Rose & Crown & Illuminations

[Kathi OD]

I think I remember (oh I am getting sooooo OLD), that you can watch Illuminations from Rose & Crown? True or not? If true, what are the chances of getting a table where you can really see? Finally, please tell me about the food.

 

[mhmcduff]

I donlt like cheese soup either- I thought I would and looked forward to it at Le Cellier but was disappointed
Now Rose and Crowne- yes you can see Illuminations and ask for a table outside so you can see if warm enough otherwise your waiter if you ask them when you are seated will bring you outside on the deck when they start
The food?? English food so nothing that is going to knock you out- Fish and Chips good and my husband loves the Bangers (sauages) and Mash- kids meals same as everyplace else- we liked the cheese course
ENJOY

 

[crisi]

About 30% of the tables are outside. They will not let you wait for one (usually, they aren't supposed to) and everyone checking in during an "Illuminations" sort of dinner timeframe wants to sit on the patio.

"To eat well in England you should have breakfast three times a day."
W. Somerset Maugham

The English are not known for their cuisine.

 

[Kathi OD]

About 30% of the tables are outside. They will not let you wait for one (usually, they aren't supposed to) and everyone checking in during an "Illuminations" sort of dinner timeframe wants to sit on the patio.

"To eat well in England you should have breakfast three times a day."
W. Somerset Maugham

The English are not known for their cuisine.

HMMM....... Is there anywhere else we could eat and watch? I'm thinking TS and not CS. Thnx.

 

[kaytieeldr]

You can see most of the show from one of the Japanese restaurants, but I'm not sure if it's a TS one or the CS; and you can see most of the show from the glassed-in area of Chefs de France if you can get a table at the window.

Even if you can't get an outside table at Rose & Crown (you can ask, but you cannot offer to wait for one to become available), your server will direct you outside to a viewing area that does not block the patio-seated diners.

But really, seeing Illuminations is a, um, less than desirable reason for choosing a restaurant. What if you don't like English food? Or at least, anything on the Rose & Crown menu? Then you've wasted money or dining credits for what may or may not be a good view, depending on the wind.

A better suggestion would be to dine at a restaurant whose cuisine you enjoy, early enough so you have time to scope out a good viewing spot around the Lagoon. Last week, there were a LOT of good (empty) spots in the Germany Italy United States China Morocco France area.

 

[bicker]

Good advice. There is no way, without renting an entire restaurant, that you can assure yourself a seat for the show. If you really want to see the show, sitting down and eating, check into Illuminations Cruises. You can have them catered, if you wish.

 

[madalex]

There are numerous places around the WS lagoon to have a good view of Illuminations. Basically, any place where the view is not actively blocked by a tree or a structure is as good as anywhere else. So, trying to coordinate dinner and a view is truly not worth it. Just eat somewhere you really think you would like and plan to be done by about 8:30 or so. At that time, there will still be lots of great places available to watch the show.

 

[KCMiller]

HMMM....... Is there anywhere else we could eat and watch? I'm thinking TS and not CS. Thnx.

Just chiming in - we love the food at Rose and Crown! The mushroom appetizer is excellent, the steaks have been delicious, the fish and chips ARE wonderful - they have great beer on tap - and the desserts are nice, too. I've watched Illuminations from R&C twice (once on New Years Eve - THAT was amazing!), and it was great to be sitting, and not have to have a crowd around me.

I've heard that the Mexican place has seating outside where you can watch Illuminations, too, and if it weren't for the fact that the serve Mexican food there, I'd try it out - but I really don't care for that kind of 'Taco Bell' Mexican food (stuff stuff with heavy, I call it !).


KC

 

[ntsammy5]

Just chiming in - we love the food at Rose and Crown! The mushroom appetizer is excellent, the steaks have been delicious, the fish and chips ARE wonderful - they have great beer on tap - and the desserts are nice, too.

I agree - I love the fish & chips. They do have portable propane heaters outside when it's cold - we've eaten there a couple of times for Illuminations and the view is not as good as you might think - stupid trees!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

You guys are making me nervous! I book the CP package there b/c it was the only thing available that night. I plan on calling back around the 45 day mark to see if there are cancellations somewhere else, but maybe I should just cancel R&C anyway. Anyone else think it is good?

 

[mrp4352]

You guys are making me nervous! I book the CP package there b/c it was the only thing available that night. I plan on calling back around the 45 day mark to see if there are cancellations somewhere else, but maybe I should just cancel R&C anyway. Anyone else think it is good?

Actually, it's become one of our family's favorite restaurants! The atmosphere is relaxed and casual. The cheese plate appetizer is wonderful (LOVE the sweet onion jam) and we really, really like the bangers and mash. We like to go for a very early dinner 5-6pm-ish, then wander to France for Grand Marnier Slushies, and then settle in for a lagoon-side view of Illuminations around 8:15 (when someone goes and finds dessert for us).

One nice thing about non-restaurant Illuminations viewing is that you can check the wind direction - more than once we've watched billows of smoke at ground level overtake an unsuspecting crowd on the other side of the lagoon!

 

[Katiebell]

We ate at Rose & Crown 9/23 and had an outdoor table, but it was right next to the restaurant, under an overhang. We could have seen Illuminations from our table, but chose to walk down to the viewing area instead, and were able to see the show very well. It doesn't last a long time -- we went down when we were just about finished with our entrees, then came back to the table and enjoyed dessert.

Our meal was very good -- we shared the cheese board appetizer (fabulous), DH ordered [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Herb-roasted Lamb (with potato gratin and Guinness BBQ sauce), which he said was excellent. I had [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]steak and a piece of battered fish, green beans and mashed potatoes -- nothing dramatic or unique, but also very tasty. For dessert he ordered the Bailey's Irish Coffee Trifle, and I had the Sticky Toffee Pudding -- both unique to this restaurant, and excellent.

DH loves the pub because they serve both Strongbow Cider and Guinness; I love my Harp. They also serve the cheese board and fish and chips in the pub, so we'll consider stopping in there for lunch next time we are in Epcot.

I have pics in the trip report that's linked in my signature, post #88 has our dinner at Rose & Crown.

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27990013&postcount=88




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[Threehearts]

My son got to "Start the Fireworks" at Epcot!

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For all of those who feel that they would be disappointed if they didn't get patio seating at the Rose and Crown- indoor seating worked beautifully for us!! I took my 8 y/o, very shy son for a mother/son 2 day trip this past weekend. We had 8pm reservations at the Rose and Crown and as usual, the line with people checking in for PS was huge. We waited patiently for our beeper and then walked around but figured that the patio wasn't going to happen for us. We ended up at a rather lonely table inside but my son and I were just happy to be together enjoying Disney. Hannah, the greeter at Rose and Crown struck up a conversation with my son and he was so excited that she came over after seating us with some stickers. Our server Jo was just excellent and over the next 45 minutes we chatted with both CMs and ordered dinner. Hannah and Jo told us that at about 8:50, they would take the indoor people down to the VIP area for Illuminations viewing. That was great with us. About 20 min. before the show, Hannah returned and asked my son if he wanted to "start the Epcot fireworks." We left the table and went out to the edge of the main patio. My son stood up on a chair and in front of all of these people got to wave the light saber and "wish as hard as you can" that the fireworks would begin. At the end of a countdown he pointed the saber to the water and BOOM!, the show began. He was thrilled beyond words and got a certificate signed by the CMs at Rose and Crown with personal messages from Jo and Hannah. The certificate reads "For Starting the Fireworks." At the end of our meal, Jo took my son across the street with 2 English pennies and a wishing card. He made a secret wish and threw one penny in the wishing well and kept the other to remember this evening. I really believe that this magical moment happened because we were happy to be there and didn't make one issue about not being seated outside. There were a lot of people complaining that night who were before us in the check-in line. To top off this incredible weekend, my little guy got picked to participate in the Lion King show in AK even though we were seated in the middle of the crowd and the manager of a store in AK gave him a free binoculars/35mm camera set because the one we had purchased at Expedition Everest didn't work. I am so thankful for all of the pixie dust. Threehearts

 

[crisi]

HMMM....... Is there anywhere else we could eat and watch? I'm thinking TS and not CS. Thnx.

Rose and Crown is the only TS restuarant with good Illuminations views. The lounge in Japan (not table service, but I believe they have sushi) has some views - sort of blocked and frequently people are standing in front of you (there is a balcony on the outside of that building a lot of people watch from). Both French restaurants have windows, but no guarentee of a window table (most of the restaurant won't have windows). Chefs is ground floor and set far enough back that you won't see too much even with a window table, Bistro would possibly offer better views - I don't know, I haven't eaten there. But I really prefer to eat earlier then watch Illuminations from a spot on the Lagoon....there are plenty of spots to watch Illuminations from and you don't risk getting a great table at R&C only to be eating your trifle in a cloud of fireworks smoke.

 

[shortchange1026]

I posted this as a thread but no one has answered me. For those of you that were there recently, do you know if the mushroom appetizer is still on the menu? Allears hasn't been updated since July. I heard the mushroom appetizer is awesome. We have an ADR there because my DH loves everything English and we couldn't get in there on our last trip. I'm not thrilled with the menu but I'm going there because he wants to go. The mushroom appetizer was actually one of the things I was looking forward to. I thought I had read on a previous post that someone mentioned it was gone off the menu..

 

[Kay1]

We got to eat outside for Illuminations about a week or so ago. We did not ask to sit outside and were surprised to be put out there. We go for the food and seeing the show was just a nice bonus.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . English . . . cuisine . . .

Oxymoron?

 

[TheRustyScupper]

HMMM....... Is there anywhere else we could eat and watch? I'm thinking TS and not CS. Thnx.

Restaurants with Illuminations views
. . . Rose & Crown
. . . Cantina de San Angel
. . . Tokyo Dining
. . . Bistro de Paris

 

[bicker]

Note that in all four cases, significant restrictions apply.

 

[Kathi OD]

Thanks to you all for your replies. I think we'll just leave things as is and hope for the best. If we get patio seating great, and if we don't, well that's ok too....after all we're in WDW and not home in the cold, working. Life is good!

We've done the Illuminations crusie before and we were less than thrilled, especially considering the cost, so that's out.