Magellan's "secret" dining room?

[keara507]

I just read about this in the comments on this blog post:

http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201201/2829/
"Did you know about the secret dining room? On our visit, I specifically asked for a table there when checking-in at the restaurant.
On one side of the restaurant is a bookcase. Hidden in the decorations of the shelf is a button which opens a secret door (the bookcase slides apart) and you enter a room decorated like a wine cellar. After you enter, the door closes again."

might try this next week!

any other restaurant recommendations? best for lunch? best for dinner?

 

[shelemm]

I did not eat in the secret dining room, but overall I do not recommend Magellen, unless you have a lot of free time -and money- to waste.

The food is not very good. As a restaurant, it would not be able to compete with equivalent places where I live, unlike some of the restaurants at Disney World. It is not on that level. Service is glacial, and you may wind up very rushed at the end if you have more to do in the park. The secret dining room sounds cool but a bit isolating; would rather be positioned to see the huge globe in the center of the restaurant. Now I am wondering if it has it's own bathroom......

 

[tinibee]

I enjoyed Magellans and did eat in the secret wine cellar. It was a fun birthday treat for my son. I thought the food was good. It is pricey and it does take some time as they serve in courses, but the wine cellar was pretty neat and it is much quieter in the cellar vs the general dining room. The restrooms are outside of the wine cellar so you have to exit to use them then return through the bookcase. The service in the wine cellar was fantastic. Make sure to get priority seating asap and ask for the wine cellar when making your reservation.

I don't eat at Magellans for every trip to TDS because it is pretty pricey, but it was a fun treat/experience to try. I'd rather spend my time at Magellans in the wine cellar than standing in line for Raging Spirits - LOL!

Have a fun trip!

 

[FireflyFi]

I ate at Magellan's last week (the day before your first post!) and I loved it. It was the first place I was able to find a decent salad (as a starter). I did ask about the secret room, but only when I arrived for priority seating, and was told it was full. I'm kinda glad I didn't get in, because I had a quick look in as I was leaving and it's just a little room, whereas my table was on the second floor overlooking the globe and under the beautiful painted ceiling. For the kind of meal you get, I thought it was good value, and the service was very quick, with lots of waitresses running around.

My other recommendation would be Teddy Roosevelt's. I looked at going to the dining room of SS Columbia, but the food didn't appeal, so went to the bar instead. It's another fantastic interior, with an extensive bar and a reasonable menu of snacks and light meals. One of the desserts in a souvenir glass floated past my while I was at the bar and I was very tempted to order one, but unfortunately I was too full from my lunch order.

Another thing you could try is breakfast at the Crystal Palace. You have to sacrifice your early morning run for fastpasses, as they don't take bookings, so you need to hustle there on park opening and queue. It's a 'buffet', but not really. You don't get to choose food or refill, you stand in line (for a long time!) and then a waitress gathers a few plates and seats you. The reason you would go through all this is if you want to meet the characters from Pooh. I found the interactions really good, even though there was the language barrier.