The "don't you dare embarrass me" Dining review 8/24-8/30

[Renee845]

While I have no pictures to share, as I was not allowed to take any - from the first meal we had in WDW my DH insisted that I not embarass him by taking pictures, I have lots of info in what I hope to be an entertaining and no doubt poorly spelled group of reviews. I don't think you are going to miss much picture-wise, most of the places we ate at were buffets and I know there are many people out there that are not interested in pictures of buffet food anyway. I will however get some pictures up of at least my DD, she is always nice to look at anyway

We ate at the following places during our trip - not necessarily in this order, I am listing as I remember:

Earl of Sandwich
1900 Park Fare - Cinderella's Royal Table
Ohana Character breakfast w/Lilo & Stitch
Casey's
Hoop Dee Do Review
Hollywood & Vine - Play & Dine character breakfast
Mama Melrose - fantasmic dinner package
Tusker House character breakfast
Crystal Palace character dinner
Princess Storybook Breakfast - Norway
Coral Reef
Spirit of Aloha
Coronado Springs - Pepper Market & Rix Cafe
"The Castle" Cinderella Breakfast
Sci-Fi Drive In
Chef Mickey's - breakfast
Whispering Canyon Cafe

I think that is it but I will add to it as I go along - I don't have my notes with me right now, it is amazing how a week later you can just forget!

 

[Renee845]

So there are three of us on this journey, and in the spirit of Snow White, I will name us as follows:

Happy - That's me, I am a very go-with-the-flow kinda girl, this is my first trip to WDW and quite frankly, I was just thrilled to be there!!!

Grumpy - My DH, while he handle the trip better than I expected, he lived up to his name!

PickyPrincess - yes, this is not a dwarf. but she is MY dwarf! DD turned 5 on this trip and she is the hardest eater on the planet!! Get her on a good day and she can eat forever, on others, you wonder if she had eaten anything at all.

So on with the review with day one!

 

[Renee845]

We got in to FL relatively early, and even though we were beat (we had a 6:30 a.m. flight) we were pretty anxious to get out there and explore a bit. We went to Downtown Disney and spent the day taking it all in.

Lunch - Earl of Sandwich

Our first meal at Disney!!!

I had the Italian Sandwich and a Hawiian smoothie. I thought this was REALLY good! I had never had a warm italian sandwich before but it really hit the spot! The bread was nice and warm and crispy and the meat and cheese was everything you would want from a italian hero - YUM. The smoothie was good too! I am a big fan of the combo of pineapple and coconut, even without the rum! It really hit the spot.

Grumpy had the Earl Club (no tomato, not a fan), and a coke (he will ALWAYS have a coke) when I asked him how it was he said with a lot of surprise in his voice "really good!" So I would say that this sandwich was probably really, REALLY good because it takes a lot for DH to call anything "good".

Princess Picky was not really feeling the kid's options and was starting to get hot I guess because I saw a breakdown heading our way in the not too distant future, I got her a side salad with cucumbers and balsamic dressing and a small pasta salad that looked like it had some sort of dressing on it. With alot of pleading, she tried the salad and deemed it "good", one bite of the pasta salad, not working for her. I would say total, she had about three bites of lunch - not one of her best to be sure.

 

[Renee845]

While I know this is not "food", it was an eating experience so I thought it needed some mention. After a pick-me up in the toy store DD was in better spirits and I figured let's add some sugar!!!! DD took great joy in creating her own slushy - much to my surprise she optioned for Minnie Mouse as opposed to Cindy and had a pink lemonade type frozen drink. She loved it - I am pretty sure I drank most of it though - hey, you want me to hold it, I am going to drink it!!!!

While we were there DD also created her own candy creation with marshmelllows, white chocolate and rainbow sprinkles, she enjoyed watching her "creation" come to life.

Grumpy discovered something in the candy case called "peanut butter heaven" and declared he MUST. He is a peanut butter and chocolate kinda guy and this BALL (about the size of a golf ball) was calling to him. He took one bite and declared - "oh my god" - Heaven? YEP. I took a bite, it was a very large peanut butter cup, so if you are into that, it was yummy!

 

[Renee845]

Today is DD's 5th birthday and it was fitting to have dinner with her idol, aka Cinderella, so off to the GF we went!

First, I have to say we were instantly in love with this Resort! It was just so beautiful, I was almost sad to leave it.

We were pretty close to our ADR time - maybe a little late, so we were given the buzzer thing, which was fine for us and gave us a chance to hang in the lobby and admire the view. When we were seated, they of course made a wonderful fuss over DD (dressed in her Cinderella dress of course) and gave her a b-day button and Happy Birthday tiara.

As for the food, the things that I put on my plate were as follows:

Salmon with dill cream sauce, chicken marsala, mashed potatoes, prime rib, pasta with meatsauce and I got a bowl of the strawberry soup (I was on a mission to find that!) I would have to say that overall, the food was good, not great, good. I think the chicken and the salmon were my favorite, I thought the pasta was mushy and the sauce, had to have come from a jar. The strawberry soup was really good too, not life changing as I somehow expected it to be but yummy none the less.

 

[Renee845]

Grumpy's plate was about the chicken marsala and pasta with meat sauce, I can't really recall much else, I should point at that by this point the three of us were dead tired and DD was about to have a meltdown because she had not seen Cindy yet - she passed us by at least three times now and it was getting ugly!!!

Princess Picky had pasta, pizza and corn niblets on her plate, I think she took one bite of the pizza and said YUCK and ate nothing else for the rest of the night - unless you count the frosting from the cup cake she was given.

The character interaction was ok here, believe it or not the red-headed step sister (her name is escaping me) was my favorite, she sat right down and chatted with DD for quite some time, to my disapointment, I did not really feel like Cindy gave her much attention at all, DD was thrilled, but I had hoped for something more.....magical.

Would I go back? Yes, I think I would, I would definately NOT make this the night of our arrival though, I think because we were so tired we did not enjoy it nearly the way we could have. It was her actual B-day so that was why I did it, but I think it would have been better had we not been up since 3:00 a.m.!

 

[Irishgrl6975]

Subscribing

However, are you sure MY husband didn't go on this trip with you? LOL My DH sounds a lot like yours. I can't wait to here how the rest of the places were.

 

[Renee845]

Funny how things become a blur only a week later!

After a not so great night sleep, our first breakfast was set for Ohana with Lilo and Stitch. First, a word about the Poly - WOW - it was beautiful, in fact after breakfast we took some time to check it out and should we go back to WDW this is the resort I am aiming for!

What a fun place this was! DD was presented with another b-day button and a post card type b-day card wishing her a happy b-day signed by all the characters. She loved it!

As we sat down to breakfast we had pinapple and bread/pastries on the table and some super yummy juice concoction. DD was hesitant to try it, but once convinced LOVE it - in fact Grumpy and I think the juice gave her some sort of magical bravery because she was jumping up and down, joining the parade, etc.

The food was presented to us in a family skillet and had scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon and seasoned potatoes.

 

[Renee845]

I personally found the eggs to be too salty, in fact, I think every where we went I found that to be true, Grumpy on the other hand, said they were "pretty good" and DD ate them, so that in and of itself has to say something right? The bacon was hard and kinda plastic-like (for lack of a better word), I also think that can be said for any other bacon I experienced. The sausage was HOT, like YOWZA HOT, Grumpy, while admitted it was hot, seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, I did not even have DD try it. The potatoes were unlike any I have tried before, I can't say I loved or hated them, they were just different, DD enjoyed them so that made me happy.

I would definately go to this again, we truely enjoyed ourselves and I thought the character interaction was great. In fact, I have to thank Stitch for dragging DD into the first parade, she would have never gone on her own and really, can you say no to Stitch? We were still there in time for a second parade and she jumped into that one with no prompting!!! We left breakfast in very high spirits and ready to take on the Disney day!!!

 

[Renee845]

Subscribing

However, are you sure MY husband didn't go on this trip with you? LOL My DH sounds a lot like yours. I can't wait to here how the rest of the places were.

I wonder sometimes if ALL DH's should be considered Grumpy!!!

 

[Renee845]

Since we moved from Movies to Coronado today we thought it be best to spend some time at the resort and make sure our luggage got to us and things went smoothly so we picked up lunch to go at the Rix Cafe and ate in our room.

Both Grumpy and I got Paninis, his Turkey and Chedder, me some sort of italian combo - strange, didn't we have this for lunch yesterday???? Anyway, the quality of the sandwich could have been better but considering it was sitting under heat lights how much can you expect from it right? Grumpy declared that it was sorta soggy and less than desirable and I thought mine was "ok" it tasted good and I was hungry so it worked for me! Princess Picky got a turkey and cheese sandwich and some grapes, after having a fit that cheese DARE touch her turkey, she ate a few bites of the sandwich, my apple, and a few grapes. I have to say this, what is it about the grapes there? They are soooo good!!!! Nice and big and crisp!! I swear I could make a meal out of the grapes there.

Next up - Hoop Dee Doo!!!!

 

[Renee845]

So we get there by the skin of our teeth!!! We had some luggage issues but, that can be discussed in a trip report I may someday write.

We are catagory 1 seating, which is nice, we were right smack in the middle of the room and could see pretty well. I know I have not really mentioned the wait staff yet because for the most part, they were nice, but unremarkable, but the waiter we had here needed some sort of personality injection!!!! Just very life-less and not very friendly.

The show was lots of fun and my DD laughed a lot, I was not really sure if she was going to "get it" but whether she did or not, she laughed and had a great time. Grumpy seemed to enjoy himself and participated in the hoopla so for him, this is a big deal.

As for the food. It was ok, they had salad, cornbread, ribs, fried chicken, beans, mashed potatoes - did I miss anything? I ate mostly chicken and mashed potatoes, it was good, but not moving. The beans were, as my DH would call them "different" not bad or good, just unlike any baked beans I had every had before. Picky Princess on the other hand, LOVED the chicken!!! She ate, more or less 3 chicken legs!!! I had to ask for more of them. I had never seen her eat what she calls "chicken on the bone" with such gusto. I am pretty sure that was all she ate, but she enjoyed them - oh! She ate the salad and cornbread too. I should mention that DH and I really did enjoy the cornbread quite a bit. We had strawberry shortcake for dessert, while it was definately yummy, I think the fanfare in the shore introducing it was better than the actual dessert! DD does not like strawberry shortcake so she ate the whipped cream on top and was happy.

I feel I also need to mention that I may have fallen in love with one of the actors from that show!! I have no idea what his name was, he had dark hair and was absolutely adorable!!! You ladies KNOW which one I am talking about I'm sure But would I go back? That is a tough call, I enjoyed the show but I can't say that it was worth the money we spent. Maybe someday we would go back, but I would not call that a must do.

Tomorrow off to Norway!!!

 

[Renee845]

Boy were we looking forward to this one!!!! When I say WE of course I mean me and DD! We had an ADR for 8:55 or so, but we got there really early, it was so nice to stroll through Epcot when it was empty! Everything was just starting to wake up and it was such a pleasant morning.

We were greated and given the buzzer, we did not really have to wait long and my DD was thrilled when they announced our "Royal Family", and then we saw Belle!! I promise you my DD's eyes got bigger than her head, it was so sweet to see. We were seated almost directly across from Belle, at first I thought this was going to be a high traffic problem but it the end it worked out fine. We went to the cold buffet first and were treated with cheese, fruit, pastries...YUM. Princess Picky ate a cinnamon bun faster than I had every seen. She was really cranky this morning so I was happy to see her eat. The family skillet arrived with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and some potato casserole type thing. Once again I was not loving the eggs, I had mixed feelings about the casserole, there were some bites I really enjoyed and then some not....it was strange. We ordered a second round of eggs hoping DD would eat more, she didn't. This is definately one of those places were you are not there for the food. We got to meet Jasmine, Snow White, Aurora and Mulan (she was a nice surprise since we had such seen her movie for the first time before we left).

Would we go back? Definately, I think it was really worth it getting to the park before it opened, it made for a really good day for us. You are not there for the food, but if you were, there was something for everyone and we did not leave hungry. I loved the fact that a picture was included in this meal! You get a lot of princess bang for your buck with this one.

 

[rosiep]

Thanks for taking the time to post. I am anxiously awaiting your review of Hollywood and Vine. I have a ressie for the Fantasmic dinner package...and then read horrible, horrible reviews
Eeek!

 

[dogodisney]

Did your DH enjoy the trip? I am enjoying your reviews. I hope I can read some more before I leave tomorrow afternoon.

 

[butiflfeet]

I wonder sometimes if ALL DH's should be considered Grumpy!!!

I couldn't agree more!

The reviews are great so far! Keep them coming please

 

[Renee845]

Did your DH enjoy the trip? I am enjoying your reviews. I hope I can read some more before I leave tomorrow afternoon.

I would say he enjoyed himself - despite himself! To be fair though, we both came down with terrible colds while we were there so that made things tough. But we are in DISNEY whether he will admit it or not, I saw him having fun

 

[Renee845]

Ok, so to continue with our day in Epcot, after hiting a whole bunch of rides, we were definately ready to eat! We went to the Coral Reef for lunch which I was really excited about, I had heard mixed reviews but we had a diver planned for DD and I just could not wait to see her reaction! We got there more or less on time but we had to wait for a bit, I did not mind though because I was fairly certain that the wait meant we were getting a tank side table I was right. It was really cool sitting there watching all the fish swim by us (although I was feeling a little guilty about my lunch selection!) Our favorite were the sea turtles! We also made friends with a sting ray that sat next to our table and did not move the entire time.

My DD was greated with her custome menu with her pictures on it and was THRILLED, I have to say, Debbi did a wonderful job. Shortly after our order was taken in came the divers, DD had no idea what was coming so DH and I watched anxiously as one swam up to our table and held out the sign for her, now she is 5 and can't read of course, but there are two words she can recognize with no problem, her name and "princess" So she knew it was for her and just tickled pink! The diver blew her kisses and danced around a little. It was so cute!

Now, on to the food!

 

[Renee845]

I had the Mahi Mahi with seasoned rice and pinapple chutney. This was the first time I ever had Mahi Mahi and it was really, really good!! Nice and lightly flavored fish and I really enjoyed it. The rice and chutney was really good too. I also had the lobster soup, it was good, not life changing but I felt like I needed to try it.

Grumpy had a pork chop (he is not a fish person) with some sort of cream mushroom sauce and potatoes. I was shocked by this choice since he does not eat pork chops at home, when I asked him, he said "well you don't make them like this!!!" I take it that meant it was good. Both of us cleaned are plates!

Princess Picky had pizza with apples. The apples were suppose to have brown sugar on them and despite my trying to impress on my daughter that this was a GOOD thing, she insisted on them being plain. She ate them all, so whatever. She had a few bites of pizza and announced it was yummy.

 

[MickeyNicki]

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