Most Recent Reviews
Review of 1900 Park Fare Character Dinner
Reviewed by maze4 Review Date: 03/31/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
When our 180 day mark came to make ressies this was my first. I had read reviews and wanted to do something for my DD4 first visit to DW. We had ressies for 3/18 but my DD got sick and ended up at Centra Care, we missed our ressies but fortunatley our hotel helped us get ressies the very next day on 3/19 at 4:30pm. We were at the HS for the day and had to take a bus to MK then took the monorail to GF. It was a nice trip. We had never been to the GF and was treated like royalty from the start. My DD had been to the BBB the day before and thank goodness her hair lasted. She still wasn't feeling good so I took her Cinderella dress with us and had her change in the restroom at the GF. This restroom was VERY small and I wasn't the only one who had the same idea of changing dresses. We had our picture taken out front in front of castle painting and then was introduced by family name to enter the room. Our waiter wasn't very attentive but it was a buffet so it didn't matter. The food was awesome, plentiful, great variety. My DH loved the peel and eat shrimp and all the different cold salads. The strawberry soup is more of a dessert for us we dipped fresh fruit into it. We purchased the photoepass+ so we received a photo package with a 5x7 and several smaller pictures brought to our table and the rest of our pictures was on the photopass+. The characters were announced and came around the tables and spent time to do autographs and pictures. My DD4 was totally dressed as Cinderella and turned heads and received so many compliments from not only castmembers but from the characters themselves. She soaked all the attention in. I had read earlier reviews about the waltz during the meal and my dreams as a mother came true when Prince Charming came over and asked my little princess to dance with him. She of course obliged and I wish I had my video camera because I was awe struck and wished it was me!!! I will never forget that moment. I would totally recommend this character dining if just to visit the beautiful resort. Unless we hit the lottery we would probably never get an opportunity to stay here but was nice to visit.
Pros:
Beautiful resorts, meeting Cinderella and Prince CharmingCons:
noneReview of ABC Commissary
Reviewed by maze4 Review Date: 03/31/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
Ate here back in 06 and wasn't planning on eating here again just because wanted to try other places, but was tired and kids were hungry and it was right in front of us so we decided to stop and look at the menu. We decided to eat here on 3/19 and while I found a table and got all the condiments etc for the group ( we are a party of 6) my DH waited in line. We ordered the cheeseburgers and my DH and myself had the cesear salad. Everything was tasty and we each sampled each others desserts. my only complaint is that if I had remembered I would have found seating closer to the restrooms since my elderly mother was with us and uses a scooter but had parked it outside not realizing that we sat at the opposite side of the restaurant and it was a hike for her. We would eat here again but would like to try other places
Pros:
ability to find table, variety of food optionsCons:
restrooms at other end of restaurantReview of 50's Prime Time Cafe Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by maze4 Review Date: 03/31/2013
Rating: (6) Recommended
We wanted to eat at this restaurant back in 06 but didn't make ressies so this was a must this visit. We had ressies for 3/20 and didn't have to wait long before being seated.
Our waitress wasn't into the part at all and the restaurant wasn't even filled. I observed all around me and it seemed like everyone was in a blah mood that day. It had started to drizzle and was cool but it wasn't like it was snowing.
I read reviews about the fried chicken and meatloaf so we ordered both. It was explained that milkshakes were included with the adult meals only. Since we had our DD4 with us, we didn't order any since hers wasn't included in the meal plan. Now don't get me wrong, I could have just paid for hers but if she would have drank a milkshake she probably wouldn't eat anything.
The chicken was fried and plentiful. It was hot which was also nice. My mom ordered the meatloaf along with my DD4 neither one of them liked it and put a lot of ketchup on it to be able to eat it. It just wasn't like ours. Sometime homemade means your homemade not someone else's.
We knew of the "elbows off the table" routine and purposely put them on the table and nothing. My kids won't eat greens and were never told to clean your plate or not dessert so the whole idea of coming here for that purpose was a let down. The table next to us with the same waitress tried to joke with her to get a response and didn't get any either. They had to leave early to catch Fantasmic and opted to not get dessert, and she did come back and give them plain brownies to go to eat at the show. That was nice. We weren't going to the show since it was raining.
We decided as a family to not return next year when we visit again. We will try something else.
Pros:
themeingCons:
waitress didn't play the partReview of Electric Umbrella
Reviewed by maze4 Review Date: 03/31/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
Our party of 6 ate here on 3/21. It was cool that morning but by midafternoon had warned up nicely. I was able to secure a table outside under the canopy while DH stood in line for food. We all ordered the bacon cheeseburgers. Everything was good. My only complaint is that we were on the dining plan and had to get desserts. We sampled them, usually not eating the whole thing so it was a waste. On the other hand by DD4 didn't get a dessert with the kids meal and always asked for one. So she usually ended up sharing ours. We are here in 06 and weren't planning on eating here again except it ended up being where we were at when we decided to get lunch.
Pros:
outside seatingCons:
noneReview of Biergarten - Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by maze4 Review Date: 03/31/2013
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
We visited here on 3/22. We were touring the world and it was lunch time. My family was getting hungry but since it was lent our lunch options were limited. We decided that we would just get pretzels to tide us over until the Rose and Crown later that night. Thinking this was Germany pretzels would be good. Boy were we wrong. We used snack credits for drinks and pretzels, I'm glad we didn;t have to pay for this. First of all seating was outside and it was 86 that day. No shade. My DD4 had been sick so I was trying to keep her comforable which was hard in the sun. The pretzels was plain with little salt, tasted just like frozen one warmed up in the microwave. We will look for something else next time.
Pros:
noneCons:
pretzels awefulReviewed by maze4 Review Date: 03/31/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
We had originally had ressies for 3/19 but DD4 got sick and we had to cancel at 1900 Park Fare. Thank goodness for cast members at ASMovies because they rearranged our ressies so that we ended getting to Garden Grill on 3/21. I had read mixed reviews about this restaurant but since my DS14 loved Chip N Dale we decided to give it a try. I am so glad that we did. Our waitress was from Italy and was wonderful. The food was awesome, I have 2 teenage boys who can put the food away. Our waitress kept bringing food and chatting every time about the restaurant, Italy, and joking with characters each time they came around. We saw Chip N Dale, Mickey, and Pluto I lost count after 5 x's. My DD4 got autographs and many pictures. The tilapia and pork was fantastic. We ate two bowls of salad and extra bread. I drink unsweetened ice tea and this was the freshest in all restaurants. The rest had Gold Peak tea which is ok but I love fresh brewed. We all decided that this would be a place to visit again on our next visit.
Pros:
waitress, food quality, charactersCons:
NONEReview of Rose and Crown Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by maze4 Review Date: 03/31/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
This is my DH favorite restaurant.So for his birthday I made ressies. We ate here on 3/22. It was raining on and off throughout the evening. After checking in, we recieved a pager and was given large garbage bags to place over our stroller and ecv. I purposely reminded the cast members that it was my DH birthday and requested to be seated outside. We knew we might have to wait to get those seats so we walked down to look at the lake. We waited over an hour and kept going to the check in and was told we were next. We weren't since we counted numerous parties being seated after us. The manager was summoned over by another party after they had been waiting over an hour and was seated immediately out on the deck. We noticed that since the weather wasn't very nice people seemed to be taking a longer time to eat so that they didn't have to get up or lose their seat out on the deck. The manager notice this as well. Unfortunately, we were seated inside which ruined my plans of a festive birthday and since it was our last night there our only chance to view Illuminations. I had seen it before but my elderly mother and DD4 was seeing it for the first time. Since it took so long for us to be seated our food had just arrived when the shoe started. We missed watching it because we were all so hungry and wanted to eat instead. Being that it was chilly we all ordered the potato leek soup which was delicious. We also ordered the fish n chips since it was lent. I noticed on the slip that was put at our table "Birthday Celebrations" so I figured maybe a cupcake for my DH or something. Nothing at all. My DH wasn't upset but I was for him. Our fish n chips was like the past times we were there however, it seemed they were more greasy than before. We all noticed it later since we don;t eat fried foods very much it you know what I mean. I was very disappointed this time around but will probably visit next time as this is a family favorite.
Pros:
sticky toffee pudding, potato leek soupCons:
long wait time, greasy fishReview of Raglan Road
Reviewed by maze4 Review Date: 03/31/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
This was a last minute ressie upon the request of my DH for his birthday. It was our last day and wasn't sure of our plans. My mother had joined us on this trip and is a snowbird so she met us in Disney. She was being picked up that day and had friends meet us there for lunch on 3/23. The resort bus dropped us off at the Marketplace not realizing that Raglan Road was on the other side. My mother had rented a scooter for this trip but didn't think she would need one for downtown. We were wrong. This is one place we don't visit, we like the parks. We trekked across Downtown taking 15 minutes with all the slow moving walkers. We just made our ressies. We were seated immediately. The place was empty. We were on the dining plan and had credits left which was nice.
I made sure to note that it was my DH birthday. We told our waitress that we had to make sure to make it back to our resort to catch magical express and she told us about the bus pick up right outside Raglan Road. She said not everyone knows about this stop. I wish we did earlier.
We ordered appetizers which we knew we had to pay for. My DS20 ordered the ribs and DS14 ordered the wings. Both were delicious and large portions. My mother had the soup of the day which was potato, ham, and cabbage. She loved it. We were a party of 9. Mostly had hamburgers, and chicken sandwiches. Everything was good. My only complaint was it took over an hour to get our food. Again we were the only ones in the restaurant. The waitress kept refilling our drinks and our conversation was lively. My DD4 feel asleep and missed her food.
The waitress acknowledged my DH birthday by giving him a cupcake with a candle in it He didn't eat it since he ordered the lemon dessert which was like a lemon tart ok. I had the bread pudding with two types of sauces: vanilla and Guiness. It was huge, hot, and heaven. Too much to eat though and felt like I wasted it but was nice to try.
We all decided that even though it took forever to get our food we would try this again but would like to come for dinner so that we can see the entertainment.
Pros:
Irish food, atmosphereCons:
location at downtown DisneyReview of Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria
Reviewed by jame8608 Review Date: 03/31/2013
Rating: (7) Not Recommended
We tried Via Napoli on 3/13/13 for dinner using ADR and the Dining plan. We were seated promptly. I had the seafood di mare pasta, which included mussels, shrimp and scallops. My mother had another pasta dish including vegetables. Both dishes were tasty and hot, but if we had been paying out of pocket, I would have been extremely disappointed. My dish was priced at $33, which was exorbitant, given the portion size and actual amount of seafood. We were not offered bread at all, even tho other tables received it. We did have the calamari appetizer at $14- please don't bother. It was rubbery and just fried, nothing special. You can do better at Carabba's for calamari. We both had the dessert called"ugly but good" and it was exceptionally yummy. Nice to try this place once, but we won't use a Table service credit here again, unless we try going with pizza.
Pros:
Food qualityCons:
Value, noise,calamariReview of Disney Dining Plan
Reviewed by jame8608 Review Date: 03/31/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
Used this again during a March 2013 trip. We love scheduling dinner in advance, so this factor is not a deterrent for us. More than a value from our perspective. You do need to remember to bring lots of $1's to cover all the tipping. I do wish they would give the option to select either an App, or dessert, as most entrees do not include a salad. Understanding that Apps are pricier- maybe add a $3,surcharge to you plan if you select that flexibility.
