Reviews of our experiences with Free Dining, 8/20-8/27/10

[JerseyJanice]

I booked a bounceback trip at Pop in September 2009 for our trip this year. Our friends decided to join us this past spring after I had made our ADRs. I rebooked most of them to include our entire party, but I was unable to get Chef Mickey’s at a decent hour and couldn’t change the number of our group at LeCellier. We wound up booking CMs for lunch when those seatings opened up, and we went to LeCellier anyhow, and they were able to accommodate all seven of us.

Overall, our dining experiences were great, and we came away feeling like we had gotten an awesome bargain with the Free Dining plan. So here’s a run-down on where we ate and what we thought about our meals.

Friday, 8/20/10

I had hoped to get us to the World Showcase soon after arriving, but that didn’t happen. Our room wasn’t ready and DH refused to leave until we had one, plus the kids wanted to swim as soon as they laid eyes on the Hippie Dippy pool.

We ate lunch at the Pop Food Court. My friend and I each got the beef-and-bleu sandwich, which was huge and delicious. We should have split one. DH got the chicken alfredo with penne—he loves this meal at Pop. The chicken is always tasty and juicy. I don’t recall what anyone else got, but I do know that I got a big sugar cookie and saved it in a Ziploc in our room for the kids to snack on later.

Our dinner ADR was for 4:50 at Chefs de France. I really wanted everyone to see Remy, but we left the resort at 4:30 and had to hurry fast to get there. It was extremely hot and humid this day, so rushing through Epcot was not a great way to start park touring.

At Chefs, we were seated in one of the outer windowed rooms, but in a different one than last year. This time, the room was nearest the Morocco side of France. One thing I noticed at both meals is that the air-conditioning works much better in the main room than in those outer rooms.

Both the younger kids (my son and nephew) complained that they weren’t hungry, so I asked the waitress if we could order them kid’s meals and pay OOP for those. She was fine with doing that. My nephew ordered the child’s hamburger and my son wanted only a French onion soup. My friend’s husband and I both selected the three course menu. I picked lobster bisque, roasted chicken and crème brulee while our friend chose the bisque, short ribs and profiteroles. My husband and friend both ordered the filet mignon. Our friend’s son chose the duck l’orange. DH got the profiteroles, and my friend and her son both went with the apple crepe dessert that is not available with the three course menu.

For drinks, I chose the chef’s cocktail, which was lovely, and DH went with the beer. My friend asked the waitress for a white wine on the sweet side. She was disappointed when the glass arrived filled only about a third of the way. We know that they are supposed to leave some room in the glass for the wine to breathe, but it was a very small amount of wine to get for $10.

We were disappointed in the bisque soup. My bowl contained some nice hunks of lobster, but the broth didn’t have a good flavor. Come to think of it, though, it’s been a while since I last had a good lobster bisque. We were at a wedding a few years ago where the catering hall raved about their lobster bisque recipe, and it was horrible there too. I didn’t care for my chicken since it was rather plain. My friend’s husband didn’t seem to like the short ribs dish, but didn’t say what was wrong with it. It was very tasty when I had it in 2009. Perhaps it was a fatty or gristly piece of meat.

DH and my friend both loved their filets, and my friend’s son raved like crazy about his duck. The child’s hamburger was small, but plenty enough for our very picky nephew. My son ate every spoonful of his onion soup. Remy was as cute and fun as he was last year. Our friends remarked that his handler looked a lot one of the characters in the movie. Everybody enjoyed their desserts. The vanilla flavor of the crème brulee at Chefs is rich and fabulous. Everyone liked the profiteroles, and my friend and her son literally inhaled their apple crepes.

Overall, it was an O.K. meal, not as good as in 2009, but not terrible. Our waitress (Aurore) was quite lovely, and except for getting the less than half full glass of wine, the service was excellent.

Later that evening, the kids got kaki-gori snowcones that they enjoyed. My friend’s son got a sweet pretzel from the Norway bakery while I got a couple of school breads for breakfast the next day. I think the school bread is back to its original recipe. I never had it before 2009, but when I got it then, the topping was browned whereas this year, it was all white.

For adult beverages, DH and I got beer in Germany, Spaten Oktoberfest for me and Beck’s for him. My friend and I each got the Sultan’s Colada drinks over in Morocco. These were very nice and had a kick to them from the almond liqueur they add.

 

[dana1003]

great review..and wanted to say hello from a fellow "bergenite" also..isnt this weather awesome!!!

 

[JerseyJanice]

Oops! I just realized I posted this in the wrong forum. Should be in Reviews. I'm sorry! Can a mod move it to there?

 

[JerseyJanice]

great review..and wanted to say hello from a fellow "bergenite" also..isnt this weather awesome!!!

Thank you, and yes, it is really nice out this morning.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Well, despite common Disboard knowledge that you should never go to the Magic Kingdom on Saturday, this is where we went. My son is convinced that you have to start a Disney trip with the MK and I sort of agree with him.

I was determined for us to eat lunch at Columbia Harbor House because I keep reading here how wonderful it is, yet we have never been. So after doing most of the attractions in Fantasyland and grabbing Fastpasses for Peter Pan, we went there. It was hot, hot, hot, so my girlfriend and I both ordered the tuna sandwich. DH chose the chicken and fish platter, while DS and my gf’s son and husband all went with the fried shrimp. Nephew got the chicken by itself.

Wow is all I can say! This place really lives up to its great reputation on the Disboards. The tuna sandwich was delicious and a refreshing alternative to fried food. Most of us got the apple crisp dessert which was superb and would have been even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (We found out later in the trip that the same apple crisp is available with ice cream at the ice cream counter in Pop’s food court. It’s either a snack or dessert credit, and I highly recommend it!)

My only criticism of the place is that it can be tricky to walk up the stairs with a tray full of soft drinks. It’d be better if they gave you cups to fill yourselves upstairs.

Our dinner ADR at Ohana was for 5:20, but we got caught in some bad rain under the bus shelter at the MK. We ran for the monorail and arrived there at 5:50. To my surprise, they told us that because we were more than 15 minutes late for our ADR, we’d be placed at the end of the current waiting list for tables. We weren’t super late, and it was obvious the weather was an issue as it rained most of the time we were there. Lots of people were sitting around, so we knew we were in for a long wait. We put our happy faces on and tried not to worry; the kids headed for the arcade and the adults hit the bar.

I ordered a back scratcher while DH got a lapu-lapu. I forget what my friends and brother ordered, but what a bartender! We were amazed by this guy’s skill and professionalism. Seriously, this guy was awesome! He could be in the Bartending Olympics. We had two more rounds before we were finally seated at 7:30 and weren’t feeling any pain by then.

We were ravenous by then and dug right into the salad and bread, which I know from previous visits are delicious. Our waitress was Daniela from West New York, NJ, same hometown as my friend’s DH. She and the food server guy provided excellent service throughout the meal.

What can I say that is new to say about Ohana? We go every trip and love it each time. We enjoy everything about the place--the food, drinks, atmosphere, and entertainment. The ukulele player was in rare form this trip, saying her funny double entendres. I liked the noodles more this time as they were better seasoned. Last year, I found them very bland; this year, I couldn’t eat enough of them. I don’t see a big difference in the flavors between the turkey and chicken, and I liked the sausage more than the currently served pork loin because it tastes too similar to the poultry. The shrimp are best if you get a skewer that’s not overcooked. We tell them to bring us some that way, and they are much better since it’s impossible to get the shells off the burnt ones. The bread pudding dessert is one of the Top Ten Best Foods I have ever tasted—and our friends agreed. It’s spectacular! My nephew wouldn’t eat any of the regular food, so we got him a hamburger and our waitress nicely brought him just ice cream with Mickey sprinkles.

I can honestly that all our experiences at this restaurant have all been excellent. We go every trip and have never been disappointed with it. I rate it as our #1 Disney Restaurant.

 

[JerseyJanice]

My friends rebelled this day and insisted that they weren't doing any parks. Which is too bad because we had a Mama Melrose Fantasmic package lunch. I was able to cancel it that morning and they waived the cancellation fee. The CM told me it would be snapped up in a minute. I had her check for something--anything--at a resort and she got nothing except Olivia's at Old Key West or Boatwright's at POR. No thanks!

We spent that whole day/night at Pop and decided to try the Mom's Night Out special for dinner. I liked it a lot actually, but DH thought it should have had more chicken. It came with a leg and a split breast, so I sort of see his point, but it was plenty for me. The cornbread that came with it was yummy and so were the mashed potatoes. The green beans were too undercooked for my taste, though, and the onions (I think) in it did nothing to flavor the dish.

For lunch that day, I had the vegetable calzone, which is excellent. However, I think they should call it a spinach calzone as that is what it is. I really like the balsamic dressing they use on the side salads at the pizza station.

So my nephew would have something to eat in the morning, I took Yoplait yogurt cups for my dessert both meals, then kept it on ice in our room along with the water and beer we got at the Hess mart. (My brother drove us.) We drank a lot of that beer this day and took another beer-run the next day with Bro. He took the kids to Epcot that night while we hung out poolside at the resort. They went to the Sunshine Seasons for dinner, but it was near closing there so they weren't happy with what they got. Also, most of the desserts were sold out by then.

 

[vicki_c]

My friends rebelled this day and insisted that they weren't doing any parks.

Totally OT to your dining review - but why? What's up with that? On the third day!

 

[JerseyJanice]

We switched up the original plan by not going to any park on Sunday. We wanted to see Fantasmic, but it wasn't playing this day. So we made this our Animal Kingdom day.

As an aside, we went through the Rainforest Cafe gift shop to enter AK since I got some great buys there on T-shirts last year. The deal this year is that you can get most of their hats and/or T-shirts at 2 for $25. The stuff is good quality too, and in lots of colors and designs. If you're O.K. with your souvenirs saying "Rainforest Cafe, Orlando" instead of something Disney, this store has great stuff at reasonable prices.

Back on the food--we made a big mistake by trying to get into It's Tough to Be a Bug before the heavy rain started. We should have ducked into Pizzafari first and ate lunch while waiting out the rain, but wound up getting soaked instead, then going to Pizzafari anyway.

In 2008, I had the hot Italian sandwich here and liked it, so I ordered the same thing again and it's also what DH and our friend got. Each of the boys and my gfriend got pizza, I think plain cheese for my son and nephew and pepperoni for the others. The sandwiches came with side caesar salads that I don't recall getting in 2008. I like the system here with the drinks. You get empty cups at the counter, then fill them inside the room where you're sitting. I find it really hard to walk around with full cups of soft drinks on a tray. (I could never be a waitress. LOL!)

My nephew ate little of his pizza because he said it had too much sauce. Back in 2008 for meal items, he would eat pizza, hot dogs, cheeseburgers, and chicken nuggets. (He'll eat any ice cream, cake or candy though.) This time, he cut back to eating only hamburgers (plain--no cheese or even ketchup) and chicken nuggets with fries. And that's it. All I can say is that I would never put up with his eating habits if I were his parent, but I'm not, so I tried to just tolerate his poor eating habits this trip. (I did wind up losing my temper with him later in the trip over his refusal to eat anything nutritious. It killed me inside to feed a child so poorly. )

Our dinner ADR this evening was at Cape May Cafe for 5:30. Around 4:00, we boarded a bus for the Beach Club. My gf and I hit the restroom immediately to try and clean ourselves up. All the rain at AK left us pretty messy! But going back to the room and then taking two buses or a bus and a boat to the Beach Club would have been too time-consuming.

Our buzzer went off about one minute after we sat down in the BC lobby. I don't know why they bother giving you a buzzer when the wait is that short. We like the Cape May Cafe a lot and usually eat here every trip. This was the first time we were ever seated in a side room that's next to the dessert counter. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever noticed that room existed before. I guess because we were 7 people? But we did eat there with 9 in 2002, and we were in the main room then.

The buffet is a feast here. We were there last year, and there were a number of changes, the biggest one being that snow crab legs are now offered. The other significant change is the separate dessert station where they serve the lava cakes and cookies and flan. Most of this stuff used to be on one side of the buffet with cakes being new entirely.

They also didn't serve any flavored drawn butter with the seafood. Last year, we had tomato butter and garlic butter that my son really enjoyed, but this year, it's only plain butter drawn out of a pot with a spigot.

Having said all that about the differences between this year and last, we really enjoyed the food here overall. Almost everything I tried was delicious. I was a bit disappointed in the clam chowder though; it wasn't bad, but had a more pronounced bacon flavor that I found overpowered the clam flavor.

I really liked the flank steak on the carving board. They served it with veal demi glace and horseradish sauce. I like this beef dish on buffets way more than the nasty sirloin (or whatever it was) roast beef that was on most of the buffets last year. They had a beef dish with some tasty Latin flavors too. I guess it was beef tips because I think I saw that on the menu. For some reason, the card that explains what the dishes are was missing from the section that had this dish. They still have the ribs, which were very good as usual. The Cape May salad is a must-have, and I like their caesar too. I didn't care for the fish du jour, which was mahi mahi cooked with dill. The salmon teriyaki they served last year was about 1,000 times better.

The chocolate lava cake was to-die-for! I looked forward to trying one after reading about them here. It tasted like a nugget of warm fudge. I always enjoy the key lime tartlets here too.

Our service was excellent; I don't recall the lady's name, but she was great so we tipped her very well.

I would call this place our #2 Disney restaurant. It's been consistently great for us over the years.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Totally OT to your dining review - but why? What's up with that? On the third day!

I tried my best to convince them to go to Mama Melrose and Fantasmic this day, but they wouldn't have it! The husband's feet were full of blisters because he brought new sneakers.

We did not have an easy time of seeing the 10:00 p.m. show on Tuesday, so sticking to the plan probably would have worked out much better. Running them to Chefs de France wasn't a good way to start out either. I think I busted their feet with that sprint.

 

[vicki_c]

I tried my best to convince them to go to Mama Melrose and Fantasmic this day, but they wouldn't have it! The husband's feet were full of blisters because he brought new sneakers.

We did not have an easy time of seeing the 10:00 p.m. show on Tuesday, so sticking to the plan probably would have worked out much better. Running them to Chefs de France wasn't a good way to start out either. I think I busted their feet with that sprint.

Bummer. New shoes & Disney is never a good combination. But carry on - I'm enjoying your dining review!

 

[JerseyJanice]

Bummer. New shoes & Disney is never a good combination. But carry on - I'm enjoying your dining review!

Thank you! I shall.

With the change in plans, this would now be our Studios day. We had an ADR at 1:30 for Chef Mickey's lunch.

Early that morning, I got myself and my nephew up, showered and groomed to go to the Studios so he could try out for the American Idol Experience. I thought it was a fun thing to do, but he was disappointed for not making it. I stopped at Starring Rolls on the way back out. There, I bought myself a fresh fruit tart that was delicious with its sugar cookie crust and a chocolate milk for him to drown his sorrows with.

Around 12:30, we all left Pop to ride the bus to MK and take the monorail to the Contemporary for our Chef Mickey's meal. We were given buzzers here and asked to wait where we could get our photo taken. Umm...not happening. I hate those pre-dinner photos and refuse to pose for them. I have to say, though, that if they allowed these pictures (or the ones inside attractions) on your Photopass, I'd feel differently.

This is another restaurant we go to every trip, but have gotten less consistently good experiences with than we have at Ohana and Cape May. I would have skipped CM altogether this trip, but both my son and nephew begged for it. I couldn't get a decent ADR time for dinner or breakfast, so when lunch opened up, we took one for that, and here we were.

We were seated in the room that is adjacent to the food line. We prefer the main dining room because we really disliked being in the outer room one time, but not wishing to cause issues, we accepted this table without comment.

I must say that CMs was actually very good this meal. They had turkey on the carving board. I didn't bother with it, but DH said it was excellent--moist and tender. He really liked it. The salad bar doesn't have an extensive selection, but what is there is good and fresh. I noticed that at this buffet and Cape May, they cut back on the number of selections they offer children. Both places had just mac & cheese, chicken nuggets and pizza. I seem to recall mini hot dogs or burgers at the kids' section in the buffets in previous years.

They didn't have my beloved parmesan mashed potatoes. They served a scalloped potato dish instead. It was good and tasted of real cream in the sauce, but they weren't my parmesan. Fortunately, they did have Smoked Tomato Bisque soup so I gave them a pass on the parm taters. This is one of the most awesome tasting soups in Disney! Delicious! I had it in 2008 and loved it. I love it so much, I'd eat there if that's all they had.

Other dishes we enjoyed included their yummy wasabi salmon, ribs, cornbread with lovely whipped butter-spread, and orichette pasta with goat cheese and fresh spinach. The Mickey-shaped ravioli are cute, but nasty tasting!

They really cut down on the dessert bar here over the years. At one time, it was spectacular. The toppings bar for the ice cream is down to nothing--notice the rubber balls instead of candy or crushed cookies inside the tubes that were once topping dispensers. There was enough to enjoy, but the dessert bar at CMs this visit was a sad shadow of its former self.

Later on that evening, the kids, my gf and I ate dinner at the open air food court alongside Sunset Boulevard in the Studios. (The men were on a hunger strike. ) We got burgers and fries at Rosie's All American, and the food wasn't very good. However, the 8:30 Fantasmic show got filled before we even got on line for it, and we wanted to stay nearby so we'd get into the 10:00 show. Wow! What a cattle call that was! The Studios was very crowded this day overall. The worst we've ever seen it. TSM being closed down didn't keep the crowds away.

 

[mcrabeck]

Enjoying your reviews -looking forward to the rest!

 

[JerseyJanice]

So it was back to the Magic Kingdom today to finish seeing it. The first day, we stuck to the Frontier/Adventure Land side of the park after doing what we wanted in Fantasyland. Today, we went to Tomorrowland.

We ate lunch at Cosmic Ray's Cafe. Our ADR for dinner was at the Whispering Canyon Cafe where I knew if we got the skillet, we'd have chicken and ribs, so we went toward the sandwich Bay. My son and nephew wanted burgers; nephew asked for a single burger with bacon only (no cheese). DH and I picked cheesesteak sandwiches. I love those sauteed mushrooms on the toppings bar. I don't know what the males in my gf's family got; whatever they ordered, they ate it while standing up waiting for my gf's chicken to come out.

We took a table and flagged them down. I enjoy the iced cappuchino they serve here. Unfortunately, though, the rolls used for the cheesesteak were horrible! They tasted like styrofoam. Nasty, nasty, nasty! I ate the filling out of the sandwich with a fork because the bread wasn't edible. Yuck!

They served my nephew's burger with cheese. I saw this while we were waiting, but he insisted it would be O.K. and he would eat it like that. I swear the kid ate that burger more quickly and completely than he did any other of the many burgers he got during the trip. Yeah, probably because the cheese seasoned it.

Dinner this night turned out to be very enjoyable. We took the boat from the MK to the Wilderness Lodge. I mainly chose this restaurant because I wanted my gf to see the WL. We were late for our ADR because I had written down as at 4:30, but they said it was at 4:10. Oh, well! The adults headed off to the lounge and we dug into our pockets again so the kids could play in the arcade.

We stayed at the Lodge in 2002 and didn't love it for a variety of reasons, but I think it's a great place to see. DH did not remember the lounge at all because we never went in there that trip, and that was because 1) DS was 5 at the time and couldn't be left alone and 2) when DS was with my in-laws that trip and we looked in there, no guest enjoying cocktails there was under the age of 75.

This evening, we were the only patrons there. I ordered my first Glo-tini of the trip. I forgot how good these drinks are! The bartender made me a very nice one with lots of lemon and sugar on the rim. About halfway through our drinks, our buzzer went off. I sent DH to the arcade to round up the kids, while we took the drinks to the table.

Our server was a great guy named Sergio. He was very helpful with the menu. When gf's husband tried to order the meatloaf, Sergio talked him out of it. He told us the things to order are the AYCE skillet, ribeye or pot roast. So gf and I both ordered the skillet, and the guys all picked the ribeye--even my nephew!

For soft drinks, he told us we were allowed to have the bottomless milkshakes. Each of the kids ordered one--vanilla for gf's son and my son and chocolate for nephew. I asked for ice water, and he brought a very large bottle of Evian. We ordered a round of drinks at the table in which I got a Magical Star cocktail. These are almost as good as the Glo-tini, but my "ice cube" wasn't star-shaped this year. The bartender did turn it onto the multi-color setting, but it was the same cube that came inside the Glo-tini. DS likes to put these light cubes on his dresser as a sort of nightlight, and now we had two new ones.

The guys all seemed to like their steaks (except for my nephew ), and gf and I were crazy over the skillet. The chicken was fabulous! I don't know what kind of seasoning was on it, but it was easily the best tasting chicken I had all week. The pulled pork was also very good. We loved the salad and cornbread that came with it too. They even served that yummy whipped butter spread she and I really liked this week. The skillet also had brisket that was O.K.--I thought it looked and tasted pre-cut. It had ribs too, but I was too full to eat them. I skipped the corn-on-the-cob (which was obviously frozen) and beans. It was just too much food!

When Sergio came out with the dessert menus, gf and I asked if ours could be packaged to go. No problem, said the wonderful Serge. The younger kids were itching to go back to the arcade, so we had theirs packaged too. The four of us chose the S'mores cheesecake, and Serge put them in a shopping bag with little fork/knife/napkin packs. What a great guy he was! My friend's son and husband also picked the S'mores cheesecake, but ate them then. DH chose a deep dish apple caramel pie that I promised to help him with, but couldn't manage more than a taste. Too funny--gf's son literally inhaled his cheesecake. Seriously! It came on a plate, and then it disappeared within seconds into his mouth.

We took the boat back to the MK. Our friends went back to Pop with the shopping bag full of cheesecake, and DH, DS, DN and myself went back into the MK. We rode the Jungle Cruise, which was way cool at night, then watched Wishes from Main Street. We had a great time today--it made up for the mobs and heartache at the Studios the day before when DH and I, and gf and her DH both had blow-out fights. The heat makes people cranky!

 

[JerseyJanice]

And here we were at our last full day in Disney. I can't begin to describe how quickly our time at WDW seemed to fly by.

Back in February, I had booked a dinner ADR at LeCellier for the four of us who were originally going--myself, my DH, DS and DN. I tried for months--both on-line and on the phone--to get something else for the seven of us. I guess with it being PM EMH at Epcot, that's where everyone wanted to be this night. I couldn't come up with one ADR in all of the World Showcase for dinner a few months out. In the last few weeks before the trip, I even tried to book an ADR at a nearby restaurant--the Captain's Grill or Kouzzina. Nothing came up that we were interested in.

So I had a plan in mind. We would try to get into LeCellier first. If they couldn't accommodate 7 of us, we would either have the kids eat Counter Service on their own or go to the new Via Napoli as it wasn't taking ADRs yet.

Well, first I should tell you that we ate lunch at Sunshine Seasons. That morning, we went to the Land to try and get Fastpasses for Soarin. The FP machine ran out with the guy in front of me. Since the LeCellier ADR was at 4:30, we wanted to have lunch early. I got the seared tuna over noodle salad with strawberry shortcake for dessert. Omigosh, this meal was so good! The tuna melted in my mouth and the dressing on the noodles had such a nice bite to it. The shortcake was killer too, with very fresh tasting strawberries. I love the food at Sunshine Seasons. Yes, it's a bit noisy there, but the A/C is great and the food itself can't be beat for CS.

This is when I lost my temper with my nephew. There aren't any burgers or chicken nuggets at Sunshine Seasons, but I'd darned before I'd pass it up to eat at the Electric Umbrella so he could have his umpteenth burger or nuggets of the trip. O.K., so I brought him up to the counters and tried to find things I thought he could/should eat. He saw the chicken and asked for that, but I was worried that without breading, he wouldn't eat much of it. So I asked him if he liked the leg and he insisted that he didn't. I got him the rotissiere half-chicken meal with mashed potatoes, and we went to the bakery counter where he picked out a creme brulee.

When we got to the table, he pulled the whole top off the creme brulee and shoved it into his mouth in one piece. I grabbed the dish away from him, telling him he had to eat his meal before dessert. I needn't have bothered taking the dish, though, because apparently the only thing he likes about creme brulee is the burnt sugar on top. He doesn't eat the custard. He ate the leg off the chicken, and that was it. He took one bite of the mashed and carried on that another bite would make him puke.

Now what did I want to buy him in the first place? A chicken leg! And what did he eat? A chicken leg! And frankly, we were low on CS credits at this point. I'd have paid cash for the kid's meal (consisting of a chicken leg) and got him the creme brulee with one of the many snack credits we had left. I laced into him over the whole thing! I can't stand such wastefulness! Ordering a whole creme brulee just to eat the top? Ordering an entire half-chicken meal to eat only the leg? When a leg by itself is available much cheaper? My own kid wouldn't dare to pull this kind of nonsense. At 13, a kid should have some understanding of what total wastefulness is.

Anyhow, my DH got the pork chop meal with a banana for dessert (WTH?) and my son got the sweet-and-sour chicken with rice and veggies at the Asian station. I know gf's son got the Reuben panini, but I don't recall what else they got. They were out of CS credits themselves and had only three TS credits that they were saving for dinner. I told them they could order dessert with snack credits, but they didn't bother.

Around 4:00, I left the group at Test Track and headed to Canada on my own to see if they'd take all 7 of us. No point in dragging everyone over there if they couldn't. No worries, though, they would happily take us. I called gf's cell and told her we were good for LeCellier, and she said they would meet me there. I got a Moosehead Light from the cart outside to quench my thirst while I waited for them. Too bad some duck kept harassing me by the bench that was open. It would have been nice to sit and drink it.

We wound up with a nice sized table in the area they call The Yukon. Both my kids (DS and DN) were complaining they weren't hungry, so we ordered them the steak off the child's menu. The waitress wouldn't give it to us for cash--unlike the server at Chefs de France, she said we had to use our adult TS credits on their kid's meals. So I told her that we wanted the kid's meal as their entree and expected a regular dessert. She was fine with that and was nice enough to let the kids use the adults' soft drinks for refills on their non-refillable special soft drinks. Gf's son and mine really liked the Red Maple drink, whatever it was.

DH wanted the prime rib, so the waitress and I told him to take an appetizer, and he picked the salad. As I mentioned above, the younger kids wanted the child's steak, and gf's son ordered the coffee-rubbed Kansas City steak with the cheddar cheese soup as an appetizer (OOP). The rest of us (gf, gf's DH and me) ordered the filet and the cheese soup OOP.

The soup was heavenly. I'd have a tough time choosing between it and the Smoked Tomato Bisque I had earlier in the trip. Yum! I've had some awesome soups over the years at Disney, and I think these two recipes are my favorites. The pretzel bread dipped into the cheese soup is delectable, and my friends and their son agree with me on this.

DH got a huge salad, but it wasn't anything special. He should have gotten the soup we got or even the other choice with chicken, sausage and polenta. Why he picked salad (something he doesn't ever love), I'll never know.

Our entrees were mostly fabulous, except for DH's prime rib. It looked dried out or like it was sliced much earlier and briefly reheated now. Gf's son loved his steak and ate it quickly. My nephew actually ate his steak! I was so pleased. My son ate his well too.

The filets the rest of us got were something else. Omigosh, now I know why everyone raves about them! So good! The sauce has truffle butter which is awesomely delicious and the meat itself was spectacular. Juicy and fork tender. What a meal! The best thing I ate the entire week--and that's saying something because we did have mostly good food.

For dessert, gf's son, my son and I all got the maple creme brulee. My gf, her DH and my DH all got the chocolate mousse, while my nephew got the s'mores dessert. Other than gf's son, I don't think anyone else could finish their dessert--gf's son has an incredible appetite. It was an excellent meal. I even enjoyed the atmosphere. DH and I ate here in 2000 and I remember not liking the atmosphere because I thought it was dark and dreary like an old cellar. I think the lighting is different now because this time, it felt we were in a castle. Very magical!

 

[vinotinto]

Our dinner ADR at Ohana was for 5:20, but we got caught in some bad rain under the bus shelter at the MK. We ran for the monorail and arrived there at 5:50. To my surprise, they told us that because we were more than 15 minutes late for our ADR, we’d be placed at the end of the current waiting list for tables. We weren’t super late, and it was obvious the weather was an issue as it rained most of the time we were there. Lots of people were sitting around, so we knew we were in for a long wait. We put our happy faces on and tried not to worry; the kids headed for the arcade and the adults hit the bar.

I ordered a back scratcher while DH got a lapu-lapu. I forget what my friends and brother ordered, but what a bartender! We were amazed by this guy’s skill and professionalism. Seriously, this guy was awesome! He could be in the Bartending Olympics. We had two more rounds before we were finally seated at 7:30 and weren’t feeling any pain by then.

We have ADRs at ohana for 5:25 pm. After reading this, I'll make sure to arrive on time. My kids would not be well-behaved if we had to wait 2 hours.

Both my kids (DS and DN) were complaining they weren't hungry, so we ordered them the steak off the child's menu. The waitress wouldn't give it to us for cash--unlike the server at Chefs de France, she said we had to use our adult TS credits on their kid's meals.

Wow, not very flexible at all!

Keep up the reviews. I'm enjoying how you present the full picture.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Enjoying your reviews -looking forward to the rest!

Thank you.

We have ADRs at ohana for 5:25 pm. After reading this, I'll make sure to arrive on time. My kids would not be well-behaved if we had to wait 2 hours.

You have till 5:40 sharp to show up before they shoot you to the back of the line.

Wow, not very flexible at all!

They were pretty good to us in LeCellier so I didn't really mind. They seated 7 of us with an ADR for 4, with a nice, large table--albeit next to the restrooms. It had a banquette on one side and chairs on the other. The decor was regal with large candle-like light fixtures, carpeting with the look of tapestry, and bronze maple leaf accents all about. It didn't matter that much to me about having to use the credits because after this meal, my family was left with 2 TS and my gf's family with no meal credits. We used the 2 remaining meal credits at the Pop food court the next day.

Keep up the reviews. I'm enjoying how you present the full picture.

Thank you.

 

[maggiew]

My friend asked the waitress for a white wine on the sweet side. She was disappointed when the glass arrived filled only about a third of the way. We know that they are supposed to leave some room in the glass for the wine to breathe, but it was a very small amount of wine to get for $10.

DH had the same experience when he ordered wine at Chefs de France. But his wine was only $6.95. It must be how they pour there.

Maggie

 

[JerseyJanice]

So here we were at our last day in Disney. Time to go back to reality.

We hung by the Hippie Dippy pool after getting our stuff checked in--and it took forever for me since the only two guys working at the counter were having major issues with the people in front of me. From what I heard when she was shouting, a woman kept insisting that she didn't owe any baggage fee because she already paid the $25 to Continental in Newark. They were having the toughest time convincing her that she had to pay the fee each way. (She was on the same plane we were on, too.)

My son got up quite early this day and took his new camera out for a photo-shoot of his own of Pop Century. That's one of the many neat things about Pop--there are plenty of photo ops on the resort's grounds. The photos came out really well too. When he got back, he and my nephew finished up a lot of the accumulated snacks in the room--yogurt, large chocolate chip cookies, and cheesecake. They took the grapes that were left and went to the bridge and fed them to the big lake turtles. (Fyi, turtles like Mickey's Kettle Corn a lot more than red grapes. )

For lunch, DH and I both asked for ice cream receipts. I must say it's good that they've streamlined this process. In years past, they would ask you to choose what you were going to order (e.g., sundae, milkshake, or cone), and they'd ring that item up with your meal and stamp your receipt for 90 minutes. Now you just say you want ice cream, they stamp your receipt, the people at the ice cream counter tear it when you get your dessert, and you're good to go.

For my meal, I got the parm-crusted chicken with some white alfredo sauce, salad and a breadstick. DH chose the chicken and pasta. When we went for our ice cream, we found that they now offer Apple Blossom Sundaes. The apple blossom part is the same as the apple crisp they serve at Columbia Harbor House, which is a small free-form apple pie. I asked for mine with whipped cream and a cherry. Between this dessert and the tuna salad sandwich, I think a chef or food director who used to work at CHH is now at the Pop food court.

We were out of meal credits at this point. We had a few snack credits remaining that I kept open in case the kids wanted a snack before we left on the Magical Express. I had DS run into the food court while we were waiting for the bus and use the 5 credits that were left on goodies--a few bags of gummies, cotton candy in a tub, and Mickey's Kettle Korn (that we ate instead of the turtles ).

At the airport, we were held up at the TSA checkpoint because we didn't know we couldn't bring lava lamps in our carry-on bags. Who knew the liquid in them is too much? We got dinner at the gate from Burger King. (I got pizza from the LaFamiglia counter next to it. It was bad, but nowhere near as horrible as anything BK serves.)

DH and I stopped for a cocktail at the sundries shop next to our gate. They had a neat sounding Bloody Mary menu, so I got the Classic one of the those, and DH ordered some Captain's special drink. I gave the girl a fifty dollar bill and got back $26. So two drinks there are $24? I was shocked; I hope I remember never to get a drink there again.

The flight home was great since we were on a wide-body plane and made to Newark in just under two hours.

 

[JerseyJanice]

DH had the same experience when he ordered wine at Chefs de France. But his wine was only $6.95. It must be how they pour there.

Maggie

My sparkling cocktail filled the flute it was served in, DH's beer looked like a decent amount when the waitress poured it into a glass, and my friend's husband's vodka and cranberry was fine. My friend's $10 glass of wine OTOH looked like someone drank half of it before they brought it to the table.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I thought the noodles at Ohana were a little bland too the last time I was there, so I'm glad to hear they seem better seasoned now unless it varies night to night. I did read somewhere that mixing the noodles with the peanut sauce gives them a nice flavor.

And I'm thrilled to read your good review of Cape May Cafe, since I'm eating there for the first time next trip. I keep on getting more and more excited about that one, and I originally only included it in my plans because it was somewhere I hadn't eaten before.

What your nepthew did at Sunshine Seasons would've annoyed me too. I hate wasting food like that, and by that age he should know better.