mcsue
9 Sep 05, 05:51 PM
Just a few reminders about us before I begin…………
Paul and I are a couple of forty-something Florida fans that have been on holiday to WDW eleven times now.
Gone are the days when we used to rush around from park to park desperately trying, yet still failing to ‘do it all’. We’ve long since come to terms with the fact that you just can’t! (A good reason to keep going back :smile: )
These days we aim to relax as much as possible without feeling like we’re missing out on the fun, so we make sure we take the time to stop and smell the roses. (Or eat a leisurely meal!)
We’ve seen WDW really raise the standards of dining in the last few years, and choosing where we’re going to eat on holiday is a major part of my trip planning.
I struggle to understand those who feel frustration at the lack of food choices - other than the ubiquitous hot dogs, nuggets, burgers and fries. We’ve never been stumped for choice – quite the opposite in fact. There is such a variety of tempting menus and venues that we can never fit them all in!
There are lots of good offsite restaurants, but as we like stay onsite (this time at the Dolphin and Old Key West) we tend to mainly eat onsite.
Being WDW Annual Pass Holders we were able to purchase the Disney Dining Experience card for $50. This saves us 20% on all food and drinks at most restaurants and lounges, at the parks and resorts. After covering the initial cost of the card we saved over $100 on this visit alone!
Paul has been a vegetarian for 20 years and I’m the carnivore of the family. This has not been a problem at WDW, and we notice continuing improvements regarding the quality and availability of veggie food. Although, I do wish that in some locations they had more vegetarian dishes actually advertised on the menus. You can always talk with the chef about your dietary preferences, but we think that part of the fun when dining out, is in the drooling while you’re choosing!
Anyway these are just our personal views and experiences, so if you are interested in reading about the food we had on our holiday read on!
Virgin Clubhouse - Breakfast
We started off in the Virgin Clubhouse at Gatwick, which was just as well as our plane was delayed again. This time for almost three hours!
We relaxed with a few glasses of champagne. OK I’ll confess that I had five in all :smile: but as I said, we were delayed!
For brunch we both had the English breakfast which they call the Full Monty. Although we didn’t quite have the full Full Monty as Paul declined the bacon and sausage, and I left off the baked beans.
The sausage was good quality, very meaty and herby and the bacon was ……well bacon. The mushrooms weren’t as fresh as they could’ve been though, and I’m not keen on the ramekin-moulded scrambled egg presentation either. I prefer them fluffy.
Paul had some hot chocolate and I had a good, strong espresso.
I was going to have a Danish pastry, but then I wouldn’t have had room for several scrumptious Belgian truffles for pudding.
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/500/785Disney_Apr05_0004.jpg
We didn’t manage to make up much time on the flight and the immigration lines at MCO were particularly slow, so by the time we eventually arrived at the Dolphin we were completely shattered. We weren’t that hungry either so decided to abandon our plan to have supper at Beaches or Cream.
Check in went very smoothly – well it would, there was nobody else checking in that late!
We took the elevator up to our room on the ninth floor where an extremely comfy bed was waiting for us.
On further investigation, we found to our delight that we had been upgraded to a room with not one, but two balconies! One balcony overlooked the Boardwalk and from the other one you could see the Tower of Terror and the Sorcerer’s Hat in the Disney Studios
We got settled in our room just in time to watch Reflections of Earth - had to crane our necks just a wee bit – but it did feel special to watch the fireworks from the balcony.
No dinner tonight, but at least we had sprinkling of pixie dust** and a taste of Disney magic before we crashed out!
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/504/785Disney_Apr05_0025.jpg
We were more than ready for breakfast the next morning and were looking forward to eating at Fresh, which is a buffet restaurant at the Dolphin.
I’m not overly keen on breakfast buffets, but I’d read that some of the food was cooked ‘freshly’ for you at different service stations.
Sadly, we found this was only the case with the eggs. We both had an omelette made with mixed peppers and cheese, which tasted very good.
We were disappointed to see that everything else was already served up in dishes as per the usual buffet.
There actually wasn’t even much of a selection to choose from - just the typical lukewarm breakfast potatoes, bacon, and sausage (very garlicky!).
There was some cold pork loin and some turkey (?) behind the counter, and after a long wait, somebody eventually came over and cut me a slice of the pork. It had a very strange, rather chemical flavour, so I only had a small nibble of that.
I was hoping to sample one the fresh vegetable juices available here, but they looked like they’d been out for quite a while as they’d started to oxidise. Carrot and ginger juice just doesn’t look too appealing when the once vibrant, orange colour has faded to one heading for sludge brown.
On the breakfast bar there was cereal, muffins, pancakes and waffles for those that weren’t saving their carbs for the tempting French pastries!
There was also some fruit – melon, strawberries and bananas I think.
I must say that the pastries were very good indeed, especially the Pain au Chocolate. I tested them thoroughly :smile: and they were way above average!
Some preserves were brought to the table along with some toast.
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/538/785Disney_Apr05_0084.jpg
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/538/785Disney_Apr05_0080.jpg
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/538/785Disney_Apr05_0081.jpg
Our experience was not improved by our particularly surly waiter, who seemed to wish he was elsewhere. In fact he was elsewhere most of the time!
He plonked our check on the table whilst we were still eating our first plate of food, and then basically disappeared.
Our orange juice and coffee were not replenished, which was all the more annoying because they were both very good! I did manage to track our man down and he left a half-filled jug coffee on the table – no orange juice though.
(I have to say this man was the only impolite person we came across at the Dolphin. All the other staff members we spoke with were both cheerful and professional)
The food quality overall was very good, but I expected more items to be freshly prepared, so I felt let down on that score. I’d also read about, and expected to see a wider variety of foods to be available on the hot buffet.
I don’t know whether we hit Fresh on a bad day (I’m always ready to give the benefit of the doubt) but on this occasion we thought $16.99 each was a bit steep, for a relatively unremarkable breakfast in America.
Oh and I really can’t be doing with surly servers!!
Paul and I are a couple of forty-something Florida fans that have been on holiday to WDW eleven times now.
Gone are the days when we used to rush around from park to park desperately trying, yet still failing to ‘do it all’. We’ve long since come to terms with the fact that you just can’t! (A good reason to keep going back :smile: )
These days we aim to relax as much as possible without feeling like we’re missing out on the fun, so we make sure we take the time to stop and smell the roses. (Or eat a leisurely meal!)
We’ve seen WDW really raise the standards of dining in the last few years, and choosing where we’re going to eat on holiday is a major part of my trip planning.
I struggle to understand those who feel frustration at the lack of food choices - other than the ubiquitous hot dogs, nuggets, burgers and fries. We’ve never been stumped for choice – quite the opposite in fact. There is such a variety of tempting menus and venues that we can never fit them all in!
There are lots of good offsite restaurants, but as we like stay onsite (this time at the Dolphin and Old Key West) we tend to mainly eat onsite.
Being WDW Annual Pass Holders we were able to purchase the Disney Dining Experience card for $50. This saves us 20% on all food and drinks at most restaurants and lounges, at the parks and resorts. After covering the initial cost of the card we saved over $100 on this visit alone!
Paul has been a vegetarian for 20 years and I’m the carnivore of the family. This has not been a problem at WDW, and we notice continuing improvements regarding the quality and availability of veggie food. Although, I do wish that in some locations they had more vegetarian dishes actually advertised on the menus. You can always talk with the chef about your dietary preferences, but we think that part of the fun when dining out, is in the drooling while you’re choosing!
Anyway these are just our personal views and experiences, so if you are interested in reading about the food we had on our holiday read on!
Virgin Clubhouse - Breakfast
We started off in the Virgin Clubhouse at Gatwick, which was just as well as our plane was delayed again. This time for almost three hours!
We relaxed with a few glasses of champagne. OK I’ll confess that I had five in all :smile: but as I said, we were delayed!
For brunch we both had the English breakfast which they call the Full Monty. Although we didn’t quite have the full Full Monty as Paul declined the bacon and sausage, and I left off the baked beans.
The sausage was good quality, very meaty and herby and the bacon was ……well bacon. The mushrooms weren’t as fresh as they could’ve been though, and I’m not keen on the ramekin-moulded scrambled egg presentation either. I prefer them fluffy.
Paul had some hot chocolate and I had a good, strong espresso.
I was going to have a Danish pastry, but then I wouldn’t have had room for several scrumptious Belgian truffles for pudding.
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/500/785Disney_Apr05_0004.jpg
We didn’t manage to make up much time on the flight and the immigration lines at MCO were particularly slow, so by the time we eventually arrived at the Dolphin we were completely shattered. We weren’t that hungry either so decided to abandon our plan to have supper at Beaches or Cream.
Check in went very smoothly – well it would, there was nobody else checking in that late!
We took the elevator up to our room on the ninth floor where an extremely comfy bed was waiting for us.
On further investigation, we found to our delight that we had been upgraded to a room with not one, but two balconies! One balcony overlooked the Boardwalk and from the other one you could see the Tower of Terror and the Sorcerer’s Hat in the Disney Studios
We got settled in our room just in time to watch Reflections of Earth - had to crane our necks just a wee bit – but it did feel special to watch the fireworks from the balcony.
No dinner tonight, but at least we had sprinkling of pixie dust** and a taste of Disney magic before we crashed out!
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/504/785Disney_Apr05_0025.jpg
We were more than ready for breakfast the next morning and were looking forward to eating at Fresh, which is a buffet restaurant at the Dolphin.
I’m not overly keen on breakfast buffets, but I’d read that some of the food was cooked ‘freshly’ for you at different service stations.
Sadly, we found this was only the case with the eggs. We both had an omelette made with mixed peppers and cheese, which tasted very good.
We were disappointed to see that everything else was already served up in dishes as per the usual buffet.
There actually wasn’t even much of a selection to choose from - just the typical lukewarm breakfast potatoes, bacon, and sausage (very garlicky!).
There was some cold pork loin and some turkey (?) behind the counter, and after a long wait, somebody eventually came over and cut me a slice of the pork. It had a very strange, rather chemical flavour, so I only had a small nibble of that.
I was hoping to sample one the fresh vegetable juices available here, but they looked like they’d been out for quite a while as they’d started to oxidise. Carrot and ginger juice just doesn’t look too appealing when the once vibrant, orange colour has faded to one heading for sludge brown.
On the breakfast bar there was cereal, muffins, pancakes and waffles for those that weren’t saving their carbs for the tempting French pastries!
There was also some fruit – melon, strawberries and bananas I think.
I must say that the pastries were very good indeed, especially the Pain au Chocolate. I tested them thoroughly :smile: and they were way above average!
Some preserves were brought to the table along with some toast.
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/538/785Disney_Apr05_0084.jpg
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/538/785Disney_Apr05_0080.jpg
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/538/785Disney_Apr05_0081.jpg
Our experience was not improved by our particularly surly waiter, who seemed to wish he was elsewhere. In fact he was elsewhere most of the time!
He plonked our check on the table whilst we were still eating our first plate of food, and then basically disappeared.
Our orange juice and coffee were not replenished, which was all the more annoying because they were both very good! I did manage to track our man down and he left a half-filled jug coffee on the table – no orange juice though.
(I have to say this man was the only impolite person we came across at the Dolphin. All the other staff members we spoke with were both cheerful and professional)
The food quality overall was very good, but I expected more items to be freshly prepared, so I felt let down on that score. I’d also read about, and expected to see a wider variety of foods to be available on the hot buffet.
I don’t know whether we hit Fresh on a bad day (I’m always ready to give the benefit of the doubt) but on this occasion we thought $16.99 each was a bit steep, for a relatively unremarkable breakfast in America.
Oh and I really can’t be doing with surly servers!!