just got back-free dining

[n2dzny]

My best friend and her sister and I just got back from our Sept 6-11th Night of Joy trip and we were on free dining!!! I will list where we ate and what we thought (for those who care).

The Luau (2 credits)- we were not impressed. I do not like that kind of food. I knew what the menu was, but I guess that I was hoping that I would find something that I liked, not really. I also do not enjoy those types of shows, we left early, after dessert (which I did not eat)-we wanted to see wishes. ***let me say that I am not knocking the Luau, it just wasn't my taste.

50's Prime Time- I had ate there before and I was disappointed in the food/service this time. Big disappointment for my friends who had never ate there.

Crystal Palace- We loved it. By this time, we were disappointed in the food choices that we had made. This was more our type of food and was glad to have chosen a place where we enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. The characters were fun and the waitress was fun too. I would eat there again, even if I was not on the dining plan.

Chef Mickey's- This was our only TS breakfast and it was awesome!!! I love the characters coming around (Mickey is my ABSOLUTE favorite). The food was good as well as the service. My friends and I agreed that this was our favorite TS, as a matter of fact, about 15 family members are going to WDW in May and I am making them ADR's for Chef Mickey's and I am planning on paying for everyone because I know that they will not want to spend that much $$ on a breakfast, but it is that much worth it to me.

The counter service that we ate at were:
The counter service in Typhoon Lagoon, Pepper Market at Cornado Springs (favorite), Pop Century, Cosmic Ray's & Casey's.

We enjoyed the free dining...it got off to a slow start but we really enjoyed it toward the end. The good thing is that we did not pay for it and we were able to try several places and dishes that would not get to if we were paying for it all. This was our 2nd year to take advantage of free dining and I have to say that it is spoiling us, hope they keep it up...this is the time of year that we like to go anyway.

Any questions?

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

Thanks for your opinions--especially on Chef Mickey's. We are looking forward to dinner there for a birthday we are celebrating while we are down there. We will be a party of 10. I am hoping we will not have a problem being seated together.

 

[matt&jakesmom]

Welcome Back!!

Sorry you didn't care for the food at the Luau and 50's Prime Time. We ate there just a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed them both.

Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey's is our favorites. Glad that you enjoyed them as well.

 

[lovetoscrap]

Can you be more specific about the disappointments with 50's Prime Time? We are going there next week for the 1st time and really looking forward to it.

 

[ReallyFunMom]

How was CS at TL? I have't heard good things about the CS food at the waterparks. Thanks.

 

[n2dzny]

Can you be more specific about the disappointments with 50's Prime Time? We are going there next week for the 1st time and really looking forward to it.

I don't want to interfere with your excitement, nor do I want to 'rain on your parade', but the service was not as good as it was last year when we ate there twice. I didn't really care for the food, but the atmosphere was nice last year, that is why I didn't mind going back...it was entertaining. This wear was a different story. The waiter was dull and not really 'there' (didn't refill our glass at all, needed to halfway through the meal). The food was not good at all. I got a chicken sandwich and was wayyyy disappointed in the quality of it. I would have been upset if I was actually paying for the food. There was a manager there and she was very nice (just talking, didn't complain to her), and the lady that seated us was nice, but the waiter was not nice, nor was he around much. Last year was much better.

 

[Schucraig]

Thanks for the reviews!

 

[the Fidge]

Thanks for posting I have been debating the Laud thing and dread if DHs food dislikes would be a big issue but iin reading your post it sure would! Just thought it would be great for the family as a great show! Thanks for gviing me second stohughts DH aka Grumpy can make a fuss over his meal and DS and I will get to hear him grumpling as only Grumpy can !!!! hehehe

 

[Tinkerbell_Girl]

What kind of food and drinks did they have at Crystal Palace?

Thanks!

 

[DeterminedOne]

The Luau (2 credits)- we were not impressed. I do not like that kind of food. I knew what the menu was, but I guess that I was hoping that I would find something that I liked, not really.

Totally understandable. We did not like the Luau food either. We stayed for the show, but left hungry. Ended up at the hotel food court.

 

[Lexxiefern]

Sorry you did not enjoy Primetime. It is a favorite of mine. Thanks for the reviews!

 

[Minniespal]

Thanx for your reviews.

 

[MousekaMaddi]

bummed u didnt like Prime Time, its a MUST for us every year, we are just back and the food on DDP was amazing there IMHO! I had the cheese/fruit appy,sortof like fried spready cheese on toasted french bread crisps, it wasnt wat I expected, but it was GOOD! DD4 ate all the fruit part,strawberries,blueberries,and melon. All 3 adults had the pot roast, over fab mashed potatoes with gravy and veggies, this dish is TO DIE FOR tender! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO tender!! and yummy, we 3 all loved it and talked about getting it all week b4 we even got there!! LOL
Other appys we had were... wonderful thick onion rings and soup, rings were delish, soup was boring. DD3 appy was soup too. Desert was incredible, We shared 2 orders of huge delish smores and an angelfood cake with berries(like straw short cake) YUMMY! DD3 had a make your own kids sundae with all the fixins ...she thought it was great she got to decorate it herself(ps, she had chicken nuggets and fries) and lemonade and was a very happy camper.....Dale was our server,a fun guy, dry humor which is ok by me...we never felt rushed and enjoyed ourselves immensely, I ordered a choc shake for a drink and all 4 of us could have drank what he left for us in the decanter so ask fo extra cups.......dont miss this meal, its lovely!!

 

[n2dzny]

How was CS at TL? I have't heard good things about the CS food at the waterparks. Thanks.

The food was typical CS...it was good. I got a hamburger, my friends got other things, a hotdog and pizza I think. (We ate as soon as we got there and then went to the new water slide, while on that ride I hit my head and was knocked unconscious, so don't quote me on what they got, but I don't remember hearing complaints) The only 'bad' thing about eating at the water park was a few squirels that had obviously been fed by visitors because we kept having to grab our trays and run thinking that they were going to attack us for our food.

 

[english rose 47]

How was the food at Cosmic Rays and what did you eat? So glad you loved CP we are going there for sure. We too are buffet eaters. The rest of the family are not into "different food" so I avoided all Polyneian, African and chinese restaurants. They do however like Mexican and Italian.

 

[ReallyFunMom]

The food was typical CS...it was good. I got a hamburger, my friends got other things, a hotdog and pizza I think. (We ate as soon as we got there and then went to the new water slide, while on that ride I hit my head and was knocked unconscious, so don't quote me on what they got, but I don't remember hearing complaints) The only 'bad' thing about eating at the water park was a few squirels that had obviously been fed by visitors because we kept having to grab our trays and run thinking that they were going to attack us for our food.

Thanks for the feedback. Sorry to hear about your ride, that ride and injuries are making me nervous about it. Think we'll skip it again. My kids are just barely tall enough, think we'll wait on it a while longer.

 

[marcyinPA]

Thanks for your opinions--especially on Chef Mickey's. We are looking forward to dinner there for a birthday we are celebrating while we are down there. We will be a party of 10. I am hoping we will not have a problem being seated together.

We were a party of 11 at Chef Mickey's last September (free dining) and they sat us all at three tables all in a row that backed up to one connected booth on one side and there were chairs on the other side (hope that makes sense!)....so we were all together!