tinksmom02
10-04-2007, 09:04 PM
I really hesitate posting this, I know I'm going to be in the minority here. Believe me, I don't want to be in the minority. I was really, REALLY looking forward to dining here and truly wanted it to be a wonderful experience!
But, it wasn't to be...
Monday, September 24
Me, 31,
DH, 37
DD 5 kind of a picky eater
We leave ourselves plenty of time to head over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I am so excited for this reservation! We walk into the lobby and off to the left there is a check-in stand for Boma. It’s 4:45; our reservation is for 5. I explain that we’re early, the CM tells me no problem and sets me up with a pager. We head off to explore the gift shop (got myself an AKL pin) and the lobby, and stumble upon a children’s activity just getting underway in the sunset lounge. It’s called Music of the Savannah, and Jenna is anxious to try it, so Mark parks himself in a chair (and takes a little snooze), and I peek out the balcony to watch a giraffe for a few minutes. The music thing was pretty cute--all the kids were given an instrument; each instrument represented a sound from the circle of life, rain, plants, animals. The activity had a not-too-subtle conservation/preservation theme, but most of the kids were too young to grasp it. The cast members were really enjoying themselves, though, and the kids really got into it. At the end of the activity, each child was given a bead on a twine necklace.
By now it’s 5:30 and I’m getting a little aggravated. Fortunately, unlike dinner at Ohana’s the night before, Jenna was kept busy and didn’t mind the wait. Mark and I were starving, however. We decide to head downstairs to the restaurant to find out what’s up. Head to the check-in area, and guess what? My reservation is gone! They have no record of my making an ADR, they have no record of my pager number, nothing. Not only that, but they have no reasoning for why this happened, and no apologies, either. I understand that it’s not this front desk’s fault, but someone should have simply said, “I’m so sorry for the confusion. We’ll get you seated promptly.” That’s all I was looking for. Instead I got a shrug, and we were seated with indifference. We were not explained how the buffet worked at all, we were told that our server would go over everything with us.
Guess what? He didn’t. He barely breezed by to take a drink order, and told us to help ourselves. ??? So I head up with Jenna to try and muddle through all the pods by myself. Luckily, everything is labeled pretty well, so I just start at one end and take a little of everything. Finding something for Jenna, however, is not so easy. The kids section is very bland. She picks out some cornbread, and mac and cheese. Yuck, it’s yellow macaroni, it has no flavor at all!
I fare a little better. I bravely tried a little of almost everything on the buffet, but not much impressed me. The pork was good, but it tasted like pork, nothing special. I didn’t really care for any of the items on the buffet. I filled up, but I didn’t really enjoy anything, until I hit the soups. Mark enjoyed two bowls of the seafood gumbo, and I had 2 bowls of the Mulligatawny soup. I decided to hit the dessert pod, and here is where we found heaven! The zebra domes were everything we expected, and then some! I enjoyed some type of pudding-like dessert, it had coconut in it, and there was a warning that it contained alcohol. Was that the cocomisu? Not sure. It was yummy, though.
Oh, we had drinks during dinner, as well. I had a Pretoria Punch, which was very good, and Mark had an African Rum Runner, which was not so good. LOL He kept adding fruit from the buffet to his drink, trying to make it better. Didn’t work, though.
Drinks cost us $18.68, 18% gratuity included. Dinner would have cost us $79.65 if not for the DDP. Our server did not get a penny more than the automatic 18%, and if it wasn’t included, he wouldn’t have gotten that. I’m sad to say that we really didn’t enjoy our meal at all, and will probably never return here. BUT, that just leaves more seats for those who love it!
OK, please be gentle on me. I tried to love this place, I really did! :giveup:
But, it wasn't to be...
Monday, September 24
Me, 31,
DH, 37
DD 5 kind of a picky eater
We leave ourselves plenty of time to head over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I am so excited for this reservation! We walk into the lobby and off to the left there is a check-in stand for Boma. It’s 4:45; our reservation is for 5. I explain that we’re early, the CM tells me no problem and sets me up with a pager. We head off to explore the gift shop (got myself an AKL pin) and the lobby, and stumble upon a children’s activity just getting underway in the sunset lounge. It’s called Music of the Savannah, and Jenna is anxious to try it, so Mark parks himself in a chair (and takes a little snooze), and I peek out the balcony to watch a giraffe for a few minutes. The music thing was pretty cute--all the kids were given an instrument; each instrument represented a sound from the circle of life, rain, plants, animals. The activity had a not-too-subtle conservation/preservation theme, but most of the kids were too young to grasp it. The cast members were really enjoying themselves, though, and the kids really got into it. At the end of the activity, each child was given a bead on a twine necklace.
By now it’s 5:30 and I’m getting a little aggravated. Fortunately, unlike dinner at Ohana’s the night before, Jenna was kept busy and didn’t mind the wait. Mark and I were starving, however. We decide to head downstairs to the restaurant to find out what’s up. Head to the check-in area, and guess what? My reservation is gone! They have no record of my making an ADR, they have no record of my pager number, nothing. Not only that, but they have no reasoning for why this happened, and no apologies, either. I understand that it’s not this front desk’s fault, but someone should have simply said, “I’m so sorry for the confusion. We’ll get you seated promptly.” That’s all I was looking for. Instead I got a shrug, and we were seated with indifference. We were not explained how the buffet worked at all, we were told that our server would go over everything with us.
Guess what? He didn’t. He barely breezed by to take a drink order, and told us to help ourselves. ??? So I head up with Jenna to try and muddle through all the pods by myself. Luckily, everything is labeled pretty well, so I just start at one end and take a little of everything. Finding something for Jenna, however, is not so easy. The kids section is very bland. She picks out some cornbread, and mac and cheese. Yuck, it’s yellow macaroni, it has no flavor at all!
I fare a little better. I bravely tried a little of almost everything on the buffet, but not much impressed me. The pork was good, but it tasted like pork, nothing special. I didn’t really care for any of the items on the buffet. I filled up, but I didn’t really enjoy anything, until I hit the soups. Mark enjoyed two bowls of the seafood gumbo, and I had 2 bowls of the Mulligatawny soup. I decided to hit the dessert pod, and here is where we found heaven! The zebra domes were everything we expected, and then some! I enjoyed some type of pudding-like dessert, it had coconut in it, and there was a warning that it contained alcohol. Was that the cocomisu? Not sure. It was yummy, though.
Oh, we had drinks during dinner, as well. I had a Pretoria Punch, which was very good, and Mark had an African Rum Runner, which was not so good. LOL He kept adding fruit from the buffet to his drink, trying to make it better. Didn’t work, though.
Drinks cost us $18.68, 18% gratuity included. Dinner would have cost us $79.65 if not for the DDP. Our server did not get a penny more than the automatic 18%, and if it wasn’t included, he wouldn’t have gotten that. I’m sad to say that we really didn’t enjoy our meal at all, and will probably never return here. BUT, that just leaves more seats for those who love it!
OK, please be gentle on me. I tried to love this place, I really did! :giveup: