Most Recent Reviews
Review of Backstage Tales at Animal Kingdom
Reviewed by mhw Review Date: 08/22/2015
Rating: (10) Recommended
My family took the Behind the Tales Tour at AK this past August and it was absolutely fantastic. We have tried different special events in the past such as Dining with An Imagineer and Behind the Seeds Tour and this one was extremely educational and fun. We witnessed an elephant getting a bath, a baby gorilla getting a checkout, etc. Our cast member guide, Paula, along with all the other cast members we met along the way were all wonderful. This is MUST try for anyone interested in learning what goes on behind the scenes at the AK and with the care of the animals. Note to Disney Personnel, you might want to consider having a photographer available to take a group picture with the guides.
Pros:
Informative, Enthusiastic Guides and, of course, the animalsCons:
NoneReview of Boatwright's Dining Hall Dinner
Reviewed by mhw Review Date: 08/22/2015
Rating: (10) Recommended
My family dined at Boatwrights this past August. From the baskets of hot cornbread, to the sweet tea, to the yummy main courses, this restaurant never disappoints. Moreover, the food is plentiful and reasonably priced. Even if you do not stay at Port Orleans Riverside or French Quarter, you should take a bus or boat to this wonderful restaurant.
Pros:
Wonderful food and serviceCons:
NoneReview of Mama Melrose's Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by Polly319 Review Date: 08/22/2015
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
Our reservations for the Mama Melrose's/Fantasmic package were made exactly 180 days prior to our visit, for 5:30 on 8/5, and that is when we arrived. Our party included 10: grandparents, our son and daughter, their spouses, and our 4 young grandchildren, all having flown down for a family reunion.
We were absolutely shocked at the tables we were ushered to! It included a small booth against the wall, which was set for 6 (really?) and a 4 person table, which was set kitty corner, back from the booth, in the center of the floor, a considerable distance away.
We appealed to the hostess, and our server, about the seating, both of whom seemed sympathetic, but could do nothing. Understandably, we escalated our complaint to the Manager, who did absolutely nothing to accommodate us, but offer to call another restaurant to check availability. (Really? Where is a tired, hungry family of 10 going to eat at a table service restaurant at 6 o'clock on short notice?) There were at least two long tables, with seating for 8, both empty, when we arrived. A small adjustment, a couple of added chairs, would have solved the problem. Instead my grandchildren were seated with their moms, in the booth, and conversation was impossible, because they were facing my back at the table.
The food was OK for the most part; Except for my husband, who was served the smallest portion of Chicken Parmesan I have ever seen. (A 2" x5" thin strip of chicken) and a tiny serving of mashed potato, which looked like powdered (That, after I actually called from home to make sure mashed potatoes were available.)
Since our dinner lasted 3 hours, there was barely enough time to walk to Fantasmic, find the priority seating, and get settled for the show.
Pros:
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A huge disappointmentReview of House of Blues Restaurant and Bar
Reviewed by tjcat98 Review Date: 08/22/2015
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
We got our table at 7:16 pm, our server did not arrive until 8pm to ask us our drink selections. She did not come back again til 8:45 to ask us our dinner selections. We did not get our food until 9:30. Never got drink refills, ketchup, salt or pepper even after asking for it. Then the server said our DVC discount did not apply, even though on the DVC website we should have gotten a 10% discount. The food was blah, my chicken sandwich had a quarter of chicken compared to the bun. Never again.
Pros:
noneCons:
everythingReview of FastPass+ (Retired)
Reviewed by brian222202 Review Date: 08/24/2015
Rating: (5) Recommended
Well, first off you have to recommend it, b/c there is no other alternative to waiting in line.
First time with FP+, and while I was apprehensive, it did OK. Just okay.
The website worked flawlessly for me, I changed before trip, in the park, at hotels...all on my Iphone 6. No problems ever getting on site or switching.
I did enjoy not having to run around the park to get FP tickets at the various stations. However, in the past, I could organize using 10-12 FP per day, this trip the most used was 6 one day in MK. That is not good for the guest.
NEGATIVES: you will have to wait. For instance, you cannot get both Test Track and Soarin' at EPCOT so you have to wait for one. Never had to wait for either in the past. I would fondly walk across EPCOT to get a FP ticket to avoid 50 minute wait in Soarin'. Waste of time.
***SAME with DHS & Tower of Terror & RnR Coaster, you will have to wait for one of them, and those lines are dreadful too in the Florida sun.
ALSO, after using first 3, you should be able to get 3 more, not just 1. That is ludicrous. Get one, use it...go get another one, use it...etc. etc. Not user friendly after first 3. And at MK, the station at Adventurland/LibertySquare is ridiculously crowded with regular 30 minute wait week of July 24-31. Tomorrowland worked more efficiently.
All in all, not a disaster, but the old way worked just as well, and they could have saved alot of $$$ by leaving it.
Pros:
Planning ahead--of course; Save from walking around so much, Web SiteCons:
Only 1 at a time after first 3Review of Spirit of Aloha Dinner
Reviewed by Clotho Review Date: 08/24/2015
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
I am usually the one to go out my way to post positive reviews, especially at Disney where there are so many excellent experiences to enjoy. Sadly, Spirit of Aloha is literally the worst food and entertainment experience we have ever had at a Disney property, hands down. Weak story, terrible acting, our food was flavorless and even undercooked (chicken! dangerous), the servers were surly and unhelpful. A wine glass got dropped by my feet (open toe sandals) and the server who saw it happen didn't even clean it up. I got down under the table to pick up the largest pieces and brush the glass off my toes. Though the drinks are supposedly bottomless, I couldn't get a refill on my wine to save my life. Also of note: we were Cat 1 and actually got good seats, but there are many highly obstructed views throughout the venue.
Everyone around us was looking bewildered by the bad service, and we heard lots of people grumbling on the way out. It was SO un-Disney, and since our experiences are pretty universally amazing in every way at WDW, this was a sharp contrast. I went with my husband and sister, and we all use it as a comparison for terrible things to this day 'Well it was bad, but was it Spirit of Aloha bad?' Haha! When I got back from the trip, I read reviews I hadn't taken the time to read before I went. I am surprised by the number of positive reviews here, because elsewhere there is an abundance of negative reviews which warn people not to waste their time and money. I completely concur and wish I had read those warnings. 🙁
IF you have ANY chance to change your plans, Hoop Dee Doo Revue is THE BEST. It is literally the longest running dinner show in America, and it has run this long for a reason: it is a great show, delicious food, impeccable and fun service. Several of the servers who work there have been working that show for all 40 years, in fact. We got to chat with two of them on our trip. They said the turnover at the show is very low because everyone loves their job there, loves the show, and it's like a big family barbecue every night. But I will save my gushing on that for a review on HDD itself.
Anyway, bottom line: this show is disappointing in the extreme. Save your money and time.
Pros:
—Cons:
bad service, undercooked food, tight seating, bad viewsReview of Tony's Town Square Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by Bongi22 Review Date: 08/27/2015
Rating: (6) Not Recommended
In the past my family and I have loved this place through and through.
Things were looking good to start today, we arrived 10 minutes early for our reservation of 12:45. The staff greeted us and checked us in quickly and in a friendly manner... our wait for a table was under 10 minutes with maybe 6 or 7 families called before us.
We were seated in the front area which was a comfortable temperature. The person that seated us and our server were both very friendly and were the high points of the meal...
Our drinks were brought quickly ( soda and lemonade ) The Lemonade was enjoyed and well, soda is soda... refills were brought multiple times seemingly as soon as the glass had about 1/3 left in it. Not once did we have an empty glass before a new one appeared.
The appetizers, both the Calamari and the Zucchini fries were delicious... the batter they were cooked in was outstanding... the portions a little on the small side, but acceptable.
The zucchini comes with a dipping sauce which was delicious, but went mostly untouched since they are really good on their own. We entirely recommend them.
The Calamari was cooked perfectly. The Olive relish that it comes with was overbearing for one person in my party, one person liked it and the third (myself) thought it was take it or leave it... It is strong and while not bad, it doesn't seem to make the calamari more enjoyable.
It also comes with a marinara dipping sauce. For me? An Italian from NY... I say no way on this... it was bland and looked like it was just a big bunch of tomato that was jammed into a strainer and this was the mess that was left over.
Bread was served with oil and seasonings... The bread was warm and tasted good... the oil and seasoning was bad. There was only the slightest bit of seasoning put into the bowl along with way too much oil. It wasn't good tasting oil, it tasted like generic vegetable cooking oil instead of an olive oil. I can literally sit down with a full loaf and if the oil and seasoning is right, finish it all off on my own... if it is passable, I can still do it... but this? it was horrible... again, a low quality oil about a half inch deep with only a little seasoning at the bottom is a no go... in order to get any of the seasonings on your bread you would have to submerge the bread, which did absorb it like a sponge.
We poured out 80% of the oil onto the dish and worked it like that... but even then, while the ratio was much better, the taste was nothing I'd ask for again.
I will however say this was partially our fault for not telling them and having it corrected. If the oil itself tasted better, I might have... but I felt it wasn't worth the effort in this case.
We ordered Joe's artisanal pizza, which was enjoyed. It's pretty basic, it's good enough my wife liked it, but also said it wasn't something she would bother ordering again...
The other two of us ordered the Shrimp Primavera.
The shrimp were cooked well and tasted good... but the primavera was no good at all. The taste was generic, almost as if it came out of a can... which is a difficult thing for me to compare it to since I would NEVER buy a can of primavera sauce if it was in fact sold in cans ( for all I know it is.... but I have zero interest in that ).
The sun dried tomato in the sauce was amazing... the asparagus was horrible and I love that stuff... these had very little taste, as if they were boiled until the flavor left them... which could in fact be the case since the bowls were half full of primavera sauce. If I didn't know what was ordered, I'd have thought this was soup. The pasta overcooked.. and I ate all of mine because I was very hungry.. but my daughter ate about a third of hers and just lost her appetite...
I wouldn't order it again and while my daughter will almost always take home any dinner that remains when we go out to eat around home, she said that she wouldn't have wanted to take that home even though 2/3's of it was left. I totally understand why.
I looked around and very few people seemed very pleased with their food and I heard a couple of compliments, but heard a lot more disappointments expressed.
Honestly, in this one day, this restaurant went from a must visit each trip down to a last resort.
I literally recommended Tony's to someone a week ago... today I wish I hadn't.
Pros:
Excellent Staff, Comfortable waiting area, pleasant decorCons:
Food quality was so so.Review of Be Our Guest Dinner
Reviewed by grammie523 Review Date: 08/29/2015
Rating: (10) Recommended
Our family of 6 ate here for dinner the middle of June. The 3 year old fell asleep, as soon as we ordered dinner. The waitress packed up his food to take with us & was the best waitress we have ever had! The food was fabulous! For those of you who do not know, you can substitute the side item that is generally served with each Entree. I have seen complaints about the Steak & Fries, people not liking the fries, & I had mine substituted for fingerling potatoes, delicious! I was told I was the Princess & could have whatever I wanted as a side! Trying to get a reservation here is tough, so book 180 days out as requested or you will not get to enjoy this awesome restaurant! Our favorite at Disney! Have the strawberry cupcake for dessert, it is so creamy & yummy! Will be going back for our next trip!
Pros:
No wait time with reservation, Best service of all restaurants!Cons:
noneReview of Wolfgang Puck Express Marketplace
Reviewed by Bongi22 Review Date: 08/27/2015
Rating: (8) Recommended
We ordered two pizzas. One pepperoni and one margarita.
Both pies came out quickly and the ingredients tasted terrific. Both of them came out slightly undercooked, The flavors themselves were outstanding, but another 2 minutes in the oven would have made the difference between a good pizza and a must have.
We have had nothing but great experiences here in the past, so I will write this off to the fact that we were there late ( around 10 ) and whoever was working the oven just made a slight miscalculation...
I'm likely to hit it again before my vacation is over, which should tell you that I'm still very happy with WPC.
It is still my favorite place to grab food in the Downtown area.
Pros:
Quick, Friendly staff, worth the priceCons:
Slightly undercooked.Review of Caribbean Beach Resort (Moderate Resort)
Reviewed by grammie523 Review Date: 08/29/2015
Rating: (7) Recommended
1st time at CBR. Cast members were nice, but we didn't get any of our requests. Booked 2 connecting rooms & we did manage to get rooms beside of each other but not connecting. We were in Building 54 of Aruba. Rooms were very clean & nice, but really far from the food court. The bus stop was at the backside of building in parking lot. Buses were ridiculously slow! We waited for at least 30 minutes, some 55 minutes, to any park. We complained, but it didn't do any good. Remember that even if you are at Disney you need to be safe and secure. I know things can happen anywhere, but if staying at this resort, I suggest you put the long roll pillows from your bed, under the curtain & hold it securely with rolled towels. Otherwise, the resort is gorgeous & we still had a fabulous time! The food court has good food & Shutters was awesome! I had the banana crusted mahi mahi & it was delicious! Recommend the restaurant!
