No fancy title..dining review 11/21-11/28/16

[kelscross]

Hello everyone!

This isn't a super fancy dining report. Just a few words about our dining experiences recently. A short background: Myself and my 2 DD (15 and 16) decided to have a Thanksgiving with Mickey. We got the free dining promotion on the last day of the allowed dates and it was honored the length of our trip!

Here is our reviews:

Tony's town square - dinner was as expected. We were sat promptly around our ADR time. We all had the same entree, chicken parm. The only hiccup was we had indicated my DD (15) had a strawberry allergy so we could see what desserts she could choose from. Somehow that translated to her entire meal being gluten free. They corrected their error immediately and brought her the entree replacement within a few mins. The server suggested next time to not mention that particular allergy at check in because they often get confused and only want her to order from the allergy free menu completely. We took his advice and would just ask about strawberries if we weren't sure and it went smoother. My dessert was the Cannoli and it didn't disappoint. Last year they had a cute Lady and the Tramp in powered coco on the plate. Not this year. Not a big deal, still delicious. Both DD got the chocolate Gelato and said it was fine. Will return here on future trips.

Ohana character breakfast - Sat about 30 mins after our ADR. Food was great! Always a favorite but then again we love breakfast foods. 2nd platter took awhile to come out after we requested. Girls love the guava juice. Fantastic character interaction. Will definitely return.

Chip and Dale Harvest - Sat 60+ mins after our ADR time. Hostess stated they were running way behind. Once seated, took at least 20 more mins to get our drink order. Server was nice but clearly had too many tables. Maybe staffing issues that particular night? We were seated in the outer part of the circle which was fine. The rotation scenery was nice. I really liked the food. My 16 year old stated the beef was "slap" which apparently is good in regular human terms. Ha! Girls didn't care for the potatoes. Said they tasted like feet. Not sure how they know what feet taste like but I thought they were good. Mac and cheese was ok. It was garnished with gold fish crackers which I thought was kind of cheap. Great character interaction chip and Dale were awesome! Now here comes the super bad part. Lol. The seating we had was banquet style so you were sitting next to another family not really sharing a table but close enough. The family we were sat next to were incredibly rude. Up and down and up and down the entire meal. Now when characters come by I get it, although they should have sat their children on the outside. But they were up and down the entire meal! Each time they would kick my DD, get some sort of body part or hair in her plate! I finally said something to the mother when her son stretched out on the bench and propped his feet in my DD lap. She acted like I was crazy. Mind you, they could have done their ants in their pants routine down on the other end of their table where there wasn't anyone but no they chose to enter and exit the 2 foot slot between ours over and over and over. Sorry still bitter over the rudeness! Ha! Dessert was strawberry shortcake which was fantastic! Sadly my DD couldn't have and the over stressed, under staffed server was terribly rude when we asked for an alternate dessert for her. She got a plain sugar cookie after a very long wait. Will probably not return unless they were to change the seating. Just not for us.

That's it for now. Stay tuned for the rest of our meals as I have to get to work soon!

 

[kelscross]

Now for the rest of our reviews:

Tusker House Thanksgiving Dinner - we had limited choices for thanksgiving due to when we booked our trip vs ADR available. I know they serve African foods but was glad they served standard thanksgiving foods as well. Seating was prompt. While we waited in this cantina area outside (sorry not that familiar with this restaurant) there was an entertainer playing guitar which was nice. Food choices were ok. Again we weren't there for the African foods so not disappointed in our options. Characters were ok. It was emptying out when we arrived so we got to spend a lot of time with Donald and Goofy. Desserts weren't as plentiful as I expected on a buffet. We probably won't return for no reason other than it wasn't our type of food on a normal operating day, served it's purpose for thanksgiving.

Be our guest - quick service lunch. I will admit I was nervous about this one because my girls are plain particular eaters. I warned them that the French menu might not be the best for them but it was the experience and ambiance we were going for. We ordered our meals ahead. Called in promptly to choose our table. We sat in the west wing. The atmosphere was amazing! Other than people standing around your tables while you were eating waiting for the beast picture to change (really people can you step back a little to see that). Food was delivered magically to our table and wow! My girls said hands down the best meal they had had in a couple days! One got the roast beef sandwich which I was concerned about it being rare due to the description but it was cooked to perfection. The other got the turkey sandwich and loved it! Both were minus any condiments bc they didn't care for the sauces but they still scarfed it down! I had the braised pork dish and it was amazing. Perfect flavors! Desserts were strawberry cream cheese cupcake, lemon merengue cupcake and I had the "grey stuff" cupcake. All delicious, we left there stuffed to the gills. Took a quick walk around the other dining areas as well. 100% will return on next trip.

Crystal Palace Dinner - seated maybe 20 mins after our ADR. Good character interaction. Took a few awhile to circulate around. We were finished way before Pooh and Piglet made their way to us but we sat and enjoyed the wait. Offering on the buffet were good, great variety for all types of food preferences. Girls thought the mashed potatoes here were "slap" (again translation is good lol). I thought the consistency was a bit thin but still good flavor. Dessert options were just ok. Wasn't crazy about them. Overall good experience and will return.

Princess breakfast Norway - always a staple when we come to disney. The wait staff has always been great. I have friends from Norway so always fun to talk to the staff about that. Food was good. 2nds came out quickly on request and we didn't want the whole platter the 2nd time just certain choices. I guess you can ask for certain things or at least we did because I didn't want to waste. I will coin the phrase my kids use...the cheesy potatoes were "slap"! The cons: you wait in this long uncovered line to check in, then you wait in another long line area to be seated. Thank goodness it was not raining or scorching hot or this would be an issue. Not sure how they deal with that. Our other issue was character quality. How do I say this...they were...subpar for princesses. Honestly they looked like they grabbed someone out the back slapped on an ill fitting messy wig and a dress that didn't remotely fit and sent them out. Cinderella was disheveled and unkempt. Her black hair was sticking out from the blonde wig! I thought we were being punked disney style! It was so uncomfortable to watch but you couldn't stop looking! I know that sounds very critical and even odd. Didn't ruin our experience, just was shocked at that lack of quality. Will continue to return though.

Last but not least...
1900 Park Fare dinner - the check in area changed. No photo when you walk in like before. Odd to only see one step sister usually we got both, but the one we got was hilarious! Cinderella was very put together, not like the one at the Norway breakfast who looked like Cinderella with a hangover haha (sorry still so shocked about that). Food was excellent. Many options to choose from. Dessert probably the best variety of any of our experiences this trip. 100% will return as its a classic for us.

 

[HolRae]

Thanks for taking time to share your experiences. It sounds like you had a great trip.

 

[vettegirl]

Thanks so much for sharing!! What a bummer at Garden Grill! I would have been angry.

 

[Dismamx2]

Nice reviews, I worried about BOG also as I have fussy eaters but all was good and looking forward to it again. Glad you had great experiences apart from Garden Grill.

 

[hygienejean]

I enjoyed reading your review! So funny about the princesses in Norway there and I now have learned a new word! LOL! Those cheesy potatoes are most definitely 'slap'!

 

[Roxyfire]

Is it wrong that I now want a picture with Hangover Cinderella more than anything? It's too bad some of your experiences were not great. It definitely makes me shy away from dinner time reservations!

 

[sleepydog25]

Actually, I prefer get-to-the-point dining reviews, so thanks for your effort. I must agree with the poster above, but I would loved to have gotten a glimpse of the party-hearty princesses!

 

[kelscross]

I tried to get one but couldn't be discreet! I even think my girls gave up the photo op with her but I'll have to check out the photos! Haha!

 

[Ravishing_Leah_Rude]

Thanks for your review!

 

[iheartbelle87]

Yum, everything sounds so good!

I'm laughing at the "hung over Cinderella"

 

[akaDaddy]

Have to agree on Be Our Guest Lunch. Hands down the best QS in the MK! Our family eats at least two lunches there every time we go.

The "hung over Cinderella" comment reminded me of the Snow White we encountered at EPCOT years ago. On our way to her station, we meet her with another Cast Member finishing her shift. Our girls were young and just bolted to see her, screaming her name. She was very sweet, bend down to tell them "the dwarfs were causing a ruckus and she needed to break it up, but she'd be back soon." The Cast Member told us when the Meet & Greet would continue so we decided to grab a snack and shop. A few hours later, we were back to see Snow White. When we got to the front of the line, you could tell that the heat was really taking it's toll on her: not at all "put together" as she was earlier in the day. When our girls got to see her, she remembered telling them about having to "take care of the dwarfs" and followed up on the story with how they had made a mess in the stables. What's priceless is our youngest's response, obviously noticing she looked a little out of sorts. "how many of them did you have to wrestle with" I thought the Cast Member was going to loose it