Shari's Disney Dining Review - Yorkshire stylee! (With pics!)

[luckytobeme88]

Shari, what a superb review! We also know Kevin because he's from our home town or should I say he used to go to the same high school as my son... very nice guy.

 

[John's Mom]

Great reviews!

 

[wingsmom]

Shari,
Thank you for taking the time to post your Food Review. I found it very helpful especially the California Grill comments. We will be eating there on September 9 for my Mom's birthday celebration. You commentary was excellent and helpful. I hope we can find Kevin!

wingsmom

 

[disneybound31]

Very nice reviews. My sister lived in Ireland for more than a year, and although I fully realize the UK and Ireland are two very different birds, I have enjoyed hearing some of the same regional phrases in your writing that we heard from her upon her return.

Carry on! And thanks!

 

[disneybound31]

duplicate post

 

[mamaboogie]

Shari, what a superb review! We also know Kevin because he's from our home town or should I say he used to go to the same high school as my son... very nice guy.

Oh wow!! Kevin is the best. He really made the meal so special for us in 2006 - we were a bit worried that we wouldn't fit in at the CG (us being lowly Yorkshire folk) but he was so lovely and reassuring. He gave us lots of info without making us feel small. He did the same this time. Our ADR was earlier than last time and we were worried we might be chased away without having seen the Wishes fireworks. But everything was so relaxed and leisurely. When Wishes started Kevin told us to leave our coffee etc. where it was and we could finish off later.

I think there's a fine line with servers - don't you? Between being attentive and helpful and being invasive and patronising. Kevin has the whole thing sussed perfectly. I love the fact that he asks if we want our water - 'still, sparkling or spigot'! I wasn't sure if he would still be there - but if CG has any sense - they will hold onto him!

Great reviews!

Thanks John's Mom!

Shari,
Thank you for taking the time to post your Food Review. I found it very helpful especially the California Grill comments. We will be eating there on September 9 for my Mom's birthday celebration. You commentary was excellent and helpful. I hope we can find Kevin!

wingsmom

He's worth looking for! I might start a fan club!

Very nice reviews. My sister lived in Ireland for more than a year, and although I fully realize the UK and Ireland are two very different birds, I have enjoyed hearing some of the same regional phrases in your writing that we heard from her upon her return.

Carry on! And thanks!

Thanks disneybound! I sometimes read my reviews back and think I do sound terribly English when I'm not really! It's just how the words come out!

 

[luckytobeme88]

Oh wow!! Kevin is the best. I wasn't sure if he would still be there

I bet you he would still be there. We have eaten quite a few times in the past few years. We absolutely adored all the staff at CG.

 

[iluvpluto27]

Great review of California Grill, I just love that place. That tuna looks really good, and I love the Butterscotch Buzz dessert!

 

[Cupcake88]

I am absolutely loving these reviews. I think our Chef Mickey ressies are for 5:00 so I would imagine we'd be WAY too early for Wishes I would have loved that!!!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

CG is also a favourite of ours We went there first on our honeymoon many moons ago!!

 

[meryll83]

I am absolutely loving these reviews. I think our Chef Mickey ressies are for 5:00 so I would imagine we'd be WAY too early for Wishes I would have loved that!!!

I don't know if Chef Mickey's do anything similar, but we booked the CG later on to our other ADR's when we last went and had one of the first seating times for dinner.
Our server told us to keep our receipt and come back with it at any time during the rest of our trip and they'd let us back up to the outside balconies at the CG to watch Wishes

 

[mamaboogie]

I bet you he would still be there. We have eaten quite a few times in the past few years. We absolutely adored all the staff at CG.

It was so good to not only see him, but be served by him again!!

Great review of California Grill, I just love that place. That tuna looks really good, and I love the Butterscotch Buzz dessert!

The tuna was beautiful. I pointed out Yoshie to Sarah on our way out. The butterscotch buzz looks too good to eat! (Not that Sarah let me have any of it!)

I am absolutely loving these reviews. I think our Chef Mickey ressies are for 5:00 so I would imagine we'd be WAY too early for Wishes I would have loved that!!!

Thanks Cupcake - I've only ever eaten at Chef Mickey's for breakfast!

CG is also a favourite of ours We went there first on our honeymoon many moons ago!!

A wonderful honeymoon restaurant! It always feels like such a treat to eat there. You know, you sit there, looking out at that view, eating superb food, being served by excellent staff and you know that all that scrimping and saving, that two years of no frills, all the organisation, that eight hour plane flight everything you've been through to get to WDW has been worth it because of amazing experiences like this. And that's before the fireworks start! Of course, during this trip we also discover other places to eat that are full of magic!

I don't know if Chef Mickey's do anything similar, but we booked the CG later on to our other ADR's when we last went and had one of the first seating times for dinner.
Our server told us to keep our receipt and come back with it at any time during the rest of our trip and they'd let us back up to the outside balconies at the CG to watch Wishes

That is so sweet!

 

[loveDmouse]

Great reviews!

 

[mamaboogie]

Hi!

Monday 18th August:

Today we went to the Polynesian resort for a character breakfast at O'hana.

Did you know, this was the hotel that John Lennon was staying at when he signed the document to dissolve The Beatles (and that's the real Beatles, not The British Invasion!)? No? I didn't either until I bought a book about John Lennon later in the day and read this tidbit of info!

Anyway, I must apologise for a distinct lack of photos in this post. There are a few but we had shopping on our minds today!!

The Polynesian is really beautiful and the theming is really great but it was also really busy! There were a lot of people waiting for breakfast and we were worried that we'd have a long wait before we got seated but once again we were seated before our ADR time!

We thought Ohana restaurant was lovely with views out to the Magic Kingdom. The servers all seemed to be older and were very friendly indeed. We had a lovely big round table near the window. We started with friendship bread. Oh my, these were delicious! Pineapple and raisin - like Danish pastries but lighter.
Next there was a fresh fruit platter:

This was full of lots of lovely fresh fruit like grapes, melon, pineapple etc. We were also served a refreshing breakfast juice - passionfruit and orange? And a great mug of steaming hot coffee - fantastic! Then the real food arrived. A family style platter of scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes,biscuits and the famous Mickey Waffles with syrup.

It was all really delicious. Here is part of my plate:

I just love the doughy biscuits - we don't really get them over here and I could fill up on them!

It was nice to be served everything and not have to get up and go to a buffet station (yes, I'm lazy!)

And of course, there were the characters! Now, I'm not a huge fan of character meals...the characters kinda get in the way of the food! But....this was Lilo and Stitch! 2 of my fave Disney people! Along with Mickey and Pluto!

We got some great photos, especially of the girls with all the characters. Kate even joined in with the parade, shaking a maraca!

Here's us with a friend:

All in all, this was a great experience. Great fun, lots of good food and very relaxing. We had a character breakfast at Chef Mickey's last time and I defintely preferred Ohana - the whole atmosphere was much better and more chilled out. I preferred the food here too. After all our left over desserts, it was nice to finally have a proper cooked breakfast!

Coming up: House of Blues - where Shari is encouraged to drink more alcohol!

 

[TyRy]

Thanks for sharing the reviews and great pics...looking forward to more.

 

[CanadianPaco]

Lovin' this review~ thanks!!!!!

 

[bucky1023]

Great review... can't wait to read more.

 

[wilma-bride]

Just managed to get caught up - great reviews Shari. Can't wait for more.

 

[mamaboogie]

Thanks for sharing the reviews and great pics...looking forward to more.

Thanks a lot TyRy! I appreciate people taking time out to read my humble reviews!

Lovin' this review~ thanks!!!!!

Ontario? My parents in law are in Toronto as we speak and my Uncle lives in Englehart! Thanks for reading!

Great review... can't wait to read more.

Cheers bucky!

Just managed to get caught up - great reviews Shari. Can't wait for more.

Hey Wilma-bride! Nice to hear from you!!

Okay....I was a bit tired last night (first week back at work!) so I didn't get the second half of my review done! So here goes!

Well, we'd had a lovely breakfast at Ohana and now we were ready to shop! We'd booked a towncar to take us to the Florida Mall (I'd really recommend doing this!) and so dudes...we crashed the mall!

We'd been saving our money like crazy and now was the time to spend it!

At lunch time we regrouped to the food court. We weren't desperately hungry - still full from our lovely breakfast! But we needed to recharge our batteries to keep shopping!

Now, last time we went to Florida Mall in 2006 we grabbed a meal at Chick-fil-A which was a perfectly respectable KFC type meal. But Sarah remembered this meal fondly for the milkshake she got with it - a creamy milkshake with cream and a cherry on top. She'd dreamt about it ever since so we had to go back there. We had a variety of chicken pieces and waffle fries but Sarah wasn't happy until she got her longed for shake:

After that pick me up we happily carried on shopping!

That evening, we had a table booked at House of Blues. I apologise in advance - I took no photos during this meal. I don't know why, but I just didn't feel comfortable doing it. At no other point in the holiday did I feel awkward taking food photos - even in the signature restaurants.

Anyway, we had a lovely meal at the House of Blues. It's a great place with loads of atmosphere. It was quite busy and bustley and Simon had trouble tearing his eyes away from the women's volleyball match on the big screens!

I had a strip steak with peppercorn sauce and mash. Simon had burger and fries, Kate had a kids pizza and Sarah and I had chicken tenders and fries. HOB isn't on the dining plan so we paid OOP for this meal. (A strange feeling!) All the food was great, although our server kept hassling me for not drinking my beer fast enough!? We managed a bit of pudding - cheesecake and chocolate cake for Simon. Delicious but enormous portions!

I like the food at HOB, it's a bit different, but we would probably give it a rest if we went back to WDW. The service was okay but not great. (We missed Kevin!)

Coming up - We venture out of WDW into Seaworld! Will we manage to Dine with Shamu?

 

[TigerKat]

Signing on a bit late here.....We love Shutter's, it's a hidden gem!