Le Cellier: Does It Match the Hype?

People rave about Le Cellier. You’d think Le Cellier was the greatest restaurant on Earth if you believed half the things you hear about it. My wife and I hit for lunch to find out if Le Cellier could live up to the hype.

Food: The food at Le Cellier is good. The breadsticks are amazing and the pretzel bread lives up to expectations. The chedder cheese soup good but I was surprised by how thick it was. It is a very thick soup. It will fill you up. The steaks are good and cooked correctly. The salads are decent too. The deserts are good. My wife got the Maple Crème Brulee. My wife said it was good but I’m not a big fan of Crème Brulee so I can’t really comment on it. One of the things my wife liked about it was the top. It was cooked right and was crunchy.

Atmosphere: The dark wood beams and other accents make it feel like you are really in a cellar. For some people that might not be a good thing but if you like the idea of being in a wine cellar you’ll like it. Another good thing about the atmosphere is that it tends to be quite. That’s always nice when you are dining.

Service: The service was top notch. You will have a hard time finding better service than the service at Le Cellier. They are attentive, informative, and know their stuff.

Price: Le Cellier is expensive. It’s very expensive. I’m not talking California Grill expensive but I will say that it is the most expensive one table service credit in Disney World. If you are on the dining plan you will make out like a bandit here. If you are paying out of pocket and do not have Tables in Wonderland you will hurt when you see the bill.

Notes: I want to know something. Why would you bring a kid to Le Cellier who is going to order mac and cheese? What a waste. I only bring this up because a table behind us did that. I understand the parents want to eat in a nice restaurant but let your kids eat the bread and then grab them something at a quick service or a snack stand. It will be much cheaper and I bet the kid would enjoy it more.

Overall Le Cellier meets the hype but just barely. I wasn’t impressed it just met my expectations. I would not list it on my must do list but I would go back.

Tusker House Review

It was a cold rainy day when my wife and I rolled into Tusker House. Neither of us had eaten there before. My wife hates buffets but was glad to be somewhere warm. I don’t mind a good buffet but I wasn’t sure if Tusker House would fit the bill. So how did it stack up?

Food: The food at tusker house is good. You get a nice selection and the food is varied. You can do cold cuts, carved meats, and a variety of other dishes. There were a few items that were bad but there were enough good ones to make up for them. One that really stands out is the fired plantains. I’ve eaten a decent amount of plantains. I know that they should not taste like bananas. If you want something that tastes like bananas you’ll just eat bananas. The fried plantains were disgustingly sweet. Plantains should be savory not sweet. They were not edible.

Atmosphere: For an open buffet it was not as loud as I was expecting. It was nothing compared to Kouzzina. The decorations were nice and gave everything a festive, lively feel. The tables and seats were a wooden which fit perfectly into the theme.

Service: The serve was ok. You don’t expect much. They come over and take your drink order and take your plates away. They did that well. We always had enough to drink and as soon as we went back the old plates disappeared. For a buffet that’s decent service.

Price: The price is ok. It’s a theme park restaurant so you know you are going to pay through the nose to begin with. There are better dining deals to be had in Disney World but Tusker House is not outrageous.

Overall Tusker House is a decent theme park restaurant that is worth trying a few times.

It’s a Small, Awful, Painful, Boring, World

My wife and I had a fast pass for Peter Pan, 20 minutes to wait, and didn’t want to backtrack after a day of bouncing around the Magic Kingdom. What could we do?

It’s a Small World had a zero wait time so we got on. There is a reason it had a zero wait time. That should have been a warning for us.

I’d been on It’s a Small World when I was a kid. I didn’t remember out right hating it but things change over time. To say this ride was painful is an understatement. It was awful. I’ll have night terrors for months because of this ride. Only drugs could have made this ride enjoyable.

How bad could it be? It was so bad my wife and I wished we had sat on bench for the 20 minutes we had to wait for Peter Pan. People watching would have been much better.

Photo of the Week: Best Sign in Disney

Disney tends to put detail into everything, even the places you wouldn't expect. The sign for the Tower of Terror is a great example. It looks like an old stone hotel sign but if you wait long enough you'll see it light up. A lot of people don't bother to wait they just run by the sign and up into the queue. That's too bad because this is a great place for a group photo.

New Video: Pirates of the Caribbean

A video of Pirates of the Caribbean has been posted on YouTube. This video was taken in March of 2010. The original video was in 1080p. You'll notice that the smoke screen video at the start of the ride was broken when we were on this. A few days later it was working again.

This is the Walt Disney World version which puts the video under six minutes once I edited it.

I filmed this without using a view finder so the quality isn't fantastic but it's far better than what my old camera could do.

The video can be viewed here.

New Video: Splash Mountain

If you've been following the blog for a while you know I had Splash Mountain video from my 2008 trip posted on YouTube. I've replaced that with a new version which has far better quality.

The video was taken in the beginning of March 2010 just days after Splash Mountain reopened after it's refurbishment. The light seemed brighter, the paint seemed more vibrant, and almost everything seemed to be working well. The only exception was the Brer Rabbit that jumps. You could really it's wires and it made it look almost creepy.

The video can be viewed here.

Voyage of the Little Mermaid

I had very low expectations for the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I thought it was going to be a kids show and that my wife and I would be bored stiff. I was proved wrong.

The queue room for the show is great. They hit the theme right on the head. The decorations are funny and fit perfectly with the Little Mermaid theme.

The first major scene is Sebastian and friends doing “Under the Sea.” This scene is jaw dropping. All the actors are dressed in total black and the puppets light up under a black light. The most amazing part of this scene is how they manage to make the puppets seem like they are swimming and the overall movements. It’s amazing that the actors don’t get in the way of the puppets and that they don’t trip over themselves. I was tempted to watch the entire show twice just to see this scene again.

The rest of the scenes are decent but it’s very obvious everything is lip synced it takes a little out of the show. The effects in all parts are amazing but when they do the water effects the first three or four rows get really wet.

One disappointing was the show was missing a “Kiss the Girl” scene. I bet that would have been awesome. Because it’s missing, the show jumps from Ariel giving up her voice to Ursula being killed which is about two thirds of the movie.

One warning to parents, Ursula might scare younger children. She is rather creepy.

Overall, go see this show. It’s great.

Photo of the Week: The Mexico Pavilion

I know I've mentioned it before but the inside of the Mexico Pavilion is one of the most impressive in Disney World. Try to find any place in all of Disney World that is themed better. This photo was taken from my table at the San Angel Inn.

Kouzzina - Poopa

Let me start by saying my grand mother was a full blooded Greek. I ate a lot of spinach pie, baklava, and lamb when I was a kid. I was looking forward to Kouzzina because it’s really hard to find good Greek food. You can’t overlook the name that goes with it. Cat Cora of Iron Chef fame is behind this place.

I’ll start with the food. Kouzzina has great food. I ordered the cinnamon stewed chicken. My wife ordered the flank steak. Both were great. We go the Loukoumades (donut holes) for desert. They were steaming hot and had some great dipping sauces with them.

Now for everything else: Kouzzina is the loudest restaurant you will ever eat at. There are no surfaces that absorb sound. It’s all hardwood and metal surfaces. It’s so loud my wife and I had to yell at each other to talk and we were not even sitting it the loudest part of the restaurant. The sad part is there is not music or anything like that. It’s just people talking that makes this restaurant so loud. The open kitchen doesn’t help either.

Service: The service was bad, really bad. Our waitress said hi, grabbed our drink orders, and then disappeared. When she showed up again with the drinks she took our orders and said she’d get us some bread. Time went by. More time went by. She ran by and said she still had to get our bread. Then our entrees came. Then she showed up with the bread. She said she was sorry but better late than never. Then she disappeared again. Another big issue was the drinks. They were often empty. At one point my water was bone dry empty for over five minutes. That is a huge no, no.

Price: The price was excessive. It was very expensive and we didn’t even get an app. For what it was it was really over priced. The only reason this restaurant stays open is because Cat Cora’s name is on it. That won’t last forever.

I would rather eat at Yak and Yeti or Citricos again then go back to Kouzzina and that’s saying a lot (see Yak and Yack and Yeti and Citricos: Where’s The Burping Troll When You Need Her). Kouzzina was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had in Disney World.

I guess I can sum it up in one word POOPA!

The Festival of the Lion King

During my most recent Disney vacation I tried a number of rides I hadn’t done before, or had not done in a long time. The first on the list is the Festival of the Lion King found in Camp Minnie Mickey in the Animal Kingdom.

I was really surprised by the Festival of the Lion King. I was expecting the old Lion King show that used to be where Philharmagic is now. I was not expecting an immersive stage show with live singers, acrobats, and flame dancers.

This is a must see show. It’s one of the best shows in any Disney part. This isn’t just a show for kids even though kids would go nuts for this show. The show is broken up into four sections. Each section is amazing in its own way. The show is a little over 30 minutes so each section has plenty of time and doesn’t feel rushed. The two sections that really stand out are the monkey guys jumping on the trampolines with the gymnastics equipment mixed in (check out my video to see what I’m talking about). The other part that really stands out is the fire juggler. I really don’t know how that gut doesn’t get seriously burned. When you see it you’ll know what I mean.

The only drawback of the show is that it’s loud. Nothing booming or anything like that, it’s just too loud overall. The volume could be turned down a little.

Overall it’s a great attraction that everyone should see.

La Nouba – Is It Worth the Money?

La Nouba is an amazing show full of stunts, artistry, and music. Parts are funny, parts are creepy, and parts make your jaw drop. That all sounds great but, is it worth $90+ a ticket?

I’ll start by saying that I sat in the “Front and Center” section. That section is not worth the money. It is too close to the stage and too much happens behind you to really enjoy everything. It was really disappointing. Do not but those tickets. That’s odd too because those are the most expensive tickets in the house. If you sat in the second section back in the middle you would have perfect seats.

There are some odd parts of La Nouba. Some parts could scare a young child and other parts would bore them to death. For a kid La Nouba is not worth the ticket price.

The cheaper seats are well worth the money. It is an amazing show. That is worth seeing at least once. I don’t want to ruin the show but the bikers stand out. The other amazing scenes are the trampoline scene and the Asian Jugglers. If you’ve seen it you know what I am talking about.

The only real drawback of La Nouba is the volume. It is almost painfully loud. My ears rang for about two hours after the show. It really needs to be turned down a little.

New Video: Glass Worker

A video of the glass worker in the Mexico Pavilion at Epcot has been uploaded to YouTube. This guy sometimes does demos in the last shop on the left. You can't tell right away but he's making one of Goofy's Legs. A lot of work goes into making one of those little figurines.

You can see the video here.

Year of a Million Screams

It’s funny what grabs your attention when you go on vacation. In December of 2008 my wife and I were amazed by the number of ECVs that could be found in the parks at Disney World. In February 2010 something else grabbed our attention. It seemed like every time we turned around there was a kid melting down.

I really think they Give a Day, Get a Day should be replaced with “The Year of a Million Screams.” The meltdown is something that has always amazed me. In many cases meltdowns can be avoided but if parents did that I would have less to write about.

There are two very different types of melt downs. The first is the classic scream as loud as you can / disagree with everything meltdown. These tend to be cause by utter exhaustion. These often happen after 3pm depending on the age of the child. The scene is classic, a screaming kid and a parent who looks half dead carrying / dragging them. These can be avoided by a noontime break / nap. These can also be avoided by not keeping your kid awake for the 9:30pm Hoop Dee Doo or the 9pm La Nouba or ANYTHING that late.

I know this is off subject but – WHY WOULD YOU DRAG A KID TO La Nouba IN THE FIRST PLACE! That is not a kids show. The 9pm show just blows my mind entirely.

The second kind of melt down is the acting out followed by the stern lecture by a parent. This is like a double melt down because both the parent and the kid are melting down. These are some of the funniest melt downs. The canned lecture is awesome. They always include a reference to how the kid is ruining the vacation for someone else and a reference to how much money is being spent. You think I’m kidding? I quote:

“The way you are acting is ruining this vacation for your mother. I spent a lot of money for this vacation and I’m not going to let you ruin it.”

I overheard that by the cash register in the Emporium on Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom.

Another classic is when the parent threatens the child with something ridiculous. I overheard a parent threaten to leave the park and drive home. This was about an hour after the park opened. Kids are not dumb. You need a real threat.

What cause this kind of melt down? There are two things. One is a total lack of ever discipline your child. The other factor having an overly structured vacation that results more attention being given to doing everything than enjoying time with your child. To prevent this take it easy, be flexible, and remember that enjoying what you are doing is better than trying to do everything. If you kid wants to do a ride again, do it again. It’s their vacation too.

New Video: Mexico Mariachi Band

A video of the Mexico Pavilion's Mariachi Band has been posted to YouTube. This is the first time I have ever seen them in the pavilion. I'm sure they are around with some regularity though.

This video was taken in March of 2010 and can be seen here.

New Video: American Adventure Drummer Corps

A video of the American Adventure's Drummer Corps has been posted to YouTube. This video was captured in February of 2010. They perform in front of the American Adventure building in Epcot. They time it to match up the next show inside the pavilion and then invite everyone in. If the Voices of Liberty are performing inside the building the Drummer Corps will not perform outside.

The video can be viewed here.

Photo of the Week: Nighttime Terror

The Tower of Terror is impressive enough during the day. Wait until evening and it gets even more impressive. It's in the top three for Disney Landmarks following only Cinderella's Castle and Spaceship Earth.

New Video: Splash Mountain Drop in Slow Motion

A video of the drop on Splash Mountain in actual slow motion has been posted to YouTube. The video is not regular video slowed down it's high speed video played at a normal speed.

The video was taken in February 2010 and can be seen here.

New Video: Tomorrow Land Transit Authority at Night

I've always loved the TTA or Webway People Mover as it should still be called. I took this video on a cold night in March. This video was impossible with m old video camera. It didn't come out too bad.

There will be a lot more video's coming.

You can see the video here.

Walking Into the Prime Time

On our last day in the parks we found ourselves in DHS on a Thursday. Thanks to Fantasmic the place was busting at the seams. We were hungry and didn’t feel like grabbing quick service or a snack. We walked over to the Prime Time Café. The place was very busy but we were not planning on going to the restaurant. Thanks to podcasts and lots of research I knew the bar at the Prime Time served the full menu. Despite all the people who were waiting to be seated in the main restaurant my wife and I were able to walk right up the bar and sit down next to each other.

We’d eaten there before so we had an idea of what to expect. We ordered the Meat Loaf and the Chicken Caesar Salad. I’m picky about meatloaf but the meatloaf at the 50’s Prime Time is awesome. It really hits the spot. If you are a fan of meatloaf you have to try it. The Chicken Caesar Salad was good. The Caesar dressing wasn’t too thick or too thin. It was too fishy or bland. It was just right.

Another great thing about the 50’s Prime Time is their beers on tap. They mostly have good beers on tap with the only exception being Bud Light. They had the seasonal Sam Adams, Blue Moon and a couple other great beers on tap. However, the real alcohol draw is the mixed drinks. The mixed drinks are inexpensive and they give a good pour. My wife and I ordered Long Islands and they were great. I’d venture to say that the bar at the prime time is one of the best bars in Disney World.

After eating we ordered desert. We split a Peanut Butter and Jelly shake. I forgot how good these are. I am not kidding when I say it is the best food item in Disney World. You have not had a shake / frappe until you have had one of these.

I don’t need to go into other aspects of the restaurant because I’ve already covered it before. If you want more details see “It’s Prime Time.”

Dining Review: The Hollywood Brown Derby

The Brown Derby is the best restaurant you’ll find in a theme park. There I said it. There are so many good things about the Brown Derby it’s hard to list them all but I’ll try.

Food: The food is great. The Cobb Salad is a must eat. You can order it as an app that two people can split or as an entrée even though it’s only listed as an app. It’s one of the best salads I’ve ever had. Both my wife and I ordered it and we both loved it even though our tastes often differ.

Another great thing about the food at the Brown Derby is the deserts. They are amazing. I ordered the Grape Fruit cake. Some people might be turned off by the name but it is a great desert. It’s not too sweet and it’s not too tart. It’s a great end to any meal. My wife ordered the Banana White Chocolate Toffee Tower. It’s hard to describe how good that desert is. It’s unique. I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere else. My wife does not like banana flavored things but she tried it anyways. She loved it.

Service: The service was great. Our server was Kimberly from West Palm Beach. She was great. We couldn’t fluster her. I didn’t mean to but I forgot to ask for no blue cheese on my salad. She ran out back and had the order changed. She also stayed pleasant even though we both ordered water and ordered an app for an entrée. We weren’t trying to be cheap it’s just what we wanted. She was always upbeat and responsive.

Atmosphere: The Brown Derby is the best themed of any Disney restaurant. People might laugh at me and say it’s poorly themed. Those people are idiots. People overlook it’s theme because it’s in DHS. If you took the Brown Derby out of DHS people would say it has a great theme. It fits so perfectly into the Hollywood theme of DHS that people tend to overlook it. When you walk into the Brown Derby you are walking into Hollywood.

Price: A lot of people say that the Brown Derby is expensive. They are right but you’ll spend about the same amount if you eat at Le Cellier. Overall I think it’s a little over priced but when you consider it’s located in a theme park you realize it’s about on par for what they are serving.

Overall the Brown Derby is a great restaurant that everyone should try at least once.

New Video - Festival of the Lion King

A full version of Festival of the Lion King have been posted to YouTube. You can find this attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Camp Minnie Mickey. It's one of the better shows in Disney World.

This video was taken in February of 2010 during a very slow day at the Animal Kingdom.

This is the first video I'm posting with my new camcorder. The original files were in 1080p.

The video is in four parts because of YouTube's time restrictions.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four

Photo of the Week: The Boardwalk

Disney's Boardwalk might not be the biggest or most impressive resort but does have some charm. Often at night there is a lot going on and the place gets lit up like no other resort at Disney.

Unofficially Banned From Disney World

The State of NH issued a press release late last week which unofficially banned the Cousin Mickey Doesn't Talk About from ever traveling to Disney World again.

The unprecedented move is in response to recent weather related events.

In 2008 CMDTA traveled to Disney World. A few days after he left the most devastating ice storm in NH history struck leaving some without power for nearly two weeks.

In February 2010, just hours after CMDTA left the ground, a massive nor' easter slammed into the North East leaving many without power for nearly a week.

Many are complaining that the authorities didn't take the warnings seriously. Months before CMDTA left authorities were warned that poor weather was possible. (see Awful Weather Predicted for the First Week in March)

When questioned as to why they did not take the warnings seriously, spokesman for the State of NH, a talking jar of maple syrup responded, "We are taking the warnings seriously now. We never thought one person visiting Disney World could cause so much chaos. We know better now."