hurleysweety
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2008
Alright, ESPN Zone review.
About a month before our trip I signed up for the MVP club online. About a week before our trip I got the plastic card in the mail. It had a sticker on it to show that we should take it "to our nearest ESPN Zone to receive 40 points in the Sports Arena..." I also got to make reservations online which are actually PS. It guarantees that we will be seated at the next available table. How cool is that? It is a definite must have if you plan on going here.
We walked slowly and took our time to get to the restaurant. We took in the sites and sounds of DTD, since it was only 5:50 and our reservations were at 6:00. When we arrived, the line was practically out the door. Uh oh...but both DH and I were surprisingly calm and not frustrated, so rare in this kind of situation. About 5 minutes later, a man was going through the line to ask people what they were there for - to eat, to have drinks, to watch the game...I was so happy that I had reservations as many disappointed customers were turned away since they were told that the Screening Room was at capacity and was on a stand-by wait. This meant that for every one person that left the screening room, one person could come in. It also meant that many people were a little ticked off, since who would leave a game in the middle of it? So pretty much, those people with us in line who wanted to watch the game were a little out of luck.
When it was finally our turn we gave the lady the card. She didn't even pick it up or look at it or anything. She just gave us a pager. She was not in a good mood. We sat down on a bench and were the next people called, after a large group. We were seated at a 4 top table in the Studio Grill area and our server came promptly. I noticed that our ticket said, "MVP" on it, but we didn't recieve anything special for it. When I made the reservation, I was also asked what game we would like to watch so I got to explain it was DH's birthday and a specific baseball game that he wanted to watch. Both of these things were completely ignored and they wouldn't let us change any of the tv's around us to the baseball game. Only one tv had it on and it was behind DH. I understand that the Lakers game was the most popular to watch - but why couldn't they change just one?
I took a couple pictures of where we were seated.
Also I made a little map from the ESPN zone's picture on their site to explain where everything is located:
I already knew what I wanted since I had perused the allears.net menu for so long. DH and I were the most excited about the free wi-fi that we had discovered while waiting in line. We were both trying to get it to work right so we could do some quick email checks and surf a couple sites on DH's ipod touch. Definitely made us wish we had an iPhone at this moment! Watch out, the internet will keep resetting itself if you access it there. If you switch to a new browser or tab, you have to accept the terms and conditions again and it resets everything
. I posted that disboard post after trying about 6 times and trying to type it about 4 times. Oh man did it make me a little grumpy. Anyway, we soon ordered and I decided against a drink since my stomach was a little bit iffy. But I took some pictures for those interested...
Our food arrived rather promptly. Because we didn't order any alcohol, I felt the waitress would much rather pay attention to other tables.
DH had a burger with a side salad. He enjoyed it, but it took the server almost 10 minutes to get him mustard - eight minutes to get her attention and 2 minutes to bring it to the table. DH was not happy and had eaten the entire salad by the time he had mustard. Also, once again, our server really didn't care to take care of our table. The family next to us had a dad who continually was ordering cocktail after cocktail. She always made sure he had a new one...
And I had the southwestern salad. It was pretty good. The chicken had great flavor and tasted like it should. I did, however, feel like it was made in a large batch and that many other entrees on the menu that included grilled chicken came from this large batch. I would have preferred something a little more unique to the southwest flavor as indicated in the salad. The chicken was the best part of the dish though.The pasta overtook the lettuce way too much. And the corn salsa got old fast. If I got it again, I would get the corn salsa on the side. Also, the vinaigrette that it comes with, I would also get that on the side.
We didn't get desert since DH was stuffed after burger, salad, and turkey leg 2 hours earlier. We planned to maybe have dessert in the park later if need be.
All in all, service was bad - but it was a big game night, so I'm sure that added to it. It seems like a family friendly place, but there were definitely some foul mouths in there that I would not want kids around. A lot of families that had kids in there, the kids seemed bored and tired (maybe it was just me??) and the parents seemed to be happy to be there. There was also a large group with a bride and groom that seemed to be having a great time too. I think this place would be much better at lunch when it was quieter and we didn't feel rushed to leave our table so more people could come in. DH was happy and liked being there for his birthday, but even easy-to-please-if-it-comes-with-sports DH said, "I need to take you to the one in Denver, it is sooo much better."
About a month before our trip I signed up for the MVP club online. About a week before our trip I got the plastic card in the mail. It had a sticker on it to show that we should take it "to our nearest ESPN Zone to receive 40 points in the Sports Arena..." I also got to make reservations online which are actually PS. It guarantees that we will be seated at the next available table. How cool is that? It is a definite must have if you plan on going here.
We walked slowly and took our time to get to the restaurant. We took in the sites and sounds of DTD, since it was only 5:50 and our reservations were at 6:00. When we arrived, the line was practically out the door. Uh oh...but both DH and I were surprisingly calm and not frustrated, so rare in this kind of situation. About 5 minutes later, a man was going through the line to ask people what they were there for - to eat, to have drinks, to watch the game...I was so happy that I had reservations as many disappointed customers were turned away since they were told that the Screening Room was at capacity and was on a stand-by wait. This meant that for every one person that left the screening room, one person could come in. It also meant that many people were a little ticked off, since who would leave a game in the middle of it? So pretty much, those people with us in line who wanted to watch the game were a little out of luck.
When it was finally our turn we gave the lady the card. She didn't even pick it up or look at it or anything. She just gave us a pager. She was not in a good mood. We sat down on a bench and were the next people called, after a large group. We were seated at a 4 top table in the Studio Grill area and our server came promptly. I noticed that our ticket said, "MVP" on it, but we didn't recieve anything special for it. When I made the reservation, I was also asked what game we would like to watch so I got to explain it was DH's birthday and a specific baseball game that he wanted to watch. Both of these things were completely ignored and they wouldn't let us change any of the tv's around us to the baseball game. Only one tv had it on and it was behind DH. I understand that the Lakers game was the most popular to watch - but why couldn't they change just one?
I took a couple pictures of where we were seated.
Also I made a little map from the ESPN zone's picture on their site to explain where everything is located:
I already knew what I wanted since I had perused the allears.net menu for so long. DH and I were the most excited about the free wi-fi that we had discovered while waiting in line. We were both trying to get it to work right so we could do some quick email checks and surf a couple sites on DH's ipod touch. Definitely made us wish we had an iPhone at this moment! Watch out, the internet will keep resetting itself if you access it there. If you switch to a new browser or tab, you have to accept the terms and conditions again and it resets everything
. I posted that disboard post after trying about 6 times and trying to type it about 4 times. Oh man did it make me a little grumpy. Anyway, we soon ordered and I decided against a drink since my stomach was a little bit iffy. But I took some pictures for those interested...
Our food arrived rather promptly. Because we didn't order any alcohol, I felt the waitress would much rather pay attention to other tables.
DH had a burger with a side salad. He enjoyed it, but it took the server almost 10 minutes to get him mustard - eight minutes to get her attention and 2 minutes to bring it to the table. DH was not happy and had eaten the entire salad by the time he had mustard. Also, once again, our server really didn't care to take care of our table. The family next to us had a dad who continually was ordering cocktail after cocktail. She always made sure he had a new one...
And I had the southwestern salad. It was pretty good. The chicken had great flavor and tasted like it should. I did, however, feel like it was made in a large batch and that many other entrees on the menu that included grilled chicken came from this large batch. I would have preferred something a little more unique to the southwest flavor as indicated in the salad. The chicken was the best part of the dish though.The pasta overtook the lettuce way too much. And the corn salsa got old fast. If I got it again, I would get the corn salsa on the side. Also, the vinaigrette that it comes with, I would also get that on the side.
We didn't get desert since DH was stuffed after burger, salad, and turkey leg 2 hours earlier. We planned to maybe have dessert in the park later if need be.
All in all, service was bad - but it was a big game night, so I'm sure that added to it. It seems like a family friendly place, but there were definitely some foul mouths in there that I would not want kids around. A lot of families that had kids in there, the kids seemed bored and tired (maybe it was just me??) and the parents seemed to be happy to be there. There was also a large group with a bride and groom that seemed to be having a great time too. I think this place would be much better at lunch when it was quieter and we didn't feel rushed to leave our table so more people could come in. DH was happy and liked being there for his birthday, but even easy-to-please-if-it-comes-with-sports DH said, "I need to take you to the one in Denver, it is sooo much better."
Although, playoff games are more exciting than regular season to me, so I'll actually tolerate watching them, even if I don't follow that particular team.
So why are we taking them to Disney? Well it was their idea and all they've talked about for the past 8 months and EVERY time we're on the phone. So I really REALLY hope they have a wonderful time and that DH and I just have fun being there and aren't so concerned with go-go-go and rides. We might need some extra pixie dust!!!
But we will be staying with ILs with no cost to us, for the rest of the week. Basically, May 30th is our day to do whatever WE want, even though our actual anniversary is May 31st. 
The only other must on this day is Aladdin since its the only time its playing while we're there. Stupid budget cuts... 
So he immedietly joined me on the bandwagon to convince his parents that I could priceline a really nice hotel for us. DMIL, bless her heart, wanted to go ahead and do priceline herself, but I was afraid she would bid to high, or not understand what she was doing - so I polietley offered and gave a couple good reasons why I should. DFIL was thrilled that for two rooms plus taxes would only cost him $100 on his CC. I'm glad to make them happy!
But yes, people get soooo nutty about sports. Mostly hockey around here! 
, and now this time, I'll know for sure!)
