Christine
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 1999
I just got back today and I thought I'd do a quickie dining review. I usually do a long, drawn out review 
but we didn't do many "special" things this trip as it was a short trip and scheduled at the last minute!!
Me, Christine, mom to DD (15) and DS (12) and my parents who are in their 60s.
Arrive the evening of April 6th - We were staying off-site and didn't get in until almost 4:00 p.m. We checked in quickly and went searching for off-site food. Our first stop (at 5:45 p.m.) was Bahama Breeze, which is one of our favorites. The wait was an hour long, but because we were famished, we skipped it. Headed down Vineland and made the next stop at Carraba's. We eat here at home all the time so I was not too keen on waiting 90 minutes for this place. Back in the car. At this point, I was ready to stop at McDonald's! We continued down Vineland and off the beaten path, I see an Outback Steakhouse sitting in a parking lot of a shopping center. Hmmm...well, I figured this would be awful too. But, no wait. Yeah! This one in Orlando is much better than the ones that I eat at here in the D.C. area. In fact, you "get" a bit more for the price. Most meals in Orlando include two sides (versus the one side we get at home) and the Grillers come with a salad (you must pay extra for a salad at home). Apparently, it was still Happy Hour at 6:00 p.m. at this Outback and my mom ordered a beer and they gave her a second beer for free and my dad's HUGE Fosters was half-price.
Saturday- April 7, we went went to Magic Kingdom. We had lunch at Columbia Harbor House. The kids and I got fish/chicken baskets. The fries were very hot, the right amount of salt, and just yummy. The fish and chicken were very good too. My parents got the veggie sandwich which they LOVED and a cup of soup. Lots of food on their meals and I wish I had gotten that.
We then had a 5:50 ADR at Citricos. We arrived at 5:30 and they took us in right away. This was our second trip to Citricos. I went in 2005. It is still OUTSTANDING. Actually, I think it was even better this time. They have the most amazing Citrus Infused Salted Butter and warm, herbed focaccia bread that is out of this world. That right there would have been enough for me.
I had the grilled salmon over Yukon Gold Potatoes, my DD had the rotisserie pork chop over polenta, DS was not in the mood for frou-frou food so he ordered Mickey Pasta off the kids menu. My parents both had the veal shank which they loved. We also had the Shrimp and Goat Cheese appetizer which I could have had for a meal.
Dessert included Tropical Creme Brulee and Warm Banana Chocolate Tart. This meal was so outstanding I just can't say enough about it. Go here
!
On Sunday, we had lunch at Epcot. Basically just counter service. We ate at the Yakotori House and split some meals, all of which were good. The Udon soup is excellent, although I probably wouldn't order it in the middle of July. It was cool that day, so soup was good! We had crepes from the cart in France, and DD got a British candy bar.
We then went to our reservation at the Hoop Dee Doo Review. We've been to this many times. I did not go on my 2005 trip because, quite frankly, I had had enough of this. My DD was disappointed and begged to do it this year. By some miracle, I actually got a reservation on Easter Sunday only 2 weeks in advance. We were put in Category 2 seating. If you are familiar with HDDR, we were in almost the very back of Pioneer Hall near the doors where you come in. There were still other tables behind us. I have always sat up front, but these seats were still great and I don't think there is a bad seat in the house. The only difference is that sometimes the waiters were in front of me serving people. You don't get this in the front rows.
The show was still quite funny and it was nice to see that they freshen up the jokes a bit each year. The fried chicken was pretty good, ribs were as atrocious as always, corn was, well Green Giant frozen; salad, bread and butter were good. We also enjoyed the strawberry shortcake. We had a nice time at this show, AGAIN!!
On Monday, we did not have an ADR because we really didn't know what we would be doing (I had squeezed a Universal visit in there). In the afternoon I started calling around trying to get something, but Disney Dining told me that EVERYTHING was booked unless I wanted to eat at 9:00 p.m. The kids really wanted a buffet for a change. We tried to go early to the Cape May buffet (one of our favorites) but they weren't open yet. So we drove over to the Grand Floridian, knowing there were LOTS of restaurants there and surely we would get in somewhere. At about 5:00 p.m. I walked up to the podium at 1900 Park Fair and the hostess said it would be absolutely no problem to seat us. As soon as we were seated, I wished I could have just gotten up and left. The noise level was incredible in here. LOTS and LOTS of yelling, squealing children. I wasn't really surprised, but I had just forgotten what a noisy place this was. I had eaten here twice before (breakfast and dinner) many years ago. I think of all the character buffets, the kids might be the unruliest here. And the parents were yelling across the room to their children. It wasn't pleasant, but I should have known.
The buffet here was kind of a disappointment. I do feel that the quality has gone down. While the food wasn't "gross", I wouldn't call it delicious either. My prime rib was on the tough side, the desserts looked better than they were. The salmon was good, the mashed potatoes were good, and that was about it. The buffet was set up poorly and myself and other people at the buffet kept shaking our heads and saying how stupid it was to have to go from side to side with all these people. Then people were lined up for the self-service ice cream and basically blocking one half of the buffet. So, it was basically "just a meal" and I couldn't get out of there fast enough.
The people with little ones seemed to be having a grand time. So, this is just not the place for me and my teenagers. We need a quieter buffet!
On our last night, we were off-site. We called ahead to Bahama Breeze and got right in at 5:00 p.m. This place wasn't too bad. Not as good as I remember. The selection on the menu seem to be not as varied as I thought it was and the wait staff seemed kind of grumpy. I had coconut shrimp which was very good, my dad had Jerk Chicken, mom had Tilapia, and DD had quesidillas. My DS wasn't eating, but that is another story....
Well, thanks for reading and if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them!
but we didn't do many "special" things this trip as it was a short trip and scheduled at the last minute!!Me, Christine, mom to DD (15) and DS (12) and my parents who are in their 60s.
Arrive the evening of April 6th - We were staying off-site and didn't get in until almost 4:00 p.m. We checked in quickly and went searching for off-site food. Our first stop (at 5:45 p.m.) was Bahama Breeze, which is one of our favorites. The wait was an hour long, but because we were famished, we skipped it. Headed down Vineland and made the next stop at Carraba's. We eat here at home all the time so I was not too keen on waiting 90 minutes for this place. Back in the car. At this point, I was ready to stop at McDonald's! We continued down Vineland and off the beaten path, I see an Outback Steakhouse sitting in a parking lot of a shopping center. Hmmm...well, I figured this would be awful too. But, no wait. Yeah! This one in Orlando is much better than the ones that I eat at here in the D.C. area. In fact, you "get" a bit more for the price. Most meals in Orlando include two sides (versus the one side we get at home) and the Grillers come with a salad (you must pay extra for a salad at home). Apparently, it was still Happy Hour at 6:00 p.m. at this Outback and my mom ordered a beer and they gave her a second beer for free and my dad's HUGE Fosters was half-price.
Saturday- April 7, we went went to Magic Kingdom. We had lunch at Columbia Harbor House. The kids and I got fish/chicken baskets. The fries were very hot, the right amount of salt, and just yummy. The fish and chicken were very good too. My parents got the veggie sandwich which they LOVED and a cup of soup. Lots of food on their meals and I wish I had gotten that.
We then had a 5:50 ADR at Citricos. We arrived at 5:30 and they took us in right away. This was our second trip to Citricos. I went in 2005. It is still OUTSTANDING. Actually, I think it was even better this time. They have the most amazing Citrus Infused Salted Butter and warm, herbed focaccia bread that is out of this world. That right there would have been enough for me.
I had the grilled salmon over Yukon Gold Potatoes, my DD had the rotisserie pork chop over polenta, DS was not in the mood for frou-frou food so he ordered Mickey Pasta off the kids menu. My parents both had the veal shank which they loved. We also had the Shrimp and Goat Cheese appetizer which I could have had for a meal.
Dessert included Tropical Creme Brulee and Warm Banana Chocolate Tart. This meal was so outstanding I just can't say enough about it. Go here
!On Sunday, we had lunch at Epcot. Basically just counter service. We ate at the Yakotori House and split some meals, all of which were good. The Udon soup is excellent, although I probably wouldn't order it in the middle of July. It was cool that day, so soup was good! We had crepes from the cart in France, and DD got a British candy bar.
We then went to our reservation at the Hoop Dee Doo Review. We've been to this many times. I did not go on my 2005 trip because, quite frankly, I had had enough of this. My DD was disappointed and begged to do it this year. By some miracle, I actually got a reservation on Easter Sunday only 2 weeks in advance. We were put in Category 2 seating. If you are familiar with HDDR, we were in almost the very back of Pioneer Hall near the doors where you come in. There were still other tables behind us. I have always sat up front, but these seats were still great and I don't think there is a bad seat in the house. The only difference is that sometimes the waiters were in front of me serving people. You don't get this in the front rows.
The show was still quite funny and it was nice to see that they freshen up the jokes a bit each year. The fried chicken was pretty good, ribs were as atrocious as always, corn was, well Green Giant frozen; salad, bread and butter were good. We also enjoyed the strawberry shortcake. We had a nice time at this show, AGAIN!!
On Monday, we did not have an ADR because we really didn't know what we would be doing (I had squeezed a Universal visit in there). In the afternoon I started calling around trying to get something, but Disney Dining told me that EVERYTHING was booked unless I wanted to eat at 9:00 p.m. The kids really wanted a buffet for a change. We tried to go early to the Cape May buffet (one of our favorites) but they weren't open yet. So we drove over to the Grand Floridian, knowing there were LOTS of restaurants there and surely we would get in somewhere. At about 5:00 p.m. I walked up to the podium at 1900 Park Fair and the hostess said it would be absolutely no problem to seat us. As soon as we were seated, I wished I could have just gotten up and left. The noise level was incredible in here. LOTS and LOTS of yelling, squealing children. I wasn't really surprised, but I had just forgotten what a noisy place this was. I had eaten here twice before (breakfast and dinner) many years ago. I think of all the character buffets, the kids might be the unruliest here. And the parents were yelling across the room to their children. It wasn't pleasant, but I should have known.
The buffet here was kind of a disappointment. I do feel that the quality has gone down. While the food wasn't "gross", I wouldn't call it delicious either. My prime rib was on the tough side, the desserts looked better than they were. The salmon was good, the mashed potatoes were good, and that was about it. The buffet was set up poorly and myself and other people at the buffet kept shaking our heads and saying how stupid it was to have to go from side to side with all these people. Then people were lined up for the self-service ice cream and basically blocking one half of the buffet. So, it was basically "just a meal" and I couldn't get out of there fast enough.
The people with little ones seemed to be having a grand time. So, this is just not the place for me and my teenagers. We need a quieter buffet!
On our last night, we were off-site. We called ahead to Bahama Breeze and got right in at 5:00 p.m. This place wasn't too bad. Not as good as I remember. The selection on the menu seem to be not as varied as I thought it was and the wait staff seemed kind of grumpy. I had coconut shrimp which was very good, my dad had Jerk Chicken, mom had Tilapia, and DD had quesidillas. My DS wasn't eating, but that is another story....
Well, thanks for reading and if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them!
