Why are people so much nicer here?

[twinspluscade]

We love love love the Passporter. This trip came up so unexpectedly that we are currently using the 07 version and DH has ordered the 08 deluxe. I'm going to send the 07 to my brother in MO so they can use it. It will be their first trip to the World.

What were your favorite places to eat there? We are frantically trying to pick TS restaurants because we are already within the 180 window and it's going to be slim pickings I presume.

Hi! We've been to WDW twice in September--other than the heat, it's a great time to go! We had very short wait time for rides, sometimes walk-on.

As for TS places--I'd for sure call ASAP, because of free dining.

Some places we (and our kids) loved:

Crystal Palace: Great food, fun character interaction, little "parade" every hour or so where kids and characters march around. Just a neat and pretty restaurant.

Chef Mickey's: Kids loved this one; the characters were great here; food not as good as Crystal palace but still very yummy!

Sci-Fi: Food not the greatest, but awesome atmosphere.

Akerhaus: We are in the minority and really liked the Norweigan food here; I know many don't. But it's a must-do if you have a princess fan.

Liberty Town Tavern (character dinner): Food basic but good; restaurant half-empty even during free dining so we got lots of character interaction; loved the atmosphere.

Hollywood and Vine character buffet: Food icky, but a "must do" if you have Little Einstein and/or Jo Jo fans in your house. Really fun for the pre-schooler set; the characters sing and dance with the kids every 20 minutes or so.

Hope this helps!

 

[DonaldTDuck]

My ADR's open up next month. I've never made them this early, and only ever made them for character meals before. I know it's different now, so I've planned a lot more. I don't have any TS picked for MK- I've only ever done Crystal Palace and I don't want to this time. Any other suggestions? Or good CS?

Sorry about your experience on the WDW boards. I'll tell you our favorites from 2005.
Teppanyaki--Epcot (Japan)--I know you can experience this kind of dinner other places, but it was really fun and good food.

Marakesh--Epcot (Morrocco) We made dessert plans here after dinner at Teppanyaki. Loved the bellydancing and dessert was good. We would have done dinner here, but were afraid the kids wouldn't like the food. FUN!!

La celier--Epcot (Canada)--incredible steaks.

50s Diner--MGM --Home-type food. Mom gets "Mad" if you don't eat your green beans, etc. Fun, especially if someone from that era is in your party.

Drive-in--MGM--Fun, but expensive for fast food quality. We wished we had just done dessert here to experience the place, but without the cost. They had yummy shakes and malts!

Princess meal in the castle--Magic Kingdom--We went before the outrageous price increase. It was good food and fun and neat to be in the castle.

Crystal Palace--MK--great food and great character intereaction. Pooh and friends. Really fun.

Donald's Breakfastasaurus--AK--Best character meal. Super fun with silly gags that the characters did. Good food, but no one ate--too busy playing and dancing!

FORGOT NAME--Animal Kingdom Lodge--Buffet with African food and great selection for kids. YUM!!! And you get to see the animals at the AKL--cool.

The rest of our meals were counter service--avoid Toy Story Pizza-not good.
Avoid Pinnochios--not good. Magic Kingdom doesn't have great food, just expect that and go with something quick. Get a Dole Whip though!

The best food is in Epcot.

Hope this helps.

BF, gotta argue with ya about the food at MK. Liberty Tree Tavern was awesome, Thanksgiving every day of the year done right. And while Pinnochio's isn't too great, Cosmic Ray's has a chicken and rib combo that is out of this world and Columbia Harbor House has a varied menu with something for anyone. I love the fish-n-chips. Also, Pecos Bill has great burgers with a topnotch fixins bar.
Most of your other reviews were good, except Donald's is not a Safari Breakfast with Daisy replacing Pluto and the reports are the food's even better. Big surprise, Donald's is my fave.
Best meals on property are 50's Prime Time's pot roast and the buffet at Biergarten. And last year on our second MK day, we went to WL for Whispering Canyon Cafe-incredible.
BTW I'm forgoing my annual trip to WDW to come to DL this year for a week in October. The inability to start planning now is killing me.

 

[disneynoob08]

i'm not the expert of WDW.. but we went in dec 07. Here are the dinning places I would do again!

Grand Floridian Cafe - GOOD food. loved the choc. fondue assortment for dessert!
Sc-Fi Dining - the food was decent enough but sitting in the car and watching shorts was worthwhile!
BBQ Tree house (AK) - that was yummy!

 

[CandCMommy]

Our most resent trip to the World was Oct 06. This is my 2 cents regarding eats at WDW:

Table Service
Loved Le Cellier in Epcot--Cheese Soup and Mushroom Filet were delish!
Loved Ohana in the Poly
Missed Kona in the Poly, but plan to go there next time!
Loved Tepanyaki in Epcot. It has a new name now, not sure what it is.
Crystal Palace in MK--We had ressies for 55 minutes before the park opened. It was a goo breakfast buffet, and the character interaction was good, but the best part was walking into the park before it is open, and having Main St to yourself! We took some great photos. Just be sure to not do this on an EMH morning, or it'll be packed!
Did not love: Concourse Steak House in Contempory or Captain Jacks in DTD. Hated Hollywood and Vine in DS.

Counter Service
We enjoyed Flame Tree BBQ in AK
Loved the peanut butter brownie at Pecos Bill in MK
Loved the Fish and Chips in England in Epcot!

That's all I can think of now. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to help you where I can. I've been to WDW three times, but I am an OCD vacation planner, so I did a ton of research!

Sounds like we have very similar taste! I just made PS's:
Ohana-dinner this time, always had been for breakfast
1900 Park Fare
Chef Mickey's
Le Cellier

I'm trying to talk DH into going to Kona because everyone seems to love it and also Crystal Palace.

Definitely plan to hit Pecos Bills and gonna get some Fish N Chips. We will be there for 9 days with the free dining so I have some days to fill still.

Thank you so much for the suggestions!

 

[rentayenta]

I found the WDW folks to be really nice and helpful but people also mistake me for an East coaster often even though I am from So Cal.


As far as dining, I have only been once so............


California Grill. Awesome for food, ambiance, and service. In the Contemporary near MK. Get there so you can watch the fireworks from their deck.

LOVED 'Ohana. Had the Lapu Lapu. Delish and their food is good too. It's served family style. In the Poly.

Coral Reef inside Epcot. Get a tank side table. DH loved his fish. I had the steak and it was good for a seafood joint. Dessert were ick here.

Chef Mickey's for dinner inside the Contemporary. Character interaction was okay and the food was horrible. Worse than any cheap Vegas buffet out there. Skip it.

Tony's inside MK. It was surprisingly really good. We sat near the Lady fountain and it was really fun. I Lady.

Another surprisingly okay place was Mama Melrose inside MGM. Not fabulous but not bad like Chef Mickey's. Cute decor, typical Italian, nothing to write home about but good.

Raglan Road in DTD. Great food, ambiance, and booze!!! A must!

CRT- skip it. Overrated. The food was bleh at best. You can Cindy other places in the park and get the same attention.


The link to my trip report below has all of my dining reviews.

 

[CandCMommy]

This time around we are planning on Coral Reef, Tusker House in AK for the character breakfast (it has DAISY my favorite!!!!!!!!), and Sci Fi in DHS. A friend of mine has eaten at Sci Fi so many times, she raves about it- so I'm going to try it. Still debating Ohana's, we might do that for breakfast or dinner OOP. I need to get a better handle on my budget before I decide.

My ADR's open up next month. I've never made them this early, and only ever made them for character meals before. I know it's different now, so I've planned a lot more. I don't have any TS picked for MK- I've only ever done Crystal Palace and I don't want to this time. Any other suggestions? Or good CS?

I didn't know Daisy was at Tusker House. I don't know why but she is DS's favorite from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We've been to Ohana for breakfast twice but not since 03 and we LOVED it but looking at the menu it looks like they did away with the waffles.

We've eaten at Sci Fi and do like it. The ambiance is great but we decided to eat there OOP and not waste a dining credit on it. Prices aren't too bad.

In MK I loved Liberty Tree Tavern, maybe you should give it a try. It is a TS but the lunch is awesome as well as the dinner.

 

[CandCMommy]

For your MK day, I'd suggest taking a monorail ride to the Poly for dinner at Kona or Ohana, or a quick boat ride over to the WL for dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe. We did this, and it was a nice break from the crowds in the park. It's also a good way to check out the resorts!

I want to go to Whispering Canyon soooo bad, but DH's parents complained about it so it makes DH nervous. Hopefully I can change his mind. We already have PS at all the monorail resorts, I think we should do it just to take the boat to WL.

 

[CandCMommy]

Donald's Breakfastasaurus--AK--Best character meal. Super fun with silly gags that the characters did. Good food, but no one ate--too busy playing and dancing!

I mentioned this to DH because we've already done Chef Mickey's and he said he wanted to do Chef Mickey's again because he knew they got the kids to join in the show. Did they do the same here? If so, we may need to switch to this. Do you remember what characters were there? We are going with some first time Disneyers so we want it to be really fun for the kids.

 

[bumbershoot]

I found it's best to read over there for about a year before saying anything. I was "here" on the Dis for a year before I registered...

I've never been to WDW but I've been pre-planning, and something I'm seeing right now is that the menus are changing. So try to notice those posts on the Disney Restaurants forum, and check out allears.net and wdwinfo.com for the menus (being sure to note the date they were put online).

 

[goofy's friends]

I mentioned this to DH because we've already done Chef Mickey's and he said he wanted to do Chef Mickey's again because he knew they got the kids to join in the show. Did they do the same here? If so, we may need to switch to this. Do you remember what characters were there? We are going with some first time Disneyers so we want it to be really fun for the kids.

They did when we were there and it was a blast. My sister just went with her kids and said it was their favorite too and the also did Chef Mickey's. They have tons of pictures form it and it looks to me like the kids are up and dancing with the characters!!! We had Donald, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto. I know that my sister has pics with Daisy from that meal, but I don't know if they stay the same every time.

 

[stopher1]

I want to go to Whispering Canyon soooo bad, but DH's parents complained about it so it makes DH nervous. Hopefully I can change his mind. We already have PS at all the monorail resorts, I think we should do it just to take the boat to WL.

I'm so sorry that you've had bad experiences. I post in both arenas and always try to be nice and polite. I can't speak for anyone else though...

Since you are going for the FD promo please know that this is the 3rd or 4th year of that promo, and each year the parks have been getting more crowded as more people go each year, and the restaurants can be total zoos! I see that you have some of your ADR's and that's good, but you will want to firm up the rest of your schedule soon. By the time you arrive, every single ADR slot will be filled, and you'll end up having to do cs for every remaining meal. We've been for the FD promo 3 years in a row (not going this year though), and we called at the 180 day mark each year. Then when we got there, we saw tons of people "shut out" since they hadn't planned ahead. It's very sad to watch.

Everytime we go to WDW, we try to sample a new restaurant that we've never experieneced before. On our last family trip we went to Restaurant Marrakesh in Morroco, and it was wonderful. The food was great, and the entertainment quite enjoyable too. We've also tried Ohana for breakfast for the first time, and the kids are begging to go back there this next time - multiple times if possible! The food was yummy. Le Cellier is excellent. Nine Dragons is very good, but unfortunately will be down for rehab when you go. We loved the Cinderella character dinner at 1900 Park Fare, and Yak and Yeti is excellent.

DW, DS 12 and I are all CA natives, and used to live 10 min from DL. We have lots of experience there, but since we moved to the midwest for my employer, we've basically become bicoastal DIS'ers. We get back to DL at least once a year when out visiting the grandparents, and we've been to WDW many, many times - feel free to PM me if you'd like to ask specific questions. I'm happy to help!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Welcome to the Disneyland section of the Dis

I don't often go to the WDW side since we rarely ever go, but, I've found a lot of helpful people there, too. I think the DL side might seem to be friendlier because we're a smaller, more intimate group, and run into each other more often in our posts.

 

[kelmac284]

I 100% agree. I know quite a bit because I have been twice and I know the basics and have several books but this upcoming trip I am going in a VERY high season time, THANKSGIVING, and therefore am a bit nervous about what to expect. I am not sure about the weather and you can't really get that out of a book cuz you just never know, and crowd levels and also we want to go to Candlelight and MVMCP and I wasn't sure about dates since they don't have those during the actual Thanksgiving week so I had lots of questions that weren't covered in the actual guide books.

When I would ask questions I would either get no responses or rude ones like do a search which I have NEVER been able to get to work. When I went on my trip in 05 I never had any problems with people but this time I have encountered a lot of rudeness over there. I still lurk in there and read posts but I agree. I much prefer this board. Plus I specifically come to these boards BECAUSE of the drama of other boards. This is the ONE place where I can come and it makes me feel good. Everyone on here is always so happy and positive. We all love the same thing and are all usually excited and even if we don't have a trip coming up we can be excited for those who do and live vicariously through them. This is my "happy place". I am not going back to Disneyland for over a year which is the LONGEST I have gone in probably 6 years without going but I know I can come here and look at you all's pics and hear about your trips and it will make my next trip come all that sooner! That is what is so great about this place!

I agree with the others just come here and I am sure there are people here that can help!

 

[CandCMommy]

I'm so sorry that you've had bad experiences. I post in both arenas and always try to be nice and polite. I can't speak for anyone else though...

Since you are going for the FD promo please know that this is the 3rd or 4th year of that promo, and each year the parks have been getting more crowded as more people go each year, and the restaurants can be total zoos! I see that you have some of your ADR's and that's good, but you will want to firm up the rest of your schedule soon. By the time you arrive, every single ADR slot will be filled, and you'll end up having to do cs for every remaining meal. We've been for the FD promo 3 years in a row (not going this year though), and we called at the 180 day mark each year. Then when we got there, we saw tons of people "shut out" since they hadn't planned ahead. It's very sad to watch.

Everytime we go to WDW, we try to sample a new restaurant that we've never experieneced before. On our last family trip we went to Restaurant Marrakesh in Morroco, and it was wonderful. The food was great, and the entertainment quite enjoyable too. We've also tried Ohana for breakfast for the first time, and the kids are begging to go back there this next time - multiple times if possible! The food was yummy. Le Cellier is excellent. Nine Dragons is very good, but unfortunately will be down for rehab when you go. We loved the Cinderella character dinner at 1900 Park Fare, and Yak and Yeti is excellent.

DW, DS 12 and I are all CA natives, and used to live 10 min from DL. We have lots of experience there, but since we moved to the midwest for my employer, we've basically become bicoastal DIS'ers. We get back to DL at least once a year when out visiting the grandparents, and we've been to WDW many, many times - feel free to PM me if you'd like to ask specific questions. I'm happy to help!

Thanks for the info. I'm worried about my brother and his family because they have never been to WDW before and are not planning ahead people. I've tried to explain to them that they at least need to make a PS even if they need to cancel it they will have something, but they are hessitant. Since I've been there before I'm tempted to make PSings for them and just tell them where they're going.

Have you eaten at Kona or Whispering Canyon? I really want to try one of these but since the inlaws complained about WC DH's hessitant. Have you eaten at any of the Italian places like Tony's Town Square?

 

[stopher1]

Thanks for the info. I'm worried about my brother and his family because they have never been to WDW before and are not planning ahead people. I've tried to explain to them that they at least need to make a PS even if they need to cancel it they will have something, but they are hessitant. Since I've been there before I'm tempted to make PSings for them and just tell them where they're going.

Have you eaten at Kona or Whispering Canyon? I really want to try one of these but since the inlaws complained about WC DH's hessitant. Have you eaten at any of the Italian places like Tony's Town Square?

Whispering Canyon and Tony's Town Square - yes. We really liked WC. TTS was nice, but DW and I just couldn't get it out of our minds how it had changed from the time we ate there on our honeymoon... couldn't quite put our finger on it, either. The kids really liked it, and it was nice, just not great.

We haven't tried Kona yet, but it's on our list of possibilities for our trip this October.

 

[honeymom]

WC is so fun (just okay on the food though). We ate there 3-4 times on our trip to WL a few years ago. Besides the ketchup hoopla that you've probably already read about, the waiter and my 5 year old were blowing straw wrappers at each other and chasing each other around. Definitely the place to go if you don't want to worry about good manners.

As to the boards, I can't understand why the "mean" people bother going on the boards if they don't want to answer the question "which is your favorite WDW moderate resort?" Yes, the question has been asked thousands of times, but that is what the boards are here for. They are for information sharing.

I think there are just more people on the WDW boards, so more bad apples in the bunch. I am a native new yorker, so I don't buy the east vs. west theory.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

For your MK day, I'd suggest taking a monorail ride to the Poly for dinner at Kona or Ohana, or a quick boat ride over to the WL for dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe. We did this, and it was a nice break from the crowds in the park. It's also a good way to check out the resorts!

Oooh! Good suggestion. That would be fun! The kids remember the monorail from the Contemporary last time. Hopefully MK won't be too crowded.

Thanks!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Hey guys, I'm going to have to lock this thread since this board is for discussing Disneyland. OP, please let me know if you would like me to move the thread to the WDW side (be brave, OP, be brave )