Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm - 9 Days of Disney Dining (food report)

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Just read your report - thanks for the wonderful reviews

 

[Crystal_27]

Thank you so much for this--we are planning our first ever Disney trip and several places you reviewed helped me decide on our dining for the week!

Thank you! I really don't think you can go wrong with dining anywhere at Disney - although some meals were certainly better than others, we always left the restaurants feeling stuffed. Please feel free to ask any questions.

I just read in your signature that your doing the DCL Eastern next year, we did that this past January and I have to tell you we all LOVED it!
Your DD will have so much fun with all the activities and kids clubs, DH and I had to beg our girls to have at least a little bit of family time with us as they never wanted to leave their new friends and the kids club! Your all going to have such a wonderful time on DCL, make sure you book Dinner at Palo, the chocolate souffle is heaven!

We actually did the Land/Sea in December, 2007 and were on the Wonder for 3 days, and we were lucky enough to get to dine at Palo while we were onboard. I agree - that souffle was TO DIE FOR!!! I can't wait to eat at Palo again, and I'm hopeful this time that we can also get Palo brunch in addition to dinner. And DD felt the same way as your girls about the Club. I *can't wait* for this cruise (although I am trying to swing a February trip to the parks - LOLOLOLOL). I can't imagine how fabulous 7 days on the Magic is going to be.

Just read your report - thanks for the wonderful reviews

Thank you for reading. It's always nice to know that people are hanging in there with me.

 

[Crystal_27]

All right - I'm actually making an update *as promised* - LOL.

I don't know if any of you all experience this, but we always find that Animal Kingdom is our "hungry park." We always hit the park at rope drop, and by noon we are starving. This year, since it was hotter than the surface of the sun, I expected that we wouldn't be as hungry when we went to Animal Kingdom...I was mistaken. We ate at Pizzafari and used 3 counter service credits and a snack!

We got pizza:

A chicken ceasar salad:

A chicken parmesan sandwich:

AND breadsticks:

I would like to say that we showed some restraint in eating all of this food, but we didn't - - we polished all of it off. I recall that the pizza was gooey and melty and the breadsticks were fabulous! I also recall that the chicken parm sandwich was very tasty but a bit on the dry side. The chicken ceasar salad tasted exactly like those that we had been eating at Captain Cook's so it was fine too. The desserts we got (chocolate cake and frozen lemonade) also hit the spot!

I think the total for the meal would have been about $36.00, but since we knew we had plenty of counter service credits for the remainder of our trip, I didn't mind blowing three credits for this meal.

Also, in reviewing my pictures, I realized that I forgot to upload one of the best snacks that we had during our entire trip: an ice cream sandwich at Main Street Bakery at Magic Kingdom.

This baby was the size of my DD's entire hand and it was so so so so good. We will definitely be getting one (or two) of these in the future.

Well, that's it for now. Stay tuned for pastries in France and Coral Reef.

 

[tinkjess3]

First off your daughter is an absolute doll! Second off can I take you along on my next Disney trip to take all my pictures? They are great!

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

Excellent reviews! You are a great photographer!

 

[wilma-bride]

Thanks for the great reviews and, I have to agree with other posters, your pictures are great.

 

[Crystal_27]

First off your daughter is an absolute doll! Second off can I take you along on my next Disney trip to take all my pictures? They are great!

Excellent reviews! You are a great photographer!

Thanks for the great reviews and, I have to agree with other posters, your pictures are great.

You guys are so sweet for your compliments about my pictures - I'm very passionate about photography and it's always great to hear nice things about my pictures. I'll go off topic for a second and post a couple of my favorite shots I got during the last trip.

In the next post will be my next dining review.

 

[sandym718]

OMG, AWESOME shots!! That one of the castle and the fireworks is Stunning!! I wish I could take photos like that!

 

[Crystal_27]

Given that the temperature was hotter than the surface of the sun, we really debated on whether or not to make the trek to France to sample the pastries. Let me tell you: I'm *so* glad we did. We got the Napolean and the Strawberry Tart, and both were just incredible.

Anyway, after our tiring, hot day at Epcot, we decided to grab a hamburger for us all to split for lunch, so we ordered the one at Captain Cooks. This was really the only lousy, sickening thing that we ate during our entire trip. There was so much grease on the hamburger that the bottom bun was sopping wet with it. Disgusting!!

So, after our uneaten lunch, we were very much looking forward to our dinner at Coral Reef. As a surprise for my family, I had contacted Debbi at the Coral Reef to ask for a personalized menu, and she turned around and surprised me by offering us a diver too. How fabulous, right?

Well, we were treated to the best seats in the house - right next to the tank. Also, DD's personalized menu was so adorable!

We ordered DD a special drink with a glow cube in it and we got some very good bread to munch on before our meal.

DD ordered pizza (which also came with carrot and celery sticks for an appetizer), and DH and I both got the steak.

We were eating our meal with such great anticipation of our diver and kept expecting to see him at any time. We didn't tell DD about the diver but I think she knew something was up because we kept glancing at the tank every few minutes. After dinner, she tells me that she has to go potty, so I took her, but left the camera and strict instructions on its settings for DH just in case the diver came in our absence. When we got back to the table, still no diver but we thought he was going to show up any minute becuase DH said that while DD and I were in the bathroom that our waiter came by and said "oh, you guys had a banner." When we finally saw our waiter again we ordered our desserts (ice cream sundae for DD and the chocolate wave for DH and I) and keep waiting and waiting.

About the time our desserts were arriving, the manager comes by our table and tells us that our waiter neglected to inform the diver which side of the restaurant we were sitting at, so the diver went to the wrong side of the restaurant to show our sign.

Oh, I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I was, but since the diver is a free service offered by the Coral Reef, it's not like I could actually show my disappointment. I just told the manager "that's okay, thanks anyway" and proceeded to eat my chocolate wave, which was like nectar from the Gods.

I guess the one good thing that I can take out of it was that the family on the other side who got our sign must have thought they were granted a "dream" because the sign was very general and said "Hugs and Kisses, Love, Ariel."

I have to tell you guys, though, that our waiter had an attitude about him the entire night, and it was so disheartening that our "once in a lifetime" experience didn't matter enough to him to take one minute and properly direct the diver. Jerk. It's sad, but thankfully DD didn't know what she was missing, and was having a fabulous time playing with her glow cube - LOL.

Total cost with tip (and, yes, we still tipped 18%) was $120.99. We will definitely go back to Coral Reef (despite our disappointment with the diver experience) because the food was so, so good - the steaks were perfectly cooked and were fabulous, and the chocolate wave was *so* incredible.

As always, thanks for reading!

 

[Crystal_27]

OMG, AWESOME shots!! That one of the castle and the fireworks is Stunning!! I wish I could take photos like that!

Oh, believe me, that fireworks picture was 1% skill, and 99% luck. I couldn't believe it when I saw I had captured that one. I got a couple other fireworks shots that were good, but that one knocked my socks off!

 

[f19810]

Your fireworks picture is great. By any chance, do you know what settings your camera was set at?
Judy

 

[Crystal_27]

Your fireworks picture is great. By any chance, do you know what settings your camera was set at?
Judy

Well, my settings were f/2.0; ISO 100; shutter speed 1/50 with a 50mm lens. However, I shoot with an Olympus E-520 which has built-in image stabilization, so I could get away with a lower shutter speed. Also, again since my camera has built-in image stabilization (and since I forgot my tripod at home - LOL) I was hand-holding these shots. Also, since my camera has 5 frames per second, I just would keep the shutter button depressed and let it click-click-click-click. Finally, I shoot in RAW so I was able to bring up the exposure when I needed to. Here are a couple more:

 

[NeverBeen2DW]

OMG, AWESOME shots!! That one of the castle and the fireworks is Stunning!! I wish I could take photos like that!

Amazing shots! That is not a compact hand held type camera right?

 

[BigGreen73]

Oh, believe me, that fireworks picture was 1% skill, and 99% luck. I couldn't believe it when I saw I had captured that one. I got a couple other fireworks shots that were good, but that one knocked my socks off!

I was just wondering about that FW's picture as well. It's a great shot and you pretty much answered my question. Anyway, what kind of camera did you use?

Love this thread so far. A few of the places that you talked about and posted some pics for are ones that we want to try next trip.

 

[Disneyvirg]

Crystal - Thank you for writing this Foodie Report. We're staying at the Poly in June. I was considering most of the places you dined at. Your reviews are very helpful and steering me towards some I was a bit afraid to try based on bad DIS reviews.

Thank you so much! Looking forward to reading the rest of your report.

 

[Sibahan]

Thank you everyone for your warm reception, and thank you SandyM for your compliment about my DD - - she's great fun!!

All righty, I guess I'll dive right in with our first meal at Earl of Sandwich. We drive down to Orlando from Atlanta so it's become a tradition to stay off-site for one night and eat at DTD to get us in the Disney frame of mind. Last year, we ate at Earl of Sandwich for dinner and, because we had such a great meal last year, decided to eat there again.

DH and I both ordered the Original sandwiches (sans the horseradish) and DD ordered the kids Grilled Cheese. We also got 2 bags of chips, a bottled water, and a *$5.00* Michelob Ultra (welcome to Disney, right? ). Total was $27.06.

I hate to say it, but our DD's grilled cheese (which I sampled in the interest of a fair and balanced food report) was the clear winner. It was melty and gooey and fabulous. DH and I both agree that the roast beef in our Originals was stringy and fatty and just tasteless. What a bummer! Also, since we nixed the horseradish, the sandwiches were very dry (looking back, we should have asked for some mayo or something).

Besides the grilled cheese, though, the other positive thing that I noted was that the ordering system seemed much better managed this year.

Will we go back? Probably. The Earl has become our first night tradition, so I would hate it write it off for one (well, two, really) bad sandwiches.

Next up: CRT breakfast

Had to laugh...i tasted the PB&J at Earls, and it was the winner when we went! It was so good, melted PB and gooey Jelly, was just the best!

 

[Crystal_27]

Amazing shots! That is not a compact hand held type camera right?

No, not a compact, a dSLR.

I was just wondering about that FW's picture as well. It's a great shot and you pretty much answered my question. Anyway, what kind of camera did you use?

Love this thread so far. A few of the places that you talked about and posted some pics for are ones that we want to try next trip.

I shoot with an Olympus E-520 and I love, love, love it. Also, I'm glad my food reviews are helpful to you. All in all, we ate very well during our trip.

Crystal - Thank you for writing this Foodie Report. We're staying at the Poly in June. I was considering most of the places you dined at. Your reviews are very helpful and steering me towards some I was a bit afraid to try based on bad DIS reviews.

Thank you so much! Looking forward to reading the rest of your report.

Oh, we loved the Poly. I'm so trying to sneak back in February! Glad my reviews are helping you!!! Thanks for reading.

Had to laugh...i tasted the PB&J at Earls, and it was the winner when we went! It was so good, melted PB and gooey Jelly, was just the best!

Oh, I could totally see the PB&Js being wonderful at EoS!! As a matter of fact, a PB&J sounds really good right now...guess it must be past lunch - LOL.

 

[Donald is #1]

Well, my settings were f/2.0; ISO 100; shutter speed 1/50 with a 50mm lens. However, I shoot with an Olympus E-520 which has built-in image stabilization, so I could get away with a lower shutter speed. Also, again since my camera has built-in image stabilization (and since I forgot my tripod at home - LOL) I was hand-holding these shots. Also, since my camera has 5 frames per second, I just would keep the shutter button depressed and let it click-click-click-click. Finally, I shoot in RAW so I was able to bring up the exposure when I needed to. Here are a couple more:

Great pictures! How much adjusting did you need to do the exposure on your computer?

 

[John's Mom]

Great reviews and pics!

 

[NeverBeen2DW]

No, not a compact, a dSLR.



I shoot with an Olympus E-520 and I love, love, love it. Also, I'm glad my food reviews are helpful to you. All in all, we ate very well during our trip.

is it heavy? I looked it up. Sounds like a great camera.