__disneygirl
well, all that's left now is the happy ending.
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2005
Ahh... Disney food. The mere mention of it can send me into a stomach-growling mess. Hold on to your Mickey ears, kids.
Your Food-Addicted Cast
I am a bit of a food addict. A FOODIE.
My addiction is fed WELL by the incredible eating establishments of the greatest city in the world, New York City. If you ever need a good place to eat in THE city, ask moi. I will give you a 97-page, detailed, laminated and organized by cuisine, then alphabetically, then by YUM-to-ICK-factor.
Lately though... I haven't been going out to eat. Like, ever. And I've changed. I'm healthier. I lost 22 pounds. I have to keep the weight down because of my grand career choice. I'm actually kind of nervous about this trip because I refuse to go to WDW and eat salads and grilled chicken the entire time. Of course I also WANT to be healthy. How I was eating before was the fast track to shaving years off your life. I knew that. I'm happy to be healthier. My mom has also been on a diet and is doing REALLY great. I'm proud of her. And myself. But it's been HARD. To say no to eating the things we really love. We've done well. But we're foaming at the mouth. And it's time for a vacation.
Needless to say.......... WE ARE EXCITED TO EAT.
I really can not stress how true this is. No, we're not going to be stopping every chance we get to stuff our faces. But, we do have some fantastic ADRs that have NOTHING to do with salad. In any way. And we have our favorite CS places and Disney snacks. We'll be indulging. Pounds will be gained. I will be laughed out of any audition I go on after this trip. But I'll get back on the Miss Healthybutt wagon quicker than you can say DOLE WHIP.
Which I've never even tried. BTW. But I plan on eating one. For Bob. (DIS Unplugged Podcast reference!!!!).
Past Food Experiences at WDW
I've been to Walt Disney World seven times, and the first five trips were completely ADR-free.
We never even thought of making reservations. My parents are not over-planners. In ANY way. To them a vacation is actually a vacation. During which you do things at your leisure.
As a kid, I was so excited to BE at Disney World that I totally forgot food was even a thing, and that you had to eat it to live. There would come a moment every day where my parents would be practically dead from chasing me around the parks all day without stopping. They'd drag me into whatever restaurant was around and we would eat.
During this time, I remember going to Tony's Town Square, Crystal Palace, The Plaza, Hollywood and Vine, 50's Prime Time Cafe... and that's all I can recall. I remember loving them.
I know many, many people on these boards hate Hollywood and Vine. It used to be so freaking good. The characters used to be the same as at Chef Mickey's. In the middle of the meal, Mickey and Minnie did a really cute little skit with a music track. I remember LOVING. IT. So much. But also, we wandered in there around 11:30 and so we got the breakfast AND lunch buffets. At the same time. So that may have been the reason for my euphoria.
As I've mentioned before, once I got a little older, I discovered the big, bright, beautiful DIS!!!!!! And all you lovely people helped me learn more things about Disney than I had ever imagined.
One aspect was the restaurants. I knew Disney had cool places to eat, but not to the extent I do now. I had never heard of SO many of these places, and they sounded so amazing! I never would have thought of going to another Disney resort just to explore and eat at a cool place.
For our 2006 trip, I booked ADRs. We ate at California Grill, Beaches & Cream, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Kona Cafe, 1900 Park Fare, Gulliver's Grill (an AMAZING place in the Swolphin that I am so mad is gone), Chef Mickey's, and Boma.
We also had ADRs for Donald's Breakfastasauras, Le Cellier, and Ohana. I'm really mad we didn't make it to the last two because obviously I could not get an ADR at either of them this time and REALLY want to try them.
Out of those restaurants, California Grill was the best. Actually, we ended up eating there a second time once my aunt joined us... but you all know how that went. Heh.
Sigh. Probably the best meal i've ever had at Disney World. Oak-fired Beef Filet with Potato and Gorgonzola Pave, and Blue Lake beans. I've heard they make it differently now which is a shame. I'm sure it's still wonderful though.
They also brought me this:
DELICIOUS. We have my birthday noted on every single ADR for this trip. I'm excited to see which places provide free Birthday deliciousness!
I am dying to go back there. I really want to try their flatbreads, and I want to get back on that glorious balcony and see the Magic Kingdom from up high.
This is what Gulliver's Grill used to look like. I don't know what is now. Maybe Il Mulino? I haven't been over there. This was a hidden gem. I booked it because it was the only restaurant that had Timon and Rafiki visit your table during the meal, and strangely, only them. I thought that was so cool, and I wish Disney would sprinkle some more random characters throughout their restaurants. The place was not full and since there were only two of them, Timon and Rafiki lingered awhile and it was just great. The food was also so delicious. You could choose between the buffet, which was predominantly seafood, or ordering from the menu. My mom did the buffet and I got a filet off the menu. Delicous. I would so go back there in a minute if it was still around.
Mickey Mouse sundae at B&C. I love this place.
It's adorable inside there. The theming is my favorite, and I wish I could go with a huge group of people and get the Kitchen Sink.
I had really wanted to experience Chef Mickey's, but heard the dinner was awful (still hearing that to this day) so we did the breakfast which was AWESOME. I suggest, strongly, going for a late breakfast ADR. It empties out in there and the characters linger and linger.
Birthday cupcake and placemat from Chef Mick's. This is the only restaurant I had that gave me anything besides a dessert for my birthday, with the exception of 1900 Park Fare, which also have me a Happy Birthday tiara. I rocked it for the rest of the trip, obviously.
Heart attack surprise at Boma. I LOVE BOMA. The main reason is smack dab in the center on the top. FRUNCH JUICE. Most delicious thing I have ever tasted. I am obsessed with it. I miss it. I have emotional feelings toward this juice. I want to kneel under a keg of this juice and just let it flow down my throat. I feel the same way about the Cheddar Cheese Soup from the F&W Fest/Le Cellier.
I don't have many photos from the rest. But I will say that after entering the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre, I absolutely fell in LOVE. With it. Another Disney obsession of mine was born as soon as I sat my butt down in one of those super-cool cars and looked up at the starry sky-ish. I will never return to WDW without visiting Sci-Fi. I know a bunch of people who think the food's not great. I have no idea what they're talking about because I absolutely LOVE the food, and also: they (and Beaches&Cream) have the BEST. MILKSHAKES. YOU WILL GET ANYWHERE, ever in your ENTIRE LIFE. Trust me. I no longer drink milkshakes outside of WDW b/c the Sci-Fi milkshakes have ruined all other milkshakes for me. Nothing is as good.
We LOVED 1900 Park Fare and got these desserts pre-ordered:
Cinderella Slipper
Mini wedding cake. Talk about YUM. This is actually the best cake I've ever tasted. The A in my name is messed up because it said Happy Birthday LISA. My mom kindly fixed it. Not that I noticed in between my moans of pleasure upon eating this.
What haven't I raved about? Oh, we did Kona breakfast. DIDN'T EVEN TRY the Tonga Toast. I know, ridiculous. But we LOVED it there. I actually find that WDW breakfast tastes the same all around no matter where you go, so I try not too book too many TS breakfasts. However, I think the Kona Cafe is a step up. We ate breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe too. Not as good as Kona but we LOVED the craziness of the place and our waitress who had a scratchy southern accent and was fake-rude on purpose. She nailed it.
It was an incredible trip, food-wise. Actually, everything-wise. It was just perfect.
My next trip, and the last I went on, was 2008. I still need to tell THAT story. Well, maybe. I haven't decided yet. But as far as food goes? I spent the majority of my time eating my weight at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. That and Mickey rice crispie treats which are so good I think they're just handmade by Jesus himself. I did make two ADRs: a dinner at Sci-Fi and breakfast at Boma, both were spectacular and just as I had remembered.
It should be noted, also, that I fell in LOVE with Wolfgang Puck Express on this trip. I went in there on a whim on my last day. I barely had any time but I was starving. Ordered a pizza and a side of mac & cheese. I have no idea why I ordered all that, I knew I would only have a slice or two of the pizza (I did, and brought the rest home on the plane). IT WAS HEAVEN. I was convinced you couldn't get pizza this delicious outside of New York/New Jersey. I was wrong. The delicious pizza is housed at Wolfgang Puck's. Don't even get me started on the mac & cheese. It was gourmet style, and I could have eaten ten more dishes of it.
What We're Eating On This Trip
In a matter of days... DAYS!!!!! We'll be enjoying Disney food OUT THE WAZOO. New York people rarely use that expression so you know that I mean business.
Our ADRs are a mix of old favorites with some new places I really want to try. There are a couple places we've been to for breakfast, but really want to try their dinners. We also have, for the most part, what CS places we want to hit. Those include Wolfgang Puck Express (OBVIOUSLY), Beaches & Cream (probably just for dessert), Columbia Harbour House (love the chicken & fish basket here), Main Street Bakery (no explanation needed), Starring Rolls Bakery, and Boulangerie Patisserie. Yeah, we miss eating baked goods. SO sue us. For the most part, breakfast will be eaten at our resort(s) and we will just wing most CS meals.
Since I've always wanted the places we go to be a surprise to my readers as much as it will be for my mom (refer to post 1!), I won't reveal our ADRs. But I will give some HINTS! Also, I still am not happy with the ones I have and I have added, deleted, and switched these a million times. So it will probably end up being different. But here we go!
The numbers game for our table service meals:
TOTAL OF:
4 Dinners
2 Lunches
2 Breakfasts
OUT OF THESE:
4 are Buffets
5 of these meals are new to us, the rest are favorites
1 at the Grand Floridian (my birthday cake was ordered for this meal)
1 at the Polynesian
2 at the Animal Kingdom Lodge
1 in Epcot's World Showcase
2 in the Magic Kingdom
1 in Animal Kindgom
1 at Downtown Disney
2 at Disney's Hollywood Studios
Whew.
Looking at these ADRs... I find I have a problem with a lot of them. First of all, this is going to cost a lot. Thank God for the $500 gift card which will be how we pay for most of this. I also feel like FOUR buffets is too much. Our stomachs have shrank, and I don't know that at this point... I can really get the value of a buffet without feeling like I'm gonna hurl. But I want to try these places so bad! I also want to eat more in the World Showcase than we are, most of the places I don't want to try (I'll explain more during the report) and I'll probably have to flash a CM or two in order to get us into Le Cellier. I want my beloved Cheddar Cheese Soup! Also, what if some of these places suck? Should we just stick with more old favorites? But no, I want to try new things!
And so on.
Does it REALLY matter?! No.
Could we have ZERO ADRs and still have the most AMAZING trip?! YES.
So who cares? Really. In the long run.
(I do)
But seriously. It's Disney World. And we are going. Together. In a matter of DAYS.
I'm not going to stress about our plans. It's all good at Disney.
Your Food-Addicted Cast
I am a bit of a food addict. A FOODIE.
My addiction is fed WELL by the incredible eating establishments of the greatest city in the world, New York City. If you ever need a good place to eat in THE city, ask moi. I will give you a 97-page, detailed, laminated and organized by cuisine, then alphabetically, then by YUM-to-ICK-factor.
Lately though... I haven't been going out to eat. Like, ever. And I've changed. I'm healthier. I lost 22 pounds. I have to keep the weight down because of my grand career choice. I'm actually kind of nervous about this trip because I refuse to go to WDW and eat salads and grilled chicken the entire time. Of course I also WANT to be healthy. How I was eating before was the fast track to shaving years off your life. I knew that. I'm happy to be healthier. My mom has also been on a diet and is doing REALLY great. I'm proud of her. And myself. But it's been HARD. To say no to eating the things we really love. We've done well. But we're foaming at the mouth. And it's time for a vacation.
Needless to say.......... WE ARE EXCITED TO EAT.
I really can not stress how true this is. No, we're not going to be stopping every chance we get to stuff our faces. But, we do have some fantastic ADRs that have NOTHING to do with salad. In any way. And we have our favorite CS places and Disney snacks. We'll be indulging. Pounds will be gained. I will be laughed out of any audition I go on after this trip. But I'll get back on the Miss Healthybutt wagon quicker than you can say DOLE WHIP.
Which I've never even tried. BTW. But I plan on eating one. For Bob. (DIS Unplugged Podcast reference!!!!).
Past Food Experiences at WDW
I've been to Walt Disney World seven times, and the first five trips were completely ADR-free.
We never even thought of making reservations. My parents are not over-planners. In ANY way. To them a vacation is actually a vacation. During which you do things at your leisure.
As a kid, I was so excited to BE at Disney World that I totally forgot food was even a thing, and that you had to eat it to live. There would come a moment every day where my parents would be practically dead from chasing me around the parks all day without stopping. They'd drag me into whatever restaurant was around and we would eat.
During this time, I remember going to Tony's Town Square, Crystal Palace, The Plaza, Hollywood and Vine, 50's Prime Time Cafe... and that's all I can recall. I remember loving them.
I know many, many people on these boards hate Hollywood and Vine. It used to be so freaking good. The characters used to be the same as at Chef Mickey's. In the middle of the meal, Mickey and Minnie did a really cute little skit with a music track. I remember LOVING. IT. So much. But also, we wandered in there around 11:30 and so we got the breakfast AND lunch buffets. At the same time. So that may have been the reason for my euphoria.
As I've mentioned before, once I got a little older, I discovered the big, bright, beautiful DIS!!!!!! And all you lovely people helped me learn more things about Disney than I had ever imagined.
One aspect was the restaurants. I knew Disney had cool places to eat, but not to the extent I do now. I had never heard of SO many of these places, and they sounded so amazing! I never would have thought of going to another Disney resort just to explore and eat at a cool place.
For our 2006 trip, I booked ADRs. We ate at California Grill, Beaches & Cream, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Kona Cafe, 1900 Park Fare, Gulliver's Grill (an AMAZING place in the Swolphin that I am so mad is gone), Chef Mickey's, and Boma.
We also had ADRs for Donald's Breakfastasauras, Le Cellier, and Ohana. I'm really mad we didn't make it to the last two because obviously I could not get an ADR at either of them this time and REALLY want to try them.
Out of those restaurants, California Grill was the best. Actually, we ended up eating there a second time once my aunt joined us... but you all know how that went. Heh.
Sigh. Probably the best meal i've ever had at Disney World. Oak-fired Beef Filet with Potato and Gorgonzola Pave, and Blue Lake beans. I've heard they make it differently now which is a shame. I'm sure it's still wonderful though.
They also brought me this:
DELICIOUS. We have my birthday noted on every single ADR for this trip. I'm excited to see which places provide free Birthday deliciousness!
I am dying to go back there. I really want to try their flatbreads, and I want to get back on that glorious balcony and see the Magic Kingdom from up high.
This is what Gulliver's Grill used to look like. I don't know what is now. Maybe Il Mulino? I haven't been over there. This was a hidden gem. I booked it because it was the only restaurant that had Timon and Rafiki visit your table during the meal, and strangely, only them. I thought that was so cool, and I wish Disney would sprinkle some more random characters throughout their restaurants. The place was not full and since there were only two of them, Timon and Rafiki lingered awhile and it was just great. The food was also so delicious. You could choose between the buffet, which was predominantly seafood, or ordering from the menu. My mom did the buffet and I got a filet off the menu. Delicous. I would so go back there in a minute if it was still around.
Mickey Mouse sundae at B&C. I love this place.
It's adorable inside there. The theming is my favorite, and I wish I could go with a huge group of people and get the Kitchen Sink.
I had really wanted to experience Chef Mickey's, but heard the dinner was awful (still hearing that to this day) so we did the breakfast which was AWESOME. I suggest, strongly, going for a late breakfast ADR. It empties out in there and the characters linger and linger.
Birthday cupcake and placemat from Chef Mick's. This is the only restaurant I had that gave me anything besides a dessert for my birthday, with the exception of 1900 Park Fare, which also have me a Happy Birthday tiara. I rocked it for the rest of the trip, obviously.
Heart attack surprise at Boma. I LOVE BOMA. The main reason is smack dab in the center on the top. FRUNCH JUICE. Most delicious thing I have ever tasted. I am obsessed with it. I miss it. I have emotional feelings toward this juice. I want to kneel under a keg of this juice and just let it flow down my throat. I feel the same way about the Cheddar Cheese Soup from the F&W Fest/Le Cellier.
I don't have many photos from the rest. But I will say that after entering the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre, I absolutely fell in LOVE. With it. Another Disney obsession of mine was born as soon as I sat my butt down in one of those super-cool cars and looked up at the starry sky-ish. I will never return to WDW without visiting Sci-Fi. I know a bunch of people who think the food's not great. I have no idea what they're talking about because I absolutely LOVE the food, and also: they (and Beaches&Cream) have the BEST. MILKSHAKES. YOU WILL GET ANYWHERE, ever in your ENTIRE LIFE. Trust me. I no longer drink milkshakes outside of WDW b/c the Sci-Fi milkshakes have ruined all other milkshakes for me. Nothing is as good.
We LOVED 1900 Park Fare and got these desserts pre-ordered:
Cinderella Slipper
Mini wedding cake. Talk about YUM. This is actually the best cake I've ever tasted. The A in my name is messed up because it said Happy Birthday LISA. My mom kindly fixed it. Not that I noticed in between my moans of pleasure upon eating this.
What haven't I raved about? Oh, we did Kona breakfast. DIDN'T EVEN TRY the Tonga Toast. I know, ridiculous. But we LOVED it there. I actually find that WDW breakfast tastes the same all around no matter where you go, so I try not too book too many TS breakfasts. However, I think the Kona Cafe is a step up. We ate breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe too. Not as good as Kona but we LOVED the craziness of the place and our waitress who had a scratchy southern accent and was fake-rude on purpose. She nailed it.
It was an incredible trip, food-wise. Actually, everything-wise. It was just perfect.
My next trip, and the last I went on, was 2008. I still need to tell THAT story. Well, maybe. I haven't decided yet. But as far as food goes? I spent the majority of my time eating my weight at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. That and Mickey rice crispie treats which are so good I think they're just handmade by Jesus himself. I did make two ADRs: a dinner at Sci-Fi and breakfast at Boma, both were spectacular and just as I had remembered.
It should be noted, also, that I fell in LOVE with Wolfgang Puck Express on this trip. I went in there on a whim on my last day. I barely had any time but I was starving. Ordered a pizza and a side of mac & cheese. I have no idea why I ordered all that, I knew I would only have a slice or two of the pizza (I did, and brought the rest home on the plane). IT WAS HEAVEN. I was convinced you couldn't get pizza this delicious outside of New York/New Jersey. I was wrong. The delicious pizza is housed at Wolfgang Puck's. Don't even get me started on the mac & cheese. It was gourmet style, and I could have eaten ten more dishes of it.
What We're Eating On This Trip
In a matter of days... DAYS!!!!! We'll be enjoying Disney food OUT THE WAZOO. New York people rarely use that expression so you know that I mean business.
Our ADRs are a mix of old favorites with some new places I really want to try. There are a couple places we've been to for breakfast, but really want to try their dinners. We also have, for the most part, what CS places we want to hit. Those include Wolfgang Puck Express (OBVIOUSLY), Beaches & Cream (probably just for dessert), Columbia Harbour House (love the chicken & fish basket here), Main Street Bakery (no explanation needed), Starring Rolls Bakery, and Boulangerie Patisserie. Yeah, we miss eating baked goods. SO sue us. For the most part, breakfast will be eaten at our resort(s) and we will just wing most CS meals.
Since I've always wanted the places we go to be a surprise to my readers as much as it will be for my mom (refer to post 1!), I won't reveal our ADRs. But I will give some HINTS! Also, I still am not happy with the ones I have and I have added, deleted, and switched these a million times. So it will probably end up being different. But here we go!
The numbers game for our table service meals:
TOTAL OF:
4 Dinners
2 Lunches
2 Breakfasts
OUT OF THESE:
4 are Buffets
5 of these meals are new to us, the rest are favorites
1 at the Grand Floridian (my birthday cake was ordered for this meal)
1 at the Polynesian
2 at the Animal Kingdom Lodge
1 in Epcot's World Showcase
2 in the Magic Kingdom
1 in Animal Kindgom
1 at Downtown Disney
2 at Disney's Hollywood Studios
Whew.
Looking at these ADRs... I find I have a problem with a lot of them. First of all, this is going to cost a lot. Thank God for the $500 gift card which will be how we pay for most of this. I also feel like FOUR buffets is too much. Our stomachs have shrank, and I don't know that at this point... I can really get the value of a buffet without feeling like I'm gonna hurl. But I want to try these places so bad! I also want to eat more in the World Showcase than we are, most of the places I don't want to try (I'll explain more during the report) and I'll probably have to flash a CM or two in order to get us into Le Cellier. I want my beloved Cheddar Cheese Soup! Also, what if some of these places suck? Should we just stick with more old favorites? But no, I want to try new things!
And so on.
Does it REALLY matter?! No.
Could we have ZERO ADRs and still have the most AMAZING trip?! YES.
So who cares? Really. In the long run.
(I do)
But seriously. It's Disney World. And we are going. Together. In a matter of DAYS.
I'm not going to stress about our plans. It's all good at Disney.
Last edited:
As far as food goes, anyway. I'm not filling you guys in until we actually go and the TR begins!
Mmmmmmm!!
And, yes...the over-full feeling is almost inevitable at a buffet! 
Oh, my bad!
I mean, with all of that walking, we can't gain too much...right???? 
)
Sounds like you had a great night!!
Good luck with all of the last minute planning. I'm a procrastination queen so, for me atleast, the last couple days before the trip are always packed full of things to do.
