Category Archives: Disney Dining Reviews

Walt Disney World Dining – Resort Loop Table Service (Part 1)

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RM-Bay-Lake-Tower-Contemporary-ViewIt’s time to talk about food (Big Surprise, right?).  Pros and Cons of Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Resort Table Service dining, to be exact.  As always, I’m providing information mostly based on my own experiences and opinion – I like to be completely honest.  This means I’ll do my best to give you balanced reviews.  Since there are three resorts on the Monorail, I thought we’d, you know, make this simple and take one at a time.  Thus, part one is Disney’s Contemporary table service dining options – it gets the #1 spot because it’s my favorite resort.  Let’s talk food!

Walt Disney World – Resort Loop Table Service Restaurants (Part 1)

Hop on the monorail from the Magic Kingdom and you are just a stop or three away from some of the very best dining those genius Disney chefs can dish out!  The best part of this deal is that you can easily avoid in-park dining if you want to.  Not that the Magic Kingdom’s food is all bad, but it is somewhat limited if you want to get away from the crowds a bit and maybe have an adult beverage (currently only available in-park at Be Our Guest for dinner).  On the resort loop, you will find quite a variety of experiences to choose from and while I’ve not eaten at every restaurant in every monorail resort, I’ve eaten at enough of them to make some well-informed recommendations.  I’ll also include the number of table service credits each eatery requires for those of you who use a dining plan.RM-Monorail

Contemporary Resort Table ServiceIMG_2651

Chef Mickey’s (buffet, 1 TS credit) – Character dining at its best.  I’ve covered the joys of meeting the Fab Five (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto) in a couple of previous posts because we have had many excellent times at Chef Mickey’s for both breakfast and dinner.  Pros: No waiting in line in the Florida heat to meet these beloved characters – you get one-on-one time for plenty of prime photo ops.  The buffet, while not extremely imaginative, is full of decent, basic food with plenty of choices that are sure to please even the pickiest eaters.  Cons: It’s loud, super crowded (usually), and you can often find a bunch of families with ill-behaved children.  It’s worth it, though, especially since boys and girls alike will enjoy the character lineup here.RM-The-Wave

The Wave (1 TS credit) – Raymond and I stopped in for a late lunch and ate in the bar.  What a delightfully unexpected surprise!  We shared several things which were all absolutely delicious and we each enjoyed a fantastic glass of red wine.  The menu offers fresh, sustainable, locally grown ingredients.  Pros: Good eats for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner.  Expect a decent selection that is designed to please almost everyone.  The dinner menu includes beef, pork, chicken, seafood, and a couple of vegetarian options as well.  Cons: Décor is Dark and a little dreary – feels like you’re in a basement.RM-California-Grill-Menu

California Grill (2 TS credits) – LOVE this place.  I thought our dinner here on our 25th Anniversary Celebration trip (October, 2014) was absolutely fantastic with some extra-special touches just for us.  Raymond wished we’d gone someplace quieter.  To me, pretty much everything about this place is great – the atmosphere, the view, the food, the wine list.  RM-California-Grill-InteriorYes, it’s expensive and while we’ve taken our kids to eat here, I would categorize the California Grill as a best-appreciated-by-adults dining experience.  Pros: Excellent menu and service, great view of Magic Kingdom, guests are welcome to watch Wishes from the restaurant (If you had dinner there early, you can come back later the same evening.).  Cons:  If there are lots of children present, the noise and action can kind of kill the romantic atmosphere – make a late reservation to minimize the impact.

Check back soon for Parts 2 & 3 – Table service options at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort and Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.

Have you eaten at Disney’s Contemporary Resort?  What restaurant(s) would you recommend?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disney Date Night – Resortloop Pub Crawl

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Yellow Monorail / Walt Disney WorldRaymond and I are big fans of the Resortloop Pub Crawl!  A great grown-up activity that gives us the opportunity to see what’s going on at our favorite resorts along the monorail loop while enjoying an adult beverage here and there.  We can visit one lounge or more, as a pre-dinner way to relax or a dinner substitute altogether.  The pub crawl is a great way to take in the unique settings of each pub within the very differently themed resorts – we love this!

Disney Date Night – Resortloop Pub CrawlRM-The-Wave

We like the Wave at the Contemporary, but have also spend quite a few happy early evenings at the tiny and casual Outer Rim (right next to Chef Mickey’s).  The Wave’s bar is pretty traditional with a great wine selection and tasty menu.  Choose a dish to share and save room for the next stop on the loop!RM-Mizner's-Lounge

We think the atmosphere and ambiance at Mizner’s in the gorgeous Grand Floridian makes it a great place to relax and soak up the fantastic sounds of The Lobby Society Orchestra.  If you know us, you know we’re going after the artisanal cheese platter!  Wine and cheese and fantastic live tunes.  This place has all our favorite things!  If you decided to wait on this stop, there’s also a nifty dessert menu.RM-Tambu-Lounge

And we’re off to the Polynesian Village Resort.  I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto – new-ish, small, heavily themed, and impossible to get into!  We’ll give it our best shot in late December and if we succeed, I’ll give you the full scoop.  Let’s talk instead about the Tambu Lounge – home of the popular Lapu Lapu and Backscratcher cocktails.  If you’re waiting to get into ‘Ohana, this is the place to be!  RM-Tambu-MenuThis pub is open, lively, noisy and fun!  If you’re NOT headed to ‘Ohana for dinner, belly up to the bar and order some of those fantastic honey-coriander chicken wings then top those off with a serving of the ‘Ohana bread pudding.  YUM!RM-Tambu-Wine

Three stops, three amazing lounges!  That’s what makes the Resortloop Pub Crawl so unique and special – each stop along the way is completely different from the others.

Have you tried any of the Resortloop pubs?  What’s your favorite stop?

Disney Dining Review: Trattoria al Forno

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Welcome to the weekend, Disney fans!  Today’s post for Saturdays With Nick needs no introduction – It’s about food.  At Disney World.  Enjoy!

Disney Dining Review: Trattoria al Forno

By Nick

A few months ago, Trattoria al Forno opened at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort in Walt Disney World, replacing Kouzzina by Cat Cora.

Trattoria al Forno takes it’s patrons on a taste tour of Italy featuring regional specialties as well as classic dishes, such as wood-fired pizzas made with house-made-daily mozzarella and pastas prepared al forno, which is Italian for baked in an oven, using authentic ingredients and recipes hailing from all over Italy.

There is a wonderful back story created by Walt Disney Imagineering that tells of an Italian family that ran a modest tavern and boarding house on the boardwalk, which expanded over the years into a popular restaurant. As the establishment was handed down, each generation added their own touches to the meals and the restaurant’s design.

The interior helps to convey this story, starting with the original Entrata, or entrance, where the story begins, with vintage family photos lining the walls introducing the generational story. A custom wine cabinet displays authentic regional wines offered on the menu.

The story continues into the dining areas, which were once boarding house spaces. There are four distinct rooms, with furnishings, finishes and lighting relating to the character of each original boarding house room.

The three main dining rooms are open to the show kitchen and to each other.

On to the important part. The food!

My wife and I had dinner here in January, and it was the best meal of that trip.

The meal started with a warm loaf of Ciabatta Bread.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a beer guy, but I chose to go with the Romantic wine flight on that evening, primarily because I wanted to try the Sogno d’Italia Chianti, which is made exclusively for Disney.
Trattoria al Forno has an extensive, 100% Italian, wine list with over 60 offerings by bottle and more than 25 by glass.

For an appetizer, we shared the Fried Calamari with White Balsami and Lemon Agrodolce which is a traditional sweet and sour Italian sauce. Calamari is one of my favorites, and this was in all honesty one of the best I’ve ever had. Perfectly cooked and the sauce was excellent.

While our entrees were very good, we both agree we’d try something different next time.

Barbie had the Eggplant Rollatini with shaved fennel-arugula salad.

She actually preferred my meal which was the Braised Beef with house-made cavatelli. The beef was very tasty, but it could have used more sauce, as it was a huge hunk of meat, which would have benefited from more of a flavor variety.

Desserts were terrific. Barbie had the Tiramisu, lady finger-soaked espresso and layered with Italian mascarpone cream.

I had the Bomboloni, essentially an Italian doughnut with dark chocolate, served with vanilla gelato.

Both my wife and I look forward to returning to try more meals at Trattoria al Forno in the future.

This article was originally published on The Disney Exchange Blog and Podcast, which Nick co-writes and co-hosts.

For more great reviews, trip reports and all manner of Disney delights, follow Nick, his wife Barbie, and friends:  Disney Musings Blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, On Instagram, On Pinterest.

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

Sonny Eclipse – Tomorrowland Superstar

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RM-Starlight-CafeWelcome to another edition of Saturdays With Nick!  The weekend is finally here and it’s time to clean the house, bathe the dog, mow the lawn, relax a bit and enjoy Labor Day Weekend!  Nick’s talking about Sonny Eclipse today!  Have you caught Sonny’s show in Tomorrowland?  If not, this will give you the scoop and make you want to check out this out-of-this-world lounge singer’s act.

Sonny Eclipse – Tomorrowland Superstar

By Nick

On almost every trip to Walt Disney World we have at least one meal at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom.

To be honest, there are several quick service eateries in the Magic Kingdom with better food, in our opinion.

So what brings us back time and again?
The “live” entertainment in the form of Sonny Eclipse.

Sonny, “The Biggest Little Star in the Galaxy” can be found daily in the Starlight Lounge at Cosmic Ray’s.

He can be found there nightly too! In fact, it seems like the guy never leaves!

That is probably because Sonny is an audio-animatronic alien who has come all the way from his hometown of Yew Nork City on the planet Zork to entertain us on his Astro Organ, which sometimes plays all on it’s own. He is accompanied by a group of invisible background singers, The Space Angels.

Sonny tells jokes in between his eclectic mix of song selections, which include such intergalactic classics as “Planetary Boogie” and “Gravity”, which are entertaining and educational. The entire show is on a loop which lasts about 25 minutes.

RM-Sonny-Eclipse

If you are in Tomorrowland, stop in to Cosmic Ray’s and check out Sonny’s show. You may just wind up singing “Yew Nork, Yew Nork” the rest of the day instead of “Small World.”

This article’s original version (and many more of Nick’s Disney adventures) can be found here:  Disney Musings Blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, On Instagram, On Pinterest.  Follow along as Nick, Barbie, and a host of friends share all their Disney fun.