3mousehouse
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2006
- Messages
- 109
We had a great stay at WL for spring break in a deluxe room for 5 of us (Me, DH, DS 9 
, DD 7 
and DD 4 ). We were on the dining plan and I tried to do as much research as possible before we went to get my ADRs (thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who helped me out 
). I want to return the favor and post some reviews from our trip.
First, let me say we saved over $400 using the DDP!
I think a lot of it was the desserts. We normally would not eat any dessert at lunch and probably only split 1 or 2 desserts at dinner. But I will say it was fun trying all the desserts (hey, we're on vacation)! Now for my reviews.
Day 1: Dinner at Whispering Canyon (TS) - Great 1st night choice and convenient since we were staying there. I had the pork chop which was OK. My DH and DS had the BBQ Canyon skillet which was awesome. I highly recommend it. The girls had chicken fingers (as usual) but they were very good. The antics are worth it alone and get you in a WDW mood. They had "horse track races" with wooden horses for the kids. Definetly must ask for ketchup and straws or extra napkins. We had a great CM which helped create a memorable first nights. All the desserts were yummy too (the best was the Banana Dust Bowl and I don't even like bananas).
Grade: B+
Day 2: Lunch at Cosmic Rays (CS) - I had a chicken caesar salad which was very fresh but had too much dressing (should have asked for it on the side). DH had a very solid turkey wrap which he enjoyed. DS had a burger and DDs again, had chicken fingers. All the kids meals were adequate. They did not have burgers as a kids meal so we were worried we wouldn't be able to use our DS's child CS credit, but there was no problems. The carrot cake was the yummiest dessert. Sugar free brownie was no fun. Chocolate cake was OK (and I am a chocoholic).
Grade: C+
Dinner at Chef Mickeys (TS) - I could only get a 5:10 reservation and thought it would be too early but it was a great time. We were one of the 1st ones seated. The food on the buffet was better than I thought it would be for dinner(except the salmon which was way dried out - didn't care for it) Dh liked the turkey and fixins - it was like Thanksgiving. There was a lot of choices for the kids too (pizza, mac and cheese and thank heavens, chicken fingers). The dessert bar will be the highlight for your kids (and some adults). It had soft serve ice cream with every and any topping you could think of (M&Ms, gummies, sprinkles, oreos, these small little minty kisses, and many more goodies that I can't remember). All the desserts were good. We had a picture taken before the dinner that we did get (it's a tradition). Wonderful character interaction (and one of the best ratios of characters to guests from some of my research). The kids got lots of autographs and I got lots of great pictures.
Grade: B
Day 3: Lunch at Sunshine Seasons at Epcot (CS) - One of our favorites because there is something for everyone (well, OK no chicken fingers). The girls made do with a ham and cheese sandwich and I had an asian grilled tuna salad. DH had a pretty good turkey muffaltetta and we also had a couple of soups which were tasty. For dessert, apple flan, a chocolate mouse cake and some cookies and a worms in dirt pudding. None of them were outstanding but we were stuffed.
Grade: B
Dinner at Le Cellier (TS) - my favorite of the week! Another 5:10 reservation but it worked out great. Had plenty of time to get a good spot after for Illuminations. The kids all got adult appetizers because there were no kids ones. Of course the girls just wanted their chicken fingers so we ordered appetizers for "them". We really could of just eaten the appetizers and been fine! The beer cheese soup is really good (my son even ate his own). I had a great shrimp appetizer. Our favorite was the cheese appetizer which had 3 awesome cheeses with a unique presentation. We also enjyed the tomato stack which had really fresh tomatoes. For dinner, DH had the New York strip which was excellent. I had the mushroom filet which was awesome. My son had the hot dog which was served in there pretzel bread. Oh yeah, pretzel bread.... as good as they say! For dessert, Maple cream brulee, chocolate Moose for the girls and a Smore for DS and a chocolate dessert too.
Grade: A
Day 4: Lunch at Tusker House (CS): I was really looking forward to this after reading the reviews but I just thought it was OK. Solid, but nothing to write home about. I had a chicken salad which was pretty good. My DH had a fried chicken sandwich which he enjoyed. My girls survived another chicken finger-free meal and had mac and cheese which the did eat. My son wanted to try the rotisserie chicken but he didn't like it so I had to order him a mac and cheese. I just had to try the rotisserie chicken after reading some of the reviews and I found it to be about as good as at our local Publix but a little bit drier. Maybe just an off day. Had cheesecake, chocolate cake and carrot cake for dessert. The carrot cake made it worth the trip alone. Yummy!
Grade: B
Dinner at Mama Melrose for Fantasmic package (TS): We did get the special Fanatasmic dinner menu but it had plenty of choices. The food here was very good but the service unbelievably slow. We had a 4:30 reservation and were about 20 minutes late. Maybe that had something to do with it. We had friends of ours that had reservations at around the same time and I will say their waiter went out of his way to get us tables next to each other even though he knew we'd be late. Our friends had him before as their waiter and said he was the man to make things happen. Have to agree, he even helped us with our intolerably slow service and even got my friends Fantasmic package tickets even though they weren't signed up for the package (yes, he got a great tip). His name is Kevin so ask for him if you go. Anyway, you get an OK salad, flatbread pizza (we got chicken) which was really good. I had Italtian sausage pasta and my DH had Penne alla Vodka which was better. Dessert - I was disappointed with the coffee Tarufo (too cruchy and bitter). The gelatos were good and the chocolate truffle cake was pretty good.
Grade: B (would have been B+ if the service was better)
Ooops, out of room! I'll continue Days 5 and 6 on another post. Thanks for reading!
, DD 7 and DD 4 ). We were on the dining plan and I tried to do as much research as possible before we went to get my ADRs (thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who helped me out ). I want to return the favor and post some reviews from our trip.First, let me say we saved over $400 using the DDP!
I think a lot of it was the desserts. We normally would not eat any dessert at lunch and probably only split 1 or 2 desserts at dinner. But I will say it was fun trying all the desserts (hey, we're on vacation)! Now for my reviews.Day 1: Dinner at Whispering Canyon (TS) - Great 1st night choice and convenient since we were staying there. I had the pork chop which was OK. My DH and DS had the BBQ Canyon skillet which was awesome. I highly recommend it. The girls had chicken fingers (as usual) but they were very good. The antics are worth it alone and get you in a WDW mood. They had "horse track races" with wooden horses for the kids. Definetly must ask for ketchup and straws or extra napkins. We had a great CM which helped create a memorable first nights. All the desserts were yummy too (the best was the Banana Dust Bowl and I don't even like bananas).
Grade: B+
Day 2: Lunch at Cosmic Rays (CS) - I had a chicken caesar salad which was very fresh but had too much dressing (should have asked for it on the side). DH had a very solid turkey wrap which he enjoyed. DS had a burger and DDs again, had chicken fingers. All the kids meals were adequate. They did not have burgers as a kids meal so we were worried we wouldn't be able to use our DS's child CS credit, but there was no problems. The carrot cake was the yummiest dessert. Sugar free brownie was no fun. Chocolate cake was OK (and I am a chocoholic).
Grade: C+
Dinner at Chef Mickeys (TS) - I could only get a 5:10 reservation and thought it would be too early but it was a great time. We were one of the 1st ones seated. The food on the buffet was better than I thought it would be for dinner(except the salmon which was way dried out - didn't care for it) Dh liked the turkey and fixins - it was like Thanksgiving. There was a lot of choices for the kids too (pizza, mac and cheese and thank heavens, chicken fingers). The dessert bar will be the highlight for your kids (and some adults). It had soft serve ice cream with every and any topping you could think of (M&Ms, gummies, sprinkles, oreos, these small little minty kisses, and many more goodies that I can't remember). All the desserts were good. We had a picture taken before the dinner that we did get (it's a tradition). Wonderful character interaction (and one of the best ratios of characters to guests from some of my research). The kids got lots of autographs and I got lots of great pictures.
Grade: B
Day 3: Lunch at Sunshine Seasons at Epcot (CS) - One of our favorites because there is something for everyone (well, OK no chicken fingers). The girls made do with a ham and cheese sandwich and I had an asian grilled tuna salad. DH had a pretty good turkey muffaltetta and we also had a couple of soups which were tasty. For dessert, apple flan, a chocolate mouse cake and some cookies and a worms in dirt pudding. None of them were outstanding but we were stuffed.
Grade: B
Dinner at Le Cellier (TS) - my favorite of the week! Another 5:10 reservation but it worked out great. Had plenty of time to get a good spot after for Illuminations. The kids all got adult appetizers because there were no kids ones. Of course the girls just wanted their chicken fingers so we ordered appetizers for "them". We really could of just eaten the appetizers and been fine! The beer cheese soup is really good (my son even ate his own). I had a great shrimp appetizer. Our favorite was the cheese appetizer which had 3 awesome cheeses with a unique presentation. We also enjyed the tomato stack which had really fresh tomatoes. For dinner, DH had the New York strip which was excellent. I had the mushroom filet which was awesome. My son had the hot dog which was served in there pretzel bread. Oh yeah, pretzel bread.... as good as they say! For dessert, Maple cream brulee, chocolate Moose for the girls and a Smore for DS and a chocolate dessert too.
Grade: A
Day 4: Lunch at Tusker House (CS): I was really looking forward to this after reading the reviews but I just thought it was OK. Solid, but nothing to write home about. I had a chicken salad which was pretty good. My DH had a fried chicken sandwich which he enjoyed. My girls survived another chicken finger-free meal and had mac and cheese which the did eat. My son wanted to try the rotisserie chicken but he didn't like it so I had to order him a mac and cheese. I just had to try the rotisserie chicken after reading some of the reviews and I found it to be about as good as at our local Publix but a little bit drier. Maybe just an off day. Had cheesecake, chocolate cake and carrot cake for dessert. The carrot cake made it worth the trip alone. Yummy!
Grade: B
Dinner at Mama Melrose for Fantasmic package (TS): We did get the special Fanatasmic dinner menu but it had plenty of choices. The food here was very good but the service unbelievably slow. We had a 4:30 reservation and were about 20 minutes late. Maybe that had something to do with it. We had friends of ours that had reservations at around the same time and I will say their waiter went out of his way to get us tables next to each other even though he knew we'd be late. Our friends had him before as their waiter and said he was the man to make things happen. Have to agree, he even helped us with our intolerably slow service and even got my friends Fantasmic package tickets even though they weren't signed up for the package (yes, he got a great tip). His name is Kevin so ask for him if you go. Anyway, you get an OK salad, flatbread pizza (we got chicken) which was really good. I had Italtian sausage pasta and my DH had Penne alla Vodka which was better. Dessert - I was disappointed with the coffee Tarufo (too cruchy and bitter). The gelatos were good and the chocolate truffle cake was pretty good.
Grade: B (would have been B+ if the service was better)
Ooops, out of room! I'll continue Days 5 and 6 on another post. Thanks for reading!
