May 2017 dining report

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Hello! We recently returned from a 6 night/7 day trip to DW. Since eating is one of my favorite parts of a Disney trip, I thought I would give a quick review of our dining choices & experiences. (Sorry though, I don't have pictures of much of anything to share!)

The background - traveling was me, DH, DD9, DS7, staying at CSR. This was our 5th trip to DW, and our first visit without the Dining Plan. I haven't done a complete total of the numbers, but I'm pretty sure we came out even or ahead of the plan. We enjoyed the flexibility - lots of times DH and I would split an appetizer and entree, be plenty full but not uncomfortably stuffed, and not feel like we had wasted a lot of food. We had 7 ADRs, (8 including BoG lunch), and added another TS choice while we were there. We only made a couple ADRs for the dinner time frame, and would probably stick to just reserving breakfasts or lunch in the future. It was pretty hot during our visit, and we would have liked to not be locked into having to stay in the park waiting for a dinner reservation time. When I booked a dinner on the fly, I noticed that almost everything except the most popular places had plenty of available times that night. In Epcot I only noticed Akershus didn't show availability. So, I'm pretty sure we would skip dinner reservations altogether next time and just wing it.

DD is a vegetarian & is peanut allergic, so I had to plan places that would have something she could eat. Some QS places have Uncrustables as the vegetarian choice for kids, so that doesn't work. Neither DD or DS will eat the Disney mac & cheese either - they call it "gloppy." (I can't really blame them on that one, I think all mac & cheese is gross).

We did get a sizable Garden Grocer order, which covered most breakfasts, some snacks to take into the park, and plenty of beer. Usually we drive and are able to bring that stuff easily, but we flew this time, so it was our first use of Garden Grocer.

OK, on to the details ....

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Day 1 -

We arrived, checked in, and were in HS by late morning. After our Toy Story FP, we headed over to PizzeRizzo for lunch. DH and I split the Veggie pizza w/ Caesar Salad, the kids each had a kids cheese pizza, and we got 2 Moretti Blonde beers. DS was still hungry after his pizza, so we got one more kids cheese pizza, which he and DH split. HS has limited QS choices that meet our needs, and this might have been the only place that worked. It was good ... nothing special, but decent pizza, and would definitely return here.

Not long after this, the kids were hot and cranky, so we got them each a Mickey Ice cream bar. DH and I would have been up for a beer, but all we saw nearby was Bud Light, not something on our list!

We went back to the hotel by late afternoon, got our Garden Grocer order, enjoyed the pool, and went for dinner at Maya Grill. We skipped this restaurant the first time we stayed at CSR, and I had regretted that. It didn't disappoint! The kids had a cheese quesadilla and chicken tenders, and DH and I split the tacos durango (3 appetizer tacos) and the Yucatan Roasted Pork. We also had 4 margaritas between us - 2 blood orange, 1 pineapple, 1 mango-blueberry basil. Blood Orange and Pineapple were great, but I wouldn't recommend the mango-blueberry basil. It was okay, just not as good as the others. This was a definite great dinner to start off our vacation!

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Day 2 -

Breakfast in the room from our Garden Grocer order before heading to MK.

We had lunch at Be Our Guest, and had reservations and had pre-ordered our food. We've eaten here for lunch at least twice in the past, but I think I'm done here. We had kids grilled cheese & soup, kids pasta w/ marinara, the Braised Pork, and I had the Quinoa Salad. The kids and DH were satisfied with their meals (other than the soup wasn't a hit), but the Quinoa Salad was not good at all. The giant mound of lettuce beside the quinoa had no dressing on it. The items mentioned like "roasted red peppers, potatoes, green beans, olives, tomatoes" were completely skimpy in quantity. Like 3 green beans and one sliced cherry tomato. The lettuce mix had some kind of bitter / earthy taste to it, which would probably have been fine if there was a bit of dressing, but standing alone it made me almost think there was something off about it. Maybe we'll be back, since it works well for the kids, but I would definitely avoid the Quinoa Salad!

Mid afternoon we had 2 vanilla soft serve cups and an iced coffee from Sunshine Tree Terrace. I would probably have preferred the coffee float, but the iced coffee was okay, and a good pick-me-up.

We planned an early dinner at Tony's. This was not on our radar, but DD requested about a week before the trip that we eat at Tony's. We had been here on our 2nd trip, and I had no plans to repeat it. We didn't have an issue with the food back then like I see on a lot of reviews, but it just didn't seem all that special of a place. It was lacking in Disney Magic. Plus that was were we discovered we couldn't get wine with our Italian meal in MK. However, now of course that's changed, so I made an ADR just a few days before the trip. Since it was a really early dinner, DH and I split the calamari and the zucchini appetizers, a bottle of wine, and the kids got spaghetti, pizza, and ice cream sundaes. The food was GREAT - we were very satisfied with our appetizers. The calamari maybe wasn't the absolute best I've ever had, but it was very very good. The sauce to dip the zucchini in was especially great. And of course the wine. We would definitely come back here, probably with a similar kind of plan for appetizers and wine.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Day 3 -

Breakfast in the room before heading to AK.

Not being on the dining plan, I hadn't planned many character meals - only two. One of them was Tusker House for lunch. This was our second time at TH, and I was a little disappointed. It had been my favorite character meal of our previous visits, but not so much this time. The food was really great as before, but I felt like the character interaction was really poor. It felt like 30-40 seconds per character - just a quick hug and high five. On the dining plan, the cost is a little bit obscured, and you're getting the best value to have the character meals, however paying $200 OOP felt like a big rip-off. Plus I think the kids are getting a little beyond the character meals. There are too many other interesting food options in AK, I will probably not repeat TH ever again.

One of the things I really wanted to try was a Yak Attack. By mid-afternoon, we were in that area. I found out where they sold it, waited in line for 15 minutes, only to find out they didn't actually have it. Even though it was listed on their menu. I was told to go into Yak & Yeti and get one at the bar. Well at that point it was incredibly hot and crowded, DS had already been complaining for awhile, DH had taken them off to see something while I was supposed to be getting drinks, and I really just wanted to get out of there. I wouldn't have minded stopping for some kind of other drink or snack, but the lines were so long everywhere - I didn't want to wait another 15 minutes in line just to spend more money. Anyway, we headed back to the resort and went swimming

For dinner we went to the CSR quick service - Pepper's Market. We had loved this place last time we stayed at CSR. I knew there had been changes since then, but I was surprised how far downhill it had gone. DH and I split a burger, the kids got chicken tenders and pizza. Previously it seemed like there were a lot more food stations & selections, and everything seemed fresher. The burger didn't have the things on it that it was supposed to (avocado, jalapenos), but we didn't realize this until we were already eating it, and didn't want to bother about it. I went back to get the kids ice cream, and the soft serve ice cream machine wasn't working. So we just took them back to the room where we had a bag of cookies.

Not the best day for dining.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Day 4 -

Another breakfast in the room before EPCOT. I didn't mention, we did purchase 1 refillable mug and would take turns taking trips to the food court for morning coffee. We get up earlier than the kids, and most days would fill the mug 2-3 times. We thought it was pretty worthwhile.

After some morning rides, we headed across WS in the boat, and went to the American Pavilion to have lunch at Liberty Inn. I would have preferred pretty much anywhere else, or just snacking at the food booths, but we wanted the kids to get something solid they would eat. We had kids spaghetti, kids hot dog, and DH and I split the BBQ sandwich with fries. We didn't like the beer choices here (Bud Light & Yeungling), so I went outside and picked up a couple from a food booth nearby - some kind of citrus pilsner and a double ipa, both very good.

We had been telling the kids we would get ice cream in France sometime in the afternoon, but we were having so many issues with them we had to rescind that offer. This sparked some additional fit throwing beyond the fits that had caused us to not get ice cream, so while the kids threw their fits, DH and I had a couple of bass ales from UK, and something else from a flower & garden booth in Canada. This put us in a better mood, and the afternoon improved after we got back over to the Imagination area where we could cool down inside for a bit.

For dinner we had reservations at San Angel Inn. We had eaten here on our previous trip and really enjoyed it, and definitely loved it again this time. DH and I split the empanadas appetizer and the Combination Dinner. Kids had cheese quesadilla / chicken tenders. Plus we had 2 blood orange margaritas. Very good! We probably should have skipped the appetizer though ... even just that and the one entree felt like too much food.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Day 5 -

Another day back to MK. First though, we had an 8:20am breakfast at O'Hana. We were at the bus stop at 7:15am, and the bus of course didn't arrive until 7:45am. So, we were rushed, which was not fun. We did make it there only about 5 minutes past our ADR time, only to be given a pager and wait for 30 minutes to be seated. Once we were finally seated though, I LOVED this breakfast. I'm not big into breakfast food, but this was a good meal to get the day started. The juice, fruit, and bread were great. I loved that we didn't have to go up to a buffet to get the food. The kids ate really well, the character interaction was much better than at Tusker House. And, being breakfast, there wasn't as much sticker shock as we had for TH lunch. We did wait a terribly long time to get our check though. When we left, at least half the tables were empty, however the waiting area was still packed with people waiting to be seated. Overall, I'm glad we ate here. I'm not sure I would go out of our way for another breakfast here, but if we were at a monorail resort, maybe.

In MK, we planned to just stay a few hours in the morning and head back at dinner time, because of how hot it had been. Before we left the park at mid-day, DD had a Mickey ice cream sandwich and DS had choc/vanilla soft serve. Back at the room, we just made due with fruit, pita chips, hummus for a light lunch.

We headed back to MK about 6pm and went for dinner at Pinnochio Village Haus. We pretty reliably get to this QS at least once or twice each trip. I was angling for CHH, but the kids voted here. The kids each got a flatbread (1 cheese, 1 pepperoni), and DH and I shared the sausage pepperoni flatbread. I tried to replace the kids yogurt/apple slices with the chocolate chip cookies, but the cashier insisted they had done away with chocolate chip cookies throughout all of Disney World. Funny, because they had them at PizzeRizzo and Liberty Inn. Anyway, the meal was fine. Nothing memorable. The menu here seems to change up pretty often, and I have preferred times that there have been other options than what we had to choose from this trip.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Day 6 -

Into EPCOT again. This time we headed to Norway for an 11am FP for FEA. I noticed the bakery was empty, and went in to look. We didn't really need anything to eat, but we ended up with a troll horn and school bread - which had been on my list to try for awhile. I loved the school bread. The custard was pretty sweet though, so it was good to share it. Not all that impressed with the troll horn, but DS really liked that one. Very glad I got to have at least one thing that I had been meaning to try!

For lunch, we had an ADR at Rose & Crown. Again, this might not have been my first choice for a meal, but it had something the kids would eat. We absolutely LOVED this place. We were seated right next to a window and had a wonderful view. The kids got the pasta, DH and I split a Scotch Egg and the fish and chips, plus we each had a pint. The food was outstanding! Splitting the meal was again a good choice, as it was a lot of food. We would definitely like to return here!

Since the kids behavior had improved from the previous EPCOT visit, we got them ice cream in France this time - Mint Chocolate chip and chocolate. While they ate those, I went in the wine store and got a little $5 glass of Pinot. At this point in the trip, we were all getting tired of the heat and crowds, and we had realized it was just not going to work to make the kids keep going in the parks, so we again headed back to the resort for some relax time.

For dinner, we didn't want Peppers again since we hadn't enjoyed it the previous time, and knew we probably would have that before leaving for the airport the next day. Las Ventanas had plenty of openings, so we went there. The kids had the grilled cheese, and we shared calamari, crab cakes, and each had a margarita. The food was okay. Calamari was a little tough. The 3 crab cakes were each slightly bigger than a quarter and about an inch high. The kids sandwiches each came with 2 sides and they each had salad, and one had fruit, the other fries. There was enough food they could have split a sandwich I think. I wouldn't hurry back here, but again, the alternative was Pepper's Market or else venture back to EPCOT with cranky kids. On the way out we stopped at Cafe Rix and the kids each had gelato.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Day 7 -

We tried to eat up as much as we could from our Garden Grocer order, got our luggage checked in, and went to MK shortly after opening.

We had lunch at LTT this day. I originally cancelled it when they changed their menu a few months back, because they got rid of what I had planned on having. However we added it back in as the trip got closer, with the draw of having Sam Adams in MK. I'm glad we did, because this place was another winner. Kids each had pasta - it was an enormous serving and again they could have split it, and we shared the crab-spinach-artichoke dip and the pot roast. The pot roast was not bad, but the crab dip was maybe the best thing I had eaten all week. We would definitely go back, maybe for the crab dip, another appetizer, and a couple of drinks.

Pepper's market was our final stop before catching the ME back to the airport. We repeated the same things we had the previous time - nothing else really appealed. This time the server loaded up the burger with the correct toppings, and he put so many fries on the plate we couldn't finish them between the two of us. I guess it just depends who is working. It wasn't really any better food than the first go around though, but at least it was correct.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

And that's all!

End thoughts / Summary -

Our winners - School bread, Rose & Crown, LTT, Tony's
Honorable mention - O'Hana breakfast, Maya Grill
Thumbs down - Tusker House, Pepper's Market

Overall I'm pretty happy with what we tried. I was disappointed we didn't get to do more snacking - I would have liked to get pastries and crepes in France, the Yak Attack, maybe the dole whip with rum, a funnel cake, and lots of things at the Flower & Garden booths looked appealing. However, lines at most of the snack places I wanted to go to were pretty long. I wouldn't have minded waiting too much, but with the kids along I didn't want to make them even more cranky than they already were. Maybe they should consider some FP+ for snack places? (Just kidding). Plus even with splitting entrees we didn't really need more food. I think my snacking trip is going to have to wait until we're able to split off from the kids for a few hours at a time. And, we definitely liked not having the dining plan this go around. I'm pretty sure, being largely done with character meals, we won't ever get that again. When I get my receipts all sorted out, I'll try and post the cost comparison.

 

[TexasCruisers]

Thanks for the insights. I'm planning ADRs now, and this has helped make some notes.

 

[Dashzap]

Thanks for the reviews. I loved the school bread as well.

 

[suse66]

Thanks for sharing your reviews! Sounds like a great trip. We love going OOP as well as we find Disney portions really generous. When our boys were younger it was hard to find time to enjoy snacks and bevvies as we wished as their needs always came first. Now that they are teens, they go off on their own and we have a chance to see and do things we didn't have time for before.

 

[gardengirl628]

Thanks for your reviews. Tony's doesn't always get the best reviews but we have enjoyed our meals there.