Dining Reviews

[Alice28]

Temporarily hijacking thread ... sorry! Ok, all my years going to WDW and didn't even know about this! I've always wanted to eat there. I'm guessing I can take the bus to DTD, then walk across to the Hilton? Is there any dress code, or just nice/casual? Do you need to make a ressie? I'm a Benihana virgin TIA!

I would make a ressie- not 6 months in advance like Disney, but at least a couple of weeks to get the time you want. It's really a popular place! Yes, take the bus to DtD and walk across the street to the Hilton. It's right off the lobby. No dress code- you could go in shorts and a tshirt if you want to, or nicer garb too (but I wouldn't dress up). Enjoy! We looooovvveee Beni'haha (as my kids call it). I personally like it better than Epcot's Teppan. And you must get the fried rice!

[Alice28]

The Mara- we went here one night cause we wanted to check out AKL. WOW- we love this place and want to stay here someday. So beautiful. And the Mara is a fantastic counter service- tons of choices!!!! I had fried shrimp, which were tasty! The kids had a big giant flatbread pizza, and we had bananas, chips for sides. And we got ice cream bars for our dessert (just ask if you can get these after you're done eating, so they won't melt).

Tusker House character breakfast- OK- if you're gonna do this, get your ADR EARLY. It was FANTASTIC to not have to wait in line with the HOARDES to get into AK and walking back to Africa ALONE was amazing. I'll remember that for a long time. Tons of food choices, although very crowded. By the time I got my kids' plates together and I could sit down to eat, my food was cold. It took a long time to shuffle through some of the hot food areas. Tons of variety though, and it was a fun place. Great characters- my kids LOVED this the most. Goofy, DONALD, Daisy, and Mickey. Best of all- if you want, when AK opens- just send someone out in your party to go swipe FPs for the Safari and beat the crowds if you're not done eating.

Kona Cafe- we love Kona! I've eaten dinner here 4 times and it's never disappointed. I think I had the prime rib and it was tasty. I asked for rice instead of potatoes, cause I was SICK of potatoes. I shared the chocolate fondue with my mom (I let my son have my dessert credit - we were short a TS credit, so I paid OOP for his burger)....this was SO GOOD. My mom was practically licking the bowl. I loved the fruit with it, and some macaroons hit the spot.

Tangerine Cafe- this is fantastic! I had a chicken wrap/gyro and it was soooo light and tasty- I loved it. And interesting sides- sure beats fries or carrot sticks. I highly recommend this!

Flame Tree BBQ- oh man, they were having an OFF day here. Service was so slow, I actually complained, and I rarely do that. I don't know what the problem was, but they just could not get orders together. We had ribs, fruit and chicken. All of it tasted good, but it took probably close to 25 minutes to get our food, and I only had ONE person in front of me! And they still forgot some of our stuff, so I had to go back and get it (dessert and a water bottle).

USA counter service- this was 'eh. We went here cause dad wanted a turkey leg, and the rest of us wanted A/C! So he got a turkey leg at the outside vending cart, and we went inside and had a variety of items- salads, burgers, chicken. It's OK. Nothing bad, nothing great, but it IS inside with air conditioning!

Crystal Palace dinner- man, I love the food here. I just do. The ancho rubbed salmon is one of my FAVORITE dishes in ALL of WDW. It's delicious. I also loved their 'puri puri' broccoli and their garlic mashed potatoes. I seriously had an entire plate of just these 3 items. I also like their salads and dressings, as well as their rolls. Their desserts are just 'blah', but I had a funnel cake later. The character interaction is fun- Pooh and Pals. And they brought out a cupcake for my son, and decorated our table with confetti, as it was his bday the next day (I told him it was this day, as the next day we were leaving).

Pecos Bills- this used to be my favorite CS at MK. No more. It doesn't have good choices for kids, IMO. I think it was either a sloppy joe or a grilled chicken salad. I got the younger two corn dogs and apples from a cart across the way. I had the grilled chicken salad- this used to have a fantastic lime dressing- no longer. Icky. And no more Peanut Butter mousse cake! So, I am afraid we won't be back for awhile.

Boardwalk bakery- we got a few pastries here, all good. We got some sandwiches for the airplane- I didn't think they were that good. I did get a fruit plate here a couple times (we had extra CS credits as my DH had to leave 4 days earlier than us) for breakfast- this is great! Plenty of fresh, tasty fruit for all of us to share.

Favorite snacks- funnel cake. Yum- big plate o' doughy fried goodness. Get at Sleepy Hollow for a snack credit. (in MK). Dole Whip swirl. This big giant caramel/marshmellow dipped in chocolate- wow this was good. Got at one of the candy shops. Lemon tart in France bakery.

Favorite drinks- the Grand Marnier slush from France kiosk. Huckleberry martini at WL bar.

[3dog2kidmom]

The Mara- we went here one night cause we wanted to check out AKL. WOW- we love this place and want to stay here someday. So beautiful. And the Mara is a fantastic counter service- tons of choices!!!! I had fried shrimp, which were tasty! The kids had a big giant flatbread pizza, and we had bananas, chips for sides. And we got ice cream bars for our dessert (just ask if you can get these after you're done eating, so they won't melt).

Thanks for your reviews, Robin. I have to agree with you about Garden Grill (except the thing was not "brokie" when we went, lol!).

Question about The Mara since we are staying at AKL in January... did you use CS credits? Did you get a side & dessert with the flatbread? I am trying to figure out if 4 can share 2 CS credits for lunch here one day since we have an early dinner.

I also concur about Crystal Palace dinner and also the Grand Marnier slush! I'll have to check out the Huckleberry Martini next trip

[LuvMyBoys]

Yay a new review, thanks for sharing Robin!!

Okay, where are the corn dogs and how much are they? I would love this info as DS5 is a corn dog fanatic and I didn't see them on any of the CS menus!

My sis and I loved Narcoosee's when we went. She had the crab cakes - so good! She got the surf and turf which is a bit over-rated in my opinion. I got the scallops with rissoto and they were amazing! Our server was absolutely wonderful too - I'm glad to hear that you had a good server and didn't feel out of place with kids there. I am SO hoping to go there next year with DH and all the kids. I really wanted to go this trip but with the new baby I think it is too risky!

Oh, and to end our dinner I ordered a press pot of coffee (my drink on the DDP since I had water during dinner) and they brought out homemade macaroons to go with it - SO GOOD!!

I also appreciate your review of Cape May, we are heading there for dinner in just over 3 weeks and I was a little concerned about whether or not it would be good. We have our ADR right when they open so I hope the food is fresh and the lines not too bad at that time.

My brother's favorite TS ended up being Tusker House, which totally shocked me. But after your review and the review on Allears, we are definitely going to have to give it a try soon!

Thanks so much for sharing, I really enjoyed reading the reviews!

[Alice28]

Yay a new review, thanks for sharing Robin!!

Okay, where are the corn dogs and how much are they? I would love this info as DS5 is a corn dog fanatic and I didn't see them on any of the CS menus!

My sis and I loved Narcoosee's when we went. She had the crab cakes - so good! She got the surf and turf which is a bit over-rated in my opinion. I got the scallops with rissoto and they were amazing! Our server was absolutely wonderful too - I'm glad to hear that you had a good server and didn't feel out of place with kids there. I am SO hoping to go there next year with DH and all the kids. I really wanted to go this trip but with the new baby I think it is too risky!

Oh, and to end our dinner I ordered a press pot of coffee (my drink on the DDP since I had water during dinner) and they brought out homemade macaroons to go with it - SO GOOD!!

I also appreciate your review of Cape May, we are heading there for dinner in just over 3 weeks and I was a little concerned about whether or not it would be good. We have our ADR right when they open so I hope the food is fresh and the lines not too bad at that time.

My brother's favorite TS ended up being Tusker House, which totally shocked me. But after your review and the review on Allears, we are definitely going to have to give it a try soon!

Thanks so much for sharing, I really enjoyed reading the reviews!

If you go out the 'front door' of Pecos Bills, there are several Frontierland kiosks across the way. One of them has corn dogs for sale. You can also get a corn dog on the Boardwalk.

We were there at Cape May at opening and I think that's what the problem was (first of all, we were a party of 25, so that's part of it too). EVERYONE was trying to get their food all at the same time .Versus if you come at say, 6:30, some people are still eating at their table, some already ate and are almost done, some are getting dessert, etc. Getting there at 5:30 means everyone wants their food at the same time. However, all the food was super fresh, and I did notice a CM trying to organize the lines about 20 minutes into our dinner.

Don't worry about a baby at Narcoossee's! I would say at least 1/3 of the tables had children of varying ages. My kids were very well behaved (thank goodness) because they had the coloring, there is Bay Lake to look at, and the MK/Contemporary, boats and they keep the meal paced at a good clip.

[LuvMyBoys]

If you go out the 'front door' of Pecos Bills, there are several Frontierland kiosks across the way. One of them has corn dogs for sale. You can also get a corn dog on the Boardwalk.

We were there at Cape May at opening and I think that's what the problem was (first of all, we were a party of 25, so that's part of it too). EVERYONE was trying to get their food all at the same time .Versus if you come at say, 6:30, some people are still eating at their table, some already ate and are almost done, some are getting dessert, etc. Getting there at 5:30 means everyone wants their food at the same time. However, all the food was super fresh, and I did notice a CM trying to organize the lines about 20 minutes into our dinner.

Don't worry about a baby at Narcoossee's! I would say at least 1/3 of the tables had children of varying ages. My kids were very well behaved (thank goodness) because they had the coloring, there is Bay Lake to look at, and the MK/Contemporary, boats and they keep the meal paced at a good clip.

Thanks Robin, my son will appreciate the info in his quest for a corndog!

[shmily1]

First and probably most important concerning food, I had heard that Handy Manny was to be at H & V starting on May 9th so I booked that for breakfast so that DGS9months could see him. He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny!! On May 11, we went to H & V for breakfast at 8:10, which is a great time to go since there is hardly anyone there and you can walk right down the middle of DHS without many people being there (like us and two others!) and it's an awesome feeling! We got to DHS about 7:50, got through security, and was at H & V about 8:00. We were seated less than 5 minutes later. The service at H & V was great! Our server was Charlie and he was very attentive. The food was the normal breakfast food with chorizo and eggs added in and everyone in our group thought the food was great. We all left stuffed and ready for a big day of watching Playhouse Disney over and over and over!! (You'll do anything for a grandchild!)

Back to the characters. First we saw JoJo. DGS wasn't sure about him but he interacted with him anyway. Then Leo came over. He was warming up by this time and was ok with him. Then June came over... he was terrified of her. He didn't look like it to her face but would turn and look at us like he was about to mess up his britches!! This was all before we ever got a plate! We got our food and sat back down and Handy Manny came over. He loved him!!! By this time, it was time for the singing and dancing so we took DGS over to that area and wouldn't you know it, they sang the Hot Dog song!! DGS was just beside himself! The characters came back around again--he was still terrified of June!-- and we stayed for one more round of the singing and dancing. We were out of H & V by 9:05 and were off to TSM. I would definitely do this again and again! Well, maybe I would hide him in the bathroom when June came by next time!

The other thing I wanted to tell you was that when we ate at Pinnochio Village House, there was an added menu item that wasn't on the menu but on a piece of paper on the cash register. It was chicken parmegian with orzo. I'm a fool for some rice so of course I had to try it! It was awesome!! I would highly recommend it! I forgot to take pictures of it or I'd post them but it was a plate full and was great tasting.

Here's a pic of Manny with DD and DGS.

[Alice28]

Thanks for your reviews, Robin. I have to agree with you about Garden Grill (except the thing was not "brokie" when we went, lol!).

Question about The Mara since we are staying at AKL in January... did you use CS credits? Did you get a side & dessert with the flatbread? I am trying to figure out if 4 can share 2 CS credits for lunch here one day since we have an early dinner.

I also concur about Crystal Palace dinner and also the Grand Marnier slush! I'll have to check out the Huckleberry Martini next trip

I should have elaborated on our Mara experience- this was a couple nights before we left, and we started with 55 snack credits, of which we had used maybe 15-20 by this night. So I think I used 4 of them to get 2 bags of chips and 2 bananas. There were sides offered with the shrimp- I was frazzled as I was by myself with the 3 kids (DH had gone home and Mom and Dad were eating somewhere else)- I took the fries, but I'm sure there were other choices. No sides offered with the pizza. You DO get the dessert with the flatbread though as a CS offering. So basically my kids got 2 drinks, 2 flatbreads (to share between the 3 of them), 2 ice cream bars and I got 1 drink, shrimp platter and ice cream bar, for 3 counter service credits. Clear as mud?