Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Bon Appetit - Dining at Disney


This is a long post.  If you are not interested at all in where we ate, I highly recommend you just skip this one altogether!





One of the delights of WDW is the food.

This will come as a surprise to some, who might imagine that Disney fare would favour chicken fingers and French fries, and of course, those are there, but there are many fine restaurants on site, especially at Epcot, where countries vie to serve fine culinary representations of their homeland.

Having said that, some research is in order before you go, and even more important, it is critical that dinner reservations are made at least a couple of months in advance.  Every evening we were out we saw families turned away because the restaurant was full.

However, I was organized and we had reservations well in hand before we arrived.  I am not including our dinners over at Universal's Portofino Resort, as one in particular merits its own story for a different reason. 

We ate at the Mexican Pavilion, Bongo's Cuban Cafe in Downtown Disney, Tony's Town Square at Magic Kingdom, The Brown Derby at Hollywood Studios and on our last night at Disney, Chefs de France.  Also worthy of mention was our lunch at Be Our Guest.

La Hacienda de San Angel (Mexico)

Wonderful food and atmosphere.  Authentic, fresh food.  I had the short ribs, which were amazing.

La Hacienda de San Angel dining room with large windows and beamed ceiling, lit up at night


Bongos (Downtown Disney)

I had a pretty good meal, but this place was LOUD (as are all the restaurants at Downtown Disney) and nothing amazing.  It is owned by Gloria Estefan and I wish they'd played more of her music...

Colorful bar area with bongo drum-shaped bar stools

The highlight for us was seeing a man who was the SPITTING IMAGE of Bruce Jenner at the bar.  Not the Bruce Jenner circa 2014, but Bruce Jenner circa 1976, decathlon Bruce.  We all stared at him, as we are wont to do.  I had some really spicy chicken, which I quite enjoyed.

Tony's Town Square

This is the restaurant from Lady and the Tramp, but Barry would describe this as a Greek tragedy, not a love story.  It was a DRY restaurant, and the food was only middling in all of our opinions.


Atrium dining area with a light and airy look and a Victorian décor
 
Lots of couples were having their pictures taken in front of the statue below, but we passed.  I think this is a fine place for lunch, but when mama needs a glass of vino, mama needs a glass of vino! 
 
When the server told Barry there was no alcohol, it was as if she had slapped him across the face.  He had his best soap opera look of shock and fury!
 
 
 
 
There is only one restaurant at the Magic Kingdom which has liquor and it is the fabulous Be Our Guest from Beauty in the Beast.
 
The restaurant is a faithful recreation of the Beast's castle in the movie and no expense has been spared. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Inside they have recreated the grand ballroom and the forbidden wing where his rose is kept.  Even the ceilings are faithful to the movie.
 



snow is even falling outside the window...



While you wait in the crazy-long line you are given a menu and once ushered inside, place your order electronically and take a seat.  Several minutes later and voila!  Your meal is delivered to your table by servers pushing magic carts...

 
 

 
 When you are done you can literally go next door and visit Belle. Since we are all fans of the movie this was a must-do, but if you want dinner reservations, you will be booking them more than 2 months in advance.




 
 
 Barry and Sydney were thrilled to wait:






The next night we had reservations at The Brown Derby.  I was excited about this.  It was Oscar night after all and there we were, in a restaurant that is designed to recreate Hollywood in its heyday.



 By the way, Universal Studios also has a recreation of The Brown Derby, which is more historically accurate, but is alas, not a restaurant:



I've been obsessed with the Brown Derby since I was a kid and would read about Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard dining there:



The restaurant is a faithful recreation:


I'd love that sconce...

And since it was Oscar night, I ordered a fancy cocktail, which wasn't a red carpet, but close:




Yup, that's a plastic glowing ice cube in there and I whined enough that I got it.  Actually, our waiter was AWFUL.  He hated us.  We tried to engage him in witty repartee, but he'd have none of it.  He was immune to the charms of the Wendy, though he did give me the ice cube.  His poor service made this a less than stellar experience....And though the food was good, it was having a hard time overcoming the bad attitude of the server... If I had paid for this meal (as opposed to just paying the tip and the alcohol, I would have been furious).  Barry was lovely and gave him 20%.  The tip I would have given him would have been to find another line of work.

On an interesting aside, one of the servers working that night looked like a young Ronald Reagan.  I imagine that his tables were happy tables, where we could discuss his old movies, lament Jane Wyman, gossip about Frank Sinatra and drink one for the gipper... If only.

By the way, we arrived home in time to see Lupita win.  I was happy.  But what made me happiest was when Liza Minnelli jumped up and hugged Lupita before she could get to the stage.  Folks, those are golden, glorious moments for me, moments that I cling to in the banality of my suburban life...




And since I am digressing, well let's see the whole Liza look shall we?


Now I'm not expert, but do you think she might have had some work (I said, tongue firmly planted in cheek!).  I love how she is still rocking it at 67!

On our last night, we went to France and ate at the Chefs de France.  Actually we had lunch in France too, at the little food court area in the back.




The French pavilion is lovely in Epcot - entirely, antiseptically, reminiscent of the real thing, sans dog sh&*t, but with some definite French snootiness!

Before the dinner, Barry and I sat outside at a little bistro table and drank some wine.





 That was my bag of croissants for the next morning's breakfast.  And they were REALLY French croissants.  I almost wept with joy...
 






 There was a dress in a window waiting for you, Dani...




 And I bought some macarons for the room:




The décor inside is faithful:

Dining area with tables set for dinner at Chefs de France in France Pavilion at Epcot


I had an exquisite meal, duck, with crème brulee for dessert.  The evening there began with a St. Germain cocktail, so you know I had fun!  It was divine and the service was top-knotch.  I spoke French to the server, which they all thought was amusing

One thing that I found jarring each evening, was that even at the fanciest of restaurants people were dressed so casually.  Barry wore his casual suit at both the French and Brown Derby restaurants and myself and the two girls dressed up as well.  Son is another matter..

It was just odd to see people in old tshirt and shorts, lugging stuffed animals, sitting down in a lovely restaurant.  But as they say, when in Disney...

The girlfriend, our pretty travelling companion

Sorry this is so long-winded, but hope you all found this somewhat interesting.. If not, c'est la vie!

Have a happy Tuesday and stay safe out there!
Wendy




  

33 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your eating extravaganza! I must say I am horrified that there exist restaurants in the world without booze! shocking - it's practically a human rights issue!
    The French place at the end looks amazing, in fact all of the venues look very interesting. I am concerned by the poor service and casual attire, though. Do people have no standards? I can understand it if you're going to a cheap, casual cafe, but to go out to a lovely venue for a special meal it just seems bizarre not to dress up a bit!

    Seems I'm turning into some shocked old lady!

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    1. Well Ruth we must have SOME standards ;-) signed a fellow SOL. It's enough to drive one to illicit drink!

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    2. I think in many cases, folks just keep going all day, hence the very casual attire, but it was quite jarring at times!

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  2. Diners are my favourite places to go for dinner, I wish we had them here, I love casual eating, the Brown Derby would have been my number one choice.
    I bet not many even think of packing suit or finery for a Disney trip, I'd have been casual in that French restaurant too, probably with Minnie ears!

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    1. Tabs, they even had Minnie fascinators! I almost bought a pair but then wondered where I'd wear them again???

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    2. This Brown Derby isn't much like a diner, though, it's got a fancy vibe about it.

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  3. Glad you had a great vacation!

    Hope you will enter my blog giveaway! :)

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  4. It all looks soo big they I fear getting lost a bit...people not dressing doesn't surprise me but gears two months wait to eat at Disney??? I would have starved bc I rarely like yo plan ahead...but thankfully you hot that special meal pass bc it seems like the bill would have added up! Odd to see all these recreations of things in eateries but thanks for the tour.

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    1. Naomi, The Brown Derby cost us $150 for alcohol, appetizers and tip! 5 adults eating out is very expensive!

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  5. Glad you found some good restaurants. Most seem to feel nothing more than an overpriced cafeteria. We stayed at Portifino and am interested on your dining experience.

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  6. What feasting WMM. Think otherwise most impressed by Dani's frock, the GF's adorb ears, snow outside a window, and another photo of DD S.! I can wrap my head around the casual dress as some places in Vegas, even the acclaimed top chef ones, are sadly some of same mix, despite posting of dress codes etc. But with Ruth in utter gape-mouthed shock at dry restos. Do they sell flasks at Disney?

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    1. Forgot, totally swooning at macaroms. And did anyone at French Pav. resto actually speak French back?

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    2. Oh yes - all the pavilions are staffed by young people from the host country. So I spoke French as Les Halles and at the Chefs. There is an even finer French restaurant there, Monsieur Paul's, but we chose The Brown Derby over that, which turned out to be a mistake given the poor service! The French pavilion really is lovely. Actually, they all are. Epcot is by far my favourite park - you can go from café to café , hopping around the world, tasting and drinking all the way!

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    3. I haven't been to Epcot since 1985, I remember that about Pavilion staff, but wasn't sure if restos same?

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    4. Yup, restaurant stuff are from the country as well (though not always the chefs)

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  7. Hi BB - will post on Portofino on the weekend I think! I will say that the best steak I've ever eaten in my life was at the Canadian Pavilion in 2007 - it was amazing!

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  8. Thank you so much for this wonderful and helpful recap. It was a very good mix of restaurants of varying themes and formality. Well-researched indeed. Planning where to eat is part of the fun of planning a trip, more so if these exceed your expectations. I will hang my head in shame and admit we have never been to Disney. Must rectify soon as I feel any future dysfunction of my children will be due to this oversight.

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    1. Marie - I love Disney. I run into a lot of people who are very snooty about it, but they almost always have never been. There is fine food, as many rides of varying types if you want them, lots of educational things if you want to pursue that as well. The resorts are clean, friendly and excellent exercise (my shins can attest to that!) I have heard snickers of "Stepford Staff" but have never found that - there are people who love working there and people that work there, IYKWIM. We have gone 3 times with our kids, when they were pre-teens, teens and now adults and I imagine we will go again someday with grandchildren. Each time was special and fun in its own way. My kids are lucky in that they have seen Europe a couple of times and NYC and Boston and TO and Montreal lots, Maine of course, etc, but Disney always feels special and we seem to laugh the whole time!

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  9. So interesting! We'll probably have to head on a family trip to Disney at some stage... I have very fond memories of our family holiday to Disneyland back in the early 80's.
    The place without booze and people taking photos infront of Lady and the Tramp sounds like some sort of version of Hell to me.
    I hate poor service, particularly when you pay so much for a meal (and have booked so far in advance). We once refused to leave a tip in the US for a meal (we had to ask repeatedly for drinks, we were filling up our own water from the jug at the side of the room, the meals came out at different times, some meals were cold and had to be sent back, others were completely forgotten... and on it went). The waiter came up to us after we paid to tell us that we had to tip as it was the custom in the US, and perhaps we didn't know that as Australians? We said yes we did, but you didn't actually provide any service and the food was terrible too. We felt a tiny bit mean after the sad face, but frankly, that's supposedly the point of the tip - isn't it?? xx

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    1. I'm with you on the not tipping! I would have given our fellow something, but not much! You would love WDW even more, as the 4 parks are quite amazing and each one very different than the other, but they would be a long haul for you!

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  10. Thanks for posting this, it felt like I went along with you! Sorry about that Brown Derby server, that's odd for Disney. I guess anyone can have a bad day, but that's a really pricey restaurant to have bad service at. We had dinner at Be Our Guest (got in late on a cancellation) and ate in that rose room. It was not a good meal, but the castle is a spectacular recreation. What they did with the outside scale of it was really cool. Sometimes I think I should take the backstage tour some day, but then I'm not sure I really want to know how they pull it all off. We got directed outside of Main Street in Magic Kingdom once as we exited during a parade and it felt really weird seeing the service entrances and all the normal stuff that Disney usually hides so well.

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    1. It's funny you should say that I was fascinated and wished I'd had more time for backstage tour. Would also love to know HR stuff, etc. I am sure there are good case studies on them in the business lit!

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  11. I think Disney has changed a lot since the 90's when we went. So many choices! Do they have a way to indicate dry restaurants? Most disappointing at the end of the day.

    Most Americans are slobs; I'm glad you tried to improve the visual environment. The get-ups people wear outside of their own homes are shocking-- somehow, it seems worse down here.

    AND, Disney composts! Love them for that.

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    1. I think only the magic kingdom (save be our guest) is dry, because of all the wee ones I guess. We went first in 1991 and it has really changed. I also noticed a lot of the rides have been updated - new graphics, 3D, etc) and Animal Kingdom wouldn't have been there I don't think and that is quite amazing!

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    2. This is true, but the people watching at Disney is amazing! :D

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  12. Interesting post Wendy and glad to read you had fun. I am not very surprised people not dressing up for dinning out at Disney. We went into a one star Michelin restaurant for my hubby BDay and a couple arrived, the gent was wearing a pair of jeans!
    It is annoying how a bad service can ruin a good diner even if the food is good or even exceptional! and the other way round is also true. An average restaurant experience could be enhance with a fabulous waiter...

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    1. Steph - you are so right! We dined once at a so-so restaurant in Provence that we adored because the server was so kind and friendly!

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  13. The last time we went to Disney World was over Thanksgiving week a few years ago. Thanksgiving week is second only to the week between Christmas and New Year's as the busiest weeks of the year. I did not really know much about the whole needing to make reservations situation for restaurants. Consequently we were one of the families trying to get in restaurants. Luckily the restaurant at that animal Kingdom Lodge, Boma, was one of the best. It was a buffet but very nice. We even ate Thanksgiving dinner there. It featured traditional fare as well as African food. I was able to try some interesting things and my picky family was able to eat American food. The best part was that they had a huge breakfast buffet every morning. I can see not serving alcohol at the restaurants in the Magic Kingdom. I guess they have had to cleanup one too many messes after the spinning teacups!

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    1. SC - I never thought of those spinning teacups, though I think they have some spinny rides in the other parks as well! I really want to eat at the Animal Kingdom Lodge someday - it looks amazing!

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  14. I was firmly in the "I'd rather have a root canal" camp but took the kids on a Disney cruise and was so impressed with the service, food, cleanliness. They have the Midas touch when it comes to family fun and converted me to be a fan too. You picked some great spots to dine!!

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  15. Wow it all sounds so wonderful and you are so organised! And real French croissants are the best!

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  16. Casual Americans. It can be a bit embarassing. I'll follow suit with Barry (slaps knee) and dress up if we ever do DisneyWorld. Everyone will think we're from outside the US. lol Thank you for sharing all of this. I love itl.

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Kindness is a virtue...