Feeding the Family: Disney Dining Reviews

[Roxyfire]

This is so great, thank you! I had no idea what to expect for any restaurant and now I see Crystal Palace is definitely a great option for breakfast.

 

[awalker1015]

Great dining report!!

 

[disnut1149]

Great reviews. Thanks!

 

[Jenna319]

Great reviews, thanks!!

 

[kastoney]

Yum, your food at Cape May looks delicious. Not sure why it has never been on my radar before but as I sit here looking at all the breakfast pictures in a house with no milk or eggs, I could totally devourer all of it ; )

Your meal at ABC commissary looks pretty decent. We ate there several years ago and it went down in history as our worst disney meal ever. But between your review and several others I've seen as of late, it looks like they are definitely upping the quality of their food.

 

[RachealM]

Restaurant: Hollywood & Vine
Location: Hollywood Studios
Meal Type: Breakfast

Atmosphere

Inside and out, the Hollywood & Vine is themed like a 50’s diner and even shares a connecting hallway with the 50’s Prime Time Café next door. You’ll find green table tops, lots of chrome trim, and a couple of walls painted with lovely murals that feature Hollywood landmarks – but, the overall style doesn’t necessarily fit well with the Disney Junior characters.

There is a mix of green-topped tables with chairs and banquettes throughout the large dining room, but a lot of the tables are close together and make the space cramped and slightly difficult to weave through when the restaurant is full. The buffet is split into two identical strips across the back wall, providing more room to maneuver when visiting the stations.




Food

At the cold bar, there was cottage cheese and a selection of fruit that included: melon, cantaloupe, bananas, apples, strawberries, and oranges. It was a very small selection compared to other buffets, but it still tasted fresh. Across from the buffet there was a large yogurt bar with Greek yogurt. Only the standard (plain) yogurt was available, but, in my son’s eyes, the assortment of toppings made up for to loss of flavored bases.



Up next, we have the hot foods. You'll find the traditional scrambled eggs, but you'll also discover Frittatas, Sliced Ham, Potato Casserole, and a build-your-own breakfast burrito hotplate. The ham was a little dry, the potatoes were a bit heavy, and the eggs were pretty basic – but, I absolutely loved the frittata here!



Moving along, there are other breakfast favorites such as Bacon, Sausage, Biscuits, Breakfast Gravy, and French Toast Sticks. I’m pretty sure that as long as Disney continues to serve endless bacon like this on these breakfast buffets, we’ll continue to eat at them



Oatmeal, (what I think was) Quiona, and Cheese Grits were offered as hot cereals and there was a separate area for cold cereals (not pictured). A delicious Apple Cobbler was also available. It seems like a peculiar breakfast selection, but it’s pretty yummy and definitely worth giving a try!



There’s also a section of the buffet that’s lower in height for children and is stocked with Mickey Waffles, Pancakes, and Potato Tots. “Children’s” label or not, it’s all fair game when Mickey waffles are involved!



Finally, there’s my favorite part of the buffet – the breakfast pastries! Danishes, Croissants, Muffins, Cinnamon Rolls and Breakfast Bread make any meal happier.




Meeting the Characters

A highlight of this dining experience is the ability to meet your favorite Disney Junior characters, who meet guests during breakfast and lunch. Sophia and Jake are available to meet out in the park, but this is the only place right now that you’ll be able to meet Doc McStuffins and Handy Manny. The best part about character dining experience is being able to sit and enjoy your meal and the characters come around to you for pictures and autographs!

While other character buffet meals usually estimate that it takes an hour to see all of the characters, it may take an hour and a half to see them all here. When we were initially seated, we had just missed seeing Doc. It took her the full hour and a half before she reached our table again, and that was with the server informing the handler that there were tables (us included) that had finished their meals and were just waiting to see her still. They even had to make Doc continue meet & greets and skip one of the dance parties to try and catch up on the rotation.



Dining Event

At different points during the meal (seemingly about every 30minutes), music will play and the characters and Cast Members will invite the kids up to the front for a dance party. It’s a wonderful event for kids to get up and have some fun, but it can definitely make an already crowded restaurant seem even more chaotic. Making your way to the buffet and back with plates of food is slightly difficult with excited children dancing around the area!


Adding It Up

Hollywood & Vine honors Tables in Wonderland, so here’s our breakdown with the 20% discount.




Overall Impression

Overall, the kids enjoyed spending some time with the Disney Junior characters during the dance parties and the breakfast food was pretty decent. I felt as if the atmosphere would have been nice under normal dining experiences, but it didn’t fit right with the Disney Junior theme. We love a lively atmosphere, but this dining room can become downright chaotic - even for Disney standards. We did not have a horrible experience by any means, but there was not enough of a draw to this venue to invite us to want to make a return visit. When weighing out the overall cost (long time spent dining and monetary amount) versus the value of our personal experience, we’ll most likely only keep the Hollywood & Vine on the list as a once-in-a-blue-moon dining option.

 

[Baklava]

Restaurant: The Crystal Palace
Location: Magic Kingdom – Main Street
Meal Type: Breakfast

This review just caused me to add a CP breakfast to our final day. The plan was that my guys were going for lunch while my daughter and I do CRT but "breakfast lasagna" has caused us to book an additional breakfast for all 4 of us on our final day.

 

[kastoney]

I can't believe you and to wait that long to see Doc. We did H&V 2 years ago and I think in the course of our hour breakfast, we saw each of the characters 2 or 3 times (aka it got awkward when they would come by for pictures we'd already taken). Agree the dance portion was a ton of fun though and the food decent, but certainly a bit overpriced considering the food and atmosphere

 

[Patty Kaufman]

the atmosphere at the restaurants seems awesome but the food may leave a little to be desired looks like

 

[Naughty Nurse]

Was really interested in reading your review for H & V as we are heading there in Dec...and I think my daughter is going to love meeting the characters...disappointed however to hear we could have a long wait to meet the 4 characters...fingers crossed we are seated in the right place to meet them all as they pass us and don't have to wait for them to return

BTW...loving the way you write your reviews with so much detail and photos

 

[pumba]

fantastic review and I love PHOTOS....thanks for taking the time to do this

 

[RachealM]

Restaurant: The Plaza
Location: The Magic Kingdom – Main Street
Meal Type: Lunch

Atmosphere
The lovely exterior of The Plaza fits in with the period appropriate theming on Main Street.



The interior of the restaurant features Art Nouveau décor with pastel colors and delicate decorative touches. There are a lot of windows along the front of the building and mirrors throughout the dining room, so the space is light and inviting. The restaurant is very small (I’d estimate there’s probably around 30 to 35 tables), so the space seems intimate - but not crowded.




Food
The menu mostly consists of American classics such as burgers and sandwiches.



Even though the selections are somewhat limited, we all still ended up selecting something different. Here’s a closer look at what we ordered on this trip.

Grilled Chicken Strips
My daughter isn’t big on sandwiches, so she selected the grilled chicken strips with a cluster of grapes as a side. We were surprised at the amount of grilled chicken with this kid’s meal, as the large tenders made up about three times the amount of meat that came with the similar chicken brochette dish she had ordered at Be Our Guest. I thought the chicken looked a little dry, but she eats her chicken with a 2:1 (ranch dressing to chicken) ratio, so she thought each bite was just fine




Grilled Cheese Sandwich
My son couldn’t pass up one of his favorites, so his meal was a grilled cheese sandwich with fries. There’s nothing “special” to say about this dish, but it was the perfect option to make my 4-year old happy. Additionally, there were so many fries with my son’s plate and such a large cluster of grapes on my daughter’s dish, that we easily split their servings so that each of them had grapes and fries.




Plaza Club
This was the first (and probably the last) time my husband decided to try the Plaza Club. It’s described as Smoked Ham, Turkey, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, and Mayonnaise layered on Sourdough Bread. Without the lettuce and tomato, it was mostly just a plain ham sandwich with very little turkey and bacon. Needless to say, he didn’t enjoy it very much.




Grilled Chicken Sandwich
I decided to play it safe and go with something I’ve had before and enjoyed - the Grilled Chicken Sandwich. It was topped with ham and Swiss cheese, on a kaiser roll, and served with a side of fries. It’s a pretty simple dish, but I absolutely love it as a selection for lunch, or even dinner!



We don’t typically do desserts at table service meals, but The Plaza is one of the places we make an exception for because they are so amazing! These are the desserts we split.

Original Banana Split
The banana split here is very traditional: A banana with vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream, topped with fudge, strawberry sauce, pineapple, nuts, whipped cream, and cherries. Overall, I think they went a little light on the toppings and a tad heavy on the whipped cream, but it was still fabulous. The price point is a little high for the dessert, but it’s quite large and is a nice dessert to split between at least two people.



Brownie Sundae
Ok, I’ve saved the best for last. This is a fudge brownie, topped with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, and whipped cream. It was absolutely delicious! As a chocolate lover, this is hands-down my favorite dessert at The Plaza. Additionally, this is also a very large dessert! I’d suggest ordering one to split (or at least to see the size of first) before ordering a bunch of these for your family.




Adding It Up
The prices here are great considering this is a table service restaurant. The Plaza also accepts Tables in Wonderland, so this was our break-down with the 20% discount.




Overall Impression
The Plaza continues to be one of our favorite lunch spots in the Magic Kingdom. The one drawback I will note is that there is no restroom inside of the restaurant. There is one right next door, but you have to exit the restaurant and walk outside to get to it. It’s very close, but it’s definitely not a desirable trip to make during your meal on days when it’s raining.

Aside from the limited menu and lack of a restroom, the location is fabulous, the atmosphere is relaxed, the entrees are good, and the desserts are terrific! If you are looking for a budget-friendly, table service restaurant in the Magic Kingdom, then The Plaza should definitely be on your radar as a possibility.

 

[crazycatlady]

I love your reviews! Thank you for posting them!

 

[1983DisneyFanatic]

Thanks for the great reviews!

 

[kastoney]

We're huge plaza fans too, love the great food and more importantly the small price tag. Though I'm with you on the bathrooms, especially when you have to go during a rain storm. Completely defeats the purpose.

 

[RachealM]

Restaurant: Nine Dragons
Location: Epcot – China Pavillion
Meal Type: Dinner

Atmosphere
Aside from the ornate gold roof with ornamentations, the exterior of the building is rather simple. The front of the restaurant is lined with large windows that frame views of the World Showcase Lagoon. The entrance is located on the side of the building, just past the octagonal windows.



The interior is absolutely stunning. You’ll find partitions throughout the dining room with intricate wood carvings that include, what else, dragons! The ceiling is also adorned with gold dragons and colorful Chinese lanterns. But, the décorations you don’t want to miss seeing are the exquisite glass dragons. The main feature wall holds a display that showcases these unique glass dragons, which served as inspiration for the restaurant’s name. The interior atmosphere is so immersive, it really feels like you are visiting China.




Food
The menu here features traditional Chinese options, as well as Cantonese, Mongolian, Szechuan, Hunan and Kiangche-style cuisines.




Pot Stickers
We don’t generally order appetizers here, but decided to go ahead and try the Pot Stickers on this trip. The order consisted of four sautéed pork and vegetable dumplings served with cilantro-soy sauce. The plain dumplings were very tasty, but they were exceptionally good when combined with the dipping sauce! Even though I think $6.98 is a little pricey for four pot stickers, they were simply fantastic and definitely something we’d order again.




Chicken Consomme with Pork Dumplings
We went ahead and ordered a bowl of Chicken Consomme as an appetizer for my son to try and fulfill his request for Wonton soup. Unfortunately, he didn’t enjoy the pork dumplings, refused to eat a second bite, and slid the bowl over to my place setting. No problem there! The dumplings seemed a bit too chewy, but the flavor was nice. Because of the texture, I’d say they were just “ok”. The consommé broth, however, is absolutely fabulous! Even though the broth was good, this is not something we’re likely to order again.




Kid’s Sweet & Sour Chicken
The kids both requested plain chicken with some sweet & sour sauce on the side (instead of the menu-listed honey chicken option). They each received a nice mix of chicken nuggets, egg fried rice, carrots, and broccoli served on an adorable Mickey shaped plate. The food must have been excellent, because they both gobbled it up, broccoli and all!




General Tso’s Chicken
This isn’t listed on the menu as a main entrée, but our wonderful server actually suggested doing a General Tso’s Chicken as a choice for my husband for the sweet and spicy combination. We have a couple of local restaurants in town that make this dish very well, but both of us agree that the sauce here at Nine Dragons is superior. As always, the chicken was tender and the fried rice was yummy – so, my husband had no complaints!




Canton Pepper Beef
I generally go with the Kung Pao Chicken or the Sweet-and-Sour Pork with spinach noodles, but this time I decided to try out the Canton Pepper Beef entrée. This is a mix of stir-fried beef, onions, and bell peppers in a savory sauce with a side of rice. The beef was extremely tender, the veggies had a slight crunch, and the sauce was delicious. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it now, so I’m guessing it will be pretty difficult for me to order anything but this dish again!




Adding It Up

I didn’t notice until after our trip home that were charged for two of the Chicken Consume soups priced at $4.98 each, so this meal should have been a bit less. The Nine Dragons Restaurant does accept Tables in Wonderland, so this was our breakdown for the meal with a 20% discount.




Overall Impression
My only complaint is that there can be a lot of “street traffic” that comes in and out using the lobby restrooms here – and there are only a couple of stalls. This visit was on a very crowded Food & Wine festival day, so the line to use the women’s restroom in the restaurant stretched pretty long due to so many of the non-restaurant guests walking in instead of visiting the open restroom next door in Norway.

Otherwise, the Nine Dragons is a fabulous restaurant choice in Epcot! The décor is gorgeous and the views of the lagoon are great if you are seated near the front windows. Nine Dragons is one of our preferred dining venues here and definitely a place we’ll be visiting again

 

[DisneyJo]

Your Nine Dragons meal looks and sounds delicious

 

[kastoney]

Looks like a great meal at nine dragons. I've never really heard too much about it and we have an authentic sichuan chinese place by our house so its never really been on my radar. That just changed ; )

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

Do you think you could see some of illuminations from inside this restaurant?

 

[Michael S]

The reviews here are fantastic. Gives you a great indicator of the actual experiences. I can do without all the food pictures, as it is making me FAR too hungry lol. They all look delectable.