10 days of dining reviews with vegetarians and small children

[wrldpossibility]

We just got back yesterday from 10 wonderful days! I haven't tackled a whole trip report yet, but I thought I could start with a dining review while it's still fresh in my memory! We were a group of 7 (2 grandparents, 2 parents, and 3 kids--7, 5, 2) and were on the DDP. The kids and I are vegetarians (ovo-lacto). I'm going to review the TS places, and just give an overview of most and least favorites for the CS.

Overall, we felt the DDP was a good choice for us. It was our first trip to WDW, and the DP allowed us to venture to restaurants I would not have known about if I hadn't planned on TS. It also allowed us to go to Hoop and two character meals that we may have had to cut from the budget otherwise. Our only frustration with the DP was that a few times, we really would have rather have been spending time in the park instead of stuck at a TS for an hour +. The meals were good, but we have small children and they became impatient at times. In hindsight, I should have scheduled one more character meal in place of a regular TS. Otherwise, a good choice for us! We used all our credits by the last day, so no problem there.

Chef Mickey's

We began our whole trip with a "brunch" at CM, at 10:30 on a Monday. We checked in a few minutes before, took our picture (yes, we bought it...we're suckers), and were seated within 10 minutes. Keep in mind that my kids have never been to WDW or a character meal in their lives. They had their autograph books in hand and were READY! They loved it! I didn't know what my 2-yr-old would think, but he was more excited than anyone. He waves and called to the characters, but once they were at our table, he got shy, and wouldn't look at them directly. All my pictures have him looking down at his feet. The characters came fairly quickly and regularly to our table, and did not rush away. My kids had Disney shirts with their names on them (thanks NickandJuliasMom) and the characters made a fuss over them. The food was good (I hardly ate, spending all my energy on getting my camera out and making sure DSs ate a few bites between characters). I do remember the cheese blitzes were good, and the Mickey waffles (our first for the trip). Honestly I would have loved CM no matter what the food was like, because the kids loved it so much!

Coral Reef

Unfortunately, I have to post about our worst meal early in the review. (I'm going chronologically or I'll forget where we ate!) First off, why oh why didn't I listen to you, the wise DIS boards?? I read many bad reviews of Coral Reef, but just enough good ones to keep our ADR. I wish I had changed it. We got there after 4 hours touring FW, so the kids were tired but not completely mushed. Hungry, though! We checked in 10 minutes before our ADR (6:10) and were seated about 10 minutes later. We had a good table one tier back from the tank. I have to say I pictured this restauarant differently. I thought the aquarium wrapped all the way around, since I had read you "can't have a bad table". I don't think that's accurate. I was glad we were seated where we were, because I don't think we could have seen much further back. We sat near the giant sea turtle, which was cool. We also had some scuba divers pass by. Fun.

Now onto the bad. Keep in mind that we are not complainers. It has to be pretty bad to get a squeak out of us. Our server arrived and was out and out rude. He slapped menus down and walked away. 10 minutes later we got drinks. He didn't seem to speak English well, so it is possible that was the reason he appeared rude, but I don't think so. We were suddenly worried that this would be how we were treated everywhere on the DDP (first TS besides CM, remember). We finally ordered. My mom ordered the salmon, and my husband some kind of steak. I can't recall exactly. I ordered the vegetarian dish, which was a vegetable strudel pastry. The kids both ordered the pita pizza with no chicken. We asked that an extra plate be brought, as DS2 would share. Our server seemed very annoyed by that, which led to us clarifying if we were allowed to do that (wanted to make sure it was ok). He acted like we were trying to get a free meal for him--he was just going to share.

By this time DS2 is squirmy, hungry, and tired of the aquarium (of course no one's fault but our own). The adults procede to take turns taking him out to play by the Nemo entrance (he loved the "mine" seagulls). So through the rest of this review you have to picture the adults all tag-teaming it with the toddler. Our appies arrive (salad for the adults, veggies for the kids). They are fine. Then we wait 50 minutes for the entrees. (Enough time for DS2 to go on Nemo 5 times, BTW...no wait!) By this time the other kids are very hungry and grouchy too, but they behave well. The kids' pizzas arrive with chicken on them, my mom's salmon is completely raw in the center, and DH's steak is rare (he asked for well done). We really don't like to complain, but I do need to send the pizzas back because the kids are starving and can't eat them with the chicken. We get those 25 minutes later. By this time DS2 is crying he's so hungry. They eat the pizzas and like them.

Meanwhile, my mom can't even eat her salmon (just tried a few bites). When the server comes to clear, he asks about it, and she explains that it was too raw to eat. He tries to convince her that that's how salmon is supposed to be prepared. No. Just no. He asks if she wants another, but it will just take too long for the kids to wait, so she declines. My veggie pastry was very good, by the way. Usually the token veggie dish in a seafood or steak place is pretty bad, and I was expecting that, but I was pleasantly surprised.

We wait another 20 minutes for dessert. I would have left before, but we had promised the kids the make-your-own sundaes. They only get one dessert a day, and had been "saving up" for it. I had the chocolate wave, which was ok, but nothing too exciting, and DH had the creme brulee, I think. My mom was currently running outside with DS2. In the end the server comped my mom's salmon (we did not ask him to), so that was nice. But he continued to be short and rude throughout the meal. By the time we got out of there, we were scared to death of the DDP! We thought every TS would be like this...maybe this is the norm?! My mom was sick the whole night from the salmon, too. I'm not saying it was food poisoning, but it definitely upset her stomach. Luckily, this was our ONLY bad meal the entire trip!

Up next, Sci Fi and Boma!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reviews ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[wrldpossibility]

On to the next few TS. First up, Sci Fi!

Sci Fi Drive In

We had noon reservations for lunch at Sci Fi. We were waylayed for a few minutes outside Star Tours because my DS5's favorite character ever was out front...that's right, I have a son who idolizes Darth Vader. I try not to analyse that too closely! We got to Sci Fi at 12:15 and were seated immediately. I loved the atmosphere! We were seated in a car near the back, and had a great, attentive waiter. The kids ordered cheese pizza (this will become a pattern). DH ordered the artichoke appy, and I ordered the onion rings. I can't remember what my parents ordered, but I do know they got milk shakes instead of their dessert.

Side note: I'm beginning to see that I'm a terrible reviewer, because I don't take pictures and I can't remember what people ate (or what it's called). I think I'll generally just report on the experience of the meal!

I was happy as I ate my appy because I noticed the kids, who are generally a high energy group, were watching the movie trailers intently, and very quiet. Remember that...it will come back into play. I ordered the chicken sandwich without chicken (veggie, remember), and it was great. I loved the side of pickled cukes and melon. DH got a burger, mom got the chicken sandwich (or were they turkey?), and dad shared with her since he wasn't hungry. About 3/4s through, my DS5 suddenly stands up and says, "Get me out of this SCARY restaurant!". DS7 quickly agrees that he wants out NOW. Here I thought they were happily entertained, and they were sitting there horrified while I ate onion rings! I stood up and gathered my things to take the boys out so quickly I think our waiter thought we were trying to dine and dash! He came right over and asked if everything was alright. I had to explain that my kids were abnormally frightened by movies, and we had to leave before dessert. He was kind enough to pack it all up for us! I DO know we all ordered the cheesecake, and it was YUMMY with the caramel corn and M&Ms coating it (genius) when I finally ate it that night.

So Sci Fi? Yummy and fun, but frightened my kids out of nowhere!

Boma

We ate dinner at Boma on a Thurs. at 5:40. Best meal of the entire trip, hands down. We all loved it, from the 2 yo to the grands. We also loved AKL. We were seated immediately, and I took the kids to the buffet first. There was so much for them. Now, I do remember what we ate here, but I know I won't remember what it was all called. So bear with me. The kids all loved the sweet mashed potatoes, the mac and cheese, and the flatbread. I loved the peanut rice, all the rice actually, the sweet potatoes, the veggies with couscous, everything I tried. Oh, I loved the falafel and the sauce you dipped it in. We stuffed ourselves silly at Boma. I don't know what everyone else ate, because I was too busy going back for more. LOTS for vegetarians. Oh, and our server came to find me in the buffet line because my ressie had "vegetarian" marked. He asked me if I'd like to talk to a chef about all the veggie options. I thought that was nice, but told him it was unnecessary since there was so much I could choose from.

We loved the desserts. The kids (and I, I admit) loved the milk cake (milk bar?). I loved the banana bread pudding and the coconut trifle thing. The kids and DH loved the zebra domes, but I thought they were just ok. I didn't get to try all the things I wanted on that dessert line; I was too stuffed! We loved AKL, and will seriously consider it for our next (sadly distant) trip!

Up next, Crystal Palace Character Breakfast and Whispering Canyon Cafe!

 

[wrldpossibility]

Crystal Palace

We had an 8:05 ADR for Crystal Palace, and since we'd had hardly any waits for buses so far, we decided to get to the bus station at 7:15. Luckily we were running early and got there at 7, because I hadn't realized the buses run a bit fewer that early. We cut it a little close, but made it to MK at 8, and to CP by 8:05 (even stopping for a few pics in front of the castle to take advantage of the empty park). We were called to our table right away, and went straight to the buffet.

CP was YUMMY! I loved the breakfast lasagna (layers of custard, bananas, berries, and caramelized topping), the frittata, and the cheesy potatoes. The boys liked the fried french toast (more like a donut) and of course Mickey waffles. Even the coffee tasted better here.

We saw Piglet right away, then waited a long time for the other characters. It was a bit hard on DS2, since the way the room is laid out, he could see the characters passing by very close (on the outside tables, we were toward the center of the room) but not coming to him. It was hard to explain! But he loved the "parade" they do, and that came at a perfect time. We saw everyone but Eeyore by 8:50. He was still a long way off, and everyone was done eating, so we decided to skip him. We were out the door by 8:55, and by the time was walked toward the castle, the park was open and we were on our way to Tomorrowland (where we decided to start this morning).

WCC

We allotted too much time to get from POR to WL (it only took us 35 minutes...we were lucky with the bus and boat), and got to WL at 5:45. Our ADR wasn't until 6:40. Bummer, but I remembered that someone on the DIS (come on, fess up) had said you could see the MK fireworks from a 4th floor overlook. The fireworks were set to go off at 6, so hey, perfect timing. I walked over to the concierge desk and asked if I could indeed see the fireworks. She confirmed that on the 4th floor there was a viewing location. She promised me I "couldn't miss it". So we walked through beautiful WL (reminded us of home without the weather...we're Oregonians) to the elevators. We found the 4th floor, and an overlook on two sides. We proceded to have a family argument about which direction the MK was. We comically ran back and forth between overlooks to see which one would show Wishes. Answer: neither. DH finally figured out which direction we needed to look in, and took us on an unofficial tour of the corridors of WL to finally find a window through which we could see Wishes. We had to peer through the blinds, though. Not ideal, and I never lived down the fact that I promised them Wishes at WL. I should have gone down to ask again, but there was a line and we felt stupid! Oh well!

We gave up and went down to WCC. The kids enjoyed the tinkertoy table and the Disney cartoons in the lobby while we waited. We were seen to our table and had a very nice waiter. He immediately took the kids under his wing, prompting them to ask for ketchup and straws, etc. He went through all the antics. We all had salad, except DH who had nachos. He said they were very good. My parents ordered the skillets, DH ordered a steak, and I ordered the veggie stew, which was roasted veggies over legumes. It was pretty tasty. The cornbread was very good too. We all loved the butter! DS5 ordered mac and cheese and shared it with DS2. DS7 wanted the skillet and jsut planned not to eat the meat (he loves mashed potatoes and corn on the cob). We mentioned that he doesn't eat meat, and asked that the meat just be left off so it wasn't wasted. Our waited said he's a veggie too, and brought DS7 a great skillet with double mashed potatoes and corn! We all enjoyed our meal, but DS2 and 5 were getting very tired by dessert time (we usually eat earlier). I took them back to the tinkertoy table and asked for my dessert to go. I ordered the kahlua cake and it was wonderful when I ate it later. Everyone else had the caramel apple pie.

A little side note non-dining related: after dinner, we decided the kids were too tired to take the boat and bus back, so we asked bell services to call us a cab. Instead they had one of their WL vans pull up and a wonderful WL CM took us home. She refused payment, too. My mom and I had a mix-up and we both ended up tipping her generously, so she definitely felt appreciated that night! I don't know if that's customary, but we found it one more example of Disney service.

Up next: Hoop de Doo and Grand Floridian Cafe

 

[Elmo888]

So, from your reviews, it looks like you and the kids are veg and DH is non-veg? Same with my family, and we are going in Jan. with 2 yo DD and 6 yo (almost 7) DD. Your reviews are perfect timing for me!

 

[wrldpossibility]

Yes, our families are similar! I am vegetarian, and we are raising our kids that way, but DH eats meat as do my parents, who were along for this trip. It was easy to find places that made us all happy in WDW.

 

[wrldpossibility]

Hoop De Doo Revue:

We adored HDDR! I was worried when I booked it (a full 365 days out) that it wouldn't hold my 2 yo's attention or interest my 7 and 5 yo. I should not have worried! We allowed a hour to travel from POR to MK on the bus and then the boat to FW. It only took 45 minutes, but we had light transportation crowds during our stay, and we lucked out and barely caught the boat. You may need as much as 1 ½ hours during a busier time.

I checked in, and the kids enjoyed the FW playground while we waited. We took out picture (bought it) and were seated right in the center, second set of tables back (first table to seat 7). Booking a year out paid off! The show started, and DS7 literally never stopped laughing. He laughed so hard he cried. We laughed watching him laugh. It was a highlight of the trip for me, seeing him love those corny jokes so much! DS5 enjoyed it too, but some of the puns went over his head. DS2 sat enraptured the whole time. He loved the dancing and singing, and playing the washboard at the end.

The food was yummy. I had requested veggie meals for the kids and me, and Disney dining had called me that morning to confirm it. I ordered the kids pizzas and myself a steamed veggie plate. They were all really good. We all loved the cornbread too, and the meat-eaters said their meal was good. DS5 ate almost an entire serving bowl of shortcake by himself, so I think we can safely say he liked that. We all did.

The other highlight for us was when my dad was picked out of the audience to sing with the red-headed performer (I can't remember her name). He turned about ten shades of red, and it was great.

One word of caution, for anyone doing HDDR with the DDP: when I picked up our tickets at POR, the concierge told me it had automatically been charged to my CC (I thought I had only reserved it with the CC). I wanted to use DDP for it, since I had planned on that and had all my credits planned out. It took a phone call to HDDR that afternoon to get the CC refunded and the DDP charged. If the concierge hadn't noticed, I wouldn't have known until it was too late to use up my credits (this was toward the end of our trip). Just a head's up!

Grand Floridian Cafe:

We weren't planning to eat here, but DH and I were hungry while the kids did the pirate cruise, so we stopped by to see if there was availability. We waited about 20 minutes (nothing else to do) and were seated. I enjoyed the Victorian feel here. I ordered the frittata, and DH had the Spanish omelet. Maybe we were born in a barn, but neither of us realized the GF Spanish omelet doesn't have cheese. It was just scrambled eggs and salsa. DH said it was still very good. My frittata was good, although a little heavy on spinach. I got a side of potatoes, and they were really good...well seasoned. My dish also came with sliced fresh fruit, which was very good. The coffee was pretty good here too.

We paid OOP for this meal, and felt it was worth the cost. It's not an ADR I'd seek out, since there was nothing unique about this place, really, but it was a nice, kid-free meal in a beautiful setting.

Up next, Merrakesh, Mama Melrose, and some CS favorites

 

[swankybeth]

I'm really enjoying your reviews, thanks for posting. Sorry to hear about your Coral Reef experience, that's one of our ADR's that I'm really looking forward to because of the atmosphere, but also a little anxious about because of some reviews.

 

[wrldpossibility]

Swankybeth,

I hope it was just a bad night and a bad waiter! You may have a great time there! Merry Christmas...I only have time to post because we're waiting for our youngest to wake up!

Merrakesh:

We had an ADR for 7 for Merrakesh at 6, but after touring the WS with the kids all afternoon, they decided to go back to POR and swim having finished their masks. They wanted to just eat in Riverside Mill. So my parents (who I think were also secretly tired) offered to take them "home". So DH and I found we had the evening to ourselves in the WS. We had fun. Our ADR was at 6, and we got right in (many people were being turned away without ADRs we noticed). The belly dancer was out entertaining at that moment, and we had fun watching her. The music in there seemed a bit loud, but if the kids had been with us, we probably wouldn't have minded, as it would have kept them entertained. DH ordered one of the platters with a little of everything, and I ordered the veggie cous cous. I should stop here and mention that we both love Moroccan food. We went to college in a city with a great Moroccan restaurant and we have great memories of it. I got this ADR primarily for DH.

We both ordered salad and enjoyed it. The main course was very good. It tasted very similar to us to the Moroccan place we love, to we were happy! We ordered the dessert sampler, and loved it. Nothing bad to say about this place, except maybe that's it pretty darn expensive. We were happy to use DP credits here. It was also a bit fancier than I had thought, so we were glad the kiddos had gone back to POR.

Mama Melrose:

We had a 4 pm Fantasmic DP at Mama Melrose, and we didn't think we'd be hungry for it, but we were! We arrived at 4, and were seated at about 4:15. We had an attentive waitress, but the service was slow this evening. I think it was just crowded, which surprised me at 4. I guess with only 3 FDP options, they get crowded. We all loved our appies. I got the mozzerella and tomatoes, and they were light and delicious. My dad and DH both got calamari, and loved it. DS7 got the veggie soup, and enjoyed that. DS5 and my mom ordered salad.

It took a long time to get our entrees. When they arrived, they were very good. I had the eggplant parm, DH got the veal, DS5 ordered buttered noodles, DS7 ordered the flatbread (cheese) and shared with DS2. I can't recall what my parents ordered! We all like Italian, so we were happy. By this time, DS2 is antsy though, so we order dessert to go. I've been looking forward to the tiramisu for a long time, so I order that. The boys get sundaes (so we stay for that but take DS2 outside), my mom gets the chocolate cake, and DH gets the cheesecake. Dad is too full. We wait a long time for the desserts, and I'm anxious to have time to look at the Osborne lights. When they finally come, I don't have tiramisu. I think about just keeping the cake that I got instead to save time, but in the end, I want that tiramisu! I get it, and we leave. That meal took about 1 hr. 45 min. though. A bit long with a 2-yr-old. We ate the desserts later at Fantasmic, and I've had better tiramisu, but it's good! Everyone else enjoys theirs as well.

Some CS thoughts:

A few of our favorite CS meals were at Tusker House (my dad STILL raves about his salmon...best meal he had) and Columbia Harbor House. I was disappointed in Cosmic Rays (bad veggie selection--they need to have veggie burgers there). We also had good meals at Pizzasafari and Sunshine Seasons (DS2 discovered he loved hummus there). We enjoyed Riverside Mill and ate there a lot. The breakfast sandwich was especially good.

In general, we were happy with the DDP. We didn't get maximum usage for our $ out of it, because we didn't pick the most expensive places, and we are light eaters and often didn't get dessert with CS or eat much at all-you-can-eat buffets. But we loved not worrying about the prices and having the freedom to try more places than we normally would have. In hindsight, I should have made more ADRs for character meals and less for sit down menu meals, but that's ok. We had no problem with the kid menu. We found we could order adult meals at most TS places if we asked, and they were happy with the pizza most elsewhere. I can see how the limited selection may bother older kids who want more choices, though.

Feel free to ask any questions! Thanks for reading!

 

[akrake]

thanks for the reviews...I just got back too & did a semi vegetarian visit....(I eat fish now....didn't for 6 years). I have always been scared to book hddr because of all the meat (I really even hate the smell)....my other children who are not vegetarian don't eat red meat...maybe just some chicken.

When we went to cr last year, it was slow too...but ok....not worth the $150 it costs us (we weren't on the ddp then).

thanks again.

amie

 

[KAC2005]

Great reviews, thanks for sharing!

Kathryn

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Great reviews!

There's no excuse for that kind of service @ Coral Reef! A new pizza for the kids, even if they had to start it from scratch, shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes! Nice of him to comp the salmon, but after all of that, the whole meal should be comp! Did you speak to a manager afterwards?

Sci-Fi sounds yummy! I've always wanted to try it there! Isn't it funny how something that adults think of as fun and a little cheesy can scare the poop out of kids, though? Who would have expected?

Awesome of Boma to send someone over to discuss veggie options! AKL restaurants seem to be really good about that!

You mentioned Cosmic Ray's not having veggie burgers- I've learned from reading other reviews that a lot of places do have them, but not on the menu- you have to ask. Seems silly to not list them on the menu, though!

Thanks for the reviews!

 

[TikiGoddess]

Enjoying the reviews. It's interesting to hear from a vegetarian even though I'm not one.
Sorry to hear about Coral Reef, it was one of our favorites and the best waiter we had all trip. Boma was our biggest disappointment and worst waitress. But, I was glad we tried it. We love Tusker House and Columbia Harbour House as well. They're definitely two of the best CS.
Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for taking the time to report. Would you recommend getting a reservation at GF Cafe if we're planning to eat bfast there during the pirate cruise? I haven't made one as I thought it wouldn't be that crowded, but now I'm rethinking it.

 

[wrldpossibility]

Poly Princess:

We didn't bother with a manager just because the kids couldn't wait for anything more. And we weren't looking for a free meal. If DH and I had been there alone, we would have asked to talk to one.

TikiGoddess: I don't know what time of year you're going, but on Dec. 18th, we did not need an ADR at GF Cafe. We waited about 15 minutes to be seated. I guess it wouldn't hurt to make one though, since you know when you'll be there. We found it very relaxing to eat there, then sit by the marina waiting and people-watching.