Party of 4 DDP Dining Reviews- CS and TS...Updated w/ Casey's and snacks

[Sabrina90744]

Great reviews..they are very helpful I am seriously thinking about switching our Coral Reef to Garden Grill.

 

[Bestdonaldfan]

Here's where I got into trouble. I went with the lobster soup which in my humble opinions was way too thick and rich. Very, very little lobster or crab to be found. I tried dipping the table bread in to it (standard thin sliced floured bread with standard butter) and it was better. But I had to stop eating after just a few bites of this soup. For entree I had the much raved and touted blackened catfish on cheese grits with balsamic/smoked tomato compote. Terrible. I mean it, and I really love all fish and seafood. I look forward to trying new things, but this was too spicy and then the cheese grits... obviously I had a different expectation. These were thick and the "cheese" flavor was almost like.. well, I don't even have any way to describe how strange. And blah. And blech. I almost sent this back and I never do that. DH tried it and agreed that maybe something was just wrong with it.

Thanks for this! I have been enjoying your reviews and since I was planning on getting these on my next visit, I am very glad to have read this review in time .

 

[disneybound31]

Great reviews..they are very helpful I am seriously thinking about switching our Coral Reef to Garden Grill.

I would vote for that! The Garden Grill was just so bright (in a good way) and calming and interesting. And really, the food was so great that even though it would be the same food (probably) since it is served family style, we would not hesitate to do it on the next visit. Besides, the characters come around ALOT! And the way the restaurant is set up it would be hard for anyone to 'infringe' on your character moment! I can't wait to see the pics of Chip and Dale w/ the kids. Ask for the lower level and put the kid/kids on the end of the booth so they can jump out easily to hug the characters and get pics. Worked great for us.

 

[disneybound31]

Guys, thank you so much for the reply posts to my reviews! I was seriously feeling alone with my food thoughts here. So thanks for the input and it gives me the energy I needed to prepare for Backlot and Mama Melrose .

 

[Schucraig]

Thanks for the reviews!

 

[disneybound31]

Backlot Express - (total meal cost is I'm not sure because the woman kept telling me I did not need the receipt! She refused to give it to me! approx. $42)

On our MGM day (the only day, by the way, that we made it to the opening of the park) I had planned for us to have lunch at Backlot because it fit in well with our touring plan. We went right at 11:15 and it was a veritable ghost town then a CM approached us and I thought oh, no. But all she had to say was that their burger machine was down, but we could still eat there if we wanted the other menu items. Which we did. So we continued. No line whatsoever. I think we were one of two families eating. Personally, I like the look of the restaurant. It isn't too big like some others where you practically lose your family while standing in line. It had a different type of look and feel to it and we found it relaxing. Could have been the seriously small amount of people, but whatever. Good place in our book. DH and I had the turkey and cheese melt sandwich and fries (mine w/ carrots) and it was really good. Very large and on a mullti-grain bread that was thick and hearty. We could have shared this it was so large. DS had the hotdog meal w/ fries. HUGE hotdog. Like one from Casey's. DD had the chicken nugget meal w/ grapes and carrots. These nuggets were different than any I had seen-- had a crispy breading that actually was crispy. SHe scarfed these right down. W/ our meals we had chocolate cake which was just okay. And a really bad frozen strawberry parfait thing. This did not have a good flavor. Kindof like pudding frozen with nasty looking berries at the bottom. We poked at this but nobody ate it. By the time we left there were a few more patrons but still pretty quiet there. I guess more people wanted burgers.

 

[Bestdonaldfan]

And a really bad frozen strawberry parfait thing. This did not have a good flavor. Kindof like pudding frozen with nasty looking berries at the bottom. We poked at this but nobody ate it. By the time we left there were a few more patrons but still pretty quiet there. I guess more people wanted burgers.

Yes, I remember that I've had that parfait before. It's not really all that tasty. I didn't even know they still had it.

p.s. eager to read the mama melrose's review, my family and I have the same package booked.

 

[disneybound31]

Mama Melrose -total meal $91.96

We wanted the Fantasmic Package dinner so our ADR was pretty early. 4:40. And they were running on time. Luckily they let us eat at a leisurely pace seeing as Fantasmic this night was not until 8pm. It turned out real well. It gave us time to do RnR twice (w/ FP ) and something else.. oh yeah, The Great Movie Ride for the second time. Anyhow, our server seemed to have better things to do that night and gave us very little attention. This would be the poorest service we had all week. For app we had the salad (a bit wilted but the flavor was still okay) and the 4 cheese flatbread. Since this had gorgonzola on it the kids thought it was a bit 'bitter' but for the most part we all liked it. Note that when it says flatbread, it means flatbread. This was super thin pizza almost like a cracker. And DS7 ordered pizza for his entree and it was exactly the same as the flatbread! We figured it would be a pita pizza like the other restaurants. My entree was the penne al a vodka. It was okay. At first great, then sortof greasy. The flavor left an aftertaste that was not pleasing and I just remembered that the pancetta was extremely fatty. Practically had to dig all of it out. DH had the spicy Italian sausage pasta and liked it. I tried a bit and it was medium spicy with a good sauce. Most like an arribiata sauce. The kids had pizza and DD4 had the spaghetti. Hers did not look appetizing. I tried the sauce and it was like crushed tomatoes out of a can. Dessert was better. I had a really nice tiramisu. The kids had ice cream I think. Reciept does not specify. DH had the chocolate truffle cake and enjoyed it.

While it was a relief to know we had reserved seating at Fantasmic we would not do Mama Melrose on a subsiquent trip. Might give up the 2 credits and do Brown Derby, but this was not the greatest Italian food. Olive Garden is a notch up from this I think. Ambiance wise, I think it was a neat place. Not too loud. Neat decor. Not that we didn't enjoy ourselves- it was just so-so. We left full. We had our Fantasmic seats. Mission accomplished. I would recommend for future visitors to try the chicken pasta dish... I saw a lady next to us get that and I had buyers remorse the whole evening. It looked really good.

Up next... our last day in the parks... and Casey's OOP. With a twist.

 

[leaannk]

Thanks for the Mama Melrose review. DH and I have the Fantasmic pkg booked the day after Thanksgiving. I am still on the fence about this one. It hasn't gotten too many good reviews lately. Glad to know you guys thought it was okay, not horrible. Maybe we'll give it a try just so we'll have seats for the show.

Thanks!
Lea Ann

 

[All Morganic]

I was wondering about MM's pizza. That would be a no-go for my DD's They like their pizza with the thick crust. No Adkin's Diet for those 2.

Oh, and I'm happy to hear that you DD4 liked EE. Our DD5 is a ride maniac - the higher, the faster, the better. DD3.5 is just as adventurous. Too bad she won't be even close enough to the 44" height req! Although I have been using it as leverage to get her to eat more. "C'mon honey, if you finish all of those vegetables you may grow enough to ride all those big rides at Disney."

Thanks for the great reviews

 

[janets]

Enjoying your reviews.

Sorry you didn't enjoy your meal at Coral Reef. My family loves the lobster soup, especially my son, who picks this as his favorite restaurant. Before the menu change, I used to enjoy the pan seared flounder, but now that it's gone, I did the prime rib the last time, DH the strip steak. He really enjoyed his and while mine was tasty, it was a bit tougher than I like my prime rib to be, so when we go in about 1.5 weeks, I'll have to try something else...maybe the mahi mahi. I'm not a catfish eater and would never try that.

Our feelings about MM were close to yours (at least mine was). We had an early meal for Fantasmics, and it turned out we didn't need the reserved seating. I had the same meal as you and didn't enjoy it. I've had penne vodka in a ton of places and this was totally different. While I did enjoy the pancetta, the rest left me cold. DH had the spicy sausage pasta like your dh and liked it but wasn't thrilled. But our older ds had the kids chicken parm which he enjoyed. But overall, one of our worst meals and if I had been on paying OOP, I'd have made a huge complaint at the $120 bill. Certainly not worth that and I agree, Olive Garden is better.

We've never done Garden Grill because the meal reminds me too much of the platter at LTT, which my older son refuses to try again. I liked it but he didn't so I think we'll skip places like that.

 

[Nasus]

Enjoying your reviews. Whenever we got receipts, they just said $0. on them so it was hard to keep up with all the costs. We ate at Coral Reef in June and loved it! We went back in Sept for my husband's birthday and it was not as good . We also went to MM in June, will not eat there again, have to agree that Olive Garden is better.
Susan

 

[disneybound31]

Thanks for the replies. We didn't HATE Coral Reef-- it was enjoyable enough, but I had gotten my hopes way up from a few good reviews. I suppose Garden Grill could seem like the 'Thanksgiving' style dinner at LTT (actually we have never been there, but would like to try sometime) but we just loved it. Is the food at LTT really like a T-giving meal? I only like that kind of food at the traditional time of year to have it!

 

[MinnieMommy]

Thanks for the reviews! We chosen some of the same meals for our Dec. trip, it's helpful hearing about the kids pics!

 

[Jules123]

Great reviews!

 

[DisneyMom5]

Very nice reviews!
Thanks!

 

[disneybound31]

I am so upset. I had just gotten to the last word of my last review and my computer rebooted or something and I lost the whole thing! I was really proud of it and it was very long and contained the only awesome story of my trip. I don't have the energy to recreate it so I have to just give the bare bones now. Went to Casey's on our last half day of vacation. Long story short- we had 3 CS left on the DDP. I told the CM I needed 3 meal deal things and then would pay OOP for the fourth. And she gave it to me. All of it. For free. She said, "It's your lucky day! Year of a Million Dreams! Have a MAGICAL DAY!" I was flabergasted and it was cool and we left WDW with the 3 CS left because I was in shock and didn't think to just turn around and give them to the group behind me. Until I sat down with my family and told them the story which was cooler than that and you would hvae heard if my computer wasn't stupid. We had a great time and each meal consisted of hotdog, fries, huge drink and brownie.

Here are some ways we used our snack credits:

Mickey bars
Toll-House ice cream sandwiches
box of 8? Entemann's doughnuts
Chug size lowfat milk
big bag of Lay's sourcream/onion chips
bottled waters
popcorn
pumpkin shaped rice crispy treat from Main St. Bakery
fruit popsicle
pretzels
items from Food and Wine festival- pot/leek soup, cheese soup

may be more, but these are the main things

From start to finish this was a unique and interesting dining experience. We enjoyed our trip and appreciate everyone who has been reading along. Maybe I can figure out how to repost what I lost earlier so you can hear the full Year of a Million Dreams story. It was funny, confusing and finally, super amazing.

 

[fenfur]

Just found your dining review! Great tips, thanks, I really enjoyed reading it!!

 

[DCDisney]

Thanks for the detailed reviews. It really helped me get a feel for the new kids meals. One question--a lot of the CS places are listing sugar free jello as the kids desserts now. Were your kids able to choose any dessert at CS meals or were they stuck with only jello anywhere?

Thanks!

Yvonne

 

[disneybound31]

Thanks for the detailed reviews. It really helped me get a feel for the new kids meals. One question--a lot of the CS places are listing sugar free jello as the kids desserts now. Were your kids able to choose any dessert at CS meals or were they stuck with only jello anywhere?

Thanks!

Yvonne

At Pinocchio's - they could get either strawberry shortcake (yummo) or choc. cake
Pecos Bill's - the jello (they never ate this at any place that served it)
Backlot - the jello
Casey's - brownie with white choc. drizzle (only dessert here)
Tusker House - choice of cheesecake (really good) or huge choc. cake or carrot cake
Sunshine Seasons - anything from the bakery section and it is HUGE!

Some of the TS places also had jello as a dessert option, but it was never the only choice. I checked the menus before we left and tried to pick places with alot of variety and that had cool themes and desserts. Most TS had create your own type kid desserts.