Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' Dinner Review

Homecomin' is one of the newer restaurants located in the expansion and overhaul of Disney Springs, formally Downtown Disney. Homecomin' is at the Landing section of Disney Springs opposite Morimoto Asia. 

Homecomin' is 1 Table Service Credit on the Disney Dining Plan. 

When you arrive, you check in outside with a Cast Member. We arrived very soggy and in ponchos because it appeared that we chose the rainy evening to walk from our boat dock to the opposite side of Disney Springs! When you check in, you will be told that you will receive a text when your table is ready. As we have UK phones that were on flight mode and only worked on wifi, we were told to just hang around under the cover of the restaurant and we would be called once our table was ready.

We were then called inside as our table was ready. However, we were then told to sit down on the indoor seats whilst our table was prepared. I was just glad to get out of the rain at this point! We were waiting all of a few minutes before the Manager came over to apologise for the delay. Within less than a minute after this we were then being taken to our table.   

Homecomin' has the option of sitting inside or outside on a covered veranda. We were lucky enough to be seated outside and next to the netted windows which had a stunning view of the Springs. 

We had a lovely server who was so nice to us. We also had a manager come and personally check on us throughout our meal and check everything was OK with the allergy menu and the options. I cannot fault the service here at all.

The menu reminds me of southern home-style food. I was spoiled for choice and couldn't choose between a few of the dishes. I asked on Twitter for recommendations of what to go for and went with the most popular option. 

I ordered the fried chicken and donuts. I swapped out the original side for mac and cheese because I had heard so many good things about it that I couldn't leave without trying it. Normally, I really struggle putting sweet and savoury foods together so I was a bit skeptical at first. But my, wasn't I surprised?! The chicken was amazing, there was so much of it that I couldn't finish it. The donuts were coated in brown sugar and the maple syrup tasted like "real" syrup I had in Canada and not out of a bottle. The mac and cheese was in a league of its own. It was packed with stringy, delicious cheese and is way bigger than it looked. I couldn't stop eating this to the point where I had to force myself to stop! 

When the dessert menu was passed round I almost had to say no, until I saw the chocolate cake! I expected a small slice with a little bit of ice cream. Then I remembered that we are in America and no portions are small!

I am fussy with my chocolate cake. I like a real chocolate fudge cake and for it to be moist, not dry. Well, this one really hit the spot. The cake, despite being massive, was lovely and moist and the ice cream, we were told, was made in Winter Park in Orlando! It was so good, but I had to put some in a box to take back to the hotel. 

We were pleasantly surprised by Homecomin'. I knew I would like it, but I didn't know I would like it as much as I did! Being sat outside was great and to watch the sun set from the veranda was really nice paired with our food. 

I would definitely recommend Homecomin' for older families. I didn't see a huge amount of younger children in there and I can't comment much on the menu, but it would also be a good dinner location for a family. I'd also recommend seeing if you can be sat outside, it really did make a difference to our experience and felt more peaceful than indoors. 

Have you been to Homecomin'? 

Tony's Town Square Restaurant Dinner Review

Tony's is an Italian restaurant themed to Lady and the Tramp by the main entrance to the Magic Kingdom. It is a lovely restaurant, with three options for seating; inside the main restaurant, in the conservatory or on the balcony. The balcony is a great place to be seated if you want to watch the parade come by at 14:00. You can always ask to be seated in a particular area, you may just have to wait a little extra.

Tony's is a Table Service restaurant and is 1 Table Service Credit on the Disney Dining Plan. As with most table service restaurants, reservations open up 180 days before. Although I highly recommend getting a reservation at the 180 day mark just to be safe, it is not uncommon to find reservations closer to the time, even on the same day. They also accept walk ins, but you may have to wait longer for a table.

The restaurant itself is lovely and blends in perfectly with the Town Square Theatre style. Outside the main restaurant in the concrete by the balcony you can find the paw prints of Lady and Tramp in a heart. You may have to move a few strollers out the way, but they are there! 

As Disney is keen on Halloween, the decorations were up. All the buildings were beautifully decorated in autumnal colours of orange and deep reds. The front of Tony's was equally decorated in these colours and matched the remainder of the building.  

Check in for the restaurant is in an entrance to the left of the Town Square Theatre where you can meet Mickey Mouse and Tinker Bell. There are a couple of seats there for you to wait, as well as a large container of water that you can help yourself to.

We were seated in the conservatory and I much preferred it to being sat in the main restaurant where I have been seated before. It is much lighter and you can see right on to Main Street, another ideal seating location if you are there for lunch to watch the parade. 

The menu is delightfully Italian with multiple pasta dishes. They also have an extensive allergy menu which caters for most allergies. 

Before your main meals come out, your drinks will arrive followed by a complimentary bread service with olive oil. The bread, I believe, is a sourdough which is gorgeous. They also provide a separate gluten free bread with individual dipping oils. 

I ordered the Chicken Parmigana, a favourite of mine. The chicken itself was massive; extremely thick, moist and coated in golden breadcrumbs. The sauce was lovely and rich, but not too chunky. The pasta was spaghetti with holes in it...that is all I can describe it as. I have never seen it here in the UK, but it didn't feel as heavy as a huge bowl of spaghetti normally is. As with most the restaurants, the portion was massive. 

Another menu favourite is the trio which has a "small" portion of the parmigana, meatball and alfredo pasta. Most of my family had this and said it was lovely. 

For dessert I ordered the Cannoli. I love the cannoli's in Disney. You get two in a portion and they are coated on the edges with chocolate flakes which adds a nice flavour. The shells they are in are nice and crisp and equally as tasty. I definitely recommend just picking them up and going for it; cutting them makes them disappear on to the floor! 

Overall, Tony's was a huge success with my family and everyone loved their meals. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and our server was great. She dealt with the allergy on our table fantastically and even explained to my Grampy about how the steak is cooked and which part it is in order for him to decide how he wanted it cooked. 

Our reservation was for around 18:00. This is probably the best time to get a reservation for dinner, most people are still out in the parks, it is still light outside and still very warm in August. It is nice to split the evening up a little with a nice hearty meal. You may come out of it needing a nap though! 

Rainforest Cafe Animal Kingdom Lunch Review

The Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom is located outside of the park, just past bag check. You do not need a park ticket to go to this restaurant if you are going on your last day or you don't have a ticket for Animal Kingdom. 

All guests can get there by jumping on a Disney World bus or driving to the Animal Kingdom. If it is open, there is a bag check on the left-hand side which is quieter than the other lines and takes you right to the entrance of the restaurant. 

The Rainforest Cafe is 1 Table Service Credit on the Disney Dining Plan. 

I had been to the Rainforest Cafe a good 10 years ago and none of us liked it, so we originally had low expectations of the restaurant. Luckily, we were proved wrong!

Check in is located just inside the main entrance in an elephant booth, which I love! Once you have checked in, you are free to roam the shop until your safari party is called. 

I was sat right next to this little guy, who is in need of a little TLC! 

Our table was just inside the main entrance in a little corner, which was lovely. I had the view of the aquarium for the whole meal and took great pleasure in watching all the fish swim around! 

The menu is very varied, with many options. They also have an allergy menu which the chef will come out and explain to those who require it. You are able to have anything on the main menu on the Dining Plan which is great for those who love a big meal!

I ordered the chicken parmigana which, in my opinion, is the best one on property. The picture doesn't do it justice of how big it is! There are two huge chicken escalopes, a pile of tagliatelle which shavings of cheese on top and a wedge of garlic bread. It is amazing! The chicken is thin and crispy, with a huge amount of melted cheese and marinara sauce. The garlic bread is great and nice to dip in the sauce. The pasta with the sauce is also delicious! 

I will always remember the first time I went to Rainforest Cafe and we saw someone order the Volcano and all the servers would shout it out! When our server said that two people can share it on the Dining Plan, I knew what I was having!

In true Rainforest Cafe fashion, our server arrived shouting "volcaaaaano!" which had me in fits of giggles. The dessert is huge, as you can see. There are three massive wedges of chocolate brownie, with a mountain of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, topped with chocolate sauce and a sparkly thing! It is amazing! The brownies are nice and rich and gooey and work well with the ice cream. I shared this with my sister and we didn't even finish it, so I would say this could serve three people easily! 

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience here. The food is so good with an atmosphere to match. We had a really good time with our server who was fantastic. This restaurant is great for families with little ones, or big kids alike! I'd like to try the one in Disney Springs to see if there is any difference between the two. 

What has been your favourite experience at the Rainforest Cafe? 

Rose and Crown Dinner Review

The Rose and Crown is in World Showcase at Epcot. Located at the United Kingdom pavilion, the Rose and Crown serves traditional British food. 

All guests can jump on a Disney World bus or drive over to Epcot. Walk through Future World and go to the left of World Showcase, towards the Canada pavilion. The UK pavilion is the next one along. 

The Rose and Crown Dining Room, note that this is not the pub, is 1 Table Service Credit.

Check in is located outside the under the archway. A Cast Member will give you a "buzzer" which will light up and vibrate when your table is ready. Whilst you wait you can visit the shops at the front of the pavilion. 

You can sit either inside or outside for your meal. I much prefer to sit outside and it is always worth asking. If you have a reservation around 19:30, definitely ask to sit outside because you can sit and watch IllumiNations from the restaurant. The outside seating area is under cover and can be used in the Florida rain.

The menu is quite British but there also isn't many options. They do have a separate allergy menu. 

In traditional British fashion, I ordered the masala chicken. Now, I have a lot to say about this. The chicken is a thigh cut, I think. There isn't a huge amount of white meat on it, there is a lot of the red meat. If you are a chicken snob like me and you aren't a massive fan of the red meat then you might have a hard time with this. I do find it weird that they chuck the vegetables in with the curry. When I had this last year they were separate on the side. The sauce is nice, with no spice to it but not too bad. The naan bread is also good and served slightly warm. It didn't seem as nice as when I had it back in 2017, but it wasn't bad.

Other people in my party had the fish and chips, which looked incredible.

Now, let's talk dessert. When I went in 2017 I had the jaffa tarts which were the best dessert I had in my whole trip. They have changed the dessert menu. I was very disappointed. 

I ordered the lemon scone with a berry compote. First off, and I will say this now, these flavours just did not go well together. I have never had a lemon scone before, always a plain one. This would have been so much nicer if the scone would have been plain! The berry compote was very sour and I didn't like it much. I ended up eating the top bit of scone with the cream and leaving the rest.

Someone else in my party had the candy bar. This was essentially a Mars bar. I would have had this, but I don't like caramel and it had a layer of it inside. But it looks really nice!

The pub inside is always very busy. You have to walk through the pub to get to the toilets. The pub itself is a highlight on the drink around the world challenge, which I love. However, there was a group of guys in there on a stag party who were clearly very drunk. As I walked towards the bathroom they thought it was appropriate to stroke my leg. Safe to say I was not all that pleased with that. I promptly turned around and went to the restrooms across the street by the shops. 

Overall, my experience at Rose and Crown this year was not as good as it was last year. I feel like the change in the dessert menu was pretty pants and didn't have many options on it. The main food was nice and it wasn't a bad meal but I wouldn't say it was one of my top restaurants. 

If you are going to go to Rose and Crown for dinner as a family or a couple, don't walk through the pub to go to the toilets. It is worth noting that there is only one toilet in the women's so just walk out the main entrance to the restrooms across the road. 

I am really disappointed that this wasn't as good as it has been in the past. I would say give this one a miss for a while. I am hoping it gets better again soon. 

1900 Park Fare Breakfast Review

1900 Park Fare is a buffet restaurant located in the Grand Floridian at the back of the main lobby if you are coming in from the main entrance. If you are staying at an on-site Disney resort, the best way to get to 1900 Park Fare is to take a Disney bus to the Magic Kingdom and then jump on either the resort boat or monorail to get over to the Grand Floridian. I definitely recommend the boat, it is such a nice journey and docks towards the rear of the resort. You then have to walk a few short minutes and one of the doors leads directly into the entrance for 1900 Park Fare. 

1900 Park Fare is 1 Table Service credit on the Dining Plan. If you don't have the Dining Plan, the set price for breakfast is $35 for an adult and $20 for children aged 3-9 years old, plus sales tax. 

Check in is directly under this sign. You check in with a Cast Member and may be asked to take a seat whilst they get your table ready. My butt had only just touched the seat when they called us through! Another Cast Member will take you to your set and get you set up.

It is worth noting that unlike most restaurants, you exit through a different entrance than where you came in. The exit for 1900 Park Fare is at the back of the restaurant, opposite the entrance. You will have your last character photo here which is taken by a Disney PhotoPass photographer. The character changes on a daily basis and we had Tigger! 

1900 Park Fare is character dining at breakfast and you can meet Mary Poppins, Alice, The Mad Hatter, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. What I took from that was that it is the English-based characters. Being from England, I always find this interesting! 

                                                 

At this point, I am going to give a special mention to Mary Poppins who completely made my dad's day; as you can see by the photo below. She saw me nudge him when she was coming to our table and told him that she clearly has to keep an eye on him as he is trouble! 

As the restaurant is buffet style, I forgot to take photos of my food. They have a large selection of normal breakfast items such as eggs, sausages, bacon, pancakes, waffles etc. They also have some other items such as cheesy eggs, bread and butter pudding and the signature strawberry soup. Then they have a massive bowl of gummy bears. At breakfast. I have no idea. 

There was also a huge bowl of what my dad thought was whipped cream. Upon taking a massive spoonful of it, he discovered that it was Cool Whip. Essentially a bowl of icing. 

The restaurant also has carousel horses decorating towards the sides, splitting up some of the seating areas. I can't help but think of Mary Poppins and the scene where they ride the carousel horses through the horse race. I imagine this is purposeful, knowing Disney! 

There is also an organ that sits at the top of the buffet area on the back wall leading to the exit. At intervals throughout the day this puts on a little show which is so charming! We didn't get to see it this time, but have a search on YouTube to have a look.

1900 Park Fare is such a lovely experience if you have younger kids, or you are a big kid at heart like me. It is also a great way to meet characters that usually have such a long line at a meet and greet location. They have to seating down to perfection. All the characters came round not long after we had been seated which meant that we were able to eat our breakfast without getting up and down for photos, not that we mind that!

They were also great in their interaction with us. The Mad Hatter is incredible anyway, but he told my grandma her her reminded her of a hedgehog. My sister asked if he wanted to sit down with us and he shouted "noooo!" in his amazing voice which had us in stitches. 

I think with character buffets, you pay for the character interaction more so than the food. Although, don't get me wrong, the food is so good and I definitely had almost a whole plate of tater tots as we don't get them in the UK, but the characters are priceless.

I do prefer character buffets to be for breakfast, so if you have little ones and are staying on-site then 1900 Park Fare for breakfast is a must do! 

Sanaa Lunch Review

Sanaa is a African/Indian inspired restaurant located in Kidani Village at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. For guests staying on site, take a bus from your resort to Animal Kingdom and then head to the bus stop for the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The bus ride is extremely short and Kidani Village is the first stop. For guests coming from a park or Disney Springs, take the bus from that park straight to Animal Kingdom Lodge. 

You enter the lobby of the hotel on technically the first floor. Sanaa is located downstairs. There are a set of stairs at the far end of the lobby and an elevator to the right.

The view onto the savannah from the stairs at the end of the lobby is amazing. The rooms of the hotel surround the savannah where you can see all sorts of animals. Coming down these stairs, there is a single door that takes you out into the savannah and seating area. I definitely recommend getting here early to sit and look at the view from the outside.

I spent at least half an hour looking at the giraffes who were happily wandering around picking up fallen leaves and playing! I can only imagine the view from the rooms facing the savannah. It is my dream to stay here one day!

Here is a panoramic shot of one side of the savannah, giving you a bit of scope of how big this space really is. To the left is the main lobby building, followed by the savannah and the rooms on the right. The large windows on the bottom floor of the lobby building is Sanaa. 

Head back into the main building the same way you came and take a left. You will see the sign for Sanaa and the check in desk. We had a little bit of time before we could check in so we sat on the rocking chairs on an outdoor veranda overlooking the savannah. It was incredible and I could have sat there all day!

A Cast Member will check you in and ask you to take a seat whilst your table is being prepared. I really love the attention to detail on the wall - the bumpy texture is to make it look like a mud hut!

The restaurant itself is beautiful. It is very bright thanks to the large windows that overlook the savannah. We were seated in the second row of tables behind the windows which was still an incredible view. If you are really keen on sitting by the window, then do let the Cast Member know when you check in and they will do their best to accommodate you. 

This was the view from our table. We could easily see all sorts of animals, including a bird which was very determined to somehow come into the restaurant! 

The detail and theming even continues to the back of the chairs. There is also a (not so) Hidden Mickey on one of the booth tables at the back! 

The menu is amazing and very varied depending on how much spice you like. My recommendation is to go with the Journey and Harvest options. You are able to pick one from the Journey and one from the Harvest and it is served with rice. I was really torn between the Paneer Tikka or the Aloo Masala. They also have an extensive allergy menu that caters for all allergies. 

I ordered the butter chicken with paneer tikka. For those of you who don't know, paneer is a non-meltinng farmers cheese. It doesn't taste of a huge amount and has a texture similar to halloumi. The sauce is was in was so tasty and so perfectly spiced it added an amazing flavour to the cheese. You get a lot of it and I didn't manage to finish it. 

The butter chicken is on a whole new level. The sauce is beautiful, with a lovely balance of spices that compliments the paneer tikka really well. The chicken was lovely and tender and I really liked the fact that it wasn't just chunks of chicken breast, but all sorts of different parts of it. The rice was really well cooked and wasn't sticky which it can be in some restaurants. 

For dessert I ordered the 3 chocolate mousse that comes with a biscuit crumb, strawberry coulis and strawberries in a syrup. It was amazing! I want the syrup recipe! The mousse was so light and creamy and each chocolate flavour worked very well together. 

I can't recommend Sanaa enough. It is a nice break from the parks without ever feeling like you have left Animal Kingdom. If you have young ones, I would definitely recommend getting there a bit earlier to sit outside in the savannah - there are some rocking chairs and smaller chairs for you to sit in and relax. The lounge area is equally nice to sit in if you want a bit of air conditioning. 

The restaurant itself is so amazingly themed and the food is incredible. We had on our reservation that we had a birthday and an anniversary. They brought my parents some champagne, my sister a birthday flair to her dessert and all the servers sang happy birthday to her with a Sanaa twist. 

It was very quiet at lunch which was quite nice. It is almost like a bit of a hidden gem! There were a few business meetings going on which I took as a good sign. 

Have you been to Sanaa? What was your favourite thing?