The Cast: My DH, me and our two sons 14 and 17.
The Scene: An eight night family vacation on the Dreammaker Silver Plan. This means we get wishes to use for our meals. The cost I list is what we would have spent including tax and tip. Most meals took one wish. Each meal includes an appetizer, entree and dessert for each of us.
I seem to have written a lot here... Sorry.
Saturday March 22 Dinner - Boma
We had been flying all day, had waited a while in line at the front desk to check in at AKL and were hungry and tired. We were seated way on the far side of the restaurant near a large table including several very ill-behaved children. They were running in and out and around our table and were loud. Im usually pretty easy going - Ive got teenagers after all! - but the stress of the day (and staying up too late the night before cleaning up loose ends) made this too much for me. We asked to be moved. It took a conference of our waiter, several others and the hostess but we moved a little farther into the middle of the restaurant. Aaah - much better! I started on a South African Chardonnay, my DH a martini and we began to unwind.
We dont like buffets much, but this was pretty good. All 4 of us really enjoyed the Butternut Squash Soup. The prime rib was delicious. It was fun to try the various African side dishes. Loved the FuFu (sweet and white potatoes mashed together). Everything was flavorful but not spicy hot. Dessert was fabulous! Loved the Zebra Domes and Amarulu Tart as well as the other pastries.
I know there have been discussions of the bad coffee at WDW. This meal really confirmed just how bad it could be. We live in the Northwest which is pretty much the Starbucks capital of the universe. We like coffee. Decaf here is fresh brewed and tasty. I wanted to sleep so I ordered decaf. Big mistake! I swear it was Nescafe instant. Smelled like the instant my parents used to drink. Yuk. (Didnt make this mistake again - never ordered another decaf. Non-decaf the rest of the week was bad, but not this bad!)
I thought our service was fine, but I expected more interaction with the chefs at the buffet pods. Granted, I was tired and didnt work very hard at conversation but I expected more effort on their part from what I had read. The atmosphere was pleasant but a little too cafeteria-like (bright lights, etc.) for my tastes.
Grade B. Cost: food $116.59 (used wishes); alcohol $16.05 (with tip)
Sunday March 23 Breakfast - Donalds Breakfastosaurus
Im from rainy Oregon, so I dont say this lightly, but it was a VERY rainy day. From the number of people tromping through the entrance in yellow ponchos at 8:10 AM I think a number of ps times were taken all at once. A crowd was clustered outside the Restaurantosaurus. It was hard to check in and everyone looked pretty wet and miserable. They called groups of parties to seat in an area together. We waited 5 or 10 minutes and then were seated. The food was fine, not the tired buffet food Ive had some places. I really liked the Breakfast Pizza and the bacon. Our server was okay - we enjoyed her ketchup bottle - if youve seen it you know what I mean
. But again, from what I had read I expected more - I wouldnt have known she was supposed to be an archeology student if I hadnt read it somewhere. The characters were okay too but nothing terribly special - posed for pictures with my kids after giving them high fives. I didnt expect much more from them since my kids arent little. We all agreed we werent in a hurry to come back but thought we might do it again if we were back in WDW.
Grade C+. Cost $82 (paid cash because we had bigger plans for these wishes)
Sunday March 23 Dinner - Wolfgang Puck Cafe
Did I mention that it was raining? Still. Our kids ran ahead and put our name on the list. They were told it was a 30 minute wait. They ran off to shop and within about 10 minutes we were called. Got them back and were seated on the patio. It was dry (as long as those on the outside didnt lean back too far) but a little cool - the heaters werent working. Another large party was nearby, but this time their kids were better behaved.
We told Charles, our waiter, we were on the silver plan and asked about what sushi we could order. He said one or two of the large platters would be okay, but not 4 - we didnt really want all 4 anyway. Our plan was to order our 4 appetizers and share them all. We ordered the sushi platter, a rainbow roll sushi, calamari, and springrolls. They were all fantastic, everyones favorite appetizers of the trip. I especially liked the rainbow roll. DH and I agree this sushi was better than California Grill. We also ordered Manhattans (I had one, DH 2 - wish they had wishes for alcohol!) which were fabulous - heavy on the bourbon, light on the vermouth. The rain wasnt so bad anymore.
For entrees I had the seared tuna, DS17 had smoked salmon pizza, DH had the fillet with some shrimp added on and DS14 had the fillet with his first lobster tail of the week (they seem to be often offered to those on the silver plan as an add on). Everything was very good although I wasnt very impressed with the vegetables and crispy noodles served with my tuna.
On to dessert. At this point we are beginning to realize that this trip was not going to be good for the waistline! My DH had key lime pie which was okay. The rest of us each got the creme brulee sampler - 3 small portions, 1 each of butterscotch, vanilla and milk chocolate. I thought the chocolate was to die for! I said Wow out loud, apparently in a tone that made the whole table crack up. The kids liked the butterscotch which I also thought was good, but oh the chocolate! I quickly worked out a trade with one of my sons (wonderful boy!) and had TWO chocolates. Yum, Yum, Yum! Should have gone back for more later in the week - maybe Wolfgang will open in Portland some time!
Service was good. Charles was friendly and helpful. We enjoyed chatting with him about our plans for the week. He kept the kids pops filled (DS17 is going through Dr. Pepper withdrawal though).
Grade A- (Creme Brulee A+) Cost: food $247.70 (used wishes); alcohol $23.97 (with tip)
The Scene: An eight night family vacation on the Dreammaker Silver Plan. This means we get wishes to use for our meals. The cost I list is what we would have spent including tax and tip. Most meals took one wish. Each meal includes an appetizer, entree and dessert for each of us.
I seem to have written a lot here... Sorry.
Saturday March 22 Dinner - Boma
We had been flying all day, had waited a while in line at the front desk to check in at AKL and were hungry and tired. We were seated way on the far side of the restaurant near a large table including several very ill-behaved children. They were running in and out and around our table and were loud. Im usually pretty easy going - Ive got teenagers after all! - but the stress of the day (and staying up too late the night before cleaning up loose ends) made this too much for me. We asked to be moved. It took a conference of our waiter, several others and the hostess but we moved a little farther into the middle of the restaurant. Aaah - much better! I started on a South African Chardonnay, my DH a martini and we began to unwind.
We dont like buffets much, but this was pretty good. All 4 of us really enjoyed the Butternut Squash Soup. The prime rib was delicious. It was fun to try the various African side dishes. Loved the FuFu (sweet and white potatoes mashed together). Everything was flavorful but not spicy hot. Dessert was fabulous! Loved the Zebra Domes and Amarulu Tart as well as the other pastries.
I know there have been discussions of the bad coffee at WDW. This meal really confirmed just how bad it could be. We live in the Northwest which is pretty much the Starbucks capital of the universe. We like coffee. Decaf here is fresh brewed and tasty. I wanted to sleep so I ordered decaf. Big mistake! I swear it was Nescafe instant. Smelled like the instant my parents used to drink. Yuk. (Didnt make this mistake again - never ordered another decaf. Non-decaf the rest of the week was bad, but not this bad!)
I thought our service was fine, but I expected more interaction with the chefs at the buffet pods. Granted, I was tired and didnt work very hard at conversation but I expected more effort on their part from what I had read. The atmosphere was pleasant but a little too cafeteria-like (bright lights, etc.) for my tastes.
Grade B. Cost: food $116.59 (used wishes); alcohol $16.05 (with tip)
Sunday March 23 Breakfast - Donalds Breakfastosaurus
Im from rainy Oregon, so I dont say this lightly, but it was a VERY rainy day. From the number of people tromping through the entrance in yellow ponchos at 8:10 AM I think a number of ps times were taken all at once. A crowd was clustered outside the Restaurantosaurus. It was hard to check in and everyone looked pretty wet and miserable. They called groups of parties to seat in an area together. We waited 5 or 10 minutes and then were seated. The food was fine, not the tired buffet food Ive had some places. I really liked the Breakfast Pizza and the bacon. Our server was okay - we enjoyed her ketchup bottle - if youve seen it you know what I mean
. But again, from what I had read I expected more - I wouldnt have known she was supposed to be an archeology student if I hadnt read it somewhere. The characters were okay too but nothing terribly special - posed for pictures with my kids after giving them high fives. I didnt expect much more from them since my kids arent little. We all agreed we werent in a hurry to come back but thought we might do it again if we were back in WDW.Grade C+. Cost $82 (paid cash because we had bigger plans for these wishes)
Sunday March 23 Dinner - Wolfgang Puck Cafe
Did I mention that it was raining? Still. Our kids ran ahead and put our name on the list. They were told it was a 30 minute wait. They ran off to shop and within about 10 minutes we were called. Got them back and were seated on the patio. It was dry (as long as those on the outside didnt lean back too far) but a little cool - the heaters werent working. Another large party was nearby, but this time their kids were better behaved.
We told Charles, our waiter, we were on the silver plan and asked about what sushi we could order. He said one or two of the large platters would be okay, but not 4 - we didnt really want all 4 anyway. Our plan was to order our 4 appetizers and share them all. We ordered the sushi platter, a rainbow roll sushi, calamari, and springrolls. They were all fantastic, everyones favorite appetizers of the trip. I especially liked the rainbow roll. DH and I agree this sushi was better than California Grill. We also ordered Manhattans (I had one, DH 2 - wish they had wishes for alcohol!) which were fabulous - heavy on the bourbon, light on the vermouth. The rain wasnt so bad anymore.
For entrees I had the seared tuna, DS17 had smoked salmon pizza, DH had the fillet with some shrimp added on and DS14 had the fillet with his first lobster tail of the week (they seem to be often offered to those on the silver plan as an add on). Everything was very good although I wasnt very impressed with the vegetables and crispy noodles served with my tuna.
On to dessert. At this point we are beginning to realize that this trip was not going to be good for the waistline! My DH had key lime pie which was okay. The rest of us each got the creme brulee sampler - 3 small portions, 1 each of butterscotch, vanilla and milk chocolate. I thought the chocolate was to die for! I said Wow out loud, apparently in a tone that made the whole table crack up. The kids liked the butterscotch which I also thought was good, but oh the chocolate! I quickly worked out a trade with one of my sons (wonderful boy!) and had TWO chocolates. Yum, Yum, Yum! Should have gone back for more later in the week - maybe Wolfgang will open in Portland some time!
Service was good. Charles was friendly and helpful. We enjoyed chatting with him about our plans for the week. He kept the kids pops filled (DS17 is going through Dr. Pepper withdrawal though).
Grade A- (Creme Brulee A+) Cost: food $247.70 (used wishes); alcohol $23.97 (with tip)
Thanks for your review!
