[Princessbaby]

Sounds so wonderful!! Can't wait to read more!!!!

[tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by jo-jo

I think I should turn 50 every year at Disney. It was maybe the best birthday ever. Aside from the extra extra special things, just having dozens of people say happy birthday was wonderful.

after reading this again I thought .. Turning 50 every year would be a good thing if you could do it at Disney .. Did anyone mention that you and Disney were celebrating the same age?

[tiptonsara]

Sounds like a perfect birthday. Enjoying the TR!

[BDavis932]

What a heart warming trip report! I couldn't help but smile the whole way through it! Can't wait for more!! And to chime in with Tink, how about some pictures???!!!!!

[missy H]

what a great way to spend your birthday! Love your report!

[jo-jo]

Originally Posted by tinkerbell

after reading this again I thought .. Turning 50 every year would be a good thing if you could do it at Disney .. Did anyone mention that you and Disney were celebrating the same age?

I did to Goofy, got an extra kiss.

About pictures, we have a few. Didn't take as many as I thought. Sometimes I get so caught up in getting the picture, I lose the moment, if that makes sense. But since it's a new ditigal camera, of course I have no idea how to upload, download, whatever you do to get the pictures into the computer.

[lovemysons]

Jo Jo, it sounds wonderful! I was on the constant look out for you, but alas, our paths did not cross. Or maybe they did, and we didn't know it! Can't wait to read more!

[jo-jo]

Well, Iike I said, I had the first two days now here are the lists. Even with this I may need to edit them as I think of more details.



Restaurants

concourse steak house : We ate here twice. I already written about the first visit. The second was with our son for dinner. He had gotten to Disney about 2:00 and we shared a pizza for lunch at POP, so at dinner time I wasn't really hungry. My first thought was just to get some soup, but I thought I'll get a steak and doggie bag if I didn't finish. I should have gone with my first thought. The steak (NY strip) was good, but I don't think I had more than 6 bites. It wasn't enjoyable since I wasn't hungry. My son enjoyed it though, after his enjoyed his own steak. Well, he had his protein for the week just in that one meal! After the meal was over, I remembered about sharing meals. I should have had the soup and maybe a bit of my DH's food. Oh well, next time I'll remember.....maybe. My DH had order his steaks medium. First meal was fine, second time a bit too red.

le celliar : I also wrote about this, but just a recap. Cheese soup really good. Liked that it was served hot, not lukewarm. I think I had the NY strip but had mashed potatoes instead of roasted potatoes. Very good. Enjoyed the pretzel bread and the multigrain bread, not sure what the third bread was. It was good, but I really liked the other two.
The table we sat at was very close to the next table. You wouldn't had been able to walk between the tables. The people next to us were "quiet" people, if they were a couple with lots of loud laughing or arguing, that could have ruined our meal we were so close. Not that we expect a restaurant to be as quiet as a church, but sometimes people can get "over the top" loud.

Hollywood and Vine : Very busy. Felt sorry for the servers who had to come outside and yell people's names. This was about 5:00. People all over the place, kids running around, servers walking back and forth calling people, people checking in. Just didn't seem very organized. When we checked in, the CM asked if we were on the Fantasmic dinner package, I said "no," she said "well, we will give you a pass." We didn't get seated until about 5:30. Our server came over and explain about having to be at Oscars at 6:25, but we decided we weren't going to hurry our dinner. So we ate. My DH thought it was good. I thought it was so-so. I think the menu sounded better than it was. It was also noisy. We decided it wasn't a bad restaurant, but we wouldn't choose to eat there again. About 6:15 the restaurant suddenly emptied out, guess everyone was leaving for the show. We lingered a bit longer over dessert (very,very good dessert, left about 6:30 or so and wandered down to Oscars. We felt if we got, we got in, we wouldn't be upset if we didn't get to see Fantasmic. But we did get in and sat down at 6:45. (funny side note, a little kid about 6 had a three foot long rubber snake telling everybody and I mean EVERYBODY how he killed the snake, a few days later the belt from my bathroom was on our bed and my DH starts telling me how he found a pink snake and killed it for me. OK not so funny, but does it qualify for cute?)

Garden Grill : We had a 12:10 ADR. Checked in a bit early and asked to be seated on the lower lever. Waited maybe 15 min. While waiting, notice the big problem with the land building and wheelchairs and such. There would be a line of ten or so people waiting to use the elevator. I know more people may be using those scooter things, but what, when the "land" was built did they think only people who could walk would come into the building? Maybe when they did the building for Soaring, they should have added another elevator. OK, back to the meal. So we had a server name Katrina. Slightly weird. We had seen on Allearsnet that there was pork with apple stuff and my DH is allergic to apples. So we mentioned it. She seemed bothered by it and when to check. She came back with the bread and butter. Hmmm, nice warm bread...sweet butter.........oh, excuse me, let me wipe my chin and continue.....we eat the bread and sit and sit, seemed like a long time. She came back with a plate of food. Kindof just plopped it down. We saw red stuff, thought it was cherries (allergic too) and paniced, but she said it was cranberries. The food was good, but the "steak" was cold, not room temp, cold. It was like they sliced it cold and just put hot gravy on top. The turkey (at least I think it was turkey, maybe it was pork) was fine and my DH ate all the catfish. The potatoes were very good as were the green beans. We did ask for a second plate of food. I think the second serving was slightly smaller than the first which was fine, as I was getting rather full. The dessert plate was very nice. It was a tiny slice of pecan pie, a bit of lemon tart, a normal size brownie with whipped cream on top, and a small piece of cheese cake. When I heard what the dessert was, I asked for coffee. (There are just some things that coffee goes with well). So Katrina came back with the dessert plate and we waited and waited for the coffee. I made my DH to stop eating because I wanted my coffee to drink WITH my dessert not after. So the coffee finally made it.

Now I mentioned Katrina was weird, aside from not being prompt with the food and drinks, at one point she plopped down and I do mean plopped next to me. I had to grab my backpack out of the way, glad I didn't have a glass Christmas ball in it. And then she proceeds to tell us how tired she is. She had helped her mom move. Her mom's rent had been raised so she needed to move. In the past 5 yrs her rent has gone from whatever to whatever, can you believe that, and she goes on and on. We are trying to be nice, but thinking "we are at trying to have a meal here." So she gets up. My DH said he saw her sit down at the table next to us. My DD said servers try to seem more personal to get better tips. I think I'm paying for a service, not to make new friends. We would eat at Garden Grill again based on the food, not on the service.

By the way, maybe because we were two adults, the character interaction was limited. Pluto stopped by to kiss my hand, Chip or Dale walked by and waved, but when Mickey and a chipmunk came by I jumped up to get a picture. That was it. I hope they spent more time with kids.


To be continued.........be here next time for the exciting conclusion of restaurants of the world.....will there be hooten and hollering, can't wait for hip wiggling, people making funny faces, yes, yes and more......stay tuned........

[jo-jo]

Originally Posted by lovemysons

Jo Jo, it sounds wonderful! I was on the constant look out for you, but alas, our paths did not cross. Or maybe they did, and we didn't know it! Can't wait to read more!

I wore my tiara the whole two weeks hoping to find you. Maybe I should have had my DH wear the tiara, that you would have noticed.

[lovemysons]

Originally Posted by jo-jo

I wore my tiara the whole two weeks hoping to find you. Maybe I should have had my DH wear the tiara, that you would have noticed.

Now that would have been a sight!

[jo-jo]

Restaurants pt 2.


Whispering Canyon : We had a 2:10 ADR. We left MK early not knowing exactly where the restaurant was. Took the boat over and then walked and walked. Got to the Wilderness Lodge and still wasn't sure where the restaurant, so we just kept walking. Of course we did find it, but I don't think it was very well marked. The restaurant wasn't as large as I thought it would be. When we checked in I mentioned that we would mind sitting in a more subdued area. We sat in the lobby for about 20 min. I thought my DH was going to fall asleep in one of those big chairs.

Our server "mustang sally" was very nice. I had on my tiara so I got a curtsy or two. But the "act" on the whole was toned down. We only had three straws throw at us. Some tables of two got a dozen straws thrown at them. We were called darling several times, but pretty much left to eat. One women was having her birthday there and she had to gallop around the room singing. I told my DH if someone said that to me I would probably get up, leave and cry. Sally was right on the ball, but the runners were a little off. When we got our food, Sally came back a few min later and said let me get you the cole slaw, butter, BBQ sauce and I think something else. I guess the runners forgot them. Then when we ask for another platter (we had the all you can eat thing), the runners took everything away. Plates, utensils, did leave us our napkins. Then a different runner brings out a new pan of food, but nothing else. Because of the restaurant, we weren't sure if this was part of the show. But we did ask for more plates and such. The runner asked us why the other guy took all the stuff. How were we to know? One thing I really liked was Sally asked if we wanted the whole new platter. We said we had had enough cole slaw and corn, but wanted the rest. I hate to have had food show up and then been wasted. Because the all you can eat pans were so cheap we felt like we should order something else, so Fred and I shared a piece of cake. Glad we decided to share. It was huge. Afterward I talked to the manager to tell him how much we enjoyed the food (I couldn't believe how good the chicken was) and how great our server was. We would definitely eat there again.


Germany: We had 5:25 ADR. Got there about 5:15, but because the line for checkin was so long we didn't check in until 5:35. The line was so long we weren't sure if it was the right line. But once we checked in we only waited about 10 min to get in. We were eating with our DD, DSIL and DGD. Our GD had fallen asleep but we brought her in and she woke up in a few min. We sat with a very nice group of three people. Very pleasent Florida folk. Talked about grandkids, that sort of stuff. Food on the whole was good. Some things I didn't care for, but that could just be me. My DGD decided I was her favorite that night. She wouldn't let go of my arm and wanted nothing to do with the baby food her father was trying to feed her. She thought my chicken was much better. So I ended up feeding her and everyone else took advantage to chow down. My DD and DSIL were going to Mickey's Christmas party, so they left with the baby and then I sat and ate more. The other group also left. The baby enjoyed the music and was happy just looking all around. The show was good. And it wasn't overly loud. There's loud and then there is ridiculous. We would eat there again.


For these last two meals it was my DH, DS, DD, DSIL, DGD and me.

Ohana: We had 5:40 ADR. Took the monorail from Epcot and thought we would walk over. We didn't know the walk was so long. Maybe it wouldn't have seemed so long if it wasn't raining. We check in and wait just a few min. We were seated in the main dining room right by the main walkway. As we past the hostess, the singing person, what do you call her???? anyway, she noticed my simple but tasteful tiara and asked about it. I told her this was my birthday trip but my birthday was last week. She gave me a lai. So we were seated. The chef came by to check with my DH about allergies. (Before the trip I had called to ask what to do about this and was told a chef would come over at ever meal to do this, Ohana was the only place to do this). He brought over a green salad and the pork didn't have the glaze on it. Again my DGD thought I was more fun and food. Even though I have had never eaten at Ohana before, I missed not having the wontons and fried rice. The wonton chips were ok, but nothing special. The potatoes were very good. Not much of veggie person myself, but others liked them. Didn't care for the turkey (even though my DH thought I would) or the sausage. Steak was very good. Don't remember the pork, I did have some. Because of my picky son we had asked for a bowl of mac and cheese. He liked them as did my DGD. Wings were good. I don't like shrimp but we went thru two bowls of them. Very glad they had the warm towels to wipe fingers on. The dessert was very good. My DS asked if we could have just more ice cream. The server brought three bowls, each having two scoops of ice cream.

The entertainment was fun. The other kids (those older that a year or so) had a coconut race. And a hula lesson. There were a few newlyweds noted and a few 20 something anniversaries. I got to stand with a bunch of little kids for my birthday. And I got another lai, yes , another thing for the baby to play with.

The only complaint I would have is that with all the food in separate dishes, the table gets very, very full. But we would eat there again.


Are you still with me??? Wake up, only one more table service.


Corel Reef : 2:00 ADR. Got there early, but only waited about 20 after asking for seating on the lower level. We had the last booth. Baby liked the fish. watching fish that is. DH, DD and DSIL order the chef's special thing. I think it was 19 something, for set soup, entree and cheesecake meal. The had lobster soup, a shrimp stirfry over mashed potatoes and the cheesecake. My DS and I had steak and a Caesar salad. So we all enjoyed the appetizers and then the baby started getting fussy.


WARNING...WARNING..TALKING ABOUT BABY PROBLEMS.. WARNING..WARNING


The reason she was so fussy was she needed a diaper change. In fact she needed a new diaper, a new oneis, a new pair of pants, she had gone thru everything. And of course she didn't want to stay still. I had to hold her down while my DD did the cleaning. My DD didn't have any plastic bags with her, but the women cleaning the bathroom saw our problem and gave us a trash bag to put the stinky clothes in. When I saw that the changing would take more than a min, I went back to ask the server to hold our food. It had just arrived. So it was taken back. Ten min. later we return with a clean baby. The men were almost done their entrees.


You may now return.......


My steak was really good. In fact I think it was better than the concourse steak house. They say you should order food that is the restaurant strong point, but this steak was really really good. I didn't have dessert, the others had the cheese cake. It was eggnog flavor and it was a small mound with a tiny candycane on top. My DS had the chocolate wave. Looked very good. He ate it too fast to share. The only thing I would change is I had a Caesar salad that cost 6 bucks. I think for the money, I would have skipped the salad and gone with the chocolate wave which I think was 7 bucks. Some things are so simple to make why order them out. The dessert had more WOW power than the salad. We would eat here again.



Next time.........counter service.......or how to eat a thousand calories without really trying.

[tinkerbell]

hmmm well I still am in no hurry to try the ones I haven't. I am sorry you were disappointed with H&V .. we love it ..loved it more when they had a character meal..but still we enjoy the food and service there .. I can not wait till the counter review!!!

[jo-jo]

Originally Posted by tinkerbell

hmmm well I still am in no hurry to try the ones I haven't. I am sorry you were disappointed with H&V .. we love it ..loved it more when they had a character meal..but still we enjoy the food and service there .. I can not wait till the counter review!!!

H & V wasn't awful. I just think if we had to choose between four places for about the same cost, H&V would be at the bottom. This was the only time we have tried it. Maybe on a different day we would have loved it.

[tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by jo-jo

Maybe on a different day we would have loved it.

good point ..we almost did not return to the Garden Grill after one bad dinner .. even though we had always had great times there. One day, it was off ..thank goodness we did give it another try ..(oh and I am sorry the characters were not as inter-active with you there since we have always experienced the best character interaction) it is still on our must do list ..
I remember almost eating in Germany ..but people that came out advised us that we might not like it ..so we have never tried there still.
I wonder now .. are we just so sit in our ways when it comes to eating at WDW ... oh and about your comment on a different day ..one bad experience at the castle for lunch has prevented us from ever returning there .. it was not the food ..but the service. Seems that is always where we end up making our decisions ..food can be wonderful but when we are at WDW we expect better then average service and if we feel we didnt get it .. I guess we get snobbish about it.

[jo-jo]

We didn't eat at germany for many trips. We tried it again this trip only because we "lost" Norway. We think we love germany a whole lot more than in the past. I don't know if they changed or did we.