Where are the crowds-it's free dining 8/23-30

barb007

Mouseketeer
Joined
Apr 13, 2005
Messages
95
Just a quick review of our dining experience at Disney during our week 8/23-30. Cast includes me, dh, dd (5) and father in law.

Started w/our hotel upgrade a few weeks ago from ASMu to SSR studio. Was able to get a 1BR upgrade upon arrival w/connecting studio room for fil.

8/23 Sun- arrived at AK about noon. Had 1:15 ADR for Tusker House. Waited about 10 minutes to be seated. As I've read, it is a mini Boma, but not on such a grande scale. DH loved it, would try it again. I'm OK w/it, would eat there again. Very loud inside.

8/24 Mon- lunch at Akerhurst (Norway Princess dining). 12:00 ADR, 10 minute wait, had photo w/Belle. I've read horror stories about this place & excepted the worse food wise. The buffet was OK, as long as she can have a salad, my dd is fine. I stuck to the normal fare buy dh tried everything, from the salmon (loved it), to some kind of herring fish (hated it). FIL & I ordered the chicken breast. Surprising, very good, though the couscous was hard. DD had the mickey shaped ravioli & polished it off. DH had the lamb stew - it was OK. Would we eat here again, you betcha.

8/24 - dinner 7:00 Garden Grill. Dad was exhausted & wanted to leave, so we went to GG at 6, and was able to change our ADR time. Again, minimal wait. Was disappointed w/GG and we have loved it during our prior experiences. Turkey was dry, steak was to spicy. Stuffing was good and the mahi mahi fish was EXCELLENT. I can't remember the vegetable. Dessert was a simple blueberry cobbler that I can make at home, which I did make when blueberries were in season. My fil can't eat blueberries, but the waiter said the only substition he could give us was the kids dessert (ice cream) for him. Food quality was not what I expected (expect for that mahi mahi), was dissapointed. Will probably not eat here again.

8/25 Tues - dinner 6:05 1900 Park Fare. Again, I've heard horror stories about this place, but did not experience anything bad. In fact, we showed up an hour earlier & were able to get in. Yes, the restaurant is loud. The strawberry soup was FANTASTIC. I'll eat here again just for the soup! Loved the prime rib/roast. No complaints from any family member.

8/26 - Wed - Crystal Palace 6:00 ADR. Had my name called, went inside, table wasn't ready. Sat in the front about 20 minutes, before fil got annoyed & were then promptly seated. Disappointed in the food. Have eaten here many times before. When did chicken nuggets show up on the adult buffet? Only 3 chicken options (nuggets, rotissere - which was empty, mediterranean), one pork option, roast & I think turkey were offered. Alot of salad & veggie options. Had the bread pudding & was looking forward to the Bailey's sauce, but that was gone to be replaced by almond cream, but it was in the pudding & totally saturated it. Hubby said we eat here no more. Not only because of the food, but for the time it took for the characters to get over to us. Mind you, there were EMPTY tables in the restaurant & we were already into dessert before one came to our table. We ended up chasing down Pooh at the end for our photo. CP is now on our do not eat list.

8/27 - offsite for the day - Holy Land Experience

8/28 Friday dinner at Cape May Buffet. Confusing buffet lines, alot of choices, loud atmosphere. No complaints from anyone. Still undecided about eating here again.

8/29 - Sat dinner at LeCellier. Best meal of the week. I see why it is so hard to get into this place. Best NY Strip I've had in ages. Even my fil ate all of his meat, and he's very picky. DH ate her steak also. Loved it here!

That's it. Hope it helps someone. Any questions just ask.

Barb
 
Thank you for that great report! I was wondering how you liked The Holy Land Experience?
 
Glad you liked the norway princess lunch...just curious who were the princesses there? Thanks! :)
 

Wowsers! You started at an All-Star and ended up in a 1-bedroom at SSR? Was the 1 BR a free upgrade? Or how much did you pay to move up to that from the studio?

And good to hear your thoughts on the prime rib/roast and strawberry soup at 1900... those are two things I'm looking forward to when we go there for the first time in about a month! :woohoo:
 
thanks for the review. I'm going back and forth if we should try Garden Grill (a character meal we have not yet tried but don't really like the food selection) and Epcot has so many other restuarant we want to try but then I know my son would have fun at another character meal. Thanks for letting me regarding the quality of the food.
 
Answering some questions:

1. How was the Holy Land? Different is the best word. It's smaller than I expected, more of an educational experience. Nice tour of the history of the bible - started w/ancient artifacts all the way to the present. Would I go again? Probably not for a while. It's good to try once, plus it is a day away from the big theme parks.

2. Princess characters at Norway - Belle (in front), Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White & to our utter joy, Ariel. I was more excited than dd.

3. Weather - rained one day for a while (which was the day we forgot the ponchos) & we hid out in a store until it passed. Other than that, hot, humid, sticky - typical Florida weather w/a few quick passing showers.

4. 1900 Park Fare has Cindy & the prince, Lady tremaine & Druscilla (what a hoot) and Anastasia.

6. The SSR upgrade from studio to 1BR was free. What a nice way to start my vacation. I had rec'd the upgrade code a few weeks ago for either OKW or SSR and only SSR studio was only available.
 
Ive never heard of that upgrade code? Did you have to pay something with the code? Im staying at ASMu and am curious
 
Answering some questions:


2. Princess characters at Norway - Belle (in front), Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White & to our utter joy, Ariel. I was more excited than dd.

Thanks! I hope Ariel sticks around for another few weeks for when we're there for lunch. All of a sudden she's dd's favorite! :)
 
The code I rec'd for the upgrade was a code that went out a in July (email), it was discussed ALOT on the boards. It was emailed by Disney to various people w/reservations, and expired on 8/1/09.
 















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