Some Free Dining Reviews

[RIDisneyFan]

Just returned from an 8 day trip (9/16 through 9/23). First, let me introduce my family . . .

Me - I'm a meat and potatoes kind of person; if you're a "foodie" don't bother reading my reviews, I'm just not that into gourmet dining.
DH - a more adventurous diner, he'll try anything once.
DD11 - a very picky eater; as DH says "she barely eats enough to keep a bird alive." If we didn't have free dining we probably would have just let her eat off our plates at some of the restaurants (other than the buffets).
DD8 - sometimes referred to as "the bottomless pit". She's a little picky, but eats lots of what she does like, usually finishes her sister's meals. Luckily she's much too active to have a weight problem.

I'm not going to bother with the counter service meals. The table service restaurants we went to were:
Chef Mickey's
Bomas
Whispering Canyon Cafe
50's Prime Time
Garden Grill
Liberty Tree Tavern
Le Cellier


First - Chef Mickey's

This was our 3rd trip to WDW in the last 4 years, and each time we have gone to Chef Mickey's. The last 2 times we thoroughly enjoyed it; however, this time we were disappointed.
We arrived about a 1/2 hour before our reservation time and were seated after about 5 minutes. Our table was in the big room to the left as you enter the restaurant. Almost immediately Goofy came to our table; however, in the almost 1 hour we were there, only 2 characters came to our table - Goofy and Minnie. The food was just okay, but that's all we really expected; we come here more for the characters than the food. They had prime rib that my DH liked, it was a little too rare for my taste. The roasted pork was just okay. DD11 liked her mac and cheese, which is about all she usually eat. Surprisingly neither DD wanted dessert. The waitress was slow to refill our drinks, and the dirty plates were left on the table longer than they should have been.
My DH did speak to the manger as we were leaving and let him know that we disappointed in seeing only 2 characters; the past 2 times we were there we saw all 5 characters 2 or even 3 times each. He was very nice and offered to bring us around to the other characters, so we were able to at least get pictures with all of them. He also asked my DD's if they liked the princesses (which they both do) and gave us a front of the line pass to see the princesses at Magic Kingdom.
So the food was just okay. And the lack of characters coming to our table was very disappointing. The manger did make up for that, but only after DH brought it to his attention. So a mixed review for Chef Mickey's this trip.

As a side note - the front of the line pass was wonderful. We only had to wait a couple minutes at Magic Kingdom to see Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle. All the princesses and wonderful and spent a lot of time with each child. The little girl in line in front of us was being very cranky (she wanted the giant lollipop her parents had bought her) but Belle took her by the hand and started talking to her, and she forgot all about her lollipop and seemed very excited to see Belle and the others.

Next up - Bomas.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Cannot wait to hear about Boma!

 

[RIDisneyFan]

Bomas

This was DH's choice, but it's one of my favorites too. We again arrived and were seated early for our ADR even though it was very busy. The service was okay, nothing special. However, the line for the buffet was very long. By the time you got through the whole line and got back to your table, the food was already getting cold. DH said it was just okay, however he did have at least 3 helpings of the prime rib. I got some well done prime rib and thought it was very good. I tried a little of several dishes, most of it I liked since I like spicy food. DH was not impressed with the selection; I thought there was a good variety. DDs just had chicken nuggets and fries, which they liked. And of course I got the zebra domes, which I love. DDs were not thrilled with the dessert selection, they just got chocolate chip cookies.

I give this dinner a thumbs up , DH gives it a thumbs down.

Next review . . . Whispering Canyon Cafe.

 

[HonnyDipp]

Looking good, can't wait to read more!

 

[RIDisneyFan]

Next was Whispering Canyon Cafe. We went here on our last trip also and loved it; this time was just as good. Our server ( I think her name was Galloping Gertie) was excellent, really got into all the antics - threw our straws at us, helped us yell for ketchup, and encouraged DDs to join the horse race around the room. The server at the tables near us was very good too (don't know his name) and we were able to enjoy his jokes and stuff too (he brought one of his customers the real big glass of soda, and had his tables competing to see who could say "yee haw" the best).
The service was very good - got our food and shake refills quickly, she stopped by our table to check on us several times but not so much that she was annoying.

DH and I both had the bottomless milk shakes - I just had chocolate (3 of them ) and he had 1 vanilla, 1 chocolate, and 1 strawberry. As you can tell, we really liked them. DH had prime rib, and he said it was very good, cooked just right. I had the meatloaf with spicy BBQ sauce (told you I like spicy food) and thought it was excellent, spicy but not too spicy. DD8 had the chicken strips and pasta, which she loved; I liked that the chicken strips were baked, not breaded and deep fried. DD11 had the mac and cheese, and she did not like it at all. Usually she loves mac and cheese and eats it all the time, but this was the first of several meals where she tried it and did not like it. On our last 2 trips she had mac & cheese several times and liked it, not sure what was different this time. So our server brought her a hot dog to replace it.
DH and I had the chocolate cake but ate very little of it, only because we were so full! The cake was excellent, but after 3 shakes I felt like I was about to explode!

Overall, this was a very good evening - lots of fun and some very good food - and we would definitely come here again.

Up next - 50's Prime Time.

 

[tluvstink]

Great reviews Thanks for taking the time to post them.

Terri

 

[RIDisneyFan]

50's Prime Time

This is one I have been wanting to try, and I finally talked DH into it. We both agree this was one of our favorites this trip. We again arrived early for our ADR, but were not able to get seated early. Can't complain though, we were seated very close to our ADR time. Our server was Aunt Brenda, and she was wonderful. She was constantly getting after DH to keep his elbows off the table, and ended up making him sit in the corner (he can't stand as he uses a wheelchair) and had all the tables around us yell out "keep your elbows off the table." Our DD's loved the viewfinder with the dessert selections; they've never actually used one before!

DH had the sirloin steak, potatoes, and green beans. He loved it and cleaned his plate, which Aunt Brenda praised him for. I had the meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. It was all very good, perfect comfort food. I don't care for green beans much and ate about half and talked DH into eating the other half so I wouldn't get scolded. Had he realized this, he wouldn't have eaten them! DD8 again had the chicken strips and pasta (which she also had at WCC) and really liked it. DD11 decided to try the mac & cheese again (since it is normally one of her favorites) but again did not like it at all. We ended up getting her a hot dog to replace it. Has Disney changed their mac & cheese?
We all had ice cream sundaes for dessert, which were wonderful.

This is one we will definitely go to again. The service was wonderful, our waitress was a lot of fun, and the food was very good.

Next - Garden Grill.

 

[w-family]

Great posts.

I am worried about our ADR for Boma. I have been seeing some very negative remarks lately. I have three small kids so I am also worried about navigating through the long lines with them.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying reading your reviews. Thanks for posting.

 

[RIDisneyFan]

Garden Grill

I selected this restaurant because DD11 loves the Living with the Land ride, and this ended up being one of our favorites. We will definitely come here again on future trips to WDW. We arrived a little early for our ADR and were seated in about 10 minutes - DDs did the Kidcot station right next to the restaurant while we were waiting. We sat on the upper level but still had a good view of the ride, and DD's were excited that the restaurant rotates.

The characters were excellent! Since it is a fairly small restaurant they were able to spend a lot of time at each table but still make it around to everyone. We saw each character twice. DD11 danced with Chip (or was it Dale??) DD8 was too shy to do it, and every character was really interactive - they didn't just stand there while you took their pictures; they danced and goofed around with us, it was a lot of fun.

The food was good too. They bring a small portion of everything, served family style, and then will bring you more of whatever you ask for. The kids items were chicken nuggets, french fries, and mac & cheese. Once again neither DD liked the mac & cheese. The "adult" items were roast beef (DH liked, I didn't care for it), turkey (didn't like the cranberry sauce on it but otherwise it was good, nice and moist), stuffing, mashed potatoes (which were very good). They also brought a basket of warm rolls which we all liked a lot. We all ended up getting the kids dessert - decorate your own cupcakes; I can't remember what the "adult" dessert was but neither DH or I wanted it and opted for the cupcakes instead.

We did 3 character meals on this trip, and this was by far the best. The food was good, nothing real special, but the characters and the view of the ride, as well as the restaurant rotating, made this a very memorable meal that we all enjoyed. Four thumbs up from my family on this one.

Next - Liberty Tree Tavern.

 

[RIDisneyFan]

Liberty Tree Tavern

We were (again) early for our ADR. But we were able to watch Wishes from just outside the restaurant while we waited, which was very nice. One thing I didn't like about this place was it's not very handicap friendly. Wheelchairs cannot access the dining area from the main lobby. We had to go outside and then in through a side entrance. And the restrooms were upstairs, so my DH actually had to use a restroom out in the park and not in the restaurant itself.

The characters (Minnie, Pluto, Chip, and Dale) were very good. They spent plenty of time at each table and were a lot of fun, goofing around with the guests.

The food here is served family style; they bring a big plate with a little of everything for you to sample, then they will bring you more of whatever you want. We had turkey, ham, roast beef, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and mac & cheese. Everything except the mac & cheese was good; DD's again did not like the mac & cheese at all. The dessert was apple cobbler with ice cream. Both DD's and I don't care for apple cobbler, so the server just brought us ice cream instead.

The service was good. We got our food quickly, and the server was wonderful - refilled our drinks before we even asked and checked with us frequently to see if we wanted more of any item. Basically, we all gave this place a thumbs up.

My only other comment is that I would not book both Liberty Tree Tavern and Garden Grill during the same trip again as they are very similar. The food was almost exactly the same and they had pretty much the same characters. The food, service, and characters were good at both places, but they are too much alike - I think I would choose one on our next trip to get a little more variety.

Up next - my favorite, Le Cellier!

 

[RIDisneyFan]

Le Cellier

This is my favorite Disney restaurant , and it was the most difficult ADR to get. It only rained one day during our 8 day trip , and it had to be on this day! We ended up buying umbrellas at one of the gift shops (I hate the ponchos) so we stayed fairly dry as we made our way across the park. We arrived early (seems to be a habit for our family) but were not able to be seated until our ADR time.

We were seated in the Ontario section, and our server was Jesse. The DDP this year does not include an appetizer. Most of the time this did not bother me, but I really wanted to get the cheddar cheese soup here, so I was prepared to pay out of pocket for it. However, kids still get an appetizer on the DDP; neither DD wanted one, so we had them order the cheddar cheese soup and DH and I ate it. Just as an FYI . . . They do have a few "combo" meals that do include an appetizer, but I had my heart set on the fillet mignon, and this was not one of the choices on the "combo" menu.

The soup was delicious. DD8 loved the pretzel breadsticks, DD11 and I both liked the sourdough ones and ended up requesting more of these.

I love the BBQ fillet and was disappointed that they no longer have it on their menu. They did have a mushroom fillet, but I don't like mushrooms. No problem, I spoke to the server and was able to get the fillet mignon with no mushrooms and got the cream cheese potatoes with it. It was excellent, cooked just right (I like my steak medium well), very tender. DH got the NY strip steak. He was impressed by the portion size, he was expecting something much smaller. He loved his steak as well; it was so tender he could cut it with a fork. He also got the cream cheese mashed potatoes, which we both loved. I got a mango smoothie with my meal; it was very good also. DD8 got pasta and DD11 got a hot dog, both liked their meals but it's hard to mess up something so simple.
DD's had sundaes, and DH and I both had the Chocolate Moose, which we both loved.

DH and I both give Le Cellier a big thumbs up! It was by far the best food we had on this trip and remains my favorite Disney restaurant - the food was absolutely delicious, and the service was wonderful.

 

[Disney owl]

great reviews thanks

 

[pumba]

great reviews and I love cheddar cheese soup too...I could eat that at everymeal...
We are meat eaters too and loved the prime rib at all the places we ate at.....
thanks for taking the time to tell us about your meals