THE Character Meal Thread

[lynninpa]

Here's my review of Breakfast at The Crystal Palace from our recent trip, including a list of everything on the buffet menu.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1230337

 

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

Restaurant Name/Location: Liberty Tree Tavern at Magic Kingdom
Which Meal: Dinner
Which characters were present: Minnie, Pluto, Chip, Dale and Goofy
What foods were available: Salad with Strawberry Vinegrette dressing, Rolls, Turkey, Ham, Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Green Beans, Mac-n-Cheese, and Apple Cobbler with Vanilla Ice cream
What you ate: all but the ham
Positive Comments: The food looks like nothing special, but it is beyond the best homemade cooking! So delicious. We went here on labor day. It was our first meal at WDW ever, and an excellent choice. We came in out of the rain, and it was packed! It was noisy, but this made the atmosphere friendly and exciting. Turkey - don't remember really, but loved the beef. Mashed potatoes excellent, gravy delicious, stuffing to die for, green beans good, but a little too crisp, mac n cheese good, apple cobbler delicious - but we were so stuffed at that point! Didn't have enough room to eat it all!
Negative Comments: Salad - okay. Rolls hard - I like them soft. We were seated in a kind of hall like area. Characters walked by us a million times before actually stopping. Hard for young kids to be so patient, but my girls hung in there! Goofy ignored us completely! He walked by us at least 4 times. Oh, well, we got to see him at other places at least. We did get to see all the other characters, even if briefly. Most of them only stopped by once at our table, but sometimes several times at other tables. Depends on where you get seated.

All in all, we loved this place. We would go again. Although, as with any Disney restaurant, if we were paying OOP - not on DDP, we'd have to consider the cost.

Restaurant Name/Location: Cinderella's Royal Table at Magic Kingdom
Which Meal: Dinner
Which characters were present: Cinderella in lobby, FGM and 2 girl mice in dining area
What foods were available: Choice of appetizer, entree, and dessert
What you ate: I had the salad, pork, and sorbet. DH had the soup, salmon, and choc cake. DD had the kid's appetizer, pasta, and royal crown sundae. They gave dd 2 a kid's appetizer, buttered noodles, and royal crown sundae.
Positive Comments: This was an amazing experience! I hope that we can go again next time! I don't know what everyone is griping about. We loved it! My girls loved meeting Cinderella, who commented on their Cinderella gowns and twirled them like princesses. Litho and photo are very nice. Being in the castle is so cool. The atmosphere was the best of any place we dined. Our waitress was very friendly. DH loved being called M'lord. The show was so cute and lasted for a while! Lots of character interaction actually. The mice kept kissing my dd's head (she was sitting on the outside of the table where she could be reached - other daughter was on inside of table). She loved that! The fairy godmother kept making eye contact with people. They moved among most of the guests. FGM even smiled at me as I happily snapped photos and grinned toward her. They brought out my dd (on inside of table) a birthday cupcake (still got her regular dessert later). At the end of the show, FGM blew a kiss at my birthday girl!

DH liked his corn and crab soup. I don't like seafood, and I tried it and thought it was quite tasty. He had the Pan Seared Salmon with blue crab rock shrimp risotto and grilled asparagus. He liked the salmon, but I can't remember if he said it was really good or not. He wouldn't try the risotto b/c we couldn't remember what it was. I tried it and thought it was very bland. He gave me his asparagus. It was bitter. I had the BLT salad. It looks rather soggy and yucky, but it was delicious! I just wished I had asked for no red onion. I had the Grilled Pork Tenderloin with orzo cheese casserole, cremini mushrooms and a port wine reduction. It was presented beautifully. The orzo cheese cass. was delicious. I don't remember seeing any mushrooms -fine with me. The pork was good, but I didn't end up eating a lot of it b/c it looked like it was pink in the center, and I didn't want to chance any illness. I was getting full anyway - and dessert was coming. Oh! Let's not forget the pretzel bread. Delicious - and same pretzel bread as at Biergarten. Only at CRT, they serve it with amazing honey butter. DH had the Chocolate Mousse Cake with chocolate and raspberry drizzle and I had the Raspberry Sorbet. We shared. I love chocolate, but the cake was nothing special. The sorbet was amazing! It was served with blueberries and strawberries! To die for!

DDs had the kid's appetizer - they could keep the veg and cheese fresher - looked a little dried out, but it was fine. Birthday girl had her cupcake next. Very cute, but dry and nothing special. She didn't eat much of it. Had baked pasta, with sauce on side. She didn't eat much. While I think she liked the castle, this was our first full day in Magic Kingdom, and she was itching to get out of her Cinderella dress and onto some more rides. She had the royal crown sundae. She ate the ice cream and played with the crown. DD 2 was served free of charge. She had the appetizer, buttered noodles, and was also given her own drink, and royal crown sundae. She ate mostly bread and dessert. She loved the characters. She spent most of the time asking if we could see Cinderella again. Fortunately, you pass by her in the lobby on the way out!

I would defintely go again. I might even go again if I had to pay OOP b/c I liked it that much!

Negative Comments: Our castle litho is vertical and our photo is horizontal - and this is a vertical frame. Oh well. Minor things listed above.

Restaurant Name/Location: Princess Story Book (Akershus) at Epcot, Norway
Which Meal: Dinner
Which characters were present: Ariel for photo in lobby, Belle in common outfit, Jasmine, Snow White, and I think Aurora too (pictures are in another spot - can't check now)
What foods were available: salad bar area - cheeses (no they weren't really weird), salads, pastas, other salad bar type items, bread, fruit, shrimp
What you ate: salad, lots of bread, cheese - Dh said shrimp was okay. DH had the Traditional Kjottkaker, supposedly kind of like meatloaf. It looked gross, and was bloody in spots. He wasn't impressed. I had the barbeque short ribs. The sauce was too thick and the ribs were so fatty that I could only get a couple of bites off of them. I'm not exaggerating. I was disappointed. I can't remember right now what dd had. Dessert was traditional Rice Cream, topped with Strawberry Sauce. This was good, but kind of plain. Would be better with more sauce. Chocolate Mousse Cake - finished with a chocolate sauce and powdered sugar - nothing special. Lingonberry Cheese Cake - good but not great. Small portion - would have taken too long to get seconds.

Positive Comments: Girls loved seeing the princesses. Loved dressing up my girls. Got picture of one dd as Snow White with Snow White.

Neg: Would never pay OOP for this. We saw all the princesses in Epcot earlier that day. The food was terrible. The castle is only neat on the outside, and still nothing special. If you want to try anyway, try breakfast. Would not go back here b/c you can catch the princesses elsewhere for free.
I think the characters are nice, but they could work a little harder at interacting with shy children - especially when they can talk (the face characters).

Restaurant Name/Location: Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom
Which Meal: Breakfast
Which characters were present: Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger
What foods were available: Eggs made to order - any way you want, hard boiled eggs, scrambled egg ready, waffles, strawberries, breakfast lasagna, donut holes, banana bread, crumb cake, cereal, OJ, bacon, sausage, etc.
What you ate: Bacon, scr egg, strawberries, banana bread, crumb cake, OJ, breakfast lasagna - I was the first one to get into the breakfast lasagna! While it wasn't - WOW - it was very good. Pancakes, custard, blueberries, bananas.... a must try! Crumb cake nothing special. Everything is standard, but the variety is very nice.
Positive Comments: We paid OOP for this one. Ouch! What a lot of money for breakfast! The buffet is extensive however, and very good. The atmosphere is bright and airy and nice. Very exciting, early morning, happy hum about it. I can't believe we made it for our 8:10 am! Pooh and Eeyore do a nice job, bending down hugging, kissing tops of kid's heads. DD asked if Pooh wanted hunny and he nodded and rubbed his tummy enthusiastically. 2 yo dd showed Tigger how she could jump and he clapped his hands and started jumping for her! How cute! As we were leaving, they did their short parade, and we stood and watched (dds didn't want to join). Fun being in the park so early.

I would do this one again if one of my kids was into Pooh bear like they were this time.

Neg: Not a one!

 

[english rose 47]

Thanks for the reviews , am doing LTT, CP, H&V. and Donalds Breakfastauras so I was happy with the good reviews!!