JanetMegan
10-07-2010, 11:46 AM
I wanted to take a few minutes and write up a quick (ok lengthy) dining trip report from my family’s September trip in order to help some others as well as reflect on what is usually my favorite part of a vacation (the FOOD!) There were between 7 and 9 of us for almost every meal and we had free dining. I say that to help you understand a couple of things-A-why service might have been slower than usual? And B-free dining made it so we didn’t necessarily feel like we had to pick the most “bang for your buck” places to eat. We were more interested in pleasing the greatest number of people in our party.
Table Service-
Trail’s End Buffet-Our first night there were actually only 4 of us (all adults) who ate here on our travel down day. It was pretty quiet inside, service was fair and the food was I would say just fair as well. We have always really enjoyed the food here in the past but this time I would say everything was just ok. Plenty of it; but I found the selections to be a bit boring and the food to me needed refreshing. I felt like I was at Golden Corral or something. I think the lack of diners always means at a buffet the food sits longer and just isn’t as good. Also not the best use of a TS credit but we were staying at a Fort Wilderness Cabin and had a golf cart so you couldn’t beat the ease of getting there! I give it 2 out of 4 stars.
Whispering Canyon Café-8 Adults, one Toddler-Some of our party arrived a bit late (ahem my brother and his family) and we lost our ADR. Luckily we only had to wait a short time to be seated and we requested the back quieter area after a long and hot, busy day at the Magic Kingdom. Almost everyone had the skillet and they still let you get the unlimited milkshake as your beverage. I had an adult beverage (something wild cherry?) that was good but not worth the $11 I paid for it. Service was good, slightly better than the night before and while there was a bit of teasing our server I think realized we were all just BEAT from the day and not up for the normal WCC antics. Skillet was very tasty, great salad and cornbread. They brought plenty of food on the first go around and everything was hot. Dessert choices were from the menu and were just all around ok. We were almost too full to enjoy it. Oh one very funny thing, I got a phone call on my cell right as we were being shown to our table and while walking through the main part of the dining room our host shouted out to the whole place “Everyone be quiet, this lady is on the phone.” It was really funny… I’ll give dinner 3 out of 4 stars.
Captain’s Grille-4 Adults-Originally tonight’s dinner was supposed to be all 9 of us at 5pm at Mama Melrose and then Fantasmic but long story short that wasn’t going to work out and so our party split up and the 4 of us ended up with a last minute easily obtained ADR for 7ish at the Captain’s Grille. On the dining plan we were allowed to choose from the Chef’s menu which had a set selection from one of three appetizers, entrees and any dessert from the menu. Being much more a fan of appetizers than desserts I enjoyed this a lot. Crab cake appetizer was fantastic, pork chop with rosemary mushroom polenta was also very good. My mom had the dinner crab cakes which was a huge portion (unusal for crab cakes) and we all had different desserts. I will say the food was all very good but our service was AMAZINGLY slow. I’m not sure if the problem was with the server or the kitchen but the restaurant was not full so I don’t allow for any excuses when it comes to service. Food-4 stars, Service-1 star.
Coral Reef-8 Adults, 1 Toddler-Man…this was kind of a disaster. We waited only about 15 mins past our ADR which wasn’t bad for such a big group but they seated us in the back and at one sort of large half moon table. This made it very hard to see the fish and very hard to have a conversation with each other. It was amazingly loud in there as well. I don’t know if it is just that I am not used to kids or not used to so many people in general (I basically work from home in peace) but I thought it was just deafening in there. Again service was VERY slow and we had to beg for refills of water and ask for things multiple times, (coffee, ketchup, etc.) Food was just ok. I had the steak which I think was possibly the best choice of the whole table (although I heard good things about the trout as well.) I honestly can hardly rank the food because once again the service was just so poor. It took a VERY long time to get food, drinks and especially the check. With a bouncy and yet tired toddler you would think they would bring the check promptly. Food-2 1/2 stars, Service-negative one star.
Ohana-8 Adults, 1 Toddler-half our party in costume ;)—My brother, his family and the in-laws were dressed for MNSSHP in full Peter Pan family costumes so we got a lot of attention. We had a 7:40 ADR but since some of the group were trying to head to the party we arrived at more like 7 and were seated by I would say 7:20 ish. Service was better, not fantastic but much better than we had had the last few nights. The food was excellent. I know some people are really down on Ohana (Ian) but I will say this was our best food of the trip. Everything was hot, fresh, and plenty of it. The salad, wings and dumplings were great and the meats were good as well. It took them a bit of time to come ask us if we wanted more but overall this was a much improved experience. It was very loud in there (again, I’m starting to think it was me) but I remember it always being loud. Food 4 stars-Service 3 stars.
LeCelliar-6 Adults, 1 Toddler-I’m trying to remember what time our ADR was, I think 7ish and we arrived a few minutes early. We waited probably almost 30 mins or maybe longer to be seated and once again service was TERRIBLE! Maybe the worst of the trip. Everything was slow, so slow we had to beg other servers for drink refills. The food wasn’t that great either. Everyone brags about this place but I wasn’t impressed. The soup was salty and the food was VERY salty. I had the filet with the mushroom risotto and honestly it was to the point where I almost couldn’t eat it but was afraid to send it back after waiting an hour for it. A side of mac and cheese ordered by my brother was the tastiest thing we had. With 7pm ADRs we thought it would be no problem to see RoE but ended up missing most of it and running out of the park with a screaming toddler who hates fireworks (we had planned on the 7pm time giving them a chance to get out of the park with her before they started and the rest of us enjoying the show.) I won’t go back. Service-negative a ton of stars, food 1 star!
Tusker House-Breakfast-6 Adults, 1 Toddler-Talk about an about-face. What a pleasant surprise. I was HIGHLY skeptical of the menu (African breakfast?) and this place in general but we really enjoyed this breakfast. We did wait maybe 30 mins past the ADR time (it was pretty busy in there.) Service was good and the waitress kept me in coffee, diet coke and the special juice (no small feat!) The characters were very good with the almost 3 year old and the food was excellent. Everything was hot, fresh, the ham was great as was something called pap? (think grits only better.) Once again deafeningly loud-but I chalk that up to a place full of kids and characters and just take it like it is right? I would do this again in a heartbeat. Service 3 ½ stars, Food 4 stars!
Garden Grill-6 Adults, 1 Toddler-Another wait past our ADR of maybe 30 minutes (by now I’m sort of guessing this is normal?) This was kind of a hodge podge. Salad and bread was good, but again service was slow and twice we had to get up and look for our server to try to get water and ketchup and more food. Times we would ask for things, she would come back and not have them and we would have to ask again? Our first platter of main dish food was small and not enough to feed the entire party even one serving (at least they should bring the same number of pieces of meat as there are adults in the party?) In addition the first platter of food was cold. We requested more food right away but it took a LONG time in coming. Oddly the second platter was very tasty, hot and I could highly recommend it. Characters were very good, super cute and this could have been a great meal but the poor service and weird cold small first platter put a serious damper on things. Service-1 star, Food 2 ½ stars.
Counter Service
Just a couple notes in general for this as my fingers are getting tired! Same old burgers and sandwiches got old fast. Normal standout of Columbia Harbor House was just ok, I thought the portions were fairly small for the price. Pizza Planet was probably one of the best food wise, we ate here twice but beware--arrive before the lunch crush-half the lines were closed for construction and after 12:15 the lines stretched out the door. Pecos Bill on a Wishes night was a ZOO! I tried the new self service ordering machines which made ordering faster but I waited 20 mins for my BBQ sandwich. New Mexico counter service venue was open and I really enjoyed a HUGE plate of nachos for lunch one day. Way more than I could eat by myself, was able to sit inside in the AC and they had two tasty salsas at the self serve station. We also left with about 10 extra snack credits that we never used--just too much food. We ate our breakfasts in our Cabin at FW so that probably added to that.
Hope I helped some folks, feel free to ask questions and did take some food photos if anyone would like to see them just let me know!
Table Service-
Trail’s End Buffet-Our first night there were actually only 4 of us (all adults) who ate here on our travel down day. It was pretty quiet inside, service was fair and the food was I would say just fair as well. We have always really enjoyed the food here in the past but this time I would say everything was just ok. Plenty of it; but I found the selections to be a bit boring and the food to me needed refreshing. I felt like I was at Golden Corral or something. I think the lack of diners always means at a buffet the food sits longer and just isn’t as good. Also not the best use of a TS credit but we were staying at a Fort Wilderness Cabin and had a golf cart so you couldn’t beat the ease of getting there! I give it 2 out of 4 stars.
Whispering Canyon Café-8 Adults, one Toddler-Some of our party arrived a bit late (ahem my brother and his family) and we lost our ADR. Luckily we only had to wait a short time to be seated and we requested the back quieter area after a long and hot, busy day at the Magic Kingdom. Almost everyone had the skillet and they still let you get the unlimited milkshake as your beverage. I had an adult beverage (something wild cherry?) that was good but not worth the $11 I paid for it. Service was good, slightly better than the night before and while there was a bit of teasing our server I think realized we were all just BEAT from the day and not up for the normal WCC antics. Skillet was very tasty, great salad and cornbread. They brought plenty of food on the first go around and everything was hot. Dessert choices were from the menu and were just all around ok. We were almost too full to enjoy it. Oh one very funny thing, I got a phone call on my cell right as we were being shown to our table and while walking through the main part of the dining room our host shouted out to the whole place “Everyone be quiet, this lady is on the phone.” It was really funny… I’ll give dinner 3 out of 4 stars.
Captain’s Grille-4 Adults-Originally tonight’s dinner was supposed to be all 9 of us at 5pm at Mama Melrose and then Fantasmic but long story short that wasn’t going to work out and so our party split up and the 4 of us ended up with a last minute easily obtained ADR for 7ish at the Captain’s Grille. On the dining plan we were allowed to choose from the Chef’s menu which had a set selection from one of three appetizers, entrees and any dessert from the menu. Being much more a fan of appetizers than desserts I enjoyed this a lot. Crab cake appetizer was fantastic, pork chop with rosemary mushroom polenta was also very good. My mom had the dinner crab cakes which was a huge portion (unusal for crab cakes) and we all had different desserts. I will say the food was all very good but our service was AMAZINGLY slow. I’m not sure if the problem was with the server or the kitchen but the restaurant was not full so I don’t allow for any excuses when it comes to service. Food-4 stars, Service-1 star.
Coral Reef-8 Adults, 1 Toddler-Man…this was kind of a disaster. We waited only about 15 mins past our ADR which wasn’t bad for such a big group but they seated us in the back and at one sort of large half moon table. This made it very hard to see the fish and very hard to have a conversation with each other. It was amazingly loud in there as well. I don’t know if it is just that I am not used to kids or not used to so many people in general (I basically work from home in peace) but I thought it was just deafening in there. Again service was VERY slow and we had to beg for refills of water and ask for things multiple times, (coffee, ketchup, etc.) Food was just ok. I had the steak which I think was possibly the best choice of the whole table (although I heard good things about the trout as well.) I honestly can hardly rank the food because once again the service was just so poor. It took a VERY long time to get food, drinks and especially the check. With a bouncy and yet tired toddler you would think they would bring the check promptly. Food-2 1/2 stars, Service-negative one star.
Ohana-8 Adults, 1 Toddler-half our party in costume ;)—My brother, his family and the in-laws were dressed for MNSSHP in full Peter Pan family costumes so we got a lot of attention. We had a 7:40 ADR but since some of the group were trying to head to the party we arrived at more like 7 and were seated by I would say 7:20 ish. Service was better, not fantastic but much better than we had had the last few nights. The food was excellent. I know some people are really down on Ohana (Ian) but I will say this was our best food of the trip. Everything was hot, fresh, and plenty of it. The salad, wings and dumplings were great and the meats were good as well. It took them a bit of time to come ask us if we wanted more but overall this was a much improved experience. It was very loud in there (again, I’m starting to think it was me) but I remember it always being loud. Food 4 stars-Service 3 stars.
LeCelliar-6 Adults, 1 Toddler-I’m trying to remember what time our ADR was, I think 7ish and we arrived a few minutes early. We waited probably almost 30 mins or maybe longer to be seated and once again service was TERRIBLE! Maybe the worst of the trip. Everything was slow, so slow we had to beg other servers for drink refills. The food wasn’t that great either. Everyone brags about this place but I wasn’t impressed. The soup was salty and the food was VERY salty. I had the filet with the mushroom risotto and honestly it was to the point where I almost couldn’t eat it but was afraid to send it back after waiting an hour for it. A side of mac and cheese ordered by my brother was the tastiest thing we had. With 7pm ADRs we thought it would be no problem to see RoE but ended up missing most of it and running out of the park with a screaming toddler who hates fireworks (we had planned on the 7pm time giving them a chance to get out of the park with her before they started and the rest of us enjoying the show.) I won’t go back. Service-negative a ton of stars, food 1 star!
Tusker House-Breakfast-6 Adults, 1 Toddler-Talk about an about-face. What a pleasant surprise. I was HIGHLY skeptical of the menu (African breakfast?) and this place in general but we really enjoyed this breakfast. We did wait maybe 30 mins past the ADR time (it was pretty busy in there.) Service was good and the waitress kept me in coffee, diet coke and the special juice (no small feat!) The characters were very good with the almost 3 year old and the food was excellent. Everything was hot, fresh, the ham was great as was something called pap? (think grits only better.) Once again deafeningly loud-but I chalk that up to a place full of kids and characters and just take it like it is right? I would do this again in a heartbeat. Service 3 ½ stars, Food 4 stars!
Garden Grill-6 Adults, 1 Toddler-Another wait past our ADR of maybe 30 minutes (by now I’m sort of guessing this is normal?) This was kind of a hodge podge. Salad and bread was good, but again service was slow and twice we had to get up and look for our server to try to get water and ketchup and more food. Times we would ask for things, she would come back and not have them and we would have to ask again? Our first platter of main dish food was small and not enough to feed the entire party even one serving (at least they should bring the same number of pieces of meat as there are adults in the party?) In addition the first platter of food was cold. We requested more food right away but it took a LONG time in coming. Oddly the second platter was very tasty, hot and I could highly recommend it. Characters were very good, super cute and this could have been a great meal but the poor service and weird cold small first platter put a serious damper on things. Service-1 star, Food 2 ½ stars.
Counter Service
Just a couple notes in general for this as my fingers are getting tired! Same old burgers and sandwiches got old fast. Normal standout of Columbia Harbor House was just ok, I thought the portions were fairly small for the price. Pizza Planet was probably one of the best food wise, we ate here twice but beware--arrive before the lunch crush-half the lines were closed for construction and after 12:15 the lines stretched out the door. Pecos Bill on a Wishes night was a ZOO! I tried the new self service ordering machines which made ordering faster but I waited 20 mins for my BBQ sandwich. New Mexico counter service venue was open and I really enjoyed a HUGE plate of nachos for lunch one day. Way more than I could eat by myself, was able to sit inside in the AC and they had two tasty salsas at the self serve station. We also left with about 10 extra snack credits that we never used--just too much food. We ate our breakfasts in our Cabin at FW so that probably added to that.
Hope I helped some folks, feel free to ask questions and did take some food photos if anyone would like to see them just let me know!