Our Dining Experiences 6/18 - 6/24

[DisneyGirl2005]

6/18/05 - Our arrival day. The plan was to head to Epcot after a late lunch early dinner at Beaches and Cream. This changed when they extended the Star Wars Weekends. My DS7 has become a huge Star Wars fan so after check-in we hit MGM for a few hours and then head over to Beaches and Cream. Unfortunately there were 7 of us. In hindsight we should have waited till later in the week when it was just the 4 of us. We waited for a good 45 minutes and still were not able to sit together. I was disappointed because I really wanted to order the Kitchen Sink ( the reason I planned this on the day there would be 7 of us). But it just didn't make sense since we weren't seated together. All that aside, the burgers were great and the desserts lived up to the hype. The service was good, nothing outstanding.

The desserts we had were the Milky Way Sundae, the Fudge Mud Slide and the Strawberry Shortcake. All very, very good.

6/19/05 -
Early Breakfast at Crystal Palace. It was wonderful to be in the MK before it opened. The food could have been horrible and it would have been worth it for that alone. The food here was good, not great, but good. We were all so anxious for our first day in the MK that it really didn't matter. My only disappointment here was that Tigger had not made it to our table before we were done eating. My DS13 was ready to go and everyone else was getting a bit antsy as well so off we went. Overall I was pleased with the food, service and the characters. If only Tigger would have moved a bit quicker! Just kiddin' I know good old Tig was probably making magic and that's good.

Dinner at Concourse Steakhouse. Adult appetizers chosen here were Shrimp Cocktail(2) and Honey Sesame Chicken Wings(1), my DS7 chose the salad from the kids appetizers. Everyone was happy with their choices. The chicken wings were a very large portion, everyone was willing to taste them and all agreed they were very good. Entree selections were Filet Mignon(2), and Pesto Parmesan Crusted Salmon(1), My DS7 chose the Macaroni and Cheese. The filets were good although my DH and I both wish we had ordered them without the gorgonzola butter. My DS13 loved the Salmon and ate every bit. DS7 was not crazy about the Mac & Cheese. I think it was the shredded cheddar on top, not sure but he didn't eat much of it at all. Now for dessert (Can you tell we are on the dining plan? ). Happiest Celebration Dessert(2), Creme Brulee(1), and DS7 chose the Mickey Brownie. I loved the creme brulee, DS13 loved his celebration dessert, DH thought the celebration desset was just ok, and DS7 ate the gummi worms and M&M off his Mickey brownie and that was it. I think he was just excited/tired from the first full day in the park, 'cause he really did not eat much this entire day.
The service here was good we were seated promptly and never had to ask for refills, etc. For some reason though I am not sure if I would go back. There are so many choices of sit down dinners at Disney that I would rather try something new next time.

Well I am going to take a break and maybe do some of the laundry from the trip. I will come back to this thread to continue. Coming up will be:
Flame Tree Barbeque - Our favorite counter service
Chef Mickey's - Our favorite character meal
Pepper Market Lunch
Earl of Sandwich
Sci-Fi Dine In - Loved it!!
Pepper Market Breakfast
Sunshine Season Food Fair - A first for us and a pleasant surprise
Ohana - What a view!
Pepper Market Breakfast
Backlot Express
Whispering Canyon Cafe - We got the perfect server for us. Playful but not over the top.

 

[eeyore45]

WHAAAAAT????

whattttaaaa tease you are!! (where's the shame on you smilie???!)



Just did laundry myself, trying to cool off by sitting in the basement with the fans blowing and me checking up on the net!! Sure is HOT out... cant get that spot out? (sorry I'm old, anyone else remember that commercial?? )

Here, I thought of a question, and anyone else posting after please feel free to chime in....

Did you feel 'stressed" meeting all your AR's, I'm thinking of some of the same places, but trying to figure out about this resort one day, that resort another, but not trying to figure out how it affects our schedule??

 

[lajones81]

Tell me more! Tell me more! I want to know!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed your reviews ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[SeaSpray]

Can't wait to read the rest of your reviews. Excellent job so far!

 

[DisneyGirl2005]

Well I am back to continue the reviews. Never meant to be a tease , I just never realized how hard it is to write a report. It just makes me admire people who are really good at it even more.

As far as feeling stressed to meet our AR's - the only day I felt pushed was on our last day. We had Whispering Canyon AR's at 5:00pm. The way the day was going I would have liked to have had a AR for about 7:00pm instead. I even tried at about noon to change it, but at that point it was too late. We stuck with our original time and just worked around it. While planning the trip, I tried to arrange our TS AR's for a restaurant that was in or close to the park we would be in that day. Overall it really seemed to work well.

6-20-05 - Well we are off to the Animal Kingdom today and that means we are heading to our favorite counter service for lunch, Flame Tree Barbecue. We ordered Pork Sandwich Meal(1), Chicken Sandwich Meal(2), and Half Chicken Meal(1). Each meal came with beans and corn on the cobb. Maybe we are just a barbecue family, but we all loved this meal. I also like the fact that it is a counter service meal that doesn't come with fries. For dessert we had chocolate cake(2) and frozen lemonade(2). There is nothing like the frozen lemonades on a hot day. The chocolate cake was also very good. We have been to Animal Kingdom three times since it opened and we always go here. I have heard so many good things about Tusker House, but I just can't tear myself away from Flame Tree.

For dinner we headed off to Chef Mickeys. We had a small wait but not more than 15 minutes. I was a bit nervous about this choice because I have heard mixed reviews. Well for our family it was a big hit. My DS7 actually went back for seconds and maybe thirds (with the characters coming around it was hard to keep track). He really loved the Mickey ravioli, so did my DS13. I had the ham and the roast beef - both were good, although the ham was more of a standout to me. I also tried the madeira beef stew which I was not crazy about. We all enjoyed the mashed potatoes. I think they are the same as the ones served at the Concourse Steakhouse (forgot to mention them in my review). My DH especially enjoyed them. There are alot of desserts to choose from here. The top honor for me goes to the cheesecake with fruit on it. It was wonderful. Everyone walked away from this meal happy, not only was the food very good, but the atmosphere and the characters were GREAT! I was worried that since we were not in the main room it would not be as fun. Well when they did the napkin waving and singing they sent a character into each section, we had Chip and Dale. It was great, my DH even got into the napkin waving, which is quite shocking he is always quiet and reserved. My favorite moment of the night happened when Chip came to the table. He signed my DS7's book and motioned to my DS13 about where his book was. Well when DS13 said he didn't have one Chip gave him the big L sign (to those who don't know that means loser). Oh my it was sooo funny, I then got a picture of Chip making the L sign at my DS13's forehead. Once again this was just a great meal. We will definitely return.

6-21-05 - This was a no park day. My cousins were coming to visit us at the pool and then my DH and DS13 were headed to Disney Quest. DS7 adn I planned on meeting them at DTD later in the evening. Lunch for myself and DS7 was Pepper Market. I had the Chicken Quesadilla and DS had the Cheese Pizza. I really enjoyed the Quesadilla, it was a very large portion and I wa unable to finish it. I loved that it came with sour cream and guacamole. It also came with balck beans and rice. I didn't eat much of the black beans and rice because it was just so much food. I did not try the pizza, but DS had no complaints so I would have to say it was good. For dessert I had a wonderful fruit tart and my DS had a choc chip cookie. I really enjoyed the food here.

For those on the dining plan I would like to share some info about the Pepper Market. According to their rules the only dessert you are allowed on the plan is a muffin or a cookie. When ordering my lunch I was unaware of this and chose the fruit tart. The cashier told me about the rule, but put the tart through so I did not have to pay for it. At breakfast another day I was told you do not get a dessert with breakfast on the plan ( I had asked about getting a muffin). I found their limitations a bit annoying. I mean at every other CS restaurant we ate at we had no limitations at all. I did not have a CS breakfast anywhere else so I can't compare that, but it just seemed a bit ridiculus.

My DH and DS13 went to Food Quest for lunch. DS had pizza and DH had a burger. They did not complain about anything so I would say it was acceptable.

The plan for dinner was to be Earl of Sandwich. Well we had a problem meeting up with my DH and DS13 so I went ahead and got in line at Earl of Sandwich and ordered for just the two of us. DS7 had the tuna sandwich and I had the chicken salad. I really loved my sandwich. My DS ate half of his and then decided it had too much flavor. Not sure what that was about. I would definitely recommend this restaurant, not only is it good, but it is very reasonably priced. When we finally found the other two we decided to head back to the hotel. DS13 ordered a burger and fries from Pepper Market which he enjoyed.


Sorry guys, I gotta take another break but I will be back soon to continue...

 

[natalielongstaff]

really enjoyed your review of flame tree, i plan to try here on our sept trip

 

[DanaHesson]

where in GA do ya live?
Can you tell us what the happiest celebration dessert was?

 

[DisneyGirl2005]

I can't remember the name of the Happiest Celebration Dessert at Concourse Steakhouse, but my son made me take a picture so I will share that with you. Oh and I live in Forsyth County, Georgia - which is just North of Atlanta.

 

[lillygator]

Thanks for the reviews....we are looking to try the Concourse Steakhouse in October...

 

[Kaycee]

Thanks for the reviews so far - I'm enjoying hearing all the details. I agree with you about Earl of Sandwich; it's one of our favorites.

I'm looking forward to the rest of your reviews!

 

[DisneyGirl2005]

Well I am back again to try and finish this report.

6-22-05 - We will be spending the day at The Studios. We planned a late lunch at Sci-Fi Dine In for 1:25. Wow am I glad we had the AR's. We had about a 30 minute wait to be seated and there were many walk up people turned away. The next available table was at 9:45 that night! Well when we were seated all I can say is "How cool is this place?" Both boys enjoyed the movies and loved that we were eating in the cars. Our appetizers were Onion Rings(1), Spinach and Artichoke Dip(1), BLT Soup(1) and DS7 had the Fruit & Cheese from the kid's choices. The onion rings were great! The Dip was ok, but I don't think I would order it again. My DS13 did not eat much of the soup, I didn't try it, but he said it wasn't very good. For our entrees we chose Burger(2), Rib Plate(1), and a Kid's Meal Cheeseburger. We all enjoyed our burgers. My DH was not happy with the sauce on the ribs. He said the meat was good, he just didn't like the sauce. Now for dessert, everyone except for DH had chocolate shakes. DH had the cheesecake. This was his favorite dessert of the week. They put caramel popcorn all around the plate and drizzled caramel around and then scattered m&m's on the cheesecake. I was talking to the couple behind us and only got 1 bite of the cheesecake, it was very good. The shakes were also very good, probably the best shake I have had in a long time. The server here was good not outstanding but good. We will definitely be going back, but probably sticking to the burgers, o rings and shakes,oh and of course the cheesecake. The atmosphere is just too cool to pass up.

Well that was the only meal we ate on this day. We had a snack here and there in the evening, but there was no way we could eat another full meal. I think the Dining Plan was beggining to take a toll on us. Even my DS13 was not very hungry and that never happens.

6-23-05 - Breakfast at Pepper Market. We had not intended to eat breakfasts on the Dining Plan, but we had extra CS credits so we figured what the heck. We ordered egg breakfast(2), waffle(1), and the kid's Mickey waffles. The egg breakfast included scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon or sausage and a muffin or biscuit. It was alot of food. We ended up sharing with each other since the waffle came with no extras. This was a very good breakfast. No complaints about the food(only with the way they handle the dining plan).

Lunch today was at the Sunshine Season Food Fair in The Land at Epcot. For me this was a pleasant surprise. I had a ham sandwich, which I really enjoyed(it was on a really good bread) and a strawberry shortcake that was very good. DH had Rotisserie Chicken Flatbread that he said was good, but had some spices he was not crazy about. He had a chocolate mousse cake that he enjoyed for dessert. DS13 had grilled salmon - he felt the same as his Dad - some spices he wasn't crazy about. He had a choc. chip cookie for dessert that worked well for him. DS7 had a Kid's Meal that included a chicken leg, mashed potatoes, carrots and applesauce. The only thing he did not like was the mashed potatoes - they had a oniony flavor to them and he wanted no part of that. He had worms in dirt for dessert which was yummy - he ate all of it. I would recommend this CS meal, but I don't think my DH or DS13 would. I guess my advice would be to really look at the menus and ask what exactly is on something before you get it. I almost got a vegetable sandwich that looked awesome, but I found out it had eggplant - which I hate so I went with the ham and really enjoyed it.

Now for a late dinner at Ohana. We had AR's for 8:10pm. I requested a window seat at check-in. It was my DH's 41st birthday and I really wanted it to be special. After about a 20 minute wait we were seated at a window seat on the side. We still had a view of the Castle, just not direct. It was really awesome though. We were at a big round table so the four of us just sat to one side and were able to look at the castle without having to turn our heads. Our server was Carrie. She was very attentive and helpful. I had ordered a cake for my DH's birthday and she was very discreet, I was worried she might mention it when we discussed what dessert was included in the dining plan. We all enjoyed the appetizers they bring out. I think the appetizers were our favorite. The meats they bring out were very good, but it is really a lot of meat. I think we would have been happy if all we had was the appetizers. Of course I think part of that is because of the dining plan. We never eat this much. I think we have maxed out our bodies. Of course when the pineapple and caramel are brought out my DH can not stop eating it. I tell him to slow down or he is gonna bust. (he has no idea that we still have a birthday cake coming). The pineapple and caramel really are very good though. My poor DH was shocked when the cake came out. He looked at me and was like now I have to eat cake? I had no sympathy since I tried to stop him. We all sang and had a small piece of cake. It was a typical birthday cake (6 inch and the cost was 12.50 which I found very reasonable).
I have added a picture for those who might be considering purchasing a cake. There are also others available to order but I believe this is the least expensive. I knew we would not eat much of it and that is why I went with the least expensive choice.

We enjoyed this meal, but probably will not return because of the amount of meats given. It was just too much for us. Of course you don't have to take the meat, but given that it is worked into the price of the meal, you feel like you need to eat some of it (or at least I do).


Up next is our last day at Disney World

 

[goofygreb]

Great reviews, and great picture of the cake. We are celebrating DDs 17th B-day on our trip in August and that would be a perfect size cake! Sounds like you had a great trip and enjoyed most of your meals, thanks for sharing!

 

[DisneyGirl2005]

6-24-05 - Our last day - I am still sad about it! I feel just like my DS7 who says "Why can't we just live at Disney World?" Oh how I wish we could.

We started the day with breakfast at Pepper Market again. The only difference this day was that I got a cinnamon roll. It was very good. I think I was beginning to have to have something sweet with every meal. Not a good thing when you are on Weight Watchers and have to weigh in the week after vacation to Disney. I will just have to accept the fact that regardless of being a lifetime member, I will be paying this week, cause there is no way I am within my 2 pound range.

Lunch today was Backlot Express at The Studios. Well I would definitely not call this express. It took forever to get the food. Apparently the kitchen was having a problem keeping up. My Dh and I split a hot dog meal, DS13 had a hot dog meal and DS7 had a cheeseburger. Desserts were chocolate cake(2) and a peach tart(1). Everything here was ok. Nothing outstanding, just standard fast food fare. Somehow we always end up here for lunch or a snack. It is fine for that.

Our last meal was at Whispering Canyon Cafe. We had an early AR - 5:00. We there at opening for dinner and we were seated promptly. The servers were really on tonight. Our server was perfect for us. I don't remember the name she gave us, but on the ticket she is listed as HumbleAlley. She was fun, but not over the top. We are a relatively quiet family and I think she could sense that. We all ordered the skillet. Why I don't know. We were all maxed out on food, but I love that skillet and I just had to have it. We didn't eat a lot of it, but it wasn't because it wasn't good. Everything was delicious. We didn't even order dessert. We felt like Violet Beuregard from Willie Wonka after she ate the gum. Disney needed to have some Oompa Loompas on call to roll us back to Georgia. We will definitely be going back to WCC.


Some final thoughts - When making our dining plans, I read many reviews. I worried about some of the choices I had made, but I stuck with them. I am glad I did. I think everyone should choose places that they think will make their family happy regardless of the reviews. Try a place at least once. You might like what others don't. Many people weren't that crazy about Chef Mickey's, but we all loved it. Most of the reviews I read raved about Ohana and although it was good, it is not a restaurant for my family.

I asked my family if they felt like they had a bad meal during our trip. All agreed they had not. We were more pleased with some than with others, but there were no bad meals at all.


Thanks to everyone that has read my reviews. I hope they have been helpful. Sorry they were a bit long.

 

[rifamtrav]

Great reviews, thanks. I was waiting for your last installment because of Sunshine seasons food court. Actually I'm trying to figure out what they offer for breakfast, its listed on the dining plan brochure for CS breakfast as well as lunch/dinner, but I haven't seen a menu for it. I don't suppose you noticed anything posted, did you??
Well it sounds like the key to the dining plan is there's plenty of food! I think we'll be doing some sharing of meals because we have a few 2TS places we want to try but it doesn't sound like there's much danger of anyone going hungry!

 

[DisneyGirl2005]

Great reviews, thanks. I was waiting for your last installment because of Sunshine seasons food court. Actually I'm trying to figure out what they offer for breakfast, its listed on the dining plan brochure for CS breakfast as well as lunch/dinner, but I haven't seen a menu for it. I don't suppose you noticed anything posted, did you??
Well it sounds like the key to the dining plan is there's plenty of food! I think we'll be doing some sharing of meals because we have a few 2TS places we want to try but it doesn't sound like there's much danger of anyone going hungry!

I am sorry I didn't notice the breakfast choices at Sunshine Seasons.

There really is no way you can be hungry on the dining plan. We actually crammed in several CS meals the last 2 days just so we wouldn't have any left over. I think what we will do next time is have two meals per day breakfast and then an early dinner/late lunch with snacks added in when neccesary. We also had 4 snack credits go unused.

 

[abk96]

Thanks for your reviews. Really enjoyed reading them.

I'm glad you all had such a great time.

One question, was Mickey and Minnie at CM? I hope so. My daughter loves them.

 

[DisneyGirl2005]

One question, was Mickey and Minnie at CM? I hope so. My daughter loves them.

Yes Mickey and Minnie were at Chef Mickeys. The other characters there were Chip & Dale, Goofy and Donald (who does not go around to the tables, he stays in the lobby which is nice)

 

[pennyplanner]

Christine,

Thanks ever so much for posting those great reviews! That server at WCC sounds like a perfect match for MY family too.

You offer some sage advice about choosing restaurants that will likely suit your family. I LOVE reading reviews but ultimately, I make my decisions based on the menu and what I think would work best for my DH and kids.

That was lovely that your family came to the consensus that all meals were good ones. I hope they appreciate you, the mom, who took the time to plan out all those great choices that they so enjoyed!

Thanks again,
penny

 

[abk96]

Yes Mickey and Minnie were at Chef Mickeys. The other characters there were Chip & Dale, Goofy and Donald (who does not go around to the tables, he stays in the lobby which is nice)

That's great! Thanks so much.

Wow, Donald is a bonus for us. I didn't expect to see him.