No miSTEAK about it, we're not too CHICKEN to PORK out! DxDP/GF Updated CrystalPalace

[CrabbyPatty]

Sis had the creme brulee:

I had the sugar-free raspberry sorbet:

DD had the kid's sundae with sprinkles and a little chocolate crown:

DD LOVED the little crown, but otherwise it was pretty much an ice cream sundae. The sorbet was VERY good - light, fresh, great raspberry taste and it was a nice finish to all that pork! Sis said the creme brulee didn't have much taste and she was right. The custard was very bland to the point of having no discernable taste and the carmelized sugar wasn't much better.

However, after reading reviews of CRT which basically say "oh, the food's terrible, but you're eating in the CASTLE!!!!", I would have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the lunch. DD had a selection that wasn't the usual chicken nuggets / corn dog level, and that pork chop was excellent. We didn't feel terribly rushed through the meal, the princesses came out and didn't seem like they were rushing around, the wishing star stuff was a bit hokey (IMHO), but otherwise it was a pleasant lunch in a gracious setting.

 

[DW2010]

Great CRT review. I'm surprised to see many options on the menu has changed.

 

[Tink561]

Thanks for the good reviews. We're doing lunch at CRT this weekend. I hope we enjoy it. We've done breakfast and it wasn't horrible. Hey, my 4 year old will be in the castle again and that is all good.

 

[ShesAPirate]

subscribing. Love the pics!

 

[*Meagan*]

love love love food reviews!!! cant wait to read more!

Does Hoop dee doo review still have their amazing butter??? OH my heck that stuff was to die for!

 

[davebon23]

Great review so far! If you have more info about any other food you had GF I would really appreciate it. Even if just snacks or CS if you had any at all. This upcoming trip will be my first time GF. TIA.

 

[CrabbyPatty]

DD LOVES the 50's Prime-Time Cafe, and has already requested - about 20 times - that we eat there again SOON!

I love the whole look of the 50's PTC, not so much in a "oh, isn't that cute, what a retro look!" sort of way, but more in a "Omigod, my aunt had that exact same cookie jar in her kitchen" sort of way. It's like a note perfect rendering of what growing up at the end of that era felt like.

We checked in a few minutes early to our 6:40 p.m. ADR, and were seated in about 2-3 minutes. Our server, Cousin Vincent, was from Rio and was very laid-back, which we had no problem with. The chef came out in a few minutes and went over the menu items to let me know which ones were GF, or could be made GF. I had read on the DIS boards that they make a great GF fried chicken, and that's what I ordered, along with a chocolate milkshake (couldn't have a malt because the malt flavoring is not GF).

For appetizer, Sis had the crab cakes (sorry, no picture) and I had the iceberg lettuce wedge with blue cheese dressing. When I ordered it, it just seemed like such a 50's "kitschy" menu item, like when your 50's era Betty Crocker cookbook suggested serving ham with a slice of pineapple for a real festive, Hawaiian luau feel. But, I gotta say that lettuce wedge was EXCELLENT. It was crisp and tasty, and absolutely SMOTHERED in blue cheese dressing. The milkshakes arrived quickly, and were really good. DD decided that she would help me with my milkshake, and we each had a big full glass of milkshake, plus there was about enough for at least another 1/2 to 2/3 serving.

DD got the standard Disney kid's chicken nugget/fries meal and Sis got the meat loaf dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy and veggies. Sis said it was really good meatloaf, and she almost got the clean-plate award on this meal!

The GF fried chicken was simply AMAZING. It wasn't just good GF fried chicken .... it was flat out great fried chicken! I got a huge amount of chicken, and DD - after seeing it - pushed aside her little nuggets, grabbed a piece and went to town eating it. Then she grabbed another piece and ate that one, too.

After enjoying the appetizers and the great meal, along with the milkshakes, we just couldn't find any room for dessert. I would DEFINITELY go back to the 50's PTC. And as we left, I was already thinking about our next PTC meal. For DD and I, I would order a chocolate milkshake to share, split the fried chicken meal, and then share a dessert. It would be plenty of food for two!

 

[DiggleBelle]

Enjoying your review and great pictures!

 

[msnwithers]

Great reviews! I'm in!

 

[CrabbyPatty]

An Akershus breakfast is such a nice way to get into Epcot early .... we arrived about 8:05 for our 8:15 breakfast ADR and it was so peaceful to walk through a nearly empty Epcot into the World Showcase.

I was surprised to see that I didn't take any pictures this year of this buffet. I guess since we had been here last year, we felt like "old hands" at Akershus. Here's a picture from last year of the buffet set-up:

We checked in and were seated shortly - after DD's picture with Belle.

DD and Sis went up to the cold-food buffet. It's a nice selection of yogurt and fixings (granola, dried fruit, nuts), smoked salmon, herring (no, they don't MAKE you eat it!), cold meat and cheese, rolls and breads and fresh fruit.

The chef stopped by and told me about the items available for GF diners - basically everything (other than the usual suspects of granola, bread, etc.) Although please note the AMAZING potato casserole is NOT GF - they use wheat flour in a medium white sauce.

The chef brought me a separate plate of GF hashbrowns, scrambled eggs and sausages, plus a GF blueberry muffin. He also made me two GF Mickey Waffles (which are NOT available at the buffet). They were cooked a bit more than the ones from Tusker House and were perfect. All of the GF offerings were EXCELLENT. Maybe I'm just getting used to Disney coffee, but even the coffee tasted okay at Akershus!

Sis and DD got a separate plate with the awesome potato casserole, sausages, eggs and bacon. It was an enjoyable breakfast, and the princesses work their way around the room in an orderful fashion, so you can always gauge how much time you have to get back to the cold-food buffet.

Akershus is an enjoyable breakfast - last year and this year, the restaurant wasn't terribly loud and crowded, so it's a nice way to start your day at Epcot. If you're on the dining plan, the "free" picture is a nice feature. After we ate here last year, Akershus was on our list to eat at this year .... however, I think we might put this one on the backburner for our next trip. Partially because we OD'ed on princesses with both CRT and Akershus and because it would be nice to try some other restaurants.

 

[CrabbyPatty]

We ate an early breakfast at Akershus, had an enjoyable morning at Epcot playing Kim Possible, shopping, visiting Club Cool, Captain Eo, Soarin', the greenhouse tour ride, pictures with lots of characters, and then headed over to Canada for our Le Cellier lunch at 1:00 p.m.

We apparently hit Le Cellier during an uncharacteristically UNbusy time since there were about 3 tables within our sight during our whole lunch that didn't have anyone seated. I think I also read on DIS that Le Cellier was actually talking walk-ups that day as well!

Needless to say, we found Le Cellier fairly quiet and really enjoyed our lunch. It wasn't wall-to-wall people and the tables didn't seem to be any closer than any other Disney restaurant (I had read reviews that the tables were so close that you could almost touch elbows with the people at the next table.)

We started off with appetizers. Sis had the cheddar cheese soup, which she said was excellent. Sis said it was even better than any cheese soup she'd tasted back to Minnesota. We have a lot of restaurants that serve some pretty good Wisconsin Cheese Soups, but they weren't as good as Le Cellier's. DD loved the pretzel bread and I think she basically ate the entire basket. I had a WONDERFUL appetizer as well:

The appetizer was the "Tomato Stack" which had caramelized onions, cucumbers, crumbled blue cheese, and vinaigrette drizzled over it. I'm not a huge fan of cucumbers, but with the onions and blue cheese, the cucumbers really added another layer of flavor, and that vinaigrette was TO. DIE. FOR. Yummy.

For our entrees, Sis had the shaved prime rib sandwich with fries. It's served on a toasted bun with Black Diamond cheddar cheese and horseradish cream sauce.

DD had pasta with no tomato sauce and a fruit cup. Yes, I tried to convince her to have the steak - "But honey, you LIKE steak!" - but she would not be moved.

Before ordering, I got a visit from the chef for my gluten issues, and I ordered the filet mignon, substituted the cheesy mashed potatoes for the mushroom risotto, and got the white truffle-herb butter sauce on the side. There are no allergy problems with mushroom - I just plain hate 'em. I don't care if they are sauted, lightly braised, frothed into a creamy sauce with gold leaf - they still taste like gummy erasers to me.

Anyhoo ..... the filet was exceptional:

It was tender, juicy (even though I eat my steak medium-well) and flavorful. The potatoes were just SO good, and the sauce was like heaven.

Before we ate at Le Cellier, I was a bit skeptical about those folks who seemed to be worshipping at the Church of Le Cellier. After that meal, let's just say that now I'm not only attending that church - I'm singing in the choir!

We were so satisfied and pleased with our meal that we didn't order dessert. It all looked good but given that this was one of our 3-meal days, and we were heading to O'hanas that evening, we thought we probably weren't going to go hungry until we could managed to drag ourselves to the Polynesian!

Coming up ....... O'hana.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Thanks for the Le Cellier review! We're eating there soon and it will be my first time going gluten free. Can I ask you what desserts they offered there that were safe?

 

[CrabbyPatty]

Thanks for the Le Cellier review! We're eating there soon and it will be my first time going gluten free. Can I ask you what desserts they offered there that were safe?

Thanks for the question. My memory is already a bit hazy, but I know they have a creme bulee, which is generally GF, as well as some of the same sugar-free raspberry sorbet I had at CRT (it was excellent, BTW).

Have you contacted the Special Diets folks at Disney - I believe the email is specialdiets@disneyworld.com - and given them your ADR information? They will send you some good information about GF dining, as well as CS options. Also, the chef will come out at the start of your meals and go over the menu with you.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Thanks for the question. My memory is already a bit hazy, but I know they have a creme bulee, which is generally GF, as well as some of the same sugar-free raspberry sorbet I had at CRT (it was excellent, BTW).

Have you contacted the Special Diets folks at Disney - I believe the email is specialdiets@disneyworld.com - and given them your ADR information? They will send you some good information about GF dining, as well as CS options. Also, the chef will come out at the start of your meals and go over the menu with you.

Thanks. Yes, I've contacted Special Diets at Disney and filled in all my ADR info. for my gluten issues. They emailed me a couple of forms.

Both the raspberry sorbet and creme brulee sound delicious! I've been reading lots of gf Disney reviews from others and feel more comfortable now that I'll still be able to eat something decent when we go soon! Thanks again!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

thanks for the great updates, we are trying LeCellier for first time (my choice b/c I love steak but my son doesn't eat steak and my husband doesn't like steak) but I can't wait to go.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Just found your excellent reviews, many of our favourites and ones we will do againnext trip. We don't care for the Pepper Market. Worst thing about CSR

 

[brewhome]

I love that pic of your daughter and the chef... classic! Great reviews so far, looking forward to reading more!!

 

[CrabbyPatty]

Oh boy, I'm ashamed to see that I never did get around to finishing our 2010 dining review! Let's see if I can remember enough about our other meals to make this worthwhile for anyone to read ......

Ohana Dinner - we had a mid-evening reservation for Ohana, probably around 7:30 or 8:00. Once we were seated, an assistant chef-type person came over to the table and went through the gluten-free options for me. The rest of my party (my sister and DD) got the hawaiian bread, and I got some GF rolls and butter, which were actually pretty good.

I got my own order of GF chicken wings, which were VERY good .....

Sis and DD got the regular noodles, wings, potstickers, broccoli platter ---

and I got this:

Underneath all that meat is white rice and veggies, plus broccoli. It was WONDERFUL. Very flavorful and tasty.

I'd mentioned earlier that because our party was 3, we ended up getting some great tables throughout our trip. For Ohana, we got a table right up next to the big windows facing MK, so when Wishes started out, we had a front-row seat for the fireworks. They dimmed the lights and pumped in the narration. We had the perfect viewing spot!

I don't recall what we had for dessert, and didn't take a picture of it. As I recall, Sis and DD had the usual banana dessert, and I may have had some ice cream or something.

 

[CrabbyPatty]

Day 5 found us at the Cape May buffet for breakfast. Our reservations wasn't too early - perhaps around 10:00 a.m. - and we walked from the International Gate over to the Beach Club, DD whining all the way.

We were seated right away and loved the atmosphere of Cape May - light, open, airy, beachy feel and it was fun to see the characters in their beach clothes:

I realized that I do not have ONE picture of the food we ate that day. Mostly because we were seated next to a Horrible Example Family. By that I mean, the type of family that serves as an example of What. Not.To.Do and How.Not.To.Behave, and will be forever remembered that "those awful spoiled kids we sat by at that Cape May breakfast."

I don't recall any special things that were offered to me at Cape May because of eating gluten-free, but the Chef walked through the buffet with me commenting on which foods had gluten in them. It was the standard WDW buffet breakfast.

Since we were there a bit later in the morning, the place was not full, and the characters had time to make the circuit around the room several times, and we got to where it was almost too much, although they were incredibly cute:

 

[CrabbyPatty]

After a late breakfast at Cape May, we wandered around Epcot enjoying ourselves until our Spirit of Aloha luau back at the Polynesian.

Since we were on the Deluxe DDP, it was fun to try the luau and use up those 2 TS credits each, but having done it once, I feel no need to go to the luau again.

We had to check-in by a certain time, but then basically we stood around and waited and waited until we were able to go into the luau area. Once there, we waited to get seated, and waited for our server. We got a bread and salad tray:

As I recall, the salad was okay for GF eaters, and I got some of the GF rolls instead of the regular hawaiian bread (you can see the little plate with my dinner roll just below the HUGE tray of salad and wheat bread).

Next up was the big place of food:

and then the dessert:

DD really liked the flowing lava cake:

Now, since it's been quite a while, I can't quite remember what sort of considerations were made at SOA for GF eaters. I seem to remember that the ribs and sauce were NOT okay (probably because of the sauce ingredients), but since I'm more gluten intolerant than having Celiac disease, I did sample them, and they were GOOD. While Sis and DD had the lava cake, I had ice cream and coffee.

I'm glad we had the opportunity to do Spirit of Aloha, but would not do it again. Getting there early to check in and then stand around, and then sitting through the first part of the evening's entertainment (a fairly boring little play with occasional music and jokes) was somewhat akin to listening to a 2-1/2 hour seminar on actuarial insurance consulting..... but then all of a sudden, the insurance consultant comes out in a grassy shirt and lei and starts throwing flaming batons around! The last half of the entertainment is SPECTACULAR complete with a some amazing dances and the guy who does the flame dance is awesome (I think he's the same guy who does the Lion King show in AK). But then again, your results may vary!