Our Dining Reviews 9/15 - 9/27/04! (Long)

[arizonacolbys]

Here is the first set of food reviews from our trip. It was just me, 26 & my hubby, 27. We've both been to WDW many times & were able to try some new restaurants & enjoy our favorites on this trip. We were at POP Century 9/15 - 9/27 (extra day due to Jeanne ) -

Weds 9/15:
D – Crystal Palace 4 pm - This was a great way to start out our trip – one of our favorite stops as usual. The parks were pretty quiet this afternoon & the restaurant was pretty empty at 4 pm. This made for some great character interaction! Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore & Tigger each came to our table at least 4 different times. I got some great pictures of Tigger playing with the ice cream bar, too. Eeyore was very lively at this meal – he liked sneaking up on diners - he even got me. I turned around & had a huge Eeyore face right in mine. He was great. Tigger wasn’t very bouncy when we first arrived, but after he went into the kitchen for a snack, he was much more active. A great meal that we love doing every trip – great food, good service & great characters. Highly recommended!

Thurs 9/16:
B – Chef Mickey’s 7 am – We were able to hop on an early bus from POP Century & the driver was kind enough to take us directly to the Contemporary for this early breakfast. The restaurant was pretty quiet this early & the food was very hot & fresh. We actually ended up seeing most of the characters before we even had time to go fill our plates – they just kept coming to the table, one after another! We saw Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip & Dale. The characters came around the restaurant numerous times & were very playful. We even got some great pictures of each of us with Goofy, Pluto & Chip – who were all sitting on the bench at the front of the restaurant after they made their rounds. We would definitely eat here again & I highly recommend getting an early seating time for this one!

L – Le Cellier 2:30 pm – We were very excited to try this for a late lunch this trip, but unfortunately left rather disappointed. It was on the expensive side, and not very filling at all (we ended up eating again later at the POP foodcourt.) The food was delicious – there just wasn’t enough of it. We both got the lunch portion of the Filet Mignon & mashed potatoes. Again, it was very good, but we were hungry 2 hours later. Unfortunately our service left something to be desired. I think our first mistake was asking about our AP discount up front. We hadn’t used it before & I was unsure if they needed to know about it before we ordered. After this meal, I learned to never show our discount until the bill arrived. Our server completely ignored us – but, seemed to be giving her other tables good service. We only saw her twice – to take our order & bring us our food. Our glasses sat empty for 20 minutes while I watched her refill other patrons’ glasses. We’re not in a hurry to eat here again – for the same price we can get an all-you-can-eat that will keep us full thru the evening. Fortunately – this was our only poor service throughout the entire trip.

D – POP Century Food Court – We were very hungry after returning from the parks ( & our small lunch at Le Cellier.) Hubby had the Turkey Panini Sandwich & fries, I had the Penne Pasta w/out the meatball & a garlic breadstick. Both meals were very good for counter-service & we both had these meals again later in the week. I would definitely recommend a quick meal at the POP food court. (We also got great use out of our refillable POP mugs that we purchased upon our arrival.)

Fri 9/17:
B – skipped breakfast

L – Flame Tree BBQ 11 am – We skipped breakfast in anticipation of trying Flame Tree as an early lunch. We purchased the meal plus certificates & they were a great deal! We both got the BBQ pork sandwich – which came with a large drink, cup of baked beans & small corn on the cob. We also ordered a basket of fries to split (without realizing the sandwiches came with all of these sides.) The food was very good & we can’t wait to eat here again. We enjoyed a very quiet & relaxing lunch down by the river in a shady spot. We also enjoyed the large ice cream cones we got later in the day with our certs. We got 2 more bottles of water with the certs & brought them back to the room with us. Definitely check out Flame Tree if you’re looking for a good & affordable lunch/dinner at the AK.

D – Cantina de San Angel – After strolling thru EPCOT for awhile – we headed to the outdoor Mexican eatery. This is my favorite counter service restaurant at WDW. I’ve been going here since I was little & feel like it’s not a trip to WDW without eating here. We both got the Plato Combinacion & a churro for dessert. We also tried the frozen margarita served here – but, later on found the much tastier strawberry margaritas served one stand over from the Mexican restaurant. Recommended for a nice, affordable meal on the waterfront.

More to follow -

 

[arizonacolbys]

Forgot to mention - please feel free to ask any questions - thanks!

Continued from above:

Sat 9/18:
B – Starring Rolls Bakery at MGM (after RNRC & TOT.) I had a chocolate muffin with chocolate chips & hubby had a blueberry muffin – we split a Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie & a Diet Coke.

L – Mama Melrose 12 pm – We were excited to try this restaurant & we weren’t disappointed! We both ordered the Chicken Parmigiana (even though it wasn’t on the menu) with spaghetti. It was very good & filling. We will be returning here next trip for sure – we’re grateful we found a restaurant we enjoy at MGM – our tradition used to be the character lunch at Hollywood & Vine that is no longer. Great food & great service! Highly recommend.

D – POP Century – light snacks here in the evening – I believe I tried the cheese pizza that night. Not the best pizza in the world – but pretty good for fast food type pizza (it was better than I remember pizza at the All Star Movies being.)

Sun 9/19:
B – ‘Ohanna’s 7:30 am – We tried this character breakfast again after not being so crazy about it in Dec 2002. Well, we were glad we did. We had excellent service & great food. We enjoy that this one is family style – so there’s no missing the characters while at the buffet. My favorite, as usual, was the Mickey waffles. We saw Mickey, Goofy, Chip & Dale here. Our table for 2 was right up against the window overlooking the castle & the room we stayed in at the Polynesian in Dec 2002. We really enjoyed this meal & visiting the Polynesian again –we will be returning.

L – skipped lunch – snack at the resort

D – Cape May Café 5:30 pm – This is my hubby’s all-time favorite dinner at WDW, so we visit here every trip. I enjoy it, too – even though I’m not a seafood person. The chicken & potatoes & dessert bar are always great for me. We were a bit apprehensive about our meal here this trip after my MIL had a poor experience here during Easter break. Thankfully, we had an excellent server who kept our drinks coming & the food was hot, fresh & delicious. We will definitely be returning & will probably bring my parents to try it out, too!

 

[poohangel]

Thanks for the reviews, glad you had a good time.

poohangel

 

[arizonacolbys]

Continued -
Mon 9/20:
B – Boma 10 am – We were anxious to check out the AKL, so we voted on breakfast at Boma. We are glad we did! The food was delicious! Hubby had an egg & cheese omelet made that I also had a few bites of. It was very good. They also had some delicious breakfast potatoes & very many food options to choose from. The breakfast juice was delicious – I believe the server said it was Orange, Mango & Pineapple??. I didn’t think I would like it – but thought it was very good. Service was great, restaurant was somewhat quiet & the food was plentiful & delicious. We would definitely return if it fit into our plans to visit the AKL again.

D – Columbia Harbor House – We had never been here before – but, I had read many good reviews here. Unfortunately, we couldn’t eat upstairs – it was roped off. Hubby had a tuna sandwich & I had the ham w/broccoli slaw. My sandwich was delicious with one exception – my bread apparently had olives in it, which I was unaware of when ordering. We will likely return, but I must remember to order different bread! Other than that it was a quiet, affordable place to eat at the MK.

Tues 9/21:
B – Starring Rolls Bakery – again after RNRC & TOT. We both had the blueberry muffins this time. They were good for a light breakfast.

L – Nine Dragons 2 pm-ish? – This was our first time here & we enjoyed it. We got the lunch sampler for 2 & were able to use our AP discount, too. For $29 it was a lot of food & very good. We were allowed to switch one of the meal options – I traded out the Steak dish for General Tso’s chicken, we also had a shrimp dish & the Honey Sesame Chicken. I enjoyed the Honey Sesame the best. The meal also came with rice & it started out with 2 bowls of Won Ton Soup. It was a great deal & very filling for lunch. We would probably return here sometime – maybe not every trip though.

Weds 9/22:
B – Cinderella’s Royal Table 8:10 am – This was our first time dining with the princesses’ & my first time ever inside the castle. We were seated at a lovely table right along the window overlooking Fantasyland. We had a good server, but things started out a little rough. We both ordered chocolate milk & just as our server went to place it on our table – bumped the tray & chocolate milk went everywhere! It was all over the floor, some splattered on to my white shirt (which luckily came out a week later when I was home to wash it ) & all over Belle & her pretty dress – just as she was approaching our table. It was a bit too much excitement for 8 am. We got our pictures w/Belle, but she then had to go change into a clean dress. We saw: Belle, Mary Poppins, Cinderella, Aurora & Snow White (Fairy Godmother was in the lobby when we left.) The food was delicious & I was even able to order a couple items off the children’s menu (French toast sticks were delicious.) We enjoyed this breakfast, but probably won’t do it every trip. Too hard to get into most times of the year & so many little ones would enjoy it more than us.

L/D – Beaches & Cream 3:30 pm – This was our first time dining here & after reading so many great reviews – we weren’t disappointed. We were seated at a booth along the wall & hubby enjoyed picking songs to play on the jukebox. We both ordered the cheeseburger & fries & Diet Cokes. Everything came out fast & was delicious. For dessert, we split the No Way Jose. It was huge & delicious! There were so many desserts that looked good it was hard to decide. We got a seat with no problem, but the place was full by the time we left. Definitely try to hit this one at an off time. We will definitely be back again! Highly recommend!

More to follow!

 

[missypie]

Sorry, but the idea of one of the princesses getting splattered with chocolate milk is too funny! Did she stay in character?

 

[arizonacolbys]

Continued:

Thurs 9/23:
B ¡V Main Street Bake Shop 10 am ¡V I always enjoy stopping here for the huge warm cinnamon rolls. This trip was no exception! We did EMH at MK & then walked over & took a break at the Bake Shop. I had the Cinnamon roll & chocolate chip cookie. Hubby had a cherry turnover (Danish?) & chocolate chip cookie. Affordable & offered a nice break in front of the castle.

L/D ¡V Garden Grill 2:30 pm ¡V This was our 2nd time here ¡V I wasn¡¦t nuts over it the 1st time. We decided to give it another try & were very glad we did. We got a great booth at the bottom near the Land scenery & started getting visits from characters right away. Pluto came first & I had a Pluto shirt on so we got some extra interaction. He was writing notes to us on the child¡¦s menu on the table. It was great! The food was very good & I also enjoyed being able to order some of the child¡¦s menu options ¡V the chicken fingers were delicious. The dessert was a delicious, warm apple cobbler with ice cream that we shared. The character interaction was great here & we were able to use our AP discount for lunch, too. We will definitely return here for good food & to see the characters in their farming gear!

Fri 9/24:
B ¡V Donald¡¦s Breakfastosaurus 9:40 am ¡V We visit here every trip ¡V it¡¦s one of our favorite character meals. This time seemed a bit more hectic than usual, but still a great experience. The worst part was the long line to check-in for our PS & the rude family seated by us (not the restaurant¡¦s fault by any means.) This woman actually had her ¡§bottom¡¨ on our table-top when trying to take photos of the children. Almost knocked plates off our table. Completely oblivious to the world around them. Oh well. The set-up was a bit different this time ¡V the buffet line was up at the entrance & it seemed like a better plan. There was never much of a line at the buffet, even though the restaurant was full. Food was delicious & our server was excellent ¡V he kept brining refills of our chocolate milk in large glasses ¡V which was great - & he was full of different tricks. The characters were great & we actually ended up being the table that Mickey & Goofy collided at - so, we got pics with both of them together! I¡¦ve read many poor reviews of this restaurant, but we continue to really enjoy it here. We always go early or late ¡V not during the biggest breakfast rush. We definitely recommend & will return soon!

D ¡V Cantina de San Angel ¡V 2 Plato Combinacions again & this time a Strawberry Margarita, too. We sampled some other treats around the ¡§World¡¨ that night ¡V hubby stopped & got a cannoli in Italy ¡V one of his favorites.

Sat 9/25:
B ¡V Cape May 10 am ¡V This was our first time here for breakfast & we really enjoyed ourselves. The Beach Club was quite hectic when we entered the lobby ¡V a line went around the lobby & out the door with people checking in/out due to impending Hurricane Jeanne. We were almost immediately seated at Cape May & the restaurant was mostly full. We saw Goofy & Minnie & Chip. (We actually saw Dale run into the kitchen, but we were told Chip & Dale are on a 45 minute rotation. So, we got pics with Chip, but no Dale.) The food was delicious here ¡V I had the best Krispy Kreme donut here ever! (We don¡¦t have these around here, so I¡¦ve only had them once or twice.) Muffins were good & of course more Mickey waffles. We will probably try to fit this one in again in the future. Fun characters, good service & tasty food.

D ¡V Liberty Tree 4 pm ¡V This is traditionally our ¡§last dinner¡¨ at WDW. We were seated very quickly & had characters at our table almost immediately, too! We saw Pluto, Meeko, Minnie, Chip & Dale. All of the characters were great ¡V but, we had the most fun with Meeko & Pluto. The characters made the rounds numerous times & we had some nice discussions with some of them . A little girl near us wanted Meeko to sit down with her ¡V but, due to his large pointed tail ¡V he can¡¦t exactly sit down on a chair. He was being quite the character & was very entertaining. The food was delicious as usual ¡V salad w/strawberry dressing, rolls w/honey butter, sliced ham, turkey & roast beef, stuffing, veggies & mashed potatoes w/gravy. (It comes w/Mac & Cheese, too, but we passed on this.) A nice change was the addition of dessert. This was a warm apple cobbler with ice cream on top (last year they didn¡¦t offer dessert as part of the meal cost.) Definitely remains a must-do for us every trip.

At the end of this meal I inquired with our server about park hours (due to Hurricane Jeanne) & found out that the parks would all be closing at 7 pm. Shortly thereafter, we returned to the POP Century in an effort to beat some of the rush out of the park. We then went to the food court (which was complete madness) & purchased lots of non-perishable junk for the next day. We were told the food court would close at some point & may not reopen until Monday. We got: Lays Stax, Tostitos, 2 - Rice Krispie Mickey bars, 2 bottles of Gatorade, & Twinkies. We also had some Nutri-grain bars, peanut butter crackers & caramel corn in the room. Sometime between 8 ¡V 10 pm that night they actually had characters to visit with in the lobby of the resort ¡V Mickey, Minnie, Goofy & Pluto. This was a fun surprise for us!

Sun 9/26:
B ¡V Nutri-grain bars & assorted junk in the room. Awoke to the sounds of Hurricane Jeanne outside.

L ¡V more junk ƒº

D ¡V Around 7:30 pm (after eating nothing but junk all day) the food court finally began serving hot food again. They reopened after 5 w/cold sandwiches, but mentioned the hot food would be coming ¡V so, we held off. We got a large cheese pizza & a brownie & took them back to the room & watched some football on t.v. It tasted like the best pizza of my life at the time. ƒº

Mon 9/27:
B ¡V Crystal Palace 8:10 am ¡V rescheduled from Sunday ¡V This is always our all-time favorite breakfast at WDW & it didn¡¦t disappoint this time either. Hubby¡¦s favorite is the breakfast lasagna & I love the Tigger waffles. Character interaction was great & food was delicious & filling. Server was great & she even took some pics for us together with the characters. We will definitely be returning here & I highly recommend this meal to others.

After some snacks from the POP food court we were off on a jet plane to Cleveland, OH. Please feel free to any questions ¡V I¡¦m sure I left a lot of details out. We had a wonderful trip & almost all meals were wonderful. We had very few poor experiences ¡V only one place we won¡¦t return to. This will make it harder to pick restaurants for next time ¡V too many great restaurants to choose from!

 

[arizonacolbys]

Missypie - Yes, Belle did a very good job of being graceful about it. Our server commented to her something about calling down to get her a clean apron. The chocolate milk certainly didn't seem to ruffle anyone's feathers - I kind of got the impression it may happen somewhat often.

 

[ncmvp]

Arizonacolby's

Great reviews. I had to laugh about Le Cellier. We went there for lunch for the first time this summer. I too ordered the petit filet mignon. When our food came out my husband and kids could not stop laughing. When they say petit they ain't kidding, LOL. My son kept stating "gee mom, you have the most expensive plate, yet the least amount of food". Now we really are not big eaters, but, this was the first time we were not too stuffed after lunch to have dessert.

 

[barbeml]

Thanks so much for the wonderfully detailed reviews. I really enjoyed them.

 

[IMISSDISNEY]

Thanks for the great reveiws.

 

[inky dinky doo]

We're going to Mama Melrose for the first time in a couple of weeks, and I wondered how you were able to order the chicken parmagiana if it wasn't on the menu. Did you just ask if it was available or did they offer it as a daily special or something? It sounds like something we might like to try.

 

[Kaycee]

Thanks for the great reviews with lots of wonderful details!

 

[danny1649]

Thank you for sharing,soory for LeCellier experience this is one our favorites and I hate to see when anyone has a bad experience at it.Hope you give them another chance on your next trip.

 

[travelbug]

Thanks for the excellent reviews! I really enjoyed reading every detail.

I have kind of a weird question. At Nine Dragons, is there enough food included in the lunch sampler for 2 that it would actually feed 3 people looking to get filled up but not stuffed?

Sounds like a wonderful trip in spite of Jeanne putting in an appearance.

 

[TwingleMum]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Minniespal]

Great reviews ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[swilshire]

We had a terrific waitress at LeCellier in July. Even though we were using VKL vouchers and sharing one adults' and two childs' between the six of us, she was gracious and accomodating. We had more than enough food for three adults, one 6'1" teen boy, and two little ones.

We left a substantial tip on top of the one that is included with the vouchers. She deserved it.

Sheila

 

[mickeymousefan]

great reviews!!!! You ate at all my favorite places!!!

 

[arizonacolbys]

Travelbug - I think it would probably be possible for 3 people to fill up on this entree. You might want to order an extra bowl of soup to help out though (the soup comes out in 2 individual bowls.) With the soup, rice & 3 entrees we had food left over. I believe there was a family seated near us - 2 parents & a child - that shared this sampler.

Inky dinky doo - We had been disappointed on a previous trip when we tried to get chicken parm at Tony's at the MK. It used to be our favorite item there, but it's no longer on their menu. Before our trip I saw that Mama's had Chicken parm on their menu so we made PS's. When we checked in & I couldn't find it on the menu I panicked a little. I went up to the hostess stand & inquired about the Chicken Parm & she said it was no problem to order it. When we were seated our server already knew what we wanted. It was a great lunch - we'll definitely be returning.

Hope this helps!

 

[disneyvoice]

We had a similar experience with the service for our first visit to Le Cellier. It's unfortunate because I thought the food was very good. My fianace was so annoyed with the service that he said he will never go back - even to give it a second chance. He feels like there are so many other good restaurants at Epcot that he can't justify another visit.

We also had to wait about 20 minutes for our drinks and were NEVER offered refills. The bad part was that our waiter just seemed to disappear so it wasn't like we could even flag him down to request a refill.

Not that this is a big deal but he never even came by to ask how everything was once we finally got our food. The place wasn't even full and they seemed to have ample staff to take care of everyone. Even at the absolutely packed and chaotic restaurants we ate at, the waiters or waitresses came by to see how everything was and if we needed anything else.