jenjersnap
yadda yadda yadda
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2004
- Messages
- 7,225
We returned on December 20 from an first family trip to the world. We had the Silver plan a splurge financially and dietarily (ha, made up a new word!) but we wanted to treat ourselves after a very rough couple years. I think I ate more than I ever have for 9 days straight. Oh my, back to South Beach for me. We found the food quality to be excellent, we were just amazed that Disney feeds so many people so well every day. OTOH, our service rarely rose above below average. My definition of below average: drinks never refilled unless you request it, checking in on us exactly ONCE before bringing the check. There were a couple exceptions in each direction and I will note them so here we go
We are:
Me, mid 30s, hasnt eaten red meat for years except when pregnant and a quality burger is the only thing that will suffice. Meat doesnt agree with me though I did break this rule a couple times on this trip. I eat mostly vegetarian and seafood for my main meals.
DH, mid 30s, not a picky eater except about a few quirky things (like chocolate!). He doesnt eat red meat normally either cos I cook for the family but get him to quality restaurant and all cows had better watch their backs.
DS, 4, a blessedly cosmopolitan eater too. Hell eat anything but zucchini. He ate mostly from our plates. ETA: except at buffets, of course, where we paid for his meals!
DS, 16 months, lives on air. Seriously, wont eat anything but raisins, cheese crackers, kiwis and ice cream so isnt a factor here.
We arrived late on 12/11 and checked into AKL (I will do a separate resort report).
12/12 We had breakfast PSs at Boma. Lots of people milling and, though this was the longest wait of our trip, it was 10 minutes at the most. We absolutely loved Bomas breakfast. We thought the food was incredible and, since it was the cheapest breakfast buffet we encountered, a good value. I wish there was more African-themed food since all we had was the boboti and the biscuits over veggies in sauce (it was like chicken a la king but so much better!). The buffet station set up bugged us too. A line would build up to go onto a 2nd station from the first. Well, people would come along and want food from the 2nd station, and, despite seeing lots of people who already have their food from the 1st station and are waiting in line to visit the 2nd, would just cut in line instead of getting in line. Does that make sense? Thats one of my pet peeves and I think the buffet could be designed better for crowded conditions.. Food grade: A-
Dinner was at Beaches and Cream. Wed been looking forward to this and I bought QC vouchers to use for this meal. We (the adults) had heavenly real vanilla and cherry cokes while we waited for our sandwiches. I had a chicken sandwich that was terrible, consisted of dry chicken, lettuce, tomato and bun, thats all. With mayo on the side. DS ate it and the okay fries. DH had a sandwich, possibly roast beef?, but he said it was excellent and the onion rings were great too. For dessert, we ordered a No Way Jose and a banana split. Both were massive and yummy. Food grade: B-
Monday, 12/13: We had breakfast in our room at AKL since we were moving over to Ft. Wilderness cabins and the beginning of our package. We headed over to MGM for lunch at the Brown Derby. Unfortunately, this was the only meal that either of the boys acted up during and BOTH of the boys were crabby. It was the worst place to have cranky kids, seated in the middle of the room. Our waiter seemed repulsed by the shenanigans and probably applauded when we left. I barely got to eat or enjoy the surroundings since I (and DH) kept taking turns leaving. However, everything was excellent, though portions were small. We had the mushroom chevre ravioli and coconut shrimp for appetizer; I had the grouper for my entrée and DH had the strip steak with shrimp skewers. I honestly dont remember eating dessert though I am sure we did! I looked on the allearset menu and nothing rings a bell. Food grade A-
Well rested, we ventured over to Kona Café for dinner. We fell in love with this place. The people working here were so friendly and warm. Everytime anyone - other waiters, bussers, hostess, etc. - would walk by they would stop to flirt and chat with my two boys. The waitress brought a smoothie divided into two cups without us saying a word. My older DS was admiring the drink umbrellas, next thing you know one in every color materialized. The food was fantastic too! We had the crabcakes and duck potstickers for appetizer with the macadamia mah mahi and shrimp and scallops as entrees. The mahi was to die for, absolutely amazing. We had the chocolate macadamia nut tart and white chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Yum! The koko puffs didnt appeal to us visually do they taste better than they look? Ah well, doesnt matter well try them on another trip. Grade: A+
Tuesday, 12/14. Our long awaited breakfast at CRT had arrived. We chose the last breakfast seating to make it an early lunch. This was the best possible thing to do. The restaurant mostly emptied out and we had the princesses to ourselves. They were all lovely and spent lots of time with my older DS who was- literally the only boy in the room the entire time we were there. The food was okay, what I expected, just traditional hearty breakfast fare like bacon, scrambled eggs, and a potato casserole we liked very much. The french toast was disgusting deep fried in what tasted like old oil. Gag. We ate lots of the mixed fruit. The baby slept through all of the breakfast and the waiter brought a box and extra food so that we could feed him when he woke up I thought that was really thoughtful. We will do this again in a heartbeat if we are lucky enough to score a table! Food grade: C, overall grade: A
Dinner was at Crystal Palace before MVMCP. It was LOUD and crowded. Both boys loved all the hustle and bustle, we had a great table the last one along the windows but closest to the food. Characters were rushed, hey that is a mighty big room to cover so we understood. The entrees were really good for a buffet. I liked the diversity of the foods. Heck, I even got to have tasty tofu and veggies in curry sauce and that made my day. The desserts werent as good, pretty much on par with Golden Corral. Food grade: B-
Wednesday, 12/15. Ate yogurt and bananas in the room for breakfast. We had PSs for Le Cellier today, but realizing that we had more wishes than we knew what to do with and that older DS would love it, we decided to try to get into Coral Reef at the last minute. I called over 45 minutes before we wanted to eat and they said, Sure no problem. Well, we arrived to find out that, because of some plumbing problem, the restaurant wasnt open and hadnt been. They wanted us to come back in an hour and check. Why did they let us make a PS when they knew they werent open? Grrr. Needless to say, we ran over to Le Cellier where we had an excellent meal. We had smoothies to start, along with the delicious asian shrimp cocktail and okay seafood salad selections. DH talked me into ordering beef while he ordered the chili shrimp (and told me we could switch) and I am glad he did. I had the tenderloin over gorgonzola bread pudding. You could cut the meat with a fork, it was that tender. Truly the best beef Ive ever experienced! We ordered a cup of cheddar cheese soup for DS, we all thought it was wonderful. At a certain point, DS refused to share anymore. LOL! Service was absolutely abysmal, worst of the trip. The waiter ignored us, basically, despite only having two other tables. Oh, after we requested the eagerly anticipated pretzel bread, we though it was just okay. I had the Canadian Club cake for dessert, DH had apple cranberry crisp which he pronounced the best crisp in the world. Food grade: A
DH and I sneaked out for a date night dinner later on. We (I) agonized over our decision and ultimately chose Narcoossees. I am so glad we did. We dashed over to MK to ride a couple things we hadnt done with the kids, came back to tour GF which we find romantic all dolled up for Christmas, then headed over to the restaurant. We had a window table looking at the castle. We screwed ourselves up a bit since we were supposed to watch Wishes from the restaurant, but we were a little late and watched them from the monorail. It seemed like Narcoossees would be a fabulous place to see them, what a beautiful restaurant, just our style! I had a pink lemonade martini-thing to celebrate our date. We started with langostino crab cakes and PEI mussels. Both were delicious, but the mussels had the best broth Ive ever had (and we consider ourselves mussels experts. For example. we once spent time in Brussels when I was pregnant and their famous mussels were all I could handle. I think we ate every mussel in town)..I had lobster which hard to screw up, DH had surf and turf. The tenderloins were a little tough but the lobster was good too. The desserts here were the best of the trip. We argued over who would get to order the almond crusted cheesecake. DH won, darn him. It was, as the waitress said, divine. I had the chocolate dome, also delicious but not in the same league. Food grade: A-
We are:
Me, mid 30s, hasnt eaten red meat for years except when pregnant and a quality burger is the only thing that will suffice. Meat doesnt agree with me though I did break this rule a couple times on this trip. I eat mostly vegetarian and seafood for my main meals.
DH, mid 30s, not a picky eater except about a few quirky things (like chocolate!). He doesnt eat red meat normally either cos I cook for the family but get him to quality restaurant and all cows had better watch their backs.
DS, 4, a blessedly cosmopolitan eater too. Hell eat anything but zucchini. He ate mostly from our plates. ETA: except at buffets, of course, where we paid for his meals!
DS, 16 months, lives on air. Seriously, wont eat anything but raisins, cheese crackers, kiwis and ice cream so isnt a factor here.
We arrived late on 12/11 and checked into AKL (I will do a separate resort report).
12/12 We had breakfast PSs at Boma. Lots of people milling and, though this was the longest wait of our trip, it was 10 minutes at the most. We absolutely loved Bomas breakfast. We thought the food was incredible and, since it was the cheapest breakfast buffet we encountered, a good value. I wish there was more African-themed food since all we had was the boboti and the biscuits over veggies in sauce (it was like chicken a la king but so much better!). The buffet station set up bugged us too. A line would build up to go onto a 2nd station from the first. Well, people would come along and want food from the 2nd station, and, despite seeing lots of people who already have their food from the 1st station and are waiting in line to visit the 2nd, would just cut in line instead of getting in line. Does that make sense? Thats one of my pet peeves and I think the buffet could be designed better for crowded conditions.. Food grade: A-
Dinner was at Beaches and Cream. Wed been looking forward to this and I bought QC vouchers to use for this meal. We (the adults) had heavenly real vanilla and cherry cokes while we waited for our sandwiches. I had a chicken sandwich that was terrible, consisted of dry chicken, lettuce, tomato and bun, thats all. With mayo on the side. DS ate it and the okay fries. DH had a sandwich, possibly roast beef?, but he said it was excellent and the onion rings were great too. For dessert, we ordered a No Way Jose and a banana split. Both were massive and yummy. Food grade: B-
Monday, 12/13: We had breakfast in our room at AKL since we were moving over to Ft. Wilderness cabins and the beginning of our package. We headed over to MGM for lunch at the Brown Derby. Unfortunately, this was the only meal that either of the boys acted up during and BOTH of the boys were crabby. It was the worst place to have cranky kids, seated in the middle of the room. Our waiter seemed repulsed by the shenanigans and probably applauded when we left. I barely got to eat or enjoy the surroundings since I (and DH) kept taking turns leaving. However, everything was excellent, though portions were small. We had the mushroom chevre ravioli and coconut shrimp for appetizer; I had the grouper for my entrée and DH had the strip steak with shrimp skewers. I honestly dont remember eating dessert though I am sure we did! I looked on the allearset menu and nothing rings a bell. Food grade A-
Well rested, we ventured over to Kona Café for dinner. We fell in love with this place. The people working here were so friendly and warm. Everytime anyone - other waiters, bussers, hostess, etc. - would walk by they would stop to flirt and chat with my two boys. The waitress brought a smoothie divided into two cups without us saying a word. My older DS was admiring the drink umbrellas, next thing you know one in every color materialized. The food was fantastic too! We had the crabcakes and duck potstickers for appetizer with the macadamia mah mahi and shrimp and scallops as entrees. The mahi was to die for, absolutely amazing. We had the chocolate macadamia nut tart and white chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Yum! The koko puffs didnt appeal to us visually do they taste better than they look? Ah well, doesnt matter well try them on another trip. Grade: A+
Tuesday, 12/14. Our long awaited breakfast at CRT had arrived. We chose the last breakfast seating to make it an early lunch. This was the best possible thing to do. The restaurant mostly emptied out and we had the princesses to ourselves. They were all lovely and spent lots of time with my older DS who was- literally the only boy in the room the entire time we were there. The food was okay, what I expected, just traditional hearty breakfast fare like bacon, scrambled eggs, and a potato casserole we liked very much. The french toast was disgusting deep fried in what tasted like old oil. Gag. We ate lots of the mixed fruit. The baby slept through all of the breakfast and the waiter brought a box and extra food so that we could feed him when he woke up I thought that was really thoughtful. We will do this again in a heartbeat if we are lucky enough to score a table! Food grade: C, overall grade: A
Dinner was at Crystal Palace before MVMCP. It was LOUD and crowded. Both boys loved all the hustle and bustle, we had a great table the last one along the windows but closest to the food. Characters were rushed, hey that is a mighty big room to cover so we understood. The entrees were really good for a buffet. I liked the diversity of the foods. Heck, I even got to have tasty tofu and veggies in curry sauce and that made my day. The desserts werent as good, pretty much on par with Golden Corral. Food grade: B-
Wednesday, 12/15. Ate yogurt and bananas in the room for breakfast. We had PSs for Le Cellier today, but realizing that we had more wishes than we knew what to do with and that older DS would love it, we decided to try to get into Coral Reef at the last minute. I called over 45 minutes before we wanted to eat and they said, Sure no problem. Well, we arrived to find out that, because of some plumbing problem, the restaurant wasnt open and hadnt been. They wanted us to come back in an hour and check. Why did they let us make a PS when they knew they werent open? Grrr. Needless to say, we ran over to Le Cellier where we had an excellent meal. We had smoothies to start, along with the delicious asian shrimp cocktail and okay seafood salad selections. DH talked me into ordering beef while he ordered the chili shrimp (and told me we could switch) and I am glad he did. I had the tenderloin over gorgonzola bread pudding. You could cut the meat with a fork, it was that tender. Truly the best beef Ive ever experienced! We ordered a cup of cheddar cheese soup for DS, we all thought it was wonderful. At a certain point, DS refused to share anymore. LOL! Service was absolutely abysmal, worst of the trip. The waiter ignored us, basically, despite only having two other tables. Oh, after we requested the eagerly anticipated pretzel bread, we though it was just okay. I had the Canadian Club cake for dessert, DH had apple cranberry crisp which he pronounced the best crisp in the world. Food grade: A
DH and I sneaked out for a date night dinner later on. We (I) agonized over our decision and ultimately chose Narcoossees. I am so glad we did. We dashed over to MK to ride a couple things we hadnt done with the kids, came back to tour GF which we find romantic all dolled up for Christmas, then headed over to the restaurant. We had a window table looking at the castle. We screwed ourselves up a bit since we were supposed to watch Wishes from the restaurant, but we were a little late and watched them from the monorail. It seemed like Narcoossees would be a fabulous place to see them, what a beautiful restaurant, just our style! I had a pink lemonade martini-thing to celebrate our date. We started with langostino crab cakes and PEI mussels. Both were delicious, but the mussels had the best broth Ive ever had (and we consider ourselves mussels experts. For example. we once spent time in Brussels when I was pregnant and their famous mussels were all I could handle. I think we ate every mussel in town)..I had lobster which hard to screw up, DH had surf and turf. The tenderloins were a little tough but the lobster was good too. The desserts here were the best of the trip. We argued over who would get to order the almond crusted cheesecake. DH won, darn him. It was, as the waitress said, divine. I had the chocolate dome, also delicious but not in the same league. Food grade: A-
