Most Recent Reviews
Review of Turf Club Bar and Grill
Reviewed by Elaine Hammond Review Date: 12/29/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
We enjoy this restaurant. There is a nice well rounded selection. I was able to get a steak (delicious) and my husband got the pasta with shrimp which he said was great.
Nice hot rolls and the Caesar salad was fantastic. My husband had the French Onion soup and he LOVED the "crunchies" (onions) on the top!!
Service was great and our server was very friendly and out-going. We were dining with our friends who happen to be Cast Members and we all felt very comfortable and thoroughly enjoyed the meal.
One suggestion: for a dinner meal I feel you should offer LINEN NAPKINS not paper. Kind of takes away from the "ambiance".
I would also like to see them bring back lunch. It's a nice restaurant in a big resort and we missed going there for the chedder smoked cheeseburgers.
Pros:
Good food, nice atmosphereCons:
Not open for lunch (or breakfast would have nice also)Review of Artist's Palette Lunch / Dinner
Reviewed by Elaine Hammond Review Date: 12/29/2013
Rating: (4) Not Recommended
VERY limited menu. We wanted to get a couple of cheeseburgers and they did not have them! The closest thing they had was a hamburger wrap which just was not appealing at all. If you wanted a good cheeseburger you had to go to the Paddock. Thankfully, a nice guest heard my conversation and told me about it.
I did have the dinner special one night and it was good. It was pork loin with mashed potatoes.
This restaurant needs to offer more "comfort food" type of entrees. Even a nice plain hot dog would have been welcome.
Pros:
Tasty foodCons:
Not a good variety, can't get a hamburger!Review of Caribbean Beach Resort (Moderate Resort)
Reviewed by PAProfessor Review Date: 12/29/2013
Rating: (5) Recommended
This was our 18th visit to WDW and our 5th resort. We checked in on Nov. 15th and left on Nov. 22.
Check-in was not smooth as at other resorts. Reservations were not correct and my DD's room was not connected as we had reserved. We had done this on every other visit. We booked preferred rooms months in advance since my wife is in a wheel chair and I was coming off surgery that mandated very little walking. I called the WDW reservations to make them aware of my latest situation and they assured me housekeeping had it under control. We ended up in Trinidad North but on the back side requiring a 3-4 hundred yard walk to Old Port Royale. Odd since I viewed several non-handicapped families exiting rooms that were right next to OPR.
The second hint things were not going well was the musty smell upon entering the room. Obviously the carpets had been cleaned but were not allowed to dry properly. They were damp in spots. The beds at this resort are too small for a moderate. House keeping was not up to usual WDW standards until the last 2 days when a new HK'er came on duty.
The MAJOR complaint at this resort is busing. It has 7 or 8 stops. Depending on where the bus entered the resort many times it was full and did not stop or it had 20-30 people standing packed in tight. One morning we waited 50 minutes until we called on the bus stop phone. We kept track of the time and on average we consumed 2-3 hours a day waiting and traveling on buses at CBR. At the price that is unresonable.
The resort is huge but does have a nice pool. The food court is only OK. This resort needs major updates like the gift shop and it's selections.
The employees at OPR were great and very friendly and helpful, especially the concierge desk.
We have stayed at PC, ASM, CSR, POR and now CBR and this seems negative. We have never in 18 visits complained but this is our absolutely last visit to CBR.
Pros:
LandscapingCons:
Check-in, room, busingReview of Raglan Road
Reviewed by toolmanjan Review Date: 12/29/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
We ate here on Saturday 12/28. My family of 4 all agree we would eat here again. The food was excellent. If you are looking for a quiet dinner this is not the place. After adjusting to the noise and atmosphere we enjoyed the entertainment.
Pros:
Great FoodCons:
A little noisyReview of Jiko - The Cooking Place - Jambo House
Reviewed by LordInfidel Review Date: 12/29/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
You cant get more recent then sitting at the table writing this.
Jiko has moved into first place on our list of favorite reataurants; yes its pricey, but get on tbe disney dining plan and it wont be an issue.
Now onto the review; after years of eating at California grille and narcoosees, we tried Jiko last year and fell in love. It was hands down the best filet around (rivaling le cellier). So this year, we booked it for 3 nights.
Our first night we were upset at the removal of the bibodi rolls; which i was craving. So Lucius, our waiter, talked to the chef to see what he could do. We figured that would be the end of it but wow were we surprised.
The head chef, John, came out and talked to us for about 30 mins about his vision of the menu (very exciting things coming). He then had some special items brought out to us to try. And it did not stop there. Upon learning that we were coming back tonight and tomorrow, John had his chefs special prepare us the new version of the bibiodi rolls for us to try (they are milder then last time and made with duck, but still very good).
They brought us out a new appetizer called vetahook which has 3 types of rolls on it. Egg curry, squab and a vegetable roll. the purpose of the dish as we learned was to try 3 different flavors in order of heat. Without giving too much away, I personally loved the vegetable (if you like spice, you will love it)
Now you might be asking, did they remember the bibodi rolls; well i made sure i asked for lucius tonight (and got him). within 5 mins of sitting down, out comes john to talk to me about the bibodi (he remembered and he remembered that i loved the vegetable vetahook so he had a plate made with all veg)
On xmas when we were here, i had the boar as an app and it was very flavorful. The filet was not as spicy as i remembered it but still it was very good. So tonight, i asked Lucius about the spice they used on the boar; and in proper fashion they are putting the seasoning on my filet (i love my filet, its one of the reasons why we eat in disney table service).
And now, here we wait for our next course to come out which will be wonderful again. Then onto desert, the creme brulee is wonderful (although i think they share the same recipe as le cellier).
If you are in the fence about trying something new, i strongly urge you to give jiko a try. It will be very hard to be disappointed.
Thanks Lucius and John.
Got to go, my filet just arrived!
Pros:
Personal attentivenessCons:
—Review of Disney Dining Plan
Reviewed by memakwed Review Date: 12/28/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
We really like using the dining plan. We tend to use the snacks for pastries for breakfast, CS for lunch, and TS for dinner. I like that paying in advance gives us the ability to have what we would like without worrying about prices at the moment. We tend to pick higher priced menu items so it does pay for itself and then some. If we picked less expensive items I'm not sure it would balance out so it is important to look at menus for the restaurants you are interested in ahead of time. My child this trip was 9 but turning 10. The children's menu just didn't do it for him for variety this time. Sometimes he was also still hungry. I swapped meals with him most days so I knew he had something he wanted and had a full belly. I liked that the DP could be used with Fantasmic. It was still 1 TS but it gives you the opportunity for seating at Fantasmic without such a long line. It also gives you an appetizer which isn't usually included in the plan. We also used the DP for the candlelight processional. We ate in France and had to use 2 TS credits but again it guaranteed seating and not standing in line for so long. For us it was worth it due to health issues. Our meal was wonderful and again we could get an appetizer. I am not a dessert person so a dessert at every meal is too much. I would love if an appetizer was possible. There is more than enough food on the plan. I found some good deals for snack credits with soup at our resort and fried rice at Yak and Yeti CS in Animal Kingdom. Keep an eye out for free dining for your trip. We actually had free dining and saved over $1500 for the 3 of us based on our receipts. My parent's also had free dining and clearly saved several hundred as well. I'm not sure if next trip we will do the DP because DS will be an adult and I'm not sure if he would spend that much on food. It's a math game that I need to look at. Of course if free a no brainer.
Pros:
already pd for or freeCons:
too many dessertsReview of T-Rex
Reviewed by memakwed Review Date: 12/28/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
We ate here our first night. We had a 930 adr but made it by 9 and checked in. It was swamped with lots of people waiting for tables. Our wait was maybe 15 minutes tops. We sat in a round booth as you come in. We've been before so we expected the louds meteor storms and atmosphere. We paid OOP. DS got the children popcorn shrimp with mashed potatoes. We enjoy the salads so that's what we had. An omnivore delight, 2 pterodactyl and 1 of the other dinosaur named ones. Everyone enjoyed it and portions were huge. The wedge of bread that comes with it is crispy and thick so I gave it to my husband who is fine with it. I am a landry's member and brought my card. I never rack up enough points for anything and my bday is in Sept. so I never get those rewards either. We don't have landry's restaurant's in our state. To my surprise when they ran my card they extended my $25 bday credit to me even though it had long expired. That was a great way to start vacation since there was very little magic on this trip. We got the chocolate extinction for dessert and it was good for 5 but ideal for 4. This is my husband's favorite restaurant and we actually came down a day early to fit it in our schedule. We enjoy it and will go back.
Pros:
decent foodCons:
loudReview of Boatwright's Dining Hall Dinner
Reviewed by memakwed Review Date: 12/28/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
We have stayed at POR 3 times now and this time we really used the food court. We were on the DP. We had mugs that we used for hot cocoa or coffee in the morning. The hot cocoa is burning hot so a tip would be to add some creamer to the hot cocoa(right next to each other) and it will cool it a bit without watering it down. We found ourselves eating a lot of cheese Danish or cherry Danish for breakfast using a snack credit. We ate by the quiet pool by our room so DS could swim from 7-9 am. This worked since it was warm and my dad had to wait to take medicine before going to the parks. We had a couple late lunches here. We had some great soup too. Clam chowder and tomato bisque. Was able to use a snack credit for these as well. We tried create your own pasta with alfredo and different ingredients, the beef and blue sandwiches- a little heavy on the blue cheese and I love blue cheese, a bacon burger kids fish sandwich- needed some help with tartar sauce tomato onion, BBQ pork sandwich and lots of tuna sandwiches. and tons of carrot cake. That was probably the moistest cake there. The red velvet missed the mark. the cheesecake got a little soft while we ate. Overall it was a great dining experience.
Pros:
convenient good portionsCons:
crowdsReview of 'Ohana Best Friends Character Breakfast
Reviewed by memakwed Review Date: 12/28/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
Again a character meal but not to much character interaction quick single pic and that was it. Seemed to have to bring out lots of what we needed because they would bring such a small amount for 5 people. Mickey waffles are always nice. Juice is excellent. Some type of blend. I had the most of that. The scrambled eggs are my mom's favorite. She looks forward to them. the sausage has a different flavor so some of us like it and others do not. The potato wedges are a bit dry but plentiful. Biscuits come in the skillet too but we didn't really eat those at all. We needed a lot more bacon to make it so everyone had 2 or 3 pieces. the bread and fruit to start is minimal and hard for everyone to have some of what they like. Waitress was attentive and tried to make sure we had what we wanted. We paid OOP and for 4 adults and 1 child I believe it was $127ish before tip. Parent's paid as a early xmas present.
Pros:
eggsCons:
waitingReview of 1900 Park Fare Character Dinner
Reviewed by memakwed Review Date: 12/28/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
Probably the best character interaction of the trip but not even close to how the interaction was last trip. Overall Disney lacked magic this trip and it was a little sad. We didn't get the picture.I had been crying in MK and not feeling good right before we left to head to dinner. the meal itself was nice! The Salmon had an orange almond type of topping compared to last time but it was still yummy. I don't care for Salmon but always get it here. They had sushi this time that DS9 enjoyed. Most of us had some and pot stickers. Chicken Marsala was really good too. My mom always likes it but I don't always think it's 100% but this time it was better than last. Maybe just changing up the recipe a little helped it a lot. Desserts are mini and was am assortment. We will go back without question.
