A Couple Reviews from our August Trip (no pics)

[LongLiveRafiki]

Hello, everyone! We were in Disney from Aug 20- Sep 1 on the regular DDP. It was myself, DH, DD7, DS(not quite)2, my mom, and my brother (17). We stayed in a 2 bedroom Villa at SSR. I can't remember what everyone ate at each place, but I will try to give comments on what I do recall.

Artist's Palette (QS at SSR)- Mostly disappointing. The flatbread pizzas were really dry and flavorless and DH didn't care for the Quattro Formaggi spread on his Ham and Cheese sandwich. DD had a hot dog and DS ate a little from everyone's plate. We were able to swap our drinks for desserts since we had the refillable mugs, so that was nice. Everyone enjoyed the cannoli. It was acceptable food after arriving at the resort at 8pm, but not somewhere we really care to eat again.

Score: 2/5

I do have a funny story to share. We had never used the DDP before. actually it was DH's and the kids' first trip to Disney and the rest of us hadn't been in 8 years. We were a little confused about ordering and it was really busy inside and, well, somehow in the chaos, DH set our son down and he disappeared. I have no idea how long he was gone for. I just happened to look over and realized he was no longer with DH. So we naturally freak out and start searching for him.... He's in the next room over in the gift shop, sitting peacefully on the floor looking at Mickey postcards!

Be Our Guest lunch- The French Dip and Croque Monsieur were well liked, as was the Potato Leek soup. My brother said that the French Dip didn't really need the au jus, whatever that means. I don't know, I don't eat meat. DD had the grilled cheese. It was on a fancier bread, but she didn't seem to notice. She promptly declared that the turkey noodle soup was disgusting, but DS loved it.

Score: 4/5

CRT (dinner)- This review will be a little long. DS was asleep in the stroller when we arrived and I was told that we did have to take him out. No big deal. Our ADR was for 7:15 and we weren't allowed to check in until exactly 7:15. It took about 15 mins to get pics and wait to be called to our table, then close to another 15 mins for our server to take our order. After that though, everything was pretty speedy. We had a wonderful server who kept up a great banter with my mom. When she commented about her water not having any ice when he brought it out, he blamed it on the mice! He brought all of the guys swords and all of us girls wands and each of the kids got a wishing star. He asked if we were on the dining plan, then told me that while usually children under 3 are expected to share with the family, he would hook us up because "Cinderella believes that even the littlest of mice should have their own plate!" We were able to order DS an apple juice, free of charge. We were never brought bread. We didn't need it so I didn't care. I'm just mentioning this because I thought I had read that it was included in the past.

For appetizers, a couple of us ordered the salad, a couple of us had the soup (Tomato), and DD ordered the cheese and grapes. DS was also brought a bowl of the cheese and grapes. He ended up eating all of his and most of his sister's. My mom asked about these little white ball things in the salad and our server told her that they are special onions straight from Cinderella's garden that she pickles herself. She and my brother loved how fresh everything in the salad was.

I normally avoid tomatoes as the acid destroys my stomach, but the tomato soup was the only vegetarian option and I didn't feel like being difficult, so I took some medicine and hoped for the best. I'm so glad I tried it because it was the most flavorful tomato soup I've ever had. I didn't get sick later, so all was well.

I was busy helping my toddler with something and never did really look at the menu so I just asked for "the vegetarian entree." It turned out to be couscous, tofu, mushrooms, and watercress and was probably the most delicious meal of the trip. The flavors complimented each other so well. DH, my mom, and my brother all ordered the beef and shrimp and everyone thought it was amazing. They said the beef could be cut with a fork.

DD had the kids chicken nuggets with mashed potatoes and vegetables (carrots and peas) and DS was brought the same thing, free of charge. He ate most of his (man that kid can eat!), while DD barely touched hers. I think she was excited from all of the princesses coming around.

I don't really remember what everyone had for dessert, I think some had the strawberry cheesecake thing and some had the chocolate something or other. DD had the kids Decorate your own cupcake with different kinds of sprinkles and she had fun doing that. DS was brought out a free cupcake which he loved, and he also ate most of the cheesecake I ordered. I avoid most dairy due to lactose intolerance so I planned on giving it to DS anyway. I'm sure I could have asked for something without dairy, but I was stuffed. DS saw the strawberries and practically lunged out of his highchair to get to them.

While we were eating our desserts, my mom asked our server if she could get a picture with him and he happily obliged. Then he returned with a laminated place mat autographed by all of the princesses and gave it to her. He was really sweet.

We had told him that we wanted to make it out in time to watch the fireworks and he timed it perfectly. We walked downstairs at 8:43 and made it out just as they were closing the ropes. We were let through and we walked to the front of the castle, though off to the side and back a little, just in time to watch HEA. I expected to have a terrible view walking up right before hand, but it wasn't too bad except for one of the castle side building things (sorry, I have no idea what they're called), blocking some of the fireworks.

Overall, we were very impressed with CRT. The characters came out quickly, the service was superb, the food delicious, and the atmosphere incredible. Everyone agreed that it was our favorite meal of the trip.

Score: 5+/5
Length of meal: 1 hr 28 min

Will continue in next post.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Ohana (dinner)- Firstly, the Poly is stunning and I would love to stay there someday! Second, the Lapu Lapu is much stronger than I expected, but so much fun! We only waited about 5 minutes to be seated- literally long enough to grab drinks at the bar but not even touch them. I thought the pineapple-coconut bread was incredibly dry and didn't really care for it. I also didn't really eat the salad as I don't care for dressing. Everyone else thought the salad was good but would have liked more toppings in it. They said the wings had a strange flavor but were good. The noodles were incredible and the broccoli was perfectly cooked with just the slightest crunch. I was brought out a plate with two kinds of chips, and two flavors of hummus (vegan appetizer). I had never tried hummus before, but did enjoy it. I was also brought out a large bowl of veggie tofu stirfry. That was also delicious and packed with tofu, baby corn, broccoli, and mushrooms. Everyone else enjoyed their meats, particularly the steak. They said it was fork tender too, though not quite as good as the beef at CRT. Everyone enjoyed the bread pudding. I stuck with some vegan ice cream they brought out, though I did try the banana caramel sauce and it was delicious! The kids were each brought a brownie cupcake thing that they loved. We were not charged for DS's drink.

We were very pleased with Ohana and will definitely return. I personally think it's a great place for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. I could have made a meal out of just the noodles and vegetables, but the fact that they provided the hummus appetizer, stir fry, and vegan ice cream really put this place over the top for me with their vegetarian and vegan accommodations.

Score:5/5
Length of meal: 1 hr 5 mins

Garden Grill (dinner)- This was another great meal. We were immediately brought out bread and butter and salad. I asked for a bowl of plain lettuce as I don't eat eggs, meat, or dressing and they happily obliged. The rest of the family really enjoyed the pot roast and ordered seconds of it. DD loved the turkey and DS ate his weight in Mac and cheese. I was brought out my own platter of veggie loaf, green beans, fries, and rice. There may have been other things on it, I can't remember. The veggie loaf was well-seasoned which is pretty rare for vegetarian foods, so I was happy.

The character interaction here was spectacular. Mickey, Pluto, and Dale each came by twice and Chip once. The second time Pluto came around, he played with DS for atleast 10 minutes. They played peek-a-boo, pointed to various scenes from the Living with the Land ride, held conversations (Pluto through gestures and DS through incoherent babbling) that only the two of them understood, and gave each other sooo many hugs. We actually ended up with a crowd of employees around our booth watching them interact together. It was so magical and brought tears to my eyes. This was by far the best character interaction of the trip.

Score:5/5
Length of meal: 1 hr

Raglan Road (dinner)- We all thought the bread was really dry here. DH had the Shepherds Pie and though it had an unusual appearance, he thought it was really good. It has onions in it, which DH hates, but he said he couldn't even taste them. I had a quinoa burger and holy moly, that was the thickest veggie burger I have ever seen! It was seriously more than an inch thick! It was very good but difficult to eat due to the size. Mom had fish and chips and thought they were very good. Even though you only get one piece of fish, it is really big. Everyone loved the truffle fries. DH had the beer flight and really enjoyed trying each one. I thought the Harp was the best, DH really liked being able to get Kilkenny as it's tough to find. He also got a second Guinness (it's also included in the flight) and they do know how to pour them right. Yes, there is an art to pouring Guinness! I ordered a Guinness Blonde and it was more to my taste. I prefer light beers and DH is the opposite.

We were seated in a secondary room and couldn't see the stage, so that was a bummer. A couple of the dancers did come to our room and the kids got to dance with them and DD received a certificate for it, so that was nice. If we go back though, I think I will try to request to be near the stage. It seemed like way more fun in there.

Service was rather spotty. It started out okay, then we could never get drink refills or silverware for the desserts. We ended up having to ask another server for silverware after waiting for 10 mins to eat dessert. Nonetheless, the food still came out quickly and was good. Oh, we were charged for DS's apple juice here. Not a big deal, just thought I'd mention it since most places gave him a free drink, though I know they don't have to. We'd go back.

Score: 4/5
Length of dinner: 1 hr 10 mins

Next up: Bon Voyage, Sci Fi, and HDD

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Bon Voyage Breakfast- We we're all brought orange juice and water to start. Our server never did ask if we cared for something different to drink and we didn't ask. We were also brought two pans of pastries and I will say that this restaurant really did a great job with the theming of the foods. The little clam shell pastries with the pearl decoration and sun pastries were adorable. Everyone was brought a bowl of fruit, including DS, which was very thoughtful. We were not given the option of the yogurt parfait, so I don't know if they've stopped doing it, or if it just wasn't available that day. Also, we did not have the red Sebastian cookie decoration in the fruit bowl that used to be included. No big deal, just thought I'd mention it. The guys ordered the calzone and DH thought it was one of the best meals of the trip. He was sad he couldn't keep the big trident fork though. I had pancakes and they came with a berry compote. I was only able to finish about 1/4 of them. They happily substituted my meat for fried potatoes and they were so incredible! They were slightly crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and packed full of flavor. We were allowed to pick a free kids meal for DS so both kids ordered the kids pancakes. The serving size was more than enough for each of them.

The kids did a parade around the restaurant and enjoyed that. Rapunzel was great and tickled DS to get him smiling for pictures. Flynn Rider taught the kids how to smolder and DD asked him what was in his satchel. He got close to her and opened it up so other tables couldn't see. Inside was the crown! She thought it was so special that he showed it to her. All of the characters came by early into the meal. This was one of DD's favorite restaurants of the trip.

Score: 5/5
Length of meal: 1 hr

Sci Fi (dinner)- We paid OOP for this one. I wasn't super hungry so I ordered the appetizer sampler and just ate the pickles out of it while DS had the spinach and artichoke dip, chicken, and some of everyone else's fries. I think everyone else had burgers and thought they were okay, nothing spectacular. The kids really enjoyed the car booths, though DS kept trying to sit on the little counter and dangle his feet in the seat area. Neither kid was at all scared by any of the movie clips. Service seemed a little slow, but they were busy.

Score: 4/5
Length of meal: 1 hr

Hoop Dee Doo (2nd showing)- It was pouring down rain when we got here and the covered check-in area was packed. DS was asleep in my arms, which leads to me feeling the need to give this Public Service Announcement:

When someone is holding a child, back off them and give them a little space!

Seriously though, I understand that people want to get out of the rain and sometimes people need to walk through the mass of people, but in those 25 minutes of waiting, DS took an elbow to the head and I almost fell while holding him several times from people pushing their way through or standing so close that if I tried to shift my weight (repeat: not even move my feet, but just shift my weight), I'd bump into someone and get knocked off balance. Now, I'm not expecting people to stand an arm's length away, but you really don't need to have your foot in between mine or your arm hair tickling mine from standing so close. When holding a toddler, it's hard to maintain perfectly still while standing for 25 mins and it's so much more difficult to keep your balance when you get bumped into, so please, please give a little elbow room to people holding children. Thank you.

DS woke up shortly after we sat down, so finally my arms got a break. My mom and I ordered Bud Light and our server brought us a pitcher- yay!!! DH loved the red plaid napkins and said he grew up using similar ones. Everyone liked the cornbread and salad. I picked through the salad and was able to find some without dressing. I probably could have asked for some plain salad but our server seemed rather busy. I did tell her early on that I was vegetarian and she said she would bring me a separate menu. I did have to remind her a while later. Then she dropped off the chicken and ribs and walked away before I had a chance to order. I was a little disappointed because everyone else was eating and I hadn't even ordered. My options were pasta with marinara with or without vegetables, or a vegetable plate. I finally flagged our server down and ordered the pasta marinara with veggies. Thankfully, it came out really quick because the show had already started. My meal was very basic, just some wagon shaped pasta, marinara sauce, and some carrots and squash, but it was good. Everyone else enjoyed the chicken, beans, mashed potatoes, and corn. They thought the ribs were outstanding, fall off the bone delicious.

The show was hilarious. DS sat engrossed through it, laughing at all of the right times. He again dove for the strawberries when the shortcake came out.

I didn't have to sign anything or scan my magic band at the end and it was really nice not having to wait to take care of that stuff. I'm guessing they went and charged the dining plan credits when we arrived . I have no idea. I would highly recommend HDD and would have no qualms about bringing small children again. Seriously, this was the most well-behaved DS has ever been during a meal. We would definitely return.

Score: 5/5
Length of meal: 2 hrs

Next: Tusker House, Trail's End, and Crystal Palace