Restaurant Reviews (looong!)

slp87

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Joined
May 3, 2001
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Our family of 3 was in Orlando from March 10 – 21. We spent our first 5 nights at the BWV, our next 4 nights at the Rosen Plaza for a convention, and our last 2 nights at BCV. Our family consists of my DH, DD (9), and myself. Most of the trip we ate breakfast in the room.

Wednesday, March 10th
As we exited the plane, I could smell the smell that warms my heart….CINNABON!! We do not have a location in my hometown, so we decided to pick a 4-pack up to enjoy for breakfast.

Dinner – Chick-fil-A. We had stopped at the Albertson’s at Orange Blossom and grabbed some chicken to eat on the road as we blazed a trail to BWV.

Thursday, March 11th
Breakfast in room – reheated Cinnabons!!

Lunch – Garden Grill (Epcot) It has been about 7 years since I had eaten here and the food was fine. It was not bad, it just wasn’t cooked or seasoned the way we like. Our PS was for 12:30 and the restaurant was not crowded at all. The character interaction was wonderful! Each character came by about 3 times. I got the cutest picture here. My DD was leaning on the railing watching the boats go by, and Pluto came up, put his arm around her and looked over the side with her. It was so cute!!

Dinner – My DD grabbed a hot dog as we left the Am. Adv, DH had a sausage sandwich from Sommerfest, which he enjoyed, and I had a sandwich from the Boardwalk Bakery, which was also good.

Friday, March 12th
Breakfast - We had an 8:05 PS for Crystal Palace (MK). We were running behind and arrived about 8:20. My DH is not a big breakfast eater so he was going to wait on a bench outside, but when I asked they said he could sit with us and not be charged if he didn’t eat. Food was good, I think we had hurried so much and I was worried about us not getting finished before 9:00, that I wasn’t able to enjoy the meal. I love this place and will definitely go again. Character interaction was good. We tried to wait out Tigger, but waited and waited and finally decided we would catch him at another location.

Lunch – We all grabbed hot dogs from an outdoor stand in Liberty Square near the Hall of Presidents. I’m not a huge hot dog eater, but we were going to ‘Ohana that night and I didn’t want to load up.

Dinner – ‘Ohana (Poly) Our previous experience here 2 years ago had some kinks in it so we were anxious to get back and have a better experience. We had a table with a view of MK and I had scheduled our PS so we could see Wishes. Food was very good and my DD had a great time participating in the coconut races and hula hoop contest. When Wishes started everyone was spellbound. It was amazing! We will definitely return and hopefully time it so we can see the fireworks again.

Saturday, March 13th
Breakfast in room – still working on those Cinnabons!

Lunch – Lottawatta Lodge(BB) I can’t remember what everyone else got, but I had the pizza and it was fine, nothing fancy.

Dinner – Backlot Express(MGM) Hamburgers for all. Good.

Sunday, March 14th
Breakfast in room – Last Cinnabon eaten!!

Lunch – Pizza Planet (MGM) We had been promising my DD since our last trip that we would eat here. The food was typical fast food fair. DH and I both got salads & pizza and we all 3 shared.

Dinner – DD and I went back to MK since it was open til 11:00. We stopped in Cosmic Ray’s for a bite to eat. This was a great surprise! I got the Italian Stacked Sandwich, DD got vegetable soup and we shared French fries. My sandwich was huge and very fresh!! DD is picky and doesn’t eat burgers or sandwiches, but loves soups!! We were pleased to find something fast other than burgers!!

Monday, March 15th
Breakfast in room

Lunch – Flame Tree (AK) We wanted to try this our last trip, but it was closed due to cutbacks, so we were excited that it would be open. It was VERY crowded and took a while to get our food. We got 2 adult meal certificates. This is the best deal in all of WDW!! My DH got the ribs plate and DD and I shared the chopped sandwich. The food was very good. DH wanted more ribs the rest of the trip!! We were leaving AK after this so we stopped and got our 2 free cokes, Mickey ice cream bar, and popcorn.

We left WDW this day for me to work at my conference at the Orange County Convention Center.

Dinner – DH and DD were having Mexican food withdrawals so they found Don Pablo’s. I think they shared fajitas and I know they were happy to have that need fulfilled.

Tuesday, March 16th
My company was providing my meals I’m not sure what they did for breakfast & lunch.

Dinner – Macaroni Grill near the Crossroads. I love MG and we don’t have one in our town. Unfortunately it wasn’t that great this time around. DH and I shared lasagna and DD got the kids portion. It seemed a little dry.

Wednesday, March 17th
Dinner – Planet Hollywood (DD) The southwest region of our company held a dinner here. I can’t remember what DH ate, but I had the rotisserie chicken and DD had fajitas. Everything was good. The only thing I didn’t like was the noise level. It was so loud we had a hard time visiting.

Thursday, March 18th
Dinner – Bonefish (Sand Lake Dr.) A friend and I had to take some VIPs to dinner and this restaurant was recommended. It is very nice and the food was excellent. The other 3 in the party ordered fish and I had a filet mignon. Wonderful!! If you ever want a nice meal in the Orlando area, this is the place, but don’t get confused because across the street is Fish Bones.

Friday, March 19th
I had to work ½ day at the conference, and then we were back to WDW. We grabbed pizza from the hotel lobby before heading to TL.

Dinner – Chevy’s (Crossroads) That Mexican food craving kicked in, so we decided to give Chevy’s a try. I don’t know if it’s a Texan thing, or just us, but when we eat Mexican food there are 2 things that a server needs to do to keep us happy….keep the chips replenished and tea glasses filled with tea and ice. After our first 2 baskets of chips, our waitress stopped by and told us they ran out!! Tragedy! The other problem was our tea glasses were being filled, but there were about 3 pieces of ice floating at the top. Aside from those minor distractions, the food was good. A little different than what we’re use to, but still good.

Saturday, March 20th
Breakfast – Princess Storybook Breakfast (Epcot) This was our first experience at the PSB and the food was a little disappointing. The cinnamon rolls looked as if they had been sitting there for 2 days. They tasted okay, but not overly fresh. My DD is picky (surprise) about her bacon and if you can’t hold one end and have the rest stand straight out, she won’t eat it! Well the bacon didn’t even look close to done, I’m not that picky and I was kind of grossed out. I asked if our waitress if she could bring some really crispy slices out. What she brought was not much better. I was just not impressed with the food. The princesses though, were great!! We saw Snow White, Belle, Mary Poppins, Aurora, and Mulan. I might be tempted to eat here again just to see all of them.

Lunch – Boulangerie Patisserie (France – Epcot) This is one of those vacation only type of meals. We had been working our way through the Kidcot stations and were getting hungry, so we stopped in here. As we went through the line my DD saw the Cake of the Day, which was chocolate…we’ll take one slice of that, then we saw the Palmiers (elephant ears), yummy…we’ll take 2 of those (one for dad back at the room), the coconut pyramid looks interesting…I’ll take one of those, and those croissants look fresh…I take a plain one. OINK, OINK. We grabbed a table in the back of the souvenir shop next door and I ate half of my croissant and DD at her chocolate cake. We did actually take the rest back to the room. Everything was so fresh and good!!

Dinner – Le Cellier (Canada – Epcot) Everyone on this site had been raving about Le Cellier and being the big meat eaters we are, we couldn’t wait to give this a try. I made sure to order the cheese soup and the waiter even recommended that we dip the pretzel bread in it. (I didn’t let on that I already knew this tip!) Very good, a little peppery, but goooood! DD ordered the steak and fries and declared this the best steak she had ever had. I had the filet mignon, which I could have cut with a butter knife. DH ordered the New York Strip. Unfortunately our server typed it in wrong and brought him the filet mignon also. He immediately apologized, brought him a new one and didn’t charge us. DH said it was fabulous. We enjoyed everything about this meal.

Sunday, March 21st
Breakfast in room – all those leftover pastries!!

Lunch – Cosmic Ray’s (MK) DD really wanted to go back for some veggie soup, so that’s where we headed. DH had not been with us before and it was packed at lunchtime. I can see where others don’t like the setup of the restaurant when they want food from the different areas. We ordered an Italian stacked sandwich, chicken Caesar salad, and veggie soup. DH and I shared the sandwich and salad, which were both wonderful.

We caught the plane that evening after a fabulous trip. For the most part we tried to share and always ordered just 2 small drinks for the 3 of us. Thanks for sticking with my post, let me know if you have any questions.
 
Sounds like you had a great time eating around the World!!

Your comment about the 2 day old cinnamon rolls made me laugh! Wasn't it you that ate 4 day old Cinnabons!!;)
 
Thank you for the great reviews! And no, it's just not a Texas thing wanting replentished chips, salsa, and tea with enough ice, it's also a Louisiana thing ::yes:: Sorry to hear you had that happen to you at Chevy's because we have always had great service and food there. And trust me I understand Mexican food withdrawal !! I do have a question about the Garden Grill. You mentioned things weren't seasoned like you like. Was everything like that? Being from the deep South we are accustomed to good fried catfish. Was it good? Glad to hear about your great dinner at Le Cellier. We've had similar experiences there.
 
Excellent dining reviews. Hope you left some cake for me at Boulangerie patisserie;)
 

Your comment about the 2 day old cinnamon rolls made me laugh! Wasn't it you that ate 4 day old Cinnabons!!

You got me there!!:)

Epcotgal8,
I've noticed the unusual seasonings at a few restaurants and here it was more obvious. My DH is a big catfish eater and he didn't love it. It wasn't that any of it was bad...just different.
 
What time did you make the 'Ohana reservations and what time was wishes?

Maggie
 
Wishes was at 8:00 and our PS was for 7:00. We weren't seated right away, probably about 7:15 or 7:20. The timing was perfect.
 
For sharing,I enjoyed reading your post.::yes:: :wave2:
 
Great dining reviews, Suzanne!
At least with the 4 day old Cinnabons you knew they were 4 days old.
When having breakfast at a restaurant, you expect fresh, right?::yes:: I would!
Thanks for posting!

Debbie
 
Thanks for the reviews! We don't EVEN attempt to eat mexican when we are away from home....we are too critical.That's the first thing we eat when we get home, though!

Where in west Texas are you?:wave2:
 
Thanks for the reviews!

We are Texans as well, and quickly learned not to order Mexican or BBQ out of state, LOL. Glad you had both that were good! =)
 
i have to agree w/you about the storybook princess breakfast. we were very disappointed in the food quality,but the princesses were great!!:tongue:
 
We don't usually attempt Mexican food out of state either, but we were gone so long we couldn't make it!!

LindaR, we're in Lubbock.
 


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