The Deluxe Dining that defeated us ...a German perspective! (FINISHED!)

[Pooh&OurHunny]

My husband and I love Brown Derby...we always have a good meal there. Enjoying your reviews...thanks for sharing.

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

I am really enjoying your reviews but I must head off to bed now.

I will be back to read more.

Gute Nacht!

 

[annichan]

I love their salmon with the marscapone polenta
When you go back, it's sweet but if they have the pumpking cheesecake on the menu you have to try it! It's delish and if you're expecting sweet maybe it'll hit the spot better

The "menu picture" is wonderful! I've never heard of them doing that before!

Yes, you're right, if you don't expect sour but sweet it should be okay, I'll give it a try - and that salmon sounds delicious!
So it might be that the menu is a new thing? Wow, makes me a bit flattered to think we have experienced something on our first trip, rookies that we are, which not many others have yet experienced

Just wanted to let you know that I'm really enjoying your review--especially your perspective on American food. You and your hubby are so cute!

Wow, thank you! I'll pass that compliment on to him! (It WAS a compliment, wasn't it?)

I love Brown Derby!! can't wait to get back! That menu is so cute.

And to think that I didn't want to go there at first - it was one of the last ressies I made, as originally I hadn't wanted to spend two meal credits on an in-park restaurant ... Lucky for us that I changed my mind!

Don't feel bad about skipping out on F!, we did that last year. We had spent all day at DHS and were just exhausted! We decided that what would really be fantasmic would be to go back to our hotel and rest!

Thank you and everybody else who assured me that it is not such a bad or uncommon thing to skip Fantasmic! And I mean, we saw Wishes about seven times during our vacation (from the park, the Cali Grill, the Grand Floridian marina and several times from an open window on the corridor just outside our room at WL, you have a wonderful view from there!). We saw Spectro once, from a really great vantage point. And we saw IllumiNations twice, once in the park and once on a fireworks cruise which we got as a gift. And we saw the lovely Electric Pageant from our hotel beach or balcony more times than I could ever count, to the point of almost driving DH mad ("You wanna go see that AGAIN???"). So I could say that we have had our share of pretty lights and fireworks alright, even WITHOUT Fantasmic! .

I love Brown Derby too, it is one of two restaurants that I've eaten at every trip.

I have a feeling that it might come to be the same for us!

My husband and I love Brown Derby...we always have a good meal there. Enjoying your reviews...thanks for sharing.

Thank you, I'm glad so many people seem to be enjoying my (unfortunately recently so unfrequent) ramblings!

I am really enjoying your reviews but I must head off to bed now.
I will be back to read more.
Gute Nacht!

Thank you! So I shall give you something more to read - up in a minute or two!

 

[annichan]

The next day way May 8th, Women’s Day in Germany, and I’m not sure if it was the same in the States or not. Anyway, we had a 7:30 breakfast ressie at Chef Mickey’s which I had been debating about for quite a while: whether to go ahead with it or to skip it, I mean. I had heard that it would be very full, and very loud, and that we would probably have to wait for the longest time ever for our buzzer to go off.

In the end, however, I had made up my mind to go ahead with the ADR because I just felt like having yet another character breakfast, and also because I was really looking forward to having breakfast with the monorail whooshing pretty much right over our heads.

I had forewarned DH that we might have to wait for a long time checking in, and accordingly he was quite apprehensive (he is the nicest man in the world, but not before he has had anything to eat in the morning ).

Anyway, when we arrived at the podium (ten minutes early, just in case) there was hardly anyone there. We got given our buzzer with no line at all, then waited five minutes max until it went off. I guess it was a good idea to eat that early! I think seating must have started at least half an hour earlier than that, though, because as we were being led to our table we saw loads and loads of people already seated and eating.

Well, speaking of “led to our table” … We walked, and walked, and walked . And walked right through into what seemed like the very back of the restaurant, a teeny tiny extra room with a low ceiling, large murky windows, an absolutely infernal noise level (echoing off the low ceiling and bouncing off the close walls), and about the coldest air conditioning level I have EVER experienced. It was like the Arctic in there, only with scores of screaming, yelling and running children and with Mickey Mouse in it.
Oh, and with furiously photographing grown-ups (in one case, a whole family of five people was frantically running around the one little girl belonging to the party, cooing and trying to photograph her with the characters from every angle imaginable). Not one of the families in this picture - this is just to give you a general impression of how tiny the room was:

Please don’t take me wrong, I definitely do not mind noisy children in the least (unless I’m having a cranky moment), and I certainly know that Disney World is the one place you should avoid if you are easily annoyed by kids. But throw them into such a confined, ice-cold and not even pretty spot with me when I was expecting majestic views of the monorail swooping over my head, and you’ll know who will have a bad time (not the kids, I’m sure!) .
And by the way, not DH either – he was off to the buffet at once and stocked up on hearty breakfast foods, and then had fun playing with the pancakes. Even in the mood I was in then, I had to admit that was the cutest pancake-and-syrup plate I had ever met .

So this cheered me up quite a bit, and a cup of nice hot coffee worked towards the same end. Pretty soon, the characters started coming around – I’m afraid most of the pictures didn’t turn out too well this time (especially the one the server kindly took of DH and me with Donald, which came out all blurry – arrrgh). But this one gives you the idea:

Our server was really nice, by the way, and had she noticed the picture was blurry I’m sure she would have taken another one – her name was something like Lou Ann or Sherri Ann, I’m not exactly sure. She was really sweet and complimented us on our honeymoon a lot, and she also brought out a cute Mickey cupcake for us to blow the candles out and make a wish:

More pixie dust, I loved it! (I was too full to eat the cupcake, by the way, but I nibbled on the little sugar pearls a lot, they are pure calories, but I love 'em!)

After Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Pluto (lots of characters here, wow!) had all come past and said hi to us, we were off pretty quickly – we were shivering so badly from the cold, we were in dire need of some sun.

All in all, I don’t think we will be back here – the atmosphere was quite frantic, the food was comparable to other buffets but nothing that we couldn’t also get elsewhere next time, and that freezing cold was just intolerable. Also, you felt pretty cut off from the action in that tiny back room of ours.
I am sure it would have been a nicer experience in the main dining room, so if you have never eaten at Chef Mickey's and would like to give it a try, make sure to request a table in the main dining room if possible. We had fun there and our server was really sweet, but of the five different character breakfasts we had during this trip, this was both our least favourite one.

Coming up next: Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern …

 

[wilma-bride]

I have only just found your reviews, read every single one and absolutely loved them.

Given that there is far too much for me to start commenting now, I will reserve my comments for your Chef Mickey's breakfast and just say that I hope we do not get put in that little room in October I think I would have asked to be moved if I were you - it puts me in mind of the kids sections they have in McDonalds here in the UK.

Looking forward to your next update now I'm subscribed

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

I understand how you feel about CM...my husband and I think that's the most frantic character buffet but then my son loves it. Dinner I was not happy with the selection so we are going to try breakfast. Thank you for sharing and I really can't wait to read more.

 

[Isthatyoutiger]

The last time I was at Chef Mickey's we sat in the very same room and I agree it was the worst room to sit in. I thought the food was ok, but not the view. Thanks for the review on Chef Mickey's.

 

[Flossbolna]

Thanks for the Chef's Mickey review! I am really not so much into character meals, so I guess you confirmed my suspicion that this is a place I don't really need to eat at. Which is good since we are trying to cut down the number of restaurants we might want to eat at in January. So far we have a list of 20...

 

[annichan]

I have only just found your reviews, read every single one and absolutely loved them.

Given that there is far too much for me to start commenting now, I will reserve my comments for your Chef Mickey's breakfast and just say that I hope we do not get put in that little room in October I think I would have asked to be moved if I were you - it puts me in mind of the kids sections they have in McDonalds here in the UK.
Looking forward to your next update now I'm subscribed

Yes, that comparison sounds about right - it DID look like a McDonalds kids section!

I understand how you feel about CM...my husband and I think that's the most frantic character buffet but then my son loves it. Dinner I was not happy with the selection so we are going to try breakfast. Thank you for sharing and I really can't wait to read more.

I feel so bad that it is taking me so long to come up with each new installment - I never thought it would be so much work, not only the typing but even more the remembering! I feel the greatest respect for everybody here on the DIS who has managed to finish their dining report, or even a trip report, or even multiple reports!
However, I am aspiring to be as good as you, I will finish this! (If I will indeed dare do a full trip report afterwards is another matter, however - that would probably take until I leave for my next Disney trip in October of 2010 ).

The last time I was at Chef Mickey's we sat in the very same room and I agree it was the worst room to sit in. I thought the food was ok, but not the view. Thanks for the review on Chef Mickey's.

Yes, I guess we should just have asked to be moved ... but I take it that you didn't try that, either?

Thanks for the Chef's Mickey review! I am really not so much into character meals, so I guess you confirmed my suspicion that this is a place I don't really need to eat at. Which is good since we are trying to cut down the number of restaurants we might want to eat at in January. So far we have a list of 20...

Flossbolna, I have to very sternly tell you that one of the reasons it has taken me so long to come up with this next instalment is that I have been busy reading your first dining report from `07 . So everybody, if I make you wait again for the next part, it's because Flossbolna has written another couple of reviews .

(It's funny what you wrote about how your nickname came about, by the way: When I read it I have an entirely different connotation, as one of my three cats (see my avatar) is called Flossie. So when I read your name I am instantly reminded neither of dental floss nor of candy floss, but of my favorite cat! )

 

[annichan]

This is one of the places that makes me feel a bit sorry for the cast members having to wear slightly unflattering work uniforms …
You know, like that poor lady who was about my size and was wearing a rather too-small looking space cadet uniform at the “Mission: Space” boarding area, or that young gentleman from my nation’s trendy urban Northern-German capital, Berlin, working at Epcot’s Germany pavillon and not seeming all too comfortable wearing a “lederhosen” outfit that even an eight-year-old would balk at wearing outside of Bavaria .
Anyway, I felt the same about our poor waiter in his period costume with knee-short breeches. The women look ever so cute, but what they have done to the men is not so nice, methinks …

Anyway, we were here not to look at fashion statements but to enjoy lunch, and that we did! Not before snapping a picture of a hidden mickey on a wall cupboard though, which I can’t really take any credit for finding as it was mentioned in my guide book :

We were sat at a big round table in a corner (far too big for the two of us, but the restaurant wasn’t too busy so it didn’t really matter) and were presented with the menus and with a little paper bag of pixie dust aka Mickey confetti that “the team” had put together for us to take home as this was our honeymoon. Awww!

Off course I did take it home, by the way, I have it still! I love every little bit of pixie dust that has come our way! (All the more so since we probably won’t get any next year, when we are no longer wearing “Just Married” buttons. What a pity we won’t be visiting during our anniversary! )

As an appetizer, DH decided on the Declaration Salad with strawberry vinaigrette:

Don’t ask me what it was like, I forgot to ask him and he’s at work now so I can’t bother him with questions about food he ate a couple of months ago (those men, they never understand … K).

I decided on the New England Clam Chowder as I had just had my first chowder a few days ago at Raglan Road (see that review a few pages back) and absolutely loved it. This one was rather different … but then again, what did I expect, after all the one at Raglan Road was called “It’s NOT Bleedin’ Chowder” .

Anyway, this one was extremely thick, so thick my spoon would stand up in it (had to take a picture of this amazing trick – look ma, no hands!):

It was also very slightly too salty for my taste, and it came with a little plastic bag of croutons, which I found a bit cheap for a table service restaurant – couldn’t they put them on a little plate or something instead?
However, these are the only negative things I can say about the chowder, as apart from that it was great comfort food, rich and yummy and actually so much that it would have been perfectly sized even for a main course.

The main course, however, was yet to follow: DH had the Pilgrim’s Feast which consisted of roast turkey with a brown sauce, mashed potatoes and green beans. I tried a little of it and found it nice, however I couldn’t say whether this was typical traditional American food or not, as I have so little experience with this type of food (as my fellow German DISer Flossbolna would probably so rightly say: This roasted turkey was very “ethnic” for me ).

It being my turn to go for the healthy choice now, I had the Colony Salad with Washington apples, sweet pecans and applewood smoked cheddar and grilled chicken tossed with field greens in honey shallot vinaigrette – and boy, was this a good choice!

This. was. so. delicous. Absolutely fresh, and fruity, and with the yummiest ever piece of moist and tender chicken with a nice grilled taste to it, even though of course once again it was much too much and I couldn’t finish it all. Boy, was it good. In fact, I would love to have such a salad again right now!

Like so many Disney meals before, this left us so full that we weren’t even sure how we would manage leaving the restaurant on our own feet, so once again we were on the brink of skipping dessert. However, while DH actually went over that brink and settled for only a chaste cup of black coffee, I was pulled back from the brink right into the arms of this beauty:

(drum roll) The glorious Oooey-Gooey Toffee Cake! To give you an impression of how much I loved this, let me tell you that I finished every last spoonful of it – no matter how full I had felt before! This was just so good, so weet and soft and … well, yes, I guess “ooey-gooey” is just the word for it, even though I had certainly never heard that one before . And the crunchy little bits of sugar set all that softness off so perfectly!

If you have the least bit of a soft spot for vanilla, caramel or toffee, give this one a go. You won’t regret it. In fact, I would actually love to have such a – but I am repeating myself, I already said that about the salad only two paragraphs ago .

Slightly tired but completely happy, we waltzed out of there and went on our way to explore the Magic Kingdom some more – eager to walk off some of the calories and work up an appetite for the big event of the evening to come:

Dinner at Narcoossee’s …

 

[SSRJen]

That toffee cake looks amazing. I might have to do Liberty Tree Tavern on our next trip. Is the dessert served warm?

 

[onelilspark]

I'm enjoying your reviews

If you want to try a character breakfast that's a little more...well, shall we say, civilizied?? Try Cape May Cafe. I find that it's much easier to deal with that one before you're cafinated in the morning

 

[torsie24]

Ooooh, great LTT review!! You may have jsut sold me on it!!

Can't wait for the Narcoosees one!! I have to wait until 2011 to eat there - nad I'm looking forward to it already!

 

[Flossbolna]

Flossbolna, I have to very sternly tell you that one of the reasons it has taken me so long to come up with this next instalment is that I have been busy reading your first dining report from `07 . So everybody, if I make you wait again for the next part, it's because Flossbolna has written another couple of reviews .

(It's funny what you wrote about how your nickname came about, by the way: When I read it I have an entirely different connotation, as one of my three cats (see my avatar) is called Flossie. So when I read your name I am instantly reminded neither of dental floss nor of candy floss, but of my favorite cat! )

Thanks for the nice comment, it is great to hear that people actually go back and read what I wrote two years ago!! But I am very sorry for keeping you from updating! Perhaps that's a good excuse for NOT updating MY 2009 review...

How funny that between your cat Flossie and my dog Bolna we can make up my nickname!

Yes, the turkey dinner is ethnic!! Isn't it amazing that we think we know so much about the USA in Europe, but than those really simple things really baffle us? When I read your first breakfast review, I was so much reminded of my first visit to the US as a teenager staying with my aunt who emmigrated to the US in th 60s. We went out for breakfast one day and the only thing I found on the menu that sounded like real breakfast was toast and jam! My uncle actually ordered a steak and fried potatoes!

LTT really is a nice place for lunch in the MK. However, I always felt very rushed there. How was your experience? While I like fast service, this was just too fast for me. Also it felt very hectic around us. For what time was your ADR? When we were there ist was rather busy.

 

[annichan]

That toffee cake looks amazing. I might have to do Liberty Tree Tavern on our next trip. Is the dessert served warm?

I'm not entirely sure but if I remember correctly, it was served cold. It was still delicious though, I didn't miss the warmth - I mean, when I ate it the thought never even entered my mind that this could be EVEN better than it already was

I'm enjoying your reviews

If you want to try a character breakfast that's a little more...well, shall we say, civilizied?? Try Cape May Cafe. I find that it's much easier to deal with that one before you're cafinated in the morning

Thank you! In fact, we tried Cape May Café a few days later and found that much more relaxed ... It will be in a review yet to come!

Ooooh, great LTT review!! You may have jsut sold me on it!!

Can't wait for the Narcoosees one!! I have to wait until 2011 to eat there - nad I'm looking forward to it already!

Not to give away too much in advance - but we plan on eating there again too, in 2010! (We will both choose a different entrée, though, next time.) I won't get that review done tonight as I've got to do my workout and then it's already time for bed (8.50 pm here at the moment), but I solemnly swear that I will try to get it up by tomorrow night! Cross my heart!

 

[annichan]

Thanks for the nice comment, it is great to hear that people actually go back and read what I wrote two years ago!! But I am very sorry for keeping you from updating! Perhaps that's a good excuse for NOT updating MY 2009 review...

How funny that between your cat Flossie and my dog Bolna we can make up my nickname!

Yes, the turkey dinner is ethnic!! Isn't it amazing that we think we know so much about the USA in Europe, but than those really simple things really baffle us? When I read your first breakfast review, I was so much reminded of my first visit to the US as a teenager staying with my aunt who emmigrated to the US in th 60s. We went out for breakfast one day and the only thing I found on the menu that sounded like real breakfast was toast and jam! My uncle actually ordered a steak and fried potatoes!

LTT really is a nice place for lunch in the MK. However, I always felt very rushed there. How was your experience?While I like fast service, this was just too fast for me. Also it felt very hectic around us. For what time was your ADR? When we were there ist was rather busy.

Just putting off my workout for a bit longer to write you a reply - big lazy procrastinator that I am :

No, don't you dare putting off your report, you need to set a good example for me! :l

You're right about all our misconceptions about the US - we feel that we know absolutely everything about the country as we have seen roughly 8,000 movies and tv series set in the States, but when we first go there we are baffled to find out that they didn't tell us EVERYTHING in the movies

We didn't feel rushed at LTT by the way, or at least not more so than normal. We were there at 1:00 pm, so it wasn't really an off-time. There was one really large group of more than a dozen people near where we were sitting, so that's why it didn't feel all that empty, but quite a few other tables were. (And maybe the servers were just so busy with the large group that they didn't find the time to rush us? )

Well, now I'm definitely off to work off some calories, have a good night everybody- gute Nacht!

 

[wilma-bride]

Great update - although I'm disappointed you didn't have the Tavern Fried Cheese appetiser as I just love looking at pictures of those ooey, gooey little sticks of delight

 

[mamaboogie]

Hi! I'd just like to say I'm really enjoying your wonderful food reviews!

You both look like you are having a great time and I love the way you describe your meal experiences. We are hoping to go back to WDW next year and this is whetting our appetite!

Sharixx

 

[SweetMommy]

The oyster crackers you were served on the side in a bag for your chowder is the "normal" way you would get them if you were say in New England getting New England Clam chowder. They were just trying to make it authentic for you

 

[auntfrannie]

I love your reviews! Especially the fact that you needed a couple of beers to face up to meeting Prince Charming & Cinderella!