No Catchy Title, No Yummy Pics, Just What We Thought of Where We Ate!!

[SuzieN]

Hi All!

We just returned Wednesday [2/13] from a week at WDW on the DDP! We are:

Me 37 - not very adventurous but not too picky either
DH 42 - he eats just about anything
DS 11 - skinny as a rail but he loves to eat....a lot
DS 9 - skinnier than a rail but sometimes he can really pack it in
DD 5 - a real carnivore - doesn't eat much that isn't meat - I like to say that she is on the Atkin's diet!
DM 62 - really loved the DDP!

Ok, so you'll probably notice that we didn't eat anywhere that is very exotic. I chose most of our ADR's based on their kids' menus. I'm such a good mommy!

Here's where we ate:

TS:
Raglan Road
Biergarten
Crystal Palace
Sci-Fi
Tusker House
50's Prime Time
The Plaza
Akershus Princess Sorybook Breakfast -OOP

CS:
POFQ Foodcourt - twice
Cantina De San Angel
Columbia Harbour House
Toy Story Pizza Planet
Earl of Sandwich
Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe

Shall we begin?!

Day 1:

We flew in to Orlando International Airport from Buffalo on a very early flight.
By the time we changed flights in Atlanta, caught the Magical Express, and checked into POFQ we were starving so we headed straight for the foodcourt.
Here's what we ate:

Me - cheesesteak sandwick, fries, and beignets - the cheesesteak was very good, fries were fries - they're [almost] always good! To be honest I don't see what all the fuss is about the beignets. They were ok but nothing I'd go out of my way to have again.

DH - chicken club wrap, chips, and berry cheesecake - he was dissappointed that the wrap was not bigger, but he enjoyed it, the chips were homemade - he didn't comment on them, and the cheesecake was fine but nothing special.

DS11 - chicken quesadilla, chips, and cheesecake - he really enjoyed the quesadilla and even shared it with his younger brother who really enjoyed it! He also didn't comment on the chips but seemed to really like his cheesecake.

DS9 - kids meal chicken nuggets, fries, and carrots - 4 chicken nuggets for a 9-year old - c'mon!! Something really needs to be done about the skimpy kids meals. They are fine for little ones but he probably could have eaten 10 nuggets - it's a good thing his big bro shared his quesadilla! He did eat everything and seem to enjoy it though.

DD - kids meal chicken nuggets, fries, and a chocolate chip cookie - she ate some of everything - you'll see that she rarely ate too uch

DM - seeing as how it was Ash Wednesday and my mom is a good Catholic, she ordered the veggie sandwich which came with the homemade chips, and beignets for dessert. She said the veggie sandwich was disgusting! She really liked the chips and, like me, thought the beignets were just ok.

On to the table service:

We had a 6pm ADR for Raglan Road but they seated us immediately when we stopped in at about 5:15. We thought the interior of the restaurant was really nice and enjoyed listening to U2 and The Cranberries while we ate! Here's what we had:

Me - fish & chips and Ger's Bread & Butter Pudding for dessert - the fish was ok, we have better fish frys here in Western NY every Friday night, the chips [ french fries] were very good, the bread pudding.....O...M...G!!!! I am sooo glad I read about it here on the DIS or I probably would not have tried it! It was, hands down, the BEST dessert of the entire trip and worth a trip to Raglan Road just for it!!!

DH - Serious Sirloin Steak and the Creme Brulee Tart - he loved his steak, I think it was his favorite meal of the trip. The creme brulee looked like a piece of cheesecake but he really enjoyed this as well!

DS11 - he didn't see anything he wanted to try on the adult menu so he ordered the fried shrimp [which he had never eaten before] off the kids menu with salad as his side and the chocolate triple shot dessert. He loved the shrimp, which he shared with his brother, come to think of it he also shared his dessert with his brother - if you didn't know better you'd think they like each other, the triple shot had a milk chocolate shake - that's the 1 he gave away, a white chocolate mousse, he liked that, and I think it must have been a dark chocolate mousse too, he did not like that - it was very bitter!

DS9 - kids menu golden chicken - which he shared with his brother , salad as his side, and he skipped ordering dessert for himself. Like his big bro, he really enjoyed the shrimp, and the chicken too!

DD - kids menu golden chicken and fries, no dessert - she didn't eat much of anything, at this point she was REALLY cranky as she's been up since 3:20am!!

DM - fish & chips and Ger's Bread & Butter Pudding - Like me, she thought the fish was just ok but the Bread & butter pudding was fabulous!

Sooo.....Raglan Road definitely gets 2 thumbs waaay up from our family!!!!

 

[SuzieN]

On to day 2!!

Today was an Epcot day so our dining options were great! I wanted to try the Tangierine Cafe but I was outvoted by everyone else - they wanted Mexican, so it was off to the Cantina de San Angel where all 4 adults got the same thing:

The Plato Combinacion - this was very yummy and enjoyed by all of us!

The 2 kids both got the only thing on the menu for them:

The Plato Del Nino - they both really liked this, my DD was kinda having a fit because she'd never tried a chicken & cheese quesadilla before and was sure she wouldn't like it. Fortunately she was hungry enough to taste it because she loved it and devoured the whole thing!

We all had churros for dessert......mmmm......yummy, chewy, cinnamony goodness!

I think this place gets a bad rap because maybe it's not authentic enough for some, but hey, I like Taco Bell so it's A-OK by me!!

We had an ADR at the Biergarten for dinner at 7:00 that night. My DS9 is a total WWII buff so he was super excited to eat in a German restaurant!!
We tried just about everything on the buffet and it was all pretty good. My 2 younger ones didn't eat very well but I guess they were still full from lunch because there were plenty of things they would normally eat here. The rest of us stuffed ourselves! My personal favorites were everything on the dessert table! We all really enjoyed the oompah band too!

Biergarten also gets the thumbs up from us!


Oh yeah, before I forget, I also had a Peach Oolong Tea Schnapps Slush at the Joy of Tea stand in China that was very tasty!

 

[pperfectmom]

Thanks for your reviews. Raglan Road is definately on my must do list for the next trip. I've wondered about the size of the kid's meals as well. My DD and DS almost always finish their kid's meal and she is only 4 and he is 3.

 

[angelmav]

Loving the reviews, cant wait for more!

 

[SuzieN]

Thanks!

Let's do Day 3:

This was a very crowded day in the Magic Kingdom. Considering that it was the 1st Friday in Lent I chose the Columbia Harbour House for lunch so my mom could get something fishy! Here's what we ate:

Me - the Captain's Special, which is fried fish and chicken strips - I had fries with mine and chocolate cake for dessert. It was all very tasty - I actually liked the fish better than Raglan Roads!

DH - BLT salad and apple crisp for dessert which I'm pretty sure he traded to my younger DS for his cookie - he really liked the salad

DS11 - chicken strips, fries, and a chocolate chip cookie from the kids menu - he loves chicken strips, unfortunately, he doused them good with Tabasco sauce and couldn't eat too much because they were too hot! He loves frank's red Hot Sauce - guess they don't taste the same!

DS9 - kids grilled chicken salad with fries and carrots as his sides, he enjoyed this as well as 1 of my chicken strips and his dad's apple crisp!

DD - kids grilled chicken salad with fries and a cookie - she picked at it like she did with just about everything. I have to say that she does like salad, even though it's vegetables!

DM - 1/2 tuna sandwich with a bowl of clam chowder and apple crisp - this was her favorite CS meal of the trip - she raved about how good the sandwich was, which I told her about because I'd read so much about it here on the DIS!!

We all really enjoyed this lunch. We ate upstairs and it was very peaceful!

For dinner we had a 6:55 ADR at the Crystal Palace. It was a nightmare trying to get there as people were lining up for Spectro Magic. If DD wasn't in a stroller it would have been much easier to get through the crowds. We ened up being about 15 minutes late but they were able to get us right in.

My favorite things here were the pasta that has bacon and mushrooms [which I picked out] in it, the Mediterranean pasta salad, the kids chicken nuggets, and, of course, just about everything on the dessert table! Everyone really enjoyed this meal and definitely ate enough to get our $$ worth! The characters were great too, they came around twice while we were there!

I have eaten at Crystal Palace every single time I have gone to WDW since I was a kid in the 80's. The food is much better now but even if it wasn't this place is a tradition for us!


Oh yeah....musn't forget that me and DH had my favorite snack in all of WDW while we were in MK - PINEAPPLE FLOATS!!!! Sooooo good!

 

[augusta]

Nice to read your reviews. I agree with your DM and the tuna sandwich and chowder. One of my favorites.

 

[TigerKat]

Enjoying your reviews. I also love the tuna sandwich at CHH!

 

[SuzieN]

Day 4:

On to Disney's Hollywood Studios [MGM was so much easier to say]! The park was seriously overrun with cheerleaders last weekend!

lunch was at Toy Story Pizza Planet - they have no kid's menu - yay!

We ordered:

4 Woody's Meal Deals - pepperoni pizza and side salad - everyone ate it and enjoyed it

1 Buzz's Meal Deal - cheese pizza and side salad - this was mine and I enjoyed it very much

1 Junkyard Meal Deal - veggie pizza and side salad - anyone else think it's funny that the VEGGIE pizza is called JUNKyard!!! - My mom liked this as well

For desserts we had rice krispy [DH & I], apple slices [DM & DS9], a cookie[DD], and chips [DS11 - strange dessert, huh]. Of course we couldn't get out of there without dropping a bundle on video games!

Our dinner that night was at the Sci - Fi Dine In. I know this place gets really mixed reviews but we all really liked it! We had:

Me - chocolate shake, reuben, fries, and cheesecake - I thought everything was awesome! The only thing that would have made it better, to me, is if the rye bread was unseeded.

DH - oreo shake, reuben, fries, and the apple crisp tart with vanilla ice cream - he loved his entire meal!

DS11 - ribs, fries, and a mint sundae - he LOVED these ribs!! He couldn't take more than a few bites of anything else because he devoured the ribs and was too full!

DS9 - kid's pizza, tomato soup, and an ice cream sundae - he inhaled the pizza but didn't care for the soup - must not be Campbell's! He and his dad are both ice cream fiends so he ate this right up as well.

DD - hot dog, fries, tomato soup, no dessert - she really didn't eat anything here but she behaved well so I didn't push it

DM - chocolate shake, reuben, fries, and the apple crisp tart with ice cream - she loved everything and didn't leave so much as a crumb on her plate!

This place was a winner with our family and we would definitely eat here again!

 

[SuzieN]

Day 5:

Animal Kingdom - this park was also really crowded - I thought I picked a slow time of year!

We had lunch at the Tusker House. The check -in area was , as others have said, not very well organized. It would have been a lot better if they didn't have the loud drumming and dancing right there so people could hear when they were called.

We all really enjoyed this buffet! The Jungle Juice is awesome - make sure you try it if you go there! Some things that we really liked were:

the rotisserie chicken, the roast pork, jollaf rice, orzo pasta, corn dog nuggets [DS11], samasasa [DH was the only 1 who liked these],tomato and cucumber salad, and everything on the dessert table!

My picky eater - DD- ate more here than anywhere else so this place also gets 2 thumbs up from us!

We headed to DTD for a CS dinner that night. We were hoping to try Wolfgang Puck Express but it was closed so we ended up at Earl of Sandwich. OK - I know a lot of you guys like this place but this was definitely our worst meal of the trip. The lines were horrendous and the staff seemed confused about what we got on the DDP, which confused us too! Here's what we got:

Me - Cannonballs sandwich and salt and vinegar chips - teh sandwich was waaaay too salty and I didn't like it at all - in fact, I didn't even eat 1/2 of it.

DH - The Original 1762 and jalopeno chips - I guess he liked it, he ate it anyway but didn't comment on it

DS11 - Cannonballs [forgot to mention, in case you don't know, that this is a meatball sandwich] and jalopeno chips - he didn't like this either

DS9 - he was really grumpy and wouldn't order anything so we ordered the turkey and swiss off the kid's menu for him with a bag of BBQ chips - he fell asleep at the table so this came back to the resort with us

DD - turkey and swiss and a brownie - I was really surprised by this sandwich, I was expecting something kid-sized but it was the same size as the adult sanwiches. It was warm with only turkey and cheese on it - no lettuce, tomato, or dressing. She didn't like it but I did and ate 1/2 of it to make up for the yucky meatball sandwich I had

DM - The Earl's Club and a bag of Baked Lay's which actually came home with us - she liked the sandwich

We all agreed that this place was not worth the hassle to do it again!

 

[my3disneygirls]

Thanks!

 

[Donald is #1]

Hmmm, I am definitely sensing a trend with your DD.

When my sister & I took my nephew in 2000, he basically lived on hot dogs the entire week. Luckily, he was shy enough, that he would sit quitely while we ate whereever we wanted. Basically after the first day to 2, we would get him a hot dog and then find a place for ourselves. Not too healthy, but it kept him from complaining.

 

[SuzieN]

Yep, my little princess rarely eats a good meal - she would prefer to snack her way through every day!

Day 6:

I didn't have a park scheduled for this day - I thought I'd be nice and let my family decide what they wanted to do for a change! We had a 7:00pm ADR at Whispering Canyon Cafe but since we had missed Fantasmic on Saturday night we decided to cancel it and see if we could get into 50's Prime Time for lunch instead. No problem, they got us in at 1:30. We ate there 2 years ago and my DH has been dreaming about the Dad's brownie sundae ever since! When we checked in DD was doing her whining thing which our waitress "Auntie Claire" put a quick stop to! Nothing like a stranger telling your kids to behave to actually get them to do it! Auntie Claire was great - she knew when to push and when to lay off. Here's what we ate:

Me - fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, Dad's brownie sundae, and can't forget about the chocolate peanut butter shake! - everything was great, although the sundae is a lot smaller than it was 2 years ago, not that I needed it to be any bigger! I love the lumpy mashed potatoes here!

DH - fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and Dad's brownie sundae - he practically licked his plate!

DS11 - ok, he and DS9 ordered for each other and switched plates, which I was really relieved that Auntie Claire didn't say a word about. He ended up with a hot dog, fries, chicken noodle soup from the kid's menu and a hot fudge sundae from the adult menu - the only thing he didn't care for was the soup. it was really oniony

DS9 had a hankering for fried chicken so his big bro ordered it for him [I swear, most of the time they don't like each other!] He had mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, and the kid's build your own sundae with his chicken. He ate most of his meal and loved it

DD - she ordered the chicken nuggets, fries, salad, and build your own sundae - again she just picked at this until I gave her a fried chicken breast that her brother didn't eat - she demolished that!

DM - fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, southern greens....I can't for the life of me remember what she had for dessert!

We all agreed that this was our favorite meal of the trip! The food was good and Auntie Claire was a lot of fun!

We headed back to the POFQ food court for a late CS dinner.

Me - I had the cheesesteak again because it was so good before - with fries and a blueberry muffin for dessert which I took back to the room to eat for breakfast [it was a very good muffin]

DH - taco salad and a banana muffin which he took back for breakfast - he liked the salad a lot better than the chicken club wrap he'd had before

DS11 - he went for the quesadilla again and shared it with his bro again, he had fries and a brownie with it this time - liked everything but the brownie, probably because it was sugar-free

DS9 - chicken nuggets, fries, and cookie - ate it all

DD - chicken nuggets, fries, and cookie - picked at it as usual

DM - quesadilla, fries, and a blueberry muffin that she took back for breakfast - she definitely liked the quesadilla waaay better than the veggie sandwich!

Mickey bars, popcorn, nacos, and soft pretzels were also consumed during the course of the day! Now I'm going to insert a dancing banana because DD just asked me to!!

 

[TruBlu]

Great reviews! Your family eats like mine!!!

 

[SuzieN]

Day 7:

This was our last full day and the last day on the DDP. We spent a fantastic day in the MK, the crowds were MUCH lighter than they had been on Friday! We walked right on most of the attractions we went to.

Lunch was at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe because they have a pretty extensive menu. It was super-crowded in here and really hard to find 2 tables close together so we could all eat together.On to the food!:

Me - 1/4 pound cheeseburger, fries, and carrot cake - this was my 1st and only burger of the trip, it was really good! I loaded it up with sauteed onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and pickles from the topping bar. The fries were good here as well, I actually ordered the carrot cake for DD because she usually loves it but no one ate more than a bite of it - too much rich frosting!

DH - 1/2 chicken and BBQ rib combo with mashed potatoes and green beans with a brownie for dessert - he cleaned his plate!

DS11 - ribs with mashed potatoes, green beans, and chocolate cake - he polished off the ribs but didn't care for the potatoes and beans so my mom ate 'em! The cake actually came home with us and he ate it 2 days ago.

DS9 - kid's chicken nuggets, fries, and chocolate pudding - he ate everything

DD - kid's chicken salad, fries, and pudding, also some tomatoes that I took from the topping bar for her - she did a pretty good job, I told you all how much she loves meat but neglected to tell you that her very favorite food is tomatoes!

DM - 1/4 pound cheeseburger, fries, and grapes - she ate everything as well as DS 's potatoes and beans

While our food here was good we definitely prefer CHH for the much nicer atmosphere!

We all had pineapple floats between lunch and dinner. The CM at Aloha Isle was really nice and offered to make the ones for the kids smaller and still only charged 1 snack credit for both of them! My DS11 also had a churro with chocolate dipping sauce - I prefer my churros plain!

We had a 7:05 ADR at The Plaza for dinner. We actually waited longer here than anywhere else to be seated. When we were called in they led us to a table that was right next to the swinging doors of the kitchen. It was a lousy location but we were all hungry so didn't complain. Here's what we had:

Me - Plaza Club, fries, and a banan split - I had actually ordered the German potato salad and my mom had too but they got her's wrong and gave her fries so I swapped with her after I took a bite of the salad. The fries were better! The sandwich was soooo good - my favorite sandwich of the trip! Of course the banana split was delish too!

DH - cheesesteak, fries, and a banana split - he enjoyed everything

DS11 - burger w/bacon and lettuce, fries, and strawberry cheesecake - he ate everything [including several bites of my club] and proclaimed himself too full for dessert so ordered the cheesecake to go but ate it anyway!

DS9 - cheeseburger, salad, fries, and mimi chocolate chip cookies - this was a good-sized burger, big enough for an adult actually. He ate everything except for the cookies, they came home with us and he just finished them yesterday.

DD - turkey sandwich, fries, and the mini cookies - I asked wht came on the sanwich and was told just turkey so we ordered some tomatoes and lettuce on it. I was really surprised how small it was when it came out. It was just some wheat bread cut in the shape of a Mickey head with some turkey, tomato, and lettuce on it. It didn't look too good to me but guess what, she ate every bite of it! Honestly she ate that dinky sandwich better than anything else on our trip! Her cookies also came home with us.

DM - grilled chicken sandwich, German potato salad, and a hotfudge sundae - everything was really good - she gave me a bite of her sandwich and it was yummy!

We all really enjoyed the food here but would have enjoyed it more if we had sat at a better table! I would definitely eat here again!

 

[SuzieN]

OK - just 1 more quick 1 to wrap things up!

My DD, DM, and I had a special girl's only breakfast at Akershus. I'm not sure what the guys ate - I know they used up their final snack credits and bought more breakfast OOP.

We were greeted by Belle, who is DD's favorite princess, in her yellow gown. I took my own pictures because I wasn't about to pay $31 for a picture on top of about $75 for breakfast!

We really pigged out here knowing that we were not likely to get another meal this day as we weren't getting into Buffalo until about 11pm! Some of the items we enjoyed from the cold buffet table were:

the little cherry danishes - yum!, fresh pineapple - my favorite fruit, strawberries, and mini croissants

DD didn't eat anything from the cold table, she was saving all her room for......BACON....seriously, that's the only thing she ate! She did eat A LOT of ti though, her face and hands were shiny with grease. My mom and I liked the eggs a lot but didn't really care for the potatoes. They tasted like they were the old standard made with cream of mushroom soup and sour cream. This breakfast was a really special way to end our trip!

I had 2 snack credits left so we ran across the street to the bakery and got a school bread and fruit tart to go. I ate the school bread that afternoon in the Orlando airport. It was good and I might have it again but it can't touch a pineapple floay for snacky goodness as far as I'm concerned! I'm sorry to say that the tart kinda melted and made it all the way to my house to be uncerimoniously [spelling] dumped right in the garbage!

Well, that's all folks! I hope you found some of my reviews useful. If you have any questions feel free to ask!


THE END!!!!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

What other princesses did you see at Akershus? I'm sorry to hear the potatoes weren't great, I hope they haven't changed the recipe.

 

[SuzieN]

We also saw Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, and Mulan. They all came around very quickly and posed nicely for pictures with DD.

 

[ampc3]

Thanks for sharing.. you ate at some of the ones we have scheduled also.

 

[Minniespal]

Brillant reports

 

[SuzieN]

Thanks everyone! I really wish I could have prettied this up for you all with some tasty pictures but my hubby aready thinks I'm wacko for spending so much time on this board. He'd really think I've gone off the deep end if I started taking pictures of everyone's food!