DL dining: Appearance over Appetizing

[irlandaise]

Sorry about the dry meat at Blue Bayou, but thank you for posting that beautiful photo. I can almost hear the crickets and the soft banjo music!

 

[DizMe]

I don’t know if you tried Friday or Saturday, since the dancers were there both nights. We ate at Hearthstone Friday night (13th) with a reservation, and they did seem busy with a lot of people waiting. Our food was super slow and my burger was warm at best (cooked, just not hot). Honestly, I was underwhelmed. Everyone had talked up Hearthstone and I was looking for a nice meal without having to deal with the Napa Rose prix fixe which we had no interest in. The food was decent and would have been better if had been hot, but it was incredibly loud in there, and way too cold.

In terms of sheer ambiance, our meal at BB on Thursday was better. This was the best table we’ve ever had at BB, and we have sat waterfront more than once. I didn’t even ask for a waterfront table, we just got lucky, and it was a two top which they pretend not to have when you’re making reservations. But the prime rib was dry — I don’t even know how they managed that with a medium rare piece.

I like good, simple food, but I agree that overall, food at the DL resort is more about looks than taste. I’d rather have a burger at Habit Grill than inside DL. As to my thoughts on In N Out, I grew up with them, they are decent and fresh, and they are also affordable and much better than any big national chain. The fries are fresh, but only okay, and it honestly depends on which In N out you go to, which doesn’t make sense, but is still true. We have three within 10 minutes of us and one has really good fries consistently. The fries would be better if they double fried them, like Five Guys. But Five Guys is so expensive you might as well go to Red Robin.

Best food of my most recent trip was Bengal BBQ, which is consistently good. Prior visit, best food was the short rib from Carnation, ordered with mashed potatoes instead of mac ‘n cheese.

It was either Th or Fri. I'm sorry to hear about your experience! We did get in a few days later and it was excellent and not overly crowded. We weren't looking for a full-fledged meal. My dd, sister, and I each had a bowl of French onion soup and a beer, all of which hit the spot!

Here's a pic of my DD eating her soup!

 

[KimberMama]

It was either Th or Fri. I'm sorry to hear about your experience! We did get in a few days later and it was excellent and not overly crowded. We weren't looking for a full-fledged meal. My dd, sister, and I each had a bowl of French onion soup and a beer, all of which hit the spot!

Here's a pic of my DD eating her soup!

View attachment 922526

It looks so yummy! I was seriously tempted by that soup, but we hadn’t eaten proper food since breakfast, and DH is vegan so he wasn’t going to split it with me.

I try to never say never. We may very well eat at Hearthstone again, I just don’t think it will be at the top of my list. I did appreciate that they had a plant based meal for DH that wasn’t just an Impossible burger. And I think my burger could have been good if it wasn’t room temperature, and also tough for supposedly being wagyu. But the flavors were great, with a bacon-shallot jam on it.

 

[LKing]

It's a little out of the way if you're staying off site and easy to miss if you don't go into GCH. I believe the hours are different than they used to be and it doesn't open until 4. I recommend a reservation though they do accept walk-ins and will text you if/when they have a table for you. However, we went the other night, got there around 6 and put in our name. We were given an estimated wait time of 15 minutes. Two hours later, they told us they wouldn't be able to get us in (party of 2). We didn't have a reservation that night but we were kind of shocked at the massive amount of people pouring in. It may have been due to the dance event, which we didn't know about at the time, but I've never had that happen before.

I'm curious, did you try to make a reservation? We went to the parks yesterday evening. It was a busy day of MK holders trying to get their last visit in and tourists arriving for the holiday week. At 6 pm, I was still able to book Hearthstone reservations for that evening.

 

[DizMe]

I'm curious, did you try to make a reservation? We went to the parks yesterday evening. It was a busy day of MK holders trying to get their last visit in and tourists arriving for the holiday week. At 6 pm, I was still able to book Hearthstone reservations for that evening.

Not through the app, no. We just walked up and there was no one else in line. They told us 15 min so we went off and looked in the gift shop etc. After 25 min, we went back and there were tons of people in line. We were then given a wait time of 30 min and after we'd waited a total of 2 hours (we'd gone out to the Craftsman Bar and had a beer so we weren't just milling around), we went back and were told they wouldn't be able to get us in. I don't really understand how they didn't know that in the first place if there were that many reservations and people ahead of us, but we did go over and discuss it with the concierge. He called over and got us into Napa Rose Lounge. We should not have taken him up on that because it wasn't a good experience and quite pricey for what we got, and I'd sworn before I'd never go back because I don't like the food.

 

[LKing]

We should not have taken him up on that because it wasn't a good experience and quite pricey for what we got, and I'd sworn before I'd never go back because I don't like the food.

I recently had a nage foam on a Lamplight Lounge dish and it was weird. I looked at the NR menu to see if your foam was considered nage as well. I don't know that I would like anything on that NR menu either.

I was recently told that non MK holders don't tend to mobile order. The admin CM who told me that said 1. people don't know how to use the app and 2. they are hesitant to use their credit card on an app. Last night we were at Royal Street Veranda just before Fantasmic. We wanted to try the coffee fritters but the line was very long. I glanced at the app and the mobile order was for immediate pick up. I quickly placed a mobile order, picked up my food, and was on my way long before anyone who was waiting in line. Edit to add that there were a lot of non MK holders in the parks yesterday because only Inspire MK holders were allowed in.

On the flip side, people that are used to WDW are more likely to book reservations for sit down meals. My guess is people booked same day reservations which kept bumping back the guests looking for a walk-in table. There is also the "Hungry Now" option on the app. I wonder if those people bump walk-ins.

Looking at the Hearthstone availability now (9:45 am on Saturday), it shows reservations for two all day starting at noon. However, if I try to book a reservation for 3 or 4, it doesn't have anything available until 10:10 pm!

 

[DizMe]

I recently had a nage foam on a Lamplight Lounge dish and it was weird. I looked at the NR menu to see if your foam was considered nage as well. I don't know that I would like anything on that NR menu either.

I was recently told that non MK holders don't tend to mobile order. The admin CM who told me that said 1. people don't know how to use the app and 2. they are hesitant to use their credit card on an app. Last night we were at Royal Street Veranda just before Fantasmic. We wanted to try the coffee fritters but the line was very long. I glanced at the app and the mobile order was for immediate pick up. I quickly placed a mobile order, picked up my food, and was on my way long before anyone who was waiting in line. Edit to add that there were a lot of non MK holders in the parks yesterday because only Inspire MK holders were allowed in.

On the flip side, people that are used to WDW are more likely to book reservations for sit down meals. My guess is people booked same day reservations which kept bumping back the guests looking for a walk-in table. There is also the "Hungry Now" option on the app. I wonder if those people bump walk-ins.

Looking at the Hearthstone availability now (9:45 am on Saturday), it shows reservations for two all day starting at noon. However, if I try to book a reservation for 3 or 4, it doesn't have anything available until 10:10 pm!

Oh, that's very clever! That may well be what happened. There were just 2 of us that night so we hadn't really thought they'd not have a spot as we were willing to wait and we got on the list at 4. We also weren't the only ones; there were 2 couples who were also on the wait list and gave up. The lounge did text us and kept bumping up the wait time. Just about the time we finally figured we should move on, the hostess let us know they would likely not be be able to accommodate us that night. We didn't mind since it wasn't something they'd anticipated--the crowd size, plus people who just sat down and stayed--but it felt like they could have let us know much sooner. Oh well!

That's very clever about using mobile order for the fritters! I love mobile order but I'm not very practiced at it. I do often use it for Bengal BBQ and treats sometimes. My friends love the Tropical Hideaway but I personally am not a fan of bao buns or Dole Whips (sacrilege, I know!) so I just order my meal from BBQ and grab a table at TH.

I like sit-down meals (not buffets, though) and generally book several during my trip. This trip we went to BB, TS's, Hearthstone (I did have a reservation for the night after we tried the walk-in!), Napa Rose Lounge (not intentionally), and Club 33. We also went to Ballast Point and Carnation Cafe without reservations. It's nice for us because we generally split meals or share (for example, DD was with us at Ballast Point and we ordered 3 appetizers and shared). She also had a coupon we used at BB for 50% off, which she was so thrilled about. I didn't tell her that me buying 3 meals at 50% off was not much of a savings over the 2 meals we were going to get (sis and me) with my 20% off MK discount. The coupon is only good if the CM is present

 

[LKing]

She also had a coupon we used at BB for 50% off, which she was so thrilled about. I didn't tell her that me buying 3 meals at 50% off was not much of a savings over the 2 meals we were going to get (sis and me) with my 20% off MK discount. The coupon is only good if the CM is present

I often see Disney employees using paper coupons for QS meals in the parks. It looks like they received several coupons and they need to look through the assortment and tear off the one that is most appropriate for that restaurant. They need to show their badge to the cashier in order to use the coupon. I don't know if they are Disney corp employees or park employees. Does your daughter receive anything like that?

 

[DizMe]

I often see Disney employees using paper coupons for QS meals in the parks. It looks like they received several coupons and they need to look through the assortment and tear off the one that is most appropriate for that restaurant. They need to show their badge to the cashier in order to use the coupon. I don't know if they are Disney corp employees or park employees. Does your daughter receive anything like that?

Yes, that's exactly what she used!