Cinderella’s Royal Table – Lunch Review

Recommended:   NO!

Yes, you too can spend a criminal amount of money to eat inside of the castle at Magic Kingdom.  While your personal mileage may vary, expect to be extremely disappointed overall.

Disney spared no expense in terms of the details in Cinderella’s Royal Table. The entrance hall alone was spectacular.

Then the dining area was incredibly decorated as well.

I wanted to go through the areas slowly and get pictures for my daughter’s cosplay page (as she was perfectly dressed as Cinderella), but it was so busy there was nothing but a rush from cast members to keep moving along.

Alas, even though the details were magnificent, Disney skimped a LOT on everything else.  Considering that I had to pre-pay $204 (for our party of four) six months in advance, they shouldn’t have many excuses to not be a top experience in Disney World.  After all, if your guests have to pay in full upfront, it’s not like you’re hurting for revenue to keep the wheels greased at a place like this.  By the by, if you’re on the dining plan, this meal eats up two of your sit-down dining credits.

To try to go through the rest of the venue in order, first, you check in for your reservation (this restaurant is reservation only 99% of the time, and it’s booked up to six months in advance).

Then, you get to pose with Cinderella herself.

After that, you guide yourself upstairs and are seated at a pre-determined spot, and you get a menu.  Since you pre-pay for this meal, you can pick whatever you want as an entree and dessert, with a pre-selected appetizer.  You drink is also included in the meal.

Now, our server wasn’t mean, she wasn’t awful at her job, but she came off as very grumpy throughout our time at her table.  This was during Spring Break, so maybe she was overloaded and exhausted, but she definitely had an attitude that we needed to hurry up and get out so that they could flip the table for another party.  Considering that her tip was included in my pre-payment of the meal (and it was something to the tune of $30-40 without me being able to alter or have input on that amount!) I felt like she had a really, really unacceptable attitude.

Part of the children’s meal included a plastic Wishing Star and either a Wand (for girls) or a Sword (for boys).

Our server smacked them on the table while walking through to get elsewhere.  She gruffly said “these are gifts from Cinderella” and kept marching on without ever stopping.  Again, maybe she was overloaded, but it was an abrasive action that I didn’t appreciate.

The appetizer came out quicker than expected.  I don’t know how they managed to make cheese and crackers taste terrible, but they did it.  They also had an over-seasoned salad with some type of pear (?) in it.  The crackers, I believe, were the same gluten free crackers from the Perfectly Princess Tea Party, and they were still like eating plastic.  I know that gluten free is a growing diet trend, but maybe you should ask your guest if they want that trend forced upon them.  There is nothing about the appetizer that was appetizing in my opinion.

We had been sitting for maybe five minutes at this point, and the waitress had pressed us to order four times already.  I was having trouble deciding on an entree, and trying to help my kids decide on their own, but I felt like I wasn’t moving to the server’s pace, and that she was getting put out over it.  Maybe I’m wrong, but for $204 for a family of four to eat somewhere, I should get to relax, think about exactly what I want, and enjoy my time in the facility too!

Four additional princesses do come to the table at this restaurant, and, just due to our luck of timing, they showed up before our food.  Let me touch on them and then I’ll get back to the food.

We met Snow White:

Ariel (still inexplicably wearing green):

and Aurora:

Back to the food, I settled on the ribs, my husband went after the pork, and we decided we would split those two entrees so that we could try both.  I am not joking at all when I tell you that the entree was two bites. The photos below are not of super-sized plates.

The pork was two small coins of meat on a bed of rice, just a little larger than two hot dog slices,

and the ribs were two small cubes of meat on mashed potatoes.

I couldn’t believe these miniscule portion sizes!  I wish I had thought to put a quarter on the plate for an accurate comparison.  Disappointed didn’t even begin to cover it.  For half the price of this meal I could have gone to one of a half-dozen other character meals that included a full buffet!

I will admit, the ribs were absolutely delicious, though.  I don’t like mashed potatoes, but these were actually very scrumptious.  The pork, on the other hand, was bland and dry, and that flavor extended to the rice as well.  Overall, had the waitress not been so grumpy, I think we would have asked for a refill on our food (sort of as a joke, sort of hoping that a second helping was possible).  So, 0 for 2 on the meal courses.

On the children’s side of things they were given grapes and cheese cubes as an entree.

My daughter had the chicken leg with rice.  She wouldn’t touch her greens, but for the price of the meal, they became an “offering” to my husband.

My son had, I believe, a beef tip kids meal and said that he enjoyed it.

Then the desserts arrived seconds after our entrees were finished (adding all the more to the super-rushed atmosphere).

My husband and I both had The Clock Strikes Twelve.  It was beautifully crafted and delicious.  I believe it was vanilla ice cream in a chocolate shell with a white chocolate ring on the top and a graham cracker hand.  A chocolate sauce making roman numeral numbers was a gorgeous touch, and a small pool of custard was on the side.  My only complaint is that the dessert was bigger than the entire entree portion size.

My son had the smores dessert choice, which looked fantastic and had a chocolate Maleficent dragon “painted” on the plate.

My daughter, however, got the raw end of the deal.  She picked the yogurt with blueberries.  It sounded great, but nowhere did they disclose that it was GREEK yogurt.  If you don’t know the difference, it’s a harsh taste and not at all like the typical yogurt you’d find in the US (which is essentially flabby ice cream).  If you aren’t used to the stuff, it can take a while to get used to, and they should have warned her as it was a dessert option on the kids menu.

Side note, in front of the yogurt is the plastic Wishing Star that they give the kids.  I apparently didn’t get a better photo of them.

Most character meals have a get-up-and-do-stuff moment.  Some places have a parade for the little ones, others have a mini-dance party, it just depends on the venue.  At Cinderella’s Royal Table, the barely audible loud speaker starts saying something about making a wish with your star and wand.  As people quiet down you can hear better, but it’s still not very loud.  On the magic cue, some lights flicker towards the ceiling, then all the princesses walk away.

My kids always participate in these moments, but the fact that the staff didn’t even call attention to it, and that you could barely hear it happening, well, that was just another disappointment of this venue.  I was kind of irritated that, for so much more money, the little girls couldn’t even walk around with the princesses on parade or do a dance or song or SOMETHING!

Now, if you noticed earlier, I only described 3 princesses coming to the table.  That’s because we got skipped by Jasmine.  None of the characters had handlers, which was odd enough, but there were also no staff members coming around and checking that each character had visited us, something that has always happened at every other character meal we’ve had.  In fact, I think this was our first time at a Disney sit-down restaurant that a manager didn’t pop by the table to check in.

So, my husband flagged down our waitress as we saw all the princesses leaving.  He asked if they were coming back out and the server gets and attitude and says, “what, are you going to tell me that they didn’t stop by your table?”  Really?  This is why I NEVER tip in advance.  If you have a guaranteed $30 in your pocket, you can be a complete jerk and you still get a huge tip for a bad job!

My husband said that it was just Jasmine that missed us.  The waitress sighed and started walking away.  She also stopped by a neighboring table and said “you know, you already paid in advance, so you can leave any time.”  In a nice tone, that wouldn’t be anything off putting to say, but it was not a friendly tone.

Jasmine reappeared and chatted my daughter up for a few minutes before disappearing to the back again.  Then we were made to feel like we needed to rush out as fast as possible, because our desserts had been finished for a whole five minutes.

Also, when I booked the restaurant in October of 2014, I was required to pay for the entire meal upfront.  I already mentioned that, but part of the “package” I paid for as a diner included a free set of photos with Cinderella.  I felt so rushed and irritated while at Cinderella’s Royal Table that I didn’t realize until I returned home that the waitress never brought those photos to us, and there was no desk or location to get them from in the castle.

I emailed Disney’s customer service and they thanked for my interest in their complimentary photos, but said that they discontinued giving them out in January.  Wait wait wait – what?!  One of the main draws of choosing this restaurant over another character meal was the free photo set, because we didn’t buy Memory Maker, and the photos cost around $40 a piece after taxes.  That was basically the freebie that almost balanced out the insane amount of money they charged us to eat there.

I responded asking for a manger, because it wasn’t right to charge me six months in advance, then change what I signed up for without notifying me.  Disney World makes hundreds of announcements a month, it’s unrealistic for me to go through them all hoping that one applies to my vacation – especially for something I pre-paid to get!  Since all the money I paid didn’t go to food, couldn’t it have gone to at least a courtesy email about changes to my package and given me an opportunity to cancel my reservation?  Ultimately, this conversation went nowhere and, since this was our last Disney World visit, it certainly left me with a bad impression.

My overall thoughts on Cinderella’s Royal Table:

• The portion sizes were pathetically small to where the kids’ meals had more food than the adults.
• The prices were double every other sit down restaurant in the park.
• The staff was not very nice and made us feel rushed every minute we were there.
• It’s nice to have the princesses come to you, but they’ll only spend 1-2 minute per table, so any experience is minimal.
• Considering the ungodly expense, the princess line up should be better.  I understand that Cinderella needs to be at Cinderella’s Royal Table, but I personally feel that the rest of the characters should be updated to the more difficult-to-meet princesses that have longer wait times (make skipping those big lines more worthwhile!).  Elsa, Anna, Merida (who is only available at limited times, weather permitting), and Rapunzel make the most sense to have in the restaurant, as their lines are always long, they are newer (and thus more relevant/recognizable for the children meeting them), and then it keeps the characters between here and Akershus completely different (meaning I can justify going to both places and spending more money!).
• I felt very burnt over the “free” photo set getting ripped out of our hands without advance warning.

Truly, I was not over-the-moon for Akershus (the princess character meal in EPCOT’s Norway), but it was roughly half the price of Cinderella’s Royal Table, the entrees were twice the size, and it included a salad bar.  The princess line up is also very similar, except you get to meet Belle instead of Jasmine.  And, at least during our visit, the staff at Akershus was very good.  Overall, if you’re making a choice for a princess meal, Akershus is a much better deal, even though the adult entrees are a little strange (being Norwegian-themed food an all).  Alternatively, I would also recommend 1900 Park Fare for dinner as it has really good food, and features the Cinderella cast (Cinderella, Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, Drizella, and Prince Charming).  We did their breakfast buffet and left very impressed and happy with everything food-wise, although the morning characters are English themed.

I FINALLY Got a Be Our Guest Dinner Reservation – Here’s How

I’ve had Disney World annual passes since April 2014, and we’ve had 10 vacations to Disney World since then (mostly 2 day trips).  But, no matter how many times I tried, I could NEVER get a reservation to Be Our Guest!  I actually did get a Fast Pass lunch after booking this dinner, but getting a lunch reservation is a whole other set of hoops to jump through.  But, If you haven’t heard much about this restaurant, it’s themed out like the Beast’s castle in Beauty and the Beast, and it’s the absolute hardest place to book in all of Disney World.  Between the lower end expense (compared to other Disney eateries) and the fact that they only take reservations for dinner, there is a mad dash to get a seat at Be Our Guest.  I had even booked roomed on Disney Resorts with the hope of being sent an invitation to a Be Our Guest FastPass lunch, but we were never selected.  Overall, here’s how it finally worked out for me:

• I set an alarm for 11:45 PM once we were at the 179 days away mark.  180 days out is the earliest that you are allowed to make a reservation with Disney World services, and the reservations start at 12 AM EST.  Warning – if you have a valid annual pass, you may book six months early with no problem, but I have been told that non-annual pass holders have to have a hotel booked to make dining reservations that far in advance.  I’m not able to verify if that is accurate or not at this time.
• I logged in at My Disney Experience.com and waited until midnight.  Take note that you should open up a second window and browse around My Disney Experience until a few minutes before midnight – that makes sure you don’t get logged out for inactivity (which will lose you your seat!).
• At midnight, the calendars started allowing me to see February 20th on the list of available dates.  You should not need to refresh your computer to see this change.  This should be the end of your booking experience, however, the website went wonky on my, so my story is going to take a turn now.

When I opened the calendar, I saw February 20th after midnight.

BUT, when I tried to select the 20th, the calendar closed itself down and would only show the 19th!  I spent an hour trying to wait for this glitch to get fixed, but on my account, my husband’s account, and my phone, it was refusing to let anyone select the 20th (actually, I got the 20th hit once, and then the site backed the date to the 19th!).  This was happening for every reservation I tried, so it was not just a Be Our Guest glitch.  I tried to call the dining reservation line, but all I got was a long “closed” message – since it’s partially automated, you’d think it’d be open 24/7, but it isn’t!

Now, I’m not sure when they fixed the calendar problem, but a few minutes before 7 AM I got up to make the reservation on my phone and was told that NONE were available!  I was so frustrated, but I remembered that the dining reservation line said that they opened at 7 AM, so I decided to give that a try as my last ditch effort.

• When I called (407) 939-3463, it was 7 AM on the dot.  The automated system couldn’t help me, because reservations are so hard to come by at Be Our Guest, but the agent looked everything up and found ONE table available at 9:20 PM.  I said I’d take it, and I was terrified the entire time that someone else was going to snatch it out from under me while I went through the long process of giving the agent all of my contact, payment, and party information.  But, it went through, and the reservation showed up immediately on My Disney Experience!

I am not sure why the computer that the Cast Member used showed an available table when the My Disney Experience site/app did not (if you search for “Dinner” as the time, it’s supposed to look from 5 PM to 10 PM), but I am very glad that I called!  This was our anniversary dinner and with Cinderella’s Royal Table being closed in February, there weren’t a whole lot of options for a beautiful venue that the kids wouldn’t hate.  I will be posting a review of Be Our Guest shortly, so keep an eye out for that!

Another warning:  please make sure that you write down the confirmation number for Be Our Guest, and also take a screen shot of the reservation being in your My Disney Experience profile.  I’ve heard horror stories that the system sometimes updates and dumps reservations, then there is little-to-nothing that Disney can do to help you.  This isn’t a super common occurrence, but having proof that you had the reservation is your best shot at retrieving it.

The Plaza Restaurant Review

Recommended:  Only if no other sit-down restaurant is available.

The Plaza is a pretty small restaurant tucked away at the end of Main Street.  Actually, with some of the constructions, it’s easy to miss, but, if you go down Main Street, turn right before the bridge that takes you to the castle, you’ll see the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor and a little walkway towards Tomorrowland.  That almost obscure area is where The Plaza Restaurant is hiding.

The Plaza is actually one of the one single dollar sign (ie $, not $$$$) restuarants in the Magic Kingdom that accepts reservations.  So, if you are doing Disney on a budget, I would highly recommend snagging a lunch or dinner reservation here.  They do tend to go quickly, though, so reverse as early as possible!

The interior of the restaurant is really quaint.  It’s definitely a small venue without a lot of seating, which just goes to prove that it’s been in Disney World for a LONG time.  Long before they experienced the mega-crowds of today.

The food is so-so, which was agreed upon by all five members of my party.  It’s around the quality of a lesser Denny’s.  Definitely nothing to write home about, but better than a fast food meal all the same.  There was also a real fly problem when we were there, which I’d call annoying at best.  However, there are some added perks that make The Plaza Restaurant still worth checking out.  It is indoors and climate controlled, for one.  This is also the only other venue in the Magic Kingdom where you can purchase a Mickey’s Kitchen Sink (since the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor is right next door with, I believe, a connecting door to The Plaza).  Plus, you get to sit down and eat your cheaper food without having to worry about finding a seat, since there is table service/reservations, and there is a real classic feel to the place.

Oh yeah, and sometimes the Mayor of Main Street and his wife wander in!  I don’t get to use this phrase often, but that wife of his is a hoot!  Although, regrettably, she is much faster at moving than I am at grabbing my camera while eating lunch.

Do you get a sense of the size of the restaurant from this photo?  Because, aside from a few more tables behind us, this is the whole dining area!

Again, while the food isn’t the best, it’s still a nice place to have a quick-ish bite to eat and get out of the crowds.  It’s a little gem that oozes with the Classic Disney Era.

The 10 Hardest Restaurants to Book at Disney World

I cannot recommend enough how imperative reservations are to a smooth visit to Disney World.  So many people get angry when they can’t walk into their restaurant of choice, they can’t step right into Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique, or the like.  It can be very frustrating, but you have to consider just how many people are at Disney World at any given day, and advance planning will really take a lot of these problems away.

Here is my list of the hardest dining venues to get a reservation at (in no particular order after #1):

1)  Be Our Guest – Magic Kingdom.  Often times, even if you try to book a reservation 180 days in advance (the maximum they allow), Be Our Guest is already booked solid.  Cancellations are rare, and if a spot does happen to open you you will have a lot of competitors fighting for the same table.  It’s safe to say that Disney would be wise to open an additional Be Our Guest restaurant in Downtown Disney or Hollywood Studios.

2)  Cinderella’s Royal Table – Magic Kingdom.  This is where you actually get to eat inside of the giant castle in Disney World, and it’s full of princesses that go from table to table.  Because it’s such a highly themed experience, it has people flocking to book up the tables.

3)  Chef Mickey’s – The Contemporary Resort.  Even though this restaurant is in a hotel (The Contemporary) you may still make reservations to eat there.  The food is very highly rated, and the classic Mickey crew is there to meet everyone.

4)  ‘Ohana – The Polynesian Resort.  This is my favorite breakfast location is all of Disney!  The seasonings they use are downright magical, and you get Lilo and Stitch visiting every table.  Reservations are usually pretty easy to get up until a month before your travel date, but this can very a lot depending on how busy Disney World is during your trip.

5)  T-Rex – Downtown Disney.  A lot of people have mixed reviews about the food, but the beef is to die for, and the menu has a wide array of choices to fit pretty much any budget.  However, the highlight of T-Rex is not the meal, but the environment.  Very similar to Rainforest Cafe, every inch of T-Rex is decked out in a dinosaur theme, and every 30 minutes or so a meteor shower happens, which causes the pre-historic beasts to come alive! 

6)  Akershus Royal Banquet Hall – EPCOT (Norway).  There is a lot of praise on the food at Akershus, and it is a princess character experience, which makes it a wonderful alternative (or addition) to Cinderella’s Royal Table.  I would also be surprised if Anna and Elsa don’t become part of the regular character experience before to long (as of this post, they are NOT).

7)  1900 Park Fare – Grand Floridian Resort.  If all else fails, try 1900 Park Fare for your princess fix!  At dinner time, all of the Cinderella crew is brought out to interact with guests.  This is a great way to get some uncommon signatures, like Prince Charming or the Ugly Stepsisters.  At breakfast time, you can enjoy Alice, the Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh, and Tigger too!

8)  ANYTHING that connects to a fireworks show in the parks (Fantasmic especially!).  There are multiple parks and multiple restaurants in each park to choose from, but the availability is very limited, which makes the seating very hard to get.

9)  Teppan Edo – EPCOT (Japan).  They are always packed and always well worth the price.  For the price of an average up-scale meal, you get a chef at your table cooking food for you.  It’s actually an incredibly entertaining experience!  Be aware, though, if you party is less than 8, you will very likely be seated with strangers (I like that aspect, but others do not). 

10)  My Disney Girl’s Perfectly Princess Tea Party – Grand Floridian Resort.  This is probably the most expensive meal you can have a Disney World.  For just my daughter and I (this was her one birthday present she chose) the cost was $290+ dollars after tax!  And you do have to pay in full upfront.  Even though the price might scare many people away, they tea party is only throw once a day, at 10:30 am, and is not available everyday, making this one of the most exclusive restaurants in Disney.  The food is pretty light, and the money you pay goes more into the experience to meet Aurora and Rose Petal (a magical, living rose from Aurora’s garden), as well as receive the exclusive My Disney Girl 18″ doll, ribbon tiara, and silver bracelet (among other gifts).  If you can swing the cost and find a table, this is a really amazing mother/daughter experience.

My best advice to get your ideal set of dining plans is to book 180 days in advance.  Have your alarm set for 12am EST at the 180 day mark, and then reserve your heart out!  Some of these restaurants will still have space in them a month or less before your travel date, just due to cancellations and such, but many times the available reservations will be at awkward times (dinner at 9:30 pm anyone?).  I rarely go to Disney World with no plans, so I’m always trying to work around FastPass+ times or Run Disney races or the like, meaning the more I can plan things out, the better our vacations work out.

Doing Disney with a Special Diet

I recently got involved with a discussion about food allergies and other dietary issues when traveling to Disney World.  Essentially, this person had a child who was autistic, and, as a result, the child would only eat three different things.  The problem was that the parents booked reservations all over the park without looking at any menus, and then were livid when the Disney employees didn’t provide the two items her child would eat. Before I get too deep into this topic, let me say that I believe this is a real issue and that all dietary needs deserve to be met.  My daughter has a number of allergies herself, so I know it can be a challenge.

However, in my opinion, this issue was all the parents’ fault.  100% of this problem could have been avoided if the parents had put in the proper amount of research beforehand.  After all, they weren’t saying “my child is allergic to tomatoes, so please substitute his tomatoes for something else,” she wanted the restaurants to snap their fingers and make mac and cheese appear out of thin air. 

First of all, even if the place next door sells bowls of mac, the servers can’t just run over there and get it – this would be a plethora of food safety violations, I guarantee it.  If you get sick on the food, Disney is responsible, so they take food preparation and handling very seriously.  Second of all, if the restaurant could get food from another venue, they would have to lose an employee to go fetch the item.  It takes a long time to get anywhere is Disney World, let alone to get ahold of another manager and explain your situation, THEN get the items you would need.  While this happens it might mean that food is not be getting cooked, orders might not be getting taken or brought to tables, or dirty tables might pile up without someone to bus them.  Third, you can’t just get mac and cheese and make it in a kitchen that doesn’t prepare it normally.  And you can’t cook it at restaurant A and have a server run over and rush it to Restaurant B, because it would get cold and be subjected to tons of unknown contaminants on the way.  Disney World isn’t designed to move food around like that.  So, the restaurant you are eating at would have to clean out a station before and after making the mac and cheese IF they even had the proper equipment and trained cooks to make it (remember a lot of the cooks are hourly employees, not highly rated chefs).  It’s a completely impractical demand to make.  For me, if my child would only eat Mexican food, I wouldn’t make reservations at the Nine Dragons in EPCOT’s China and tell the waitress to make us a burrito.  I would go to the Mexican restaurants to begin with and avoid all the insanity I would otherwise be causing.

 

Here are some of my tips for traveling to Disney with any kind of special dietary need or allergy:

1)  Read up!  Menu’s are no secret and MyDisneyExperience.com lets you see almost every item that every restaurant sells.  There’s no excuse to not be aware of which places sell turkey legs and which do not (as an example, lol).

2)  Call in!  If you are very worried about a menu item or have a severe allergy, call the restaurant and talk to the staff in advance.  Things like nut allergies that do not allow you to eat food that is even prepared around nuts can be very difficult to work around, so it’s important to know ahead of time.  Also, other allergies or dietary concerns can be better prepared for if you call in advance.  For example, if your children are allergic to dairy and they will want ice cream, you can find out what soy alternatives are available in the restaurants.  Sometimes, with advanced notice and a reservation, they can get items like soy milk/ice cream in stock just for your visit, since it doesn’t take a lot to work around this kind of dietary issue.

3)  Make smart reservations!  It doesn’t matter if you get a reservation to Be Our Guest or T-Rex if there is nothing in there that you or your child can eat.  Be practical, and avoid places that could be major problems for you or your child – like taking a child with dairy allergies to an ice cream parlor that doesn’t serve non-dairy alternatives.

4)  The staff are your allies, not your enemies!  They want you to be happy and to leave the meal with a smile, but remember that they are human and even the powers of Disney Magic are limited.  The employees can’t change certain things, they can’t break the rules they are given, and they can’t make things appear out of thin air.  These restaurants are set up to have quick turn overs, they can’t stock everything in the world, and they have no control if an item on the menu runs out.  Yelling at Cast Members does not change any of this.  Politely ask to speak with a manager if there is a major problem with your experience instead, they are the only ones who MAY be able to resolve your issue.

5)  Have back-up plans ready!  Lets say you got the best reservations ever, at a place you’ve been dying to go to, but you think your child will have a dietary problem with the menu and find nothing to eat.  If this happens, and you really want to keep your reservation, feed the child first!  Go to a quick service restaurant and purchase something the child can eat, so that way you can still enjoy your awesome reservation and your son isn’t staring at you complaining that they’re hungry.  My understanding is that as long as the party shows up for the reservation you do not get monetarily penalized if one person in your party doesn’t order (you could also order just a soft drink to be safe). 

6)  Pack for yourself!  If you have allergies or needs severe enough, or you just want to save some money on dining, bring food with you.  Most hotels have mini-fridges and/or microwaves, you can put a cooler in the trunk of your car to revisit later in the day, and you are even allowed to bring a reasonable amount of food and drink into Disney World with you.  Yes, you are allowed to bring a small bag or cooler (it must be under 24″ in my understanding) with non-alcoholic drinks and/or food that does not need to be heated into the parks!  https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/parks/outside-food-and-drink/  But, you may not take drinks with straws or lids into Animal Kingdom due to wildlife safety issues.

7)  You may have to use the word “allergy” to get what you need.  Sad, but true.  I’ve heard from multiple people who are on a gluten free diet that Disney Parks would not accommodate them if it wasn’t an allergy (likely because it can be difficult to accommodate for allergies, so they do not want to open the door to cater to every dietary choice out there).  Still plan and call restaurants in advance, because some venues will not be able to help you at all, whether it’s an allergy or not.  For example, I’ve been told that people with nut allergies cannot go to Be Our Guest because the staff has told them that there is no way they can guarantee things are prepared in a nut free environment. 

 

Just plan ahead, read up, call up, pack up and do everything you can for yourself to make your dining experience perfect!

Ohana Character Breakfast Review

Recommended:  100% Yes at Breakfast!

I had an early reservation at Ohana this past week.  I wanted a character breakfast, and, even though I’ve heard a lot of bad reviews about Ohana’s recently, I decided to give them a try because I love Stitch much more than Winnie the Pooh, and those were the only two open options during our trip’s time frame.

Ohana is inside of the Polynesian Resort, and the security guard actually had us stop and scanned our bands to confirm we had reservations before we could go inside.  I really liked that added sense of security it gave the resort, but I’m not sure what that means if you want to try to walk into Ohana without a reservation.

We got there before the restaurant opened and were seated minutes after it did, so we got the fun little opening ceremony and mini-dance part (which a cast member grabbed me and forced me to get down with them).  The staff all seemed to be actual Polynesians (which baffles me on several levels how Disney is able to do that), and I loved that they called everyone “cousin,” just like they do in Lilo & Stitch.

The waitress brought us “Stitch juice,” which was a mixture of orange juice, passion fruit, and some other bits I can’t remember.  I am not much of a juice person, so it was a little too exotic for me to drink exclusively at a meal, so I requested water and got it easily enough.  Then the food came out in a big metal pan with biscuits, fried potatoes, sausage, bacon, and eggs (which you are allowed to keep requesting more of a particular item, or even more of everything, hence the all-you-care-to-eat part) and Mickey waffles were close behind.  Oh, and they also bring out a tray of fruit, but we were never asked if we wanted a refill on that.

Now, normally, I do not care much for most breakfast foods and prefer to just eat light and wait for lunch when we’re out in the world.  But for $30 per adult, I was making myself try everything.  Ohana is soooooooooo good!  The potatoes had fantastic flavor, the eggs were just right, and I usually hate sausage, but I made myself try it and OHMYGOD is had some amazing seasoning on it to where I couldn’t put it down.  And, to top it off, our bill was $5 per adult less than we were told to expect (so about $25 per adult – kids $15/each).  So, food wise, I recommend Ohana 110%!

Now for the character part of the dining experience:

I also want to warn everyone about the huge hype I’ve gotten on character dining.  The last character meal I did was in 1996 for Pocahontas.  They had 4 of the lesser characters hanging around, giving autographs in the room where we ate, then Pocahontas was waiting at the exit with a nice backdrop for a great photo op.  Now, I was told by everyone I chat with that the character meals were so worth the bigger prices now because you get so much one-on-one time with each character and you save so much time not waiting in line.  So, I went into this with some pretty big expectations.

When you are waiting for your table, there is a Photo Pass photographer at the front waiting to take a family photo that the Ohana staff will offer to sell you for around $30 while you’re eating (if you have the Memory Maker package, it’s supposed to be free for the photo).  As a side note for anyone else sensitive to lighting, because of the photo flashing and drastically varying lighting levels between the restaurant and the windows, I had a migraine by the time we were seated and had lost some of my vision for about 30 minutes.  Now, I was hoping that entrance photo went to the Photo Pass website, but if it did, I can’t find it.  But because there was a Photo Pass photographer at the entrance, I assumed there would be several inside the restaurant to follow the characters around.  I tend to rely on the Photo Pass people for back-up photos in case ours don’t turn out.  But, photographers do not enter the restaurant.

As for the characters, first, Lilo came out, then Stitch, followed by Mickey, and finally Pluto.  They’re staggered so you don’t get all four at once.  They walk around to each table, sign autograph books if you have them, maybe interact for a minute or so with your party, pose for pictures, and leave.  I honestly get more fun and personal interaction after waiting in line, and I felt like there was a rush from the characters to do the bare minimum and keep moving through the tables.

Now, factor in that there’s no Photo Passers to help you out with capturing the moment, which I have a gripe over since, again, the lighting is drastically different depending on where you sit/face.  So, when a character finds a space big enough to pose in, and you snap a photo with your camera, here’s some examples of what you might get:

They don’t seem to have any kind of shades for the windows at the Polynesian, and the lighting level in the restaurant is pretty dim, so when you pose for a photo, your camera can’t properly focus against the overly-bright windows, and because the windows are so overbearing, the flash doesn’t go off.  I use a Rebel T2i, and if I didn’t feel like the characters needed to leave I would have taken more shot at different angles to make sure I had gotten the shot.  But, unfortunately, the bad lighting didn’t even look that bad when I was setting up the first shot, so I thought we had always gotten a good picture each time.

I was also hoping there might be some backdrop around the corner that all the characters posed with so you’d be sure to get a good photo on your way out, but again, no such luck.  It was very systematic that the characters had a lot of tables to go through, so not a lot of one-on-one time was afforded to anyone at all.  There was a kids only parade dance around the restaurant that was really cute and my kids had fun with (I think the start of the parade is on a timer, which is probably why I got the feeling the characters were in a hurry to check off each table), but I would have really liked the chance to get some better photos after spending over $130 at Ohana over the course of an hour.

UPDATE:  We made a 2nd trip to Ohana and sat more towards the entrance, away from the windows.  The photos were much better, and Stitch had a Photo Pass photographer traveling with him.  There had removed the family photo opp in the waiting area as well (maybe that’s where the photographer for Stitch came from?).  I also noticed that the eggs were super runny the 2nd time.  BUT, there is a solution!  If you don’t like runny eggs, request that they be “scrambled hard.” 🙂

Disney Dining Phone Wait

This morning I had the longest wait time I think I’ve ever experienced on a phone.

Usually, when I need to do something with Disney reservations, I handle it all via MyDisneyExperience.com.  But I needed to modify a dining reservation (usually means adding or dropping a person in the dinner party), which is kind of a special request anyways, and since it special for the Star Wars weekend, I could only make changes by calling the Disney Dining phone number.

Calling about 10 minutes before 9am, I sat there and waited for 40 minutes before giving up.  Look, I have proof:

Once my phone said Low Battery, I gave up the fight for fear of it dying just as someone answers.  But, I hope we can all agree that this is an insanely long wait time for a Disney line, especially considering that we’re at the start line for the busy season.

So, Plan B – email!  I found a Disney Parks email address, told them that I couldn’t stay on hold for another 40 minutes and asked if they could modify my reservation via email.  Well, around 5 hours later I got this reply:

Dang it!  I really think Disney should be able to let you modify people in your party – especially if you’re just dropping a person from the table – online.  But, the only options for most reservations is to book or cancel.  Seems silly to me, just saying…

But, I did give in and call the Dinsey Dining number again after picking up my kids from school.  This time it was a much smoother call – from automated prompter to hold, then from agent to survey, the entire call lasted less than 7 minutes.  Now THAT is a reasonable wait time.  I have no idea what happened this morning, but as someone with no land line and limited minutes every month, I really hope they fix whatever kink happened to me this morning.

Really, why don’t they have a notification system that tells you what number your call is in the queue?  For all I know, I was in some glitch and my call disappeared from the line up.

Or, even better, they should use a system that says “we’re really busy, give us your phone number and we will call you back when it’s you’re turn to speak with an agent.”  I have loved using that method in other calls, and I wish Disney would modify the way they kept people on hold.