Disney Dining Reviews - August 2022

[daisylovesdisney]

We're just back from our 9 wonderful days at WDW! Had a mix of the good, the great, and some not so enjoyable food while there. Our travel group included my 75 year old mom who prefers her food plain and simple, my vegetarian 40 year old sister, my 30 something brother who is open to trying new things as long as they don't include cheese, my very adventurous tween son and myself.

We often ate breakfast in the room before heading out for the day. Some of our plans were fizzled by the evening storms, we ended up canceling some plans and just staying at the resort.

Day 1
Captain Cook's + Pineapple Lanai at the Poly

Day 2
Beaches Pool Bar & Gasparilla Grill at the GF

Day 3
Food & Wine booths, Connections Eatery - Epcot
Columbia Harbour House + Auntie Gravity's Galactic Goodies - MK

Day 4
Beaches Pool Bar & Grill & Gasparilla Grill at the GF

Day 5
Oga's Cantina, Backlot Express & PizzeRizzo - DHS
France Food and Wine booth, Yorkshire Fish & Chips - Epcot

Day 6
Grand Floridian Cafe
Typhoon Tilly's
Gasparilla Grill

Day 7
Anandapur Ice Cream truck - AK
International Food and Wine booths + Katsura Grill - Epcot
Skipper Canteen + Storybook Treats - MK

Day 8
Chef Mickey's
Enchanted Rose
Citricos

Day 9
Grand Floridian Cafe

 

[mickey916]

Can't wait to read your reviews!

 

[daisylovesdisney]

Day 1
Captain Cook's and Pineapple Lanai

We checked into the GF and unfortunately it was a rainy day so we canceled our pool plans and took the monorail over to the Poly. We went to an old favorite counter service, Captain Cook's. It was quite busy there so we placed a mobile order, purchased refillable mugs and waited for the pick up notification. It took a long time for our order and they told me it's because they can only make the stir fry entrees two at a time, so if they have several orders those can get backed up.

My sister got the pan Asian noodles and vegetables with tofu, my mother got the pan Asian noodles and vegetables, I got the pan Asian noodles and vegetables with chicken, my brother got the cheeseburger meal, and my son went with the pulled pork nachos.

Overall we all thought the pan Asian noodles were just okay, nothing great. I remember liking them much more on a previous visit a few years ago. My brother was happy enough with his burger and my son enjoyed his nachos. I forgot to take photos until we were halfway through so just skipped them. I wouldn't make a special trip to the Poly just to eat at Captain Cook's, but it's convenient if you want to watch the fireworks from the beach.

Captain Cook's rating 6/10. Wasn't terrible, wasn't great.

We saw a short line at the Pineapple Lanai and figured it's always a good time for an ice cream. My sister and I both got the Dole whip soft serve pineapple/vanilla swirl and my son went with the pineapple float with the swirl ice cream. This was even better than I remembered, super creamy and delicious! Not grainy at all which I don't care for. We had good timing because within a couple of minutes the line greatly increased.

Pineapple Lanai rating 10/10, highly recommend!

After this we walked back to the GF, catching the electrical water pageant along the way.

 

[daisylovesdisney]

Day 2

Beaches Pool Bar and Grill

This was a planned resort day and we had breakfast in the room and then headed out to the GF Beach pool for the day. We were lucky to get some lounge chairs together and had a fantastic sunny day for some fun pool time. After some swimming we worked up an appetite and I ordered the lobster sliders with cucumber salad, my sister had the cucumber salad and potato barrels, and my brother, mother and son all went with the chicken nuggets with Thai chili sauce on the side and the potato barrels. Over the course of the day I also had a Pina Colada and Banana Cabana, and my sister and son each had a Lava Smoothie.

I was very happy with the lobster sliders and the cucumber salad was surprisingly delicious. Everyone else enjoyed the meals, as well as their lava smoothies. The pina colada was also good and I especially enjoyed the Banana Cabana.

We had a fantastic CM working poolside taking the food/drink orders who also helped make the day even more enjoyable.

Beaches Pool Bar and Grill rating 9/10. We enjoyed the food/drinks very much, but the vegetarian selection is a bit limited if you don't care for portabella mushrooms.









Gasparilla Island Grill

After the pool and getting cleaned up we enjoyed some of the games they have set up around the resort and checked out the arcade. We got caught by the crazy rain again and decided just to stay at the resort for an easy dinner. We ordered from Gasparilla Grill and ate at an outdoor table under the awning. Carrying all the refillable mugs and food to the table was a bit of a hassle and I forgot to take photos, so sorry for that.

I ordered a special order pizza with pepperoni and peppers, my mother and son got the cheese pizza, my sister went with the Impossible burger meal and my brother got the Artisan burger. We also got Caesar salads to share.

My pizza also ended up coming with sausage which I don't care for and picked off, but otherwise everything was as ordered. This ended up being a bit predictable as almost every order with a special request arrived incorrect throughout the week.

The pizza was actually pretty good, not great, but better than I expected. My brother enjoyed his artisan burger and my sister's Impossible burger was fine. Turned out we weren't super hungry and the salads weren't finished but they tasted fine.

Overall rating 6.5/10 due to limited menu selections and incorrect order.

We ended up going back to the room to enjoy the fireworks and try to get a good night's rest for a busy park day the next day.

 

[daisylovesdisney]

Day 3
Food & Wine, Connections Eatery - Epcot
Columbia Harbour House + Auntie Gravity's Galactic Goodies - MK

We had breakfast in the room before making our way to the monorail and heading over to Epcot. Had a great day there with reasonable crowds. Went on Spaceship Earth, Test Track, Nemo, Soarin and Remy and decided to finally take a break for some lunch. I really wanted to try the Food & Wine booth in France but wow, was that line long. Seemed like everyone had the same idea!

So we walked a bit and spotted the Brazilian booth and I got the Pao de Queijo, aka cheese bread. This was also on my must have list and I found it quite good! I liked the texture and flavor of both of the breads. I also got my first Fromage Montage stamp there.

Rating 7/10



From there we decided to stop at Morocco inside the old Tangierine Cafe. This was primarily because they had good vegetarian options for my sister who often ends up with the short of end the stick at Disney, and also because they had some open air seating. It was inside, but not totally enclosed, and provided some good shade and air conditioning. It was boiling hot out and taking the time to sit and cool off was a big help.

I ordered a few lemon-garlic chicken kababs, a few fried falafel pitas, and a few stone baked Moroccan bread with dipping sauces for us to share (my sister skipped the chicken). This was a big hit with everyone for the most part. My son was not a fan of the falafel which surprised me. The bread and dipping sauces was popular and I ended up getting an additional order. I knew everyone would eat the hummus, but I was partial to the zaalouk and zhoug dips. Eggplant and cilantro are two of my favorite flavors so no surprise I leaned towards those options. The chicken kabob was pretty standard, the garlic aioli added a nice flavor and the salad it came was fresh and a good addition. Unfortunately I missed a photo of the dips.

Rating - chicken and falafel - 7/10



We had planned to continue our walk around the countries but I ended up getting an unexpected Genie+LL for Frozen Ever After that started soon after, so instead we caught the boat to Canada and walked over there. Then we stopped in Mexico and finally made our way to our GoTC for the virtual queue (the ride was amazing!).

At this point I really just wanted to hop to the MK, but my brother and son were requesting a stop for a break so we walked into the nearest location, the Connections Eatery.

Here my sister and son each had a mango-coconut milk shake. They must have liked it because they drank every last drop! My brother and I each got the classic burger meal with no cheese, and my mom had the kids chicken strips. This was one of our more disappointing meals. My brother's burger was ordered with no cheese or pickles and came with both. Both our burgers were dry, barely warm, and just not good. The fries were hard and luke warm at best. We won't return there.

Rating - Mango-coconut milk shake 8/10, Food 3/10


Finally made our way over to the monorail and hopped to the MK. Went on Buzz, Pirates, saw the Tiki birds, Haunted Mansion, IASW, saw the fireworks and used our SDMT ILL. Worked up an appetite and made a stop at Columbia Harbour House. This is an old favorite of ours that we have enjoyed for YEARS. I got the trio platter, my mom and son got the salmon, my brother got chicken strips and my sister got the Hail to the Leaf salad minus the chicken. My brother had ordered rice as his side instead of fries, I had ordered green beans as my side instead of fries, and my mom had ordered her fish with rice and green beans and ended up with fries and green beans.

They gave me my tray and I didn't even notice till I sat that all our orders had fries instead of the sides we selected (they repeated the order back to us and had it correct on our receipt as well). Not sure what happened, this basically kept happening at every counter service.

My brother went and swapped his fries for rice, I just gave up and didn't bother to go switch for the green beans. My sister raved about her salad which also looked fresh and well prepared. The salmon was okay, no big complaints but nothing great. My trio platter was surprisingly bland and overcooked. The fish portion was terrible compared to previous fish I had there, hard and just not good. The fried shrimp were edible but again, pretty hard. I didn't even want the chicken but it came with the order. The fries were not the nice large wedges that usually come with fried fish. This counter service just didn't wow us and was not nearly as good as in years past. I hope it goes back to its former glory. I rated it a 4.5 because my sister was pleased with her salad but would have given it a 3/10 otherwise.

I only took a photo of my trio meal.

Rating 4.5/10




Last but not least, we got some ice cream right before Auntie Gravity's Galactic Goodies closed for the evening. This is never my personal favorite, for soft serve I find it grainy and prefer a smoother/creamier consistency but my family was demanding ice cream lol. My mom got a float, I got a brownie sundae and everyone else soft serve cups. They were all fine, just very melty immediately and again the texture was grainy as usual. (for comparison I loved the soft serve they used to have in France but it's disappeared).

Rating 5/10

 

[daisylovesdisney]

Day 4 was similar to Day 2, with meals at the Beaches Pool Bar and Grill and Gasparillas.

Again, the lobster sliders and Banana Cabana were a big hit at Beaches.

We changed things up a bit at Garparillas, with both my sister and I getting the house made macaroni and cheese. This tasted pretty good though it came with french fries which I found to be an odd combo. I tried to get a side of vegetables or a side salad but no go. My mom and son both got the cheese pizza, again their pizzas was fine, not bad, nothing great. We planned to get dessert there but nothing really appealed to us, they have a pretty limited selection.

 

[TwingleMum]

Really enjoying your reviews. Like how you don't let the not so great experiences get to you. The food can be hit or miss , I find. But hey, you are in Disney with your family so that's priceless.

 

[daisylovesdisney]

Really enjoying your reviews. Like how you don't let the not so great experiences get to you. The food can be hit or miss , I find. But hey, you are in Disney with your family so that's priceless.

Thank you, we had a great time!

 

[daisylovesdisney]

Day 5
Oga's Cantina, Backlot Express & PizzeRizzo - DHS
Stop in France, Epcot, Yorkshire Fish and Chips

Backlot Express
We got to DHS later than we originally planned (this happened to us every time so we may as well just plan on a later start time ). We went straight over to Toy Story Land, used our SDD LL, got another for Toy Story Mania, took a few pics and then headed over to the Backlot Express. We got there 5 minutes before opening and placed a mobile order, found a table and waited for our order to be ready. Within 15-20 minutes the place was packed with groups circling around to find a table so I was happy we arrived a bit on the early side.

Despite all my plans to try someplace new, we seem to always end up at the Backlot. It's part combination of location and part that they have vegetarian options my sister likes (something other than Impossible burgers or cheese pizza).

My sister got the teriyaki tofu bowl, I had the southwest salad with chicken, my brother had the hamburger meal and my mom and son both had chicken strips. The food was fresh and hot, and all in all it was a decent counter service meal. I forgot to take pics here unfortunately. After this we headed over to Galaxy's Edge. It was the first time my mom, brother and sister had been back to WDW since it opened and so we planned to spend quite a bit time of there.

Rating: 7/10

First we explored the area and took some photo pass pics, then headed over to our adr at Oga's.

Oga's Cantina,
I went back and forth about possibly canceling Oga's Cantina, wasn't sure it was worth the time out of our day just to go get a drink. I'm very happy we went, as the entire family of all ages enjoyed it. We had a bit of a wait past our adr time but ended up with a standing spot right by the droid DJ which was a big hit.

I had the Outer Rim, my brother had the Fuzzy Tauntaun, and my mom, sister and son all had the non-alcoholic drink, the Hyperdrive. Our server was super friendly and these were her recommendations. I was sure my son would get the blue milk but the kids at the table next to us had it and it didn't look appealing to him.

Rating: 8/10







After this we had a LL at Smuggler's Run which we all enjoyed, my son and brother had a stop at the Droid Depot which was a big hit, and rode Rise of the Resistance. We walked around a bit more and explored the area, took some more photos and then moved on to explore a bit more of DHS.

PizzeRizzo
We rode the new Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad and then watched the Muppets 3D movie. Although our plan was to hop to Epcot, everyone was requesting to get something to eat first so we made an unexpected stop at PizzeRizzo. We've never been here before but it was nice to have an A/C break and sit down for a bit. My brother went with the Meatball Sub which he thought was good and filling, the rest of us had the pizza which was fine, not great, could have also just been I was looking forward to eating at the Food and Wine stands in Epcot.
Rating: 6/10

After this we finally hopped to Epcot via the Skyliner which was a fun ride. We split on arrival so I could stop and see my favorite Epcot attraction, Impressions de France. I've enjoyed this since I was a child and no WDW trip is complete without it. Everyone else headed over to ride Soarin and Living with the Land.

While waiting for the next showing of Impressions de France, I stopped in the wine shop and had a glass of Veuve, can't go wrong with that! After the movie I saw there was no wait at the French Food and Wine stand and I picked up the braised short rib with mashed potatoes. It was pretty good, I wasn't very hungry but really wanted to try it.







I met up with my family again and we also met up with some friends that were also vacationing in WDW the same week. All the boys went on Mission Space followed by Guardians of the Galaxy, my mom and sister went to walk around the Epcot countries some more and then to find a spot for Harmonious, and the other mom and I sat down for a bit and got caught up. We saw some of Harmonious and towards the end we took the kids on Frozen Ever After (evening deluxe magic hours had started). Then we split up again with some of us going on Test Track as the last ride of the evening and the rest of us went over to ride Ratatouille.

Yorkshire Fish and Chips
I was very happily surprised to see Yorkshire Fish & Chips open as I had heard all the food locations were basically closed during the extra evening hours. I picked up an order of the fish and chips and this was a good as I remember. Fresh and hot, the fish was quite good as well were the chips aka french fries. I really enjoyed this and continues to be one of my fave food stops!

Rating: 9/10

 

[daisylovesdisney]

Day 6
Grand Floridian Café
Typhoon Tilly's and the Snack Shack
Gasparilla Grill

We started this day off with brunch at the Grand Floridian Café with my family before I went off with my son to Typhoon Lagoon while everyone else hung out at the resort pool.

I went with the brioche French toast, my mother and brother each had the Grand Breakfast, my sister had the avocado toast, and my son had the kid's Minnie's Grand pancake with eggs and bacon on the side. For drinks my son had the Mega berry smoothie, my sister had the tropical splash, my mom and brother had the OJ and I had the Grand Mimosa as well as coffee.

This was our first time ever to the Grand Floridian Cafe and we were not disappointed! The brioche French toast was delicious and everyone was happy with their food. Surprisingly, I wasn't a huge fan of the Grand Mimosa which was a bit bitter for my taste. The service here is also a bit on the slow side. The server was super nice, but it took quite a bit longer to get our food than expected. We had the same experience when we went again later in the week, so I think it just takes a while for the kitchen to get the food out. We'll definitely return and just keep that in mind when planning our day.









The Snack Shack, Typhoon Tilly's and

We met up with my son's friend's at Typhoon Lagoon and we had some drinks/food at different times during our visit. The kids started with ice cream cones from the Snack Shack which was close to our seating area. They got the Hei Hei Cone and Motunui Island Twist cones. The Hei Hei cone looked like the parrot from Moana and was made with raspberry and pineapple soft swirl and the Motunui cones were made with lime soft swirl. They were so pretty I almost felt bad that they were getting eaten but the kids gobbled them up!

I enjoyed a mojito of some sort from a bar across from Typhoon Tilly's. I think it had passion fruit juice or something of that sort. I don't recall the name of the drink or bar but it was a small place that was doing a good amount of business at that time!

Later on we shared some food from Typhoon Tilly's and the Snack Shack which were right next to each other. I got a few orders of fish tacos and the chicken strips for sharing and his friend's parents ordered the Loaded Nachos with Walt's chili for sharing. These were all fine, nothing great but also not bad.



I didn't get a pic of the Hei Hei cone (which really looked neat!) but managed to get a quick of the Motunui Island Twist cones before they were quickly eaten.



We were going to eat dinner in Disney Springs, but the lightening storm came and my son was tired so we just ended up going back to the resort. We had a low key evening, getting food to go from Gasparilla's and preparing for our upcoming day at AK and MK! Gasparilla's has a fairly limited menu, so went with the same options pizza, macaroni and cheese, etc. At least it's good for refilling our mugs again.

 

[PcolaGolfer]

Great review!! Drinks look awesome!!