1 veggie, 2 carnivores and a fussy princess do DDP(Oct 2010)

[Guest]

Hi All

Originally I set off on this trip to Orlando fully intending to do a food report when I got back...however numpty here completely forgot to take photos of the majority of our food (not to mention DH found it rather weird !). So instead, I thought I'd put together a brief report rather than not do anything at all, as especially being veggie myself, I know I have used these boards to research my options. This was also our first experience of the DDP.

The Cast :

Me - 34, Disney addict, planner and veggie for 19 years.
DH - 39, enjoys being at Disney, thinks I am on the DIBB wayy too much and a total meat lover.
DS - 10, enjoys Disney, hates girls so doesn't do Princesses and as he's entitled to adult meals on the DDP, is looking forward to eating steak, steak and more steak !
DD - turned 7 during the trip, total Disney fan, loves the characters and loves Macaroni Cheese !

I am not even going to bother reviewing the airline food, suffice to say it was pretty awful.

TABLE SERVICE MEALS

Tusker House - breakfast.
Already my plan to take photos fell by the wayside...well I took character photos, just neglected the food. I found there was enough choice for me as a veggie but it was pretty much the usual breakfast offerings. DH really enjoyed it here as did DD. DS however, didn't eat anything but it did later transpire that day that he was feeling pretty ill. Luckily our server didn't charge us his TS credit.

Liberty Tree Tavern - lunch
I was actually quite looking forward to this meal as the veggie option on the menu sounded quite nice. I had the Vegetarian Pot Pie (Basil biscuit, bean ragout, sun-dried tomato pistou, and seasonal vegetables) and I remembered to take pics here !

I was disappointed - there were wayyy too many beans (think 4 large tins of Heinz) and the biscuit was hard in the middle. Not a meal I'd order again.
DH chose New England Pot Roast (Braised beef in a cabernet wine and mushroom sauce served with mashed potatoes and garden vegetables) pretty much because it was the most expensive thing on the menu. He didn't rate it and wished he'd ordered my son's meal.

DS chose Pilgrim's Feast (Traditional roast turkey with herb bread dressing, mashed potatoes and a garden vegetable). He enjoyed this but couldn't finish it.

DD chose her favourite - macaroni cheese (or mac & cheese as it is over there). Suffice to say fussy is not the word ! It was too orange and the wrong shape so she didn't like it apparently ! This would be the last time she even ordered this on the menu.
Service here was so so, I don't seem to recall getting any refills or even much attention from our server at all.

Boatwrights - Dinner
We were actually supposed to have eaten at Coral Reef the evening before but I hadn't bargained for how full we would be after lunch so we cancelled. Therefore the meal at Boatwrights was a last minute addition and we were already staying at Port Orleans Riverside.
DH chose Grilled Filet Mignon (served with crawfish hollandaise and three-cheese hash-brown potatoes) but found it to be a little watery. He still managed to polish off the steak though.
I can't remember what DS ate but DD had Cheese Pizza which she enjoyed. I opted to have the pasta without the shrimp or chicken. However when it arrived, parmesan had been added which I don't mind the taste of but I can't abide the smell. Neither could my son who almost refused to eat his meal because of it.
Kids had fruit for desert and DH and I opted for the Pecan Pie. Now this was one huge slab of pie and although initially nice, it did get sickly after a few mouthfuls. Not to mention that when I asked for some cream, the server looked like I'd asked for ketchup on it !
Again I found service here to be a little lacklustre, quite slow with drinks and the reaction I got from my cream request didn't help either. Another place I wouldn't return to.

Sci-Fi Dine In - lunch
I was really looking forward to eating here after seeing pictures of the restaurant. DH and DS both had Smoked St. Louis-style Ribs (basted in Barbecue Sauce and served with Coleslaw and choice of Baked Beans or Vegetable-Black Bean Relish) and licked the plates clean. DD opted for cheeseburger and again polished it off. I skipped the tofu option on the menu and asked for a veggie burger which they provided. It was nice (I prefer the "Quorn-like" veggie burgers to the vegetable ones), not spectacular but not bad either. Dessert was ice cream for the kids and DH and I both went for Peanut Butter-Chocolate Cake (Warm Chocolate Cake with a creamy Peanut Butter center served à la mode) which was yummy but there was just no way I could eat most of it as I was full from the burger and this was very rich.
Service here was excellent - refills arrived before we'd just quite emptied our drink and she was always around if we needed her but she wasn't intrusive. We all loved the setting here and we'd definately eat lunch here again.

Raglan Road - Dinner
This was another one I was looking forward to trying. DH chose Serious Steak (10oz sirloin topped with Irish whiskey marmalade glaze, with fresh basil oil, mashed potatoes & topped with crispy fried onion strings)

He enjoyed this a lot ! DS opted for Fish and Chips (Our famous beer battered Fish & Chips served with our fresh tartar sauce)

Another popular choice and one he enjoyed.
DD ordered a cheeseburger and I opted for the Portobello Beauty (Portobello mushroom cap burger filled with Dubliner cheese, zucchini, tomato chutney & served with Irish style chips) I liked this but I couldn't finish the burger.

Desserts were again ice cream for the kids. DH went for the famous bread-pudding which he really enjoyed.

and I went for the divine tasting Dundon's Delight :
.
Another great experience, both food wise and service wise. We'd definately head back here.

I'll try finish this up tomorrow...

[mossyflossy]

fantastic job! thanks so much for sharing...I know how much effort goes in to doing this, really appreciated!

[Cinnabon]

The photos from Ragland Road brought back great memories.

[Guest]

looks yummy!

[Guest]

Gosh time completely ran away with me ! I'll try and finish this up.

Les Chefs de France (Lunch)

I was really looking forward to eating here but some recent reviews I read before my trip had made me a little wary. Thankfully though, we had a great meal. I chose the macaroni cheese which was really nice - pasta was cooked just right with just the right amount of sauce. I followed this up with the creme brulee - it did have a teeny bit of burnt topping but was otherwise delicious.

DH chose the "Steak haché Angus, champignons et Bearnaise, salade ou frites - 1/2 lb. Angus hamburger with confit onions, mushroom duxelle, tomatoes, and Bearnaise on on a brioche, salad or french fries" this must have been nice as there was nothing left on the plate afterwards. I can't remember what he had for dessert but he didn't moan about anything here (which he has a tendancy to do) so he probably enjoyed whatever it was !
DS opted for the set meal as he was desperate to try lobster so he started off with the lobster bisque - I've never seen anyone shovel food down their neck so quick !
For his entree he chose the ham and cheese sandwich (croque monsieur) This looked really nice but he didn't eat it all as he thought there was too much cheese - so he spent a lot of time picking out the ham.

Dessert for him was the profiteroles - he was slightly confused by the use of ice cream instead of normal cream but it didn't stop him gobbling these up. I did have a little try and thought the pastry seemed a little dry but there was plenty of chocolate sauce to help them down.

And to top off a lovely meal we had a visit from this guy :

Service here was excellent - extremely attentive - refills were seen to promptly. We never felt rushed at all here - definately one of our best meals of the holiday.

Le Cellier (Dinner)

This was another meal I was looking forward to experiencing - mainly due to the hype it's received on the forums and I was interested to see if it would live up to it's reputation.
We had about a 15 minute wait here for our table but time passed quickly with the CM's doing a little Canada trivia quiz.

First off, the bread ! Now I know we got bread at most table service meals we had but I'm not really a big bread fan so haven't really mentioned them (nor did I eat much of it) but we pretty much had a table fight over the pretzel bread here ! It was so yummy !

DH went for the big one here and ordered the filet mignon - all I heard throughout the entire meal were sighs of delight and "omg this is beautiful" - guess he liked it then ! He emerged sometime later to declare it the best steak he'd ever eaten. Dessert for him was S'mores - looked fun and he ate it all but said it wasn't anything amazing.

I chose the potato gnocchi - now the menu said this came with cherry tomatoes and parmesan. I am not keen on either so the server got the chef to come out to see me. He said he could add in some seasonal veg such as carrots etc and could do me a tomato sauce instead of the pesto. Now I like pesto so I declined the tomato sauce. The gnocchi was very well cooked and the addition of the vegetables gave it a little more interest but after a while, the pesto started to become the overpowering flavour of the dish and I couldn't finish it.
For dessrt I chose the chocolate moose - this was cute and just the right amount of chocolate kick I needed.

DS went for the New York Strip which he really enjoyed although DH did think it was a little overdone. For dessert he chose the sorbet - there was a choice of raspberry or chai tea (or something along those lines) Being brave he chose both but only enjoyed the raspberry one - the other one was definately a required taste.

Our service here was the best we received all holiday, didn't feel at all rushed, plenty of attention from both the server and the chef and to top it off, our server gave us some foil wrapped, fresh from the over pretzel bread to take back to our hotel ! Result !

Crystal Palace (Lunch and Dinner)

We had two reservations at Crystal Palace a few days apart. There was plenty of choice at both for vegetarians I found. We all loved the breakfast - especially DS who had 5 plates of food here ! Plenty of refills of juice and the character interaction was good.
The dinner reservation was a different matter though - the characters seemed to rush round and we spent 10 minutes waiting for our server to put an appearance in. DD didn't fancy much from the buffet and both the boys weren't as impressed either. To top it off, this reservation was for our DD's 7th birthday and despite the birthday badge, not one person in the restaurant acknowledged it.
We'd definately return to Crystal Palace but only for breakfast.

Rose and Crown (Dinner)

The food here was good - I opted for the Vegetarian Shephards Pie. It was so nice to get some "proper" comfort food. The sauce was creamy and there were plenty of vegetables inside. The mash was light and fluffy with a bit of cheese topping. The only slight downside was it was quite peppery but only due to a lack of a drink (keep reading).
Dessert was Lemon Pie which was a perfect way to finish my meal - nice and tart with a slightly gooey meringue topping.

DH chose the surf and turf (his eyes are definately bigger than his belly - or maybe not ) He substituted the veg for chips and really enjoyed this meal. He went with sticky toffee pudding for dessert - he had no opinion either way on this - he thought it was just ok.

DS went for the bangers and mash - he's a total sausage and mash addict at home so was in his element here. Nothing was left on his plate. He didn't fancy any of the desserts on the adult menu so the server was happy to provide him with an ice cream.

Although the meal here was fine - the service was a complete let down. We had 3 refills of drinks before we got any food. Once the food arrived, the refills totally dried up and we had to get someone's attention in order to get one. DH asked for some ketchup part way through his food - he'd finished it before it arrived. This received our lowest tip of the holiday.

Akershus (Breakfast)

This was booked for our daughter as she was celebrating her 7th birthday. There was fruit and pastries on the buffet which was all fresh and tasty. They also brought round a platter of eggs, potato casserole, sausage and bacon - they gave me a seperate one of the scrambled eggs and potato. The scrambled eggs here were the best I had - they were really buttery and seasoned well.

The character interaction was fantastic here. We were lucky that we were sat two tables down from the door where they enter into the restaurant so managed to see everyone of them within a short period of time. All of them spent just enough time talking to my DD before the server brought her out a little cupcake with a candle on and a signed card from the princesses.

Service here was a little strange - I got the impression that she was new to the job as she seemed weirdly nervous when talking to us. The server we had been led to expect was not the one we ended up with but he did seem to be constantly stood in the background watching her. I guess he was checking out her work.

We enjoyed our experience here - the food was nice but the character interaction is what made it somewhere we'd return.

1900 Park Fare (Dinner)

Now a little back story to this ADR. After reading on certain other forums about Chef TJ at O'hana and how he does amazing meals for vegans and vegetarians, I made a dinner reservation at O'hana in the hope I might get to experience it. A few weeks before our trip, I learned he had moved to the Grand Floridian and 1900 Park Fare. After some debate, I decided to change my ADR as at least being a buffet there would be more option than O'Hana.

We had a bit of a wait here for a table but we spent that looking around the Grand Floridian resort. When we got our table I was a little dismayed to see it was close to the door where people come in and out but that was soon forgotten. When we got to the buffet, I instantly recognised Chef TJ showing someone around and asked if he'd do the same for me when he'd finished. He took me around and told me what I could and couldn't have (I was a little surprised actually as two items I thought would have been ok turned out to have a fish base and so were a total no-no). He asked where I was sat and then left. I filled a plate with pasta, salad, mashed potato and some veggies. The rest of the family had plates piled high with food too. Service was excellent and drink refills were always there when needed.

Character interaction here was the best we had experienced all holiday. Cinderella and Prince Charming were perfectly in character but the Ugly Sisters and Lady Tremaine were an absolute hoot. They were constantly interacting with each other across the room and they spent quite some time with the kids. Both sisters insisted they wanted to marry my DS and now I have the perfect "when you're older blackmail photo" !

Just as I'd got my second plate, Chef TJ came over and told me to eat slow and don't eat too much. Well 10 minutes after that came the reason why...and OMG ! I had read so much about his meals that I was just so happy to experience one :



There was a big pile of roasted veg topped with tofu slices, crispy rice noodles, carrots, asparagus and two little onion tarts. The sauce was divine, though I couldn't tell you what it was. I am not a major fan of tofu but this was just crispy enough on the outside and wasn't a big slice of mush. The vegetables were all well cooked and the little tarts were yummy. The photo really doesn't give too much of an idea of size but this plate was huge ! There was absolutely no way I could finish it all - I didn't even check out the dessert section here which is so not like me.

Everyone else had rather large dishes of ice-cream with all sorts of toppings. This turned out to be another place we would definately return to. All of us enjoyed it here and this was by far the best veggie meal I ate the whole two weeks.

San Angel Inn (Lunch)

I was a little apprehensive about this ADR due to such conflicting reviews. However my main reason for eating here was more to do with the whole atmosphere - ever since I first saw the place in 1988, I have been determined to eat here.
We started off with a great big basket of nachos with a spicy salsa - I could quite easily have spent the entire meal eating these. DH went with some kind of steak taco and DS (after much whining there was nothing he could eat) chose the pork. San Angel actually had their own vegetarian menu - granted there are only two things on it, but I liked the fact they had one. I chose Plato Vegetariano (combination of sauteed mixed vegetables (carrots, mushrooms, jicama, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, red onions, chipolte, garlic, and green onions) served on a bed of flour tortilla and blacked beans) This was really good - the beans especially nice.
DH had the bread pudding (something he decided he quite liked after having two during our trip), DS went for the hot chocolate just so he could have a churro, and I chose some white mousse concoction which was lovely.
We were all quite surprised by the meal - I think we'd almost talked ourselves into not expecting much but we ended up rating it one of our favourites. We'd definately go back.

On a side note : You may have noticed I stopped reporting on DD's meals. It got to the point where she would pretty much always choose the cheeseburger (or the occasional pizza). The only time she deviated from this plan (aside from the failed macaroni cheese) was at San Angel where she had cheese quesadillas which she really enjoyed. For dessert, this was always either fruit or ice cream. She never had a bad meal but neither was she adventurous enough on the occasions where she had the option to try anything else out.

Conclusion :

Best ADR's : Le Cellier, Les Chefs, 1900 Park Fare and San Angel.
Let Downs : Crystal Palace (Dinner only), Boatwrights and Liberty Tree Tavern

We also had plenty of good counter service meals. Most of those were at our hotel at the Riverside Mill. Our favourite CS by far was WPE - definately more bang for your buck in there (and the creme brulee was to die for).
We got good use from our credits - due to the heat during the two weeks we were there we used a lot of snack credits on drinks or ice lollies but tended to buy two and share to save them. We ended up with 7 left on our last day which we used at Goofy's for sweets on the plane home. We used all our CS credits and ended up with 1 TS credit left as we had such a late night we decided to give breakfast on the last day a miss (Boma). The whole holiday we bought 1 meal whilst at IOA (rest of the time we used the club lounge at RPR during the weekend we were there) and would definately opt for the DDP again.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and I apologise for the lack of photos - I really must remember those next time.

Andrea

[mossyflossy]

fantastic reviews, Andrea, thanks for sharing.

[Guest]

Thanks for sharing your reviews with us.

[The Bobbo's]

I so wish we'd heard about TJ before we left in August! Being a veggie coeliac I was sooo looking forward to our Ohana reservation which was a huge let down. Next time I must seek this chef out!

I also agree about Crystal Palace too. We went for dinner and it wasn't anything like I expected.

As I can't eat anything with gluten in the chef at Le Cellier made me a mushroom risotto which was just beautiful - but my daughter had the gnocci and made the exact same comment as you, which was a shame as it looked so lovely.

If you go again, try Tusker House for dinner, it is outstanding. x

[Guest]

Really enjoyed your report Andrea. Especially as you are a mixed veggie/meat eating family like us.

I wish they would change the veggie entree at LTT. Are beans really that popular? I'm fond of a bean, but that is serious bean overload isn't it?.

Good to hear you liked the veggie dish at San Angel. It sounds really nice, I think Paul would be very happy with that dish. I'm thinking about adding San Angel to the list next time for an early lunch, before it gets too busy.

Pleased to see you got to sample one of TJ's specials. It all sounds delicious. He knows just what to do to make tofu tasty doesn't he? (Shame I don't )

Love the pic of your son with Ugly Sis. Brilliant!

[sungiggs]

good reports thanks for posting