Quick Reviews from Nov 1-7 trip

[momtoccc]

I'm not going to do a full-blown dining report but thought I would offer some quick reviews. I really enjoyed reading other people's reviews before our trip so thought I would return the favor.

Cast is myself, DH and DD (almost 4). We were on DDP.

First - DDP worked great for us - we shared CS and snack credits for breakfast - used the last 3 CS credits for breakfast our last morning and still had 4 snack credits to burn in the gift shop.

Second - All of our servers were good. They seemed rushed, not super personable, but they were efficient and food came out quickly. Even our one problem was handled quickly as soon as the server realized it.

Third - we were seated within 10 minutes of our ADR at every location (even Coral Reef which is usually running late)

Day 1: Snack at CHH - used 1 CS to get Chicken strips meal w/ fries for all of us to share. They were good chicken strips and fries - and we got the apple pie for dessert which was also fine. This meal was just what we needed to get our day started!

Late Lunch/Early Dinner at Crystal Palace: This was the night of MNSSHP (Nov 2) so I had scheduled a very early dinner with a plan to return to WL to rest/change and come back to MK for MNSSHP. This was actually a very good meal. Buffet was wonderful - lots of good options and food. Only downside we felt were the desserts. They were fine - just nothing outstanding. Our favorite was the coconut flan. The characters were great, our DD loves Pooh so this was a must-do for us. I would definitely go back here again.

Day 2: Roaring Forks - shared 2 bounty platters between the 3 of us and it was still too much food! Took the extra juice and milk back up to our room and used them later in the week which was good.

The plan was to have lunch at Sunshine Seasons at Epcot but we ended up going back to WL instead and had lunch at Roaring Forks. DH and I both had the roast beef sandwiches where were very good. DD had chicken nugget meal - fine for her.

Kona Cafe for dinner. This was a last minute change from 1900 Park Fare. I'm so glad we made this change! I had crab cakes (So good!), filet mignon - cooked perfectly! and the Kahleau lava cake type dessert which was also very good (but I preferred the chocolate wave at Coral Reef just a bit more) DH had coconut curry shrimp soup which was good, prime rib which he said was just ok (he loved the mashed potatoes though) and the banana creme brulee which I sampled. It was very good.
DD had chicken noodle soup and mac n cheese. She ate more soup than mac-n-cheese. This was defintely a good place to go!

Ok... I will finish up more later.

 

[momtoccc]

Day 3: We skipped breakfast at Roaring Forks today (crowded) and headed to AK with the idea of getting a pastry/bagel at AK. We stopped at a kiosk and got bagel and coffee cake for me - it was had cinammon crumb topping and it was very good (and filling!)

Lunch was at Pizzafari - I got cheese pizza CS meal which I split with dd. DH got the italian sandwich. It was fine - nothing special but certainly not bad in any way.

Dinner: WCC - This was a fun meal. DD got up and did pony rides. Our server was fun - not too over the top but enough to get us in the spirit. She yelled for ketchup for another table and I couldn't believe how long she kept going! DH and I had skillet meals. I think we were so hungry that anything would have tasted good. The potatoes, pulled pork and ribs were our favorites. The shrimp was good too. I had banana cinnamon dust bowl for dessert and DH had chocolate cake. I'm not sure we would go back (too many other places to try). But it was a good meal.

Day 4: We had 10:45 breakfast ADR and Hollywood & Vine for our dd. This meal was ok. I think we suffered by being at the end of the breakfast service - they were starting to set up for lunch. My favorite was the Mickey waffles - everything else was blah.. The characters were fine but we paid for this meal OOP and I don't think it was worth $60 that we spent. I wouldn't go back here..

Snack - Ice cream place by RnR. One snack credit is 2 scoops. HINT - they will let you split the scoops for 2 people. I got one scoop for myself and a different flavor scoop in a separate bowl for my dd for 1 snack credit - great deal!

More to come...

 

[MedCruise07]

Snack - Ice cream place by RnR. One snack credit is 2 scoops. HINT - they will let you split the scoops for 2 people. I got one scoop for myself and a different flavor scoop in a separate bowl for my dd for 1 snack credit - great deal!

QUOTE]

This is a great tip. I wonder if all the ice cream places work like this . . .

 

[disneyjunebug]

Thanks for the reviews!! And the tip about the Ice cream place near RNR is excellent! DH says all our snack credits have to be used for Ice Cream! This will make the credits go farther!

 

[momtoccc]

Day 4 Dinner was at Spoodles. This was excellent! I started off with a glass of Sangria - yum. My appetizer must be new because it is not on the allears web site. It was like a caprese salad, buffalo mozzerella, tomatoes, a balsamic, olive oil dressing, with a little bit of pesto and lettuce and some soaked bread (kinda like large crutons) underneath it all. OMG! This was heavenly! I would go back just for this. DH and the margherta flatbread which was slightly burned but ok. For dinner our waitress was saying that the red snapper and the rigatoni were her favorites so we decided to try them both. We both really liked the rigatoni. The red snapper was good also. For dessert I had the vanilla creme brulee - I love creme brulee and this was good. DH had white chocolate orange cake. It was good but we felt that the orange taste was too strong. DD had mickey shaped mac-n-cheese and ice cream (go figure..)

 

[momtoccc]

Day 5 Breakfast: Bakery at MK. We split a CS which was one egg/ham croissant, a piece of French toast bread and 2 drinks. WOW! That french toast loaf was really good. DD just had a bagel.

Lunch: We ended up back at Roaring Forks again. I had grilled chicken salad with apples, candied walnuts, lettuce, cheese tossed in an apple vinegarette. VERY GOOD! DH had a ham sandwich which he said was fine.

Dinner: Coral Reef I had read lots of good reviews on this place recently so I was anxious to try it. We were sat on the top level so not as close to the fish as I would have liked. DD really didn't pay that much attention to the fish (too busy coloring). I tried the wild mushroom soup for appy - DH had lobster soup. My soup was fine - lots of garlic. DH liked his. I ordered the sirloin steak - medium rare. DH ordered the pumpkin risotto - not sure why other than he likes to make risotto and I think he was in the mood for somthing besides steak or fish. Well, right when our food came I had to take dd to bathroom. We came back and I cut into my steak - it was rare! ugh! The potatoes were yummy so I ate those while waiting for waiter to appear again. He had stopped by to check on things while I was in the bathroom so as far as he knew everything was fine. I knew he was waiting on a very large party (10-12 people) and getting their drink orders...still it took a LONG time for him to show up again. However as soon as he saw the problem he flagged another server to fix it for me (he was delivering all the drinks). My second steak was cooked just right (and I got more potatoes ) However I was too full to eat much of it (it is a huge piece of meat).

I ordered chocolate wave - this was my favorite dessert of the trip! DH got the Jack Daniels mousse which was good and not too heavy on the alcohol. DD actually ordered fruit for dessert and ate most of it.

Server said the cook would pay for my glass of wine since they messed up the steak which was a nice gesture. I would go back here because it was nice (but rather noisy)

 

[momtoccc]

Final Thoughts:

THe DDP was a good deal for us - however we won't use it on our next trip (just DH and I) because of the 2008 changes. DH is a very good cook and knows good food. We recognize that WDW is catering to kids and families and trying to turn the tables around quickly. For what they are doing, they do a pretty good job. Like I said, nothing we had was bad but nothing was truly outstanding either. DH and I are going back for a short trip next spring and I'm looking forward to trying some of the more "grown-up" places.

I appreciate all the reviews people post here - it really helped me plan my choices (keeping a 4yo dd in mind).

Hope this helps someone else!