Trying new places for quick Aug. trip

[Soubrette]

So, a friend and I are planning a quick trip down to WDW at the very beginning of Aug. (I know...bad crowds and the heat...but we can't figure out any othe time), and I want to try some new places.

Basic info: two friends in their 30's, no kids, staying off-site, both WDW fans who've been enough that we don't have to tour commando.

I've done a lot of the signature places--Artist Point, Flying Fish, Spoodles, Coral Reef etc.--but want to see some new places (and not spend quite so much money). Other places I've done and don't need to repeat: LTT, Prime Time, Sci-Fi, San Angel Inn.

I've already booked Ragland Road as a new place, and the Kona Cafe for our first night (giving up on O'hana's after last trip), plus two favorites: Rose and Crown and Bomas.

So here are some of my choices for new places:
1900 Park Fare (digging the location and atmosphere, heard good things about the soup)

Chefs de France (looking for other Epcot options rather than the normal Le Cellier or Rose and Crown)

Marrakesh (same here)

Whispering Canyon (although, I'm not sure on this one...not so big on the server interaction thing, but I love the Wilderness Lodge)


Any suggestions? Something to fill out my experiential knowledge of the "world"?

 

[wdwishes1990]

In my opinion - -

1900 Park Fare - THUMBS DOWN Plus I believe it's still under refurbishment. We went in December and it was loud, navigating between very cramped tables, kids and characters very difficult, service and food horrible. Maybe it was a one time fluke most people have great things to say about it.

Marrakesh is on our list to try next trip.

Whispering Canyon - we enjoy in a large group. I don't think I would like it very well just two people except maybe breakfast (I too love the atmpsohere of WL)

Have a great time!

 

[ChristyJ]

Chef de France is on my list of places to try for our next trip. We tried Park Fare a few years ago, and it was just okay. We've always enjoyed our meals at WCC, but we like bbq and the kids love the craziness.

 

[Soubrette]

OK, Park Fare is out. If I do anything at the GF, it would probably be the tea anyway.

 

[MICKEEP]

1900PF has a great buffet. I agree it is a little loud and chaotic but the food makes up for it. Boma is the best buffet on WDW property hands down followed by 1900PF. We also like Cape May.

Chefs is one of our favorites. We have eaten there on at least 4 occasions and every time was very good.

One place we are dying to try but have not as of yet is Jiko. It may not fall under your budget criteria though.

In May we ate at Wolfgang Puck's Cafe (the one downstairs) for the first time and had a really great meal. I highly recommend this place.

Don' get me started but Marakesh is not only the worst restaurant on property but our last time there it was the worst dining experience we have ever had.... anywhere. What makes this so sad is that this used to be one of our favorite places.

 

[Soubrette]

Oh, that is sad. I've heard such good reports on Marakesh, and I love mediterrain/african food.

 

[AllSaints]

Why was Marrakesh so bad? We've always loved it and I was going to plan on it for our trip in September. Do tell.

 

[MICKEEP]

Why was Marrakesh so bad? We've always loved it and I was going to plan on it for our trip in September. Do tell.

Here is an excerpt of the review we posted of our last dining experience there:

Let me start this by saying that this was the second time we have eaten at Marrakesh. The first time was so good that we were really looking forward to this time.

Service: Non attentive waiter who was never around. Showed up and took my DS's dish away even before he was finished. Disappeared and we were not able to tell him what he did for about ten minutes. I had read reviews on this board about poor service at WDW since the DDP began. We never experience bad or inattentive service at any restaurant in 9 days except here at Marrakesh.

Food: The quality of the food was night and day different from the last time we were there. Last time we were there Marrakesh was the dining highlite of our trip. The food this time, including appetizers, was overcooked and dried out, though the rice was good.

Entertainment: On our last visit, there was live music for most of the time and the belly dancer came out for quite a long time. This time the musicians played two songs then the belly dancer came out for about 5 minutes did a turn around the dancefloor and left.

 

[POLY1985]

If you want to visit Wilderness Lodge, why not go to Artist Point instead of Whipering Canyon? Then you won't have to worry about the interaction plus the food is alot better.

 

[Soubrette]

If you want to visit Wilderness Lodge, why not go to Artist Point instead of Whipering Canyon? Then you won't have to worry about the interaction plus the food is alot better.

I do love Artist Point and the food is excellent, but I'm looking for different experiences.