Day 6 (snack at Typhoon Lagoon and T-Rex Cafe)
For the last few trips we have tried to schedule a water park day mid week. Since we really don't need a second early day in the Animal Kingdom, we chose Wednesday to go to Typhoon Lagoon. After a little bus glitch (they ran empty buses to DTD only, while people were waiting for Typhoon), we still made it in time for rope drop. We got great chairs and went straight to the slides.
I had hip a knee surgery a few years back and can't do the slides, but I watched the others and we spent some time in the wave pool and lazy river. The only complaint I have about this park is they openly allow adults to dive into the waves in the ultra shallow water, which means anyone standing in the shallows is constantly at risk to have their knees taken out by a 200 plus pound fast moving object. In the survey I filled out, I suggested a second line across the pool where people must be behind if they are going to dive into the waves. Between the waves themselves and being hit by these adults I was pretty beaten up by day's end, as would anyone else.
As far as the food for Typhoon, we just went with snacks. My daughter and I had a Mickey ice cream bar and we all had a pretzels for lunch (sorry, no pics). We had an early 6:00 dinner at T-Rex, so this was plenty of food. Shortly after 3:00 a huge storm rolled in and we got rained out of a water park. We wanted to leave a little extra time because we had to go to Epcot and switch buses there to get back to the French Quarter.
We got dressed and took a bus to Downtown Disney and made it to T-Rex in time for my daughter to build a dino and get checked in. We were seated VERY quickly.
We never ate at T-Rex, but liked the menu and had a pretty good idea what to expect from recommendations of friends as well as seeing it in passing. I mentioned that Via Napoli was loud, but this was, by far, the loudest restaurant we have visited in all our trips. This is 100% to be expected because this place is themed to appeal to young boys, especially, and the Dinosaurs roar to life every so often. It makes for a fun atmosphere, but it may not appeal to everyone.
Our server was a uber nice and very helpful. He explained what was and was not covered on the meal plan and helped make recommendations. The overall service was slow, but I think it is a product of a full restaurant and kitchen limitations, more than our server. The other tables were getting food at the same pace. If going to T-Rex, be prepared to invest close to 90 minutes for the full experience.
Our daughter has always had a thing for unique "sippy cups" and asked if she could get the slushy in a dino along with her other drink. It was about six extra dollars and wasn't included on the dinner plan, but since she didn't forget her magic band that day, we let her get it. The cup is more cute than functional.
The steak was easily the most expensive meal on the menu, but was still covered by the dining plan. This was a no-brainer for me. I got it medium and it came out just right. You got mashed potatoes and another side. I went for balance and got waffle fries so I had carbs to match the protein. I have had great luck with steak at WDW. The one I had at the Coral Reef three years ago was awesome and so was this. I'd get it anytime!
Our daughter was worried about the lasagna because it didn't have a side, but it was a really big portion and she really liked it. It is also very dark in the restaurant and the pic was taken without a flash, so it doesn't do it justice. The sauce was a nice deep red, but it looks more like the 1900 Park Fare strawberry soup in the pic. The portion also looks smaller than it actually was.
My wife had the chicken sandwich with waffle fries. She ate half of it and got the other half to eat at a later date. I ended up eating it a day later for breakfast. She liked it and only ate half because she was full. It, like the lasagna, was a very healthy portion and we needed to leave room for dessert.
The desserts here are a little confusing. Many are packaged as a "dessert for two." We had an odd number so I'm not 100% sure if the dessert for two could be broken into a smaller portion for one.
The girls had the meteor bites for two, which was basically donut holes with chocolate and caramel dipping sauces. My apologies to Via Nappoli, the ricotta balls never made it back to the hotel from there! I knew we were picking at something round for a few days, and it was indeed these, not the ricotta balls! This was pretty basic, but good nonetheless.
I was looking for something for one on the menu and decided to go with the sorbet sampler. It was a good choice because I was able to eat it without feeling overly stuffed. It had raspberry and mango as the main flavors, which I don't buy too often at home, so it was a nice treat.
In conclusion, we really liked this restaurant. It was a little loud and hectic, but the food was good and we liked the atmosphere that was a little different from the character meals. I usually like to have two positive experiences (or negative) before making a final decision on a restaurant, so T-Rex definitely earned another visit the next trip.
My hip and knees were hurting from the water park, so I took the leftovers back to the hotel and left the girls to shop. We all had a semi-early night. The next day we had a Magic Kingdom/Hollywood Studios day planned as our days were sadly running out!