter, but there were only three small piles of pasta on it â this for $21??????? Maybe I donâÂÂt have enough class to appreciate a place like this, but it looked to me as though there was about $1.50 worth of pasta on this $21 plate. After that I thought, âÂÂWell, at least the service has been fast, weâÂÂll be able to get out of here early and get a couple more things done â WRONG !!!! It took the next 30 minutes (30 MINUTES !!!!!!) to get the bill paid, and there was nothing unusual about the bill. If you are planning to go here - RECONSIDER (in my opinion).
I know everyoneâÂÂs opinions on restaurants are different, and we did have some really good experiences (especially with the character meals). But I think weâÂÂll put a little less emphasis on sit-down dining next time.
Your top 3 will definitely be on our list to try next time.
