Please join me as I relive our July dining adventures - Finished!

[vald1977]

Please tell me snack credits can be used for these...I have had them at our state fair and love them

DH paid oop for this so I can't say for sure, but I do think you can use a snack credit for these. I know in 2007 we used a counter service credit to eat at Cooke's and we were able to get these as our dessert credit .

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

another great update. Thanks

 

[vald1977]

We had an early breakfast reservation at Crystal Palace this morning so we were up early. We got to the bus stop around 7:00 a.m. and it came quickly. It was just us and one other family on the bus. The other family was going to Chef Mickey's and after the driver dropped us at the MK, he was kind enough to drop them off directly at the Contemporary. We waited with a small group to be let in the gates at 7:45 a.m. and then it was off to a nearly empty MK.

We were able to take some photos with the photo pass photographer before checking in for our 8:05 a.m. reservation. While I was parking the stroller, I met up with my friend Alisa and her children. They had just arrived at WDW the night before and were ready to start their vacation . It was so nice to see someone that I normally only get to interact with online.

It was a bit chaotic waiting to be called into the restaurant as we had the first seating of the day and there were lots of others waiting too. We didn't wait long though, maybe 15 minutes. Once we entered, we met our server, Karen, who was fantastic. She did a great job, which isn't always the case at buffet restaurants.

Piglet and Tigger were only a couple of tables away so we waited to meet them before getting some food.

We then headed up to get some yummy food. We have done this breakfast before and this time it was just as delicious. There are so many options and I have yet to find something I didn't like.

Here is my plate:

The puffed french toast is soooo good. It is on the kid's section so make sure you find it . Also, the bacon here is so crisp. I can't stand gummy bacon and this was outstanding. Everything was hot and fresh.

Here are a few more food pictures:

And a couple more characters:

DD was also brought yet another birthday cupcake here.

We just love starting a day at the MK with an early morning breakfast here.

Overall grade - A

 

[vald1977]

This was the first day the heat was extremely oppressive. It was hot but bearable on our other days. I don't know if it was really that much hotter or we were just tired after so many days of touring. Whatever the case, we were all feeling it.

So when DS asked for some ice cream a couple of hours after our breakfast, I said sure. We were on vacation after all.

We got this with a snack credit and split it.

I thought this was a nice alternative to a Mickey bar. Easy to share and much less mess .

Overall grade - A

 

[dd50]

Great CP pictures. I haven't eaten there and it isn't on the list for this time so maybe next time.

 

[SweetMommy]

I can't wait to eat breakfast at CP! It will be our very first ADR(hopefully, haven't made those yet lol). It looks yummy and fun

 

[milmore104]

Great reviews and pics. Your little one is so adorable.

 

[Alice28]

wow- that breakfast food looks amazing!!!!

 

[funkenzie1]

Those Ice cream sandwiches look delicious.

 

[Nadjalu]

Loved your review and the pictures. Thank you for taking the time to post them. Looks like you had a fabulous time!!

 

[sherylcin]

I have really enjoyed reading your dining reviews. I just saw the Snicker Bar at my County Fair but couldn't quite bring myself to try it. Maybe next trip to DTD! We've done breakfast at the Castle but never dinner. I agree about the food though. We go there for the atmosphere (my granddaughters love the Castle) and thrill of eating in the Castle. Looking forward to reading more of your reviews. The pics are great too! Thanks!

 

[vald1977]

Hi Everyone! Thanks so much for reading .

 

[vald1977]

After touring for a few hours in the scorching heat, we were ready for an ac break and some lunch. We were in Liberty Square because we had just finished watching Hall of Presidents. I had never seen this attraction and it was on the top of my to-do list this trip. If you haven't been, it is fabulous. I even got a bit teary-eyed. Anywho, we were over in that area so we decided to have lunch at Columbia Harbor House. My friend Robin has always highly reccomended this place and I had never tried it.

DD and I went upstairs to save a table and the boys got the food. Here are our meals.

DS got mac and cheese and fries. I think he also had a pudding as his dessert.

DD had a pb&J, grapes, and a pudding.

DH had the fish and fries.

I had the chicken and fries.

DH and I both had chocolate cake for dessert.

And a pic of the honey mustard I dipped my chicken in for my friend Gemma .

All of the food was fresh, hot and very good. We really liked sitting upstairs and stayed there for quite some time just enjoying a break from the heat.

Overall grade - A-

 

[vald1977]

We took the boat over to the Wilderness Lodge for our dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. It made me a bit nostalgic for our stay there. I just love that boat service to the MK. When we stayed at the WL, we had also eaten many meals at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. DD and I had ended up getting nasty cases of strep throat and after a visit to Centra Care we stuck pretty close to the resort for a few days. So, we had a couple of dinners, a lunch, and a breakfast at the WCC. Every meal was great, with dinners being the most fun. So, we were happy to go back on this trip and see if it was as good as we remembered.

We checked in for our reservation and DD settled in playing with the Lincoln Logs. After about five minutes, our buzzer went off and DD was not happy to give up her playing so soon. She was allowed to bring some of the Lincoln Logs to the table with her which I thought was very nice.

Our waiter was "Smokin' Sam" and while he wasn't very much into the shananigins of the restaurant, he was very attentive which we appreciated. We wouldn't have minded being more a part of the fun, though .

DS was rather bummed when he noticed that the mac and cheese was no longer available on the kid's menu. Just a note, the menu here has shrunk significantly since our last trip . Sam said it would be no problem to make the mac and cheese so DS got to order it and he was a happy camper. DD got the kid's skillet with chicken and both DH and I got the all you can eat skillet.

First the cornbread came out. I don't know what it is, but I adore the cornbread at WCC! I think I ate three pieces . We were also served a very good salad and the kids both got fruit cups as their appetizers.

Out came the main courses, and Sweet Lord was it delicious! Everything was piping hot and sooo good. I am especially partial to the mashed potatoes here. They are my favorite of any place at WDW and I do love me some mashed potatoes. All of the food was super though.

Here is the all you can eat skillet. It had bbq pork, ribs, and chicken along with mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and baked beans.

Here is DD's child's skillet.

And DS's mac and cheese.

While we were eating, the entire restaurant got up to do the hokey pokey which was cute as well as the kids did the pony ride.

I took a picture of the dessert menu since I haven't seen it posted anywhere.

I chose the deep-dish bourbon pecan pie and DH got the apple caramel pie. Both kids got vanilla ice cream. This is the one restaurant where I don't think they did anything for DD's birthday but that was just fine. How many cupcakes do you really need ?

Here is DH's pie. He said it was served warm and it was excellent. Sadly, I didn't try it.

Here is my pecan pie. This was only okay. The bourbon flavor was quite strong. I should have gone for the chocolate cake but since we had had that at CHH earlier, I didn't feel like it again.

Here is the kid's ice cream. Nothing special about this.

We all left this meal full and happy. I am sure we will continue to eat here in the future.

Overall grade - A- (marked down only because the kid's menu has gotten pretty puny)

 

[T16GEM]

And a pic of the honey mustard I dipped my chicken in for my friend Gemma .

OMG VAL!!!!!
That is so funny! I cannot wait to get some - I have gotten through one and a half of the 3 huge bottles that Robin sent me!

 

[Alice28]

I'm glad you enjoyed CHH! I find it a peaceful place to be, and it helps the food is tasty too!

Loved the pics of WCC! It's always a pleaser for our family too. That caramel apple pie is yummy!

LOL on the HM sauce...Gemma, I think I saw it in one of my grocery stores...I need to double check on that one. That would be a lot cheaper to ship that ordering a case of it again. Hopefully when you go to FL in January, one of the grocery stores around there will stock it and you can throw a bottle or two in each suitcase! Or order a case to be shipped to your rental home!

 

[vald1977]

I will preface this review by saying that they can't all be winners. Our visit to Chef Mickey's was not.

We visited Epcot this day and took the monorail over to the Contemporary for dinner.

It used to be a family tradition for us to eat at Chef Mickey's each trip and we had always had decent food and a lot of fun. After a little shopping, we joined a good sized line to check in for our dinner. We waited about ten minutes to check in and were then taken over to get our family picture done. This came out very cute and we did purchase it later when they brought it to our table.

Our table was off to the left side of the reataurant. I've never had a table in this section but it just wasn't the same. We felt tucked away and not part of the fun. Donald came by a couple of minutes after we sat down. He was in and out in about two seconds. He barely had time to sign the kid's books.

After Donald's visit, our server arrived and took our drink orders. This was the last we saw of her for a very long time. We all went up to the buffet. There was a small salad bar except there were no tomatoes . This was kind of odd. There was also no thousand island dressing which is my usual choice.

Next was a kid's buffet area with the usual suspects. There were a few veggie dishes next. I tried them all. The veggie stir fry was okay, a bit on the cold side. The broccoli with cheese was terrible. Not only was it cold, the broccoli was raw. I don't remember much about the green beans. There was some mickey ravioli that I didn't even try. It just didn't look very good. Also chicken legs, a fish I think, and some sort of rice (saffron maybe?). There were the mashed potatoes that are supposed to be so good. Not so good if you ask me. They were also carving beef and pork. The beef was pretty good. I didn't try the pork. There was a couple of other dishes that escape my memory. To be honest, it really felt like food that would be served in a high school cafeteria. Most of it was not horrible, but certainly not what I expect to be served at an expensive buffet. There was also a lot of those little birds in the place. I know, I know. There is a big, gaping hole in the building. It was still kind of gross to see 4-5 little birds flying around and landing on the floor when you are eating.

Food pics:

This is my plate. That clumpy pasta dish was awful. It was cold and mushy.

Dh's plate.

Kid's food.

Our drinks had been delivered while we got our food which is always nice. The characters continued to visit and it just felt rushed and unlike the usual Disney way. Pluto was an exception to this. He was a lot of fun and took some time with the kids .

The did a little celebration dance number for all the celebrations about midway through our meal. We really couldn't see too much of it. DD was brought a cupcake.

We had celebrated DS's birthday here in 2006 and he was treated like a little Prince. He got a placemat signed by the characters and they all oohed and awwed over him. I remember back then on the dining plan gratuity was included and I still left a hefty extra tip because we had such a wonderful experience and our server was so great but I digress...

Back to 2009 and our plates we stacking up. I decide to go and check out the desserts. Most of these were pretty good. I especially liked the oreos with the chocolate mousse.

I am sad to say I don't think we will be returning to Chef Mickey's anytime soon . It could have just been an off night but there are so many wonderful choices at Disney that I don't think I will chance it again for a long time.

Overall grade - D

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

We had the same experience at Chef Mickey but my son wants to go there on our next trip so I'm probably will try breakfast and hoping for a better experience. I can't wait for another update.

 

[dd50]

So sorry that you had a bad experience at CM. I will be going there next week for the first time and have read recently that it wasn't a good place any more.

 

[vald1977]

We were all curious and excited to try T-Rex at Downtown Disney so we hopped a bus and got there right for its 11:00 a.m. opening. The outside and inside of this restaurant are really cool! There is so much to look at. Here are some pictures.

We were seated in the ice cave section. This section is really pretty as it changes colors.

We started with a couple of appetizers and I ordered a cocktail.

My drink was a cotton candy cocktail which was served in a keepsake mixer. They did rinse it out for me also so it wasn’t all sticky. It was also garnished with a hunk of cotton candy that melted into the drink once it was served.

We ordered mozzarella sticks which came with the traditional sticks as well as a little bit of fried cheese on the side.

We also got an onion ring stack that was served with two sauces for dipping.

Both of the apps were fantastic. I loved the onion rings as they were crispy and piping hot. The drink was okay. Nothing special.

Next came our entrees.

DS got mac and cheese (surprise, surprise) which came with a humongous side of waffle fries.

I got a bronto burger which was single patty and it was fabulous! The toppings were and fries were great as well.

DD had chicken nuggets which were served with waffle fries as well.

DH got a Gigantosaurus burger. This puppy was huge! He loved it!

After all that delicious food we were too full for dessert. I really wanted to try their version of a volcano too. I am sure we will be back on another trip to tackle it.

The kids both were looking forward to doing the build a dino so we went there next. They each picked out their dinos and an outfit.

All in all, we loved T-Rex. The whole experience was great. I can see the place being packed later on in the day though so if you can, go early. We didn’t have to wait for anything but the place was much busier when we were leaving.

Overall grade - A