Just back from 7 days

[RedsoxMickey]

Family -
Me - 40 yr old ex chef - worked at Chefs and Bistro in France about 21 years ago

Wife - 40 yr old not very adventourous eater

DS - 10 yr old vegetarian

DD - 7 yr old pickey eater - does not eat alot

Where did we dine:
Atrium club - CR
Spirit of Aloha - Poly
Crystal palace- MK
Chef Mickey - CR
Casey - MK
Pizza stand at front of pleasure island
Yachtsman steak house
Norway princess lunch
San Angel Inn
Rose and Crown
Other - Buffet in Shamu area for lunch at Seaworld
Hollywood and Vine - dinner
Donalds breakfast at animal kingdom
Tony's for lunch

Quick info before my reviews

Exceeded expectations:
Rose and Crown
San Angel Inn
Donalds breakfast - WOW did my son get taken care of and we all benefited.

Dissapointments:
service at Donalds breakfast - worst CM of trip - Chef that took care of my son saved the day and then some.
Snack food in atrium club at CR
Yachtsman Steak house

 

[tinkamom]

Well....how was everything?

 

[tripletots]

I want to know how your meal was at Hollywood and Vine. We were there on Monday, August 20th. Our waitress was great and we got smoothies that were really good. The food was not so good. I had read bad reviews prior to going but didnt' try to switch since I figured there was no were else available. I would eat there again. Nothing special, just ho hum.

 

[amarberry]

I just made an ADR at San Angel Inn last week. We've never eaten there because of the bad reviews, but I thought that it might be interesting to try it out (especially during free dining) for the ambiance. I'd love to hear how it exceeded your expectations and what your vegetarian child ate (since DD and I are vegetarians).

 

[Minniespal]

Thanx for sharing.

 

[Dani&TJsMom]

How was the food at the Princess Storybook lunch? I've read on the boards that the character interaction is great, but different opinions on the food. I have an ADR there in November (lunch) and not sure if I should switch. Thanks!

 

[kathyg]

What didn't you like about Yachtsman?

 

[Disney owl]

More info please

 

[notnothin]

Now that was a true teaser!

Looking forward to hearing more about your experiences, especially that of Donald's Breakfastosaurus. What happened there?

 

[RedsoxMickey]

I had computer problems so sorry for not responding to all

I forgot a place as well - We ate in Morroco as well

Notnothin: Donalds Breakfast - The food is standard buffett breakfast food. We enjoy it. We like the timing of the breakfast and getting into AK early. We usually do AK in one day so starting early with a full tummy is helpful.

We had a party of 10 and was only able to book as 6 and 4 but was told would not be problem putting the party together. When we were brought in for our seating our waiter put us at two tables for 5 - This configuration does not work well for the group a 6 and 4 would have been better. We looked over to a section that had nobody seated in it that had a couple of large tables that would fit the 10 of us. The waiter told us they are not seating in this area until much later. Fast forward the amount of time it took us to get a highchair and sit down and low and behold they are seating this area. We ask waiter to be seated in this area he says it is not his area and can not be waiter in this area - We say good that is just an added benefit (well we didn't say this to him) we really say we don't care and we want to be in this area. He says he will check but we will have to wait over 1/2 hour. We say forget it. I sit down and the airconditioner is leaking on me and my food. I tell waiter and he says Yeh I tried to move the table so that it wouldn't be a problem but I guess it still is. Directly next to our table (for 5 people) is another empty table for 5 people. I tell him we are moving to this table and assume that is ok. He says No as again it is not "his" table. We say forget it as at this point the only one having to deal with the AC dripping is me.
I tell him my son is a vegetarian and he says I'm sure you will do fine figuring out what he can eat on the buffett. I ask him if any chicken stock is used in a particular product and he says "I don't think so" and walks away. I ask a different CM to get the chef for me. He comes over and is as friendly as can be. He interacts with my DS and asks him abunch of questions. He says go ahead and get a biscut and I will be back in a couple of min. He comes back with 3 plates of food - all increadibly presented and he has that magical Disney smile and attitude making it fun for everyone. Mickey waffles - Yummy. Fruit, quiches, omlet, etc. The other kids and adults taste and fall in love with the Mickey waffles - chef comes back with one other dish for my son and my DD asks for Mickey waffles - 5 min later he comes back with enough for all 10 of us. We ask him that if he sees our so called waiter to tell him we need more coffee - one min. later he comes back with coffee.
I guess that is just the magic of Disney being able to turn around an event with our worst CM experience with our best CM experience.

Character interaction was good and our waiter did do one thing for us - he took a group photo of all 10 of us with Donald with two cameras.

 

[RedsoxMickey]

Kathy G - you are next - Yachtsman review

Yachtsman was not terrible but I was expecting some really good steak and this place just didn't deliver. I am also not very impressed with the ambiance (spelling?) at this place.
We went here with 10 people total. Orderded a glass of wine - not impressive.
I spoke with the waiter about my vegatarian DS and he was accomodating but the result was a medicore ok very limited stirfry served with some decent mashed potatoes.
I order the Porterhouse. Everybody's meal was ok but this place is certainly nothing special. We ate here for two reasons - One of the guys in our party of 10 was celebrating a birthday and we couldn't get into our first choice of Canada with a party of 10. We were also going on an Illuminations cruise after dinner that departs from the marina.
We all felt that the experience was ok but for the money Disney has way better alternatives. I love a good steak and this just didn't cut it for me.
My DW enjoyed her scallops but again ok not great. My DD didn't care for the Mac and Cheese and ordeded a kids dessert that was a cupcake served with a white chocolate puzzle that she could paint with food coloring. Very fun and good presentation but not good quality food. I love white chocolate but this was not good.

The service was good.

 

[RedsoxMickey]

How was the food at the Princess Storybook lunch? I've read on the boards that the character interaction is great, but different opinions on the food. I have an ADR there in November (lunch) and not sure if I should switch. Thanks!

Princess Lunch - Ok I was not at this lunch.
My DW took my DD (7) while I took my DS to Mexico (one of the best meals and dining experiences)
My DD said it was ok and she had a good time meeting the princesses.
My DW said it was horrible food and spent a good amount of time afterwards seeking out a bathroom. She said she was glad she did this with my DD but said never again.
I think it depends on the ages of the kids and if you have ever done these or not. Last time at Disney we ate at Cindy's Castle for breakfast - Worst meal of that trip and my DS hated the princess experience.
It seams like it is much easier now to meet princesses outside of eating that we will not be doing any more princess meals.

 

[RedsoxMickey]

I want to know how your meal was at Hollywood and Vine. We were there on Monday, August 20th. Our waitress was great and we got smoothies that were really good. The food was not so good. I had read bad reviews prior to going but didnt' try to switch since I figured there was no were else available. I would eat there again. Nothing special, just ho hum.

We did this so we could get good fantasmic seats and boy did we.

Agreed and although I did not get a smoothie others in our party did and enjoyed them.
We had a wonderful waiteress that made this a fun meal. My sister in law had mentioned the the smores from next door were one of her favorite things at Disney World. Well a few min. later our waitress brought out 3 to go containers filled with smores from next door. The food was fine we were not expecting much.

 

[RedsoxMickey]

I just made an ADR at San Angel Inn last week. We've never eaten there because of the bad reviews, but I thought that it might be interesting to try it out (especially during free dining) for the ambiance. I'd love to hear how it exceeded your expectations and what your vegetarian child ate (since DD and I are vegetarians).

San Angel Inn - After we got my DW and DD settled in next door in Norway for a princess lunch, my DS and I headed for Mexico.
As soon as you enter you are transformed into Mexico theme - music and all.

Our wonderful waiter comes over and introduces himself and has fun with my DS as he says Hello and how are you in Spanish. The live musical band with upbeat music starts playing and we are completley relaxed enjoying the chips and salsa. I decide why not relax even more and order a glass of wine - Great choice I wish I remembered what I ordered but it was wonderful.

I my DS tell the waiter that he is a vegetarian and he brings over a seperate menu that has few items on it. My DS orders a mixed plate - I think it had burrito, enchilida and one other item served with rice.
We decide to order a soup that we will share to start with - basic broth with cheese, avacado and peppers. WOW this soup was increadible and I although I love soups, I am pickey. We decide the soup is to good to share and we order another - good choice.

I ordered a chicken dish that my waiter reccomended and it was great. Not as good as the vegy option that I wish I had ordered.

Great service, great food, great atmosphere. This wan't our first time in San Angel and certainly will not be our last.

The desert and expresso did not disappoint

FYI: We ate around 2:30pm

 

[firkat]

Thanks for the reviews! I am curious about your experiences at Spirit of Aloha and Restaurant Marakesh.

 

[notnothin]

Thanks again for your detailed reviews. Sorry to hear about the poor customer service you received at Donald's Breakfast, but at least the chef helped keep the magic alive!

 

[ntsammy5]

Thanks for the reviews! I am curious about your experiences at Spirit of Aloha and Restaurant Marakesh.

Me too. Haven't been to Aloha for years and I hear it's gone down hill.

 

[RedsoxMickey]

Me too. Haven't been to Aloha for years and I hear it's gone down hill.

Spirit of Aloha
We had this planned for our arrival night. What we had not planned on was Magical Express being anything but magical. 5 hours and still not luggage.
No luggage - sweaty family from getting up early, getting to airport, etc.
All the camera stuff in the luggage. Have long pants on and it is Hot.
So I have to admit we are not starting off at a good place.
No problem getting to location. Get rushed along for photo by CM that is just going through the motions. Ask bar tender where we are supposed to wait and when they will calling us. Bar tender snaps and points - Probably sick of people asking and yes it was hot out.
Get seated and things are looking up - friendly waiter - we remind him that my DS is vegatarian - No problem. Rain starts lightly and stays for entire show but we are covered so no big deal. The food is good and service is great. DS veg. food is good and plentiful.
We were in the back so we got DD a booster seat so she could see. The show was OK at best. Corney story line. The fire guy was good.
Overall we enjoyed the food but would not do this again.
Full disclosure we do not like the Hoopy dee do show either.

I will go back to the poly for Kona and Ohana but not for this.

I was surprised that they don't have any audiance participation - My DD would have loved to Hula.
I think the teared priced seating is a good idea as we would have paid to be closer - although our table wasn't that bad.

 

[RedsoxMickey]

Marakash

We did not have this one planned. We spent the entire day at Seaworld and decided we wanted to go to Epcot that night. Before we realized it we had not eaten dinner. We stopped at guest service and Marakash and China were available. We have not been to China in awhile and find the food ok but a true lack of themeing. We feel like we are the Chinese place at home.

We had our meal at 9pm and the food was good as always. Simple food but we like it. My DS likes couscous a lot so this is perfect.
I do not recommend this place unless you are able to take advantage of the belly dancing show. We arrived way to late for that.
We would have been better off just eating in the land foodcourt or at the stands but we were tired and hungry so sitting and enjoying the food was fine.

I like this place as a late lunch or early dinner place and we will go back at these times.