A picky persons' TS review! LONG! - Updated Oct.28/06

[sunny_stace]

Hey guys! I know it's taken me forever to get to but here is my TS review report! Now, I did go with another person but I cannot remember for the life of me what she ate for most of the trip so I've just stuck to my own. However, if you have more specific questions about one spot, I will do my best to remember or I'll bug her to remember! But here's my view for starters!

1. Chef Mickey's - Dinner (buffet)
We arrived here at 4:45pm for our 5 pm seating (the first of the night), and they weren't finished even setting everything up! There were a ton of us lined up. They took the little picture in front of the big Chef Mickey's plate which you will be offered later in a package for an additional cost. Ours turned out horrible so we did not purchase it! We continued to sit around in the lobby while the food was brought out and were seated around 5:15pm.
Now, we had just arrived that morning around 11am, gone straight to the Magic Kingdom and not stopped since (we had also been travelling since 11pm the night before with nooooo sleeping! lol). We were very very hungry and tired! My DBFF got in trouble from Minnie for not twirling her napkin during the song! It was hilarious! There was a ton of character interaction from chip & dale, minnie, goofy, and of course Mickey. Donald was out in the lobby (and he stole my plate when I walked past him!) and posing for pictures and playing with the kids around him. It was a great way to start off a great 2 weeks of Disney Dining! And oh yes, the food. Well, I ate mostly from the Children's buffet. Everything was kept hot and full which was impressive. The mac and cheese was a little bland but I added some shredded cheddar from the salad bar and that made it great! The chicken strips were crispy and moist, the mickey raviolis were good (though a lot of sauce for my taste..also, American tomato sauce tastes strange to me, not bad, just spicy and a little more tangy than I'm used to. I'm used to Canadian hunts sauce being used for my mum's sauce). May I also mention that I am now a true believer in parmesan mashed potatos? Oh Heavens!! They just melt in your mouth!! So good, I ate three helpings! For dessert I had chocolate cake and some chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce! We left here with smiles and very very full bellies!

2. Mama Melrose - Dinner (Fantasmic Package)
This is a very cute little restaurant! I fully enjoyed the decor, however I did notice the music after a while...it was good, but the same six or so songs played over and over again!! It was very very strange and DBFF and I felt like we were having crazy deja vu! We were seated very very quickly after checking in (I didn't even have time to use the restroom in between checking in and being seated! I was impressed!) The menu looked great but I must admit we weren't all that hungry as we had had breakfast and had snacked quite a bit all day long (our adr was 4:45). we ordered the cheese flat bread to split as our appetizer. Now this would have been a big hit with me, except that they use fontina cheese which is very bitter tasting and not my favourite...and they used quite a bit of it on ours. It was also covered in herbs which is another thing I'm not fond of. What I did eat of it though was good! And DBFF devoured it at first, she thought it was fantastic! They were a little too speedy in bringing our entrees - we had just started our appetizer! But the speed was great with drink refills which...I don't even know how many we had each! It was very hot and we were very thirsty! I had the chicken parmesan which is normally a very safe bet for me. I was put off however by the amount of herbs used in the breading! It was crazy, the breading looked kinda green there was so much! I was very dissappointed. The chicken breast was also very thick and I personally perfer mine a little thinner. I scraped some of the batter off the chicken and ate a few bites. It was fine that way! The spaghetti it came with was pretty good. Nice and plain, just how I like it! For dessert I had the chocolate lava cake which was nice and warm and rich! Very good. I had to force it all down though, very full! Now, though I wouldn't likely eat here again, it is a personal issue. DBFF fully enjoyed her meal (I'm just too picky), it's a nice place, clean, great service - give it a chance if you don't mind herbs! LOL

3. Crystal Palace - Character Breakfast Buffet
What a BEAUTIFUL restaurant, inside and out! I was very impressed with the decor and architecture! Not overly impressed however with the way they organized the check-in and pager system. Personally, it was fine for use since I knew how it was working, but no one was informing people when they came up that they had to wait in a line to check-in and then get the pager to be called in. Many people were walking up and milling around with no idea what to do! Some signs or something could fix that up, or an additional greeter! (the one at the door was very sweet!) I must say it was quite a long wait from when we checked-in to when we were seated. Our adr time was 10:20am and we were seated near 11am and wound up being hurried out for the lunch crowd! There also wasn't a full selection of food left and none of it was being replaced when finished so we had to hurry and though we definately had more than enough food, we didn't get all of everything that we wanted. Oh well! Lord knows my hips don't need any more puffed french toast! What we did have though was pretty good! things were (mostly) still nice and hot and fresh enough. We each managed to get a piece of puffed french toast which I think I could eat my weight in! It was soooo good! However, if it's fried and has cinnamon sugar on it, I'll love it! LOL, the bacon was fantastic and the waffles were pretty good too! Also, one thing I love about American restaurants is biscuits!! I ate 4! I know I know, but it's vacation! We saw all the characters (pooh, tigger, piglet, and eeyore) quite quickly and they were great! They played with the kids and gave hugs and kisses! The staff were great too. Very good about controlling the ravenous crowd and also speedy with drinks and plate pick up. Also, our waitress mentioned they had recieved some bad news about a fellow CM and asked us to put him in our prayers which we did more than willingly and still hope everything turned out okay. This was a great great meal and I will definately return!

Well, it's my bedtime now so I promise to finish up soon. If you have any questions at all, let me know and I'll do my best to answer! Coming soon: Coral Reef, CRT, 1900 Park Fare, Citricos and more!

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Thank you for the reviews. I'm also going to Chef Mickey's, Mama Melrose, Coral Reef, CRT dinner, and 1900 Park fare.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reviews ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[Schucraig]

Great reviews! I can't wait for more!

 

[mama2ella]

thnaks!! looking forward to reading the rest!

 

[sunny_stace]

hey guys! Back for more...let's get on with it!

4. Coral Reef - late lunch
can you believe it actually took someone as picky as me, 5 days before having to eat off the children's menu?! DBFF and I were shocked! DBFF got to eat all the seafood she wanted (which included something that looked to me like catfood - either tuna or salmon - but she declared it delicious!) and I could enjoy the beauty of the aquarium! I had never been to this restaurant before and was surprised by how small it actually is! I imagined it being much bigger! It is however very lovely and I loved the tiling in the waiting area! Next time I would love to sit closer to the aquarium glass but we were just one row up which was just fine. I did notice that the people sat next to the glass were often being disrupted by others trying to get closer for pictures and kids so you could consider that a drawback I guess. It was kinda hard to concentrate on eating watching all the life swimming around so close (there was also a sae turtle sleeping on the aquarium floor up against the glass - I love sea turtles!). Being that I'm not a seafood eater nor a steak eater I decided the children's menu was for me! I had Triton's pasta with cheese sauce but in an adult portion size...which was HUGE! It was curly elbow macaroni with pre-fab cheese sauce on it. There were little red bits in the sauce and I'm still not sure what it was but I just picked them all out! LOL. For dessert DBFF and I both had the chocolate wave which also comes with this amazing white chocolate ice cream! Oh good Heavens it was sooooo good! I found the grand marnier centre a little bitter on it's own but as long as you had some of the cake it was gooey and rich and delish! We never went without drink refills here either which is always awesome and it didn't take long for us to be seated after we checked in. They even let me play on my kids menu and take it home with me! LOL ( BTW - this was 2 days before my 25th birthday!!)

4. Cinderella's Royal Table - Breakfast - pre-plated
Oh this was GREAT! I had been wanting to eat here forever! Ever since I was a little girl but my parent's wouldn't do it, so I finally went on my own! DBFF said I looked like the little girls inside, simply in awe of everything going on around me. I cheered and did a little giggle of excitement when Cinderella came in the throne room! The line for pictures with Cindy went really quickly and we had already been called for our table before our picture was done! Service was a lot speedier than I imagined. Our waitress was great, she got our drinks right away and was very quick in bringing out the food. DBFF and I both had what we called the "fatty" breakfast (instead of the healthy one with granola and that junk lol!) which came with baccon, eggs, pastries, cheese french toast, and cheesy potato casserole. DBFF had one of the muffins in the bread basket and I had a cinnamon roll which was great. I gave DBFF my potato casserole(which I found a little spicy) in exchange for her baccon. The french toast comes with blueberry sauce on it but since I didn't think I would like it anyway, I just tried a tiny corner with no sauce...Good Heavens that french toast was good!! I wound up asking for a piece with no blueberry on it which was brought out no problem and swiftly. See I had envisioned it being like cheddar cheese but it's actually puffed dough filled with sweet cream cheese and then fried...sooo good! I also had another helping of baccon (hey, I don't eat it at home!) and DBFF had two more helpings of cheesy potatos! The characters were great, even Snow White who I nearly knocked over. When I was getting up to have my photo taken with her, my toe got caught in my flip flop strap and I almost fell over on her!! She totally laughed at me too! And for the record, I look insane in the photo (if I can figure out why my computer wont upload them than I'll show you sometime!). The fairy Godmother was very sweet also and DBFF had told them the next day was my birthday so she brought me a little cake (kinda stale but still special!) and had me make a special birthday wish! I also got my first picture with Mary Poppins (my favourite live Disney character!) and we also had Belle stop by! The characters were all great! I have to say though that my favourite part by far was watching the kids around us during the wishing ceremony. I can't wait to do this with my children, it seemed like some parents were having such a moment watching their children be so enchanted and REALLY believing in magic. It was really beautiful and touching to me. So what if your kids don't eat all the food put in front of them, childhood doesn't get as many of those moments as it used to so you who are lucky enough to have children should cherish them! That's what I think anyway. I guess I should also mention our seat. They sat us right by the windows which look out over fantasyland which was cool. I think it added to the atmosphere and it was cool to get a birds' eye view. All in all I was very very pleased with this dining experience and would definately do it again!

I will update again soon, promise!

 

[mom2kazkids]

Can't wait to read about picky eaters at Park Fare, did you do breakfast or supper?

Barb

 

[sunny_stace]

mom2kazkids - we did breakfast, and don't worry, it isn't going to be a bad review!! It should be up sometime on Friday (my first day off in forever!! lol)

 

[sunny_stace]

and here's some more for you to read!

1900 Park Fare - Character Breakfast Buffet
Let me tell you, for me, the enchantment started when we walked in the door passageway and I spotted Mary Poppins greeting customers as they entered! I hurried up to her like a little girl! Mary is my favourite as I've mentioned before, and even after seeing her at CRT, it was like a new experience as she was in regular mary poppins gear (at CRT she is wearing her Jolly Holiday outfit). As we were getting ready to have our photo taken together, she told me to stand up straight and not slouch and wished me a happy birthday! (oh yes, this was my 25th b-day breakfast!) What a perfect way to start my special day. DBFF said I was glowing. May I also say that this is a beatuiful little restaurant! Though it's decor is quite simplistic, it's also charming and elegant. The characters were coming around quickly and included Alice, The Mad Hatter (so so awesome!!), pooh bear and tigger. When we got to the table there was a special placemat set out for me and a card signed by all the characters at the restaurant that morning! The waitress and the Mad Hatter gave me a birthday crown! The mad hatter wished me a happy birthday and asked me why the day was special for him. I said, "I don't know, why?" and he cried out about how it was his UNbirthday of course!! I thought this was so clever! LOL! The character interaction was great but DBFF thought Alice seemed snobby (I tried to tell her that Alice is simply more proper than the others but she didn't believe me LOL!) Somehow amongst all this excitement we managed to eat a ton of food! Bacon and waffles, pancakes, biscuits, french toast, scrambled eggs and pastries. Everything was really great! Fresh and hot and delicious! And just when my belly was about to explode from the amount of food in it, our waitress and the mad hatter came back with a birthday cupcake! It was pretty good (just a white cupcake with white icing and mickey sprinkles) and DBFF and I finished it off. The service, food and atmosphere were great. We were seated very very quickly (which surprised me! being the middle seating of the morning and all...) and I would definately return. I'd like to try it at dinner as well! Awesome!

Citricos - Dinner
After a great start to the day and 3 different parks, we went back to POR and got all gussied up and headed back to the GF. Citricos shares it's lobby with Victoria and Albert's and it is a very nice lobby looking out over the pool area. We waited for probably about 15 minutes or so and were then seated at a small table right next to the open kitchen. It was nice but I would have preferred to sit closer to the windows but whatever. We got a chance to talk to the chefs while waiting for our food ( which was good because DBFF and I were really starting to get on each others' nerves! We argued all through dinner! Very happy birthday!). I can't honestly say our waiter was overly attentive, we probably sat at the table for about 15 minutes before we were offered drinks and then another 10 or so before we were asked for our order or had the bread basket brought out. It was more this one Chef who was supervising the kitchen who came out and took care of us. DBFF had some kind of seafood as her appetizer and entree. I of course ate from the children's menu! For my appetizer I had mozzerella sticks (though they're called crispy cheese on the menu - I asked what it was ahead of time), and as an entree I had the mickey Mac and cheese which was very very large in size (an adult portion) and pretty good by Disney mac and cheese standards. We didn't order dessert as DBFF had pre-ordered me a birthday cake! Which was very very nice of her, too bad that when the chef brought it out we were in the middle of a squabble! The chef took a picture of us before we cut into it and we both look so irritated, we now find it absolutely hilarious! But our argument ended as chocolate took over the table. The cake was absolutely GORGEOUS!!! It chocolate cake, with milk chocolate mousse filling, milk chocolate icing on top which was also covered in a fudge chocolate fondant! Oh Heavens it was incredible! We each had two peices and had the rest boxed up to take back to the hotel. I should mention that you could see a bit of the Wishes display from MK through the far windows toward the back of the restaurant which was nice. I was also surprised by how many families I saw and how well behaved all the children were. Good on you if you were one of the families there that night! The dress code didn't seem to be overly enforced either I must say. There were a few women in spaghetti strap tanks and men in hats. Bu whatever, it was a still a pretty nice place. I can't say that for myself I would rush back, but if you like frou-frou food this would be great! DBFF fully enjoyed her adult menu food! Again, not the best service from the wait staff, but the chefs were very nice and helpful! Overall, a pretty good experience.

 

[joiev98]

Thanks for the great reviews!