1900 PF, Chef Mick, H&V, Le Cellier & Ohanas

[Punkin's Mom]

Hi there! I'm too intimidated to write a trip report, so I thought I'd try my hand at a dining review over here where you all are more patient with writers like me.

So on to the introductions:

Amy (me), 35: Uber-planner, reader of all things Disney, addicted to the Dis boards and TGM.

Kate, 5: My sweet baby girl. Rider of all rides she tall enough to get on. Quiet and reserved, but took everything in. Loves characters.

Mary, 33: My sister. Partner in (Disney) crime. We can instantly be transformed into giggling children as soon as we pass through the turnstyles. Oh, and the FAVORITE aunt.

Ed, 34: Mary's husband. Grew up in Miami, so has lots of childhood memories. We spent a lot of quality time together b/c Kate usually prefered Mary over me!

We were on the dining plan, but I didn't keep up with how much everything would have cost out of pocket. I'm pretty sure we got our money's worth, though. Let me throw in here that I really like having a sit down meal every day. I know a lot of people disagree with me, but I love having a time to sit down, be served, and relax a little. I find it a great way to recharge. For some reason, at counter service places I always have this little nagging thought in the back of my mind saying "there's a lot of fun stuff going on out there and you're not a part of it!!!" At table service places I don't have that problem. Go figure.

We arrived December 11th (a Monday) around 12:00 and was checked in at POFQ by about 2:30. Our first night called for dinner at 1900 Park Fare then on to Epcot via the monorail. I surprised Kate with a Cinderella dress (1/2 price after Halloween at the Disney Store) for her to wear to eat with Cinderella. She was beautiful and glittery!

1900 Park Fare: We arrived at the Grand Floridian in time to take in the decorations and see the gingerbread house. By far the best decorations of any of the resorts we visited. Our ADR was for 5:30 so it wasn't too crowded when we got there and were seated pretty quickly. We had just enough time to meet Fairy Godmother. My overall impression: I was a little underwhelmed. The atmosphere and decor were disappointing compared with the grandeur of the hotel. The food was pretty good but not all that memorable. I would say it was about on par with other buffets but nothing special. At the table we met Suzy and Perla, Cinderella and Prince Charming. S&P were great - they came by several times. One time Suzy pretended to be sewing Kate's Cinderella dress. Kate loved it. Cinderella was also very nice. Kate was pretty quiet so she didn't spend too much time with us, but Kate loved her. Prince Charming ticked me off a little. He said she was the 9th little girl dressed up like Cinderella that night. I thought that he was completely out of character by saying that. I expected a bow and something that made her feel special. I'm sure Kate didn't think anything of it, but I didn't like it. Anyway, we left the GF for Epcot and had a great time Soarin' and talking to turtles and finding Nemo.

Grade: B-

Next up: Chef Mickey's

Thanks for reading!

 

[dixiedizfan]

Great review; look forward to the rest!

 

[Punkin's Mom]

On to day two, our first full day - December 12th. Our plan for that day was to sleep in, have a late breakfast at Chef Mickey's, then spend the rest of the day at the Magic Kingdom and attend the Christmas party that night.

Chef Mickey's: Our ADR was for 11:20. We were seated within about 10 minutes of arrival. This was our first time there and I had read so many varying opinions of the place that I had no idea what we were in for. My overall impression? LOVED IT! It wasn't super crowded because of the off time so the volume level was fine. We sat right behind the hostess desk, which I really liked because even though it's a huge place, I felt like our little section was pretty cozy - plus we could see the monorail. The characters were awesome. We saw Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald. We saw most of the more than once. The second time Goofy came around he stretched and yawned so I invited him to take a nap in our booth. Kate thought this was hilarious. She tends to be pretty shy and quiet around the characters so it's great when they really make an effort to do more than just sign and take pictures. He laid down across from us and put a napkin over his face. Later Pluto came by and poured Kate some coffee and gave her some food from another table. Again she thought this was hilarious! Now the food: it was really great. This was our first breakfast buffet so it was all new to us. We loved everything we tried - there was a delicious egg casserole, of course Mickey waffles, banana pudding (yum yum) and all the normal breakfast stuff. Kate loved eating chocolate pudding for breakfast. By the time we were done, the place was almost empty. We took a couple of our own pictures in front of the huge plate (I wasn't about to buy one!) and headed out. It was great to be able to walk to and from the Contemporary. We will definately do this one again.

Grade: A!

 

[blue_eyes5212]

I loved Chef Mickey's also!! We went there for the first time on our recent trip and it was great!! Now a must do for us!! I really liked the vegetable lasagna (I think that is what it was called)! I twirled my napkin with the rest of 'em!!

 

[Punkin's Mom]

I twirled my napkin with the rest of 'em!!

Oh yea - even my reserved child was twirling like a pro! If I wasn't so technologically challenged, I'd post a pic. My family says calls me Amish because of it.

Anyway, let's move on to day three - December 13th. We had stayed at MK until midnight the night before for MVMCP. Kate hung on 'til the end - we watched the 11:40 Celebrate the Season and she fell asleep in the stroller walking down mainstreet. Anyway, I digress. Suffice it say we were bushed, but being the uber-planner that I am, I made sure we didn't have to be anywhere early the next day.

Hollywood and Vine: We had 11:55 ADRs that morning, but we got there a little after 11:30 hoping to be seated early. They weren't seating anyone at the time - changing over from breakfast to lunch - but we were the first ones called at 11:45 when lunch started. I had read so many differing reviews that I really had no idea what to expect from this place. My overall impression? LOVED IT!! The place was practically empty we we sat down and we met June, Jojo, and Goliath almost instantly. Leo was on the other side but we didn't have to wait too long to see him. In fact Jojo and June came by a couple of times. The interaction was really good. One time June spent several minutes dancing with Kate - she was thrilled! She even participated in the singing and dancing they do every 15 mintues or so. (I think the parents know the songs better than the kids do!) We sat on the left side of the restaurant and I liked our location a lot. We were in the smaller part of the restaurant and not out in the middle of the room - and being close to the food isn't bad either. Speaking of the food, we all really enjoyed it. I had a little of everything - caesar salad, peanut chicken kabobs, green beans (to offset the guilt a little), corn spoon bread, even a little of the mac and cheese. It was all really good. The dessert table was good too, but I'm a total sucker for soft serve ice cream and it was good. Our server was incredibly nice and attentive, too. I will definately do this one again, especially if that add Handy Manny to the line up.

Grade: A!

next up: Le Cellier

 

[momofdbsdc]

Great reviews!!!

 

[Lexxiefern]

Loved your reviews! We are trying H&V for breakfast in a couple weeks, so I'm glad to read a good review of it.

 

[Punkin's Mom]

Thanks a lot! Glad you're enjoying my musings. Lexxiefern, I hope you like H&V - if you have small kids, I think they'll love it.

On to day four, December 14th, which was our day at Epcot. The plan called for a prompt 8:45 arrival. We had decided that this would be "double day". Ride Soarin' twice, Nemo twice, figment twice - you get the idea! Stopped for an early lunch at Sunshine Seasons in the land. I'm not really reviewing CS spots, but I'll mention that it was really nice to have choices besides hamburgers. I got a sandwich that was pretty good. I wish I had tried the chinese though - Mary got it and it looked really good. Anywho, after Test Track (only once), Mission Space (orange and green), character connection, Chinese acrobats, Maelstrom (sans fastpass), and El Rio del Tiempo (dang, we did a lot!) it was time to head over to Canada and...

Le Cellier: We had 4:00 ADRs and were seated in about 5 or 10 minutes. (I'll mention here that off peak dining seriously ROCKS! Much lighter crowds, hardly any waits, better character interaction.) We were on the Candlelight Processional package for the 6:45 show which dictated that we eat this early, but it was fine with us. My first impression - it's a lot nicer than I expected. Our waitress was super nice and attentive. Ok, here's my problem. I'm from Texas and we have some dang good steak places here. As long as I'm willing to plunk down $100, I can get a world-class steak dinner any day of the week. Compared to that, Le Cellier doesn't messure up. Not saying it was bad - it wasn't. The food was really good. The breadsticks are really tasty. The cheese soup was "oh my gosh!" good. The steak was way better than average, but that's my problem - I'm used to out of this world. And it was firmly planted in this world. I had the filet but asked them not to put the maple bbq sauce on and instead give me a side of hollandaise sauce. I thought the hollandaise tasted a little pre-prepared, but I could be wrong. Now I'm going to get seriously nit-picky: 1) a good steak place should always be able to prepare steak in between doneness, like medium plus. I like pink but not red. She said they couldn't so I ordered medium. It turned out fine, but that shouldn't have been a problem. 2) In a good steak place the server should always ask you to cut into your steaks when they arrive to make sure they're done to your liking. Didn't happen. Now I know these are really nit-picky. I just thought I'd throw that out there for those who are into details like I am. I honestly can't remember what we had for dessert, but I'm sure it was tasty.

One more note: Kate got a little restless at the meal. It was first of the trip without characters and the restaurant is very adult oriented. She's a calm kid so it wasn't too bad, but I can imagine that if you have a really energetic kid it could be a very looooooong meal.

Grade: B+

next up: Ohanas for our last night **sniff, sniff**

 

[Punkin's Mom]

Our last meal of the trip was at Ohanas and I was super excited about it. The plan for that day was to get to MK at opening and finish up what we didn't do on Tuesday. It was a Friday and the MVMCP was sold out that night. It was starting to get pretty crowded so we left around 4:00 for our 5:10 ADR. We took the boat from MK to the Poly which was very pleasent. That is until Kate tripped on the dock at the Poly and bloodied both her knees. Drama ensued. Lots of drama. I carried her all the way up to the restaurant and checked in. We asked for window table to be able to see the 6:00 Wishes. After cleaning her up she still was crying, so I begged to be seated. No problem - our table was ready and right by the window.

Ohanas: I think the whole experience would have been a lot better without the drama of the injuries. But, my overall experience: I liked it very much. As I've mentioned, I really don't like sitting in the middle of a large room, so the window table was great. I don't know that Kate would have participated in the games even if she wasn't upset, but she would have enjoyed watching. The decor is nothing to write home about, but the view of the castle makes up for that. The food: The first meats to come to the table was a bowl of chicken drumsticks/thighs and shrimp. Mary and Ed said the shrimp was great and the chicken was T-A-S-T-Y tasty! Kate ate almost the whole bowl by herself. We also got a green salad (yummo), dipping sauces, veggies (veggies, schmeggies), and potatoes that were delivered by angels surrounded by a wonderous light directly from heaven. The skewered meats were hit and miss. The turkey dipped in the peanut sauce was absolutely delightful. The sausage and beef were kind of - eh. Overall, I had more than enough really good food to more than fill me up. Hey, I've got a question for you. What's the only thing better than Ohanas bread pudding with ice cream and banana foster sauce? The answer: eating Ohanas bread pudding while watching Wishes from our table. The dessert was so good, we had no choice but to order a second bowl full. It was a great way to end our trip. Plus we were back to our room by 7:30 with plenty of time to pack so our morning wasn't too hectic.

Grade: A!

 

[Punkin's Mom]

Thanks so much for reading my reviews! For anyone who is thinking about eating at these restaurants, I hope that I've helped you make your choices. While we were there, I booked a trip for September with the Future Stays program. Free dining, baby! So I'm thinking: Chef Mickeys, H&V, Akershaus, & LTT. Some new, some not. I have plenty of time to decide!

 

[SassyLassy]

THanks for the great reviews!! We loved Ohanas too and glad that you and your family enjoyed it.

 

[Disney owl]

Thanks for the great reviews

 

[swankybeth]

Great reviews, I enjoyed them.

 

[Punkin's Mom]

Thanks!!! Happy new year!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reviews ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[IMDORY]

Oooh-I do agree with you on the 'Ohanna's bread pudding-it was one of my favorites! Yummy!!!