Reviews from 4/6-4/11

[poeticdiabetic]

OK. I just got back on Saturday and I have some reviews. Some may be shocking, some comical, but all would be as how I saw it!

Anyhoo, we arrived at ASMo really early. We always eat breakfast in our rooms, so there's no review of the breakfast bar and juice box. OK. On to the good part.

Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn

This was our first visit to a CS the entire trip. We were running merrily along and we stopped there because we had two DS (8 and 9) who wanted a burger. They have that condiment bar there that we liked!

Well, it was typical burger fare. I had the bacon double cheeseburger, fries, and Coke. My two DSs had the cheeseburger, cookies, and fries. And my DW had the veggie burger and fries. We both had the carrot cake.

This filling meal was to commemorate that I am officially off my normal diet and exercise routine. I normally have about 4 burgers a year. And I am scared of french fries. Outside of WDW, I would never eat them.

But the food was nothing to write home about. And after the meal, it started raining. And raining. And raining.

Boma

OK. Did I mention that it was raining? So we all went to the hotel, got our bags out of the van, and got ready to go to dinner. Now, from the hotel, you have to catch a bus to a park or Downtown Disney and then transfer to ANOTHER bus in order to get to AKL to eat at Boma. Well, due to the rain, the cold, and the fact that most of the people in our party was sneezing and coughing, we found ourselves a little late for our ADRs. But then, they couldn't FIND our ADRs. But when they looked at some paper, our ADRs were right there.

Now, our ADR was for 5:20. We arrived at 6 PM. We were not seated down to dinner until 7:05. And I was LIVID! Here we were, wet, cold, sneezing and coughing- waiting in a lobby, watching other people eat! And the attitude of the hostesses are glib at best.

Needless to say, the food was pretty good. I like that Coconut Seafood Soup. I had 3 bowls. Plus, that Watermelon-Rind Salad was delicious! It had a nice sweet taste and some strong hints of ginger. Plus, the prime rib is the best at WDW.

But the hostesses ruined what would have been a good experience. We would need at least a year off before returning. Good food, though.

I'll tell you about 4/7 later!

 

[MikeKV]

Boma

Well, due to the rain, the cold, and the fact that most of the people in our party was sneezing and coughing, we found ourselves a little late for our ADRs.

Now, our ADR was for 5:20. We arrived at 6 PM. We were not seated down to dinner until 7:05. And I was LIVID!

Mind if I make sure I'm clear? You say you were late for your ADR, right? Was that 40 minutes late? Did you call ahead to let them know that you were running late, people in your party were not feeling well, and that your party was on their way? I'm not understanding why you were "LIVID"?

 

[MickeyNicki]

I would not have been that angry if I was 40 minutes late, I would be grateful that they still got me in.

If I was there the required 20 minutes before my ADR time and I was seated 40 minutes after my ADR time then I would be livid!

Thanks for the review on Boma, we loved our breakfasts there and cannot wait until our first time at dinner in Oct.

 

[TigerKat]

Subbing.....

 

[poeticdiabetic]

Let me clarify my experience with Boma before I move on. When I checked in, I ask them if there was going to be any problems with being late. They said that everyone is coming in late, due to the storm.

But what had me angry was that they told me that we were to be seated within 20 minutes. An hour and five minutes later, we were finally seated. There were people coming in an hour later than their ADRs and were seated within 20 minutes!

And the worst part was that the hostesses were giving me excuses, such as that the tables were being cleaned off. It took almost 10 minutes to clean a table?

I've been to other restaurants and seen other people come to their ADRs late and I've never seen a party seated in the lobby longer than 30 minutes.

In other words, if they said that they couldn't seat us, or if they said that they had to "Squeeze" us in, I would have been more forgiving. We would have tried to eat at the CS and rescheduled. But don't set up the expectation and underdeliver. That's bad customer service.

But the food's good. It must have been a bad night, and after discussing it with the manager with her apologies, we're cool with it.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Ok now I understand, that would have frosted my cookies too!

 

[TigerKat]

Ok now I understand, that would have frosted my cookies too!

You kill me!

 

[auntfrannie]

Boma
Plus, that Watermelon-Rind Salad was delicious! It had a nice sweet taste and some strong hints of ginger.

The watermelon rind salad is probably the only thing I've tried at Boma's that I didn't like! But keep going....I won't hold that against you! I love reading dining reviews!

 

[poeticdiabetic]

So, guess what? The SUN CAME OUT! We were so grateful to see the sun, we could have cried. We really were at a loss as to what we were going to do due to the fact that it rained almost all day the previous day. We went to EPCOT!

Well we couldn't make up our minds as to what we wanted to eat, so my DS and I went to Yakitori House, while the rest of the family went to Liberty Inn. I cannot comment on Liberty Inn, but I can talk about Yakitori.

Yakitori House

First of all, my DS is 9. He'll be 10 in June. He looks forward to the time when he goes to Disney and not have to eat off the kids menu. So he went on a chicken nugget strike right in the World Showcase and we went to Yakitori.

Now I had the Kaki-Age Udon. Oh, that's a pretty smart menu item. See, it's this beef broth with green onions with huge Udon noodles swimming in it. But then they put this large Tempura patty with vegetables and shrimp in it right on the top. Well, slowly the Tempura patty breaks down and the vegetables and shrimp are infused into the entire dish! It was great! I downed it with a Coke.

Now my DS had the Teriyaki chicken with rice. He liked it and was happy to be eating something other than chicken nuggets.

Oh, and we had one of my favorite desserts of all CS: Ginger Cake. Tangy, Sweet. With a decent taste of that mouth puckering ginger. That was good!

OK, let me take a quick break and tell you about this squirrel. We went back to the Liberty Inn, and this squirrel was outside trying to find food. Now normally, squirrels are a little scared of humans. Not this squirrel. Some human must have fed this squirrel. He was as domesticated as a cat.

Well, this squirrel was going around, visiting from table to table begging for food. The scraps weren't coming in at the rate that he wanted it, so he decided to jump onto some empty tables. Next, he jumped onto the table that this guy was attending, and tried to venture into his bookbag. Then he went over to our table and was just about to hop on, when my DW ran inside.

Eventually, I had to use the facilities, but while inside, I heard yelling, running, and frightened gasping. It was my wife! And other women! The squirrel ran inside. And hopped on the table! Well, an attendant threw some french fries at the squirrel to lure him out, but the squirrel wouldn't budge. Then someone threw a chicken nugget at the squirrel and the squirrel ate the chicken nugget. They somehow coaxed the squirrel away, using chicken nuggets! Exciting. The Drama!

Coral Reef

So we were at Coral Reef and was almost immediately seated. My MIL and my nephew joined us. The atmosphere is great! The fish tank was wonderful! And we went to order.

I ordered the steak. What a steak! I have to go to LeCellier next time because the steak at Coral Reef was fantastic! And it was huge. There was a guy at the table next to ours who ordered the steak, and by the end of our meal, we were looking at each other, sighing and laughing because we were trying to finish it! LOL! Oh, and the broccolinis and the au gratin potatoes were the perfect compliment.

My DW was going to order the Shrimp Pasta dish, but the server suggested the King Crab. My wife was glad she did! The crab looked succulent. Plus, the legs were split open so there's no work at all getting to the meat! And they had some corn medley that just baffled my wife in how good it was.

OK, my DS and my nephew (who always copies off my elder DS) ordered the Mahi-Mahi. Both really loved it! And my younger DS order the chicken pizza and he thought it was good, too.

Oh, and my MIL had the Pork Chop. Nice glaze. Too big to finish. She said it was her best meal of the trip.

For dessert, my DW and MIL had a dish that had fruit and this mango sorbet scoop on top. And all of that was topped with this sea-horse animal cracker. Nice touch. They both thought it was delicious. Me? Chocolate Wave. This deep chocolate brownie was delectable in itself. But when you stick your fork in it, this white chocolate syrup mixture comes oozing out. And it was topped with these white chocolate digits and brandied cherries. The brandied cherries were gross, but the rest of the dessert was wonderful.

Most of the tribe thought that Coral Reef had the best food of our entire trip. Coming up on 4/8, the most fun while eating on the entire trip~ Whispering Canyon Cafe!

 

[KatMark]

Subscribing! Can't wait to read your review of Whispering Canyon Cafe...DH and I are trying it for the first time this year (along with Boma).

 

[undertheseas]

Thanks for posting, I can't wait to read more!

 

[mickeysbutler]

Great dining details so far! Can't wait for more...

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent.............thanx for posting.

 

[phabric]

Enjoyed your review. Looking for more.

 

[MinnieMommy]

So he went on a chicken nugget strike right in the World Showcase and we went to Yakitori.

Thanks for the reviews!

 

[suzimar57]

enjoying your reviews - i had the shrimp with pasta at coral reef, and found it was very good!

 

[Mom2JPL]

Loving your reviews...can't wait to eat at Coral Reef in November (those king crab legs are calling my name!).

 

[kimgof]

Thanks for the great review. We are trying Coral reef and whispering canyon for the first time in September.

 

[poeticdiabetic]

OK, on 4/7- we went to MK for their Evening EMH, and they shut that place down around 2AM. We were all "last-calling" Space Mountain, so by the time we got back to the hotel, it was almost 2:40. Needless to say, we slept until 11AM the next day. Since we started so late, we only had our little breakfast bar and juice box ritual, got a snack of two scoops of ice cream at Scoops in DHS, and headed to Whispering Canyon Cafe.

Whispering Canyon Cafe

We went to the Wilderness Lodge at around 4:30PM for a 5:20PM ADR. We were staying at ASMo, and this was my first time venturing into Wilderness Lodge. WOW!

Uhm, we're staying there next year. That's it! The place had an indoor geyser. The huge fireplace with the carved wooden rocking chairs! Oh, and outside...

Outside, the place had this little pond that had ducks swimming in it. the pond's water spilled out into a beautiful, cascading waterfall. And the pool was wonderful, complete with waterslide. Oh, and beyond the pool was a nice beach where you can relax, or rent boats and go riding the lake.

Inside, they had these massive totem poles that lined the lobby. They even had a smaller totem pole with Disney characters. And they have a health club, which I personally miss because I do like lifting weights.

So, enough about the Wilderness Lodge. We'll be staying there next year, and that is our personal favorite resort.

OK, WCC starts serving dinner at 5PM. We were in the lobby. So, at the start of dinner service, this guy in blue jeans, bandana, boots, and cowboy hat stands facing the lobby, rings this huge triangle dinner bell, and yells "Come and Get it!!!" That was funny.

So, we had a waitress that was great. She was attentive, and caring. She gave our two DSs some crayons and paper to color. After they colored the paper, she hung them up on a nearby column. They couldn't have been more proud. But there was another waiter that was just loud, brash, and funny as all-get-out! We had fun laughing at him, as well.

And there were antics galore. The blue crayon is extremely popular. So is ketchup. Oh, and hobby horses. It was loud, but it was a lot of fun. You have to pack your sense of humor, because you will need it.

Now the ridiculous part was not the antics or the wait staff. It was the food. My younger DS has the affinity with ice cream, milk shakes and cheese. Well, they had all-you-can-drink milkshakes. And they had great flavors, Caramel, Bubblegum, Cotton Candy, Orange, Strawberry, Vanilla, and Chocolate. You couldn't chisel the smile off his face.

And we all had the Canyon Skillets- even the kids. So they came out with this huge salad (All-you-can-eat) and cornbread. The cornbread was sweetened, which I like. (Could have been Jiffy, I don't know.)

And then the main course: All you can eat ribs, chicken, pulled pork, cowboy beans, peel-and-eat shrimp and corn. And they gave us a nice-sized jar of BBQ sauce, which needed to be filled constantly! The ribs and pulled pork was good. It did need sauce, and it's not really St. Louis style (as advertised), but once you dipped the meat in the sauce, it was good. I took one bite of the chicken, but I was too full by then. The pork was good, but you need sauce. The cowboy beans were not good at all (I'm used to Pork and Beans- sweetened with brown sugar and spiced with mustard.) And the corn was tasty. rotfl: There was this guy, eating his corn with his eyes closed- slowly pulling at the corn with his teeth. I wanted to tell him to go get a room. )

So after a while, you look at the table in disgust and kinda get mad at yourself for eating yourself into this bloated, stomach-burdening stupor. Then you look at how your family (who like mine found every one of them in the bathroom) just ravaged the table, with bones and shrimp shells neatly stacked like a cemetary...

And the waitress has the nerve to start rattling off the dessert menu to you with a totally straight face. I was just totally disgusted with myself and my DW when we ordered the Smores cheesecake to go. And we ate the cheesecake later on that night. Too late for anyone EVER to be going around, eating cheesecake. But I ate it. And laid down. And had a nightmare. But it was worth it.

Whispering Canyon Cafe just replaced Chef Mickey's as the new Disney culinary tradition. We will be going there every year!

Next up: Flame Tree Barbeque and Yak and Yeti!

 

[ddstratton]

I'm really enjoying your reviews! You've already hit a couple of places we plan on visiting in October. I look forward to the rest of your reviews.