8 Days of Disney Dining Reviews Jan. 2007 (PHOTOS)

[2Pirates_1Princess]

Anxiously waiting for your review of Tony's. I made an ADR, but havn't heard much good about it. I also would like to see pics. Your restaurant reviews have been great and pics always help. We plan to Eat at Pizza Planet and will make sure we go at an off time.

 

[natalielongstaff]

great reviews, your boys are lovely

 

[MickeyNicki]

Great reviews - gotta love that ham and cheese croissant!

This was my favorite, I remembered it with the ham and cheese baked into the croissant. Now the croissant is cut in half and ham and cheese put on it...basically it is a sandwich....

 

[hmillerbarilla]

This has been so fun to read. REALLY nice job!!! I just had a baby boy and he's the first boy baby in our extended family--so this has given me lots of ideas for when he's a bit older. I'm always surrounded by the princesses so this has been so interesting!! Thanks for taking the time to do this!

 

[mydogisbo]

Dinner at Tony’s Town Square

This was a last minute (well, relatively) idea of mine. We were going to the Pirate & Princess Party & had planned to eat in the villa, but I found rewards programs online & had earned more than I had anticipated, so we decided to “splurge” for another table service meal. Didn’t want CRT, weren’t crazy about LTT, & already ate at CP, so Tony’s was left. I was wary reading the mixed reviews, but I have never eaten there, and I remember wanting to when I went on trips with my family when I was younger. Was I disappointed?

NO!

I loved eating here! We will definitely repeat this experience. Part of my infatuation may be Main Street. I love the architecture, the music, the balloons & the happy people coming in to the Magic Kingdom.

We had a very early reservation 4:30. I think that is their first dinner seating. We checked in & waited in the very nice little waiting area. We got there about 5 minutes early, & we waited maybe 7. We were the second party called. The weather was gorgeous that afternoon. Clear sky, sunny & probably mid to upper 60s. I requested a table on the porch at check-in. We were seated in the perfect location for us. Here you can see the wonderful views we had:

I felt absolutely in heaven—warm sunshine shining on me, happy Magic Kingdom, me & my boys. Never mind that it was our last night at Disney—it was pure bliss.

Our server was excellent. Quickly got our drinks & allowed us to place orders for the kiddos. Guess what DS3 had? Yep, pizza. But, did you know you can just order the pizza with no side items for a lower price? Yes, you can. Great! DS7 also selected pizza which he said was very good with the apples (covered in brown sugar—yum!). She cheerfully told DH & I that the plate of spaghetti was rather large, so we shared a plate. Perfect! Just like Lady & the Tramp. Speaking of whom, we asked our very nice server if Lady & the Tramp were signing autographs. She happily took our book & returned with it stamped. DS7, aka Autograph Hound, was in heaven.

The bread appetizer was served quickly, and was very good.

The spaghetti followed very quickly on its heels. I would almost say too quickly if it were normal circumstances, but since we didn’t want to spend a lot of time eating (more time to play) & DS3 was restless, it was just right. It was literally 3 minutes after getting the bread. The spaghetti was good. Nothing fantastic, but good. Meatballs were good too—but DH & I don’t eat meatballs very often, so we are not experts.

During our dinner on the porch the flag retreat ceremony took place. It was very nice to sit on the porch, leisurely eating our meal & watch this. I knew about the ceremony, but it hadn’t crossed my mind that it might coincide with dinner. It was a very nice surprise.

The porch was very clean, very quiet & even private despite being on Main Street. We just walked through the main dining room, so I can’t really comment on that.

As I said, this is a definite repeat for us—even if just for the Main Street atmosphere that I love so much—that just says “Hey, I’m at Disney.”

Location: A+ (especially our perfect seats)
Food: B+
Service: A+
Overall Experience: A

 

[mydogisbo]

Electric Umbrella or Attack of the Birds.

We didn’t have a plan for the last day. We decided to go to Epcot because the boys were in love with Test Track & wanted to do it one more time & it was the most convenient since we were staying at the Beach Club & needed to hit the road by 4:00.

We got a late start & Epcot was crowded. We ended up in Future World at lunch time & the Electric Umbrella was the most convenient to where we were & what we needed to do.

I don’t really have a whole lot to say about it. It was mediocre.

Kids had chicken (I think). DH & I had cheeseburgers. They were fine, equivalent to McD’s or Wendys. I guess slightly larger. Could’ve been a little warmer, as well as the fries.

I don’t like the interior of Electric Umbrella. We’ve eaten there before & both that time & this we chose to eat outside & watch the fountain.

It was dirty. I cleaned the table off & then wiped it down with our Wet Ones. & our table rocked back & forth. The chairs had to be cleaned out. &, unlike Pizza Planet, I didn’t see anyone trying to clean up the area. Then there were the birds. LOTS of birds. I literally thought they were going to swoop down & take the food right out of our hands. I don’t know why they are so prolific in that area of Epcot—from the concourse between FW & WC & through the Fountain & Innnoventions area—but they were EVERYWHERE! A few nights earlier I was “splatted” by one—yuck! Thank goodness that didn’t happen while we were eating.

The service—I’m not sure. DH ordered while we took a seat. It probably took him about 10 minutes to get out there to us.

We won’t go back here again unless we have to.

This is the only picture I took (should’ve taken the birds too):

Location: B (convenient to Future World attractions, Fountain is nice)
Food: B-
Service: B- (including cleanliness)
Overall Experience: B-

 

[mydogisbo]

Grocery Delivery


Just to add. . .

We were staying at the Beach Club Villas. I was excited about having the kitchen & full refrigerator so we could eat some light meals & breakfasts in the Villa. We wanted milk, cereal, sandwich stuff & drinks.

Although we were driving down & would have our car, we decided we didn’t want to spend our valuable park time going to the grocery store, so we ordered most things from Garden Grocer. This was perfect for us!

Our order was right on, everything there. It was delivered in the window we had specified & left with Bell services (as we requested) since we were in the park.

When we returned to the room bell services brought it up & in the room.

They did forget one item—guess what??? Individual frozen pizzas for DS 3 HA!! The child will not even eat a sandwich. The next day bell services called us to say they had been overlooked in the freezer.

So, this all worked out great for us. I recommend Garden Grocer—easy website to use, great service. A+

 

[mydogisbo]

And in case anyone is driving down I-95 . . .


We always end up stopping at the Ruby Tuesday’s in Darien, GA. Right off I-95 in a smallish outlet center. It is always very clean, no wait & good food. This time we stopped there on our way down. We drove from NC to Jacksonville, FL on Friday. This is a good stop if you want to get out of the car, better than fast food, but still pretty quick.

On the way home we stopped at a Wendy’s in St. Augustine. It was also near an outlet center, but a huge one. We went through the Drive-Thru. Horrible customer service. Guy at the window never spoke or even looked at us. I guess the food was fine—none of us got sick.

On the second leg of our trip home . . . we went through another drive-thru, but I don’t remember much about it. I must’ve been too sad.

Now I’m sad because this is the last of my dining reviews. I’ll have to relive my experience through the reviews of others & start planning my dining for next January—it’s never too early, right??

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions about these places please post them & I’ll respond.

 

[Enchanted Tiki Bird]

Then there were the birds. LOTS of birds. I literally thought they were going to swoop down & take the food right out of our hands.

I have experienced this! Literally! But it was at Busch Gardens where the birds thought that my cousin had bought that big banana split for them.

 

[2Pirates_1Princess]

Thanks so much for the review of Tony's. This is the one ADR that I have been a little nervous about. However, I found out my mother-in-law loves the movie Lady and The Tramp so I think it will be a big hit no matter what. All of your reviews were great. Glad you guys had such a good time !!

 

[princesstigerlilly]

Awesome reviews Sarah! I LOVE Main Street too and we will give Tony's a try on our November trip

 

[WDWBetsy]

Love the review! Your boys are adorable. Thanks for sharing your review!

 

[SLDL]

What great reviews & pictures!! You mentioned travelling from NC, how long did that take? We are driving in March from NC. Oh, and I was wondering why you didn't do the dining plan? We probably are not, but I'm just wondering if you figured up your totals & if it was cheaper the way you did it?

 

[Enchanted Tiki Bird]

Oh, and I was wondering why you didn't do the dining plan? We probably are not, but I'm just wondering if you figured up your totals & if it was cheaper the way you did it?

I don't know about the OP but we decided not to do the dining plan. Sure, if we were going to buy an appetizer, entree and dessert for every meal equivalent to what you get on the DDP it might be worth it but we don't eat like that. Therefore, it would be cheaper for us just to order what we would like, when we would like it, OOP.

 

[DisneyJo]

Great reviews again and such sweet boys.

A few nights earlier I was “splatted” by one—yuck! Thank goodness that didn’t happen while we were eating.

Did you know in the UK this is thought of as lucky!

 

[mydogisbo]

What great reviews & pictures!! You mentioned travelling from NC, how long did that take? We are driving in March from NC. Oh, and I was wondering why you didn't do the dining plan? We probably are not, but I'm just wondering if you figured up your totals & if it was cheaper the way you did it?

It didn't take us as long as we thought--it was supposed to be around 7 hours to Jacksonville & another 2 hrs. 45 minutes from there. I think DH shaved about an hour off of that with his driving skills.

Yes, I actually looked up the menus on allearsnet, wrote down what I thought we would choose & added it up. It was way less than the dining plan--even though we did the 3 character meals at a set price. We just don't/can't eat as much food as you get with the dining plan to make it worth our while. We really never order appetizers or dessert, and as you saw, we often split entrees on several occasions. My dining budget was around $700 for the 4 of us--& we were under that, particularly because I had an additional character meal factored into that number that we cancelled mid-week.

 

[mydogisbo]

Great reviews again and such sweet boys.

Did you know in the UK this is thought of as lucky!

We did have an awesome week--so I guess it was lucky

 

[purpliequeen]

Awesome reviews! Thank you.

 

[MamaKate]

Hiya MamaKate!!! Glad to see a familar nick and a familar siggie.... DS still collecting pins ?

Sorry it took me so long to reply just got back last night from WDW & DCL. Great Trip!! Yes DS still collects pins, but I don't let him spend as much time on our trips trading since in the past he made us stop every minute to trade . Hope your doing well

P.S. On our way to WDW this trip, my kids asked me if I was meeting my friends again (you and your sister). They still remember how funny and friendly you 2 were.

Sorry for posting OT

 

[shellbelle]

Lunch at Columbia Harbor House

We’d eaten breakfast at Crystal Palace & were having dinner at 50s Prime Time. We didn’t want to eat much. My parents were hungry (they didn’t join us for breakfast) & the boys needed something, so we chose Columbia Harbor House.

We sent DH in line for a basket of Chicken Fingers & a Basket of Fries for us to share & we headed upstairs for the perfect seat & we found it. Nice & quiet with a great view.

The line was not too bad given the time of day, & service was pretty quick. Food was warm & good (for chicken fingers). But the nice quiet spot we got made it all worth while (& it seemed to be less crowded than some of the alternatives like Pinocchio’s).

Location: A+
Food: B+
Service: B
Overall Experience B+/A-

I love this table at CHH for the view and the peacefullness as well!