My Disney dining discussion

angelmav

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 18, 2006
What started out as an adventurous romp through the world of disney dining became an extremely scaled back budget conscious way of still being able to take the trip! I was threatened with a good ol fashioned lynching if I took any photos of everyones food, so here goes with my descriptions!

We stayed at the Shades of Green and while I realize not everyone can access this, I will break down the restaurants.

Evergreens, fantastic cheese pizza that the kids loved and it was a bargain at $10. They also had a very good dark German beer on tap. their mixed drinks were nothing special though. We tried their hot wings, these were pretty average, I also had a philly cheese steak, again decent but came with no sides and we tried the chicken sandwich, again a basic plain jane sandwich. I did one night have their Key Lime pie which was quite tasty!

Garden Gallery We had breakfast here three times which was a really good deal, they had assorted fruits which I didnt care for as their was some type of sweetener added, also they had make your own waffles which were ok, but the only fruit topping was a way too sweet strawberry concoction. The pastries were not all that great either, wait did I start this off by saying it was a good deal? The bacon, eggs, grits, potatoes were enough to get a good start and it was pretty cheap for breakfast anyway. We ate hear three times and the menu was the same each morning.
For dinner we came on beefeaters night on arrival day, this was a big dissapointment. The prime rib was very fatty, the Italian sausages in peppers were cold, the french onion soup had no cheese to add and tasted very watered down. For dessert I tried there key lime pie and it tasted freezer burned. It was also pretty expensive for dinner as they had raised there prices.
We gave them another shot on international nite, this was better, but not by a large margin, in fact the health inspector made them remove several dishes that werent hot enough to serve, yikes! They did have a lentil soup that I enjoyed, some pretty forgettable main courses, the pasta was nearly ineadible, there was enough to eat but not much that was enjoyable or worth remembering. They did have two fantastic desserts, a boston cream pie and a coconut cream pie and I had extra of both!

The Express cafe we tried one morning here and wish we hadnt, the eggs in our bfast sandwiches were runny and it made the pastry soggy.

There is also a ice cream parlor on the resort, the kids liked their sundaes, I had a root beer float that barely had any soda in it. Overall the ice cream was like any store brand, not bad but certainly not worth going back again for. I wish we had tried manginos so that I would have more nice things to say about our resort dining experiences!

The Electric Umbrella was our lunch of choice in Epcot, more for necessity than anything else. This place was distincly average and I really thought the burgers would be bigger. They did offer a really good fruit cup. The kids meals were pretty well done here and they got good portions. Overall I have to say your probably crazy to eat hear with so much to choose from in the park, but for a quick bite it wasnt bad.

We had Frozen Margaritas in Mexico that werent worth anywhere near their $8.25 price and schoolbread from Norway that was OK, I just didnt care for the custard, tasted too much like butter to me, but the kids devoured it. We also Got Pot Stickers from the lotus blossom that were good but like anything you can get anywhere else.

Sci Fi DiNe Inn, I was really looking forward to this place, and while I enjoyed the movie clips, it wasnt worth it. They do Mix their own cherry cokes which I really enjoyed, however their shakes were a real dissapointment, Give me a Wendys Frosty anyday over these. The kids had mac n cheese and a kids burger, for whatever reason, the kids burger didnt taste anything like the meat in the other burgers and I wound up eating that too so it didnt go to waste. We ordered a side of their onion rings and what a joke that was! $6 for six small Onion Rings that didnt have much flavor, it was actually sorta funny, but again dissapointing. I had the BLT Soup that was really good and quite filling. Overall I would avoid Sci Fi. I have a feeling they dont rotate their clips either so once was enough. The service was good here though.

HollyWood & Vine This was hands down the best meal of the trip! There isnt alot of theming here but we got past that in a hurry. We ate early and I was still feeling that kids burger but managed to stuff myself silly anyway! The peel and eat shrimp was very fresh and delish, my kids devoured the mussels to the point that their now on the endangered species list! The chicken thigh with blackberries was interesting, I enjoyed the seafood polenta, prime rib, spooned cornbread, the crusted salmon though, which was to die for. It was cooked to perfection, moist and the crust was flavorful and balanced perfectly. There were so many stand out dishes here, it was an outstanding buffet. The Dessert bar got high marks for their chocolate truffle, amazing dark chocolate with a fantastic mouse, mmmm, ate a few of these! Also loved there Key Lime Tortes with a small mandarin Orange Topper, I could eat a handful of those right now! The only dissapointments were the rice krispy treat (tasted not very sweet) and the mediterranean chicken, great flavor but too dry. We had excellent service here too and even got coffee to go. I would love to come back to H & V!

We didnt do much snacking at MGM but did have their frozen cokes, lemonaides and the blue vanilla concoction, all very refreshing!

At the Magic Kingdom we ate at El Pirata Y El Perico which was a great value, they have a toppings bar that I made a mammoth and tasty taco salad that got shared about 4 different ways. The Tacos were good too, the only drawback is the kids quesadilla isnt a very big portion so that taco salad came in mighty handy! For a CS this was a good choice! I will say this, the taco bar is in a different room and I saw alot of people that were eating plain tacos so I think a few people didnt know it was there.
I had that elusive dole whip from aloha Isle. It was OK, I love pinnaple so I would get it again, but I wont be dreaming about it until my next trip. We were supposed to dine at Liberty Tree but our party was broken up to five different tables on the ressie here so we passed and ate at the resort instead.

Animal Kingdom was a half day for us and we had lunch at the Flame Tree BBQ. I loved the ribs! Meaty, tender and the sweet and Spicy bbq was very good! The kids wings were excellent and they all raved about them. I didnt care for the cornbread muffin it was a little too moist and sweet, the beans were ok. We also had the half chicken but that was pretty dry and not nearly as good as the ribs. I also got the Key Lime Pie here and wished I hadnt, it tasted like a jello bake in your fridge version and wasnt very good. I would go back for the ribs though!

Well I wish I had more to report, we missed meals at Coral Reef, Boma, Liberty Tree and Donalds Bfastsaurus because of changes in our plans, but we had a great time and that H & V meal was excellent, so if you like buffets, give it a shot!
 
Great reviews!

So glad you enjoyed H&V. There are a billion different reviews of this restaurant, mainly negative. But it's also one of our favorites so I'm glad you liked it.

:)
 


Great reviews!

So glad you enjoyed H&V. There are a billion different reviews of this restaurant, mainly negative. But it's also one of our favorites so I'm glad you liked it.

:)

From our experience, its tough to fathom some of the negative reviews. The food was fabulous. Granted there is a general lack of theming and it is a buffet which is not to everyones taste, but there was plenty here to rave about! I am glad to see there are others that liked it as much as we did!
 
Thanks for your reviews. I have been considering H&V. So, your experiences have helped me with my planning. Sounds delicious!
 



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