Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Absolute worst meal I have ever had on property was the BBQ at Whispering Canyon Cafe. It was mostly gristle. It was so bad on my way home I stopped at Valdosta, Georgia for descent BBQ at Sonny's. That being said, there are still some unique restaurants at WDW that I enjoy going to every time I'm on property.
Originally Posted By hbquikcomjamesl Personally, regarding 50's Prime Time, I'm now even less inclined to even consider it. I'm not just "a" picky eater; I'm THE UR-PICKY-EATER. The standard by which pickiness is defined. And between waitresses who no longer bother going into character, and those unable to catch on that you're NOT feeding them straight lines, my even setting foot in the place could cause some serious "bad show." That said, I'm not *thrilled* with Sci-Fi, but it's at least a relatively easy place to get an impromptu table, and the film loop is amusing. Cinderella's doesn't look as attractive as it was when dinner was non-character, and prime rib was available, but it also looks like they've wised up on the kids' menu, and no longer assume that every child's idea of comfort food is fast food. Assuming the characters don't return by the time I do, I would almost certainly miss the character interaction at the Liberty Tree. I'm not the least bit interested in character *breakfasts* (I like my breakfasts light, quick, high-fiber, and cheap), but I certainly enjoy at least the Liberty Tree's (and by extension, Garden Grill's) version of character interaction at lunch or dinner. And note well: even though it seems like it would be the ideal place for a "between-parks" lunch, on a day split between two parks, 1900 PARK FARE DOES *NOT* SERVE LUNCH! (Did I mention that 1900 Park Fare does NOT serve lunch?)
Originally Posted By tashajilek I don't think any adults care for the character interaction meals. I would guess if i had a little girl it would be something special to eat at Cindy's castle. It's just a shame that with 6 month advance reservations needed many kids wouldn't even get a chance to go.
Originally Posted By hbquikcomjamesl Uh, "tashajilek," I *do* enjoy character interaction, at least of the Garden Grill/(former) Liberty Tree variety. It's simply character *breakfasts* that I would be inclined to go out of my way to avoid. And as to Cinderella's, I've gotten in a couple of times *without* a reservation. For a very late dinner. Since I don't like *any* kind of heavy breakfasts, nor *any* kind of excessively fancy or excessively expensive breakfasts, the breakfast there is not an option for me. I will also say that since I *almost never* order appetizers or desserts, prefer table service to "quick service," and would have no practical use for "snack" credits, Disney Dining Plan is not a viable option for me. And every time I've run the numbers for it, simply paying for meals as I go works out anywhere from slightly to dramatically cheaper for me. (Plus, I don't approve of the whole business of kids being limited to "children's menu" items on the Disney Dining Plan, especially given that most of the items I see on Disney kids' menus are things that never appealed to me at *any* age: not when I was five; not when I was fifteen; not when I was twenty-five, and not now, when I'm almost fifty.
Originally Posted By leobloom My party of four adults was amused by the character interactions at Garden Grill when we ate there for the Candlelight package. The characters knew we didn't want a lot of "play time," but they gave us enough attention, took a few pictures, and the food wasn't bad, either. But in general, I'm not a fan of character dining and wouldn't want to spend extra for it.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I am not a fan of Olivia's at Old Key West. Found the restaurant noisy, cramped and it felt like a cafeteria. The food was good but the place was pricey for the atmosphere.
Originally Posted By hbquikcomjamesl Actually, I never did mention my own least favorite. I quite honestly don't understand what all the fuss is about Le Cellier. The one time I was there, I had the prime rib, and it was nothing to write home about. Certainly not as good as my dining experiences at Cinderella's, the Liberty Tree, the Rose & Crown, Alfredo's, Chefs de France, the Garden Grill, or Mama Melrose's.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom I have always wanted to try Garden Grill, what do people think about the food?
Originally Posted By hopemax The breakfast is awesome, one of my favorites on property. Oh wait...they don't have a breakfast anymore.
Originally Posted By leobloom Tom, I don't remember what we had at Garden Grill (which should tell you something). But I do remember we thought the meal was decent. I like the rotating restaurant, though, and the views into Living with the Land.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I really enjoy Olivia's... it is a hidden gem at WDW. True, it does NOT have a "fine dining" atmosphere... in going with the theme of the resort it is meant to resemble a Key West cafe... nothing fancy. The food is very good though... some of the best you will find at any DVC resort.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<Tom, I don't remember what we had at Garden Grill (which should tell you something). But I do remember we thought the meal was decent. I like the rotating restaurant, though, and the views into Living with the Land.>> I would probably try it just for that reason alone.
Originally Posted By FenwayGirl We are going there in May because my 5 year old grandson wants to dine with Chip and Dale...
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder We found California Grill and Narcoossee's somewhat unremarkable. It was since they told you it was a first class experience, then it was without actually having to follow through on the promise. On the other hand, Narcoossee's got some points from us because we ate at a table next to Roy Disney.
Originally Posted By tashajilek The number one thing for me is the food. I care about service too but, if the food sucks i don't care how good the service is.
Originally Posted By virk4 Rose & Crown......love the bar & location. Every few years I eat there hoping that I was wrong and perhaps I just ordered the wrong item.....wrong.....I won't eat there again for free [but I will go in for Harp's lager]
Originally Posted By elene A few years ago we ended up with extra dinner services on our dining plan so we went to The Brown Derby. It was extremely disappointing. We'd been there before and it was fine but last time it was horrible. The food was horrible, the service was mediocre at best. Haven't been back since. Last year we went to Cindy's Castle and it was ok but I wouldn't waste the table services to do it again. Sci Fi definitely doesn't have the best food. I used to get the black and blue salad which I liked but they don't have that anymore. I think I got steak last time and had them bring me blue cheese dressing with it and it was ok. I'm not sure if we'll go back there again though. I'm also not a fan of Crystal Palace myself. It was too hectic for me and very noisy (I've been there for lunch and dinner). It is great that the characters are so accessible but for me it was just too stressful (plus I didn't really like the food much). I'd rather see them at Animal Kingdom or something (except for the mosquitoes--got a few bites last year when I went there). We went to 1900 Park Faire last year for breakfast and I think it was one of the best meals we had. I loved the lobster benedict. Hum, did I eat anything else, I don't even remember! I had the Tuskers dinner which I wasn't too fond of. Last year we went for breakfast and I liked it. It is a little crowded and hectic too but someone would come by before the characters left for the morning (we were one of the last seatings for breakfast) and make sure we'd seen everyone and if we hadn't, the character would come by before they left for their break. I also liked the food for breakfast much better than the dinner we'd had the previous year. Also, even though we didn't buy the Donald picture, they did give us a small one which was nice. Too bad they won't put it on your photopass though. danyoung - where did you find the .mp3 for Sonny Eclipse? I've been looking for that for a while and would love to find the entire show. Thanks!
Originally Posted By danyoung Listen to live365 and the Mouse World station. I use a program called Total Recorder that records audio streaming from the web. I record several hours at a time and then go back and edit. They play the Sonny Eclipse track quite often - good stuff!
Originally Posted By elene Thanks for the info, maybe I'll give that a try! I bought the 2-cd set at WDW last time I was there and it is pretty good (well, the Epcot stuff is pretty good--the Magic Kingdom stuff isn't nearly as good as one of my old Disneyland cds) but no Sonny Eclipse tracks at all on it.
Originally Posted By danyoung I've collected some really cool audio, some of it from extinct attractions. I've got the entire Main Street music loop (the old one, not the brand new one), the entire show track from the Transportarium, the track from Alien Encounter, area music from several Epcot areas, and even the sound track from the old animation movie starring Walter Cronkite and Robin Williams. LOVE that Live365!!!
