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06-30-2011, 02:41 PM
I wanted to do a trip report and started one right when we came home, but time has passed and now, it just doesn't seem to be coming together. I had already written up our dining experiences, so that is what we have here. We are a party of 4. DH, Dear me (haha), DD12 and DS10. We travelled June 7-13...
Let’s talk Dining.
‘Ohana – We ate here on our first night. This was our 5th time to eat here and my husband says it was the best. He commented to the server that it was the best cooked meat he had ever had there and she told him that if ever it is not to your liking to let your server know and they will bring out a new skewer. Note to everyone, don’t be afraid to ask for a better cooked piece of meat. I love the salad and welcome bread here. Love the wings and the dumplings. I am not a fan of the spice they put on the pork, but that is just personal preference. Steak was cooked like we like it and the dessert did not disappoint. It seemed like they had the volume on the entertainment turned down lower than it had been before which is a positive change. All in all a great experience.
Teppan Edo – We like Teppan Edo! So fun and yummy! Our chef was very skilled and entertaining. Every time we are in the Japan pavilion, I find myself doing a lot of bowing. Not sure if they expect you to or not, maybe they just think I am crazy. Japan is my favorite country in the World Showcase.
Chef Mickey – Chef Mickey for breakfast. It was good. Not spectacular. I enjoyed our breakfast at Crystal Palace better – food-wise and atmosphere-wise. Characters are not so important to us anymore as our kids are 12 and 10.
Flame Tree BBQ – Nice place. First time here. We ate down by the water. I liked the many dining areas that are smallish. Makes for a nice low-key experience. Enjoyed the ribs here.
Cape May Café – Just ok for us. We are not big seafood eaters, but I wanted to try this place. We were seated off to the right of the dessert buffet in a small window-less echo-y room. I think that really hurt our experience. I would have liked to have been in the main dining room. I loved the salad here. I had a delicious salad that had some leafy greens, blue cheese crumbles, pecans, cranberries and a yummy vinaigrette! Also, I am a huge fan of the Clam Chowder. I liked the key lime tarts for dessert. Son loved the crab legs. He was an adventurous eater here. He tried crab legs and mussels for the first time.
Le Cellier – Fantastic as always. (I know this place tends to get mixed reviews, but we have never had a bad experience here.) This was our 3rd visit. Love the smoothies here that are included in the dining plan. I had the Pina Colada one, my son had the strawberry. Filets all around please, substitute cream cheese mashed potatoes for the risotto and we are in business. Our entrées rock. Husband says it would be worth getting a job here to learn how to cook a perfect steak. If you are wondering, we like ours medium. I used to be a medium-well kind of girl, but my husband a long time ago worked as a manager for a grocery store (HEB) here in TX and they went to a beef boot camp sponsored by the Beef Council and after that we started getting our steaks cooked medium and have never gone back. Never knew that could make such a difference! My family likes the pretzel bread sticks, I like the sourdough ones. For dessert, DD and DH get the raspberry sorbet, son gets the smores brownie thing, I get the maple crème brulee. Crème brulee is very rich, I cannot finish it. DS complained that the brownie was good but hard and it was. Still, a yummy experience.
Via Napoli – First time dining here. We paid out of pocket for this experience. It was so good! Glad we got the large pepperoni pizza and not the mezzo metro as we were still pretty full from all the snacking we had been doing. Our service here was great. Food came out very quickly. Delicious! We will return.
Crystal Palace – really enjoyed breakfast here. Lots of fruit to choose from and even delicious berries (blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries). I had the potato casserole, and the red jacket potatoes, bacon, sausage, biscuit and gravy, mickey waffle. It was our second time here and our first breakfast experience. Love the atmosphere here. Beautiful, bright and airy! Just a great place.
Casey’s – Disappointing. This is my second hotdog from here and I won’t be getting a third. The buns are way huge compared to the dog and tough. Just not good. If I go back I will try the corn dog nuggets instead. Wish I had gone somewhere else. Very little seating options. Hate trying to find a place to sit while juggling a small, cardboard tray of food.
Earl of Sandwich – Yummo! I think that this is one of Disney World’s hidden counter service gems. I had the original sandwich (roast beef with horseradish sauce). Husband and son had the meatball. DD had the BLT. Usually I would never get the BLT b/c usually there is not enough bacon. Let me tell you her sandwich was loaded with bacon! We paid out of pocket for this meal and it was well worth it. It does participate in the dining plan as a quick service restaurant. I am now wondering if there are Earl of Sandwich restaurants outside of Disney…might have to Google that.
Captain Cooks Tonga Toast - Yeah! Finally took the trip over and had some quick service Tonga Toast and so glad I did. Banana Stuffed French Toast - my kind of breakfast and a deal to get it for $6-ish instead of $10 at Kona.
Hoop Dee Doo Revue – We had never done this before. It was indeed a first. I had read many reviews about how everyone can see everything from where they sit so…I opted for Category 3 seating at the 5pm show. It was so hot the day we went here. We had already spent the day at MK and took the ferry over to Camp Fort Wilderness. Did I say we were hot? We found some great places to rest and cool down to the left of Pioneer Hall. It is right next to the bathroom and shady and cooler b/c the bathrooms have cool air conditioning pouring out of them. Well, it is time to check in and they drag us out into the sun so we can check-in at the podium and then into another long line to get our pics. We were pretty miserable.
OK, there is something you need to know about me. I love a sale. I enjoy little things and I enjoy hanging onto my money, so Category 3 seating is no big deal to me. Well, at least I thought. So we get in and are sent upstairs to our table. We are seated in bar stools with our backs to the main dining hall and railing. Our table is like sitting at a bar. Four of us are in a row, shoulder to shoulder. When the entertainment starts, in order to see it, you must swivel your chair around and lean over the rail to see the whole stage. There is really no comfortable place to put your legs.
The food was just ok for us. I am not a fan of the strawberry shortcake. I think I was expecting the cake and the whipped cream to be sweeter. My husband and I don’t drink and so all you can drink beer and sangria is not a draw for us. The fried chicken seemed dry. Ribs were good, very saucy. We also enjoyed the salad and the cornbread. Veggies not so much.
Loved the entertainment. Very cute show. They do a great job at making everyone feel part of the show wherever you sit. The kids really enjoyed it.
I am not sure we will return. We spent over $230 for this meal, show and gratuity. That is a lot of money for food that is just ok. If we were to return, I would pay extra to have better seats and make sure we were not coming right from a long hot day at a park. I think that if we had taken a break from the park, rested a little and then went to dinner we might have had a better experience, but for those of you planning a trip to Hoop Dee Doo, I would not recommend Category 3 seats. Well, get them if you want, but know what to expect if you do go for the Cat 3 seats.
Well, that's it. All in all a pretty good trip. Looking back I wish I had done better research on the Hoop Dee Do seating, but all in all I think our dining was pretty good. We also ate at Pecos Bill's which was just too crowded to enjoy, but ok food. Also dined at Columbia Harbor House on the bridge over the walkway in Fantasyland/Liberty Square. Enjoyed that. Love that you can get fried shrimp at a counter service restaurant in Magic Kingdom. :thumbsup:
Let’s talk Dining.
‘Ohana – We ate here on our first night. This was our 5th time to eat here and my husband says it was the best. He commented to the server that it was the best cooked meat he had ever had there and she told him that if ever it is not to your liking to let your server know and they will bring out a new skewer. Note to everyone, don’t be afraid to ask for a better cooked piece of meat. I love the salad and welcome bread here. Love the wings and the dumplings. I am not a fan of the spice they put on the pork, but that is just personal preference. Steak was cooked like we like it and the dessert did not disappoint. It seemed like they had the volume on the entertainment turned down lower than it had been before which is a positive change. All in all a great experience.
Teppan Edo – We like Teppan Edo! So fun and yummy! Our chef was very skilled and entertaining. Every time we are in the Japan pavilion, I find myself doing a lot of bowing. Not sure if they expect you to or not, maybe they just think I am crazy. Japan is my favorite country in the World Showcase.
Chef Mickey – Chef Mickey for breakfast. It was good. Not spectacular. I enjoyed our breakfast at Crystal Palace better – food-wise and atmosphere-wise. Characters are not so important to us anymore as our kids are 12 and 10.
Flame Tree BBQ – Nice place. First time here. We ate down by the water. I liked the many dining areas that are smallish. Makes for a nice low-key experience. Enjoyed the ribs here.
Cape May Café – Just ok for us. We are not big seafood eaters, but I wanted to try this place. We were seated off to the right of the dessert buffet in a small window-less echo-y room. I think that really hurt our experience. I would have liked to have been in the main dining room. I loved the salad here. I had a delicious salad that had some leafy greens, blue cheese crumbles, pecans, cranberries and a yummy vinaigrette! Also, I am a huge fan of the Clam Chowder. I liked the key lime tarts for dessert. Son loved the crab legs. He was an adventurous eater here. He tried crab legs and mussels for the first time.
Le Cellier – Fantastic as always. (I know this place tends to get mixed reviews, but we have never had a bad experience here.) This was our 3rd visit. Love the smoothies here that are included in the dining plan. I had the Pina Colada one, my son had the strawberry. Filets all around please, substitute cream cheese mashed potatoes for the risotto and we are in business. Our entrées rock. Husband says it would be worth getting a job here to learn how to cook a perfect steak. If you are wondering, we like ours medium. I used to be a medium-well kind of girl, but my husband a long time ago worked as a manager for a grocery store (HEB) here in TX and they went to a beef boot camp sponsored by the Beef Council and after that we started getting our steaks cooked medium and have never gone back. Never knew that could make such a difference! My family likes the pretzel bread sticks, I like the sourdough ones. For dessert, DD and DH get the raspberry sorbet, son gets the smores brownie thing, I get the maple crème brulee. Crème brulee is very rich, I cannot finish it. DS complained that the brownie was good but hard and it was. Still, a yummy experience.
Via Napoli – First time dining here. We paid out of pocket for this experience. It was so good! Glad we got the large pepperoni pizza and not the mezzo metro as we were still pretty full from all the snacking we had been doing. Our service here was great. Food came out very quickly. Delicious! We will return.
Crystal Palace – really enjoyed breakfast here. Lots of fruit to choose from and even delicious berries (blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries). I had the potato casserole, and the red jacket potatoes, bacon, sausage, biscuit and gravy, mickey waffle. It was our second time here and our first breakfast experience. Love the atmosphere here. Beautiful, bright and airy! Just a great place.
Casey’s – Disappointing. This is my second hotdog from here and I won’t be getting a third. The buns are way huge compared to the dog and tough. Just not good. If I go back I will try the corn dog nuggets instead. Wish I had gone somewhere else. Very little seating options. Hate trying to find a place to sit while juggling a small, cardboard tray of food.
Earl of Sandwich – Yummo! I think that this is one of Disney World’s hidden counter service gems. I had the original sandwich (roast beef with horseradish sauce). Husband and son had the meatball. DD had the BLT. Usually I would never get the BLT b/c usually there is not enough bacon. Let me tell you her sandwich was loaded with bacon! We paid out of pocket for this meal and it was well worth it. It does participate in the dining plan as a quick service restaurant. I am now wondering if there are Earl of Sandwich restaurants outside of Disney…might have to Google that.
Captain Cooks Tonga Toast - Yeah! Finally took the trip over and had some quick service Tonga Toast and so glad I did. Banana Stuffed French Toast - my kind of breakfast and a deal to get it for $6-ish instead of $10 at Kona.
Hoop Dee Doo Revue – We had never done this before. It was indeed a first. I had read many reviews about how everyone can see everything from where they sit so…I opted for Category 3 seating at the 5pm show. It was so hot the day we went here. We had already spent the day at MK and took the ferry over to Camp Fort Wilderness. Did I say we were hot? We found some great places to rest and cool down to the left of Pioneer Hall. It is right next to the bathroom and shady and cooler b/c the bathrooms have cool air conditioning pouring out of them. Well, it is time to check in and they drag us out into the sun so we can check-in at the podium and then into another long line to get our pics. We were pretty miserable.
OK, there is something you need to know about me. I love a sale. I enjoy little things and I enjoy hanging onto my money, so Category 3 seating is no big deal to me. Well, at least I thought. So we get in and are sent upstairs to our table. We are seated in bar stools with our backs to the main dining hall and railing. Our table is like sitting at a bar. Four of us are in a row, shoulder to shoulder. When the entertainment starts, in order to see it, you must swivel your chair around and lean over the rail to see the whole stage. There is really no comfortable place to put your legs.
The food was just ok for us. I am not a fan of the strawberry shortcake. I think I was expecting the cake and the whipped cream to be sweeter. My husband and I don’t drink and so all you can drink beer and sangria is not a draw for us. The fried chicken seemed dry. Ribs were good, very saucy. We also enjoyed the salad and the cornbread. Veggies not so much.
Loved the entertainment. Very cute show. They do a great job at making everyone feel part of the show wherever you sit. The kids really enjoyed it.
I am not sure we will return. We spent over $230 for this meal, show and gratuity. That is a lot of money for food that is just ok. If we were to return, I would pay extra to have better seats and make sure we were not coming right from a long hot day at a park. I think that if we had taken a break from the park, rested a little and then went to dinner we might have had a better experience, but for those of you planning a trip to Hoop Dee Doo, I would not recommend Category 3 seats. Well, get them if you want, but know what to expect if you do go for the Cat 3 seats.
Well, that's it. All in all a pretty good trip. Looking back I wish I had done better research on the Hoop Dee Do seating, but all in all I think our dining was pretty good. We also ate at Pecos Bill's which was just too crowded to enjoy, but ok food. Also dined at Columbia Harbor House on the bridge over the walkway in Fantasyland/Liberty Square. Enjoyed that. Love that you can get fried shrimp at a counter service restaurant in Magic Kingdom. :thumbsup: