Remember when?: Disney Restaurants

[OKWAnneMarie]

I remember when Biergarten wasn't a buffet and they had an AMAZING thick, rich bean soup that they served with dark brown breads....sooooo good!

Also, I remember when you could go to the Communicore in Future World to make your dining reservations for that day. If I remember correctly, there was a bank of computers you could use and you would actually "talk" face to face with someone to make your ressie. Sort of a predecessor of Skype.

I remember that!!!! You actually had to go to EPCOT (all caps, at the time) and make your ressie there. Crazy!

 

[OKWAnneMarie]

Oh, my gosh! Food and Fun card!!! but even before that, there was the ....wait fori it....The Magic Kingdom Club card!!!! Remember that?

yes I do! I still have my Magic Kingdom Club card AND the free tote bag

 

[OKWAnneMarie]

Just read through all of this and now I realize how old I got. I better go take a nap.

 

[Rhongepooh]

I too miss the Diamond Horseshoe Review AND I miss The Land that is now Garden Grill. But what I miss the MOST was the strawberry shortcake at Hoop De Doo that was a warm biscuit with the strawberries and ice cream!!! YUM!!!

 

[mickeysbestfriend]

the quality of the food and the exceptional service that Disney used to provide. Not that we haven't had some great CM's in the last few years, and we do send in emails complimenting them, but it's no longer the rule, it's the exception.

I see all of the restaurants listed here we used to dine at pre-Epcot and some post and I miss them all. We used to stay at the Golf Resort (then the Disney Inn then Shades of green) and walked to the Poly or Contemporary for dinner.

Who else rememberst the Gold Key? it was the best all inclusive program Disney ever did!

 

[fly girl]

Mine is a little thing, but at the signature restaurants with a kids meal you would get a Mickey straw (hard plastic straw that was shaped like a Mickey head).

My daughter those straws and we were sad to see they were gone.

 

[Alexander]

]I miss...

...Concourse Steakhouse[/COLOR]...DH and I had so many lovely meals there.

...I miss the times when celebrations were actually special....for instance when a kid whose birthday is not for a month wears their birthday button and gets a cupcake. There's just nothing special about a birthday etc anymore. I think that kinda stinks.

...Chef Mickey's serving quality food...our last few visits were sad. We've left it off the list for a while now. Trying it again in May...but I don't have high hopes.

...the pineapple and caramel @ 'Ohana.

...fried brie appy @ 50's Prime Time....soooo good!!

On a positive note...I think there have been vast improvements on the CS menus. There is such a great variety now and it keeps getting better!!!

Papeete Bay Veranda was always where we ate our first night.

Most days we had breakfast at Tangaroa Terrace, no matter where we were staying.

On my honeymoon I actually bought a jacket so we could go to the Empress Lily Room.

Concourse Steakhouse was one of my favorite places for a steak, or a burger for lunch.

I saw Kreskin at the Top of The World dinner show. Though, Braodway at The Top was NOT one of my favorites.

Flagler's was a favorite for many trips.

Oh my gosh! I was just talking to DH about this yesterday!!

I miss the character breakfast on the Empress Lilly

and Soundstage restaurant where Playhouse Disney is now

oh, and when there were Villians at 1900 Park Fare! That was awesome!!

These are the three oldies but goodies I miss. The Empress Lily was the only character meal in town when I was a kid.

The Concourse Steakhouse the the most awesome Gorgonzola Filet Mignon ever.

And don't get me started on the REAL Chef Mickey's!

 

[jenrose66]

Mine is a little thing, but at the signature restaurants with a kids meal you would get a Mickey straw (hard plastic straw that was shaped like a Mickey head).

My daughter those straws and we were sad to see they were gone.

I'm an adult and I loved those straws! They used to sell them in the resort food courts but during my last few trips finding them was hit or miss and they were completely gone last September

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I miss having breakfast at Tony's in the MK. We would dine here at least once on every trip. It was so nice to have a relaxing breakfast in the MK where you could order off the menu. What surprised me when they stopped breakfast here was the fact that we always had to wait for a table. They were always crowded.

 

[AuroraMeansDawn]

I remember being flummoxed as a young mother when I took my DD at age 3 in 1991 that almost every kids menu offered a fluffernutter. I mean, it's vacation but I was stilll a mommy and I wanted her to eat something a little healthier than peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. Still, she was quite happy with the arrangement. Does anyone else remember those being so ubiquitous?

I also remember taking her to the Empress Lily for her first character breakfast. We had a Magic Kingdom Club Card and I remember going to the local Disney Store and buying our park tickets at a discount before we left with it because we stayed off site.

We also did the character breakfast on the Empress Lily at the Downtown Disney Marketplace and she got a kind of cool yellow pennant with pics of the gang and autographs.

One last note, we were there the first week of November and we were so clueless as to how lucky we were. The parks were EMPTY...so empty I recall I was standing in line for popcorn (behind a whole 2 people maybe) at DHS (MGM at the time) and DH and DD were waiting on a bench nearby when Roger Rabbit was wandering in the park looking for people to interact with and he approached US and started dancing with our DD and we have VHS tape of them doing high kicks together for a good 4 or 5 minutes. When would that happen now?

 

[AuroraMeansDawn]

yes I do! I still have my Magic Kingdom Club card AND the free tote bag

Wasn't there a magazine subscription that came with it too?

 

[AuroraMeansDawn]

Oh and the Amex discount from the late 90s. We got a discounted rate at Donald's Safari Breakfast so we checked into our resort and we were able to book it for the next day.

I guess they were trying to get people into that new crazy "half day" park since not much was open there yet. Safari Donald was cute as could be.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Bump

 

[CraigInPA]

From my first trip (in 1974), I recall having a "big night out" with my parents eating dinner in the concorse of the Contemporary. I had a great steak. The next morning, we came back for the breakfast, which IIRC, was a buffet. Staying at the Poly, we ate breakfast at the restaurant that was in the present Kona Cafe location. I seem to recall the decor there was more like a diner, and less like it is today.

The other things I miss from years gone by are:
Alfredo's restaurant (was that even the name?) in Epcot Italy. This was a white table cloth place with waiters wearing traditional black with white aprons.
Askerhaus serving traditional scandanavian food buffet style instead of the princess meals.
The Tangeroa Terrace at the Poly.
The prices. In the 70's and early 80's, the cost of the food was comparable to what you'd spend outside Disney. Somehow, about the time Epcot opened and the Golden Key was offered, the prices for food skyrocketed.

And the thing I miss the most is The Explorer's Club on Pleasure Island, which was THE place for my wife and I to sit down for a drink and entertainment.

 

[Elmo9607]

I miss Tusker House being a counter service!! It was so good...and while I enjoy the breakfast (it's the only character meal I do) I just wish it would convert back to CS for lunch

I also remember...this was years ago, in the 90's, that Chefs de France used to have butter molded like a chef. I thought it was just the coolest thing ever

 

[North of Mouse]

-When Cinderella's Royal Table wasn't a character meal for lunch or dinner, cost a lot less, and actually had better food.

-When 'Ohana served about 7 appetizers on a lazy susan, and the dessert was fresh pineapple with caramel (plus they offered some other desserts à la carte).

-When Akershus wasn't a character meal and served more authentic food.

-When Spoodles served a menu based on an interesting tapas concept instead of more generic and bland dishes.

-When Hollywood & Vine featured really cool characters like Scarlet Minnie and Gangster Goofy.

Those are my main ones. Lots of things have changed for the worse, but I've noticed some recent changes for the better.

When did CRT not have characters? We went with our two older children in the mid-late '70's, but have no pictures. The food was great, ordered off a menu and remember the scrumptious dessert. We then took our younger son in the '80's, and have a picture of Cinderella kissing him He really was enamored with her - was 4yrs at that time . The food was still delicious then. Went back one other time, but not since. Oh, the memories

 

[TavieP]

-When Cinderella's Royal Table wasn't a character meal for lunch or dinner, cost a lot less, and actually had better food.

-When 'Ohana served about 7 appetizers on a lazy susan, and the dessert was fresh pineapple with caramel (plus they offered some other desserts à la carte).

-When Akershus wasn't a character meal and served more authentic food.

-When Spoodles served a menu based on an interesting tapas concept instead of more generic and bland dishes.

-When Hollywood & Vine featured really cool characters like Scarlet Minnie and Gangster Goofy.

Those are my main ones. Lots of things have changed for the worse, but I've noticed some recent changes for the better.

GOD I miss these.

I don't think I even knew that O'hana's didn't have the pineapple/caramel anymore. Disappointing.

 

[TavieP]

The Hollywood Brown Derby used to offer an incredible Cobb salad (like the Original Brown Derby) and an amazing Pastrami Sandwich.....Miss them!

They don't HAVE these anymore?

Dammit. You know, you stop visiting a restaurant for a few years and everything goes away. Last time I was at CRT (KingSteffanscough), I had the prime rib.

Sigh.

 

[TavieP]

Another vote for the pre-princess Akershus; many more unique food choices.

Akershus used to be a family favorite. I can still tasted the mashed rutabega and swedish meatballs. Now we just look at it and sigh on our way to Maelstrom.

 

[TavieP]

This is a great thread! We did the deluxe dining plan on our honeymoon in 1987, but back then it was the Gold Key Plan. I remember that we really enjoyed King Stefan's Banquet Hall, but that we loved the Empress Lilly. We had two wonderful meals on that boat, at the Fisherman's Deck and The Steerman's Quarters. Fulton's Crab House definitely does not meet the standards of the Empress Lilly restaurants - they are still missed.

Character breakfasts on the Empress Lily were my favorite, and we used to do King Steffan's every trip until they changed it to CRT.

I also miss breakfast at Tony's. Free cinnamon rolls for everyone. Damn.