The Non-Foodie Food Report-Deluxe Style 5/22-6/1(Final Thoughts)

[NorweJenNY]

I'm glad to see that you're reviewing a ton of places I haven't tried yet.

I understand the feeling about using the flash in some of these dim restaurants... I was very hesitant, but kinda figured it's a split second, no biggie. When we were at Sci-Fi, the waiter saw me taking pictures of food (when I didn't realize he saw me), and he came up to us, nearly startling me immediately after I shot the last picture! I thought he was going to say something about the flash, but instead he offered to take a picture of our whole family in the car for us!

BTW... I hope you bought a good size collection of Grumpy t-shirts for hubby.

 

[pinkxray]

Yes, it is. But truthfully you can try a place that people rave about and you end up not liking. We love LeCellier as do a lot of other people, but there are those who don't care for it at all. We went to Whispering Canyon and Brown Derby which gets great reviews. We hated Whispering Canyon and won't go back; Brown Derby was unimpressive and I doubt we'll go back there.

Like you said, everyone has different opinions (and tastes, expectations, etc.)., just like with resorts and not everything is for everyone.

I have read the bad review for WCC, but it really seems like something DH and DD would enjoy. I am thinking of trying it for lunch next time. We'll see.

Just caught up with your reviews.
You are doing a great job

Thank you!

Oh no...now I need to add another dessert to my August list. That chocolate cannoli cake from MM looks wonderful!

It was so good. I was so happy DH got a dessert, b/c if he hadn't I would have gotten the cheesecake and missed out on this yummy treat.

Thanks for sharing your dining experiences - I'm loving your review!

I have to say that I REALLY want one of those choc. peanut butter cupcakes but so many people are disappointed in them... They just sound so yummy!

The cupcake was good. It wasn't anything that special though. I guess everyone just raves about it b/c it is so big. Plus it is only a snack credit. It tasted like a regular cupcake to me.

I want that chocolate cannoli cake as well!! Confirms me decision to add MM to our list for next April!

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did

I'm glad to see that you're reviewing a ton of places I haven't tried yet.

I understand the feeling about using the flash in some of these dim restaurants... I was very hesitant, but kinda figured it's a split second, no biggie. When we were at Sci-Fi, the waiter saw me taking pictures of food (when I didn't realize he saw me), and he came up to us, nearly startling me immediately after I shot the last picture! I thought he was going to say something about the flash, but instead he offered to take a picture of our whole family in the car for us!

BTW... I hope you bought a good size collection of Grumpy t-shirts for hubby.

I did see some people taking pictures in Sci-fi. I will have to next time. I probably would have if there weren't 2 people sitting in the back of the car or if I sat in the front row instead of the middle. I just felt like it would be annoying to them.

I was actually thinking about how DH needs some Grumpy shirts next trip. They suit him so well.

 

[pinkxray]

Day 5 Magic Kingdom Day

This was the day I was looking forward to most. I woke up not feeling very and was considering canceling CP but I couldn’t do it. I have wanted to eat here since I was a kid and never managed to do it. Plus I love Winnie the Pooh.

We had an 8:10 ADR. DH once again had us running behind and once we got to the TTC only the resort monorail was running and it seemed to take forever to get there. We were about 2 minutes late.
DH checked us in and we only waited 2 minutes or so. We were seated and no characters were on their way so we hit the buffet. I headed straight for the puffed French toast at the kids corner.

My first plate. The puffed french toast was so good. It is like a donut but better. You can't really describe it. Just go to CP and get it yourself.
I wasn't a big fan of the choc. waffle. Just didn't appeal to me. The potatoes were okay. I strawberries and pineapple at Disney. (Well, at least during this season) I remember seeing pineapples slices on the menu at Aloha Isle. I though who would possible order pineapple slices when you could have a dole whip? A few days later when I went there I actually considered just getting the pineapple slices. There was one buffet we went to that had decent bacon. It wasn't the paper thin, tastless stuff we ran into most of the time. It was either Tuskerhouse or CP, but I can't remember.

DH's plate
pancakes, bacon, eggs and a donut
I think this was his one plate

DD waiting for a character. This is her plate. Don't think she ate much besides the donut holes.

My second plate. More puffed french toast. Strawberries with whipped topping. I had to try the breakfast pizza. It didn't sound very appealing to me and I'm not much of eating things with eggs but I felt I had to try it. It was pretty good. I ate most of it. And on the top is a little piece of rasberry crumb cake. So perfectly fresh and moist. Yum.

No food in this one. But I love Eeyore

I let DD take a few pictures of the buffet. She will be a good DISer one day.

Crystal Palace was a favorite on this trip. It was great being in an almost empty MK. The food was very yummy and they had the puffed French toast that no one else has. The characters are very cute and I would do this every trip if I could. I also want to try dinner too.


While we were in Fantasyland we stopped here:

What did we chose? A bottle of water and some lemonade. The strawberry shortcake looked very good everytime some got one.


Lunch as Cosmic Rays
DH had a burger with fries which he liked. He got a cookie for his dessert and I remember seeing him put it in his backpack but have no idea where it ended up. I doubt he ever ate it. DD had the kids chicken nuggets with fries and grapes. She ate most of the fries and grapes. She ate a few nuggets but she didn’t seem too crazy about them.
I had the chicken and ribs with mashed potatoes and green beans.
The potatoes were okay, nothing like the yummy ones at Le Cellier or GFC tough. The chicken was okay, but the ribs ended up being the best part. It was easy to pick the meat off and they were very tasty. I was very surprised with how good they were and wish I had ordered just ribs. Green beans, couldn’t tell you. For dessert I tried the carrot cake. It wasn’t too bad. A little sweet but better than it looked.

(I did take a picture of my plate, but it must have been moved around in photobucket. I'll add it later when I find it.)


Dinner at CRT

I walked in here not expected much. I knew the food wouldn’t be great but this dinner was all about DD and if it was that bad they was always the POR food court if we were hungry later.
The menu is a little different that all ears. There was no vegetable roll which I was planning on picking for the appetizer and instead of lemon chicken it was a herb roasted chicken.
For an appetizer DH had the BLT salad.

I chose the soup of the day which was a beef barley soup with prime rib in it. The flavor was good, but I was expecting big pieces of carrots and celery and they were all diced up and I couldn’t pick around them(I don’t like mushy soup vegetables). I did use the broth to dip the fabulous rolls in. DH had 1 roll and DD had one and I had the rest. I wasn’t worried about filling up on bread since I wasn’t feeling too great and the soup with bread was a great meal for me. There was still about 2/3 of the soup left when the waitress took it away and she asked if I didn’t like it. I replied that I had eaten the entire bread basket and needed room for dinner.

For dinner DH had the herb roasted chicken which he said was fine. My camera started blinking low battery and I wanted to make sure it lasted through the princesses coming out so I skipped most of the dinner photos. (It ended up dying just as Jasmine, DD fav. princess came out. We captured it on the camcorder but I have no idea how to get that picture on the computer)

I had the prime rib with potatoes and asparagus. The meat was okay. The potatoes were cold and not very good. Asparagus is one of the few veggies I eat so I was happy to have it for dinner. It too was a little cold and harder than I like it but I still ate it. If I had not filled up on those yummy rolls I most likely would have left a little hungry. The dinner is not very filling.

I can’t recall what DD ate. She was too busy waiting for Jasmine to come. I know she had a roll and remember some fries. Maybe chicken nuggets again?
For dessert DD had the ice cream sundae which was vanilla ice cream with a little choc. crown.
DH and I both had the choc. cream cheese buckle. It was tasty but a little dry. It was very good where the filling was so I ate that part. It comes with a whipped cream on top which helps with the dryness a little. They really need to change that to vanilla ice cream and then the dessert would be very yummy.

This is why you go to CRT, you don't pick it for good food.

Overall the food is okay. Everyone pretty much knows that going in. Our waitress was great and refilled our drinks promptly. Many people say it is not worth 2ts on the dining plan. No, the food is not. But you don’t go to CRT for the food. Seeing DD’s face light up when Jasmine picked her up and spun her around and watching her wait to see which princess was coming next was priceless. I would return every year if DD wanted to. The breakfast menu and lunch menu don’t appeal to me so I was very happy to hear the princesses were going to be at dinner. I don’t think I would go back once she doesn’t want too and we definitely would not go back if DH and I took a trip together with no kids.

 

[strmtroopr96]

What night were you at CRT? Looks like you also saw Ariel? I took my youngest DD to CRT on 5/29 for an early dinner ressie and Avery would have loved to see Ariel (constantly sings Ahhh Ahh AHHH just like her LOL). But we had Belle (in her blue dress), Snow White, and Aurora.

We always seem to get those 3 whenever we do any type of princess meal so would have loved to have seen Jasmine too.

 

[pinkxray]

What night were you at CRT? Looks like you also saw Ariel? I took my youngest DD to CRT on 5/29 for an early dinner ressie and Avery would have loved to see Ariel (constantly sings Ahhh Ahh AHHH just like her LOL). But we had Belle (in her blue dress), Snow White, and Aurora.

We always seem to get those 3 whenever we do any type of princess meal so would have loved to have seen Jasmine too.

We were there Wed. May 26. DD was thrilled since Ariel and Jasmine are her two favorites. I would have liked to see Belle instead of Sleeping Beauty, but we'll just have to head to Akershus next time.

 

[ILoveMyGirls]

Hi, I am new to this board and went thru your reviews We are planning on having breakfast at Ohanas too. I was not sure about it until I saw the menu and the food, it looks so much better than I had thought it would.

We have dinner scheduled for later that day at Crystal Palace.

 

[Dani&TJsMom]

Love your reviews! We're trying Ohana breakfast for the first time! It looks yummy. I love the puffed french toast at CP! Can't wait to read the rest of your reviews.

 

[danalee]

joining in! your little girl is a cutie pie

 

[KatMark]

LOVE the Crystal Palace review. I'm with you -- the puffed french toast is just

We've never done CRT. We have two boys (now young men) who would NEVER eat in a castle with princesses. But it looks as if Caitlin had a great time and that is what is important.

 

[honeybunches]

Thanks for your reviews and pictures (your daughter is just too cute!!!) we are taking our first trip soon & it is so much work planning, but I worry that some of our party (my dh, friends, and all the kids) will be disappointed in the ressies I've made. Your reviews are really helpful in knowing what we might like to try.

 

[NorweJenNY]

Your second plate at Crystal Palace is my dream plate! I love puffed french toast, breakfast pizza, fresh strawberries with whipped cream, and that not-discussed-enough-on-these-boards-yet raspberry crumb cake. That cake looks so basic and simple, but it really is so fresh and delicious! It was such a pleasant surprise! I was glad I put it on my plate!

I also agree that the ribs at Cosmic Ray's are good, though if you don't mind the kind that might get a little bit messier, try the ones served at dinner time at Sassagoula Floatworks, the CS at POFQ. These are absolutely divine! And at just under $11, they're quite a deal for ribs! Served with your choice of two sides, plus cornbread. I've also had the ribs at Flame Tree BBQ, but the French Quarter has the BEST CS ribs in the park, IMHO.

Keep up the good work with the reviews!

 

[emmysmommy]

That puffed french toast looks delish! And those strawberries looked perfect. But the best was seeing your DD with Jasmine.

 

[Linda67]

Just caught up and your reviews are really great
Your DD looks so cute at CRT.
I think I am going to try CP on our next trip if we can get an early ADR
The puffed frech toast looks sooooo yummy

 

[tink too]

Great reviews - thanks for sharing!

I haven't made any ADR's for our trip in October yet, so it's encouraging to read that you got a few of the more popular places at such short notice.

 

[pinkxray]

Hi, I am new to this board and went thru your reviews We are planning on having breakfast at Ohanas too. I was not sure about it until I saw the menu and the food, it looks so much better than I had thought it would.

We have dinner scheduled for later that day at Crystal Palace.

Ohana has yummy food and it is nice that you don't have to leave your table to go get the food. Sometimes when you are waiting to see the characters you are afraid you'll miss them if you get up.

I would love to try CP for dinner. Maybe next time.

Love your reviews! We're trying Ohana breakfast for the first time! It looks yummy. I love the puffed french toast at CP! Can't wait to read the rest of your reviews.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully I'll be able to get an update up tonight.

joining in! your little girl is a cutie pie

Thank you!

LOVE the Crystal Palace review. I'm with you -- the puffed french toast is just

You would never think be looking at it that it would be sooooooo good. DH and DD skipped, didn't even want to try it Oh well, more for me

Thanks for your reviews and pictures (your daughter is just too cute!!!) we are taking our first trip soon & it is so much work planning, but I worry that some of our party (my dh, friends, and all the kids) will be disappointed in the ressies I've made. Your reviews are really helpful in knowing what we might like to try.

I worried at first if DD and DH would dislike some of the choices I made. Finally, I just decided that since I was the only one doing the planning I got to pick what I wanted. I tried my best to find things I thought they would like and overall it turned out well. They had no complaints ( besides GFC).
I hope you enjoy your choices!

Your second plate at Crystal Palace is my dream plate! I love puffed french toast, breakfast pizza, fresh strawberries with whipped cream, and that not-discussed-enough-on-these-boards-yet raspberry crumb cake. That cake looks so basic and simple, but it really is so fresh and delicious! It was such a pleasant surprise! I was glad I put it on my plate!


I also agree that the ribs at Cosmic Ray's are good, though if you don't mind the kind that might get a little bit messier, try the ones served at dinner time at Sassagoula Floatworks, the CS at POFQ. These are absolutely divine! And at just under $11, they're quite a deal for ribs! Served with your choice of two sides, plus cornbread. I've also had the ribs at Flame Tree BBQ, but the French Quarter has the BEST CS ribs in the park, IMHO.

Keep up the good work with the reviews!

Thanks!
I grabbed that crumb cake at the last minute. I am so glad I did! It was hiding behind some other pastries. I was surprised at how good it was. I figured it would be some basic, dry crumb cake but it was perfect.

I forgot all about the ribs at POFQ. That would have been so easy since we were at POR. I really wanted to try Flame Tree but I got outvoted and had Pizzafari instead. Next time I'll walk over to Flame Tree to get my food and meet DD and DH at Pizzafari.

That puffed french toast looks delish! And those strawberries looked perfect. But the best was seeing your DD with Jasmine.

They were both fantastic! I swore I wouldn't be one of those boring people who gets fruit at a buffet but they were just so darn good.

It was great to see DD with Jasmine. I was a little nervous she would be shy but she did great. I love the picture with Jasmine. It looks like she wants to touch her to see if she is real or something.

Just caught up and your reviews are really great
Your DD looks so cute at CRT.
I think I am going to try CP on our next trip if we can get an early ADR
The puffed frech toast looks sooooo yummy

Thank you. CP is so worth waking up early for.

Great reviews - thanks for sharing!

I haven't made any ADR's for our trip in October yet, so it's encouraging to read that you got a few of the more popular places at such short notice.

Thanks for reading. I was surprised at the openings I saw so close to my trip. I wouldn't take any chances for things I really want, but if you get close to your trip and want a certain ADR just check back each day and you might get it.

 

[pinkxray]

Sorry for the delay. It has been a busy week!

Thursday May 27
We started our day at Tuskerhouse. We had an 8:05/8:10am? ADR.

You start by taking your photo with Donald. We did not buy the picture set, but the lady there took the photo with our camera when we asked. As others have mentioned Donald does not sign which disappointed DD. They told us it was too early and he would be at Camp Minnie Mickey later. I guess I understand since they have to get the photos done but when we walked out Donald was completely alone. If Cinderella can sign at CRT why can't Donald

We were seated and our waitress came out. DH is allergic to shellfish and she asked if he needed to see the chef. He said no and she went to pour the juice and said "Here is our juice made of oranges and shellfish" I thought that was funny.
Anyway she gave us our juice and coffee. Since there were no characters we went to get our food.

DD had a doughnut. I think she may have a waffle on her plate but she didn't eat it.

DH's plate. Eggs, tater tots, doughnut and biscuit

My first plate. DH gave me a tiny plate at first. Once I saw the bigger plates I just put the big one on top. Yes, I realize I could go back but I saw the characters heading to our room and didn't want to get up again.
Tater tots (I loved being able to have this with breakfast), ham, eggs, bacon, sausage, bread pudding with pecans in it
Everything was good, I didn't love the bread pudding but it okay

My second plate
Doughnut for DD- yes, she had two doughnuts for breakfast. I am glad I had the dxdp b/c I would hate to pull out her $11/12? for 2 doughnuts
(I do realize that I am paying that much anyway but it was just nice to not think about it when the bill came0
More tater tots, bacon, choc. mango bread I think? not very good

Tuskerhouse was a lot of fun. Goofy was in our room when they did the little dance around the room. He was a fantastic dancer! We were done by 8:40 and walked right outside and were right at the entrance for the safari. Perfect way to start a day at AK.

For lunch I wanted to try anyplace other than Pizzafari. Where did we go? Pizzafari

Pepp. pizza
It comes with a salad but we didn't get it b/c it would just go to waste
DD and DH each had the cheese pizza. They both liked theirs okay and finished them off. I just did not like mine. I had one piece and was done. DH had some and said it was cold. I don't know if that was it. I didn't like anything about it. In the corner is a strawberry parfait. I didn't like that either

Somewhere in the day I picked up the jalepeno cheese pretzel

It was okay. I was expecting that fake orange Frito lay Jalepeno cheese that comes in a can to be stuffed in it but it wasn't.


Dinner was supposed to be at SSR at the Turf Club. I was looking foward to it but I cancelled it after DH said GFC was too stuffy for him. I figured I would leave this evening free to go to DTD and try WPE but we never made it there.

We had dinner at POR foodcourt. I had the baked ziti and DH had a bacon cheeseburger. I thought the ziti was gross. I didn't like the sauce. That went in the trash too. I had cheesecake for dessert and that was good.
DH enjoyed his burger. DD had a burger and she ate that. She also had some grapes but I ate those. Those were good.

Besides Tuskerhouse it was a disappointing day in food for me.

 

[pinkxray]

Oh yeah, almost forgot.
We left AK around 2 and headed to POR. I headed to the food court since I didn't have lunch.

I chose the Pick your own pasta with alfredo sauce and chicken.

I tried to take picture of the choices but it didn't come out too good.

I had a choc. milkshake for desert. I used my refillable mug and saved my water for later.
Sorry to be a downer but I wasn't thrilled with my lunch either. The pasta was good, but the chicken was gross to me. I don't really like dark meat chicken so maybe that is why but I picked around it.
The milkshake was okay. The girl at the counter must have been new. She dumped the first one and then another girl asked her if she okay and she said no one ever showed her how to make a milkshake. I was about to tell her to forget it but she seemed determined to get it right. When we had dinner there I got my cheesecake from her and she looked a little scared I might want another milkshake. It tasted good though.

 

[lucas]

I've really enjoyed reading your reviews. Your pics are great, too.

 

[MickeyisBeast]

Joining in!
I'm lovin all your pics!
We live in NC and Sonic is the "king" of fast food places around here. Gotta love some Sonic
Tuskar House's food looks yummy, never eaten there before, it looks fun though

 

[Euphoria027]

The picture of your daughter with Jasmine is just precious... She is SO excited! Love it.