jeepgirl30
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2003
This was my DD6's first trip to Disney. I wanted to pack as much as I could into her intro trip and decided to dine with as many characters as we could. We did have the dining plan.
Dinner: 'Ohana. I booked this as our first dinner so she could see the castle and view the fireworks preparing her for the parks. We arrived about 20 min early and checked in. We walked around the shops and had a pre dinner drink. I had a mojito and she has a smoothie of some sort. She took a sip and hated it. I had requested a window table and was very happy to see we got it! I have eaten at 'Ohana 3 or 4 times previously and loved it. This time not so much. I was very disappointed in the meal. I did tell the waitress immediately we were on the dining plan. She didn't seem to care. As the fireworks started 2 gals brought their chairs over and sat right behind me. I mean close behind practically AT our table. I was a bit uncomfortable. My DD had come to sit on my lap and these girls were talking in normal converstation voices practially in my ear. They were comparing the view of the fireworks from here as opposed to main street. I was very tempted to ask them to please be quiet as they were really distracting. I thought it was pretty rude. A young boy asked if we needed DD's chair since she was in my lap but I said no because we were planning to leave after. I didn't mind that at all but having someone just plop down behind me was different. They kept inching closer and by the time it was done they had their chairs up to the table and just left them there. Our server never offered other beverages since I had the mojito still from the predrink. My DD had a cup of milk she had requested when she ordered her pb&j (an uncrustable) but was never offered a refill or another drink. The meats were dry and just did not have the flavor I had remembered and enjoyed previous trips. I am only sharing my experience. I would hate for someone to pass on 'Ohana just because of my review. I did not enjoy the food this trip but have in previous trips. DD had a blast with the coconut race and the limbo. They did not do hula hoops this time.
Breakfast at CRT. This was a magical experience all the way around. I paid OOP for this meal and felt it was worth every penny. We went to check in and viola! The hostess said "oh, hold on one moment, we have a very special table waiting for you". She called someone over and told him we were to go straight to the front of the line. He looked at her screen and said "oh yes, right this way". I felt a bit hestitant as we were wisked by all the people standing in line to see Cinderella. He took DD's autograph book and made a big fuss over it. I made it for her and he was showing others around the book and told me it would go for "big money" on main st. Of course everyone fussed of DD too, she was dressed as Cinderella. She was immediately sent over to Cinderella for pictures and signature. Then we were ushered into the dining room and had a window table for two! It was stunning. I'm not really a breakfast eater but DD is. She devoured the pastries and her eggs. I can't really remember the food but typical eggs. The blitz I had with mine was good but it was the atmosphere I enjoyed the most. The princesses (Belle, Jasmine and Snow White) all came around and attempted conversation with DD. DD is a very outgoing and talkative child. She is very imaginative also. however, she decided to be shy this trip! The princesses all were impressed with her book and signed and took pictures with her. All called her princesses and were very sweet. Other little girls were dressed as Cinderella, other princesses or in regular clothes. No one stood out as overly dressed up or under dressed, a very even mix of attire. We did not feel rushed at all. We had excellent service and wonderful character interaction. The Fairy Godmother came around as well.
We had a snack from the dole stand, I had a pineapple float and DD had a twist ice cream of which she had a taste and was done.
Dinner: Crystal Palace. I wanted to come home and rave about all the meals because prior to leaving I felt like sometimes people liked to be negative just to be negative. However, you guessed it, I did NOT like this at all. All the restaurants were very busy even though the parks were not. When we checked in they were telling people they were not accepting walk ins and were booked to capacity. We were about 10 min early and were told they would try to seat us within 20 minutes of our reservation time. They just made it by a hair. We waiting 30 min and were finally called. When we sat we saw we had just missed Pooh by a few tables. I told DD not to worry he'd make his rounds. We didn't see any characters on our side so we hit the buffet. I really enjoyed the salmon. The rest of the food? It was okay. Not horrible but hey its a buffet right? I'm here for the characters I kept telling myself. Well after 1 hr we had seen Piglet and that was it. Tigger came close 3 times but once the celebration took him away and 2 times he went for a break and when he came back out he started on the opposite side over again. Our waiter did make us feel a bit rushed and kept asking if we needed anything else. I told him we hadnt seen the characters and he basically said too bad. Finally I went over to the handler for Pooh and politely asked if DD could just get a quick sig as we had been there an hour and were trying to leave. I was not rude or demanding just asking. He said well it usually takes 1 ½ hrs but Ill see. He did come get her and she got her autograph quickly but no picture. Then we saw Tigger was close again so she asked if we could please wait. We did but they cleared our table and reset it with us sitting there! Finally we got Tiggers signature and were good to go. It took us 1 ½ hrs with DD eating 2 bites of mac and cheese!
Lunch at Electric Umbrella. Okay please do not flame me. I ordered 2 cheeseburger meals and handed her my card. She took 2 credits but did not distinguish between adult/child. I did say one is for her but she said it didnt matter. I would have gladly ate the kids meal myself if needed because at this point DD hadnt eaten since breakfast at CRT. I thought the food was typical fast food cheeseburger. DD ate about ½ the burger and a handful of fries and loved it. I could not find anywhere that offered cheeseburgers or hot dogs as the kids meal.
Dinner at Chef Mickeys. LOVED this one! Wow, the service and character interaction were outstanding. Our waitress Rebecca was awesome. I ordered water and she asked if I wanted Evian. I said I was fine with tap and she said oh no, its on the plan. I explained no because DD had asked for chocolate milk and was going to want regular so she could have my drink. Rebecca said no, her milk was included and she would bring us both water and we could do as we pleased once it was on our table (meaning take it with us). I would never have requested this but she just did it. She made sure we knew exactly which characters would be coming by and were they were right then. She fussed over DDs autograph book and DD! She told us what was on the buffet and which foods were recommended. The food was very good for a buffet. I will make this a must do for all future trips! Mickey came by and hugged DD, signed her book and then hugged her a few more times! He looked over at me and cupped his hands over his heart for her. It was adorable. Then Minnie came and my DD said oh Minnie you are so pretty! We both had a wonderful evening at Chef Mickeys.
Overall I highly recommend Chef Mickeys and CRT! I hope my review is useful but not a deterrent.
As for the dining plan, I loved it. I love not having to worry about budgeting extra money for meals each day. I would use it again even paying for it. I did not find the servers to look down on us at all or have any negative opinions.
Dinner: 'Ohana. I booked this as our first dinner so she could see the castle and view the fireworks preparing her for the parks. We arrived about 20 min early and checked in. We walked around the shops and had a pre dinner drink. I had a mojito and she has a smoothie of some sort. She took a sip and hated it. I had requested a window table and was very happy to see we got it! I have eaten at 'Ohana 3 or 4 times previously and loved it. This time not so much. I was very disappointed in the meal. I did tell the waitress immediately we were on the dining plan. She didn't seem to care. As the fireworks started 2 gals brought their chairs over and sat right behind me. I mean close behind practically AT our table. I was a bit uncomfortable. My DD had come to sit on my lap and these girls were talking in normal converstation voices practially in my ear. They were comparing the view of the fireworks from here as opposed to main street. I was very tempted to ask them to please be quiet as they were really distracting. I thought it was pretty rude. A young boy asked if we needed DD's chair since she was in my lap but I said no because we were planning to leave after. I didn't mind that at all but having someone just plop down behind me was different. They kept inching closer and by the time it was done they had their chairs up to the table and just left them there. Our server never offered other beverages since I had the mojito still from the predrink. My DD had a cup of milk she had requested when she ordered her pb&j (an uncrustable) but was never offered a refill or another drink. The meats were dry and just did not have the flavor I had remembered and enjoyed previous trips. I am only sharing my experience. I would hate for someone to pass on 'Ohana just because of my review. I did not enjoy the food this trip but have in previous trips. DD had a blast with the coconut race and the limbo. They did not do hula hoops this time.
Breakfast at CRT. This was a magical experience all the way around. I paid OOP for this meal and felt it was worth every penny. We went to check in and viola! The hostess said "oh, hold on one moment, we have a very special table waiting for you". She called someone over and told him we were to go straight to the front of the line. He looked at her screen and said "oh yes, right this way". I felt a bit hestitant as we were wisked by all the people standing in line to see Cinderella. He took DD's autograph book and made a big fuss over it. I made it for her and he was showing others around the book and told me it would go for "big money" on main st. Of course everyone fussed of DD too, she was dressed as Cinderella. She was immediately sent over to Cinderella for pictures and signature. Then we were ushered into the dining room and had a window table for two! It was stunning. I'm not really a breakfast eater but DD is. She devoured the pastries and her eggs. I can't really remember the food but typical eggs. The blitz I had with mine was good but it was the atmosphere I enjoyed the most. The princesses (Belle, Jasmine and Snow White) all came around and attempted conversation with DD. DD is a very outgoing and talkative child. She is very imaginative also. however, she decided to be shy this trip! The princesses all were impressed with her book and signed and took pictures with her. All called her princesses and were very sweet. Other little girls were dressed as Cinderella, other princesses or in regular clothes. No one stood out as overly dressed up or under dressed, a very even mix of attire. We did not feel rushed at all. We had excellent service and wonderful character interaction. The Fairy Godmother came around as well.
We had a snack from the dole stand, I had a pineapple float and DD had a twist ice cream of which she had a taste and was done.
Dinner: Crystal Palace. I wanted to come home and rave about all the meals because prior to leaving I felt like sometimes people liked to be negative just to be negative. However, you guessed it, I did NOT like this at all. All the restaurants were very busy even though the parks were not. When we checked in they were telling people they were not accepting walk ins and were booked to capacity. We were about 10 min early and were told they would try to seat us within 20 minutes of our reservation time. They just made it by a hair. We waiting 30 min and were finally called. When we sat we saw we had just missed Pooh by a few tables. I told DD not to worry he'd make his rounds. We didn't see any characters on our side so we hit the buffet. I really enjoyed the salmon. The rest of the food? It was okay. Not horrible but hey its a buffet right? I'm here for the characters I kept telling myself. Well after 1 hr we had seen Piglet and that was it. Tigger came close 3 times but once the celebration took him away and 2 times he went for a break and when he came back out he started on the opposite side over again. Our waiter did make us feel a bit rushed and kept asking if we needed anything else. I told him we hadnt seen the characters and he basically said too bad. Finally I went over to the handler for Pooh and politely asked if DD could just get a quick sig as we had been there an hour and were trying to leave. I was not rude or demanding just asking. He said well it usually takes 1 ½ hrs but Ill see. He did come get her and she got her autograph quickly but no picture. Then we saw Tigger was close again so she asked if we could please wait. We did but they cleared our table and reset it with us sitting there! Finally we got Tiggers signature and were good to go. It took us 1 ½ hrs with DD eating 2 bites of mac and cheese!
Lunch at Electric Umbrella. Okay please do not flame me. I ordered 2 cheeseburger meals and handed her my card. She took 2 credits but did not distinguish between adult/child. I did say one is for her but she said it didnt matter. I would have gladly ate the kids meal myself if needed because at this point DD hadnt eaten since breakfast at CRT. I thought the food was typical fast food cheeseburger. DD ate about ½ the burger and a handful of fries and loved it. I could not find anywhere that offered cheeseburgers or hot dogs as the kids meal.
Dinner at Chef Mickeys. LOVED this one! Wow, the service and character interaction were outstanding. Our waitress Rebecca was awesome. I ordered water and she asked if I wanted Evian. I said I was fine with tap and she said oh no, its on the plan. I explained no because DD had asked for chocolate milk and was going to want regular so she could have my drink. Rebecca said no, her milk was included and she would bring us both water and we could do as we pleased once it was on our table (meaning take it with us). I would never have requested this but she just did it. She made sure we knew exactly which characters would be coming by and were they were right then. She fussed over DDs autograph book and DD! She told us what was on the buffet and which foods were recommended. The food was very good for a buffet. I will make this a must do for all future trips! Mickey came by and hugged DD, signed her book and then hugged her a few more times! He looked over at me and cupped his hands over his heart for her. It was adorable. Then Minnie came and my DD said oh Minnie you are so pretty! We both had a wonderful evening at Chef Mickeys.
Overall I highly recommend Chef Mickeys and CRT! I hope my review is useful but not a deterrent.
As for the dining plan, I loved it. I love not having to worry about budgeting extra money for meals each day. I would use it again even paying for it. I did not find the servers to look down on us at all or have any negative opinions.
