Where we ate 1/17-1/26/03.

[Real Loser]

We were at the world for nine nights. Stayed at CSR. Yours truly,my husband and 9 year old daughter. Here is a quick run down of where we ate and what we thought.

The evening we arrived we ate at the Biergarten. My husband loves it there. We got lucky and sat with a wonderful, fun family. Good conversation. Pretty decent food. But oh, the NOISE! If I were shy and could not strike up a conversation with the people at the table, I would avoid this place. It has become a family tradition that we eat here and I must admit, I enjoyed it.

Breakfast at the Pepper Market. If you have fruit cup and coffee plus some kind of entree, you might as well eat at the Maya Grill. Breakfast our first morning set us back about thirty dollars and, yes, we did pay ten percent. The quality? Mediocre at best.

Dinner day two was at 1900 Park Fair. We waited longer than ever for a priority seating anywhere. They sat us next to a table of children and moms ( 6 people all together) who were out of control, quite noisy and quite rude. They left by the time I finished my salad and were replaced by a nice family of three from Chicago. The little girl, maybe five years, had a horrible cough. SHe coughed and coughed, despite her beautiful Cinderella dress. She coughed, that is, until she threw up all over the table. No server materialized, so the poor mom did her best with napkins borrowed from other tables. Then they packed it in and left. Not my favorite evening at the world. And I have to tell you, the food is not as good as it should be, not on any of the occasions I have been there. We will skip this one for awhile.

On day three we had lunch at the outside rib place in Animal Kingdom. It cost us just short of fifty dollars. Yikes! The family in front of us flinched when the register rang up their total. So did we. I started pining for a good New Jersey diner.

We tried dinner at the Pepper Market. There were 16 people on the grill line so I went to where ther was no line and waited fifteen minutes for fajitas. Again, this cost us more than it should have. Husband had a terrific bowl of soup. But it cost us nearly fifty dollars for the three of us.

Day four, lunch at Sci Fi. I had been here before and liked it. I don't like it anymore. And why am I spending fifty dollars for lunch and my husband is sitting behind me? I did not enjoy my lunch even though it was two o'clock and I was starving.

Dinner was take out in japan. We really enjoyed this. Not because the food was so extraordinary, but becasue it was nice out in the garden and quiet. Then someone on the staircase into the garden threw up. I swear.

Day five. Daughter did Pirate Cruise. Her second time and she loved it again. My husband and I had a late breakfast at the Grand FLoridian Cafe. I enjoyed it. Good service. Good food and did not cost anymore than the Pepper market did.

Dinner at Boma. The soup is just wonderful. The food was quite good. The tables are well spread apart but still the atmosphere can be a bit loud. Overall I enjoyed it and will go back again.

Day six. We left the property and went to Kennedy Space Center. Stopped at Ponderosa to eat breakfast. It was on the way, it was ten am and we were hungry. By 8pm my daughter was throwing up. Virus? Food poisoning? Who knows, but she threw up all night long ( and all the way back to the hotel in the rental car!) this is the second Disney trip in a row that one of us spent a day throwing up. You would think I'd go someplace else, wouldn't you?

Day six. We skipped eating.

Day seven. Daughter went to Neverland Club and had a ball. We ate in Norway. It is a relaxing place to eat. We had an opportunity to talk quietly and eat a more relaxed dinner. We did Malestrom and had a viking coffee. Watched the parade. I think Norway is one of the more sophisticated spots for a couple alone who do not want to eat a very high priced dinner and the food was good! We will do it again.

Day eight brought chinese takeout for dinner at Epcot. Yuck. But no one threw up.

We read an article in the Sentinel about eighty people being terribly ill after a volley ball game at Disney World. Norwalk Virus? Who knows?

Day nine. We had breakfast at the Crystal Palace. I love it here and think it is one of the best restaurants in Disney. It has been renovated. the menu has not changed. We visit here each time we are in the world.

This was probably our least adventurous eating trip ever. We were on a tighter budget this time and it was our second ten day trip since last March. ( The trip where hubby threw up all the way out of the San Angel Inn). Maybe we need a break, but I sure would like to go to the food and wine festival again. hmmmm....

 

[Planogirl]

Wow, you had some bad luck on this trip. But at least two of my favorites, Akershus and the Crystal Palace for breakfast, were good. My husband and I also consider Akershus a cut above and I try to visit CP during each trip.

We might go ahead and brave the Sci-Fi since there's just the two of us and DS (9) is excited about checking it out. Was the food OK?

 

[Mitla96]

There is something really going around among the kids this winter. Nine kids out in my daughter's third grade class this am, all throwing up so I'm not certain it is just Disney (I HOPE not, we will be there in 10 days!)

 

[Epcotgal8]

Originally posted by Mitla96
There is something really going around among the kids this winter. Nine kids out in my daughter's third grade class this am, all throwing up so I'm not certain it is just Disney (I HOPE not, we will be there in 10 days!)

Good point. I have 3 children of my own (normally very healthy) and I substitute teach and lately there have been LOTS of students and teachers out sick. I had all 3 of my kids come down with different ailments (one strep throat, one stomach virus, one respiratory virus) all within a 10 day period. Of course I had to stay home with them but I had 3 different schools calling desperate for subs so many teachers were and are out sick. I am a fanatic when it comes to washing hands etc. but when some kids come to school sick and they are all touching the same materials they can pick up any and everything. (As a sidenote kids coming to school sick happens a lot unfortunately but I do understand that many people's employers aren't so understanding that mom or dad can't come in because their child is sick :-( The point I was TRYING to make before I got sidetracked = sorry about that ;-) was maybe because when we're all at WDW and riding rides and holding on to the same bars, rails, harnesses, 3D glasses,penny pressing machines, eating at counter services and maybe tables not really "sanitized', and so on that it's more likely with the amount of people at WDW to pick up someone else's germs? Especially at this cold, flu time of year. I don't doubt that people haven't gotten food poisoning from a restaurant but it also could be that they picked up a germ/virus from another WDW visitor and it just happened to "hit" after a certain meal. And not to mention those that fly to WDW. Have you ever been on a plane in those close quarters and had someone coughing, sneezing, and wheezing the whole flight?

 

[Krissalee]

UGh! You sure did have a string of bad luck running into that stomach virus! There is a nasty one going around in my area of NJ, too - I think it is all over.

At least you had a few good meals here and there.

 

[Real Loser]

PS,

The Sci-Fi is worth visiting once to check out the atmosphere. I have had some good stuff and some bad stuff here. My husband had a Ruben and thought it was fine. I had a hamburger and it was so overcooked, I did not eat a quarter of it. It was just too much work.

Last time we were there I ate the salad with walnuts and blue cheese as a starter and the artichoke dip as an entree. That was a good meal and I am sorry I did not order it again this time.

On our trip in March we sat at a table and faced each other. This time we were in a car with husband in back seat. I wanted to talk and couldn't. Not without turnng completely around and sticking my feet out the side of the car.

It is worth visiting with a nine year old. Order carefully!
Have a great time.

Gina

 

[Real Loser]

Epcotgal8,

I forgot! A kid threw up on the plane down. One row over and I remember thinking about all of that recycled air. ( Gosh, we did run into it, didn't we?)

It is so important to wash those hands and take precautions when you travel. One little virus can ruin a whole (very expensive) trip.


Gina

 

[meeko_33785]

Real Loser- Sorry to hear about your bad experience at 1900 Park Fare. How was the character interaction there. I havn't heard many good reviews for this yet so I was curious what you though of it.

 

[Real Loser]

The character interaction was fair. Cinderella and her Prince greeted children at the door, which helped while we were waiting to be seated. The Fairy Godmother was great, but the rest of the characters were not very interactive. Its hard for them to move around in the crowded room. Plus, parents can't seem to understand that it is important to wait their turn.