jenfriend
01-21-2008, 09:48 PM
I tried quite a few restaurants that I had not tried on my previous visit. Here are my critiques.
WINNERS:
1. Hollywood & Vine Character Breakfast at the Hollywood Studios was a surprise winner! The food is the usual buffet with mickey waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs, make your own breakfast burritos, danish, muffins, sausage, cereals, tator tots, biscuits & gravy, & more. The best part was the entertainment. 2 Little Einstein characters & 2 JoJo Circus characters, plus two very perky song and dance leaders led the children in singing and dancing at intervals. This was cute, fun, and not overdone (ok, it's Disney-done). The restaurant was only half full, but it wasn't too noisy for a character/kid-filled restaurant. Our reservations were for 8am. We were seated right at 8am. We were done just before 9am just as HS opened.
2. 1900 Park Fare Character Dinner at the GRFL Resort was a good choice for my little princesses. If the price or the process of obtaining ADR for breakfast/lunch with Cindy at the castle makes you dizzy, try dinner with Cindy, her prince, stepsisters and stepmother at the GRFL. My daughters loved meeting Cindy of course. I actually thought her to be a bit boring, but the stepmother and stepsisters more than made up for it! They stayed in character the whole time. Stepmother arrived at the table and started telling us what to do: where is your autograph book, eat your vegetables, etc. She didn't scare my kids or any kids at nearby tables-she was just like you'd expect. The stepsisters were obnoxious and sneering in photos. One even asked the names of the children who were missing from a table she was visiting. Stepsister marched over to the buffet and whined their names til they came back for the photo! Very funny. The food was the usual buffet fare: ok prime rib according to my husband, decent salmon in dill sauce, shrimp and vegetable salad, freshfruit, 3 soup choices, many dessert choices including a great petite key lime pie and petite carrot cake, that great smashed potatoes I love at WDW, and creamy strawberry soup that my 4 yo loved. The noise level was extreme. Some girls were dressed up in casual skirts or dresses, some in their princess regala straight from the BBB and others in jeans. Walking around the GRFL lobby was spectacular!
3. Raglans, an Irish style pub in Downtown Disney was a true surprise. We LOVED the food and ambiance. I had their version of bangers and mash which was a homemade chicken sausage (bit spicey) which was superb and roasted potates and carrots which were mashed and drizzled with pan drippings. Yum. DH had the beef stew made with Guiness. He loved it. My children ordered Fish and Chips and Battered Shrimp off of the kids menu which had some interesting choices.The Fish and chips were similar to the kind I had in London (I know that's England, but it's GB at least). They were served in a paper cone. Salt and Vinegar was available for making it more authentic. The Shrimp was served in a similar style and were delicious! I could have eaten them. The decor seemed authentic, but super-large with smaller dinning areas. We were there on a Sat. night and thought some live entertainment would have made it even better. Loud main dinning area. Bathrooms were clean and large. I would go back here; however, it's not as kid-friendly as some of the other choices at WDW. I recommend the Panna cotta (sic?) trio - strawberry was the best.
4. Casey's on Magic Kingdom's Main Street was a decent place to eat. We ordered and caught a table just as fireworks began. The hot dogs are the good all beef style available elsewhere in WDW; however, my kids ordered the corn dog bites which were excellent when hot. They were mor like pronto pups than corndogs. PP have more four than cornmeal in it's batter.
5. ABC Commissary in HS was an unexpected treat. The large dinning room was quieter than expected. I ordered an Asain Salad that was delicious. You can add chicken grilled to the salad, but it came with beans (soy beans?) which added protein and kept me full - awesome veg. choice. The rest of the gang had hamburgers, which they said were good.
6. Pecos Bills in Magic Kingdom (ok, we ate there last time) had the best CS meal: A taco salad. So yummy and I didn't have to ask "Where's the Beef?" One of the children's choices was salad with chicken which was a decent serving of salad with grilled cold chicken breast chunks. Along with fruit choice of applesauce and grapes, plus milk or water would make a great meal for an adult (especially a dieting adult or one who is saving room for a buffet later in the day).
7. Electric Umbrella in Futureworld in Epcot and Cosmic Ray's in Tomorrowland in Magic Kingdom had plentiful seating. We ate at both for a late evening snack on a Eve. Magic Hours. I would try either again.
8. I saw a children's meal on a few menus (Electric Umbrella and POR Food Court, just to name two) of Turkey and Cheese Wrap. It's a good choice for even an adult who has a smaller appetite. It's three small medallions of turkey breast slices with American Cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla. You can request or get mayo or ranch or BBQ sauce to dip it in. Choose fruit or veg. choices for a healthy meal.
WINNERS:
1. Hollywood & Vine Character Breakfast at the Hollywood Studios was a surprise winner! The food is the usual buffet with mickey waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs, make your own breakfast burritos, danish, muffins, sausage, cereals, tator tots, biscuits & gravy, & more. The best part was the entertainment. 2 Little Einstein characters & 2 JoJo Circus characters, plus two very perky song and dance leaders led the children in singing and dancing at intervals. This was cute, fun, and not overdone (ok, it's Disney-done). The restaurant was only half full, but it wasn't too noisy for a character/kid-filled restaurant. Our reservations were for 8am. We were seated right at 8am. We were done just before 9am just as HS opened.
2. 1900 Park Fare Character Dinner at the GRFL Resort was a good choice for my little princesses. If the price or the process of obtaining ADR for breakfast/lunch with Cindy at the castle makes you dizzy, try dinner with Cindy, her prince, stepsisters and stepmother at the GRFL. My daughters loved meeting Cindy of course. I actually thought her to be a bit boring, but the stepmother and stepsisters more than made up for it! They stayed in character the whole time. Stepmother arrived at the table and started telling us what to do: where is your autograph book, eat your vegetables, etc. She didn't scare my kids or any kids at nearby tables-she was just like you'd expect. The stepsisters were obnoxious and sneering in photos. One even asked the names of the children who were missing from a table she was visiting. Stepsister marched over to the buffet and whined their names til they came back for the photo! Very funny. The food was the usual buffet fare: ok prime rib according to my husband, decent salmon in dill sauce, shrimp and vegetable salad, freshfruit, 3 soup choices, many dessert choices including a great petite key lime pie and petite carrot cake, that great smashed potatoes I love at WDW, and creamy strawberry soup that my 4 yo loved. The noise level was extreme. Some girls were dressed up in casual skirts or dresses, some in their princess regala straight from the BBB and others in jeans. Walking around the GRFL lobby was spectacular!
3. Raglans, an Irish style pub in Downtown Disney was a true surprise. We LOVED the food and ambiance. I had their version of bangers and mash which was a homemade chicken sausage (bit spicey) which was superb and roasted potates and carrots which were mashed and drizzled with pan drippings. Yum. DH had the beef stew made with Guiness. He loved it. My children ordered Fish and Chips and Battered Shrimp off of the kids menu which had some interesting choices.The Fish and chips were similar to the kind I had in London (I know that's England, but it's GB at least). They were served in a paper cone. Salt and Vinegar was available for making it more authentic. The Shrimp was served in a similar style and were delicious! I could have eaten them. The decor seemed authentic, but super-large with smaller dinning areas. We were there on a Sat. night and thought some live entertainment would have made it even better. Loud main dinning area. Bathrooms were clean and large. I would go back here; however, it's not as kid-friendly as some of the other choices at WDW. I recommend the Panna cotta (sic?) trio - strawberry was the best.
4. Casey's on Magic Kingdom's Main Street was a decent place to eat. We ordered and caught a table just as fireworks began. The hot dogs are the good all beef style available elsewhere in WDW; however, my kids ordered the corn dog bites which were excellent when hot. They were mor like pronto pups than corndogs. PP have more four than cornmeal in it's batter.
5. ABC Commissary in HS was an unexpected treat. The large dinning room was quieter than expected. I ordered an Asain Salad that was delicious. You can add chicken grilled to the salad, but it came with beans (soy beans?) which added protein and kept me full - awesome veg. choice. The rest of the gang had hamburgers, which they said were good.
6. Pecos Bills in Magic Kingdom (ok, we ate there last time) had the best CS meal: A taco salad. So yummy and I didn't have to ask "Where's the Beef?" One of the children's choices was salad with chicken which was a decent serving of salad with grilled cold chicken breast chunks. Along with fruit choice of applesauce and grapes, plus milk or water would make a great meal for an adult (especially a dieting adult or one who is saving room for a buffet later in the day).
7. Electric Umbrella in Futureworld in Epcot and Cosmic Ray's in Tomorrowland in Magic Kingdom had plentiful seating. We ate at both for a late evening snack on a Eve. Magic Hours. I would try either again.
8. I saw a children's meal on a few menus (Electric Umbrella and POR Food Court, just to name two) of Turkey and Cheese Wrap. It's a good choice for even an adult who has a smaller appetite. It's three small medallions of turkey breast slices with American Cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla. You can request or get mayo or ranch or BBQ sauce to dip it in. Choose fruit or veg. choices for a healthy meal.