Disneyhayes
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2011
Sorry to hear about the first server at Ohana. Glad to hear you enjoyed the meat. We are considering eating there on our trip
A honeymoon, a 3rd wheel & 3 very full tummies: We get how much food?!?!? 19 Nights DxDP!!!!
- Thread starter robinsa88
- Start date
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
Since I have also worked in service in the past I am always a little more forgiving I think, which is why I didn't speak to the manager on the spot. If I am really upset I usually would have but we had only just met up with Clint and Steph and so I was reluctant to put a damper on it! If our actual server had of also been rude, I definately would have, but he was lovely.
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
I would go for it! It was such a nice atmosphere, really relaxed. Perfect meal with kids if you have any as well as it didn't take too long at all.
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
September 19th - Day 4 – Grand Floridian Café Breakfast
We were excited today to have a nice easy reservation at our hotel. An early one at 7am, but we had agreed with Clint and Steph to be at HS for rope drop, and had no intention of being late.
We strolled straight over to the main lobby and were seated right away when we arrived at the café. When we sat down, we were the first people in there and over the course of our relatively quick meal, only 2 other tables were occupied.
Peta and I were feeling ready for the day:
Trent on the other hand, clearly needed a coffee:
He never has been as keen on the early mornings as I am!
Our server was absolutely lovely – no need for a visit from the chef here, Peta was provided with an allergy menu straight away and just omitted any meat options.
Trent went for simple and ordered the:
Buttermilk Pancakes - with bacon or sausage; add roasted pecan, sun-dried cranberry, and house-made orange butter $2 additional; $14
They were basic fare, nice and hot. Nothing special, but just what he felt like at the time.
Peta and I also went simple and chose similarly, except that Peta’s was the allergy version without meat:
Mickey-shaped Waffle - malted waffle served with bacon or sausage; add strawberry, blueberry, banana, chocolate chip, or pecan $2 additional; $13
They were hot and tasty! Everything always tastes better as mickey, right?
We usually prefer ala carte breakfasts to buffet as it’s these simple meals that we usually prefer. That said, it did occur to me later in the trip that, actually we were better off at the buffets in terms of meeting our fruit and veg quotas. These types of breakfasts are very high in carbs relative to what we have at home, but I guess that is less of a concern given the amount of walking we were doing – and hey, we were on vacation!
Trent and I both had a specialty coffee as well – Cappuccino for Trent, Latte for me - $4.69 each
And so, the score card:
Food: 3/5 – Simple, but filling
Service: 4/5
Experience: 3/5 –Nice and relaxed, good start to the day
We were excited today to have a nice easy reservation at our hotel. An early one at 7am, but we had agreed with Clint and Steph to be at HS for rope drop, and had no intention of being late.
We strolled straight over to the main lobby and were seated right away when we arrived at the café. When we sat down, we were the first people in there and over the course of our relatively quick meal, only 2 other tables were occupied.
Peta and I were feeling ready for the day:
Trent on the other hand, clearly needed a coffee:
He never has been as keen on the early mornings as I am!
Our server was absolutely lovely – no need for a visit from the chef here, Peta was provided with an allergy menu straight away and just omitted any meat options.
Trent went for simple and ordered the:
Buttermilk Pancakes - with bacon or sausage; add roasted pecan, sun-dried cranberry, and house-made orange butter $2 additional; $14
They were basic fare, nice and hot. Nothing special, but just what he felt like at the time.
Peta and I also went simple and chose similarly, except that Peta’s was the allergy version without meat:
Mickey-shaped Waffle - malted waffle served with bacon or sausage; add strawberry, blueberry, banana, chocolate chip, or pecan $2 additional; $13
They were hot and tasty! Everything always tastes better as mickey, right?
We usually prefer ala carte breakfasts to buffet as it’s these simple meals that we usually prefer. That said, it did occur to me later in the trip that, actually we were better off at the buffets in terms of meeting our fruit and veg quotas. These types of breakfasts are very high in carbs relative to what we have at home, but I guess that is less of a concern given the amount of walking we were doing – and hey, we were on vacation!
Trent and I both had a specialty coffee as well – Cappuccino for Trent, Latte for me - $4.69 each
And so, the score card:
Food: 3/5 – Simple, but filling
Service: 4/5
Experience: 3/5 –Nice and relaxed, good start to the day
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
September 19th - Day 4 – Starring Rolls Café Lunch
After hitting the major attractions for the day, the kids were starting to fuss as we had used rider swap for RnRC and then waited to alternate on Tower of Terror. We decided it was lunch time! Clint and Steph had decided on Sunshine Day Café based on Clint’s diet, but I had other plans! I was looking forward to revisiting an old friend:
Side note: I am absolutely devastated this has since closed, and honestly think it is likely that, as a result, we will not do QS at HS again. Truth be told, this is actually the first trip we have done any QS and although it was convenient at times, it is obviously not the best use of credits (or I would say best use of our stomach space). Because of Peta’s chronic pain condition we actually prefer a more lengthy table service experience to break up the day (a forced rest stop if you like!). I’m sure when we have kids our habits may change, and we may be more likely to use the regular plan.
Sorry, I digress…..back to the food - which we grabbed then joined Clint and Steph who were super envious of our desserts:
Both Trent and I got a sandwich:
Pastrami Sandwich on pretzel roll, served with chips - $10.99
It was absolutely delicious! My mouth is watering thinking of it. Amazing salty roll, with just enough meat. It was absolutely the perfect size and both Trent and I gobbled them down quickly.
We donated our chips to the kids for a later snack as we didn’t feel the need to eat them. Instead, we moved on to dessert:
Chocolate Éclair ($3.99) for me! This was sickly and I only got through half.
And, what Trent had been waiting for:
Chocolate Butterfinger Cupcake - $3.99
Trent, as expected, loved this! Surprisingly not as rich as it looked although he still shared some with Steph as it was far too big!
Peta on the other hand was excited for:
Vegetarian Roll Sushi - $8.99 (Photo fail, sorry!)
As her dessert, there were limited options and she chose a standard GF brownie ($3.79):
Peta said the sushi was fresh and really hit the spot, but the brownie was tough and chewy (refrigerated for too long?)
We all grabbed bottles of water, but these aren’t included in calculations as we wouldn’t have gotten them if we hadn’t been on the plan. They did help us cool down but just supplemented our own iced waters which we were lugging around in newly purchased hydro flasks, which we bought the night before at Dicks after being envious of Clint and Steph’s! Sorry! Another tangent!
And so, the score card:
Food: 5/5 – Very tasty for QS
Service: 4/5 – Prompt, but we had a slight hiccup finding Peta a dessert
Experience: Can’t really comment – we went and sat elsewhere!
After hitting the major attractions for the day, the kids were starting to fuss as we had used rider swap for RnRC and then waited to alternate on Tower of Terror. We decided it was lunch time! Clint and Steph had decided on Sunshine Day Café based on Clint’s diet, but I had other plans! I was looking forward to revisiting an old friend:
Side note: I am absolutely devastated this has since closed, and honestly think it is likely that, as a result, we will not do QS at HS again. Truth be told, this is actually the first trip we have done any QS and although it was convenient at times, it is obviously not the best use of credits (or I would say best use of our stomach space). Because of Peta’s chronic pain condition we actually prefer a more lengthy table service experience to break up the day (a forced rest stop if you like!). I’m sure when we have kids our habits may change, and we may be more likely to use the regular plan.
Sorry, I digress…..back to the food - which we grabbed then joined Clint and Steph who were super envious of our desserts:
Both Trent and I got a sandwich:
Pastrami Sandwich on pretzel roll, served with chips - $10.99
It was absolutely delicious! My mouth is watering thinking of it. Amazing salty roll, with just enough meat. It was absolutely the perfect size and both Trent and I gobbled them down quickly.
We donated our chips to the kids for a later snack as we didn’t feel the need to eat them. Instead, we moved on to dessert:
Chocolate Éclair ($3.99) for me! This was sickly and I only got through half.
And, what Trent had been waiting for:
Chocolate Butterfinger Cupcake - $3.99
Trent, as expected, loved this! Surprisingly not as rich as it looked although he still shared some with Steph as it was far too big!
Peta on the other hand was excited for:
Vegetarian Roll Sushi - $8.99 (Photo fail, sorry!)
As her dessert, there were limited options and she chose a standard GF brownie ($3.79):
Peta said the sushi was fresh and really hit the spot, but the brownie was tough and chewy (refrigerated for too long?)
We all grabbed bottles of water, but these aren’t included in calculations as we wouldn’t have gotten them if we hadn’t been on the plan. They did help us cool down but just supplemented our own iced waters which we were lugging around in newly purchased hydro flasks, which we bought the night before at Dicks after being envious of Clint and Steph’s! Sorry! Another tangent!
And so, the score card:
Food: 5/5 – Very tasty for QS
Service: 4/5 – Prompt, but we had a slight hiccup finding Peta a dessert
Experience: Can’t really comment – we went and sat elsewhere!
Sailormoon2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2015
I LOVED Starring Rolls, very sad to hear it is closing, and honestly don't undestand why, when l agree with you that all other QS in HS sucks!
Disneyhayes
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2011
That sandwich does look yummy and now I am said Starring Rolls is closed.
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
September 19th - Day 4 – Review: Hollywood & Vine Minnie's Halloween Dine Seasonal Dinner
We had left Clint and Steph at about 2.30pm due to the heat and enjoyed a nice swim at the resort before heading back to Hollywood Studios. When we arrived, we were super lucky as there were a bunch of characters out the front!
We head straight over to H&V to meet Clint and Steph after entering the park and they had already signed us in. It was SUPER busy and that was exacerbated when it started to rain, prompting more people to flock to under the shelter. The rain continued to get heavier and heavier and it was pouring when we were called for our reservation about 15 minutes later.
We were seated quickly and had a lovely server. He brought us drinks while the chef took Peta for a tour of the buffet. When she got back there were already characters surrounding us, and it was obvious from watching them at the other tables that this was going to be a night of fun interactions!
Interactions here started great, and the costumes were awesome:
However, Ellie had an unfortunate run in with Donald. He thought he was being funny and snuck up behind her. She jumped when she saw him and screamed!!! Donald’s handler ushered him away and it took the next character several attempts to ensure that he could even get near our table without screaming after that. Ellie was apprehensive of characters the rest of the trip and I couldn’t help but think Donald should have known better than to do that to someone so young.
Donald did come back at the end, but as you can see with Goofy, Steph had to hold Ellie away from all the other characters as she was still noticeably upset:
The trick here was trying to get to the buffet in between all the characters, there was so much choice that we kept going back. Here’s a couple of our plates:
Stand outs for Trent and I were the buffalo chicken and the Maple & Grain Mustard Salmon, but everything was hot and delicious!
Peta found a bunch of veggie and salad options, and really enjoyed this meal as well!
Clint and Steph enjoyed this meal and there was plenty of meat and veggies to keep Clint on the right track with his diet. We had the great pleasure of introducing them both to oysters, which they had never sampled before:
Fun aside, both agreed they weren’t as bad as they had imagined, but that they wouldn’t be in a hurry to get more
Eating so much at the buffet left Trent and I pretty full and so we didn’t try many desserts. I’m not usually a fan of mass produced buffet sweets anyway, and these were no different. They had clearly been refrigerated to long, and just didn’t taste too fresh. Trent had some soft serve instead after taking a few bites. Sorry, apparently I was too underwelmed to photo dessert
By the time we left it was bucketing down even more and Trent ran to buy us ponchos. I was kicking myself for not packing our rain jackets but I’d had no desire to lug them all the way to the US and back when I wanted to maximise shopping space in the bags on the way home.
The flooding on the way back to the bus was, well….an experience!
And so, the score card:
Food: 3/5 – dessert was the let down here, but we would come back – probably for lunch!
Service: 5/5 – our server barely left our side!
Experience: 3/5 – Would have been higher, but sadly Donald’s run in with Ellie impacted us for the rest of the trip.
We had left Clint and Steph at about 2.30pm due to the heat and enjoyed a nice swim at the resort before heading back to Hollywood Studios. When we arrived, we were super lucky as there were a bunch of characters out the front!
We head straight over to H&V to meet Clint and Steph after entering the park and they had already signed us in. It was SUPER busy and that was exacerbated when it started to rain, prompting more people to flock to under the shelter. The rain continued to get heavier and heavier and it was pouring when we were called for our reservation about 15 minutes later.
We were seated quickly and had a lovely server. He brought us drinks while the chef took Peta for a tour of the buffet. When she got back there were already characters surrounding us, and it was obvious from watching them at the other tables that this was going to be a night of fun interactions!
Interactions here started great, and the costumes were awesome:
However, Ellie had an unfortunate run in with Donald. He thought he was being funny and snuck up behind her. She jumped when she saw him and screamed!!! Donald’s handler ushered him away and it took the next character several attempts to ensure that he could even get near our table without screaming after that. Ellie was apprehensive of characters the rest of the trip and I couldn’t help but think Donald should have known better than to do that to someone so young.
Donald did come back at the end, but as you can see with Goofy, Steph had to hold Ellie away from all the other characters as she was still noticeably upset:
The trick here was trying to get to the buffet in between all the characters, there was so much choice that we kept going back. Here’s a couple of our plates:
Stand outs for Trent and I were the buffalo chicken and the Maple & Grain Mustard Salmon, but everything was hot and delicious!
Peta found a bunch of veggie and salad options, and really enjoyed this meal as well!
Clint and Steph enjoyed this meal and there was plenty of meat and veggies to keep Clint on the right track with his diet. We had the great pleasure of introducing them both to oysters, which they had never sampled before:
Fun aside, both agreed they weren’t as bad as they had imagined, but that they wouldn’t be in a hurry to get more
Eating so much at the buffet left Trent and I pretty full and so we didn’t try many desserts. I’m not usually a fan of mass produced buffet sweets anyway, and these were no different. They had clearly been refrigerated to long, and just didn’t taste too fresh. Trent had some soft serve instead after taking a few bites. Sorry, apparently I was too underwelmed to photo dessert
By the time we left it was bucketing down even more and Trent ran to buy us ponchos. I was kicking myself for not packing our rain jackets but I’d had no desire to lug them all the way to the US and back when I wanted to maximise shopping space in the bags on the way home.
The flooding on the way back to the bus was, well….an experience!
And so, the score card:
Food: 3/5 – dessert was the let down here, but we would come back – probably for lunch!
Service: 5/5 – our server barely left our side!
Experience: 3/5 – Would have been higher, but sadly Donald’s run in with Ellie impacted us for the rest of the trip.
Sailormoon2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2015
Silly Donald, otherwise, those outifts, and plethora of characters seems fantastic!!!
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
Welcome! Thanks for joining, it was such an epic food trip, I figured it had to be done!!!
Yes, it was an excellent choice! We hope they'll continue and that we can go back for the December one at some stage! Would love to see the holiday outfits!
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
September 20th - Day 5 – Grand Floridian Breakfast:
Another day, another breakfast at the Grand! Having made great time the day before, I jumped on the My Disney app and moved our 7am reservation to 7.30am for a little bit more of a sleep in (although, we are early risers so it wasn’t a huge deal, we just took our time getting ready).
Again, we head over to the main building and the staff at the Grand Floridian Café were just as friendly as the day before. It was very quiet again today, but there were about 5 other tables seated when we arrived so it wasn’t quite as private as the day before
Trent and I grabbed specialty coffees again, I think both Cappuccinos, and Peta also got a hot chocolate for a change ($4.69 each).
Service was quick and once we ordered it was only a matter of minutes before they brought out our meals.
I went with:
French Toast - brioche French toast with Madagascar vanilla bean-butter, and bacon or sausage $14
Trent had:
The Flagler - Three Egg Omelet with onions, bell peppers, and ham, served with cheesy hash brown casserole or fruit $14
And Peta ordered the same thing (waffles) off the allergy menu again:
*Sorry – same photo as apparently I didn’t feel it was worth photographing for a second time! Not sure what happened there!
And so, the score card:
Food: 3/5 – another solid start to the day
Service: 4/5
Experience: 3/5 – Very relaxed again
Another day, another breakfast at the Grand! Having made great time the day before, I jumped on the My Disney app and moved our 7am reservation to 7.30am for a little bit more of a sleep in (although, we are early risers so it wasn’t a huge deal, we just took our time getting ready).
Again, we head over to the main building and the staff at the Grand Floridian Café were just as friendly as the day before. It was very quiet again today, but there were about 5 other tables seated when we arrived so it wasn’t quite as private as the day before
Trent and I grabbed specialty coffees again, I think both Cappuccinos, and Peta also got a hot chocolate for a change ($4.69 each).
Service was quick and once we ordered it was only a matter of minutes before they brought out our meals.
I went with:
French Toast - brioche French toast with Madagascar vanilla bean-butter, and bacon or sausage $14
Trent had:
The Flagler - Three Egg Omelet with onions, bell peppers, and ham, served with cheesy hash brown casserole or fruit $14
And Peta ordered the same thing (waffles) off the allergy menu again:
*Sorry – same photo as apparently I didn’t feel it was worth photographing for a second time! Not sure what happened there!
And so, the score card:
Food: 3/5 – another solid start to the day
Service: 4/5
Experience: 3/5 – Very relaxed again
KacieD
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2017
We just got back from 5 nights at GF, and it was wonderful. Somehow, we never made into the Grand Floridian Cafe, even though I meant to! We did really enjoy Gasparilla Grill as a quick service, 1900 Park Fare is our favorite character meal, and we did Sunday Brunch at Narcossee's and loved it. You are right--this epic of a food trip has to be documented!
toomuchtv
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2013
Joining in! I'm loving your report so far. It's too bad you had a bad experience at Akershus. We went for breakfast a couple of years ago and really liked it, and we have it booked for our May trip as well (partially to try and get a short line at Frozen Ever After). And don't tell anyone, but I don't like the bread pudding at 'Ohana either. Shhh....
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
September 20th – Day 5 - Sunshine Seasons Lunch
This was somewhere that Peta and I had enjoyed in the past and I knew would offer up a fresh and hearty meal. We were only planning on eating QS really during the portion of our trip when we were joined by Clint and Steph (who were on the standard dining plan) but I suspect this may have made our list anyway, had Clint not have already planned on it!
Lots of options for Peta here and she went with:
Vegan Korma with Gardein® Meatless Chik'n - with Jasmine Rice $8.99
Peta enjoyed this and ate it pretty quick. She wasn’t convinced it had a real korma taste (not enough coconut) and I tried it and agreed. It was quite spicy by Peta’s standards, and even I felt it had a decent kick, so if you don’t like spice maybe keep this in mind.
And for Dessert, Creme Brulee $3.99 - Of course! This was the standard Disney crème brulee, but again nice and light, perfect texture. It remained a win for us!
I had A LOT of trouble picking here, it definitely remains our favourite quick service restaurant! In the end, I went with:
Spicy Fish Tacos - topped with cabbage slaw and poblano pepper aioli with potato salad $11.79
Not something I would usually order as I am funny about eating fish at fast food / quick service places but this was DELICIOUS! Fresh, tasty with a little kick from the aioli. It was perfect in the hot weather and the potato salad was also surprisingly light and tasty.
For dessert, I naturally went with Crème brulee, which I shared with Trent.
Trent enjoyed his meal here as well:
Turkey, Monterey Jack and Chipotle Mayonnaise on Ciabatta - with potato salad - $10.49
It was fresh and he devoured it pretty quickly. He said you couldn’t really taste the cheese, but cheese at home is quite different so that is mostly just because MJ is a mild cheese anyway I think.
On my recommendation from last time, and planning on sharing our desserts, Trent went with the Strawberry Shortcake - $4.69. Please don’t mind the fact we switched desserts on our trays – Trent carried the drinks and was worried about them rolling onto the strawberry shortcake!
It was, as I remembered, delicious. Not as sweet as it looks actually. We didn’t finish the desserts though as we were pretty full from our mains.
Clint and Steph seemed perplexed at my excitement over crème brulee and confided that they had never tried it before!!!! That is something I planned to rectify, I convinced them (given we had gone first to get the meals) that they HAD to have it for dessert!
They both enjoyed it!
And so, the score card:
Food: 5/5 – For a quick service, the food was hard to top!
Service: 4/5 – short efficient lines to get the food you need (although Clint and Steph found this more annoying, having to go to multiple counters for their meals and the kids meals – we only had main, then dessert counters)
Experience: 2/5 – the number of seats is huge, and although indoor seating is a plus it gets VERY noisy in there
This was somewhere that Peta and I had enjoyed in the past and I knew would offer up a fresh and hearty meal. We were only planning on eating QS really during the portion of our trip when we were joined by Clint and Steph (who were on the standard dining plan) but I suspect this may have made our list anyway, had Clint not have already planned on it!
Lots of options for Peta here and she went with:
Vegan Korma with Gardein® Meatless Chik'n - with Jasmine Rice $8.99
Peta enjoyed this and ate it pretty quick. She wasn’t convinced it had a real korma taste (not enough coconut) and I tried it and agreed. It was quite spicy by Peta’s standards, and even I felt it had a decent kick, so if you don’t like spice maybe keep this in mind.
And for Dessert, Creme Brulee $3.99 - Of course! This was the standard Disney crème brulee, but again nice and light, perfect texture. It remained a win for us!
I had A LOT of trouble picking here, it definitely remains our favourite quick service restaurant! In the end, I went with:
Spicy Fish Tacos - topped with cabbage slaw and poblano pepper aioli with potato salad $11.79
Not something I would usually order as I am funny about eating fish at fast food / quick service places but this was DELICIOUS! Fresh, tasty with a little kick from the aioli. It was perfect in the hot weather and the potato salad was also surprisingly light and tasty.
For dessert, I naturally went with Crème brulee, which I shared with Trent.
Trent enjoyed his meal here as well:
Turkey, Monterey Jack and Chipotle Mayonnaise on Ciabatta - with potato salad - $10.49
It was fresh and he devoured it pretty quickly. He said you couldn’t really taste the cheese, but cheese at home is quite different so that is mostly just because MJ is a mild cheese anyway I think.
On my recommendation from last time, and planning on sharing our desserts, Trent went with the Strawberry Shortcake - $4.69. Please don’t mind the fact we switched desserts on our trays – Trent carried the drinks and was worried about them rolling onto the strawberry shortcake!
It was, as I remembered, delicious. Not as sweet as it looks actually. We didn’t finish the desserts though as we were pretty full from our mains.
Clint and Steph seemed perplexed at my excitement over crème brulee and confided that they had never tried it before!!!! That is something I planned to rectify, I convinced them (given we had gone first to get the meals) that they HAD to have it for dessert!
They both enjoyed it!
And so, the score card:
Food: 5/5 – For a quick service, the food was hard to top!
Service: 4/5 – short efficient lines to get the food you need (although Clint and Steph found this more annoying, having to go to multiple counters for their meals and the kids meals – we only had main, then dessert counters)
Experience: 2/5 – the number of seats is huge, and although indoor seating is a plus it gets VERY noisy in there
Sailormoon2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2015
Sunshine Seasons really is fantastic, the sheer variety of healthy/alternative options makes it a great option for satisfying multiple palettes.
toomuchtv
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2013
Never had crème brulée??? On our honeymoon at Disney World, I think we had it at every meal except for 1!
JaimeAyers
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2012
Loving all of the reviews so far! Can't wait to hear more.
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
Crazy, right??? That's why I had to rectify it so quickly!
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