October Trip dining reviews!

[BriarRose0708]

I haven't had time to write our complete trip report yet, but thought I'd share our dining experiences, since it's pretty much my favorite topic and we had such awesome meals!

I was traveling with my boyfriend and his two children ages 9 and 7. It was their first trip. We were not on a dining plan.

Rainforest Cafe - Downtown Disney location
We weren't sure what time we'd be getting to DTD so we made no reservations and walked up to Rainforest. It was about a 20 minute wait so we went to look around Goofy's Candy Co. and the Rainforest Gift Shop. I received a text pretty much exactly 20 minutes later and we were seated at a table under the sky in the middle of the dining area. We had very good service, attentive and very friendly. I ordered Pita Quesadillas, boyfriend had the Cobb salad, Kid 1 had cheese pizza with mashed potatoes and Kid 2 had a hamburger and mashed potatoes. The potatoes were real and very good (their dad and I helped them finish them ) My quesadillas were very good, and boyfriend enjoyed his salad a lot. We both ordered appetizers for our main entrees and I liked that I could finish my meal without being uncomfortable. Since we were celebrating Kid 1's 9th birthday this trip, we ordered the Chocolate Volcano for dessert and the staff came to the table to sing Happy Birthday. This dessert is awesome - brownie cake slices with vanilla ice cream in the middle and whipped cream! We enjoyed dinner here a lot, loved the atmosphere and it was a great way to start our trip.

'Ohana breakfast
We booked this specifically because it was Kid 1's birthday and she LOVES Lilo & Stitch. We checked in at the podium and were given our pager. We waited maybe less than 10 minutes and were greeted by a CM who had a birthday card for Kid 1 signed by all the characters! She was so excited! I had noted her birthday on the reservation and made sure to mention it at check in. We got our sweet bread and were lead to the table, which had a nice view of Cinderella Castle. We were then brought coffee, THE JUICE, and fresh fruit to munch on while waiting for our skillet. The hot food appeared shortly and we dug in. The food was delicious, hot, and seasoned very well. I loved the potatoes! The bacon, though, was nowhere near crisp, I should have asked for another batch but didn't get around to it. The servers brought around Mickey and Stitch waffles every so often. I thought they brought a basket of the waffles and left them on the table? We ate them up and asked for more a couple times.

The kids had a great time participating in the parade and they shook those maracas! Our character interaction was very good here too. We met Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and of course, Stitch! We got some great pictures and they signed each of the kids' autograph books. Photopass people were there with Stitch only and we have a nice one of the four of us with him. Our server brought Kid 1 a cupcake and we sang happy birthday to her. She was so happy and proclaimed "This place is great! I'm definitely bringing my kids here when they have their birthdays." And she hadn't even been inside a park yet!

Friar's Nook
We got lunch here because I was hungry and the kids only wanted a little snack. Plus they are two of the pickiest kids around so the hot dogs at Friars Nook was all they wanted to eat. We ordered 2 plain hot dogs and one mac & cheese hot dog, chips came with all the dogs and we got a lemonade slush to share. This place was the only disappointment the whole trip. Bland, bland, bland. I mean, I understand it's hot dogs but gee could they find a brand to serve that actually tastes like something? Even the mac & cheese on top of mine had almost no flavor. Oh well, we'll know for next time to avoid this spot.

Ice Cream Cart
We stopped at a random ice cream cart on Main St. USA. Boyfriend & I had Mickey Bars, Kid 1 had a Mickey ice cream sandwich, and Kid 2 had a strawberry fruit Popsicle. All were tasty!

Old Port Royale - a few times
We had dinner at the resort after a long park day. Boyfriend and I split a turkey dinner - slices of carved roast turkey, 2 sides (I chose mashed potatoes and vegetables), gravy, and corn bread. This was delicious. The turkey was very juicy and was carved when I ordered it. Potatoes were ok, the gravy helped with flavor and the veggies were just your run-of-the-mill cafeteria vegetables. The corn bread was very yummy! Kid 1 had linguine and meatballs, which she ate a few bites of before being over it (she only likes thin spaghetti and didn't like the taste of the pre-made meatballs. Picky!) and Kid 2 had a hamburger meal with grapes and a cookie. He ate all his and left the bucket it came in on the table for someone else to use. We didn't want to keep it and then have to take it home where we don't have a use for it.

We got pastries from the Grab & Go section one morning for breakfast. A cinnamon roll, chocolate croissant and a plain croissant. All fresh and really tasty, I should have gotten a second cinnamon roll. I also grabbed a refillable mug for our pool day (and also because I wanted the purple one to add to my collection!) and a couple bottles of juice.

We had lunch here on our pool day. Kid 1 had a chicken nugget and fries meal and Kid 2 had a pb&j (really an Uncrustable) with grapes and a cookie. Kid 1 liked her chicken but it was too big a portion for her so we ate her fries. Boyfriend and I split a sriracha pulled pork sandwich served with home made jerk seasoned chips. It was all very yummy and the spice levels were very good!

I really liked the ambiance in Old Port Royale. It was smaller than the Pop food court that I'm used to but it was never busy and we were there at some peak meal times. Our food was always very good.

To be continued...

[BriarRose0708]

Part 2...

Pinocchio Village Haus
One of my favorites. We had a great lunch here. Both kids got pizzas, one cheese and one pepperoni, with grapes and yogurt on the side. Boyfriend had the tomato and mozzarella flat bread and I got the bbq beef flat bread. All this food cost the same as our hotdogs from the day before and we all agreed this was a much better bang for our buck! The bbq beef was seasoned so well and had a lot of flavor and boyfriend really liked the balsamic glaze on his flat bread. We barely left any food when we were done. We didn't get to sit by the Small World windows but were able to get a table in the center section right after ordering. It was about 11:30 so the place wasn't too crowded yet.

Aloha Aisle
Dole Whip stop! Boyfriend had never had one before and it was HOT that afternoon. We each had a pineapple soft serve in a cup and Kid 2 had a vanilla soft serve cup. Kid 1 was being her usual picky self and didn't want anything. Her loss! Our treats were cool and refreshing and a great way to take a break!

The Plaza Restaurant
This was dinner for us on our last night in the park. We were a couple minutes late for our 5:10 ADR and we weren't seated until after 5:30! I usually don't think this is a big deal when I'm traveling solo or with a group of adults, but when there are 2 hungry/tired/hangry kids that's a whole different scenario. When we did get our table we were seated in the bay window just inside the door. It was so nice and cold in the restaurant, I couldn't believe how hot it was this day. We ordered drinks and took a minute to look over the menu. Kid 1, to our amazement, was thrilled with her choices and ordered a grilled cheese and fries. Kid 2 got a pb&j with fries, he got a kick out of the goldfish bread his sandwich came on! Boyfriend ordered the beef brisket burger with fries and I got a bacon cheeseburger with sauteed onion and mushrooms with broccoli slaw on the side. Service here was great. David made sure we always had refills and even got Kid 1 another grilled cheese sandwich (it was the most she'd eaten all week so when she asked for another one we were shocked). Our food was excellent! We enjoyed our sandwiches and I was glad I got the slaw instead of fries. It was refreshing and not too heavy so I had room for dessert. The kids got Mickeylodean sundaes and boyfriend & I shared a hot fudge sundae made with Cookies and Cream ice cream. We were so full and satisfied after our meal, and we were never rushed to get out the door. I will definitely eat here again.

The Wave - solo(ish) dinner
Boyfriend and the kids stayed back at the resort and ordered pizza to eat in the room while packing for our flight the next day. That's all well and good for them, but I didn't travel to Florida just to order Papa John's so I joined some friends who were also in WDW last week for dinner at The Wave. This was my first time dining here and I was excited to try it.

We were seated quickly and the dining room was barely half full at 6:30 p.m. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing but I had heard this restaurant can be pretty polarizing. I was keeping an open mind and a positive attitude though. I ordered a glass of pino grigio and we split the charcuterie plate for an appetizer. We had to guess the cheeses and meats but the menu lists "American-crafted Cheeses, Country-style Pate, and Artisan Cured Meats" so I have no idea what we actually ate.

I ordered the Thompson Farms Naturally Raised Pork Tenderloin that came with goat cheese and sage polenta and apple chutney. I will admit, I got this for the polenta. It's my favorite side dish and I don't make it at home so I get it where I can. So with that in mind, overall this dish was greater than the sum of its parts. Individually, the pork was over seasoned and in my opinion very salty (but it's pork, so I understand that it happens), the polenta was good but I was expecting a stronger cheese flavor, and the apple chutney was just soft apples. Although, when eaten together with a piece of pork, some polenta and a piece of apple the flavors worked so well. It was still a bit too salty but not so overwhelming with the sweet-tart apple and creamy polenta. There was also some sauteed swiss chard in there which added some bitterness to also cut the salt. We skipped dessert but I was too full anyway. I will come back again sans kids and probably try something different like the sustainable fish of the day instead. Over all it was very enjoyable and I'm glad I went.

Goofy's Candy Co.
On the way back to Caribbean Beach after dinner I stopped at DTD for some secret present shopping for Boyfriend and got a couple treats at Goofy's as well. I did a create your own gingerbread cookie dipped in milk chocolate, covered in pecans, and drizzled with dark chocolate. This was soooo good! I ate it Friday night after getting home and the cookie was still soft. I got Boyfriend a Mickey head rice treat dipped in chocolate with sprinkes. He liked this a lot and commented that there was much more marshmallow than he thought there would be, which is a good thing I guess!

So there we have it! All in all, some very satisfying meals and very few disappointments. Thanks for reading!

[NJGIRL]

Nice Reviews....We eat at the Plaza every trip, but have to admit that it gets much more crowded now than it did years ago. It's no longer a "hidden gem".

I have to agree on the flatbreads at Pinocchio's...they are surprisingly good.

[RedSoxFan]

Great reviews and I love the Plaza. Inexpensive and you get a great meal and ice cream.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

mmm...my mouth is watering

[PirateLover]

Cheese pizza and mashed potatoes? What an odd combo!

I love The Plaza. I had the grilled cheese and tomato soup on a rainy day there once, and it was mmm mmm good!

[BriarRose0708]

Cheese pizza and mashed potatoes? What an odd combo!

Yep. They have very odd eating habits. Sigh.