Here's who we are:
Me (age not important ) Wants to eventually try every restaurant in WDW!
DH Rich--LOVES to eat! Usually asks me what's for dinner right after he's finished eating breakfast
DS Zach--11 Pretty adventurous. Will try anything once...
DD Madeline--3 VERY picky eater. Basically lives on PBJ and grilled cheese.
Day two - Fri. Jan. 2nd
Breakfast: Crystal Palace
I hadn't been to this restaurant since it was cafeteria style when I was a little girl, so I was really looking forward to trying it again. Our PS was for 9AM, and again, when we saw the huge crowd gathered on the front porch, we were glad we planned ahead. We were seated within 10 minutes, and the Crystal Palace is as beautiful as I remembered it to be. Very bright and sunny, and a perfect way to begin our first day in the park.
I expected this restaurant to be loud and chaotic from all that I've read on the boards, but we didn't think it was that bad. Full of excited children, of course, but no yelling and screaming. Character interaction was nice, if a bit rushed, and the service was wonderful. There was a very nice variety of food for a breakfast buffet, and we all found something that we enjoyed. I especially liked the puffed french toast, and Madeline loved the breakfast pizza.
We enjoyed this restaurant and will probably make it a tradition on all of our trips
Total including tip was $65.
Lunch: Dole Whips!!!
Dinner: Cinderella's Royal Table
I wasn't expecting much from this dinner except a nice atmosphere, but we were very pleasantly surprised. Of course, the highlight was eating inside the castle, but the food was excellent also. Rich and I both got prime rib, which was done perfectly and served with a delicious horseradish sauce. The root potatoes were very salty, but I like salt so it didn't bother me. Both the kids got hamburgers, which were standard kid fare.
Service was excellent, and of course the ambience was incredible. The only low point of the dinner was the family behind us who let their daughter run around the restaurant uncontrollably while calling out loudly, "Stephanie, Stephanie, come back to the table please!" Little Stephanie visited our table quite a few times, which stopped being cute after the first couple of encounters. Mom finally started chasing her around the restaurant after a few near misses with the servers. Dad happily continued eating while Mom followed Stephanie around from table to table for the rest of the evening.
Other than that, dinner was much better than we expected and we'll definitely be back! The best part of the night was when we were finished eating and who but Cinderella herself was downstairs greeting families. A very nice surprise! Total with tip was $90 and worth every penny.
Day three - Saturday Jan. 3rd
Breakfast: in the room
Lunch:
San Angel Inn
Rich and I ate here on our last visit and really enjoyed it. Being from the Northeast, we don't have many authentic Mexican restaurants and have nothing to really compare it to, but we thought the food was great.
Of course, the atmosphere is wonderful, very quiet and relaxing and a perfect way to get away from the crowds and unwind for a while. Rich and Zach ordered the beef tacos, which Rich enjoyed, but Zach didn't care for. He's used to Taco Bell, so didn't really appreciate the onions and peppers etc. that came with his meal. Rich ended up eating most of his, and Zach ate his sister's chicken fingers. I got the Plato Mexicano, which was excellent. It came with a taco, burrito and quesidilla, and it was so good I ended up eating almost the whole thing!
While we were eating a band came into the pavilion and started singing. They played very quietly but beautifully, so it made for a very nice accompaniment to our lunch. For dessert we shared the chocolate chimichanga, which sounded better than it actually was. That didn't stop us from finishing it all though!
Service was great too.
Total including tip $60.
Dinner:
Teppanyaki
We shouldn't have scheduled another full meal after our big lunch, but Rich really wanted to try Teppanyaki since he's never been here before. I've been on my last visit with my sister, but to be honest, we didn't have as good of an experience this time around.
Dinner was nice, but no different than the Japanese steakhouses that we have at home, and of course at a much higher price. Our chef was nice, but not very entertaining. The table next to us looked like they were having a lot more fun. The family sitting next to us at our table ate in silence, so it made for a rather quiet and awkward dinner. Rich and I had the Tonosama dinner (chicken and NY sirloin), Zach had the kid's chicken dinner and Madeline shared with all of us. Total including tip was $105.
We may return in the future, but we have other restaurants we'd like to try first.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for part 3 coming soon!
Jynohn
Me (age not important ) Wants to eventually try every restaurant in WDW!
DH Rich--LOVES to eat! Usually asks me what's for dinner right after he's finished eating breakfast
DS Zach--11 Pretty adventurous. Will try anything once...
DD Madeline--3 VERY picky eater. Basically lives on PBJ and grilled cheese.
Day two - Fri. Jan. 2nd
Breakfast: Crystal Palace
I hadn't been to this restaurant since it was cafeteria style when I was a little girl, so I was really looking forward to trying it again. Our PS was for 9AM, and again, when we saw the huge crowd gathered on the front porch, we were glad we planned ahead. We were seated within 10 minutes, and the Crystal Palace is as beautiful as I remembered it to be. Very bright and sunny, and a perfect way to begin our first day in the park.
I expected this restaurant to be loud and chaotic from all that I've read on the boards, but we didn't think it was that bad. Full of excited children, of course, but no yelling and screaming. Character interaction was nice, if a bit rushed, and the service was wonderful. There was a very nice variety of food for a breakfast buffet, and we all found something that we enjoyed. I especially liked the puffed french toast, and Madeline loved the breakfast pizza.
We enjoyed this restaurant and will probably make it a tradition on all of our trips
Total including tip was $65.Lunch: Dole Whips!!!
Dinner: Cinderella's Royal Table
I wasn't expecting much from this dinner except a nice atmosphere, but we were very pleasantly surprised. Of course, the highlight was eating inside the castle, but the food was excellent also. Rich and I both got prime rib, which was done perfectly and served with a delicious horseradish sauce. The root potatoes were very salty, but I like salt so it didn't bother me. Both the kids got hamburgers, which were standard kid fare.
Service was excellent, and of course the ambience was incredible. The only low point of the dinner was the family behind us who let their daughter run around the restaurant uncontrollably while calling out loudly, "Stephanie, Stephanie, come back to the table please!" Little Stephanie visited our table quite a few times, which stopped being cute after the first couple of encounters. Mom finally started chasing her around the restaurant after a few near misses with the servers. Dad happily continued eating while Mom followed Stephanie around from table to table for the rest of the evening.
Other than that, dinner was much better than we expected and we'll definitely be back! The best part of the night was when we were finished eating and who but Cinderella herself was downstairs greeting families. A very nice surprise! Total with tip was $90 and worth every penny.
Day three - Saturday Jan. 3rd
Breakfast: in the room
Lunch:
San Angel Inn
Rich and I ate here on our last visit and really enjoyed it. Being from the Northeast, we don't have many authentic Mexican restaurants and have nothing to really compare it to, but we thought the food was great.
Of course, the atmosphere is wonderful, very quiet and relaxing and a perfect way to get away from the crowds and unwind for a while. Rich and Zach ordered the beef tacos, which Rich enjoyed, but Zach didn't care for. He's used to Taco Bell, so didn't really appreciate the onions and peppers etc. that came with his meal. Rich ended up eating most of his, and Zach ate his sister's chicken fingers. I got the Plato Mexicano, which was excellent. It came with a taco, burrito and quesidilla, and it was so good I ended up eating almost the whole thing!
While we were eating a band came into the pavilion and started singing. They played very quietly but beautifully, so it made for a very nice accompaniment to our lunch. For dessert we shared the chocolate chimichanga, which sounded better than it actually was. That didn't stop us from finishing it all though!
Service was great too.Total including tip $60.
Dinner:
Teppanyaki
We shouldn't have scheduled another full meal after our big lunch, but Rich really wanted to try Teppanyaki since he's never been here before. I've been on my last visit with my sister, but to be honest, we didn't have as good of an experience this time around.
Dinner was nice, but no different than the Japanese steakhouses that we have at home, and of course at a much higher price. Our chef was nice, but not very entertaining. The table next to us looked like they were having a lot more fun. The family sitting next to us at our table ate in silence, so it made for a rather quiet and awkward dinner. Rich and I had the Tonosama dinner (chicken and NY sirloin), Zach had the kid's chicken dinner and Madeline shared with all of us. Total including tip was $105.
We may return in the future, but we have other restaurants we'd like to try first.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for part 3 coming soon!
Jynohn
