We were on the dining plan.
It was me, dh, and three dd's...we had the free dining plan.
Chef Mickey:
GREAT PLACE for our first Disney Dining experience! Characters were great and spent a lot of time with my girls!! It helps if you dress in a Minnie or Mickey shirt!! The girls got a kick out of Minnie enjoying their shirts sooo much!! Even dh got in the action and got a smooch from her!! The food was a little above average for a buffet. We did have to wait quite a while as it was VERY VERY busy. Our server was good and suggested shakes or smoothies(only one other waiter would do this on this trip...)the shakes were ice and no cream or flavor but oh well...had I paid 5 bucks for it I would have sent it back. The mago smoothie was great but my dd9 thought it was too sour, my dh and I thought it would be better with some schnapps or vodka! The food was good and prime rib was very rare and we love it that way. They also sliced it thick! The potatoes are good and the ceasar salad dressing was very creamy!
GRADE: A for food A- for service and A for atmosphere!
Total price 125.00
CRT lunch
Maybe it was a late lunch that was the problem, I don't know but this food was not good. The server only brought out ONE appetizer plate and ONE kids plate at a time and with 5 of us having not eaten anything before, well we were hungry and our kids ate most of our appetizer! I spilled my coke and the server was obviously irritated! I CLEANED IT UP myself. My kids liked the pasta and chicken fingers and DH ordered the turkey sand which was OK but nothing great IMO. I ordered the world famous domos pie...it was not flaky or even warm...it was TOO SALTY and I love salt! It also seemed too garlicky and I usually like garlic. The veggies on top were good but something about this dish was unsettling to me. I also would like to say that everything was brought out very luke warm. Fried crab ball things do not taste good cold! I was really TRYING to love this gorgeous place but it was crowded, noisy and rushed IMO. The princesses were nice enough although Mickey and Minnie spent more time with us the other night. Snow White was cute and friendly and Mary Poppins was quite funny with a grand accent! Sorry but Aurora and Cindy seemed very very hurried and put off. They were pretty and dressed so nice!! My girls wore their Cindy, Aurora and Tinkerbell outfits. When Cindy said something to my dd about her being a Pixie my dd5 replied "Tinkerbell is the PRINCESS of the fairies!!" as in like DUUHHH get with it!!
Fairy Godmother was poilite and let us take a few pics together. The hostess here at the CRT was a LOVELY lady, gorgeous dark complexion with dark deep eyes. She was so nice she let my dd's chime the bells to seat everyone!! That was great!! I guess I may have played into the hype of CRT. Maybe I was expecting too much, I don't know. I will try another princess meal next time. My dh and I did like the coffeecake with lemon ice cream, it was tasty!!
Service D Food C atmosphere A (well we WERE at the castle after all!!!)
Tepanyaki
now you guys are going to think I am just a critical $%$%# but let me assure you, I like food! I like simple foods and all kinds of foods!! I am not picky or hard to please, I swear!! Tepanyaki also took a long time to seat us which was fine but for anyone worrying about wasting park time for a sit down, plan for about 2 hrs for a meal with the dining plan!! I am easily ammused and impressed by Applebees or Fazolis!! We have a Tepan place here in Des Moines and it is our fav place!! We were really looking forward to this meal but it was not up to par IMO. The waitress informed me that lobster was not on my plan, EVEN BEFORE I ASKED!!! GEESH!!! My dh says to me, "I'll buy the lobster if you want it!!" I did want it but I was not going to pay more or eat all of this meal anyway so I decided not to be glutton and just get steak and scallops. At home we get plump scallops with a lemon sauce, FABULOUS! At Tepanyaki, the scallops were small and tough (I think they were cold water scallops actually...hello are we not in Florida??) The chef did not talk to us at all or tell jokes or throw knives. I was expecting more entertainment I guess. The waitress also tells us ONLY soft drinks allowed...FINE I get the point... HOWEVER it says any non alcoholic beverage is included but I said nothing. The steak was tough and cooked waaay to long for rare. It was flat and flavorless. I realize I am from a state where you get corn fed beef so maybe I am just a steak snob...we get filets at our Tepan place. The kids ate most of the rice(white) and then they got a TINY scoop of ice cream for desert, I had a scoop of vanilla but I think they should offer more and they do have other deserts on the menu but the lady said, you guessed it, ONLY ice cream on the plan. It was a good thing we had had great CS at EPCOT for lunch and I was not terribly hungry which suprised me for a Tepan place. I hate to sound so critical but it was a forgettable meal.
Service C Food:C- Atmosphere C-
total:150.00
Sci Fi
I know you warned me!!! ICK!!! The spinach cheese dip...do not get it! It was a pile of goo on the plate. Dh had the BLT soup it was good. I then ordered the shrimp pasta, this was actually really good!! The shrimp were big and juicy and the pasta was light and flavorful...dh had the Ribs and said they were not all that. The girls got mac n cheese and our server suggested we got shakes!! I got a diet coke because I am trying not to gain all I lost in one week!!
I should have ordered the salad for appetizer. For desert we got a moon pie, very hard and tasted burnt actually. The filling inside was not light and fluffy it was heavy and not creamy. The apple crisp was too "Clove" tasting...I love cinnamon but this was not that good. The server was great and took care of us and about 6 other parties 
at the same time!! Seems like a lot for one guy when everyone is ordering appetizer, entree and desert. The movie part was ok, the reels are too short IMO. My kids were amused for awhile but it got old, my advice is do more shows at MGM and forget about the movies at the Sci Fi...seriously we missed a lot at MGM due to the time it took us to eat and wait at Sci Fi. I hate to seem impatient, I am not! I have three girls and work with special needs kids, I obviously have a high tolerance for waiting but the dining was really effecting our touring of the parks and I will reconsider sit downs next visit.
Service A food C Atmosphere B...see a live show at the park instead.
total 125.00
Ohana
GREAT FOOD GREAT SERVICE our best of the whole trip!!!
SO MUCH food this is incredible!! The salad dressing was soo amazing we loved it!! Chicken was great, potatoes wonderful and creamy and warm...steak was tender and pink...and this banana pudding desert was so WONDERFUL!!! My whole family loved this place!! It was sooo much fun!! Hula hoop dancing and games for the kids!! GREAT PLACE!! We had so much to eat and our drinks were never empty!!
ALL A's across the board!
Funny how this was the least expensive meal all week and the best one with the most food!! I would pay OOP for this!!
total: 103.00
Unexpectedly, we had GREAT food at CS places!! YOU must do flame tree at AK!! So much food here and it is WONDERFUL!! REALLY!!! We also liked Seasons at EPCOT in the land, tons of variety and great deserts....
What we learned:
We do not eat enough for the plan!!! We had 16, YES 16 CS remaining when we left and 10 snacks which I bought yummy mickey rice crispy treats!!!
We would rather eat the snacks we love like a churro and big pretzel than a bag of chips, although we did get ice cream once with our credits.
We eat bkfst in room, have a snack and then eat a meal, we are not a three meal a day family especially while at WDW!!! Will never do that again. We wasted a lot of time and did not see as much as we would have liked due to our PS and waiting and having to eat and get served all those courses!!
I tried to get a meal once without desert at Captain Cooks, the lady argued with me (in a nice way) and told me how I was just wasting my money!! I could have taken it back to my room but I do not want to go back to my room while on our way to the parks, nor do I want to carry food in 90 degree heat!!
Just waaaay too much food for the average person IMO...I have developed a healthy lifestyle with Weight Watchers and lost a lot of weight but more importantly, I have learned portion size and remaining in control while eating!! Now I realize I am on vacation, yadayadayada...but seriously....I could not even share CS meals with my DH and not be totally full!!
Disney might be expensive but from what I can see, even at 8 or 9 bucks for a CS meal, you get A TON of food!!! The coke prices that is terrible but the food is actually good bargain I think!! The churros were huge and the pretzels at 3 dollars are GREAT!!! Those babies are giant and I could eat one of those for a meal!! (and did a few times!)
I am not trying to start a debate here but I am saying for me and my family, we missed out on a lot of things due to so much eating(esp since we only had 5 days to begin with) There is just soooo much to do at all the parks, we forgot to eat most of the time!!
I am sure it is a great deal for some...but for those like me, consider your options when purchasing the meal plan. Decide what your priorities are and go from there! Next trip will be more snacks and more CS and maybe 1 or 2 TS esp since dd9 will be 10 next time we go...she will certainly not eat 35 dollars worth of food...I had a hard time doing so!
It was great and glad it was free!! Everyone enjoy the plan!! At least we got to sample some of WDW's eateries. Now we know what we are there for next trip
\
can't wait to go back!!
It was me, dh, and three dd's...we had the free dining plan.
Chef Mickey:
GREAT PLACE for our first Disney Dining experience! Characters were great and spent a lot of time with my girls!! It helps if you dress in a Minnie or Mickey shirt!! The girls got a kick out of Minnie enjoying their shirts sooo much!! Even dh got in the action and got a smooch from her!! The food was a little above average for a buffet. We did have to wait quite a while as it was VERY VERY busy. Our server was good and suggested shakes or smoothies(only one other waiter would do this on this trip...)the shakes were ice and no cream or flavor but oh well...had I paid 5 bucks for it I would have sent it back. The mago smoothie was great but my dd9 thought it was too sour, my dh and I thought it would be better with some schnapps or vodka! The food was good and prime rib was very rare and we love it that way. They also sliced it thick! The potatoes are good and the ceasar salad dressing was very creamy!
GRADE: A for food A- for service and A for atmosphere!
Total price 125.00
CRT lunch
Maybe it was a late lunch that was the problem, I don't know but this food was not good. The server only brought out ONE appetizer plate and ONE kids plate at a time and with 5 of us having not eaten anything before, well we were hungry and our kids ate most of our appetizer! I spilled my coke and the server was obviously irritated! I CLEANED IT UP myself. My kids liked the pasta and chicken fingers and DH ordered the turkey sand which was OK but nothing great IMO. I ordered the world famous domos pie...it was not flaky or even warm...it was TOO SALTY and I love salt! It also seemed too garlicky and I usually like garlic. The veggies on top were good but something about this dish was unsettling to me. I also would like to say that everything was brought out very luke warm. Fried crab ball things do not taste good cold! I was really TRYING to love this gorgeous place but it was crowded, noisy and rushed IMO. The princesses were nice enough although Mickey and Minnie spent more time with us the other night. Snow White was cute and friendly and Mary Poppins was quite funny with a grand accent! Sorry but Aurora and Cindy seemed very very hurried and put off. They were pretty and dressed so nice!! My girls wore their Cindy, Aurora and Tinkerbell outfits. When Cindy said something to my dd about her being a Pixie my dd5 replied "Tinkerbell is the PRINCESS of the fairies!!" as in like DUUHHH get with it!!
Fairy Godmother was poilite and let us take a few pics together. The hostess here at the CRT was a LOVELY lady, gorgeous dark complexion with dark deep eyes. She was so nice she let my dd's chime the bells to seat everyone!! That was great!! I guess I may have played into the hype of CRT. Maybe I was expecting too much, I don't know. I will try another princess meal next time. My dh and I did like the coffeecake with lemon ice cream, it was tasty!!Service D Food C atmosphere A (well we WERE at the castle after all!!!)
Tepanyaki
now you guys are going to think I am just a critical $%$%# but let me assure you, I like food! I like simple foods and all kinds of foods!! I am not picky or hard to please, I swear!! Tepanyaki also took a long time to seat us which was fine but for anyone worrying about wasting park time for a sit down, plan for about 2 hrs for a meal with the dining plan!! I am easily ammused and impressed by Applebees or Fazolis!! We have a Tepan place here in Des Moines and it is our fav place!! We were really looking forward to this meal but it was not up to par IMO. The waitress informed me that lobster was not on my plan, EVEN BEFORE I ASKED!!! GEESH!!! My dh says to me, "I'll buy the lobster if you want it!!" I did want it but I was not going to pay more or eat all of this meal anyway so I decided not to be glutton and just get steak and scallops. At home we get plump scallops with a lemon sauce, FABULOUS! At Tepanyaki, the scallops were small and tough (I think they were cold water scallops actually...hello are we not in Florida??) The chef did not talk to us at all or tell jokes or throw knives. I was expecting more entertainment I guess. The waitress also tells us ONLY soft drinks allowed...FINE I get the point...
HOWEVER it says any non alcoholic beverage is included but I said nothing. The steak was tough and cooked waaay to long for rare. It was flat and flavorless. I realize I am from a state where you get corn fed beef so maybe I am just a steak snob...we get filets at our Tepan place. The kids ate most of the rice(white) and then they got a TINY scoop of ice cream for desert, I had a scoop of vanilla but I think they should offer more and they do have other deserts on the menu but the lady said, you guessed it, ONLY ice cream on the plan. It was a good thing we had had great CS at EPCOT for lunch and I was not terribly hungry which suprised me for a Tepan place. I hate to sound so critical but it was a forgettable meal.Service C Food:C- Atmosphere C-
total:150.00
Sci Fi
I know you warned me!!! ICK!!! The spinach cheese dip...do not get it! It was a pile of goo on the plate. Dh had the BLT soup it was good. I then ordered the shrimp pasta, this was actually really good!! The shrimp were big and juicy and the pasta was light and flavorful...dh had the Ribs and said they were not all that. The girls got mac n cheese and our server suggested we got shakes!! I got a diet coke because I am trying not to gain all I lost in one week!!
I should have ordered the salad for appetizer. For desert we got a moon pie, very hard and tasted burnt actually. The filling inside was not light and fluffy it was heavy and not creamy. The apple crisp was too "Clove" tasting...I love cinnamon but this was not that good. The server was great and took care of us and about 6 other parties at the same time!! Seems like a lot for one guy when everyone is ordering appetizer, entree and desert. The movie part was ok, the reels are too short IMO. My kids were amused for awhile but it got old, my advice is do more shows at MGM and forget about the movies at the Sci Fi...seriously we missed a lot at MGM due to the time it took us to eat and wait at Sci Fi. I hate to seem impatient, I am not! I have three girls and work with special needs kids, I obviously have a high tolerance for waiting but the dining was really effecting our touring of the parks and I will reconsider sit downs next visit.Service A food C Atmosphere B...see a live show at the park instead.
total 125.00
Ohana
GREAT FOOD GREAT SERVICE our best of the whole trip!!!
SO MUCH food this is incredible!! The salad dressing was soo amazing we loved it!! Chicken was great, potatoes wonderful and creamy and warm...steak was tender and pink...and this banana pudding desert was so WONDERFUL!!! My whole family loved this place!! It was sooo much fun!! Hula hoop dancing and games for the kids!! GREAT PLACE!! We had so much to eat and our drinks were never empty!!
ALL A's across the board!
Funny how this was the least expensive meal all week and the best one with the most food!! I would pay OOP for this!!
total: 103.00
Unexpectedly, we had GREAT food at CS places!! YOU must do flame tree at AK!! So much food here and it is WONDERFUL!! REALLY!!! We also liked Seasons at EPCOT in the land, tons of variety and great deserts....
What we learned:
We do not eat enough for the plan!!! We had 16, YES 16 CS remaining when we left and 10 snacks which I bought yummy mickey rice crispy treats!!!
We would rather eat the snacks we love like a churro and big pretzel than a bag of chips, although we did get ice cream once with our credits.
We eat bkfst in room, have a snack and then eat a meal, we are not a three meal a day family especially while at WDW!!! Will never do that again. We wasted a lot of time and did not see as much as we would have liked due to our PS and waiting and having to eat and get served all those courses!!
I tried to get a meal once without desert at Captain Cooks, the lady argued with me (in a nice way) and told me how I was just wasting my money!! I could have taken it back to my room but I do not want to go back to my room while on our way to the parks, nor do I want to carry food in 90 degree heat!!
Just waaaay too much food for the average person IMO...I have developed a healthy lifestyle with Weight Watchers and lost a lot of weight but more importantly, I have learned portion size and remaining in control while eating!! Now I realize I am on vacation, yadayadayada...but seriously....I could not even share CS meals with my DH and not be totally full!!
Disney might be expensive but from what I can see, even at 8 or 9 bucks for a CS meal, you get A TON of food!!! The coke prices that is terrible but the food is actually good bargain I think!! The churros were huge and the pretzels at 3 dollars are GREAT!!! Those babies are giant and I could eat one of those for a meal!! (and did a few times!)
I am not trying to start a debate here but I am saying for me and my family, we missed out on a lot of things due to so much eating(esp since we only had 5 days to begin with) There is just soooo much to do at all the parks, we forgot to eat most of the time!!
I am sure it is a great deal for some...but for those like me, consider your options when purchasing the meal plan. Decide what your priorities are and go from there! Next trip will be more snacks and more CS and maybe 1 or 2 TS esp since dd9 will be 10 next time we go...she will certainly not eat 35 dollars worth of food...I had a hard time doing so!
It was great and glad it was free!! Everyone enjoy the plan!! At least we got to sample some of WDW's eateries. Now we know what we are there for next trip
\can't wait to go back!!
maybe just an off nite. My family really enjoyed Chef Mickeys also.
