Most Recent Reviews
Review of Columbia Harbour House
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 01/12/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
My family and I dined here on 1/9 for dinner around 6:45pm. I tried the Lighthouse Sandwich (hummus, tomato and broccoli slaw). It was alright. My mom ordered the lobster roll, and she said it was good but there were other things mixed in with the lobster which made it a bit odd. My brother got the Garden Harvest salad and my friend asked for the Broccoli Peppercorn salad. They both ate their whole meals. Somehow we also ended up with a tuna sandwich as well. Three of us got the blueberry cobbler which was delicious and my brother had strawberry yogurt.
It was easy to find a table downstairs. The cashier was very friendly and we had a conversation about our hometowns, as she's from our state. I do recommend this place and it seems as if it's a bit overlooked so not too busy.
Pros:
Friendly cast, good food, easy to find seatingCons:
—Review of Be Our Guest -Counter Service Lunch
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 01/11/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
My party of four dined here on 1/9. We had a Fastpass+ reservation for 1:05-1:35pm. We arrived around 1:00. The line to check in was a little confusing but after that we were instantly escorted to the ordering area (we chose not to pre-order). The ordering line was brief and we spoke to a real person, did not use the self-serve kiosk.
We were able to get a table right next to the window in the ballroom. The chandeliers were beautiful and the falling "snow" perfectly set the atmosphere.
The food arrived after a reasonable amount of time. My mom and I each got the roast beef sandwich and my brother and friends chose the braised pork. Everything was awesome. Fries were much more crisp than the last time I dined there. My friend almost licked his plate.
For dessert, my mom had the tropical fruit cream puff. She said it was different but good. My brother had the chocolate cream puff, no complaints. My friend and I each got the Master's Cupcake. I know what the Grey Stuff is made of, but it was SO DELICIOUS! I was scooping out every possible morsel from the wrapper.
We loved this meal and highly recommend it to others. Definitely take advantage of the Fastpass option if possible!
Pros:
Amazing food and atmosphereCons:
—Review of 'Ohana Best Friends Character Breakfast
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 01/11/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
My family and I wanted a character meal to end our trip. I'd never eaten at Ohana for breakfast but it has a good reputation as a laid back breakfast, and it's a family style meal so no running back and forth to the buffet.
Our ADR was for 9:40am, and we arrived a few minutes late at 9:50. We were given a pager and seated around 10:10. Somehow we managed to skip the family picture which was fine with us.
Dulce was our server and she was great keeping up with our requests. We enjoyed the jungle juice. We were given two small pieces of sweet bread, a cinnamon raisin with icing and pineapple (similar to what is served at dinner). We enjoyed them both and asked for more.
The fruit platter was also on the small side, but again we asked for more and had no problems getting our request met. There were raspberries, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, and pineapple.
The skillet contained bacon, breakfast potatoes, sausage, scrambled eggs, and biscuits. I didn't care for the sausage or potatoes and don't like eggs anywhere. However, my mom and friend raved about the eggs and asked for more, along with the potatoes.
It took awhile for the characters to make their way to us, about 30 minutes after we sat down. Lilo was the first to stop by. My brother was grumpy so she just took a picture with me. Stitch was up next, and he was amazing. He got my brother laughing and smiling, out of his grumpy mood. Pluto and Mickey were also very good, reading my brother's magazines with him. Pluto pretended he was eating my friend's head. The characters were adorable.
We had a 50% off coupon so our total was $71 including tip. Normally priced it would have been significantly more expensive. We enjoyed the meal and would recommend it for a laid back option, but overall there are other character meals that I have enjoyed more.
Pros:
Stitch, great food and serviceCons:
Wait timeReview of Beaches and Cream
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 01/11/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
My party of four made an ADR for 1/7 at 8pm. We arrived right on time and had a few minutes wait. It was very cold that night, but they gave us a pager and we were able to sit inside by Ariel's where it was warm.
Herlina was our server, and I've had her before. My friend and I each got the grilled cheese and tomato bisque, and we shared with my mom. My brother just wanted a side salad. He asked for honey mustard dressing, but they didn't have it, so he settled for ranch. He enjoyed the salad. We all loved the grilled cheese and soup.
We shared the No Way Jose. Herlina brought four little bowls for us to scoop out our own portions. Too much chocolate sauce and not enough peanut butter, according to my mom.
I knew we wouldn't get a cast member discount, but my friend said he'd gotten one there before. He briefly argued with Herlina about it, but it wasn't a big deal. The total was still just under $50 with tip, which we thought was reasonable. We will definitely be back!
Pros:
ADRs! Great food and ice creamCons:
No discountReview of Landscape of Flavors - Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 01/11/2014
Rating: (7) Recommended
My family and I ate here for dinner after arrival at the resort on 1/6. It was late when we arrived, and we didn't eat dinner until nearly 9pm. My mom, brother, and I all wanted pasta. My friend ordered the pastrami cheeseburger. He was done with his entire meal by the time I made it through the pasta line. It took probably 25 minutes.
I asked for three orders of linguine alfredo, two with shrimp and one with chicken. I guess they didn't hear me say shrimp for the third one because there was no shrimp in it. I shared some from my dish. My friend adored his pastrami cheeseburger. My mom and I each ordered a large fruit pastry. I didn't like it. My brother had prepackaged brownie bites which he scarfed down. My friend had cheesecake bites and he said they were great. I wanted gelato but the station was closed.
We also ate lunch at the resort on 1/10 before heading back to the airport. My brother and I each got a pork sandwich. I found it a little spicy but we both liked the chips. My mom had the caprese sandwich and I think she ate the whole thing. She had Mickey ganache for dessert, I was finally able to get my gelato, and my brother had half of a cheese danish.
Pros:
Easy to find seats, good foodCons:
Very long line for pasta, so shrimp in pasta, gelato station closed at 9pmReview of Landscape of Flavors - Breakfast
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 01/11/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
We dined at Landscape for breakfast on 1/7, 1/8, and 1/9. We never had difficulty finding seats, despite eating between 9-10:30am.
Over the three days, we tried a variety of items. We had the character waffles several times, the challah french toast, yogurt parfait, and the bounty platter. I didn't care for the sausage served with the platter, and the bacon was kind of limp every day. My brother said it looked "frowny and sad". The first day, the waffles were a bit on the cold side.
No serious complaints, and I like that breakfast has a lot of familiar options, as opposed to lunch and dinner.
Pros:
Tasty options, easy to find seatsCons:
Cold food on some daysReview of Disney's QUICK SERVICE Dining Plan
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 01/11/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
My party of four used the quick service plan for the first time from 1/6-1/10. We were able to get it for $21.99/person/night with a cast member discount and that made it an excellent value. It saved my family (three people) probably $250. We only used the refillable mugs once, so they weren't a great asset, but even without those our savings would have been around $200.
We enjoyed meals at Landscape of Flavors (breakfast/lunch/dinner), Sunshine Seasons, Boulangerie Patisserie, Columbia Harbour House, and Be Our Guest. We also had several table service meals that we just paid for out of pocket. If I were able to get the plan at a discount, I would use it again.
Pros:
Plenty of food, great choicesCons:
Cost vs. out of pocket without discountReview of Olivia's Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by Momof4 Review Date: 01/11/2014
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
What happened to Olivia's??? This was my absolute worst dining experience at Disney in 22 years!!! Our waitress was the worst I've ever had in Disney. She was rude the entire visit- threw straws, napkins and coasters at us. It was my husband's birthday and she didn't acknowledge it even after we reminded her at the table. She rolled her eyes! (It was on my reservation and he was wearing his birthday button.) The food was mediocre at best. The burgers were okay but the shrimp pasta was terrible and the ribs were very fatty. The desserts were all terrible and non of us really could eat them. Of course, our waitress didn't care because we were on the dining plan and she simply tacked on her 18% to our party of 11! Never, ever again will I waste my time going here!! Our positive aspect of the meal is that now we sit at our dinner table and throw things at each other and laugh about how horrible this experience was!!!
Pros:
????Cons:
Waitress, foodReview of Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria
Reviewed by Momof4 Review Date: 01/11/2014
Rating: (6) Recommended
Our family of 7 ate here on 12/29/13. We were seated quickly and our servers were outstanding. Our orders were taken quickly and efficiently and our drinks were refilled quickly. Our orders included individual pizzas, lasagna, candele and veal and chicken parm. The portions are really small. The pastas were served in what looked like small soup bowls. The veal and chicken dishes were just that- one piece of meat and 4 tiny potatoes. The food was tasty but not worth the price. The pizzas are $21 and the size of a dinner plate!! We spent $250 for basically pizza and pasta. We are used to getting pasta with parmigiana dishes and that was not the case here. Again, food was tasty but not worth the price. The desserts were terrible. This was one night we were actually still hungry after our meals and they were inedible. The tiramisu tasted like vanilla pudding with coffee grinds dumped on top-YUCK!! The gelato sundae was $14!!! And it was a basic ice cream sundae with a biscotti type cookie in it. Last but not least, it was SOOO loud in there. We were shouting to speak to each other and all the banging of dishes echoed throughout. I really wanted to like it here but just not worth the price or headache. I can definitely have better Italian food at home.
Pros:
service, pizzaCons:
portion size, noise levelReview of California Grill
Reviewed by HappyClappy Review Date: 01/11/2014
Rating: (1) Recommended
We have dined many times at the old California Grill and we were looking forward to enjoying the new rehab. Oh dear, what a disappointment. We arrived 15 minutes early for our 7:30 reservation. Wishes was at 8:00. When we checked in the CM at the podium said they were very busy but that's nothing new.
However what we didn't expect was the total pandemonium in the lounge area. Every place in the lounge and at the bar was being used for walk ups eating. Worst of all we were presented with the sight of two adults eating on the floor! We understand that the fireworks are a feature but the management have full control of how many people they allow into the lounge. At no other signature restaurant would the management tolerate this ridiculous situation.
We did give the manager our views and his attitude was couldn't care less. He is obviously focused on squeezing as many dollars from letting as many people into the place as possible. Why have a reservation system at all?
The menu is hugely reduced, the staff appear new and inexperienced, our waitress never even bothered to offer wine suggestions. We didn't bother with deserts, we just didn't feel it was worth it. Sorry California Grill, you've lost your number one spot with me - spend your dollars or 2 table dining credits on Citricos instead - a much better signature experience.
