Three Generations Dabble In Disney Dining!

[liz2d2]

Our recent trip featured many a fine meal! I'll try to review one day at a time...

Day One, Friday, 9/5
Our traditional first night dinner is at O'hana. We (me, DP, and little V) got in around 5 pm, met my mom at the airport and had time to stop for groceries and check into our lovely condo before heading over to what I thought was an 8:45 pm reservation.

After that first blissful moment in the Poly, we get to the podium only to find out that our ressie was for 7:45! Ack! We'd missed it by an hour!!!

The CM was nice enough to put us into the system. It took about 25 minutes for us to get seated but that's no problem when you're in the Poly lobby listening to the live music and the sound of the waterfall.

Our server Debbie was very nice but she did tell us how tired she was because they'd been opening early to accomodate free dining. This was to be a common theme from our servers throughout the trip...

Dinner was excellent, as always. The pot stickers were terrific, the noodles were great and there's no way to not love the bread pudding for dessert! I'm always so thrilled with the taste and selection of the side dishes that the meats seem almost an afterthought. This year was no exception to that.

Our table was far from the windows so we didn't get to see Wishes but other than that, it was a great meal!

We headed back to the condo, stuffed and ready to get some rest.

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Day Two Lunch:
Last year I'd made the mistake of having our first full day start with an 8 am Crystal Palace breakfast. This wiped out my daughter so badly that it seemed like she slept through the entire trip so this year, we went for an 11:30 am lunch ressie. We checked in on time and were seated quite quickly. The place was about 1/3 full when we got there but it really filled up while we ate.

This worked MUCH better for all of us. And, bonus! CP lunch is really really tasty! I loved the edemame salad and the veggies, my mom and DP loved the curry noodles. My daughter wasn't as impressed with the kiddie section of the buffet, but they had shredded Parmesan cheese and grapes so that took care of her for this meal (and most of the rest of the week too...). Her favorite part was the parade, she wanted to march again and again, even after it was over.

Because it was my Mom's birthday, they had mickey confetti on the table and our server brought her a birthday pin, plus a cupcake. She LOVED it and loved wearing that pin throughout the park because so many people wished her a happy birthday.

CP lunch is now one of our favorites. I can't imagine starting a trip any other way!

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Day Two Snackie:

Later in the afternoon I snacked at Pecos Bill's with my daughter while Mom and DP went on Splash. Finally, I was able to experience the fixin's bar I'd read so much about here on the DIS. It did NOT disappoint! I had a burger, which I loaded some hot cheese and grilled onions onto. After I got my food, I was really struggling to get the stroller and my tray over to a table. At the height of my frustration a very nice CM came over and offered to carry our food. I nearly cried, I was so grateful.

The kid's menu choices were quite limited and little V was NOT impressed with the rather dry hamburger she got. She did like the grapes that came with it.

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Day Two Dinner:
Dinner that night was at the Plaza Restaurant. We checked in on time but waited what seemed like FOREVER to get seated. Our server was very tired and not all that friendly. I think that made the food taste even more mediocre than it really was. We waited a long time for our drinks, but the food (ruben for me, club sandwich for Mom, grilled cheese for the little one and I can't remember what DP ordered) did arrive quickly.

We all shared my daughter's dessert since she conked out just after her food arrived. The meal was okay but I don't know that we'd go back.


Day Three report, coming soon!!

 

[HonnyDipp]

Signing in!

 

[John's Mom]

I'm in!

 

[TigerKat]

Can't wait for more!

 

[liz2d2]

After a very full day two in the MK, we had an even later start on day three. Our first ressie wasn't until 1 pm, which was great since everyone was still a little tired from walking on to all those rides the day before!!!

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Day Three Lunch:
We took the monorail over to the MK, then hopped on the boat to Fort Wilderness for our lunch at Trail's End. When I was planning the trip, I wanted to balance heavy/more expensive meals with lighter/cheaper ones so Trail's End lunch was a good choice on the lighter/cheaper side.

We got off the boat and walked over to Pioneer Hall, noting the very nice playground on the way there. Little V was very interested in this playground but it was SO hot, I couldn't imagine her going down the slide so we distracted her until we got to lunch.

I'd heard that Trail's end is a bit of a hidden gem, that it's not that crowed and not too spendy. Both proved to be true for our lunch. The food was simple, sandwiches with some soups (3 kinds, plus chili), salads and a hot pasta dish.

Little V, of course, ate shredded cheese and grapes, though she did eat a few of the penne pasta bits.

I had a little of everything, the sandwich and soup were tasty. Mom, DP and I all enjoyed the pasta. Our server was very nice, if a bit flustered at times. I felt like we had to really work to make him calm down but he was nice enough and the sweet tea, it kept flowing!

After lunch, we wandered over to the Triple D Ranch so little V could take a crack at riding a pony. She was very excited on the way over and even got on the horse but after about 20 yards, she was done. The CM working in the pony stable was kind enough to give us a refund (without asking) on our pony ride fees. She said little V could use it 'next time'!

We also checked out the horses in the big barn. They are so well cared-for and so lovely. It was neat to see them getting bathed and groomed.

At that point, we headed back to the MK to walk on to more rides and catch the parade.

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Day Three: Dinner
Our dinner was a late one, 8:50 pm, at Chef Mickey's. I was a little nervous since it was so late -- would they close down the buffet while we were eating? We waited a little while, 20 minutes or so, until we were seated.

It didn't take long for the characters to start heading our way. Little V greeted them with mixed emotions, she seems to like waving at them but not cuddling up to them or hugging them. All of the characters were great about this, letting her sort of lead the interaction.

Minnie noticed that little V was wearing a polka-dotted dress and made a big show of pointing out that their dresses both had polka dots. This ensured Little V's undying love of Minnie!

The food was really good. I wish I could remember what I ate! It was a little bit of everything, plus some prime rib that was excellent! The buffet was fully stocked for the entire time we were there.

Little V ate (you guessed it!) shredded cheese, only this time she also ate some Mickey Raviolis as well. She also LOVED the dessert bar with all the fixings, we kept bringing her little dishes of M&Ms and gummy bears.

It was a wonderful meal, definitely one of our favorites!!

Coming up soon, day 4!

 

[liz2d2]

On the morning of day 4, mom and I got up early and made it to DHS for rope drop, my first ever! Along with everyone else, we walked briskly to TSM, walking on to the ride. We got off, then rode it again, picking up fastpasses for later.

We also hit RNR and TOT, both of which were awesome! By the time we were done with that, we were in our FP window so we hit TSM again. That ride just gets more fun every time!

We headed back to the hotel to pick up the rest of the gang. We went for a real classy lunch at the Waffle House on Irlo Bronson. It was what you'd expect, tasty and quick.

Our dinner that night was at 1900 Park Fair. I'd been looking forward to this since I made the ressie many months before. I thought Little V would love the princesses and based on the reviews I'd read here on the DIS.

Even though we were on time for our ressie, we had to wait FOREVER to get seated. I didn't find the GF lobby as wonderful as I do the Poly's so I got a bit bored but eventually our number came up.

We were shown to our table -- in this super duper crowded room off to the side. Ugh. The room was so squashy you couldn't get in or out if one of the characters was in the aisle. That put a damper on my mood right away but I tried to keep my energy up.

The food wasn't as good as I'd hoped. There's nothing I ate that's noteworthy. The soups were okay and the Asian section had some scary-looking beef stir fry thing. The salad bar seemed really sparse, too.

That said, the characters were great. Drusella (did I spell that wrong??) gave Mom a hard time about her birthday button and was extra-screechy. Little V loved her, of course. Cinderella was really sweet with Little V, making the whole crowded room and mediocre food thing a little better.

1900 Park Fair did not make it onto our list of must-visit restaurants.