PrincessTigerLily
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2006
It just goes to show that after months and months of careful and thoughtful preparation, the chips will fall where they may! We spent nine days at POP with free dining in late September with our 4 3/4 year old DD (be sure you don't say 4 1/2, good golly!) and our 13month old DS. I have NEVER IN MY LIFE heard as much whining as I did in that nine days. DD refused to wander outside the mac'n'cheese and chicken nugget box, and for fear of drowning myself in the 3 foot deep Pop century pool if she whined any more, I obliged. Realized that DS is a vegetarian, can't sneak a thing carnivorous even near the kid without him winging it at your head. I will break down where we ate, what we had, and our personal assessments of each, for as much as I can remember!
Just a tip: free dining was not the best approach with a young toddler. Having to be somewhere to eat at a specific time did not jive well with the little guy. Live and learn, right?
Day one: Boma, AKL
We had dinner at Boma, and made ourselves try as much as we could, per our server's suggestion. It was great! We are not overly adventurous eaters, but we all found lots of things we liked. DD4 3/4 was happy because they had the requisite mac n cheese and fresh fruit. We especially enjoyed the pepper pot soup, fufu, nut-crusted salmon, and hearts of palm and lentil salad, and crunchy chocolate mousse. Even if I had hated the food, I would have gone for the zebra domes alone. We all loved this, hands down, would definitely do on our next trip.
Day two: Le Cellier, Lunch
Aside from Boma, this was our other absolutely favorite meal of our trip. Breadsticks to munch on: multigrain, sourdough, and pretzel (hello! why hasn't anyone thought of pretzel breadsticks sooner?!) For appetizers DH had the Prince Edward Island Mussels (huge portion for a starter), I had the smoked salmon and crab timbale (sooo good), and DD4 3/4 had the child's size canadian cheddar cheese soup. After tasting and inquiring, we found out that the soup was made with Moosehead beer. DD4 3/4 wouldn't even allow the bowl to be set down in front of her (huge surprise as it is neither mac n cheese nor nugget of chicken) so DH and I begrudgingly (can you sense the sarcasm?) had to eat it. Note: cheddar cheese soup is really good on the pretzel breadsticks! DH and I both got the petit filet on cream cheese mashed potatoes and for dessert the creme brulee sampler. Perfection. DD4 3/4 got the cheeseburger and the chocolate "moose". Food was great, service was great. This was the most expensive meal we had the whole trip, clocking in at $119, but we agreed we would pay for it OOP it was so good.
San Angel Inn, Dinner
This meal is a distant memory, thank goodness. Now, this review may be tainted by the whining, crying, and flailing limbs of children, the moaning of "I don't like that volcano, I REALLY don't like that volcano, you're not going to make me ride that ride are you...etc." DS finally fell asleep while we were waiting for dessert and things improved drastically after that. DH and I ordered combination platters, can't remember what they were, but I do remember commenting that I could get better Mexican food at the local restaurant at home. And don't get me started on the service...I guess the best thing to say is that if you go, go for the ambience. It is pretty noisy too. Not that I minded, as we were most of it for most of the meal. DD4 3/4 was only allowed to get vanilla ice cream for dessert per the dining plan, while I had the rice pudding and DH had the bread pudding. Seriously sub-par desserts as compared to any other TS meal we had. One word: disappointing.
Day three: Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, Lunch
DH and I had the 1/2 chicken, 1/2 rib meal while DD4 3/4 had...chicken nuggets. I, the serious chocoholic, had the chocolate cake for dessert. Really good considering it was counter service. DH and DD4 3/4 both got the sugar-free brownie, and both regretted it. Alien audioanimatronic entertainment kept the kids occupied. We thought it was a decent meal.
Liberty Tree Tavern, Dinner
Liberated our appetite! Family-style meal with generous starting portions. We could have requested more, but didn't find the need. Really good rolls to start, then a nice salad. We had a platter with carved turkey, beef, and ham, then mashed potatoes, green beans, mac n cheese (one guess who liked that), and stuffing. Tried to sneak some ham onto DS plate...it ended up in my hair. Dessert was apple cobbler served warm and a la mode, very good. The basic dinner components were nothing special, but there was plenty and very good character interaction. We were visited by Minnie, Chip, Dale, Goofy, and Pluto. We decided this was a worth-while pick.
Coming soon...if anyone is actually reading this...Days 4-6 including Hollywood & Vine, Flame Tree, 1900 Park Fare, Morocco, and Chef Mickey's, complete with more meat being thrown at poor Mommy by new-vegetarian DS!
Just a tip: free dining was not the best approach with a young toddler. Having to be somewhere to eat at a specific time did not jive well with the little guy. Live and learn, right?
Day one: Boma, AKL
We had dinner at Boma, and made ourselves try as much as we could, per our server's suggestion. It was great! We are not overly adventurous eaters, but we all found lots of things we liked. DD4 3/4 was happy because they had the requisite mac n cheese and fresh fruit. We especially enjoyed the pepper pot soup, fufu, nut-crusted salmon, and hearts of palm and lentil salad, and crunchy chocolate mousse. Even if I had hated the food, I would have gone for the zebra domes alone. We all loved this, hands down, would definitely do on our next trip.
Day two: Le Cellier, Lunch
Aside from Boma, this was our other absolutely favorite meal of our trip. Breadsticks to munch on: multigrain, sourdough, and pretzel (hello! why hasn't anyone thought of pretzel breadsticks sooner?!) For appetizers DH had the Prince Edward Island Mussels (huge portion for a starter), I had the smoked salmon and crab timbale (sooo good), and DD4 3/4 had the child's size canadian cheddar cheese soup. After tasting and inquiring, we found out that the soup was made with Moosehead beer. DD4 3/4 wouldn't even allow the bowl to be set down in front of her (huge surprise as it is neither mac n cheese nor nugget of chicken) so DH and I begrudgingly (can you sense the sarcasm?) had to eat it. Note: cheddar cheese soup is really good on the pretzel breadsticks! DH and I both got the petit filet on cream cheese mashed potatoes and for dessert the creme brulee sampler. Perfection. DD4 3/4 got the cheeseburger and the chocolate "moose". Food was great, service was great. This was the most expensive meal we had the whole trip, clocking in at $119, but we agreed we would pay for it OOP it was so good.
San Angel Inn, Dinner
This meal is a distant memory, thank goodness. Now, this review may be tainted by the whining, crying, and flailing limbs of children, the moaning of "I don't like that volcano, I REALLY don't like that volcano, you're not going to make me ride that ride are you...etc." DS finally fell asleep while we were waiting for dessert and things improved drastically after that. DH and I ordered combination platters, can't remember what they were, but I do remember commenting that I could get better Mexican food at the local restaurant at home. And don't get me started on the service...I guess the best thing to say is that if you go, go for the ambience. It is pretty noisy too. Not that I minded, as we were most of it for most of the meal. DD4 3/4 was only allowed to get vanilla ice cream for dessert per the dining plan, while I had the rice pudding and DH had the bread pudding. Seriously sub-par desserts as compared to any other TS meal we had. One word: disappointing.
Day three: Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, Lunch
DH and I had the 1/2 chicken, 1/2 rib meal while DD4 3/4 had...chicken nuggets. I, the serious chocoholic, had the chocolate cake for dessert. Really good considering it was counter service. DH and DD4 3/4 both got the sugar-free brownie, and both regretted it. Alien audioanimatronic entertainment kept the kids occupied. We thought it was a decent meal.
Liberty Tree Tavern, Dinner
Liberated our appetite! Family-style meal with generous starting portions. We could have requested more, but didn't find the need. Really good rolls to start, then a nice salad. We had a platter with carved turkey, beef, and ham, then mashed potatoes, green beans, mac n cheese (one guess who liked that), and stuffing. Tried to sneak some ham onto DS plate...it ended up in my hair. Dessert was apple cobbler served warm and a la mode, very good. The basic dinner components were nothing special, but there was plenty and very good character interaction. We were visited by Minnie, Chip, Dale, Goofy, and Pluto. We decided this was a worth-while pick.
Coming soon...if anyone is actually reading this...Days 4-6 including Hollywood & Vine, Flame Tree, 1900 Park Fare, Morocco, and Chef Mickey's, complete with more meat being thrown at poor Mommy by new-vegetarian DS!
