Olivia, Coral Reef, Outer Rim, Chf Mickey, LeCellier, SciFi, 9 Dragon, Spoodle, OHana

[FormrCastMbr]

Hi! Sorry no pics here...DFi and DS would have killed me! This is my first review so please tell me if I could make it better or if it's too long!!! I tend to babble...

We just got back last night and had a blast! I must say the DDP is great and offers so much food...we are very happy campers here!

The cast:

Me: a 36 year old woman that eats just about anything
My Fiance: a 35 year old very basic eater (no seafood except shrimp cocktail)
My son: a typical 8 year old
***Please note we are very big eaters and were stuffed after every meal!

The restaurants: Olivia's (post 1), Coral Reef (post 8), Chef Mickey's (post 11), Le Cellier (post 13), Olivia's (post 14), Sci Fi (post 15), Nine Dragons (post 16), Spoodles (post 26) and O'Hana (post 28)

12/23:

We arrived at OKW at about 12:30pm and decided to eat lunch at Olivia's (this was not planned so we paid OOP).

DFI and I had the Turtle Krawl (Cocktail)...yummo (only 1 each)!

DFI and I ordered the Ancho Bourbon Wings and Onion Rings and Dip for appetizers and my son had the chicken noodle soup. The wings were great, a very sweet sauce with the bite of ancho. The o rings were also good - the avacado ranch was the best dip! My DS8 also loved the soup which he said tastes like my homemade soup - he is a big soup eater.

DFI ordered the bacon cheeseburger and fries, I ordered the cuban sandwich and DS8 ordered the kid's cheeseburger. DFI did not like the burger because it was on bread that had spices baked in it. Did I mention he is a picky eater??? I started to eat my sandwich, which was excellent, then I switched entrees with him and ate his burger. I thought the burger was great too. The burger came with fries and the sandwich came with chips. All good. DS 8 loved his burger which we ordered the carrot sticks and grapes...alot of the sides were not touched.

DS8 then had the make your own sundae...which he loved.

Olivia's rating for this meal: A

I will review Outer Rim and Chef Mickey's next...I will update the OP with the post #s.

Thanks for checking out my reviews!

Lauren

 

[swankybeth]

Great start, looking forward to more reviews!

 

[Stacerita]

Good review. Looking forward to the rest. What is in a Turtle Krawl?

 

[momofdbsdc]

 

[FormrCastMbr]

Good review. Looking forward to the rest. What is in a Turtle Krawl?

I'm not really sure but it is a fruity, tropical drink...it was very good. I should have also included in my 1st post that I'll drink about anything too!

Thanks for reading!

 

[TigerKat]

Great start Lauren!! Can't wait for more, especially Coral Reef which we've never tried but are thinking about it next time.

 

[FormrCastMbr]

Great start Lauren!! Can't wait for more, especially Coral Reef which we've never tried but are thinking about it next time.

Hi Kathy!

I wasn't too crazy about my entree at CR...I had the Shrimp Pasta. It was a very strong asian sauce with alot of celery. I will add more in my "official" review.

All the best,
Lauren

 

[FormrCastMbr]

Coral Reef:

We had a long wait for this reservation and we finally got a table about a 1/2 hour after we arrived. Christmas week is very busy in WDW.

DFI and I started with the YOAMD cocktail...the glowing blue drink (only 1 each). Again, it was a tropical drink and it was very good.

For appetizers DFI ordered the ceasar salad and my son and I both had the creamy lobster soup. The salad was great...the only thing that we didn't like was that the leaves were not torn or cut they were presented as full leaves...but this was no biggie. My son and I both loved the soup. There were not many pieces of lobster...maybe 3 or 4 small chunks but it still was delicious.

For entrees DFI ordered the NY strip steak, I had the shrimp pasta and DS had the macaroni and cheese. DFI loved the steak and the au gratin potatoes. I, however, didn't really care for the shrimp pasta. It had a very salty asian sauce and way too many pieces of celery...it was mostly celery as the matter of fact. There were alot of good sized shrimp but I thought this dish was just average. My son enjoyed the mac and cheese...how horrible could that be, right?

Dessert was the chocolate wave for DFI and I and DS had the sundae. The chocolate wave was great! DS also enjoyed his sundae.

The atmosphere of this restaurant made it worth the trip. When they seat you, they give you a guide to all the fish that are in the tank and you see divers exploring through the coral. I am glad that I tried this restaurant but I will probably not go back.

Coral Reef rating: B+, maybe A-


I hopefully will add more reviews later. DFI is home with the stomach bug so I have to play nurse today...just when I thought I would have the day to myself after our trip!!!

 

[susieq76]

Great review! Can't wait to get there myself!

 

[TigerKat]

Thanks for the review Lauren. I'm glad I still have a long time before I have to make my ADR's. I'm still on the bubble with this one.

 

[FormrCastMbr]

We had ressies for Chef Mickey's at 6:20pm. We arrived a little early and decided to have a drink at the Outer Rim Lounge. When we sat down, we were really hungry. So we decided that we would order nachos along with the fruity tropical drink (1 for me, 2 for DFI) we had. I believe we had the passion fruit mai tai here...do you believe I remember the name??? The nachos were very good and had fresh jalapenos on top...Yum! The drink was also good. It was a nice place to relax after a day at the Magic Kingdom.

Chef Mickey's is a very good buffet. There really is not much to say about this place except that we are never disappointed here. The food is good and it's a great place to see the characters without standing on line. We also had a cocktail (1 each) here that I cannot remember the name of...go figure! There is also a nice selection of desserts.

Outer Rim and Chef Mickey rating: A

Up next, my Le Cellier review...this was my all time favorite restaurant at Disney!!!

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

Looking forward to your Nine Dragons review!

 

[FormrCastMbr]

Well, I have to say that Le Cellier was my favorite meal during this trip. We were a little early for our reservation so we were seated by the hostess station. All of the CMs were so friendly and they even play Canadian trivia while you are waiting. I must say again that the hostess, I can't remember her name, was super friendly and talking about her upcoming trip to NYC (I grew up 5 miles outside of Manhattan). I also won a question of trivia and they gave me a pin that read "Le Cellier" trivia winner! Yeah!

We were then escorted to out table and our server, Candice, was even nicer! The tables were a little close together as I have read on the boards but not much of a bother to us (and we are big people)...the only bother was the screaming kid at the next table...the mother was just ignoring the kid. Thankfully we were all able to tune the kid out.

We started with drinks...me and DFI each had 2 Torontopolitans...they were great! We were going to try the Ice Wine Martini next, which we heard good things about, but we didn't have it in us...something to try next time.

Candice brought out the breadsticks...they were great! We liked the pretzel bread the best. We even had 2nds of this...

For appetizers, DFI had the Grilled Beef Terderloin Kabob, I had the Prince Edward Island Mussels and DS8 had the Cheddar Cheese Soup. My fiancee ate his so fast and absolutely loved it...said it was the best thing he ever ate. The mussel were unbelievable...they are in a chowder style sauce with little bits of bacon and potato. I heard from a board friend that they were good and to dunk the pretzel bread in the broth...my I was in heaven. It was as if I licked the bowl clean! DS also loved the soup.

We were having a great time at LeCellier and decided to try the Ceasar Salad...again we were very happy!

DFI had the Filet Mignon with Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes, I had the famous Mushroom Filet Mignon with Risotto and DS had the Pizza. I was trying to have my son order the children's steak but he refused...he just got a palate expander and he has a hard time eating certain things...we loved everything! DFI said it was the best restaurant he has ever been to...I feel pretty much the same...Everything was great!

For desserts, DFi had the Chocolate Whiskey Cake, I had the Creme Brulee Sampler and DS had the ice cream sundae...all were great!

This restaurant will be a must on every trip...I was fabulous!

Le Cellier Rating: A+++, **** Four Stars...loved it!

Up next, Olivia's and Nine Dragons...

 

[FormrCastMbr]

We started here with a drink...I can't remember the name but it was good...we had 2 each!!!

For appetizers, DFI had the Onion Rings with Dipping Sauce again, I had the Crab Cakes and DS had the Chicken Noodle Soup again. As in my first post on Olivia's the boys liked what they had. The crab cakes were also delicious. There were 3 cakes, probably 2 inces around, and they were served over greens with a lime vinegrette...it was very good.

For entrees, DFI ordered the 10oz Sirloin over Olivia's Potatoes, I had the Penne Pasta with Shrimp and Asiago Cheese and DS had the Children's Cheese Burger. DFI loved the steak and the potatoes...they were a scallopped type. I also loved the pasta; it was very tasty. The penne was tossed with baby spinach, sundried tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. The shrimp were served on top. The shrimp seemed to be boiled or steamed not sauteed with the other ingredients...they were also a nice size and plentiful...I really enjoyed this dish. DS also loved the cheeseburger.

For dessert, DFI had the Individual Apple Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream, I had the Key Lime Tart and DS had the Sundae...why should today be any different?!! DFI really enjoyed the apple pie and I really enjoyed the tart...the server said they are freshly made there everyday.

We had 2 great meals at Olivia's...Rating: A

 

[FormrCastMbr]

Let me start off by saying, this is a place you go to for the atomosphere. It was really cool how they set it up as a drive in movie and you sit in cars...the only problem...the cars are not too spacious. It is pretty hard to eat and not be comfortable.

We had Vanilla Shakes here...yum! Very thick and good!

To start we had the Onion Rings and 7 Bean Beef Chili. The onion rings were OK...a little bit greasy. The chili was served with shredded cheese, pico de gallo and some chips on top. It was pretty good...it was probably from a can though.

Then we all had burgers which were enjoyable. I heard that the burgers were the best thing to eat here. DFI had the bacon cheeseburger, I had us.the mushroom swiss burger and DS had the children's cheeseburger...All were very good.

Desserts were the Hot Fudge Sundae for DFI, I had the Chocolate Tart and DS had...you guessed it, the sundae. DFI didn't really eat much of his sundae ...it was all melted by the time it got to us and at that point he just wanted to leave after being crammed in the car for that long! I, of course, had to eat my dessert. It was good but very heavy. I didn't eat the entire thing. It was layered with chocolate mousse, fudge and ganache.

Sci Fi Rating: B-...would have been a B+ but the crammed in feeling really go to us.

Up next, Nine Dragons....

 

[FormrCastMbr]

We are Chinese food lovers and I eat just about anything. DFI is pretty picky and usually orders the same things. My son usually wants "his usual" which is wonton soup, egg roll and chicken with broccoli and baby corn...that said, we were looking forward to having lunch here.

While walking over to China, we stopped in Mexico for a rainbow margarita, which was great! I could not finish it in time for lunch so they let me bring it in...the boys just had soda and then I ordered a Tsing Tao, Chinese beer. It has a lager taste and is very good. Aside from Zoombies and Mai Tais, this is what I usually drink at Chinese Restaurants.

Since my son really loves Chinese food, we decided to see if he could order an adult meal on the DDP and they said yes.

For appetizers, DFI and I shared Potstickers and Sha Cha Beef Skewers and DS had the Wonton Soup. Potstickers are chinese dumplings made of pork (usually)...these were lightly fried and served with a dipping sauce. They were very good. The beef was also good...it was grilled on a skewer and served with sha cha sauce. I didn't really care for the sauce but DFI loved it.

We decided to share all of our entrees. We ordered Canton Pepper Beef, General Tso's Chicken and Honey Sesame Chicken all served with white rice. I have no complaints about any of these meals they were all delicious. The General Tso's Chicken had a lighter batter than I am used to, which is good...you taste the chicken more and not the breading.

The desserts they had were Ginger Cake, Chocolate Cake or Strawberry Ice Cream. I am not a big fan of Strawberry ice cream so I ordered the Chocolate cake and the boys ordered the ice cream. The chocolate cake was good, nothing to brag about, but good. Now, I must say, that I tasted the Strawberry Ice Cream and absolutely LOVED IT! It was the best that I have ever had. It was a very intense strawberry flavor with, I think, pistacios in it...

I cannot say that the food here has a WOW factor but we did enjoy everything. We will go back again because, like I said, we are Chinese Food lovers that eat it about once a week...which reminds me, I have some Singapore Style Mai Fun in the fridge...it's almost lunch time!!!

Nine Dragons Rating: A, but no Wow Factor

Up next: Spoodles and OHana

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

Thanks for getting that review done. We were considering Nine Dragons. I still think we might go with Rose and Crown though, since your experience didn't have that WOW factor!

 

[FormrCastMbr]

Thanks for getting that review done. We were considering Nine Dragons. I still think we might go with Rose and Crown though, since your experience didn't have that WOW factor!

I have never been to Rose and Crown either...I would like to try there next time. Since I love Chinese food I would go back to 9 Dragons but have to try all of the other great restaurants first!

 

[MA pigletfan]

thanks for the informative reviews!! i was curious about Nine Dragons, since we have an ADR there in June...good to hear it was yummy!

 

[janets]

Okay, you live in Western NJ and grew up 5 miles from Manhattan. I too live in Western NJ and grew up in Queens. Where do you live and where did you grow up?

I'm enjoying your reviews, especially your son. My older one will be 9 in February and we're heading down for a weekend visit. We'll do CR and LeCellier that weekend.

We also love good chinese food and generally skip 9 Dragons since we think we can get better at home for less.

Looking forward to more reviews.