Free Dining Review, 9/1-9/4

[tkd lisa]

I put most of this info in my trip report, but I know some of you don't read over there, so I'm going to expand on the food here.

Cast: Me, almost 42, single mom, around a dozen trips to WDW (most in the last year since we became FL residents).

My Mom, late 60s, my backup caregiver when I travel. I bring her to WDW to say THANKS!

DD, 14, Loves WDW one less WDW trip than I have.

DS, just turned 13 (this was his "not my birthday" trip). Likes WDW, but enjoys his space!

Places we ate:

Table Service

9 Dragons (dinner)
Sci Fi Dine Inn (lunch)
OHana (dinner)
Kona (breakfast)
Coral Reef (dinner)

Counter Service:

Pop Food Court
Tusker House

We planned on more CS, but frankly, we weren't all that hungry! I ended up treating 4 people to CS meals on our last day.

I'll break this into TS and CS. Reviews next.

 

[tkd lisa]

My family is made up of VERY light eaters. None of us weighs more than 130 pounds, and even though I have 2 teenager, they aren't the proverbial bottomless pits.

Whenever we go to WDW we ALWAYS split meals. So despite the controversy on these boards, I intended to continue this practice. I was only questioned about it once. On our spring break trip, we were there for 6 days, and I spent less than $350 on food for all four of us. We would never pay for the dining plan, but since it was free who was I to argue about it?

Our first meal was Friday, 1 September. I had made ADRs for 9 Dragons at 7:15. This was officially DS's birthday meal (his birthday was 25 August), so it was completely his choice. For DD's birthday, we ate at Teppanyaki and shared the table with CMs from 9 Dragons. DS liked them, and I think this is why he picked this restaurant.

We were seated less than 10 minutes after checking in. We were right next to the kitchen, but it wasn't bad or noisy. I told our server we were on the dining plan, and planned to share meals. He asked for my card, and said "Okay, you're all adults". So maybe it would have been an issue if we would have had a child?

I came into this restaurant expecting to use 2 TS credits. I had looked over the menus, and expected to go with the 2 person sampler meal. But since it was DS's birthday, I told him he could pick what he wanted, and we'd decide among the other 3 of us what else we'd get. Well, wouldn’t you know, he decided he wanted Duck. The duck is a two person entrée (which means we wouldn’t be able to choose anything else). I tried to talk him out of it, but he was bound and determined that was what he wanted. Since I knew this wasn’t something my mom or daughter would enjoy, I decided to order fried rice and pay for it out of pocket.

After that decision, I took over on the appetizer and ordered one of the two person appetizers. Our actual choices were:

Tri-Star Appetizer (serves 2) - A delightful combination of 3 favorite Dim Sum: Pot sticker, shrimp and pork spring roll, and chicken & shrimp shao mai. - $10.99

Beijing Duck Dinner (serves two) - Two courses: Crispy Beijing duck skin with steamed butterfly buns and Beijing style stir-fried shredded duck with string beans. - $38.99

Nine Dragons Fried Rice - Stir-fried with shrimp, ham, chicken, and veggies. - $14.75 (paid out of pocket, and used DDE for 20% discount).

The kids each had iced tea (Mom and I had water), and we had mango pudding and ginger ice cream for dessert.

The appetizer was good. The fried dumplings were hot and crispy, and the egg rolls didn't taste greasy at all.

The duck was basically deep fried duck, still on the bone chopped up into little pieces. It had 4 puffy pancake things and came with steamed rice. DS did end up eating a fair amount of it, but I couldn’t figure out a polite way to get the meat off the bones.

The fried rice was typical food court fried rice. It was a large bowl, and the three ladies all had some of it. DD finished off all the shrimp in there herself!

My mom really enjoyed the mango pudding. I tried a bite and it was very light, with a mild mango flavor. I've had ginger ice cream before, and this was typical of oriental restaurants.

I didn't write down the total for this, but if memory serves me it was around $68. (2 TS used) + $14 OOP for the fried rice (I used my DDE for this).

Overall, I’d give this meal 1 ½ stars out of 4. But it was primarily because of what we chose to eat. I know the Gen. Tso’s and sesame chicken that other people were getting looked pretty good to me!

Next up? Sci Fi.

 

[tkd lisa]

Sci Fi Dine In

9/2 (Saturday) ADR at 11:15

We arrived on time and were seated right away in a 4 seater car.

This was a great meal, and the server was really good about working with us on the dining plan. She confirmed that shakes were available as drinks here, and asked if we wanted her to split the entrees back in the kitchen. Since I wasn’t sure who would eat what, I just had her bring out extra plates. At our request, she also brought the appetizers and entrees together, since we were sharing. We had:

7 Bean Beef Chili - Finished with shredded cheddar, pico de gallo, and tortilla chips. - $5.19
Crispy Onion Rings - A generous portion of battered onion rings. - $6.99
Shrimp Penne Pasta - Made with garlic, capers, plum tomatoes, baby spinach, and white wine topped with asiago cheese. - $17.19
Slow-roasted BBQ Ribs - Baby back ribs slow-cooked in Coca-cola and basted with BBQ sauce served with French fries and coleslaw. - $16.99

The kids each had a milkshake (cookies and cream and vanilla), and mom and I had water.

I had the chili and a couple of onion rings. It was fairly tasty. Temperature was piping hot, and it was served with 3 triangles of pita bread which worked well to dip out some for my mom to try.

DD ate most of the pasta, but gave me the veggies out of it. She had ordered this on our spring break trip, and enjoyed it. It's a typical restaurant alfredo type meal. There were lots of shrimp, which she ate all up.

DS ate the ribs and fries, and Mom had a couple of his ribs, his cole slaw, and the rest of the onion rings. According to them, the ribs were tender and spicy.

We had plenty of food, and still left some on the plates.

For dessert, the kids were full (remember those shakes!), so Mom and I ordered:
Happiest Celebration on Earth! Cheesecake - With caramel sauce and treats. - $5.19
Warm Apple & Pecan Crisp - Warm apple & pecan crisp. - $5.49

The cheesecake was REALLY good. It had m&ms and caramel corn around it, which DD ate a bit of. My mom thought the apple crisp was a little tart, but I thought it was just right when you added a bite of the ice cream to it.


The bill would have been $79.70 and we used 2 TS credits.

Next up? My new favorite! OHana.

 

[tkd lisa]

Saturday, 2 Sept (7:15 ADR) at OHana

We arrived right at our ADR time. As we were checking in, a family of 5 was checking in, and a group of 4 was turned away since they didn't have an ADR. The CM couldn't find the family of 5, but then said "Oh, there you are. But it says 10 people?" They said "Oh, those other people didn't make the trip." Hmmm. Guess those 4 people COULD have been seated maybe?? I definitely resolved that if my party size changed more than 1 person, I was calling to let them know!

Anyway, we waited about 10 minutes, then went in. We were on the back side of the restaurant, but that was fine for us. DS isn't really into antics (what 13 year old boy is?)

Our server was Cousin Grant, and he was very nice. He got all our drink orders, and then the singer was calling people up for the coconut races. DD headed up that way, but DS didn’t want anything to do with it. I snapped some pictures of her, and some of the BBQ grill. We were seated about 7:25 and enjoyed an absolutely beautiful sunset. The atmosphere in this restaurant was just wonderful. Even with the singer and the kids races, etc it wasn’t nearly as loud as many of the Disney restaurants. I could hear the mood music in the background and we had a really nice sized table with plenty of space around us.

The servers brought our appetizers (salad, shrimp, wonton strips, and sticky wings). I think DS ate the majority of a bowl of wings himself! He really liked them. DD ate some shrimp and the wonton strips. I had a bit of everything. The meats started to come out then. But the singer called for the limbo, and believe it or not, DS decided he would try that since “I’m pretty good at limbo”. I knew better than to take a picture of him! They came back before the food got too cold. DD really liked the steak, and DS liked the sausage. The sausage was different than I expected. It was very mild, and didn’t seem to have a skin on it. We also tried the turkey and the pork. I had some potatoes and stir fried veggies, which were typical side dishes. They asked for birthday or celebration, but of course, DS wouldn’t go up there. Then came the big finish! The dessert! It was banana bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and banana foster sauce. And it was melt in your mouth good. My mom actually took a second helping (which I can’t remember her doing EVER in my entire life!). I thought DD was going to lick her plate! DS really liked the sauce over his ice cream (he was pretty full, and didn’t try the pudding). Total for this night would have been $110.72 (I think that was before tip), and we used 4 TS credits. I have to say I think this is my very favorite Disney Dining experience. I give it 4 stars out of 4. We left there close to 9 oclock, so it was a very leisurely dinner.

Next up? Kona for breakfast.

 

[tkd lisa]

9/3 (Sunday) 8:00 ADR at Kona

Well, this morning, I kind of had to eat my words from the night before. DS decided he was tired, and just wanted to hang in the room (and spend his money in the arcade), so 3 of us drove over to the Poly for our 4 person ADR. The restaurant was EMPTY though, so no one was impacted by our party size change.

We drove, because since MK didn't have EMH there was no way to get to the Poly via WDW transportation by 8:00. It worked out fine, and we actually saw a couple of wild deer hanging right outside the Poly by the road.

As we sat down, DD laid her head on the table and said she really wasn’t hungry, so she didn’t want to stay. I ordered her a raspberry smoothie to go (paid OOP) and got coffee for me and juice for Mom. They actually brought her smoothie in a regular glass, and when we poured it into the paper cup, there was some leftover, so I finished it up. It was very tasty! Not tart at all.

Wow, just me and my Mom. On our own! We started by ordering a Tonga Toast with ham to share. As others have said, the Tonga Toast is thick bread with bananas inside that's deep fried and covered in a cinnamon sugar mixture. And it came with a nice side of ham.

It was really good, and we finished most of it between the two of us. I can’t find the receipt for this one, but I know it was around $20 (1 TS credit used). And it was REAL drip coffee, not the Nescafe stuff! I think I drank 4 cups while we were there!

I paid $4.00 for DD’s smoothie, and took the 20% DDE discount.

Next up? Coral Reef for dinner, and the kids' new favorite!

 

[tkd lisa]

Final TS report, 9/3 Coral Reef 6:30 pm

We were seated after about a 10 minute wait in a booth on the middle terrace. David was our server. We told him we were on the dining plan, and he said that only soda, milk, tea or coffee were available here. DD lobbied hard for the flavored sodas to be included, but it was “no-go”.

DS REALLY wanted to go up to the aquarium, but I made him pick out something to eat before he could go. I also told him he could NOT bother anyone sitting there or use the flash on the camera. Here are our dinner choices:

Shrimp Cocktail - Served with a spicy cocktail sauce. - $9.99 (shared my mom and me)
Creamy Lobster Soup - Made with Chervil and Brandy. - $6.99 (DD’s order, which she LOVED!)
Crab Claws – we got 3 of them, and I think it was around $10 (DS’s order, but this is a new item)

Pan Seared Ahi Tuna – Also a new item, I think it was around $28 I think it came with wasabi potatos and DD substituted the whipped potatos intead.
Grilled Mahi-Mahi - Served over Israeli Couscous and Tat soi with Honey-Soy glaze. - $25.99 (DS’s order, which I shared)
Seared Sterling Salmon - With Mixed Greens, Roasted Potatoes, and Pancetta-Garlic Vinaigrette. - $23.99 (Mom’s order)

We also had one coke, one root beer, one tea, and one water.
When we looked over the menu, I was surprised to see no crab cakes. We asked David to see if it was a special, and he said this was the 2nd day for the new menu, and the crab cakes were gone. He told DD the Ahi was sushi grade, and she was happy with that. She loves raw tuna, and ordered hers rare. I basically picked out the mahi for DS, since he wasn’t in an eating mood, and mom got her salmon well done.

DS went up to the window to take pictures while we waited on our food. I checked to be sure he wasn’t bothering the people he was by, and they said he was very polite, and had told them a LOT about fish. When the food came, he was telling us all about the pictures he had taken (none were very clear so I won’t post them).

The appetizers came out fairly quickly. DD truly loved her soup. She asked David for the recipe, and he took our email address to have it sent. DS sucked up the crab claws immediately and asked if he could get more (remember we were at Ohana the night before, where they brought more of anything you wanted!). The shrimp was fine, but the cocktail sauce wasn’t what I expected (more watery, less spicy).

While we waited on the main course, we entertained ourselves watching the divers. Mom kept noticing one diver who had his arms crossed over his chest. We tried to guess why he was doing that and DD won the prize for the best answer. It was “He’s probably a teenager who has his scuba certification but he DIDN’T want to spend his vacation at WDW, so he’s sulking”. We finally figured out that no one was moving their arms, and this person probably was afraid they’d wave their arms if they didn’t cross them.

The main course came and was also excellent. I put part of the mahi onto a plate for DS, and kept sliding more over there when he wasn’t looking so he actually ate a pretty good serving. DD ate ALL her tuna, but the rest of us left some of our meals. Then it was DESSERT. Of course, I had to tell them about the chocolate wave, so we ended up with two of them, plus a butterscotch brulee.

The Chocolate Wave - Warm Dark Chocolate Cake with a White Chocolate Grand Marnier center with Chocolate Canache and White Chocolate Ice Cream. - $8.00 (DD and I)
Butterscotch Brulee - Butterscotch Cream with fresh Wild Berries. - $8.00 (mom)

The wave was very good but rich! It reminded me a LOT of the chocolate soufflé at Palo (on the Disney cruise line). DD ate up all the center part right away. Mom liked the brulee and had a few bites of the wave as well. DS spent his time up at the fish tank!

When all was done, our total was $167.44 (3 TS credits used). It was very good food, but this one wouldn’t be worth the price for me if I was paying OOP. I’d probably do it at lunch instead.

That used up all our TS credits. We didn't try to maximize the use of the credits, but I do think that with the exception of Kona, we certainly got more food than we would have ever eaten.

Up next? Counter service reviews.

 

[tkd lisa]

Counter Service Reviews

Various times and places.

We used most of these credits up at Pop Century on breakfast. That was my plan from the beginning, and although it wasn't the best financial use of the credit, it filled my needs.

The first morning, I made the breakfast run. I had bought a mug for my coffee fix, so I had that for my drink. I got one adult breakfast platter, and one adult waffle platter. I grabbed two milks and two juices and went to the register. The CM rang up two CS and two snacks. I said "I though juice came with the breakfast?" I was told "Nope, just one drink", so I put the juices back (the kids would drink milk, and I was going to put the juices in the cooler anyway since DM only drinks tea in the morning anyway.

Food was fine. It was hot enough to make it back to the room and still be edible. Mom and I split the waffle, and the kids split the breakfast platter. We were all full (and even threw some away).

2nd morning, the ladies went off to Kona, and I left DS with his room key. He got a waffle platter, but didn't get a drink then. Instead, he used a snack credit for a drink (and some candy) later in the day.

3rd morning, Mom and I went to the food court while the kids slept in. Mom had taken meds and couldn't eat anything for an hour. I got an omlette platter and tea (which Mom drank). I ate about a third of the omlette, and the kids finished off the rest. Again, it was fairly hot. The omlette was pre-maid and wasn't tremendously fresh though.

I then had 7 CS credits left. We planned on Animal Kingdom this day, so we used them all at Tusker House. We had:

Rotisserie Chicken (2)
Salmon (1)
sprite, coke, and lemonade
cheesecake, choc cake and carrot cake.

I also bought meals for the two people in front of me and the two people behind me, finishing up my credits.

The chicken is always very good here. To me, it's like a GOOD meal at Boston Market, but the veggies are fresher. The carrot cake was the best dessert (in my opinion). DD stole a bunch of the chocolate icing to put on the cheesecake. DD and Mom shared the salmon (Mom had some of the chicken too), and they said it was excellent. That's the only thing DD has ever had at this restaurant, so it must be good. I don't like salmon, so I couldn't say.

As far as snack credits, we used them on: desserts at Pop, cheese fries at Pop, one dole whip, two strawberry bars, and various candy selections (plus one drink) from Pop.

My total OOP food costs for the 4 days were:

Fried Rice from 9 Dragons ($14)
One Jawlipop for DD ($2.50)

That's it. Hope you enjoyed it!

 

[angel's momma]

Great reviews - thank you!


Just a note - even though MK doesn't have EMH, buses are still running for the character breakfasts.

 

[jkmmah]

Thank you for all the effort you put into your reviews! I really enjoyed reading them!

 

[John's Mom]

Thanks for the great reviews!

 

[Jozymouse]

tkd lisa
Do you remember the other entrees in the new Coral Reef' menu? Any seafood or a new steak option?
Thanks !

 

[tkd lisa]

tkd lisa
Do you remember the other entrees in the new Coral Reef' menu? Any seafood or a new steak option?
Thanks !

Hmm. I remember there was prime rib, and catfish (I think it was blackened) because I suggested both of those to DS. I vaguely remember some sort of white fish that was stuffed with crabmeat, but I'm not positive it was there.

I hadn't really looked that menu over so much before we went, because I knew DD would order the crab cakes, and DS likes just about any kind of fish.

Sorry I"m not more help there.

 

[ntsammy5]

Thanks... great reviews. Sounds like you had a good time!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Thanks for the great reviews.

I am so on the fence about sharing for our trip in October - we're 4 adults and most of the restaurants I've chosen are known for their large portion sizes.

So the only place that was concerned about sharing was 9 dragons?

 

[SassyLassy]

Thanks for your reviews!! I loved the Ohana & Coral Reef!! I am soooo excited now!! yummmy

 

[princesstigerlilly]

How nice of you to share your left over CS credits with the people in line, I bet you made their day!
Very helpful reviews

 

[LegoMom3]

Sci Fi Dine In

9/2 (Saturday) ADR at 11:15

We arrived on time and were seated right away in a 4 seater car.

This was a great meal, and the server was really good about working with us on the dining plan....

Thanks for the great reviews! We leave in just a few days and I'm so excited to explore all this great Disney food. I was particularly happy to read your review of Sci Fi; we have a lunch ADR there, too, and I hear so many negatives on it that I was getting bummed over it. We aren't picky eaters, just looking for a fun meal. Thanks for the

 

[tkd lisa]

Thanks for the great reviews.

I am so on the fence about sharing for our trip in October - we're 4 adults and most of the restaurants I've chosen are known for their large portion sizes.

So the only place that was concerned about sharing was 9 dragons?

They seemed to only be worried that I was using didn't mix the child and adult credits. Even though my kids are 13 and 14, they are very tiny, and I think the server wanted to be sure one of them wasn't using child's credits.

Beyond that, there wasn't any mention of the sharing.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reviews ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[Disney owl]

Great reviews thanks