Just back - reviews of many TS restaurants

luvpooh

oh bother!
Joined
Aug 23, 1999
We just returned from 7 nights at WDW. We were not on the DDP.

10/18, first night, we went to Downtown Disney. We sat at the bar at Fulton's (PS, the bar top tables in the lounge are no longer self-seating, first come first serve. You have to be seated at them by the hostess. IMHO, the bar tops with stools looked strange being covered in white tablecloths)
We shared the fried calamari and each had a Mai Tai. Mai Tai say, that was the best drink we had of the trip! ;) The fried calamari, as always, was delish. I'm not sure what they do to it, or if it's even calamari, but it's different from anywhere else, and is so tender. Ask for their tartar sauce in addition to the marinara to dip it in. Yum-o.
We then continued on to Raglan Road. Again, took a seat at the bar. We each ordered a beer, Boddington's for me, I think Harp for DBF. We decided, after I read rave reviews on the DIS, to order the smoked cod dip. Well, sorry, we hated it. It wasn't thick like I expected, more brothy than anything. It was also fishier than I expected. AND SALTY!!! OMG was this salty, and I like salt. It was served with 4 or 5 pieces of bread that was neither soft nor toasted, kind of like it had been toasted but left to sit? We ate enough to justify having ordered it and left the rest...We would go back to Raglan Road, but definitely try something different next time.

10/19 - Breakfast in room. Lunch at Earl of Sandwich. Line was practically out the door with conventioneers on their lunch break, but it moved quickly. I had the Original 1762, which was the roast beef with horseradish sauce and cheddar. He had the Earl's Club. We also split an order of potato salad, which was made with horseradish and hot honey mustard. Different, but good. The sandwiches were a good size, hot and yummy.

I will continue with reviews of Liberty Tree Tavern, Olivia's, Food & Wine Festival, Mickey's Candy Co, Yacht Club Galley, Wine and Cheese Seminar, Turf Club Bar & Grill, Margaritaville, Artist's Palette, ESPN Club, Whispering Canyon Cafe and Giordano's Pizza.

Any questions, please ask! :)
 
We tried Earl's Sandwich out for the first time this last trip, lines were incredibly long, yes! They moved very quickly and the sandwiches were VERY good, yum!!! Cheap and great tasting, we also got desserts, I had a cupcake which was huge, DH and DD got brownies.

Great place and cheap, a definate "been there, done that, going back" kind of place!!!
 
We also loved Earl of Sandwich and it was refreshing to be at "Disney" and not have to pay $8 for a sandwich. We will definately go back there when we return to Disney.
 
On the evening of 10/19, we attended MNSSHP. We had a 4:55 ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern. Well, when I say I've never walked that fast for that long to get there, I'm not lying. We ran into a bit of delay at the Christmas Store in Downtown Disney (why does it always take so long at that store!?!?)
While I'm on that topic, let me just say, service almost everywhere was S-L-O-W. And just unconcerned. Nobody seemed to care. Whether it was at the shops, where the CM's would just start something with you and then either start something else in the middle of helping you, or just turn around and start having personal conversations with their co-workers; to the F&WF booths, where the lines were 20 deep, and the people working the booths showed no hustle whatsoever; to the servers at the restaurants that just disappeared for what seemed like hours. I kid you not, on several occasions, we waited 1/2 hr for 2 sandwiches!
Ok, back to LTT. We arrived and it was nearly empty. We were only 10 minutes late, and were seated within 5 minutes of arriving. The service here, was actually one of the best of the week; attentive and friendly. The food was better than I had remembered. The beef was actually very tasty and tender, with a good seasoning on it. The mashed potatoes tasted homemade as did the gravy. The mac and cheese definitely tasted like Stouffers, but that's ok, we've never met a mac and cheese we didn't like! Salad was small but good. Rolls and butter good, although I was disappointed they no longer have the honey butter, but DBF was happy. I LOVED the green beans, DBF had no opinion on them. We both were 'eh' on the stuffing, but we're very particular on stuffing, it has to be plain. We also both agreed that the turkey and ham were a little dry, but if you put the stuffing and gravy on the turkey and ate it all together it was good. The dessert was ok, good vanilla ice cream, not enough crumbs on the apple crumb, but by that time we were pretty stuffed anyway.
Characters were good, especially for 2 adults, with Chip (I think) being the best and most interactive, and Dale (again, I think) being the worst, just waving and walking by. We had forgotten the camera in the room (ACTUALLY, I wanted to bring it but was told 'no, let's go' then asked why I didn't remind him that it was a character meal when we got there :rolleyes: ), so we used my camera phone and got some pretty good pics!
I would return in the future, but it's not an every trip kind of thing.
 


The next day, 10/20, we ate breakfast in the room again (Studio at SSR). One regret I had on this trip was that I didn't get to partake in some of Disney's more yummy breakfast offerings, such as a Mickey waffle, croissants and cheese danishes. It was just too far to go to the food court every morning...
For lunch, we went to Olivia's at OKW. Oh boy. The service here was awful. We had to wait nearly 15 minutes for a table, when there were plenty of open ones in plain sight (Ok, I understand that sometimes they close sections if they are short staffed, but it didn't look like any one particular section was closed, the tables were sporadically populated thru the restaurant). When we were seated, we ordered immediately, a turkey club for DBF and a 1/2 turkey club with a cup of conch chowder for me. Our server brought our drinks and we waited for our food. And waited. And waited. And waited. I kid you not, we waited 1/2 hr for this food to arrive! We were also very antsy to get going b/c we were catching a movie at DTD after lunch and didn't want to be late (PS the Prestige was pretty good, confusing, but good). When it did finally arrive, it was really good. Probably the best lunch of the week. The sandwich was on multi grain bread, and the chowder was very good. The soup/sandwich combo came with a little bit of salad with a tasty vinaigrette (raspberry?) on the side. I was very pleased with my food, but the service was awful.
While we were waiting, the group at the table next to us had a bit of an incident. The one guy ordered a burger, and it came out too well done I think. So he sent it back, and got a new burger (after everyone else at his table had finished eating) and along with it, a deep fried feather. It was pretty big too! Gross...but the manager came over and apologized. Not sure if they did anything for them.
BTW, we were able to get a to go box (and packets of mayo) for the 1/2 of my DBF's sandwich that he didn't finish.
So overall, we would return to Olivia's but hope the service was better. The lunch was really good, and pretty cheap after the DVC discount.
I will post separately about our F&WF Booth experiences. If you have any specific questions in the meantime, please ask away.
 
Enjoying reading your reviews ~ Thanx for sharing.
 


On 10/21, lunch was at Yacht Club Galley. We wanted a bite to eat prior to going to the Wine and Cheese seminar at Ariel's, and had eaten at the YCG last year for lunch and enjoyed it. Initially, we thought we were going to have a repeat, service-wise, of Olivia's but our server really pulled through when we told her we had an appointment. I had the mozzarella and tomato sandwich. It was yummy. You got a choice of sides, cole slaw, salad or fruit. I chose the salad and it came with a light vinaigrette. The sandwich itself was large, with fresh mozzarella, thick slices of yellow tomato, arugula (sp), and a drizzle of oil and vinegar. It was slightly warmed up, as to take the chill off, but the cheese wasn't melted. I wound up eating it as an open faced sandwich, not eating the upper part of the roll. I put some salt and fresh cracked pepper on it, and it was truly delicious. He got the Yacht Club Sandwich, which he loved (you can see a theme in his lunchtime dining choices, no?). It's ham, turkey, bacon and cheddar on wheat bread with garlic mayo. He inhaled it, so I guess it was good...
Like I said, once we said we were in a hurry, service was fast, and we had no problem getting to the seminar next door in plenty of time.
Up next, review of the Cheese and Wine Pairing seminar, or 'you paid how much for this?'
 

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