drcmk
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2002
- Messages
- 903
Diners: Mom & Dad and Dds age 7 & 9, all of us consider good food a critical part of a vacation.
Ill just review chronologically.
Saturday 11/12:
Lunch: Arrived in time for a late lunch at Kona Cafe. It wasnt busy at all. The children had pasta with meatballs from the kids menu. Just about every kids pasta at every restaurant was more al mushy instead of al dente. One girl ate it, one girl didnt. DH ate the meatballs and said they were good. I ate Barbecued Pork Sandwich, which was wonderful. DH had a turkey sandwich which he also loved. Very good service.
Dinner: Youngest DD had chicken nuggets at the Liberty Inn. Service was quick and she was pleased with her food. The rest of us ate at Cantina de San Angel. We had wet burritos, and a kids beef burrito and margaritas. I love this restaurant. The food was great. The margaritas tasted just okay, but did serve to improve my mood considerably after fighting the Food and Wine Festival crowds that evening.
Sunday 11/13:
Breakfast: Crystal Palace! It was our first visit here. The food was fabulousso much to choose from, but I did not have enough room to try it all. There were both traditional and creative breakfast dishes. The restaurant is beautiful, but the seats are packed very close together. The gentleman beside me wanted to be sure not to miss recording a second of his grandchilds visit with Pooh characters, so he stood beside the table with video camera at the ready for the entire meal, basically forcing me to eat with his behind in my face and preventing me from being able to leave my seat. By the last time I had to say, Excuse me, sir, Im afraid my tone of voice was less than polite. This was also our only server of our vacation who did her job just fine, but without smiling or speaking any more than strictly necessary. We saw all four characters in about 40 minutes.
Snack: Ice cream from Mrs. Potts Cupboard. Very good, especially the brownie sundae.
Dinner: Id been excited to try Earl of Sandwich since it opened. The line was SO long, but moved very quickly and we had no trouble finding a table outdoors. There was no difficulty customizing our sandwiches (PB&J minus the J, please). The food was very reasonable. The childrens portions are actually the same size as the adults, but less money. My kids enjoyed a peanut butter sandwich (served warm on toasted artisan roll) and the pizza sandwich. DH and I split three sandwichesa Scudetto, a 1762 and an All American. All were good, but the All American was my favorite.
Snack: Picked up a rice krispie treat and cotton candy from Goofys Candy Shop. Nothing was thrilling.
Monday 11/14:
Lunch: We had Pizza Planet pizzas. This is a favorite of DD7, so we always go. The pizza is okay, I like the one with vegetable toppings. The lines move very quickly.
Dinner: We had an ADR at Sci-Fi diner. This was definitely necessary, since walk-ins were waiting 45 minutes or so. We ordered burgers and onion rings. The food was fine. The service was very good. DH and I plan to experiment with showing movie clips and sitting the kids in the front seat of a car during meals at homethe children were very quiet and ate without complaining! I would have preferred to eat somewhere else, but the Fantasmic dinner packages were all sold out when I called that morning. We showed up for Fantasmic 75 minutes before the show, but people that showed up 40 minutes early or even sooner got good seats.
Snack: Returned to Kona Café for dessert. Two Kilauea tortes and two kiddie cones. Very yummy! Our server brought the kids waters with paper umbrellas them provided more for them to take home.
Tuesday 11/15:
Breakfast: Back to Kona Café. I loved my Tonga Toast. I did not find it to be too much food or too sweet. DH really enjoyed his Eggs Benedict. Kids ordered Goofy toastwhich is an egg fried in a hole in a thick slice of bread. One kid ate it, one did not. When I make this at home, I toast the bread in the toaster,, then bake the egg in the hole. But Kona fries up the whole thing on a griddle, so it is buttery or greasy. Like I said, one girl loved it, one girl hated it. The bacon and sausage were very good. We had pressed pot coffee and I wish I had some right now, it was great. We had ADR but did not need them this morning. OTOH, when we stopped back for breakfast on Saturday morning, the wait was 30 minutes for a table so we passed. Friendly service.
Lunch: DD7 had a pretzel from a cart in Germany at World Showcase, which she refused to eat (it tasted fine to me). The rest of us ate at the Lotus Blossom Café in China/World Showcase. I had read that the food here was mediocre, but it was fine. We had egg rolls, vegetable lo mein, beef rice bowl and the kids fried rice. We liked it all a lot. It seemed slightly less expensive than other counter service meals.
Dinner: We had a late dinner at the Grand Floridian Café. The service was very good and we sat down quickly. We had an ADR but didnt need it. One child had macaroni and cheese (didnt eat it) one had pasta with marinara (loved it). DH had a NY strip and shrimp combo. I had the prime rib, which was great. The mashed potatoes were delicious! My husband also liked his onion soup. The kids somehow talked Dad into dessert. They had chocolate mousse cake, we had tiramisu. No dessert was left behind! Yum. Even though the food was very good, this was the restaurant that seemed the most over-priced to us. The whole dinner was about $100after tip, with dessert but no alcohol and only one appetizer.
Wednesday 11/16 (yes, we are still eating!):
Lunch: Cosmic Rays. This was a fun place to eat. Food was prepared quickly. We had burgers and chicken fingers with fries. These are pretty much the same regardless of where in WDW you have counter service. It was all fine, no food was left behind.
Dinner: I went back and forth about whether to eat at Spoodles. I am SO glad we did. It was my favorite meal of the week! We shared a pitcher of sangria, which might have helped. It was wonderful. I have to start making Sangria at home, I think. We also had Mediterranean dips, with pita bread. Im not even sure what they all wereone was cheesy, one was curry, one was cucumber-y and one was like hummus. I ate them all and even the olives! The bread that came with dinner was seasoned, so the kids rejected it (more for me). One DD had the steak, the other had macaroni and cheese. They enjoyed their food. DH had the rigatoni, I had fettucine alfredo. It was all SO good. Wonderful service. I would eat here again any time. Had ADR and probably did need it, the restaurant was full.
Snack: Boulangerie Patisserie at World Showcase/France--one chocolate croissant, one chocolate cake, one chocolate mousse, one éclair. Much enjoyed.
Thursday 11/17:
Lunch: Flame Tree Barbecue lunchmy kids liked their hot dogs. DH and I had the pulled pork sandwiches, with beans & corn. The corn was watery and forgettable. The beans and sandwiches were good but not as wonderful as I remember from previous visits.
Snack: Mickey ice cream bars from a cart. Very good.
Dinner: We went to MK at about 6:30 to see the fireworks and have dinner. We ended up at the Plaza Restaurant. Sat immediately with no ADR. DH enjoyed his grilled reuben, I had a turkey sandwich on wheat bread with bacon and German potato salad. These were both very good. DH7 had a peanut butter sandwich. This turned out to be kind of small,since it was cut with a cookie cutter into a Mickey head shape. It came with sliced bananas, which made a mom feel good and potato chips. For the same price it did not seem like it was nearly as much food as DD9s mini burgers (2) and fries. We also had tomato soup (more croutons than soup, but tasted very good) and mushroom barley soup (also delicious). All of the food was good and the service was good. We got out just in time to catch all but the first few floats of Spectromagic.
Friday 11/18:
Lunch: We ate at Columbia Harbor House. Kids had chicken stripssame old thing. DD9 ordered hot cocoa, then promptly burned her whole mouth on it. It was watery, she didnt end up drinking it. I had the vegetarian chili and it was very good. DH had chicken and fish with fries. Everyone liked their food. We ate upstairs where it was peaceful. The lines in this restaurant seemed to move more slowly than other counter service places. Maybe people are confused by the menu?
Dinner: We had ADR for San Angel Inn. Once we got there, it was very crowded and we had to wait just to check in with the hostess. We were not 100% sure about the menu and had enjoyed Cantina de San Angel so much that we decided to stick with the counter service instead and went outside. This time we had the Plato Combinacion and Nachos. Still good. Nothing we didnt like. I thought it was a little odd that at this restaurant (and no others) the server would not give us cups of ice water but instead gave us cups of ice and told us to use the water fountain to fill them up. DD7 wouldnt eat here. We walked back to Liberty Inn and ordered chicken nuggets, but this time she decided that she didnt like them any more. The kids chicken nuggets come with French fries and sugar free applesauce. The fries are fine. But the applesauce is inedible. We had this as a side dish with kids meals a few times. At first, I thought we had a stale cup, but each cup we had was just as badsour tasting and bland.
Saturday 11/19:
Breakfast: We hoped to eat at Kona Café, but without an ADR this was difficult. We got pastries at Kona Island instead. The donuts were Krispy Kreme, the bagels were not what those of us in the Phila/New York area are used to, but edible. Actually DD9 ate most of mine. We got milk to drink, but they make specialty coffees. The problem is that those coffees take a while to make and really slow down the line.
Snack: Popcornfresh and crunchy.
Lunch: Our first visit to Whispering Canyon Café. DH hates audience participation meals and he probably would have been very angry with me for not telling him about the antics here had the food not been SO delicious. He got the refillable skillet and loved the ribs and the potatoes. I tasted some too and would order them myself if I had the chance again. The corn bread was also remarkable. I had the Buffalo Chicken saladvery tangy. I enjoyed it. Chicken fingers and a burger for the kids. Hey, they were happy. Our server was silly but also very friendly and the level of silliness in general was not too much for our family. We had dessertone milkshake, one kids sundae (no chocolate ice cream available, only vanilla) and Kahlua chocolate mousse cake. DH just had more ribs. This was definitely a worthwhile trip, even though the convoluted transportation back to the Poly made us miss our Magical Express bus!Kona Cafe
Ill just review chronologically.
Saturday 11/12:
Lunch: Arrived in time for a late lunch at Kona Cafe. It wasnt busy at all. The children had pasta with meatballs from the kids menu. Just about every kids pasta at every restaurant was more al mushy instead of al dente. One girl ate it, one girl didnt. DH ate the meatballs and said they were good. I ate Barbecued Pork Sandwich, which was wonderful. DH had a turkey sandwich which he also loved. Very good service.
Dinner: Youngest DD had chicken nuggets at the Liberty Inn. Service was quick and she was pleased with her food. The rest of us ate at Cantina de San Angel. We had wet burritos, and a kids beef burrito and margaritas. I love this restaurant. The food was great. The margaritas tasted just okay, but did serve to improve my mood considerably after fighting the Food and Wine Festival crowds that evening.
Sunday 11/13:
Breakfast: Crystal Palace! It was our first visit here. The food was fabulousso much to choose from, but I did not have enough room to try it all. There were both traditional and creative breakfast dishes. The restaurant is beautiful, but the seats are packed very close together. The gentleman beside me wanted to be sure not to miss recording a second of his grandchilds visit with Pooh characters, so he stood beside the table with video camera at the ready for the entire meal, basically forcing me to eat with his behind in my face and preventing me from being able to leave my seat. By the last time I had to say, Excuse me, sir, Im afraid my tone of voice was less than polite. This was also our only server of our vacation who did her job just fine, but without smiling or speaking any more than strictly necessary. We saw all four characters in about 40 minutes.
Snack: Ice cream from Mrs. Potts Cupboard. Very good, especially the brownie sundae.
Dinner: Id been excited to try Earl of Sandwich since it opened. The line was SO long, but moved very quickly and we had no trouble finding a table outdoors. There was no difficulty customizing our sandwiches (PB&J minus the J, please). The food was very reasonable. The childrens portions are actually the same size as the adults, but less money. My kids enjoyed a peanut butter sandwich (served warm on toasted artisan roll) and the pizza sandwich. DH and I split three sandwichesa Scudetto, a 1762 and an All American. All were good, but the All American was my favorite.
Snack: Picked up a rice krispie treat and cotton candy from Goofys Candy Shop. Nothing was thrilling.
Monday 11/14:
Lunch: We had Pizza Planet pizzas. This is a favorite of DD7, so we always go. The pizza is okay, I like the one with vegetable toppings. The lines move very quickly.
Dinner: We had an ADR at Sci-Fi diner. This was definitely necessary, since walk-ins were waiting 45 minutes or so. We ordered burgers and onion rings. The food was fine. The service was very good. DH and I plan to experiment with showing movie clips and sitting the kids in the front seat of a car during meals at homethe children were very quiet and ate without complaining! I would have preferred to eat somewhere else, but the Fantasmic dinner packages were all sold out when I called that morning. We showed up for Fantasmic 75 minutes before the show, but people that showed up 40 minutes early or even sooner got good seats.
Snack: Returned to Kona Café for dessert. Two Kilauea tortes and two kiddie cones. Very yummy! Our server brought the kids waters with paper umbrellas them provided more for them to take home.
Tuesday 11/15:
Breakfast: Back to Kona Café. I loved my Tonga Toast. I did not find it to be too much food or too sweet. DH really enjoyed his Eggs Benedict. Kids ordered Goofy toastwhich is an egg fried in a hole in a thick slice of bread. One kid ate it, one did not. When I make this at home, I toast the bread in the toaster,, then bake the egg in the hole. But Kona fries up the whole thing on a griddle, so it is buttery or greasy. Like I said, one girl loved it, one girl hated it. The bacon and sausage were very good. We had pressed pot coffee and I wish I had some right now, it was great. We had ADR but did not need them this morning. OTOH, when we stopped back for breakfast on Saturday morning, the wait was 30 minutes for a table so we passed. Friendly service.
Lunch: DD7 had a pretzel from a cart in Germany at World Showcase, which she refused to eat (it tasted fine to me). The rest of us ate at the Lotus Blossom Café in China/World Showcase. I had read that the food here was mediocre, but it was fine. We had egg rolls, vegetable lo mein, beef rice bowl and the kids fried rice. We liked it all a lot. It seemed slightly less expensive than other counter service meals.
Dinner: We had a late dinner at the Grand Floridian Café. The service was very good and we sat down quickly. We had an ADR but didnt need it. One child had macaroni and cheese (didnt eat it) one had pasta with marinara (loved it). DH had a NY strip and shrimp combo. I had the prime rib, which was great. The mashed potatoes were delicious! My husband also liked his onion soup. The kids somehow talked Dad into dessert. They had chocolate mousse cake, we had tiramisu. No dessert was left behind! Yum. Even though the food was very good, this was the restaurant that seemed the most over-priced to us. The whole dinner was about $100after tip, with dessert but no alcohol and only one appetizer.
Wednesday 11/16 (yes, we are still eating!):
Lunch: Cosmic Rays. This was a fun place to eat. Food was prepared quickly. We had burgers and chicken fingers with fries. These are pretty much the same regardless of where in WDW you have counter service. It was all fine, no food was left behind.
Dinner: I went back and forth about whether to eat at Spoodles. I am SO glad we did. It was my favorite meal of the week! We shared a pitcher of sangria, which might have helped. It was wonderful. I have to start making Sangria at home, I think. We also had Mediterranean dips, with pita bread. Im not even sure what they all wereone was cheesy, one was curry, one was cucumber-y and one was like hummus. I ate them all and even the olives! The bread that came with dinner was seasoned, so the kids rejected it (more for me). One DD had the steak, the other had macaroni and cheese. They enjoyed their food. DH had the rigatoni, I had fettucine alfredo. It was all SO good. Wonderful service. I would eat here again any time. Had ADR and probably did need it, the restaurant was full.
Snack: Boulangerie Patisserie at World Showcase/France--one chocolate croissant, one chocolate cake, one chocolate mousse, one éclair. Much enjoyed.
Thursday 11/17:
Lunch: Flame Tree Barbecue lunchmy kids liked their hot dogs. DH and I had the pulled pork sandwiches, with beans & corn. The corn was watery and forgettable. The beans and sandwiches were good but not as wonderful as I remember from previous visits.
Snack: Mickey ice cream bars from a cart. Very good.
Dinner: We went to MK at about 6:30 to see the fireworks and have dinner. We ended up at the Plaza Restaurant. Sat immediately with no ADR. DH enjoyed his grilled reuben, I had a turkey sandwich on wheat bread with bacon and German potato salad. These were both very good. DH7 had a peanut butter sandwich. This turned out to be kind of small,since it was cut with a cookie cutter into a Mickey head shape. It came with sliced bananas, which made a mom feel good and potato chips. For the same price it did not seem like it was nearly as much food as DD9s mini burgers (2) and fries. We also had tomato soup (more croutons than soup, but tasted very good) and mushroom barley soup (also delicious). All of the food was good and the service was good. We got out just in time to catch all but the first few floats of Spectromagic.
Friday 11/18:
Lunch: We ate at Columbia Harbor House. Kids had chicken stripssame old thing. DD9 ordered hot cocoa, then promptly burned her whole mouth on it. It was watery, she didnt end up drinking it. I had the vegetarian chili and it was very good. DH had chicken and fish with fries. Everyone liked their food. We ate upstairs where it was peaceful. The lines in this restaurant seemed to move more slowly than other counter service places. Maybe people are confused by the menu?
Dinner: We had ADR for San Angel Inn. Once we got there, it was very crowded and we had to wait just to check in with the hostess. We were not 100% sure about the menu and had enjoyed Cantina de San Angel so much that we decided to stick with the counter service instead and went outside. This time we had the Plato Combinacion and Nachos. Still good. Nothing we didnt like. I thought it was a little odd that at this restaurant (and no others) the server would not give us cups of ice water but instead gave us cups of ice and told us to use the water fountain to fill them up. DD7 wouldnt eat here. We walked back to Liberty Inn and ordered chicken nuggets, but this time she decided that she didnt like them any more. The kids chicken nuggets come with French fries and sugar free applesauce. The fries are fine. But the applesauce is inedible. We had this as a side dish with kids meals a few times. At first, I thought we had a stale cup, but each cup we had was just as badsour tasting and bland.
Saturday 11/19:
Breakfast: We hoped to eat at Kona Café, but without an ADR this was difficult. We got pastries at Kona Island instead. The donuts were Krispy Kreme, the bagels were not what those of us in the Phila/New York area are used to, but edible. Actually DD9 ate most of mine. We got milk to drink, but they make specialty coffees. The problem is that those coffees take a while to make and really slow down the line.
Snack: Popcornfresh and crunchy.
Lunch: Our first visit to Whispering Canyon Café. DH hates audience participation meals and he probably would have been very angry with me for not telling him about the antics here had the food not been SO delicious. He got the refillable skillet and loved the ribs and the potatoes. I tasted some too and would order them myself if I had the chance again. The corn bread was also remarkable. I had the Buffalo Chicken saladvery tangy. I enjoyed it. Chicken fingers and a burger for the kids. Hey, they were happy. Our server was silly but also very friendly and the level of silliness in general was not too much for our family. We had dessertone milkshake, one kids sundae (no chocolate ice cream available, only vanilla) and Kahlua chocolate mousse cake. DH just had more ribs. This was definitely a worthwhile trip, even though the convoluted transportation back to the Poly made us miss our Magical Express bus!Kona Cafe
