Restaraunts and more at VB

[kamgen]

We are headed to VB in two weeks! Yeah! We have been there before, but only for two days. We will now be there for 6!
Specific questions: how is the onsite dining? We opted to go off site last visit. Should we make plans to eat at an onsite restaraunt?
Also I heard there was a character breakfast and a brunch. Anyone have opinions and details about these?

Also, off the topic of dining...is there anywhere to go to see manatees in the area? tours, etc?
Thanks for the info!

Off site '94
AllStar-Movies '99
DxL '00 Honeymoon
DVC Member 4/00
BWV 9/00
VB 9/00
DCL-Wonder 1/01
OKW 1/01
Upcoming:
VB 5/01
VWL 12/01
BWV 12/01
DCL-Magic 12/29/01

My new Disney website!
http://gennaroworld.topcities.com

 

[RumpleMom]

The Sunday brunch was very good, plenty of choices to satisfy the whole family. We did the Mel Fisher Museum tour- very interesting story of finding treasure from Spanish galleons on route from the New World back to Spain. We then were taken to a beach and given time using metal detectors to search for treasure. Our whole family enjoyed this activity- kids 18 & 14.

 

[nickglover]

I'm not sure about manatee watching in the area - they are also hard to see unless you are in clear water such as a spring - one place I recommend, but in the winter months, is Blue Springs State Park near Orange City, which is east of Orlando, up I-4 (not near VB). In the winter, many manatee come into the spring area where the water is about 72 degrees all the time, from the colder St John's River. There is a board walk along the entire spring run, and you can see many of them swimming around - they also have a ranger talk and slide show or film available - it is a beautiful place and swimming is also available, and canoe rentals and the state park also rents out several cabins with ac and kitchens and linens and towels... a fun place to break up the Disney routine

 

[ralph]

Both of the on-site restaurants were quite nice, IMHO. Shutters is the larger, more casual facility. Nice menu. Typical Disney prices. Very pleasant CMs. My DW and I ate breakfast there 4 times (in 4 days), dinner once. The Saturday breakfast was a character meal. Food is pre-plated and service was good enough that the refills (unlimited) came to the table while still hot. We enjoyed it.

Sonya's is the more "upscale" steak and chop house facility. It actually uses the same kitchen (which itself is an open kitchen in-view from Shutters but not from Sonya's) but the menu is fancier (I understand that you can actually order from either menu in Shutters; I don't know about ordering from the Shutters menu in Sonya's; I would not want to pay the Sonya's prices in Shutters in any case, since the extra cost buys what appears to me to be a nicer dining experience). We ate Saturday night dinner in Sonya's. Excellent steaks, good wine, nice service. Prices were comparable to the chain steakhouses in our area (Chicago suburbs) like Outback and the service was actually better.

There is also food available in the Green Cabin Room lounge and at the poolside snack bar. Menu selection at the Green Cabin Room is bar-type snack food. Certainly suitable for lunch (we did this one day also).

We actually only got off-site for one meal during our four nights, since we arrived so late in the day that we had to use room service the first night (restaurants close at 10 but there was limited sandwich service available for room service until 11 pm). After a nearly 7 hour delay at O'Hare Airport, we were so hungry that we would have been happy with just about anything, but the sandwiches were actually quite good.

Ralph

 

[DaveDeniseEmily@BWV]

We really enjoyed a treat for ourselves at Sonya's where we had a slap up meal. The food and service was fantastic although a little pricey for a holiday meal, saying that it would compare with the prices we pay for a meal at a good standard restaurant at home.

The Green Cabin food was good too with generous portions. We went out onto the balcony and had lunch a few times over looking the ocean.

Have a great time!

Dave

DVC Member since 1999 at BWV
1993 Off-site
1996 Port Orleans
1997 Dixie Landings
1999 Dixie Landings
2001 BWV, VB, DCL, WLV, AKL

 

[nickglover]

we have always liked shutters very much, for dinner in particular, but also for breakfast - we usually have lunch by the pool (sandwiches).