Most Recent Reviews
Review of Rose and Crown Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by wattage Review Date: 02/18/2014
Rating: (5) Recommended
My wife, 14yo daughter and I ate dinner here on Friday, February 14, 2014. We had a 5:40 reservation and we checked in at 5:30pm. We had about a twenty minute wait before we were seated on the covered outdoor patio with great water views. All three of us got the fish and chips for our main meal. We did not get any appetizers.
The fish & chips meal was $19.99 each, and was very similar to what you get at the Yorkshire Fish Shop for $9.00 – which was only about 25% less food than what we were served and R&C. I was able to finish the large piece of fish that was presented, but my wife and daughter could not finish their meals – they said it was too greasy for them to eat.
While the view and our server were very good, I think we’ll stick to getting our fish and chips from the Yorkshire Fish Shop. We’ll not be back.
Pros:
Location, ServiceCons:
Food QualityReview of Big River Grille and Brewing Works
Reviewed by wattage Review Date: 02/18/2014
Rating: (2) Recommended
I’ve eaten here two other times, both times I came away disappointed in the food. This time the food was fine, but the experience in the restaurant was terrible!! We only ate here as a last resort as the Flying Fish Cafe and Kozzina’s had nothing on their menus that appealed to my wife. We were staying at the Boardwalk Inn and wanted something close as it was raining heavily.
We arrived about 6:30PM on Wednesday, February 12, 2014. We were seated upon our arrival at a table on the left side of the restaurant near a window looking out onto the boardwalk and their patio. Our server was good throughout our meal.
After we ordered, several groups arrived and promptly began drinking heavily. As they drank, they got louder and louder. By the time out food arrived, I could not hear my wife speak at all, and she was sitting next to me. This was the loudest restaurant I’ve ever been in! Even though our food was good, the noise killed the experience for us and we will never return. When we were leaving, we spoke to a family under the awning at the front of the restaurant, and they also thought the noise levels were deafening.
This restaurant is more of a bar, then a restaurant.
Pros:
Burgers, LocationCons:
Noise, Noise, and more NoiseReview of Rainforest Cafe
Reviewed by wattage Review Date: 02/18/2014
Rating: (6) Recommended
Three of us had lunch at the Rainforest Café at the Animal Kingdom on Saturday, February 15, 2015. We had a 2pm reservation and arrived at 1:50. We were not seated until 2:30, but we got a nice table in the back near the elephants.
My wife and I got salads as our starters. Our salads were good – lettuce was fresh and the dressings were good. For our entrees, my wife and I split a rack of ribs, and my daughter got a chicken finger and fries meal. The ribs, while tender, were not very flavorful and had a slightly off taste; like they used some bazar spice or marinade. My daughter’s chicken was excellent as she finished every morsel of her meal.
This was our second time eating here, and will most likely be our last.
Pros:
Theme and decorCons:
Noise and foodReview of Boardwalk Villas (Disney Vacation Club)
Reviewed by wattage Review Date: 02/18/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
We stayed in a deluxe studio for two nights starting February 11, 2014. We are DVC members and stayed on points. We used on-line check in from my tablet while we were in the airport. Check in was quick as we already had our Magic Bands and had previously made our FastPass+ selection. If you don’t do this before check-in, you will be at the front desk for a while.
Our room had a queen bed and a sleeper sofa. The bed was firmer than I, or my wife likes, but for two nights it was OK. The bathroom was very clean as was the kitchenette and the rest of the room. The resorts best feature is its location – you can walk to Epcot or DHS. We enjoyed our stay and would gladly come back.
Pros:
Location, Dining choicesCons:
Long HallwaysReview of Beach Club Villas (Disney Vacation Club)
Reviewed by wattage Review Date: 02/18/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
We stayed in a one-bedroom for three nights starting February 13, 2014. We are DVC members and stayed on points. Our room had a king bed and separate living room with a sleeper sofa. The bed was firmer than I, or my wife likes, but it was OK. The bathroom was very clean as was the kitchen and the rest of the room.
There are two things that set this resort apart from all others: location – you can walk to Epcot or DHS; and the pool area – Storm-a-long Bay is a great little water park by its self.
The only complaint we had was the distance we had to walk to get to our room from the main lobby. It was a very, very long walk; especially when you’re tired from a day in the parks. We would still love to come back if we can ever get another reservation.
Pros:
Location, Pool areaCons:
Long hallwaysReview of My Disney Experience
Reviewed by TuckMan Review Date: 02/18/2014
Rating: (4) Recommended
The website was a little awkward, but it was nice to be able to link plans, tickets and reservations ahead of time. This part worked pretty well.
The newly released app is much better than the previous app, which was almost useless. I think the system gets a little overloaded in the park on busy days though.
Pros:
Linking Tickets, Reservations to Wristband at HomeCons:
App Has lots of glitches in park useReview of FastPass+
Reviewed by TuckMan Review Date: 02/18/2014
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
Just got back from President's Day weekend. Everyone was using this new system. We stayed on property and it was a big advantage to pre-arrange passes before we arrived, but I hate having to lock in what I am doing before I arrive. I like to make decisions on the fly at the park, but this forces me to commit to one park and a schedule before I arrive.
The fact that you are limited to three a day and at only one park really limits park hopping. I tried to reschedule one pass but the system crashed and my pass was listed as "Unknown". On busy days, if you do try to reschedule, good luck as most everything is already booked out.
I feel for the people who were staying off-site. They had long lines to book their passes at kiosks, and those lines seemed to be long all day.
Speaking of lines, what was a surprise is that the fastpass return line for attractions was really long. They even had a cast member holding a sign so people could see where the end of the line was. The problem was that everyone had to match their bands or cards with the sensors to get in the fastpass line. Many people were having trouble matching the mickey on their wristband with the mickey on the sensor, or were waving their bands instead of holding them to the sensor, slowing down the line.
There was one good thing however. We had a fastpass for the Rockin' Rollercoaster and that ride was shut down during our fastpass time. We got an e-mail and a note on our app that we got an unrestricted one-time fastpass for any ride that day, only at Hollywood Studios though.
Pros:
Can Pre-Arrange via web or use app, Automatic free pass if ride is down.Cons:
Limit of three a day and at only one parkReview of Yachtsman Steakhouse
Reviewed by rbadenov Review Date: 02/18/2014
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
2/17/2014
We have eaten here several times in the past for special celebrations and usually had a satisfactory experience; however, after our Valentine's Day experience I doubt we'll ever go back.
We had a reservation several weeks in advance and arrived on time. There were several people ahead of us in line to check in and when we got to the hostess stand the hostess never said a word or looked up, just kept us waiting about 5 minutes before looking up, asked my husband his name and made a remark about his simple name and told us there would be a 20 to 30 minute wait for our table. After 40 minutes and, noticing several parties had been seated who came in after we did, my husband checked with her again and she told him, oh, sorry, we seated someone else at your table by mistake! Let me add here that she seemed to be really nice to young people and treated older couples with contempt (we're in our early 60's). Once we were finally seated it was very late and we were very upset with how we had been treated. No manager to be seen anywhere, no apology for anything or any attempt to make up for poor treatment. Our waiter, Ricardo, was pleasant but disappeared for long periods and we had to ask several times for our water to be refilled. By the time we finished the restaurant had pretty much emptied out and it was after 10:00.
We have traveled the world and eaten in wonderful restaurants and judge our dining experience by how welcome we are made to feel, the quality of service and lastly, the food. Yachtsman has lovely food but failed miserably on the other important areas! For a very expensive meal on a special occasion, go somewhere else such as the Flying Fish Cafe. . . We've never had a bad experience there. We won't be returning to the Yachtsman Steakhouse.
Pros:
Food is delicious and beautifully presentedCons:
Hostess is rude and wait times long even with reservationsReview of Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria
Reviewed by nybella17girl Review Date: 02/18/2014
Rating: (7) Recommended
Had lunch here on my epcot day. The check in and waiting area was very confusing. There was a line to check in, a line for the candelight processional people, and another line for something else which I don't know what was for. I checked in and waiting amongst many people who I could not tell whether they were standing in a line or just waiting to be called. The manager came out and called names from time to time but he did not speak good English and it was hard to understand the names he was calling.
Once we got to our table, things got better. Our waitress took my 3 year old son to look at the chefs making the pizzas and to see the 3 big ovens. The food was outstanding. I had the arancini as an appetizer which was fairly good. We all had pizza and this is some of the best pizza I ever had. I'm Italian so I've had a lot of pizza so that's saying something. For dessert, I wanted the zeppole but it wasn't on the menu at the time so I had the tiramisu instead and it was delicious as well. One of my complaints about this restaurant though is that the server was over friendly. She checked on us too many times, and stood nearby watching us and our table almost to the point where it was uncomfortable while talking to and joking around with other fellow servers. I'd go back again for the food though.
Pros:
terrific foodCons:
Waiting area, over friendly serverReview of Tutto Italia Restaurant - Italy
Reviewed by nybella17girl Review Date: 02/18/2014
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
I'm Italian so I have high expectations when it comes to authentic Italian food. I wanted to try this place for years so I finally made a reservation for dinner. I really wish I didn't. The server brought me the wrong food, the dining room was very crowded and the tables extremely close together. I could hear the conversations of the people around me and the servers didn't have room to walk around without bumping into things including my chair. Food was ok, nothing memorable. They also messed up my bill because I was supposed to pay for this meal using the dining plan and when I checked out on my last day, the hotel told me I owed money for eating there and that was on my bill. They corrected the mistake but it took a long time and I just wanted to go enjoy my final day in the park. I will not be going back to this restaurant.
