First off I had to say staying on property was the best thing we have ever done. Now we are already lining up the choice of resorts for our next Magical Disney Vacation for 2 years from now (which will be our 10th anniversary vacation too! 
).
The dining plan was AWESOME! We loved not having to worry about how much a meal cost and figuring out the tip. I will rate everything according to food, and atmosphere.
Cast Members: 33 year old Princess & Disneyaholic
33 year old hubby (who says Disney is OK but I have pics prove otherwise)
6 year old Living Princess, breathes and loves anything having to do with Disney Princesses.
3 year old - Experiment 626/Stitch
Sunday, November 20th- TABLE SERVICE_ CHEF MICKEY's
We had driven 3 days prior to Miami from NJ. So we made the drive to the Disney Resort at 1pm. Due to traffic from a very bad car accident on the FL Turnpike we arrived at the Carribean Beach much later than we had anticipated Check in was quick, luckily we arrived mere seconds before the Disney Express bus pulled in! We took our bags to the room and left right away to the Contemporary Resort for our 6:20pm reservations at Chef Mickey's. Again we hit traffic and arrive at Chef Mickey's at 6:45pm. Seems that they knew about all the traffic they didnt give us a hard time. We were greated by our host Donald Duck. DS didnt want to take a pic. So here I thought, Oh No, I guess this will go on for the rest of the trip. We were seated about 10 minutes after we arrived and immediately the characters started making thier rounds. First was Chip then Minnie. DS was fine and took photos with the characters (it turned out better than I expected)We had a little break where we went over and picked up our food. DS and DD had mickey shaped Mac and cheese and pizza. I picked up some herb crusted salmon, corn stuffing, shrimps, mediteranean pasta, and some other items I don't remember clearly. Goofy snuck up on DD and played with her pigtails. He was followed by Mickey, and Dale. We finished up dinner and went up for some dessert. Mike and DD and DS made a concoction of sundaes, I had cheesecake and key lime tart. The tart was DELICIOUS! I went back and got more! LOL Before we left DS wanted to take a pic with Donald. So we went back and got one that turned out really sweet!
Ratings: Food......A (everything was fresh, and very tasty)
Atmosphere.....A+ (the characters were delightful, and the place is decorated really vivid and fun for everyone)
Monday, November 21-
COUNTER SERVICE - PIZZA PLANET
Seems that the concoction that DD and DH made was too much for thier stomachs to handle because thier bellies were working overtime. So this day they didn't have anything other than a pretzel for lunch. My dad came to MGM with us so he, DS and myself ate at Pizza Planet, while DH and DD played. Now I have read so many times on this board of how disgusting the pizza is here and that it taste like cardboard so I wasn't expecting much. WOW how I was fooled! The pizza was delicious! The salad was very crisp, it was great. I am so glad I didn't go based on the majority on this counter service. My opinion to everyone, if it looks interesting to you go for it. For what one person thinks is lousy the other finds it great.
Ratings:
Food..... A
Atmosphere.... A (DD actually thought it was the perfect replication of Pizza Planet from Toy Story)
Counter Service _
OLD PORT ROYALE (Carribean Beach Resort)
Since none of the counter services in MGM looked appealing to us for dinner, we decided to just go back to the hotel and pick up something to eat there. We had the fettichine alfredo with chicken, the vegetarian baked ziti, and the kids shared a pizza. I guess since it was late in the evening the food was a little dry, not too tasty.
Ratings:
Food:......B- (It was edible, but not tasty)
Atmosphere....A (You feel as though you are in an outdoor marketplace, very realistic with brick floor and sunny skies and all)
Tuesday, November 22
Counter Service- PINNOCHIOS HAUS (Magic Kingdom)
This place was packed to the max! And I know why! Thier sandwiches are DELICIOUS! DH and I both got a Turkey Panini (we could have split one that is how big it was!) with cannolis and chocolate cake for dessert. DS and DD shared an order of chicken fingers.
Food..... A+
Atmosphere......B (It was a cottage setting, but since the place was so incredibly crowded and the tables were so crowded to one another you couldn't really appreciate it.)
Table Service- CRYSTAL PALACE
While we were sitting here waiting for our name to be called we saw so many people trying to get last minute reservations. All of them were turned away. It made me glad to know that I got some sound advice here....do not go to Disney without ADR's. We had to wait about 25 minutes to get seated. I was told by one of the CM that they overbooked. I asked why would they do that and he said "Crystal Palace doesn't require a deposit or for you to pay in full so many times people make thier ADR and then don't show up. This way it gaurentees that they will have a full house" Made sense. Once we were seated we were immediately greated by Tigger. DD pigtails were a hit with lots of characters, since most of them played with them. Piglet came by close behind, followed by eyore. We then went up to get our food. DD and DS had thier usual. THe foodwas similar to Chef Mickey's. Pooh Bear came by and then we settled and relaxed while we had dinner. The desserts were delicious. I had the key lime pie, bread pudding and custard. DELICIOUS. Since it was cold we asked for hot chocolate. That really hit the spot.
Ratings:
Food: A- (I think they could be a little more creative with thier menu.)
Atmosphere: A- (tables are a little too close to together which doesnt allow much elbow room. But otherwise, the characters were delightful and the place was alot of fun!)
Wednesday, November 23-
Counter Service- Old Port Royale
DD and I woke up early this morning and decided to go take a walk and explore the resort and grab some breakfast while we left DS and DH to sleep in. The Carribean Beach is just gorgeous. We made our way to the food court and picked up Mickey waffles. They were SCRUMPTIOUS. So light and fluffy. We picked up chocolate chip pancakes for DH and some mickey waffles for DS.
Food: A
Atmosphere: A
Counter Service: Wolfgang Puck Express
After learning from experience at Pinnochios Haus we decided that we would split two lunches here. We were so correct in doing so. The food here is delicious. DH and I split the wolfgang Puck Pesto Chicken and a Brownie and DD and DS split a Wolfgang Puck Four Cheese Pizza and a fruit cup. Fresh and extremely tasty. This had to be the best Counter Service meal we had, hands down.
Food: A+
Atmosphere: A (We had our lunch outside under an umbrella table.
Table Service:
Spirit of Aloha
Another reason why if you want to try something out and get lots of negative reviews here, don't go based on that. This Dinner Show was great. There was an ambundance of food and it was all delicious. I LOVED the Polynesian Style bread and salad they first bring out. The main course of roasted chicken rice and veggies was very good, I dont eat pork ribs but hubby said it was finger licking good, LOL. The children wanted nothing of the spread so I thought we had to choose from the childrens items. It turned out they got a boxed dinner with all of the menu items: Mac and Cheese, Nuggets, hot dogs, and PB & J. DD ate all but the PB & J. She doesnt care for jelly. DS ate the mac and cheese and the nuggets. For dessert they brought out a mouth watering chocolate mouse in the shape of a volcano. It was very decadent. The show was very entertaining. DD and DS loved the fire dancer and they kept calling him David from Lilo and Stitch.
Food: A+
Atmosphere: A + (although it was a cool evening they had free standing heaters so it kept everyone toasty warm.
Thursday, November 24-
Counter Service- Pizzafari (Animal Kingdom)
This place was so packed, and they had very limited seating. I went on line while DH found a table with the kids. This was our least favorite of the counter services. DH had the Chicken parm, the children split a cheese pizza, and I had the cheese quesadillas. We had the chocolate cake and the apple tart for dessert. It was nothing to write home about, although the desserts were good.
Food: B
Atmosphere: C (They really need to provide more seating here)
Table Service-
BOMAS
This place I have heard rave reviews about. So I was ready for it. I was under the impression that there was tons to choose from. I guess I was expecting more. The Butternut Squash soup was to DIE FOR. OMG! This was so delicious I had 2 bowls of it. DH and I are very adventurous eaters so we tried a little of everything. Everything was very good. The Zebra Domes were as everyone states, Delicious. One thing I wasn't too fond of was the lighting. The place was really dark. Our waitress was awesome. She was so friendly and very helpful with explaining everything that we would be trying out.
Food: A- (I dont know if they have more selection when it isnt Thanksgiving and maybe because they had a Traditional Turkey Dinner spread)
Atmosphere: B (The lighting was not good at all)
Friday, November 24-
Counter Service- Old Port Royale
Since we were going to eat dinner at my uncle's, we decided to use up our last CS for breakfast since we had TS for lunch. We had the eggs, with french toast, bacon for breakfast and DH and I split that. The children split the waffles. As before, it was a tried and true breakfast.
Food: A
Table Service-
Cinderellas Royal Table
The coveted Cinderellas Royal Table! We so thought we weren't going to get this when we called for reservations 100 days earlier. But we managed to get it! And we are so happy we did. DD and I were in awe of eating in the castle. And personally I am glad we got to do this before the change to 2 TS credits for it. The food is wonderful, but at the quick rate that the princesses come around, I dont think it is worth using 2 credits for. We met Cinderella in the lobby, and we saw the Fairy Godmother, Belle (she was a strange looking Belle), Snow White, Sleeping Beauty , and Wendy (which DD and I were baffled at how she got to be there). I was told by a cast member that Jasmine was there earlier. I was a bit upset that we missed her because, this was suppose to be a princess lunch and 2 of the 6 were not princesses. Fairy Godmother seemed to be a bit rude. She just came and looked miffed that DD had an autograph book and barely smiled for the pic. Snow White was the best. She had such a cute little voice and facial expressions. DD loved her. For lunch I had the Major Domo's Pie, DH had the Salmon, and DD had the chicken. DS was given the complimentary pasta. The Major Domo's Pie was fabulous! That was the one meal I cleaned my plate at! LOL DH loved his salmon too. And the blueberry buckle cobbler was delicious!
Food- A+
Atmosphere- A (eating at the castle was a wonderful experience. I would prefer that they put in another princess instead of adding a non princess to the mix. But personally I dont think the experience is worth 2 table credits)
).The dining plan was AWESOME! We loved not having to worry about how much a meal cost and figuring out the tip. I will rate everything according to food, and atmosphere.
Cast Members: 33 year old Princess & Disneyaholic
33 year old hubby (who says Disney is OK but I have pics prove otherwise)
6 year old Living Princess, breathes and loves anything having to do with Disney Princesses.
3 year old - Experiment 626/Stitch
Sunday, November 20th- TABLE SERVICE_ CHEF MICKEY's
We had driven 3 days prior to Miami from NJ. So we made the drive to the Disney Resort at 1pm. Due to traffic from a very bad car accident on the FL Turnpike we arrived at the Carribean Beach much later than we had anticipated Check in was quick, luckily we arrived mere seconds before the Disney Express bus pulled in! We took our bags to the room and left right away to the Contemporary Resort for our 6:20pm reservations at Chef Mickey's. Again we hit traffic and arrive at Chef Mickey's at 6:45pm. Seems that they knew about all the traffic they didnt give us a hard time. We were greated by our host Donald Duck. DS didnt want to take a pic. So here I thought, Oh No, I guess this will go on for the rest of the trip. We were seated about 10 minutes after we arrived and immediately the characters started making thier rounds. First was Chip then Minnie. DS was fine and took photos with the characters (it turned out better than I expected)We had a little break where we went over and picked up our food. DS and DD had mickey shaped Mac and cheese and pizza. I picked up some herb crusted salmon, corn stuffing, shrimps, mediteranean pasta, and some other items I don't remember clearly. Goofy snuck up on DD and played with her pigtails. He was followed by Mickey, and Dale. We finished up dinner and went up for some dessert. Mike and DD and DS made a concoction of sundaes, I had cheesecake and key lime tart. The tart was DELICIOUS! I went back and got more! LOL Before we left DS wanted to take a pic with Donald. So we went back and got one that turned out really sweet!
Ratings: Food......A (everything was fresh, and very tasty)
Atmosphere.....A+ (the characters were delightful, and the place is decorated really vivid and fun for everyone)
Monday, November 21-
COUNTER SERVICE - PIZZA PLANET
Seems that the concoction that DD and DH made was too much for thier stomachs to handle because thier bellies were working overtime. So this day they didn't have anything other than a pretzel for lunch. My dad came to MGM with us so he, DS and myself ate at Pizza Planet, while DH and DD played. Now I have read so many times on this board of how disgusting the pizza is here and that it taste like cardboard so I wasn't expecting much. WOW how I was fooled! The pizza was delicious! The salad was very crisp, it was great. I am so glad I didn't go based on the majority on this counter service. My opinion to everyone, if it looks interesting to you go for it. For what one person thinks is lousy the other finds it great.
Ratings:
Food..... A
Atmosphere.... A (DD actually thought it was the perfect replication of Pizza Planet from Toy Story)
Counter Service _
OLD PORT ROYALE (Carribean Beach Resort)
Since none of the counter services in MGM looked appealing to us for dinner, we decided to just go back to the hotel and pick up something to eat there. We had the fettichine alfredo with chicken, the vegetarian baked ziti, and the kids shared a pizza. I guess since it was late in the evening the food was a little dry, not too tasty.
Ratings:
Food:......B- (It was edible, but not tasty)
Atmosphere....A (You feel as though you are in an outdoor marketplace, very realistic with brick floor and sunny skies and all)
Tuesday, November 22
Counter Service- PINNOCHIOS HAUS (Magic Kingdom)
This place was packed to the max! And I know why! Thier sandwiches are DELICIOUS! DH and I both got a Turkey Panini (we could have split one that is how big it was!) with cannolis and chocolate cake for dessert. DS and DD shared an order of chicken fingers.
Food..... A+
Atmosphere......B (It was a cottage setting, but since the place was so incredibly crowded and the tables were so crowded to one another you couldn't really appreciate it.)
Table Service- CRYSTAL PALACE
While we were sitting here waiting for our name to be called we saw so many people trying to get last minute reservations. All of them were turned away. It made me glad to know that I got some sound advice here....do not go to Disney without ADR's. We had to wait about 25 minutes to get seated. I was told by one of the CM that they overbooked. I asked why would they do that and he said "Crystal Palace doesn't require a deposit or for you to pay in full so many times people make thier ADR and then don't show up. This way it gaurentees that they will have a full house" Made sense. Once we were seated we were immediately greated by Tigger. DD pigtails were a hit with lots of characters, since most of them played with them. Piglet came by close behind, followed by eyore. We then went up to get our food. DD and DS had thier usual. THe foodwas similar to Chef Mickey's. Pooh Bear came by and then we settled and relaxed while we had dinner. The desserts were delicious. I had the key lime pie, bread pudding and custard. DELICIOUS. Since it was cold we asked for hot chocolate. That really hit the spot.
Ratings:
Food: A- (I think they could be a little more creative with thier menu.)
Atmosphere: A- (tables are a little too close to together which doesnt allow much elbow room. But otherwise, the characters were delightful and the place was alot of fun!)
Wednesday, November 23-
Counter Service- Old Port Royale
DD and I woke up early this morning and decided to go take a walk and explore the resort and grab some breakfast while we left DS and DH to sleep in. The Carribean Beach is just gorgeous. We made our way to the food court and picked up Mickey waffles. They were SCRUMPTIOUS. So light and fluffy. We picked up chocolate chip pancakes for DH and some mickey waffles for DS.
Food: A
Atmosphere: A
Counter Service: Wolfgang Puck Express
After learning from experience at Pinnochios Haus we decided that we would split two lunches here. We were so correct in doing so. The food here is delicious. DH and I split the wolfgang Puck Pesto Chicken and a Brownie and DD and DS split a Wolfgang Puck Four Cheese Pizza and a fruit cup. Fresh and extremely tasty. This had to be the best Counter Service meal we had, hands down.
Food: A+
Atmosphere: A (We had our lunch outside under an umbrella table.
Table Service:
Spirit of Aloha
Another reason why if you want to try something out and get lots of negative reviews here, don't go based on that. This Dinner Show was great. There was an ambundance of food and it was all delicious. I LOVED the Polynesian Style bread and salad they first bring out. The main course of roasted chicken rice and veggies was very good, I dont eat pork ribs but hubby said it was finger licking good, LOL. The children wanted nothing of the spread so I thought we had to choose from the childrens items. It turned out they got a boxed dinner with all of the menu items: Mac and Cheese, Nuggets, hot dogs, and PB & J. DD ate all but the PB & J. She doesnt care for jelly. DS ate the mac and cheese and the nuggets. For dessert they brought out a mouth watering chocolate mouse in the shape of a volcano. It was very decadent. The show was very entertaining. DD and DS loved the fire dancer and they kept calling him David from Lilo and Stitch.
Food: A+
Atmosphere: A + (although it was a cool evening they had free standing heaters so it kept everyone toasty warm.
Thursday, November 24-
Counter Service- Pizzafari (Animal Kingdom)
This place was so packed, and they had very limited seating. I went on line while DH found a table with the kids. This was our least favorite of the counter services. DH had the Chicken parm, the children split a cheese pizza, and I had the cheese quesadillas. We had the chocolate cake and the apple tart for dessert. It was nothing to write home about, although the desserts were good.
Food: B
Atmosphere: C (They really need to provide more seating here)
Table Service-
BOMAS
This place I have heard rave reviews about. So I was ready for it. I was under the impression that there was tons to choose from. I guess I was expecting more. The Butternut Squash soup was to DIE FOR. OMG! This was so delicious I had 2 bowls of it. DH and I are very adventurous eaters so we tried a little of everything. Everything was very good. The Zebra Domes were as everyone states, Delicious. One thing I wasn't too fond of was the lighting. The place was really dark. Our waitress was awesome. She was so friendly and very helpful with explaining everything that we would be trying out.
Food: A- (I dont know if they have more selection when it isnt Thanksgiving and maybe because they had a Traditional Turkey Dinner spread)
Atmosphere: B (The lighting was not good at all)
Friday, November 24-
Counter Service- Old Port Royale
Since we were going to eat dinner at my uncle's, we decided to use up our last CS for breakfast since we had TS for lunch. We had the eggs, with french toast, bacon for breakfast and DH and I split that. The children split the waffles. As before, it was a tried and true breakfast.
Food: A
Table Service-
Cinderellas Royal Table
The coveted Cinderellas Royal Table! We so thought we weren't going to get this when we called for reservations 100 days earlier. But we managed to get it! And we are so happy we did. DD and I were in awe of eating in the castle. And personally I am glad we got to do this before the change to 2 TS credits for it. The food is wonderful, but at the quick rate that the princesses come around, I dont think it is worth using 2 credits for. We met Cinderella in the lobby, and we saw the Fairy Godmother, Belle (she was a strange looking Belle), Snow White, Sleeping Beauty , and Wendy (which DD and I were baffled at how she got to be there). I was told by a cast member that Jasmine was there earlier. I was a bit upset that we missed her because, this was suppose to be a princess lunch and 2 of the 6 were not princesses. Fairy Godmother seemed to be a bit rude. She just came and looked miffed that DD had an autograph book and barely smiled for the pic. Snow White was the best. She had such a cute little voice and facial expressions. DD loved her. For lunch I had the Major Domo's Pie, DH had the Salmon, and DD had the chicken. DS was given the complimentary pasta. The Major Domo's Pie was fabulous! That was the one meal I cleaned my plate at! LOL DH loved his salmon too. And the blueberry buckle cobbler was delicious!
Food- A+
Atmosphere- A (eating at the castle was a wonderful experience. I would prefer that they put in another princess instead of adding a non princess to the mix. But personally I dont think the experience is worth 2 table credits)
thanks for your review !!
