“Dear Disney, please stop making me eat dessert!” A Free Dining + F & W Dining Review

[larslovesyou]

Who : I'm Laura & my DH is Matt

Check out my Trip Report here!

When: Sept 15th -21st 2014

Where:

Day One
Breakfast at Pepper Market
Dinner at Columbia Harbour House
Snacks Sunshine Tree Terrace & Aloha Isle

Day Two
Lunch at Sunshine Seasons
Snack at L'Artisan des Glaces
Dinner at Raglan Road

Day Three
Lunch at Starring Rolls Cafe
Dinner at Sci Fi Dine in Theater

Day Four
Snack at Gaston's Tavern
Lunch at Be Our Guest
Dinner at Artist Point

Day Five
Lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue
Dinner at Boma

Day Six
F & W Booths
Dinner at Akershus

Day Seven
Breakfast at Kona Cafe
Lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express

Complete reviews coming soon! Enjoy the Ride!

 

[atisikitabasket]

Can't wait!,,,,

 

[larslovesyou]

I wish I had more to say on this post...so apologies!

I loved the style and layout of Pepper Market. We were only ever there during breakfast on our first day. If we had just a day to hang out at the resort I would have loved to try out their lunch options.

We arrived to Coronado at 10 a.m. , after being awake since 4 a.m. - without anything to eat! My DH was starving so the Pepper Market was our first stop.

We paid OOP for this meal, since we didn't want to waste a Quick serve credit on breakfast. We split the Biscuits & Gravy plate, that came with Sausage and Potatoes ($6.99).

I don't have a picture of this meal...sorry I woke up to early, and my brain still wasn't awake. But go check out franandaj's awesome trip report here for a pic of the same thing we ate! Pepper Market Post

The portion was HUGE, I'm glad we spilt it. The Biscuits & Gravy wasn't anything spectacular, it wasn't bad either. The Potatoes though! I could have eaten a whole plate! They were so good!

We also picked up our free refillable mugs. We both filled our mugs with coffee. I hadn't been to WDW since they replaced all of their coffees to Joffery's. What a huge improvement! Coffee that is finally tolerable!

 

[larslovesyou]

In advance of our trip i researched and researched where we were going to eat on our trip! If it weren't for Free Dining, my motto would have been "Whatever is cheapest!" But since we didn't have to worry too much about a food budget I wanted to make the most of our dining experiences!

After reading all the reviews ( Thanks Dis'ers! You guys rock!) I decided on Columbia Harbour House for Magic Kingdom.

I was so excited to try their Lobster Roll....but then... tragic news!! They changed their menu so that the Lobster Roll was only offered at Lunch Time. NOOO!

I guess I would have to settle for some other delicious thing on the menu.

We ate dinner around 5:00 pm. It wasn't real busy yet, but it did take forever to get to a register to order our food. I ended up not being in a seafood mood by the time we ate , so I ordered the Chicken Pot Pie, a soda, and the Peach Cobbler. My DH ordered the Lobster Mac & Cheese, with a soda & the cobbler.

Our cashier was super sweet . she was telling me about how the Lobster Mac & Cheese was brand new, and how it was her new favorite. I mentioned I was sad they took the Lobster Roll off the dinner menu. And thats when she told me...you can still order the Lobster Roll for Dinner, its just not Listed!
We were already done ordering by the time she told me this, and offered to change my order, and that it wouldn't be a problem. I declined the offer. There were people in line behind me and I had already made up my mind.

Getting our food was a little chaotic. The girl working the food counter kept mixing up peoples food orders. My DH, and the guy next to us, just traded each other for the right food.

We ate upstairs, and it was beautiful! The theming and all of the cool "artifacts" in every nook and cranny were awesome. I took a few minutes just to walk around the top floor. It was also huge & empty. It is definitely the perfect place to go if you just need a quite place to get away!

I wish I had taken more photos. This is just one of the really awesome nautical elements of the restaurant.

Here is our food!

Chicken Pot Pie with Broccoli: This was really good and filling. It was full of nice big pieces of white meat chicken and full of veggies. It looks small from the picture, but I promise you it is ALOT of food! I also appreciate a restaurant that comes with Broccoli, instead of fries or chips. The Broccoli was a little too salty for my taste , but husband thought they were perfect To each his own!

Lobster Mac & Cheese: This is another case where looks are deceiving. This bowl of Mac & Cheese was HUGE! We were really surprised by how big the chucks of Lobster were. There were a few pieces of claw meat on the top and a lot of small pieces of Lobster underneath. There were also a lot of shrimp through out the dish. I think this dish would have been better if they made the bowl smaller and added a side dish (like the Pot Pie). There is only so much mac one person can eat before they start to go into a food coma!

By the time we left, around 5:45 - 6, the lines were crazy to order food! I would recommend going before 5:30.

 

[Twinsmomma]

Looks GREAT!

 

[Sunseadisney]

Fabulous - Columbia harbor house is a hidden gem both dishes look lovely and tastier than burger and fries options at most other qs places thanks

 

[mrsd1]

Thanks for the pics! We will be at the Columbia Harbour house at the end of the month. We've never been before. I'm looking forward to your review of the Food and Wine dishes.

 

[larslovesyou]

So I have a confession to make...

...until this trip I had never heard of a Dole Whip....EVER!


I have been going to Disney world since I was 2 years old, and had never even heard of it!!?!?!

Well, I finally had my chance! One off the ol' Disney Bucket List!

Between parades, my husband & I each decided to use a snack credit. I picked the Dole Whip from Aloha Isle & he chose the Orange Citrus Swirl from Sunshine Tree Terrace.

I might have a small obsession with the orange bird! I almost had a heart attack at the Co-Op when I saw all if his merch!

My DH got to it before I took take a pic...see the melting?

The Orange Swirl was awesome! But be forewarned it melted in about 5 seconds!

and then there was the Holy Grail of WDW snacks - the Dole Whip from Aloha Isle!

...... it was ok..... maybe it was hyped to much. I just thought it was weird.
Don't get me wrong, it was still good. Both DH and myself thought it had a weird texture ( maybe the dairy free thing) I can't really compare the texture to anything, it was just weird. We also laughed because it never melted!

Am I glad I tried it? Of course! Would I get it again? Probably not! My advise would be to go to Sunshine Tree Terrace and go for the citrus swirl instead!

 

[vettegirl]

Love the reviews! I am a huge PM fan and find its a great value for the DP. I have stayed at CSR 6 times and miss it when we stay other places. Also love the Orange bird, the new pillow is super cute!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Dislover1991]

I'm loving your DR so far!! Definitely subscribing since well, you're report is great and you have so many places that we are considering for our trip next year.

We love CHH- they have some incredible food, especially for a QS spot. I'm sure my dad will be dying to try the mac & cheese since he loves seafood and mac & cheese.

I absolutely love Dole Whips, but I have been wanting to try the Citrus Swirl too - it's vacation so maybe I can use that to justify trying both in the same day

 

[larslovesyou]

This was our first full day at WDW. Our plan was to head to Epcot for EE and get all of the Future World Rides done. We were heading back to Epcot a few days later for F & W / World Showcase.

We rode ALL of the rides so quickly that we were done by 11 a.m., an hour before we had planned to eat lunch. Since we were in The Land anyways, we decided to eat right when Sunshine Seasons opened for Lunch.

Boy am I glad we did. Everything looked amazing & fresh! Im not sure if it was because they just opened, or if it always this way, but the Cast Members gave us the BIGGEST portions ever!

This was another Location, that b/c we were on the Free Dining Plan, we chose things that we normally wouldn't buy out of pocket, due to them being on the pricer side (for lunch).

I chose the Spicy Thai Green Curry Shrimp with Jasmine Rice

This was amazing! I love Thai food, so I wasn't expecting much. ::warning::This was definitely "disney-fied" Thai food, but it was still great!
The girls working the Asian Themed station PILED the rice on, so much so that I stopped them before they put a fourth scoop of rice in my bowl! Then the PILED on the Shrimp.

This is was very spicy ( just the way I like it )! I was only able to eat half of it. My DH & I could have shared this dish....if we wanted to eat the same thing!

DH got the Tilapia Fish Tacos, which came with a choice of a side. All of the sides were Mayo based cold salads. He doesn't really like any of those, so he just chose the cole slaw. Sorry I don't think he even touched it, so I cant review how it tasted!

As you can see these tacos are HUGE! I couldn't taste them ( i have a recently developed white fish allergy ) But he said that the were great. The fish was lightly fried, with a nice spice flavor, not too spicy though. The green sauce and cabbage added a nice pop of color. DH just wished it came with a little more green sauce, which I sure you can ask for when you order.

Our Desserts here made me realize two things!
1: We made a rule that we weren't allowed to get the same meal/dessert the rest of the trip ( Artist Point Cobbler being the only exception! )
2: Eating a dessert for every meal is INSANE! We never eat dessert in our day to day lives, even when we eat out. It was just too much food, and most desserts we just took a few bites of.

We both had the Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

These were fresh and yummy- maybe it was because it was early in the day. My DH ate all if his ( I don't know how) and I had just a few bites of mine.

I would definitely recommend this QS spot. Even if we weren't on the DP, we
would go back. While pricer than some other QS spots, paying a few extra $$ a person for a huge, higher quality meal is worth it!

 

[larslovesyou]

After a great lunch at Sunshine Seasons, and a few more rides, The DH and I ventured on to a few of the Countries in WS. I was on a mission! I HAD to have a Macaron Ice Cream Sandwich. My two favorite desserts combined into the perfect snack!

I'm just gonna throw this out there...so apologies in advance if I offend!

I found the Cast Members to be extremely rude! Maybe there were just "in character" I stood there for a good 3-4 minutes while they were all talking to each other with their backs turned to the counter. I mighhtttt have said a few choice words under my breathe to get their attention.
The first guy to turn around, ask how he could help me and I asked if I could have the Macaron.
He said " oh I cant do that, you have to ask someone else"
ok.....next girl " Can I help you?"
yes, I would like a macaron Ice cream sandwich.
"ohhh, you have to order from her, I cant help you"
Seriously....was I on a prank show???
After finally speaking to the Holy Grail of ice cream shop employees, i received my Macaron!!!

This guy was perfect. I was worried the Macaron would be overly dry or soggy. But it wasn't! It was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, just the way it should be. The ice cream was nice and creamy, very high quality stuff!

They also currently have Pumpkin Macarons for the fall, if you're into it.

 

[ashleyc1113]

Loving your review so far! We're going to try out Columbia Harbor House for our first time this upcoming trip. I'm also dying to get a pumpkin macaron ice cream sandwich!

 

[larslovesyou]

Looks GREAT!

Thanks!

Can't wait!,,,,

Fabulous - Columbia harbor house is a hidden gem both dishes look lovely and tastier than burger and fries options at most other qs places thanks

I couldn't agree more! For just a little more $ you get a much better meal!

Thanks for the pics! We will be at the Columbia Harbour house at the end of the month. We've never been before. I'm looking forward to your review of the Food and Wine dishes.

Thanks! CHH was great!

Love the reviews! I am a huge PM fan and find its a great value for the DP. I have stayed at CSR 6 times and miss it when we stay other places. Also love the Orange bird, the new pillow is super cute!

We loved CSR, I don't know why people hate on it so much! I cant wait to go back and try more of their food!

I'm loving your DR so far!! Definitely subscribing since well, you're report is great and you have so many places that we are considering for our trip next year.

We love CHH- they have some incredible food, especially for a QS spot. I'm sure my dad will be dying to try the mac & cheese since he loves seafood and mac & cheese.

I absolutely love Dole Whips, but I have been wanting to try the Citrus Swirl too - it's vacation so maybe I can use that to justify trying both in the same day

Thanks for tuning in! I think both a dole whip and citrus swirl in the same day is perfectly acceptable!

Loving your review so far! We're going to try out Columbia Harbor House for our first time this upcoming trip. I'm also dying to get a pumpkin macaron ice cream sandwich!

Thank you! The pumpkin looked awesome! I hope you get to try it.

 

[vettegirl]

I have never tried Sunshine Seasons and love the pics you shared. Need to put it on my bucket list. Too funny the French were rude when we went to Paris for real and your post made me laugh!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Vernie822]

I love your reviews so far! We were also on the dining plan and stayed at CSR from the 13-20!!

We liked Pepper Market, too. We were there a bit longer and had some leftover CS credits towards the end so we ate breakfast there a few times and lunch once. We didn't mind it at all!

I have been to WDW multiple times before and I have never known about a Dole Whip either, haha! I tried my first one on this trip too.

We also made the rule of not getting the same entree or dessert. Made for a much better sampling because we were able to split everything!

 

[Guatemommy]

love it - subbing!

 

[larslovesyou]

Food at Downtown Disney has never really wowed me. Granted when I was little, my favorite place to eat was Rainforest Cafe.... What can I say? I was suckered in by the animals, and my poor mom had to suffer with bad food!

When I was planning this trip, Downtown Disney wasn't even my radar at first. The construction was a huge turn off. But then I started googling "best restaurants in WDW" and Raglan Road kept popping up. My DH loves really hearty food, so Irish cuisine was right up his alley. This was one of the only restaurants that he specifically requested.

We arrived waayyyy to early to Downtown Disney, thinking it was going to take forever. It only took 10 minutes!

We had some time to kill before our 8:50 Reservation. So we grabbed a beer at the Raglan Road Kiosk. We both had a Harp. At 8:40 we checked-in. The girl said she would put us down, but that she didn't think she could sit us early. Not a problem. We didn't expect to be seated early. She asked if a High Top was ok, once again not a problem.

Were were seated shortly after 8:50, fully expecting to get a high top table, since it was SOOOO busy in there. Well I was surprised when our hostess says " Lucky you! One of the best seats in the house!" we were sat right in the center atrium area. Right in front of the center stage!

Fair Warning: If you are not keen on loud noises or dark areas, I would ask to be seated in one of the side rooms.

Our waitress was really sweet, and loud enough for us to hear her, without yelling. I don't know how they do that all day! We each ordered another drink. I had the Pear Cider and DH had a Carlsberg. She explained how the dining plan worked and scanned my magic band at the beginning of the meal.

My photos here kinda suck, so sorry! I also didn't get pics of the desserts because It was so dark I didn't think it was worth it. If you want to see really great photos of the food we ate –check out Tom's Review from "Disney Tourist Blog". ( I tried to add the link. I guess TheDIS doesn't like Tom?!?!?)

Our meal started with bread service. It was Irish Soda Bread with a Guinness, Olive Oil & Sugar dip. OH MY GOD! This was so good!
It could have been that DH and I hadn't eaten since 11 am, it could be that it was the best bread in the whole world....we may never know! We could have kept eating nothing but this bread and would have left happy!

DH picked the Bangers & Booz : Guinness & onion bangers on mash, topped with caramelized onions & beef stew. He said it was great! It looked amazing and the Sausages were huge!

I had the Braised Be Beef: Braised beef with horseradish mashed potatoes, roasted carrots and parsnips. This may have been the best entree of the entire trip! I know that the pot looks small from the picture, but this was a huge pot sitting on this plate! Two people can definitely share this. DH said he liked mine better than his.

I really wish I had pictures of the desserts!
Eating Ger's Bread & Butter Pudding was a religious experience!
It was the best dessert I have ever eaten in my whole life!
Make sure to pour the bread pudding out onto the plate. It expands to about 3 times its size.

We also had the Strawberry & Apple Crumble: Fresh strawberry and apple crumble with vanilla ice cream and fresh cream. This was also one of the best desserts I have ever had! It was delicious! Can Raglan Road do no wrong?!?

We were on the dining plan, but even out of pocket I found the prices to be a steal! If this were in one of the parks the prices would be double! This is definitely a must do again!

Up Next: Starring Roles & Sci-Fi Dine In at Hollywood Studios.

 

[larslovesyou]

I have never tried Sunshine Seasons and love the pics you shared. Need to put it on my bucket list. Too funny the French were rude when we went to Paris for real and your post made me laugh!

I had only been to sunshine seasons once before, but was really sick that trip so I don't remember it at all. There are so many different things to try there. I will definitely be eating there again! I was pretty irritated with the French CMs at the time, but looking back on it I find it Hilarious!

I love your reviews so far! We were also on the dining plan and stayed at CSR from the 13-20!!

We liked Pepper Market, too. We were there a bit longer and had some leftover CS credits towards the end so we ate breakfast there a few times and lunch once. We didn't mind it at all!

I have been to WDW multiple times before and I have never known about a Dole Whip either, haha! I tried my first one on this trip too.

We also made the rule of not getting the same entree or dessert. Made for a much better sampling because we were able to split everything!

I feel like we are trip twins! ( minus the whole getting engaged thing ) Congrats!

love it - subbing!

Thanks! I hope you enjoy it!

 

[apainterxx44]

Love your reviews, its so funny I just updated my DR with the same info about Raglan. SERIOUSLY how was that braised beef SOO good. I can't wait to go back to Raglan. Looking forward to reading your reviews