YellowMickeyPonchos
Remember when everyone had one?
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2008
- Messages
- 3,428
I was just at Ariel's on Wednesday with a friend from out of town, and 3 girls under age 5, our daughters. I won't really do it again, unless we have to go with them the next time they come back (and we are in the parks every two weeks). The experience was rushed (by the staff) and the food was very medicocre. (I actually got food poisoning from the meatloaf there in Dec 2006.)
It took a while for them to take us down (12;30 lunch res). When we were there, we were VERY rushed by our servers. We felt they were looking to turn tables quickly, as they must have come back 20 times to ask if I was done with my soup plate. It became highly annoying, since I was trying to feed 2 toddlers by myself and eat my own food. The princesses came through very quickly and we had to ask each one to squat back down, so I could take photos with my camera, too. I felt the girls were definitely rushing to finish their session and the indoor dining room was really the only room they were touring for the weekday lunch.
I was not impressed with the food. The onion soup had okay flavor, as mentioned, but had bad presentation (I couldn't find the creese until I stirred it) and my shrimp cobb salad wasn't awful, but the octodog on mac&cheese that my eldest had was dry as a bone! (An octodog is a hot dog with the bottom 2/3 cut to make 8 "tentacles" - there is a tool you can buy on the internet to make them.) You could tell it was made earlier in the day and kept under a heat lamp.
As much as I love the atmosphere, as far as the BB goes, I won't do it again, unless we are asked by out of towners that really "have to go". We used to do it every couple visits before the rehab. We went twice after that and vowed that it wasn't worth it. The prices now equal that of the Napa Rose for us and the service quality just isn't there. Maybe because we had restless youngsters that they thought could ruin their environment, but they have become pretentious and just wouldn't respond. (My little girls go to the Napa and are treated like princesses!) The lack of service did create problems in the kids getting more restless. In addition, the food portion size and quality had gone down. I would rather give my money to the Napa.
You can find many similar items (like the Monte Cristo and jambalaya) and the old pricing level at the Cafe Orleans. The service there is phenomenal. I also agree about the Lilo and Stitch. Best food for breakfast.
Hope that helps.
Nancy
It took a while for them to take us down (12;30 lunch res). When we were there, we were VERY rushed by our servers. We felt they were looking to turn tables quickly, as they must have come back 20 times to ask if I was done with my soup plate. It became highly annoying, since I was trying to feed 2 toddlers by myself and eat my own food. The princesses came through very quickly and we had to ask each one to squat back down, so I could take photos with my camera, too. I felt the girls were definitely rushing to finish their session and the indoor dining room was really the only room they were touring for the weekday lunch.
I was not impressed with the food. The onion soup had okay flavor, as mentioned, but had bad presentation (I couldn't find the creese until I stirred it) and my shrimp cobb salad wasn't awful, but the octodog on mac&cheese that my eldest had was dry as a bone! (An octodog is a hot dog with the bottom 2/3 cut to make 8 "tentacles" - there is a tool you can buy on the internet to make them.) You could tell it was made earlier in the day and kept under a heat lamp.
As much as I love the atmosphere, as far as the BB goes, I won't do it again, unless we are asked by out of towners that really "have to go". We used to do it every couple visits before the rehab. We went twice after that and vowed that it wasn't worth it. The prices now equal that of the Napa Rose for us and the service quality just isn't there. Maybe because we had restless youngsters that they thought could ruin their environment, but they have become pretentious and just wouldn't respond. (My little girls go to the Napa and are treated like princesses!) The lack of service did create problems in the kids getting more restless. In addition, the food portion size and quality had gone down. I would rather give my money to the Napa.
You can find many similar items (like the Monte Cristo and jambalaya) and the old pricing level at the Cafe Orleans. The service there is phenomenal. I also agree about the Lilo and Stitch. Best food for breakfast.
Hope that helps.
Nancy
