Rose & Crown Questions

[curemyreed]

I remember enjoying the Fruit & Cheese Plate a lot...just hit the spot! I'm thinking I may swing by there on our next trip.

If I just want to get this appetizer is there bar seating or do I need a sit-down & eat ressie? Or could you get that food to go? What if I have a teen with me.....does that knock you out of sitting at the bar? (Does here in the Lone Star state!)

Alternatively, I have been thinking about trying to reserve dinner here to coincide with Illuminations. Can anyone share their thoughts/experiences? I understand there is no reserving/guaranteeing patio seating. Does the staff let you step onto the patio when it starts if you are seated inside or would this crowd the diners there? What time would I make the ressie for....an hour before Illuminations? Are there guests between the restaurant and the lake obscuring the view?

If you are a family who doesn't want to spend all the time required to stake out a spot so you've been to Epcot a jillion times but STILL haven't seen Illuminations, yet know you are missing something awesome....would this be a good way to check it out? We skipped Fantasmic for many years for the same reasons and when we finally allotted time for it ....we couldn't believe how stupid we were to skip it all those other trips!

TIA!

 

[cjb71870]

A Disney freak for years, we had our wedding there!!! And surprised all our guests who came with a "rehearsal dinner" in the lower United Kingdom that was blocked off up by the "Fish and Chips" stand...and was the spot that Michael Eisner would reserve for his family to watch Illuminations!! Which was our favorite thing and so everyone was shocked and surprised and said it was the best wedding they'd ever been to, our wedding was the next night!!! So it is an awesome thing to do!! We were in the park till @11:00 PM. Everyone else left after Illuminations at 9:20!!!!

 

[curemyreed]

SO COOL!!!! That sounds like so much fun! Do you have a special "thing" now when you go there....like you always drink a pint or have a particular tradition?

 

[winterman]

I remember enjoying the Fruit & Cheese Plate a lot...just hit the spot! I'm thinking I may swing by there on our next trip.

If I just want to get this appetizer is there bar seating or do I need a sit-down & eat ressie? Or could you get that food to go? What if I have a teen with me.....does that knock you out of sitting at the bar? (Does here in the Lone Star state!)

TIA!

The menu for the Pub on Allears.net lists the cheese plate as an option. I'm quite sure that you can bring kids in with you. I remember seeing some on our only time in the Pub. (I LOVED the Welsh Dragon.)

 

[bamills9]

This was a great way to see Illuminations! DH and I did this during our honeymoon trip. We planned our ADR about 45mins before since it was just 2 of us. We were about to order desserts when it was time. No guaranteed table outside, but we were inside and were given the opportunity to go outside to a specially roped off area to watch. It wasn't very crowded either. There were absolutely NO obstructions to viewing. It was a wonderful way to view Illuminations for our first time!

 

[hogwartsdropout]

I remember enjoying the Fruit & Cheese Plate a lot...just hit the spot! I'm thinking I may swing by there on our next trip.

If I just want to get this appetizer is there bar seating or do I need a sit-down & eat ressie? Or could you get that food to go? What if I have a teen with me.....does that knock you out of sitting at the bar? (Does here in the Lone Star state!)

Alternatively, I have been thinking about trying to reserve dinner here to coincide with Illuminations. Can anyone share their thoughts/experiences? I understand there is no reserving/guaranteeing patio seating. Does the staff let you step onto the patio when it starts if you are seated inside or would this crowd the diners there? What time would I make the ressie for....an hour before Illuminations? Are there guests between the restaurant and the lake obscuring the view?

If you are a family who doesn't want to spend all the time required to stake out a spot so you've been to Epcot a jillion times but STILL haven't seen Illuminations, yet know you are missing something awesome....would this be a good way to check it out? We skipped Fantasmic for many years for the same reasons and when we finally allotted time for it ....we couldn't believe how stupid we were to skip it all those other trips!

TIA!

The fruit and cheese plate is no more. It's now the Meat and Cheese plate. Same cheeses, no grapes, same candied walnuts and now comes with a selection of sausage to try.
You can order it in the pub as bar food, and teens are allowed in there.

I used to work at the Rose and Crown so I know quite a bit. If you make a reservation for around 7.30-8pm, then you have a great chance of seeing Illuminations. When you check in, you can ask that you are seated outside, but it isn't guaranteed. Sometimes they will not even let you request if it is very busy.

The majority of the restaurant is outside, and so there is a higher chance of you being seated outside, but the lower patio only has about 15 tables so it is harder to get down there.

If you do get sat inside, there is a viewing area right next to the patio that your server will take you to just before the fireworks, so you wont miss out on them either way. It's a seperate area to the patio, so you aren't crowding diners while they're eating, it's seperated by a gate and rope. There is no one else allowed in the viewing area, just people dining inside the R&C. Good luck and I hope you enjoy your meal there. I miss it everyday.

 

[verticalchaos]

The fruit and cheese plate is no more. It's now the Meat and Cheese plate. Same cheeses, no grapes, same candied walnuts and now comes with a selection of sausage to try.
You can order it in the pub as bar food, and teens are allowed in there.

I used to work at the Rose and Crown so I know quite a bit. If you make a reservation for around 7.30-8pm, then you have a great chance of seeing Illuminations. When you check in, you can ask that you are seated outside, but it isn't guaranteed. Sometimes they will not even let you request if it is very busy.

The majority of the restaurant is outside, and so there is a higher chance of you being seated outside, but the lower patio only has about 15 tables so it is harder to get down there.

If you do get sat inside, there is a viewing area right next to the patio that your server will take you to just before the fireworks, so you wont miss out on them either way. It's a seperate area to the patio, so you aren't crowding diners while they're eating, it's seperated by a gate and rope. There is no one else allowed in the viewing area, just people dining inside the R&C. Good luck and I hope you enjoy your meal there. I miss it everyday.

I'd asked this elsewhere, but it's all buried now. So since you used to work there...

Dessert... It's really different between lunch and dinner menus? If things are left from lunch are they available at dinner? I'm trying to decide if we should try and change our dinner ressies to lunch ones because I REALLY love the desserts at lunch (and stupidly hadn't bothered looking at the desserts menu for dinner as I've never encountered a place that changed the dessert menu between meals) and am not enthused about the dinner ones.

 

[hogwartsdropout]

I'd asked this elsewhere, but it's all buried now. So since you used to work there...

Dessert... It's really different between lunch and dinner menus? If things are left from lunch are they available at dinner? I'm trying to decide if we should try and change our dinner ressies to lunch ones because I REALLY love the desserts at lunch (and stupidly hadn't bothered looking at the desserts menu for dinner as I've never encountered a place that changed the dessert menu between meals) and am not enthused about the dinner ones.

You may be looking at one menu that hasn't been updated yet, they changed the desserts in September. The desserts are the same both at lunch and dinner time. What dessert was it that you wanted?

 

[verticalchaos]

You may be looking at one menu that hasn't been updated yet, they changed the desserts in September. The desserts are the same both at lunch and dinner time. What dessert was it that you wanted?

Oh cool. Thanks. I have had and loved the Guinness Chocolate Cake and the Bailey's...whatever it was.

 

[hogwartsdropout]

Oh cool. Thanks. I have had and loved the Guinness Chocolate Cake and the Bailey's...whatever it was.

Unfortunately I'm pretty sure these have been taken off the menu, or at least they were when I left in 2009. The new dessert menu is (and contains a few of the older desserts):

Chocolate Scotch Cake $5.99

Lemon Pie $5.49

Bakewell Tart $5.49

No Sugar Added Fruit Trifle $5.49

Sticky Toffee Pudding $4.99


I was sad to see the Baileys Trifle go, it was really yummy. The lunch menu on here hasn't been updated to the correct desserts yet.

 

[verticalchaos]

Unfortunately I'm pretty sure these have been taken off the menu, or at least they were when I left in 2009. The new dessert menu is (and contains a few of the older desserts):

Chocolate Scotch Cake $5.99

Lemon Pie $5.49

Bakewell Tart $5.49

No Sugar Added Fruit Trifle $5.49

Sticky Toffee Pudding $4.99


I was sad to see the Baileys Trifle go, it was really yummy. The lunch menu on here hasn't been updated to the correct desserts yet.

Gotcha. Ok...hmm... Maybe I'll try the chocolate scotch. Thanks.

 

[curemyreed]

I'll trade a few grapes for sausages anyday!!!! So I don't think that I'll mind the change. The cheese are actually what I am reminiscing about, I think. Gave up dairy in my daily diet, so am looking forward to eating the foods I don't eat routinely anymore!

Thanks for all the posts everyone. Reading through them has me now deciding that if we can get an ADL on arrival day we will go to R&C for dinner and see what happens!!! Since we HAVEN'T seen Illuminations it isn't yet the must-see it will be after we get the opportunity....thus, if the view is bad or we just flat aren't allowed out to see it, we won't know what we are missing!

One more timing question.....we'll be coming in from an earlier time zone so a later dinner would be better than earlier. Is it better to make an 8ish ADR rather than say 8:45 so that we know we are seated? Gonna answer my own question by guessing that if you are WAITING to be seated then you don't get invited onto the viewing patio!

And another....don't cringe, folks! Nothing on the entree section of the menu appeals to me, to be honest. Is it okay to just order an appetizer and dessert? DH & DS would be ordering dinner. (I'm going to go read the menu again, though, to see about that Welsh Dragon!)

 

[verticalchaos]

I'll trade a few grapes for sausages anyday!!!! So I don't think that I'll mind the change. The cheese are actually what I am reminiscing about, I think. Gave up dairy in my daily diet, so am looking forward to eating the foods I don't eat routinely anymore!

Thanks for all the posts everyone. Reading through them has me now deciding that if we can get an ADL on arrival day we will go to R&C for dinner and see what happens!!! Since we HAVEN'T seen Illuminations it isn't yet the must-see it will be after we get the opportunity....thus, if the view is bad or we just flat aren't allowed out to see it, we won't know what we are missing!

One more timing question.....we'll be coming in from an earlier time zone so a later dinner would be better than earlier. Is it better to make an 8ish ADR rather than say 8:45 so that we know we are seated? Gonna answer my own question by guessing that if you are WAITING to be seated then you don't get invited onto the viewing patio!

And another....don't cringe, folks! Nothing on the entree section of the menu appeals to me, to be honest. Is it okay to just order an appetizer and dessert? DH & DS would be ordering dinner. (I'm going to go read the menu again, though, to see about that Welsh Dragon!)

I'm considering doing an appetizer, maybe a salad, and dessert. If we were doing lunch, I'd do the Ploughman's Lunch - LOVE that! - but we're doing dinner.

 

[hogwartsdropout]

I'll trade a few grapes for sausages anyday!!!! So I don't think that I'll mind the change. The cheese are actually what I am reminiscing about, I think. Gave up dairy in my daily diet, so am looking forward to eating the foods I don't eat routinely anymore!

Thanks for all the posts everyone. Reading through them has me now deciding that if we can get an ADL on arrival day we will go to R&C for dinner and see what happens!!! Since we HAVEN'T seen Illuminations it isn't yet the must-see it will be after we get the opportunity....thus, if the view is bad or we just flat aren't allowed out to see it, we won't know what we are missing!

One more timing question.....we'll be coming in from an earlier time zone so a later dinner would be better than earlier. Is it better to make an 8ish ADR rather than say 8:45 so that we know we are seated? Gonna answer my own question by guessing that if you are WAITING to be seated then you don't get invited onto the viewing patio!

And another....don't cringe, folks! Nothing on the entree section of the menu appeals to me, to be honest. Is it okay to just order an appetizer and dessert? DH & DS would be ordering dinner. (I'm going to go read the menu again, though, to see about that Welsh Dragon!)

If you aren't sat by Illuminations time, you wont get to go to the viewing area (if you're sat inside). But all parties are meant to be sat by 9pm so I don't think you'll have that problem.
If I was you, I would reserve for 8pm, then you know you are settled by the time of Illuminations at 9.

Also, its fine to order an appetizer as your entree! Many people do it!

 

[hogwartsdropout]

I'm considering doing an appetizer, maybe a salad, and dessert. If we were doing lunch, I'd do the Ploughman's Lunch - LOVE that! - but we're doing dinner.

The Ploughman's Lunch has gone too. Over a year ago now. Pretty much most of the lunch menu on here is wrong! The dinner menu was correct last time I checked.

 

[wheniwasyoung]

If you aren't sat by Illuminations time, you wont get to go to the viewing area (if you're sat inside). But all parties are meant to be sat by 9pm so I don't think you'll have that problem.
If I was you, I would reserve for 8pm, then you know you are settled by the time of Illuminations at 9.

Also, its fine to order an appetizer as your entree! Many people do it!

We just reserved 7:45 & 7:50pm. Is this going to get us to Illuminations time?

 

[verticalchaos]

The Ploughman's Lunch has gone too. Over a year ago now. Pretty much most of the lunch menu on here is wrong! The dinner menu was correct last time I checked.

Yuck. Now I wish we'd picked somewhere else. Not looking forward to this meal anymore.

Weird that you say they're out of date when the date on them is recent.