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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
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    Celebration, Fl
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    Default Restaurants that surprised you.

    Have you ever gone to any Disney restaurant and felt hesitant about it for any reason but were pleasantly surprised?

    This has happened to me twice. My father's family is German and my parents and my brother enjoy most German foods like bratwurst and things like that. I do not. So my parents went to the Biergarten alone and met my brother and I later in the evening. They raved about it so much that my brother wanted to go. My mom made reservations for a couple nights later and we went back. I was worried I wouldn't like anything and wasn't excited to go. Well, I was totally surprised! There was so much food to choose from, I discovered I like German wines, and the entertainment was so much fun. We also found out when we checked in that becuase we have a very German last name the cast members working that evening wanted to meet us. There was a steady flow of
    German cast members coming by to talk to us. One of them said "your name is more
    German than mine and i live in Germany!" I couldn't wait to go back.

    Where Chef Mickey's is now there was a buffet but it wasn't a character meal. We had been there before and had nice times. When my brother and I were on Christmas break from our schools my father was in the hospital over Christmas. He told my mom, while
    he was still in the hospital, that he felt like he ruined Christmas for all of us and
    wanted to see if we could do a last minute trip to Disney. When he was home our
    parents told us we were leaving in 2 days for a week at Disney World. We were so
    excited. The day we arrived my mom made reservations at what was now Chef Mickey's
    and we headed over. She went to check in while my brother, my dad, and I looked in
    the shop. She found us and said to my brother and me "I don't think you guys are going
    to like this. It's a character meal now." my dad said not to worry, if we didn't like it
    we'd just leave and go someplace else. We all ended up loving it! We had so much fun
    meeting the characters, even though I was a big shot college freshman, we all got in on the napkin twirling, and my brother and I went a little overboard making sundaes and cupcakes. We went back very often and still do.
    Last edited by MissMaryPoppins; 05-02-2012 at 10:53 PM. Reason: Typos

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Too far from WDW!
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    We loved Sanaa and Olivia's Cafe. My MIL decided to join us last minute and we had to scramble to find ADRs last minute. We were so happy to have her come it was worth it but be we unable to get into places like Chef Mickeys, Le Celier, and O'Hana. I found that it was easier to get ADRs at some of the resort TS rather than the ones at the parks.

    Loved the pasta at Olivia's Cafe and had the best lunch on property at Sanaa.

    We are going to give the Captain's Grille a try this trip. I love seafood but am not willing to use 2TS at Fultons.
    Too many trips to count!
    Disneyland!
    DisneyWorld!
    Disneyland Paris!
    Coming soon Tokyo!
    [SIZE=4][/SIZE

    I have stayed at: All Star Movies, All Star Music, Pop Century, Art of Animation, Port Orleans Riverside, Caribbean Beach Resort, Saratoga Springs Resort

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Collegeville, PA
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    We stayed at AKL two years ago, and we discovered we love Boma. I am adventerous with food, but my kids and DH are not. It is my 10 yo favorite restaurant and now a must do every trip. There is something for everyone and then neat animals to look at after dinner.
    "If you can dream it, you can do it."

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Oil City, PA
    Posts
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    Sanaa and Yak and Yeti. Both at the top of the favorites list.
    POP 05, 06, 07, 09
    All Star Sports 08
    AKKV 10
    CBR 9/14 -25, 2011
    POR 9/9/2012 - 9/20/2012
    8/31/2013 thru 9/1/2013 All Star Sports
    9/2/2013 thru 9/13/2013 Caribbean Beach Preferred Room

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
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    1326 miles from the most magical place on earth
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mickey'sIrishPAl View Post
    Sanaa and Yak and Yeti. Both at the top of the favorites list.
    I agree was hesitant about trying both and now both of these restaurants are on my must do list!
    July'05 - Offsite
    July '06 - AKl
    April '07 - offsite
    July 08 ~ AKV!
    April 09 - SSR 1st time as DVC Member!
    July 09 - AKL-Kadani Village/SSR...
    Dec.'09- AKV
    May '10- Beach Club
    June '11- AKL
    July '13- AKL
    Feb 14 - Wilderness Lodge/Bay Lake Towers
    October 15-AKL

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
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    Massachusetts
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    Boma on the 2nd try. The first time we went we really didn't like it but reading all the good reviews we decided to give it another try. It turned out we liked it.
    74 Off Site
    98 Contemporary & DCL inaugural cruise
    99 Dixie Landings
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    06 POFQ, CSR, OKW
    07 ASMo & VWL
    08 Pop VWL
    09 BW, POR, VWL, CSR
    10 WL
    12 VWL, AKL Club
    13 VWL, WL Club

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
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    Too far from WDW!
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    I think Sanaa is one of the hidden jems of WDW dining. I don't know how it is now but when we went a few years ago it was pratically empty. It was so fresh and plated to perfection.
    Too many trips to count!
    Disneyland!
    DisneyWorld!
    Disneyland Paris!
    Coming soon Tokyo!
    [SIZE=4][/SIZE

    I have stayed at: All Star Movies, All Star Music, Pop Century, Art of Animation, Port Orleans Riverside, Caribbean Beach Resort, Saratoga Springs Resort

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Ajax, ON (1,325 miles from Disneyworld)
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    Quote Originally Posted by disneynarula View Post
    I think Sanaa is one of the hidden jems of WDW dining. I don't know how it is now but when we went a few years ago it was pratically empty. It was so fresh and plated to perfection.
    We ate there last August, and I agree with you completely. The food was fabulous. My DS13 said the Coho Salmon was the best fish he has ever had (and he eats a lot of fish).
    Jennifer (aka Mickey'sGirl)
    INTERCOT Staff: Guests with Special Needs, Dining and Disney Characters

    Last trip: March 2016 - Fantasy
    Next trip: Aug 2017 - Aulani

    I am a Galactic Hero once more!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Lafayette, Louisiana
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    Chefs de France and Grand Floridian Cafe were the two that surprised us the most. You don't hear much about these two, but both were excellent meals!

    We were also surprised when we had dinner at Maya Grill at Coronado years ago. We only ate there because we were staying at CSR, but it turned out to be one of the best meals of that trip.

    In July we hope to try Shutters at CBR and Captain's Grill at YC. We are staying at those two resorts and would like to try to walk up at their restaurants. I hope we enjoy these two as much as we've enjoyed other "not as popular" places we've come across over the years.
    Denise

    Resorts we've stayed at in 20+ trips: ASMo, ASMu, ASSp, PC, CSR, CBR, POR, POFQ, WL, AKL Jambo, AKL Kidani, Poly, Contemporary, BC, YC, BWV, OKW, SSR, Swan, Shades of Green, Vero Beach, Disneyland Resort

    Next Trip: ???

  10. #10
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    Jan 2006
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mickey'sIrishPAl View Post
    Sanaa and Yak and Yeti. Both at the top of the favorites list.
    Absolutely agree 100%. We were a little hesitant for both places. Now we eat there as often as we can - at least one of them probably every trip! Both are very different, and both are very good.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2007
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    Wild Wonderful WV
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    BOMA !!! I was unsure about the African style food, the menu looked unappealing, and the names of the food just set a negative tone....yet we tried anyway and WOW !!!! My favorite place to eat anywhere on Disney property !!!!
    80 1st./04POR/05POR/06POR/07POR/08POR/09POR/10POR/
    11PORJan/11PORApr/12ASPJun/12AKLJul/12POPNov/13AKL/
    14FQJun/14POPJul/14PORNov/15POPFeb/15FQJun/15AoADec/16ASPNov/17AoAJun/ 17POPSep/18CBJun/19PORApr/

    IN GOD WE TRUST !!

    STEELERS, SIX TIME SUPERBOWL CHAMPS

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Chicago Suburbs
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    Rose and Crown. I really had no desire to try this place and I have heard English food is not the best. However, everything we had was really, really good and we enjoyed a view on Illuminations,too. Totally not what I had expected. We've been back several times since.
    Trips: Too Many to Count! Last Trips: April 2013 CSR; July 2013 Aloha Aulani, The Sequel, Hawaii. Multiple trips to WDW, DL, DCL!

    Coming up: September 2013 "Scary September" at Disneyland/DCA/Universal Hollywood.

    Proud DVC Members since 2004!

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2000
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    Massachusetts
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    Good question, because when I pick a restaurant, it's because I want to eat there and expect it to be good, so there's a lot less chance of being surprised since my expectations are pretty high.

    That being said, the following surprised me by exceeding my expectations:

    • Our lunch at Akershus in 1998. The food was a lot better than I expected.
    • Our breakfast at Garden Grill in 1999. It was the best breakfast I've ever had at WDW, so the biggest surprise was that they stopped having it.
    • Our lunch at ABC Commissary in 2003. The theming was lame, but the food turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
    • Our dinner at Boatwright's in 2012. I expected it to be good, but it turned out to be one of the best meals of the trip.


    There may be more, but these are probably the standouts in my mind for each trip.
    Viva Darth Macho!
    APR '98: Wilderness Lodge, 9 days, Honeymoon
    OCT '99: Coronado Springs, 8 days, Halloween
    AUG '03: All Star Music, 8 days, Summer Fun
    AUG '10: Port Orleans Riverside, 10 days, Summer Celebration!
    AUG '12: Pop Century, 14 days, My Dream Trip!
    AUG '17: Hoping!

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