Planning restaurant reservations for our "romantic" break

[megarasweet]

My boyfriend and I are heading out to DLP in November this year, and it being his first trip I want to make a good impression! We're both real foodies, so we've budgeted allowing for three sit-down meals.

We've spent a good few hours looking through menus and reviews, and at the moment this is what we're planning.

1st night - Hot dogs from Casey's Corner watching the Fantillusion parade
2nd night - Blue Lagoon
3rd night - Annette's Diner
4th night - Auberge De Cendrillon

Watching the parade from Casey's is a tradition for my family and I whenever we visit DLP, and I thought it would be the perfect way to get my boyfriend into the Disney spirit after a long day of travelling. I've also been to Blue Lagoon twice before and loved it both times; my boyfriend is born and bred Cornish and has a real taste for seafood, so I'm hoping it will go down well.

However with Annette's and Auberge I'm going purely by reviews and menus. Every time we've been to DLP as a family I've wanted to try Auberge but it was too expensive for a large family. As for Annette's, we decided that between Blue Lagoon and Auberge it would be nice to just have some big hearty food on the second night, and Annette's came out top.

Does anyone have any advice to offer regarding these choices? I'd really love some feedback on Auberge and Annette's. If it makes any odds we're a young couple (both 18) and this is our first holiday together - we really want to make it memorable!

One final question, my boyfriend loves steak so we looked at reviews for Silver Spur and The Steakhouse, but neither came out looking too great. Has anyone had a really good experience at either of these restaurants? If so we may have steak on the second night instead of Annette's.

Thanks in advance!

 

[tennisfan]

I love Annette's diner, try to eat here each visit. My BIL proclaims its the best burger he has eaten (and he isn't a fan of theme parks but would go back to eat here)

 

[Ware Bears]

Love the Blue Lagoon both for food and atmosphere, haven't eaten at Steakhouse in Village apart from the Sunday Character Brunch (which is very nice) but have eaten at Silver Spur Steakhouse where I had a lovely steak and I'd happily go there again. Best steak I've had at DLP though was at Walt's.

Annette's serves huge portions at very reasonable (for DLP) prices and is a fun place to eat. I haven't been to Auberge since before they started the Princess meals but it's really beautiful inside there.

Happy planning!

 

[megarasweet]

I think we're definitely having to do Annette's at some point, even if we loosen the purse strings a little more and get lunch there one day.

I haven't given Walt's much consideration to be honest, it's one of those restaurants I've always somehow bypassed. I'll have to take a look at the menu and see what the boyfriend thinks.

That's the thing about Auberge, it just looks so beautiful! It would just be interesting to see if the food really is as good as it sounds on the menu.

Thanks both of you!

 

[Disney-fan]

We had lunch in Auberge on Wednesday last week

I had the lamb dish which was absolutely gorgeous - meat lovely and pink, just how I like it . DH had veal which he'd never had before, and it was lovely too... it's v expensive though, I think you're paying lots for the Character interaction, but it was worth it for us as DD and DS loved seeing the Princesses.

 

[kizzabel]

I would skip the Silver Spur as we had horrid rude wait staff.
Love Annettes and also had some pretty nice steak at Walts but you MUST try their cheesecake. It is FAN TAS TIC!!!!!! I dream about it some times.
The Steakhouse was very nice for dinner. The steak was great here too as was the soup (carrot and ?)

Happy Planning!

 

[megarasweet]

Disney-fan - Thanks, it's great to hear such a recent experience. The food does sound gorgeous, and we're justifying the price by calling it my early birthday present! Neither of us are really up for queuing to see characters in the park (we'd rather be on the rides!) so Auberge will be our big character experience of the trip.

kizzabel - Thanks for the advice on Silver Spur, it's not the first bad review I've heard of the service. I don't think we'll risk wasting our time and money on the place.

However I'm getting more and more intrigued by Walt's...

 

[kizzabel]

They also do a fab sweet potato gratin!
Love this part of the planning

 

[megarasweet]

The more I look into Walt's the more tempted I am to have an evening meal there and have lunch at Annette's instead. I'll see what my boyfriend thinks tonight, although I'm sure he'll be grateful of a highly recommended steak!

I'm having a wonderful time planning. We may not be going until November, but both being students we're being really focussed on budgeting now instead of later, and at DLP we figured a big chunk of the budget would be food (especially considering we don't love counter service).

 

[A Small World]

You may find that Walts and Blue Lagoon arent open for dinner during November so you may have to eat your main meal at lunchtime if you want to eat in the park. Same with Auberge.

I love all those restaurants and Annettes

 

[megarasweet]

A Small World - Thanks for the warning. I went in early December last year and assumed that there would be the same opening times then as when we go in late November.

Does anyone know if it's possible yet to look into this? Or will we have to wait until closer to the time?

If they are closed for dinner we'll just have to compromise with a late lunch.

 

[torres_fan]

Ive been with my boyfriend a few times, once being when I took him for his 21st.

I have been to Silver Spur twice, first with my boyfriend and it was lovely. Second time I went with my mum and we nearly walked out. The service was terrible, food luke warm and I wouldnt go back.

My three favourite meals in all the times I have been to DLP is cafe mickey food was fantastic and the waiter was really lovely.
Secondly (and I was a bit concerned not a massive buffet fan) was billy bobs, great choices and felt more adulty rather than completly geared for kids
Lastly the nicest chicken burger I have ever tasted annettes. Im a massive Grease fan anyway but the singing dancing and the food I loved it all.

I realise these are all out of the park but we like to eat dinner rather than a big lunch and we always go out of season so never there when park is open late so the restaurants close early.

Hope you have a lovely time.

 

[A Small World]

A Small World - Thanks for the warning. I went in early December last year and assumed that there would be the same opening times then as when we go in late November.

Does anyone know if it's possible yet to look into this? Or will we have to wait until closer to the time?

If they are closed for dinner we'll just have to compromise with a late lunch.

Is it a weekend or midweek? If its a weekend theres more chance of them being open later but still not guaranteed

 

[megarasweet]

torres-fan - Oh dear, looks like another reason to avoid Silver Spur! Cafe Mickey has never really appealed to me I must admit, but thanks for the comment on Billy Bobs, I'll have to look into it.

A Small World - We're going midweek to save money, so I'll plan considering that. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

 

[Ware Bears]

When I went the end of last month Walt's was only open for lunch with a last sitting of 3:45pm on Wednesday - Sunday (closed Monday and Tuesday) whereas Blue Lagoon was open every day. I'm not sure what time their last sitting was but they were serving dinner as well as lunch. I don't think you'll be able to find out the days and hours until it's within the 60 day mark and annoyingly maybe not even straight away then.

 

[jothp]

We have had lovely food at the Auberge and would happily eat there again - the desserts were to die for. We ate at the steakhouse last week and although the food was lovely the service was very slow but this may have been because we were there for lunch and there were very few people there.

We too love Walts, the theming is great, the food very nice and it always seems very calm compared to some of the other restaurants. Our favourite meal last week though was cafe mickey. We had excellent service, really nice food and wonderful character interaction.

 

[megarasweet]

When I went the end of last month Walt's was only open for lunch with a last sitting of 3:45pm on Wednesday - Sunday (closed Monday and Tuesday) whereas Blue Lagoon was open every day. I'm not sure what time their last sitting was but they were serving dinner as well as lunch. I don't think you'll be able to find out the days and hours until it's within the 60 day mark and annoyingly maybe not even straight away then.

Thanks Ware Bears, that's interesting to know. As I've already admitted I'm very unfamiliar with Walt's, but I've always seen Blue Lagoon as very reliable. We never go at peak season and it always seems to be open for dinner.

jothp - It's great to hear more praise for Auberge! At the moment I think it's going to be the highlight of trip. I've seen photos of the desserts and they do look wonderful!

I think I'll keep The Steakhouse in mind in case the park restaurants do close early, it'll be good to have a back up or two in the village.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[sleepysox]

I would say BLue Lagoon and Auberge are both great for couples. I had bad service at Walt's last week, but wouldn't rule it out, I think I was just unlucky. It's quiet and relaxing and if the refurbs are finished you'll find it magical to look out of the window on Main Street especially if the Christmas decs are up- which they should be.

Have you thought of the California Grill in the DLH? It's very expensive, but iirc one or two of the set menus were cheaper than Auberge. It's quiet and relaxing with excellent service, plus you can go for cocktails afterwards in the Fantasia Bar!!!

 

[megarasweet]

sleepysox - We have considered California Grill, but in the end Auberge won out. Having stayed in DLH with family before, I've been to California Grill/Fantasia Bar myself and while it was excellent my boyfriend wants to go for more heavily themed restaurants while we're at DLP.

Also I've personally decided that other than Blue Lagoon I want to be adventurous and try out some new places!