The "First Things First" Disney Dining Review update Pizzafari 7/15

[kayrosek]

“First we eat, then we do everything else.”
M.F.K. Fisher (1908-1992)​

Welcome! This is my first Disney Dining review. It was also my first WDW trip and therefore my first time on the dining plan. So I geuss I will start by introducing myself and the "culinary experts" who accompianied me on this trip.
Me: 31 with a passion for food, travel and now WDW
DH: 38 a disabled vetran who watches the food network religously and loves trying new resteraunts and new foods.
DD: 12 not as adventurous as her father and I but enjoys trying new resteraunts and is quite opinionated with a good appetite.
DD: 10 Our little bird, or at least she eats like one, she has a smaller range of food that she enjoys but has still ventured off the kids menu.
DS: 9 Our Autistic spectrum child, because of his Autism he has some issues with food textures but is much less particular about foods than alot of kids on the spectrum. His biggest must when it comes to food is lots of it and he wasen't too thrilled with being on the kids DP.
I will be reviewing based on a scale 1 through five with five being the best, and unfortunatley I diden't get any food pics, shame on me.

 

[kayrosek]

Me: Bento Box and a shared dessert with DS (but more on that later). I really enjoyed this. The seaweed salad and sashimi were both good, pretty comparable to the sushi restaurant I frequent at home. My favorite thing about this meal was the pancake like tempura thing. It had a mixture of vegtables and was so yummy I could've eaten more of these. Overall I give the Bento Box 4
DH: Shinjuko Gozen and Green Tea Pudding. Dh liked the sushi platter and said it was exactly what he would expect at most of the local sushi places we have been to but that said it diden't blow him away. Overall it was good, just good, not great, but still enjoyable. As for the Green Tea Pudding it exceeded his expectations. He only ordered it because he knows he doesn't like Ginger Chocalte cake. He was expecting something weird and got something good but again he wasen't blown away. His ranking Shinjuko Gozen 3 and Green Tea Pudding 3
DD12: Ediau and Green Tea Pudding. To begin with this was her least wanted retaurant. She wasen't thrilled with the concept of eating here. She coulden't decide what to eat and in the process of ordering we confused the waitress so much that she brought her the Ediau (Shrimp and Chicken Tempura) instead of the Grilled Chicken but she decided just to keep it. It was our first day in a park and we were tired and hungry. She was amazed! I was amazed! She liked it. She really liked it. Actually we all liked it. My husband decided that it was the best thing we tried there (we do have a tendency to share). She had ordered the Green Tea Pudding (although somewhat reluctantly) and was again very pleasently surprised. She ranked the Ediau somewhere between 4 and 5The same with the Green Tea Pudding 4 to 5
DD10: Bento Box and Choclate Ginger Cake She had been certain she wanted Terryaki Chicken and then at the last minute she decided on the Bento Box. She seemed to enjoy it at least enought that she ate it which is always a good sign with her. When I asked her to rank the Bento Box she said it was good but not her favorite so she ranked it 3The Choclate Ginger Cake also got 3 as she liked the choclate cake part but not the creamy ginger part.
DS9: Teryaki Chicken and Ginger Choclate Cake. He loved the Chicken but there were only three small pieces. The whole thing was small but he was thrilled with the monorail plate. I wish I would've got a picture of it. On the other hand I was less than thrilled with the veggies that came with it. They were the canned vegtable mix kind complete with carrots which he is allergic to and they woulden't substitute them with anything else. I was glad for the partions in the plate that had kept the carrots seperate from other stuff. His dessert was supposed to be a fruit cup (plastic prepackaged fruit cup) but I knew that not having a real dessert would upset him so I let him eat the fruit cup with his lunch and pick my dessert and share a few bites with me. DS ranked the Terriyaki Chicken 4 but emphasized there wasen't enough. The Choclate Ginger Cake got 5 from him and I have to add that this kid doesn't really like choclate cake but he loved this.
All in all this was a good restaurant. We all liked it and we would definatley go back although we would all probably order what my oldest daughter had and I would get the Green Tea Pudding which was yummy!

 

[msce2]

Tokyo dining sounds fantastic! We'll have to try this. Thank you for your review!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Count me in!

 

[eventamy]

I'm in too! Tokyo Dining sounds like my kind of place! Glad you all enjoyed it!

 

[KatMark]

I'm in as well.

 

[MomsOf2boys]

I'm in!

 

[kayrosek]

Glad you all enjoyed the reciew. I'm starting the next one now so hopefully I'll get it posted soon.Coming up next:

Backlot Express​

 

[kayrosek]

Our next resteraunt was, much to my dismay, Hollywood and Vine. I had read so many bad reviews that I was seriously nervous about this place. Originally I had planned to leave DHS and go to Whispering Canyon for or even Pepper Market for dinner but I decided the travel time to a resort and then back so we could see Fantasmic and the Osbourne Lights would be too much. I didn't want to waste valuable time so I settled for a ressie at DHS. Now if I could have picked a place it would have been Scifi or Prime Time or in a pinch Mama Melroses but not Hollywood and Vine; however this was literally the only ressie I could get. Once I resigned myself to this I tried and tried to make a lunch ADR so we could at least see the Playhouse Characters. DS is nine but cognitively (due to the Autism Spectrum Disorder) he is much younger and loves Playhouse Disney plus DD12 has a crazy thing for Little Einsteins so that would have made it somewhat better, but I coulden't get that eigther. To top off getting a ressie I wasen't sure about, it was a late ressie, 8:30 for dinner so by the time we got there we were starving. I'm going to forego the meal rankings for this meal as none of us remember exactly what all we ate, but I will mention a few foods that stood out so much that we do still remember them
New Zealand Mussels: These were DS's standout favorites. I tried them and they were okay but I woulden't describe them as "awesome" the way DS did. Still they were good.
Tarts (Allears says Key Lime but I'm not sure): Yum! These stood out in both me and DD's memory. They were great, there were little mandarin oranges on top of them and I must admit i ate several
Caprese Salad: This was another thing that stood out in my mind, but I love Caprese Salad so I was just thrilled to have it on the buffet.

Overall: This place was okay. The food was good but the selection seemed rather small. If your on the meal plan and need somewhere to eat at DHS where the food is decent this is fine, but if your paying OOP we thought there were better buffets.
DH ranks this resteraunt 1 but specifys it's because of the price vs selection not the quality of food which he thought was pretty good.
I'd rank it 2 1/2-3 Good but average. Nothing amazing but not nearly as bad as I was afraid of and we were all able to find something to eat so it filled it's purpose.

 

[kayrosek]

This was the meal we had been waiting for. Again I had read some bad reviews of the dinner but this was our first trip, our long awaited trip and DH was absolutley adament that we should have Thanksgiving Dinner in the Castle. He was certain this was a memory the kids would never forget and I can't say I disagreed. We arrived about twenty minutes early and were told we coulden't check in yet. Ten minutes later people were checking in and we somehow ended up at the back of a pretty big line. This was a bit bothersome but it was the last thing that was. We checked in and were led into the lobby of the castle where Cinderella greeted the children and had her picture taken with them. She spent several minutes talking to them and commented on the plastic crown DS was wearing. This was the cutest conversation and one of my favorite character interactions. She asked DS what prince he was and whether he was related to Prince Charming then she commented that he must be because they had the same eyes. Oh it was two cute and it sold my son. who was not to thrilled about eating Cinderellas Castle, on the whole experience. Here's a picture of that interaction (actually it's a scrap book page)

Before the photographer took their picture she taught the girls how to stand and pose like princesses. The whole experience with Cindy was wonderful. Then we were lead up a spiral staircase to the Dining room. Well me and the kids were. DH was taken in his wheelchair up in a very tiny elevator. He was a bit clausterphobic but got over it once we were led to our table in the far corner. We coulden't get down to the table we were originally supposed to have by the window because of DH's wheelchair but I honestly diden't mind our table. It was a little quieter. We were brought our menus which included a Thanksgiving style meal but most of us chose off the regular menu. I geuss now I should get on to the food.
Me: Salmon Cake, Prime Rib and the special dessert for the day Pumpkin Creme Brulee. This meal was lovely. The Salmon Cake was moist and flavorful and every bit as good as some of the really good crab cakes I have had. I rate The Salmon Cake 4 . The Prime Rib which I believe I got with mashed potatoes was good but it was a little dry however as DH said "It was Prime Rib in The Castle so how could it be bad?" I would rank the Prime Rib 4 for this reason and because it was still very flavorful. The Pumpkin creme Brulee was by far may favorite part of this meal actually it was my favorite part of any meal I had at WDW or anywhere else for that matter. It was creamy and the sugary crust was perfect. It was melt in your mouth delicous. I dream about this dessert. I rank The Pumpkin Brulee a 6 (and I'm drooling as I do it). Okay I know I said 1 through 5 but I can break my own rules right .

DH: Salmon Cake, Prime Rib and Choclate Cream Cheese Buckle. He ranks this Whole Mealas a 4 although I must mention he said the Choclate Cream Cheese Buckle was his favorite food in WDW.

DD12: She was the only one who ordered the traditional dinner. Squash soup, Turkey dinner with Apple Stuffing but she did go with the Choclate Cream Cheese Buckle for desert. She diden't care for the Soup and ranked it 1-2 but I think it just wasen't her thing. I remember tasting it and it wasen't bad but a bit sweet I think which would definatley make it not her thing. The Turkey and fixings she ranked 5. They were good. She especially liked the apple stuffing though she had been terrified she woulden't. She diden't like the green bean casarole as muchas the other stuff but it diden't take away from her meal. The Choclat Buckle she ranked a 0-1. It was her least favorite dessert of all. Although I do remember her saying the cream cheese stuff in the middel wasen't too bad. She really wanted pumpkin pie this day and failing that had planned on pumpkin brulee but had forgotten it.
The rest of our food ratings will be in the next post.

 

[kayrosek]

next up was
DD10: She ordered the pork chop with mushrooms and bacon. I honestly think she ordered this because she read the word bacon on the menu. I remember her saying that she liked this that day but she only at 4 or 5 bites. Not too unusaul for her really. When I asked her to rank this a few days ago she stated she dosen't like pork much so the Pork Chop was a 2 . Better than some pork chops she has had but not as much bacon flavor as she was hoping for I think. For desert she ordered the Choclate Cream Cheese Buckle which she and ranked a 5 .
finally we have
DS9: Now if you will remember from my first review Jonnie has a thing with portion size and after the small portions our first day he was afraid of a repeat at CRT so much so that he was convinced he would be hugry after this meal. We all tried to explain that this was a different resteraunt and seemed to include more food but he was still upset. For Jonnie this rigid certanity is very much a part of his Autistic Spectrum behaviors.This is where the service really shined . Our waitress was amazing, se was very understanding and sweet with him. She even brought Jonnie an extra item so he had the Grilled fish, mashed potatoes, fruit cup, yogurt parfait and seasonal sorbet with fresh berries for dessert. Can you tell he likes fruit? The chef came over before Jonnie ordered and really helped us find what he could eat. I was very impressed with the service. J0nnie ranked his Fish and sides 4 . I tasted the fish which was moist and flavorful, the fruit cup was large peices of fresh melon and grapes (a real step up from the packaged fruit cup at Tkyo Dining) and the rest looked good and fresh so this seems like an acurate rating. He ranked the Seasonal Sorbet 5 . Not surprising as it was a rasberry sorbaet with fresh rasberrys and black berries and as we have already established Jonnie LOVES fruit!

All in all this was an amazing experience. I was on dining in the castle. It was definatley a Thanksgiving we will remember and we would do it again. In fact it was the first thing my DH mentioned when I finally got him talking about another trip (a few years down the line still, but it's never to early to plan right ).

 

[kayrosek]

Oh by the way I sorta feel like I'm talking to myself. Is anybody out there? Drop by and say hi if you have a minute.

 

[pinkxray]

Love your reviews so far. Glad to hear you liked CRT dinner. We have an ADR in May and I am a little nervous with the bad reviews. I thought about canceling but my husband said he wanted to eat in the castle and now we have added BBB for my daughter that day so I guess I can't cancel.

 

[Disneymama5816]

Love your reviews so far. I have a DS5 who is very picky about his food, so it is always nice to read about kids who will try new things. Hoping this will rub off on my son someday!!!!

 

[kayrosek]

Love your reviews so far. I have a DS5 who is very picky about his food, so it is always nice to read about kids who will try new things. Hoping this will rub off on my son someday!!!!

My DD10 (now 11) was very picky at that age. She still has her moments (ex:doesn't like pork but wanted more bacon LOL)
but she has branched out alot so there is hope.

Love your reviews so far. Glad to hear you liked CRT dinner. We have an ADR in May and I am a little nervous with the bad reviews. I thought about canceling but my husband said he wanted to eat in the castle and now we have added BBB for my daughter that day so I guess I can't cancel.

I would definatley suggest keeping your reservation. The reviews had me concerned too but I went into it feeling like even if the food wasen't wonderful the experience would be wortth it and I was pleasently surprised with the food, but the experience also shines in my memory as one of the best parts of our trip

 

[weswife]

Great review!!!!!!!

 

[kayrosek]

Great review!!!!!!!

Thanks so much for reading. I'm hoping to have another one up today so stay tuned.

 

[kayrosek]

So after CRT we were pretty much stuffed for the day. Since our CRT meal was an early dinner at 4pm I had assumed we would eat a small meal around 8:00 but we diden't eat a single thing until after MK. When we got back to ASMo I decided I wanted Icecream and I remember getting some type of sunday or something but I don't remember what. I know that at least one of my kids got french fries as a snack credit and I remember they were good , in large part because we waited for them to cook them and they were hot and fresh but that's all I remember about food that night.

The next day was our AK day and we had an 8:30 am ressie at Tusker House. Due to about a million things happening that morning we were quite late for that ressie. I called disney dining at about 8:25 while I was waiting at the ASMo bus stop and they assured me that it was fine just to get there when we could. We arrived at Tusker House just slightley after 9:00 am and checked in at the first podium. They were very nice about the fact that we were late and we only had about a 10 min. wait then they sent us to the back of the resteraunt where the entrance, and a photo op with Donald was waiting for us.

I knew I wasen't buying their photo package but took the oppertunity to take a few of my own (sorry it's so large I really thought I had sized it) After our photo with Donald we headed inside and were seated at a table in the corner of a side room. Perfect for us we were off to the side and out of the way but still got included in the action.
Our waitress brought our drinks. We all tried the juice which my DH and DS loved. The girls diden't like it as much and I liked it but it got to be a little sweet after awhile so I gave it to DH and asked the waitress for a diet coke.

We loved this buffet. We all found foods we really enjoyed. I personally loved the vegtable fritatta, and cheese blintzes. I also tried a little ham (which I don't always like but I loved this time. My 11 DD came back with a plate of bacon (yep same child who ordered the porkchop at CRT because it said it had bacon flavor) She ate a 3 or so pieces as well as fruit and pastrys and we passed the bacon plate around so no bacon went to waste. Now to be fair we did notice that WDW doesn't have the best bacon but it isen't any worse than the precooked bacon we take on camping trips so my kids took it in stride and ate plenty of it. I can't remember what everyone else ate but we liked most of it. I also loved how thorough the chef who took me around the buffet and showed me what the kids could eat was. I rank this a 5and consider it a must do if we go to AK.

 

[crazyfordisney2000]

I enjyed reading your reviews, keep going!!!

 

[Fairy Godnana]

Great reviews and really cute kids!! As you can see I'm the Nana at our place and we're going to be "home " for 10 days in Oct, my g-daughters have been through every stage of eating or not eating there. They're now very vocal about they're favorites and helping plan the ressies , I Love it!!