Princess Jonna's Return - Part two of two

shellybaxter

Dis Veteran <br>Disney Restaurants for one hundre
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Sep 20, 2003
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Princess Jonna’s Return – Part Two – Dinning and Special Events

My husband (Brent 39), my sister (Donna 33), my niece (Jonna 5) and myself (Shelly 36) returned from nine days at WDW just this morning. I don’t have time to write a day-by-day account, so I thought I’d just report the highlights.

We are big WDW dinning fans. We had 14 priority seatings for 9-day trip. We used Disney Dinning Experience wherever it was available and saved bunch, but I didn’t figure out how much. Every sit down meal seemed to be around $100.00 so we saved $20.00 for each of those.

Day One – Breakfast at the PORQ food court. Three biscuits and gravy, one peach cup, one order of grapes, one mixed fruit cup, one side order of sausage, a yogurt, two cups of coffee, an apple juice and an orange juice. Please don’t expect me to remember everything we order each time, I think this meal was a fluke – LOL. The fruit was fresh, the sausage was good, and the biscuits and gravy were just okay. I think it was $25.00 after DDE

Dinner was after a nice long nap. We had a late PS for Liberty Tree Tavern. It was very good and the Character interaction was the best of our trip (and we did a lot of character meals). The salad was awesome. I can still taste the rolls and sweet butter. The turkey was just okay, but the dressing and gravy were very good. We liked the ham and the beef the best of all. Dessert was hot apple cobbler with ice cream – YUM!!! About $100.00

Day Two – Lunch was at the Prime Time Fifties Café. We got a really nice cousin Stephanie to be our waitress. She played the role great, but she wasn’t a strict cousin. DH had the meat loaf. It was good. Dsis had the chicken potpie. I think I’ll have that next time. The pastry on the top was quite good. I had the Chicken Caesar salad which was good, but too big for me. Dniece had chicken nuggets. She also had a make your own sundae. I think she liked the making part better than the eating part. Dsis had snickers cheesecake, which was awesome, and DH and I split an order of S’mores (my all time fav). We all had lighted drinks. Dsis and I had picnic punch and DH had dad’s lemonade. I thought the punch was good but sis thought there were too many ingredients, so I drank too punches – LOL Again about $100.00

Dinner was supposed to be at the Brown Derby but Dniece just couldn’t make it until then, so she and her mother had food court (not sure what) and DH and I rode the boat down to Riverside and had dinner. Started with garlic cheese bits. They were decent. Both had prime rib and backed potato. Prime rib was fatty and just not great quality and the potatoes weren’t really done yet. The sour cream was watery and runny. The corn bread cakes were good though. We shared the milky way cheese cake for dessert and it was decent. This wasn’t an expensive meals, prime rib was only $20.00, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

Day Three – Breakfast was supposed to be the Princess Storybook Breakfast. I’ve already described this in another post so I’m just going to cut and paste from that report below.

“We had a breakfast ressie for April 11th at 10:00AM (second seating they called it). Well apparently things went okay for the first seating but a problem developed in the kitchen before the second seating. When we arrived at 9:45 there were a LOT of people milling around. Little princesses EVERYWHERE!! As I checked in I was told of the problem. Rumors spread that it was a plumbing problem and would probably not be fixed in time for breakfast to resume. Sure enough about 15 mins later they canceled the breakfast. People were not happy. Little girls were crying. They did bring the princesses out to meet everyone and sign autographs. That was really great of Disney, but the lines were very tense. My DH took our niece to meet them. They were Snow White, Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, and Belle but not Ariel (which we were hoping for since this was only the second day she could be in the line up).

They were not charging the cancalation fees if you chose to leave. They were offering vouchers for Electric Umbrella OR to rebook you for a lunch or dinner. I took a look at the menu and didn't care for ANY of the choices and knew my family wouldn't either. There was lots of fish and a venison stew, and something else, not the Italian chicken dish or salad I've seen listed here. Rebooking for lunch or dinner was not an option for us.

So I quietly ducked into the pay phone next to the restrooms by the viking ship. I couldn't believe that no one was there. I called Disney Dining and explained that the PSB has just been canceled for the day and I was really hoping there might be a cancelation during our trip. I got a GREAT CM who couldn't believe they'd had to cancel (but really what else could they do??). First she said she had no cancelations for my party size, but then said she had a cancelation for a party one bigger then ours. I told her I'd pay the extra person charge, that was fine. She was great. Booked it for me without a credit card (DH had them with him in the Princess lines) and in the end I didn't have to pay the extra person. We switched our other PS around and had actual breakfast with the Princesses on Friday April 15th.

Breakfast was good. The eggs, sausage, bacon and potatoes were all very good. The fruit tasted as if it had been sitting out a bit (kind of warmish and rubbery) and the cinnimon rolls were stale. We were seated about 8:40 and finished eating by 9:15 or 9:20. The princesses didn't arrive in our room until 9:40, so it was hard to keep a little one occupied for so long. The Princesses of the day were Mary Poppins, Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, Jasmine, and Belle. Again no Ariel (not a big deal, just kind of hoping) and I began to wonder if Ariel will only be at lunch and dinner. I'll be looking for report of her at breakfast to see what happens.

All in all it was a nice expirience, not a lot of "extra magic" (except for the nice CM who found and booked the cancelation). I would book it again if Dniece wanted to go, but wouldn't go out of my way to "surprise" her with it again.”

Lunch was at the POFQ food court again. After the disappointing start to her day, we took Dniece home for some pool time. DH had a grilled chicken sandwich and I had a cheeseburger. He drank Coke and I had the cutest little plastic bottle of Arbor Mist. Nummy!! Dnice and Dsis had turkey sandwiches and peaches by the pool. Food was good, not too expensive.

Dinner was at Le Cellier in Canada. This is my favorite restaurant on property. Dniece had a cheeseburger. DH and myself each had the Prime Rib (trying to make up for Boatwrights), which was wonderful. Dis had the rib eye steak. She thought it was very good. We all had cheese soup and bread sticks. No one got dessert. I think this one was a little over $100.00 – but well worth it.

Dessert was truffles and a Bellini in Italy, which DH and I share. Sis and Jonna headed back to the hotel after dinner. The truffles were awesome and I love the Bellini, but this cost $20.00 and no DDE discount as it was from the little cart out front.


Day Four – Breakfast was at the Crystal Palace. The food was good and characters were decent. The selection was good, but not great. The line for made to order omelets was really long, so no one got one. The scrambled eggs with cheese were good. The pancakes tasted rubbery and couldn’t be cut with a fork. The fruit was good and very fresh. Dniece had a good time. She needed to use the restroom toward the end of the meal and insisted that we ask Piglet where it was even though we could see it from where we sat – LOL – she’s so funny. She loved the Pooh parade. We were done with breakfast and characters in forty-five minutes. BTW was had an 8:05 PS. They let us through the gates at 8:00. We had to get a stroller and an ECV and wanted a picture taken on Main Street while it was so empty. We got there about 8:10 and were seated immediately before some of those who were already waiting, so they must go by PS time, not order of arrival.

Lunch was really just a not so great for you snack. We had hand made ice cream cookie sandwiches from the main street bakery. They were yummy and pretty filling.

By the time we got to Ohana that night about 6:15PM we were hungry. Everyone loved it but my sister. She’s not fond of several of the appetizers. Everything was great. I loved the salad and the wings and DH loved the wontons and the shrimp. Dniece loved the hula-hoops and the cocoanut races. There was a beautiful wedding couple seated in the corner behind us. If that was any of you (it looked to be a military wedding) you were stunning!!

Day Five – Breakfast was going to be at BOMA so we could check in to the AKL but we decided we’d rather go straight to the Animal Kingdom and check in later. So breakfast was at Tusker House. I know a lot of people love this place, but I think it’s just okay. The biscuits and gravy were the same as other counter service, okay but not great. The fruit and the cinnamon rolls were stale and the bagel was really dry. I wouldn’t recommend this breakfast. Last time we had breakfast at the Rainforest Café. It was much better.

Lunch was at Mara. It was really just ice cream or sweets and water. I love the BOMA desserts packaged to go from Mara.

Dinner was at the Whispering Canyon Café. DH, DN, and myself had the all-you-care-to-eat skillet. It was good. The ribs were good. The potatoes, salad, corn bread, and sausage were awesome. The chicken was greasy. Dsis had meatloaf, which she liked. She had the chocolate brownie dessert and I had the apple pie dessert. We shared with the others. I had the drink of the day, a mixed berry margarita. It was a whole lot more tequila then mix. WOW.

Day Six – This is where things got kind of mixed up. This was supposed to be our rest day, but we had to move Chef Mickey’s to today so we could do the PSB again tomorrow. We had originally planned to do MK early entry and then a late Chef Mickey’s. We ended up with a 7:10 Chef Mickey’s. I thought this was the best of the breakfasts. The eggs were good. DH liked the quessadilla thing. The pancakes were made at a grill on the buffet line and they were good and fresh. They even had real dessert at a breakfast buffet. No one by DH had any, but I thought it was cool. The characters were great. Minnie even asked us, by miming, where we were from and had a little conversation. It was great.

Lunch was at Pecos Bills. Now I know why Disney calls it counter service and not fast food. We literally waited longer for the food then for the rides. Splash Mountain had a 20-minute wait and I waited over 30 to order and get 4 cheeseburgers, fries and sodas. When will they be putting the fast pass machines in for this “attraction”? Food was just okay and a bit cold from setting on the counter for five minutes before the girl handed it to me.

Dinner was at 1900 Park Faire. Dinner with Cindy!! When did Goofy become part of Cinderella?? He was one of two characters rotated in and out of the lobby. Fairy Godmother was the other. Dinner was great. All the adults loved the pastes for the night, the salads, the strawberry soup, and the dessert. Dniece enjoyed the mac and cheese and the PBJ.

Day Seven – Breakfast was our re-booked PSB. See post from day three.

Lunch was back at Mara. The food was just okay. Not as good as the food court at POFQ. We had cheeseburgers and chicken sandwiches with fries. They tasted kind of old, since they weren’t prepared as we ordered. They were just assembled from meats and buns already prepared and being kept warm.

Dinner was supposed to be in Germany, but we were tired so I made a PS for 7:40PM for BOMA. We got there and checked in. The restaurant was full with the buffet two to three people deep at every station. We quickly decided to switch to Jiko. This turned out to be an EXCELLENT choice. The food and service were AWESOME!!! We started with the taste of Africa. It was flatbreads and hummas spreads, very very good. I had the buttermilk and ginger dressing with greens. Also very good!! DH had the Lamb Shank with couscous. Dsis had the filet with mac and cheese and I had the braised short ribs with sweet and Idaho potato gratin. These were hands down the best entrees we had the entire trip. We ordered two chocolate flourless tortes for dessert to be shared. An awesome meal and one I would definitely recommend.

Day Eight – This was our rest day so we slept in. At 9:00AM we called for room service but were told it would be an hour wait. We skipped breakfast and took the little one to the pool. We then got dressed and grabbed a taxi to Coronado Spring to try out the Pepper Market. This was kind of fun. I had the chef’s special at the grill station, which was a Chicken Parm. Sandwich. Dniece had a cheeseburger and Dsis and DH had burritos. Everyone got a little something different and we all liked it. It was a fun way to “shop” for your meal. We’d probably not go out of our way to do this again, but we’d try it again if it was easy.

Dinner was the hoop-dee-doo review. What a hoot!! We loved this show and the food was good. The salad and bread were to-die-for. Dniece ate half a loaf of bread on her own and she’s not a big eater. The chicken was the best fried chicken I’d ever eaten. I’m not a big fried chicken fan but this was good. The ribs and chicken were okay. No body liked the beans. The strawberry shortcake was good. But really, the food wasn’t really as important as the show. This is hands down my nieces favorite meal. I’d never seen her laugh so much. It would have been worth horrible food just to see her enjoy herself so much. Oh, and the sangria was good too.

Dessert was the dessert buffet for the Magical Gatherings Pirate Wishes Cruise. It was good, but we were so full we didn’t eat much. How did the four of us get to do a Magical Gathering activity you ask? Why we joined another DIS family of course. A lady from San Francisco needed four people to join her family of four and we were only too happy to be apart of the festivities. It was so much fun. After the desserts we were lead to our boats my Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. Our Patch the Pirate sang to us, played games with us, and told us Pirate stories and jokes. The Wishes view was awesome. I was so glad we went. Thanks Heather for making the arrangements. It was nice to meet you and your family.

Day Nine – This was our last day. We were supposed to have breakfast with Donald but it just wasn’t in the cards to be up that early so we canceled. We had lunch at the Rainforest instead. DH and Dsis had safari burgers and fries. They said they were good. Dniece and I had the nastiest pizza every made. It was awful. The only saving graces were the raspberry lemonade (the best I’ve ever had) and the volcano dessert. They was very good.

And that was our Disney dinning and special event report. Please feel free to ask any questions.

Shelly
 
just wanted to say Hi to another Jonna. My name is spelled the same way, but I am 34. Nice to know that it is'nt as unusual anymore.
Jonna :goodvibes
 












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