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. 

Skipper Canteen Dinner Review

Skipper Canteen is one of the newer restaurants located in Adventureland in Magic Kingdom. The restaurant is themed to the Jungle Cruise and is the canteen that the Skippers visit to eat. 

Disney Resort guests can get to Skipper Canteen through a Disney World bus. Those driving will head to Magic Kingdom, park at the Ticket and Transportation Centre and hop on either the bus, monorail or ferry to head over the the Magic Kingdom. 

Check in is located outside the restaurant under a canopy where there are a few rocking chairs and sofas to sit on whilst you wait for your table.

The menu is quite varied and has African/oriental twists on their dishes. They also have an extensive allergy menu that provides a lot of options. 

The restaurant is split into different sections. We were sat in the main room which is themed amazingly!

In the far side, you can even see storage of some decorations from the December overlay of the Jingle Cruise!

The menu itself is even themed and you can see Trader Sam and the rhino scene signed off by Skipper Will, complete with a coffee ring!

The service itself is so similar to the Jungle Cruise with some brilliant puns and that Skipper nature!

I ordered the Tastes Like Chicken...Because It Is! It is a (massive) fried chicken breast served with seasonal vegetables, jasmine rice and an amazing chilli glaze. The chicken, as you can see, is huge! It is cooked to perfection and isn't dry. It works so well with the sauce which reminds me a little of a slightly bitter tasting sweet chilli sauce. It works very well with the chicken and the rice. I would recommend this!

For dessert I ordered the Quick Sand. This is a jasmine rice pudding served with a lemon curd, meringue and a biscuit-y wafer. The rice pudding is so good! Unlike traditional rice pudding we get here in the UK, it is served cold.  But wow, it tasted so good! The slight taste of jasmine with the cream was so nice. The lemon curd cut it very nicely and added a sour taste. The biscuit was really nice and I definitely ate it before I touched the rest of my dessert. 

Once I finished my food, I had a quick walk around the restaurant. 

I got a good tickle when I found the barrel of backside of water at the far end of the main dining room. I ended up saying the part from the ride, quite loudly which gave a couple of the Skippers a laugh. 

By the time we had finished our meal, the restaurant was pretty much empty. We originally had a reservation at 19:00, but had to change it to 20:00 due to a massive storm separating our group. We were able to amend our reservation on the My Disney Experience app quite easily.

I just managed to catch the finale of Happily Ever After over the top of the main entrance when we walked out!

This was a new restaurant for me this year and I really enjoyed it. The food was a bit different to what you can get in other restaurants and the theming makes it really unique. I enjoy the puns on the Jungle Cruise so really liked how it transferred over to the restaurant and I was giggling pretty much any time our server spoke to us. 

I would recommend Skipper Canteen, especially if you like the Jungle Cruise! The food is great and added something a little different to our experience.

Have you been to the Skipper Canteen? 

50s Prime Time Cafe Lunch Review

50s Prime Time Cafe is a home-style cooking restaurant based in Hollywood Studios. It is located on the left in Echo Lake, next door to Hollywood & Vine. 

The restaurant is 1 Table Service Credit on the Dining Plan. However, you can sit at the bar just inside the door if you want to go in just for a drink. You can even order one of their signature milkshakes to take out! 

50s Prime Time Cafe is an extremely popular restaurant, not just for their food but for the dining experience. Reservations open 180 days prior to your trip and I definitely recommend making your reservation at that 180 day mark. They do accept walk ins but you may be waiting a while or even turned away in peak times. 

The restaurant is themed to an old 1950s style house, featuring 1950s TVs playing old shows such as the Dick Van Dyke show! 

Check in is directly inside the door on the right. You check in with a Cast Member, dressed beautifully in pink 1950s diner dresses. You will then be asked to take a seat in the waiting room if your table is not yet ready.

You will then be called to your table in traditional 50s Prime Time style - with shouting and ever so slight rudeness! 

We were sat towards the back of the restaurant. Each section of the restaurant is immaculately themed and is incredible immersive. The one thing you should know before you come to 50s Prime Time is that the servers will treat you like you are family. 

We were told to put our "walkie talkie's" away and that they shouldn't be at the table - we would be in trouble! My sister and I were told to set the table and everyone should keep their elbows off the table at all times! It is fantastic. Our server and the server across from us were incredible and I couldn't fault them whatsoever! Although, we did notice they were a bit more lenient with us as Brits, the American family on the table across were absolutely slaughtered! Either that or we were just well behaved. 

The menu is very traditional home cooked food and I love it! There isn't anything on the menu that I wouldn't recommend. They also have a highly extensive allergy menu. 

My first recommendation for 50s Prime Time is any of the milkshakes. They are so worth it for a drink; they are massive and made with real ice cream. I would also suggest getting a water on the side! I had the chocolate shake and my mum had the peanut butter and jelly shake. Both are equally amazing. It is worth noting, that potentially due to the size of it, you can have the shakes for either a drink or a dessert. I'd say get it as a drink, then you can get dessert too! 

The food at 50s Prime time is so, so, so good. I had the fried chicken which comes with an amazing mashed potato and seasonal vegetables, which in this case was sweetcorn. You get three giant pieces of chicken, each on the bone in some way. Now, I don't like chicken on the bone, but I make an exception here. The chicken is so tender and not dry in any way. The mash is also so good that I always sit there wondering if I should ask for the recipe.

Another menu favourite had by my sister and mum was the trio. It comes with a portion of the fried chicken, pot roast and meatloaf as well as mashed potato and seasonal vegetables. It is a great way to try a little of everything. 

Now, let's talk dessert. The dessert menu has a good selection of different options. I, of course, had the chocolate brownie. It is a nice, heavy and chocolatey brownie with chocolate chips. It also comes with both cream and ice cream which I love!

Overall, 50s Prime Time Cafe is worth it just for the dining experience on its own. The servers are hilarious and sometimes it is worth doing something wrong just for the fun experience you get! Everywhere you sit is so amazingly themed it really does feel like you walked through a time machine.

I cannot recommend this restaurant enough to anyone. I would suggest getting a lunchtime reservation to take a break from the Florida sun and sit down to a huge meal. Cindy, the server who was sorting the tables next to us, was so good in including us in the amazing conversations and banter she was having. She even told my grandma off for not eating her greens! You might have seen Cindy on YouTube - I recommend trying to find videos of her, she is amazing! 

Have you ever been to 50s Prime Time Cafe? What has been your best experience?