We were a family of 4. My 12 year old son bounced back and forth between the adult menu and the childs menu, depending on which restaurant we were in and what choices they offered. We were not on the dining plan. As I look back, I think we did just fine without the dining plan. Because my son ordered off the childs menu more than once, I think I would have been annoyed if I had paid an adults price on the dining plan for him. Paying OOP was the way to go with him since he was so indecisive. For the rest of us, sometimes we ordered apps and only once we ordered a dessert...with counter service and snacks we may have broken even but my DH hated all the counter service places with the exception of Earl of Sandwich but that was so inconvenient to get to (but one of our favorite places!) so I think for our family, it was best that we didn't have the dining plan. Now, on to the reviews 
Grand Floridian Café- A
Atmosphere- A They sat us all the way back in the circular room (as we called it). Right when we were finishing up our dinner, Wishes started. We could see them pretty good from our table but if we just stepped outside of the door we could see them really well. We couldnt hear the music but it was awesome all the same
Food- A We thought the dishes were excellent. My Husband had Salmon, I had the penne pasta with shrimp and prociutto, and my kids had the pizza. The food was wonderful.
Service - A We didnt have reservations (it was our first night there and I didnt want to make ADRs for that night) but we got in no problem. This would not be the case later on in the week. My advice MAKE those ADRs before you go!!!!!! Even if you think the restaurants wont be busy because it isnt free dining time. We went in October which is not included in the free dining promotions but I witnessed many many people being turned away from the restaurants because they hadnt made reservations. Pretty much the theme of the week was if you dont have reservations, we unfortunately cannot accommodate you please call WDW dine and ask if any restaurants are open this evening for your party.
Garden Grill A. One of my favorite dinners for the week.
Atmosphere A+ We thought that restaurant was SO COOL! I knew from reading the disboards that the restaurant revolved but I thought the scenery that it revolved around was just boring ole Florida and Epcot rides. Imagine my surprise when I saw the scenes that they portray. And they looked so life like. My son was mesmerized by the desert and he was a little freaked out.
Food- A My older son ate up all the catfish and then asked for more. He liked the catfish and the stuffing. My husband was partial to the turkey and I liked the meat. Of course, I know it was flank steak, but it was really very tender. And I LOVED the mashed potatoes!!!! They were so good. So overall I we thought the meal was good we werent expecting much, just booked it for the characters but we were pleasantly surprised. The only "not so bright" part of the meal was the butter they gave us to butter our bread. We were all in agreement that it was "weird" and not our style. It was whipped with something to make it sweet with another taste that none of us could quite put our finger on. To the Garden Grill's defense, I did not voice our displeasure with it and didn't ask for regular butter. It was, afterall, only butter...so we weren't too worried about it. But...if you are expecting regular butter with your bread, I would ask for it in advance.
Service- A+. The server was awesome. The manager was awesome. The character interaction was awesome. Mickey came to our table twice and so did Chip and Dale. The second time Chip came over (at least I think it was chip it could have been Dale, I have forgotten but I could look at the pictures to figure it out for sure) he colored with my 3 year old. About halfway through our meal, Pluto hadnt made it around to us. But a woman stopped by to ask us if we met everyone yet and I told her that we met everyone so far except for Pluto and she went and got him. I would say less than 3 minutes elapsed from the time she asked to the time he came to the table. I really appreciated that they cared enough to ask and make sure that we had a chance to meet all the characters. I would absolutely eat there again!
Le Cellier- A
Atmosphere- A What can you say about the atmosphere it was in a cellar. LOL. It was fine though. It was nice and quiet and most of all COOL (boy was it hot down there in Florida!), plus we walked out of the restaurant about 5 minutes before Illuminations started and that is a wonderful spot to watch it from.
Food- A I had the Cheese soup and the pretzel bread for an appetizer. I just had to have it because of all the talk about it here on the boards and because it seems you either love it or hate it. I fell into the love it category. I ate it alone and then I used it as a dip for my pretzel bread. I really think that it tastes similar to New England clam chowder (minus the potatoes and clams of course) but it was that sort of consistency. So I think that those who hate the cheese soup probably hate white creamy clam chowder too. Its all a matter of personal opinion on this one I think. For dinner I had the mushroom risotto filet mignon. I did remember the review on here about the barbeque sauce coming on the other filet dish so I stayed away from it thank you to whoever posted that review, I probably wouldnt have noticed until it came out. Im not a big barbeque lover. My son had the kids chicken fingers and my other son had Salmon. My husband had the same thing that I did and he also loved it! We were all very happy with the food.
Service- B The service inside the restaurant was really good but waiting for our table was a little frustrating. We checked in about 10 minutes or so before our reservation but we had to wait until 20 minutes after our reservation to get our table. There was a family there that the hostess kept saying they were next. But they kept seating people in front of them; I could see their frustration mounting although they kept their cool. It did seem a little silly to hear the hostess tell them that they were next and then the other cast member would come out and call a different name. I think it happened 3 or 4 times before they were finally called in. We were 2 families after them to be called. In the future, when dealing with Le Cellier, I will make my reservations a half an hour earlier. We made them for 7:30 and ended up sitting down to eat around 8 (or a little before), luckily we still made Illuminations although we didnt think we were going to.
Grand Floridian Café- A
Atmosphere- A They sat us all the way back in the circular room (as we called it). Right when we were finishing up our dinner, Wishes started. We could see them pretty good from our table but if we just stepped outside of the door we could see them really well. We couldnt hear the music but it was awesome all the same
Food- A We thought the dishes were excellent. My Husband had Salmon, I had the penne pasta with shrimp and prociutto, and my kids had the pizza. The food was wonderful.
Service - A We didnt have reservations (it was our first night there and I didnt want to make ADRs for that night) but we got in no problem. This would not be the case later on in the week. My advice MAKE those ADRs before you go!!!!!! Even if you think the restaurants wont be busy because it isnt free dining time. We went in October which is not included in the free dining promotions but I witnessed many many people being turned away from the restaurants because they hadnt made reservations. Pretty much the theme of the week was if you dont have reservations, we unfortunately cannot accommodate you please call WDW dine and ask if any restaurants are open this evening for your party.
Garden Grill A. One of my favorite dinners for the week.
Atmosphere A+ We thought that restaurant was SO COOL! I knew from reading the disboards that the restaurant revolved but I thought the scenery that it revolved around was just boring ole Florida and Epcot rides. Imagine my surprise when I saw the scenes that they portray. And they looked so life like. My son was mesmerized by the desert and he was a little freaked out.
Food- A My older son ate up all the catfish and then asked for more. He liked the catfish and the stuffing. My husband was partial to the turkey and I liked the meat. Of course, I know it was flank steak, but it was really very tender. And I LOVED the mashed potatoes!!!! They were so good. So overall I we thought the meal was good we werent expecting much, just booked it for the characters but we were pleasantly surprised. The only "not so bright" part of the meal was the butter they gave us to butter our bread. We were all in agreement that it was "weird" and not our style. It was whipped with something to make it sweet with another taste that none of us could quite put our finger on. To the Garden Grill's defense, I did not voice our displeasure with it and didn't ask for regular butter. It was, afterall, only butter...so we weren't too worried about it. But...if you are expecting regular butter with your bread, I would ask for it in advance.
Service- A+. The server was awesome. The manager was awesome. The character interaction was awesome. Mickey came to our table twice and so did Chip and Dale. The second time Chip came over (at least I think it was chip it could have been Dale, I have forgotten but I could look at the pictures to figure it out for sure) he colored with my 3 year old. About halfway through our meal, Pluto hadnt made it around to us. But a woman stopped by to ask us if we met everyone yet and I told her that we met everyone so far except for Pluto and she went and got him. I would say less than 3 minutes elapsed from the time she asked to the time he came to the table. I really appreciated that they cared enough to ask and make sure that we had a chance to meet all the characters. I would absolutely eat there again!
Le Cellier- A
Atmosphere- A What can you say about the atmosphere it was in a cellar. LOL. It was fine though. It was nice and quiet and most of all COOL (boy was it hot down there in Florida!), plus we walked out of the restaurant about 5 minutes before Illuminations started and that is a wonderful spot to watch it from.
Food- A I had the Cheese soup and the pretzel bread for an appetizer. I just had to have it because of all the talk about it here on the boards and because it seems you either love it or hate it. I fell into the love it category. I ate it alone and then I used it as a dip for my pretzel bread. I really think that it tastes similar to New England clam chowder (minus the potatoes and clams of course) but it was that sort of consistency. So I think that those who hate the cheese soup probably hate white creamy clam chowder too. Its all a matter of personal opinion on this one I think. For dinner I had the mushroom risotto filet mignon. I did remember the review on here about the barbeque sauce coming on the other filet dish so I stayed away from it thank you to whoever posted that review, I probably wouldnt have noticed until it came out. Im not a big barbeque lover. My son had the kids chicken fingers and my other son had Salmon. My husband had the same thing that I did and he also loved it! We were all very happy with the food.
Service- B The service inside the restaurant was really good but waiting for our table was a little frustrating. We checked in about 10 minutes or so before our reservation but we had to wait until 20 minutes after our reservation to get our table. There was a family there that the hostess kept saying they were next. But they kept seating people in front of them; I could see their frustration mounting although they kept their cool. It did seem a little silly to hear the hostess tell them that they were next and then the other cast member would come out and call a different name. I think it happened 3 or 4 times before they were finally called in. We were 2 families after them to be called. In the future, when dealing with Le Cellier, I will make my reservations a half an hour earlier. We made them for 7:30 and ended up sitting down to eat around 8 (or a little before), luckily we still made Illuminations although we didnt think we were going to.
Thanks! It really makes me wish the time would pass faster until our Dec trip.
