Disney Reviews Lounge Edition #1-The Brown Derby Lounge
I had a lot of trouble deciding on whether to do The Brown Derby Lounge under Restaurant Reviews or Snack Reviews and, in the end, I decided to create (yet another) category...Lounge Reviews. This may mean I'll have to go back and do other lounge reviews as well from the past, but that's OK! We rarely ever go to the Lounges anyway, but we've hit a few.
I've mentioned once or twice (or ten times) that I'm not a big fan of The Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant (see it's last review HERE) at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It's always hit or miss with me on the food, but my Sister LOVES it, specifically the Cobb Salad. Following with the "Hollywood" theme, the restaurant is easily classified as California Cuisine and I am not a fan of mixing savory and sweet on the same plate.
But, since the future of Sci-Fi is up in the air with all the construction at the Studios, we decided to have dinner at Sci-Fi and hit The Brown Derby Lounge later so that my Sister could still have her Cobb Salad. It was an Extra Magic Hour night that we were there (a night when a particular park stays open two hours later for Disney resort guests), so we had plenty of time to spare after Fantasmic (it's review is HERE). Speaking of which, thanks to my zoom lens, I got some AH-MAZ-ING shots of Fantasmic this time! Bad part was the focal length at the small end for that lens is 50mm (high at 210mm), so the "regular" focused shots were still too close. I need a zoom lens that goes from like 18mm to 300mm, but anyhoo, just a couple of "brag" shots:
Something I have NEVER managed before...Princess parade floats. This is the best pic but it also highlights the 50mm focal length issue because I'm too "close" to the subject even though we were seated almost in back of the theater:
Sorry...got off track a bit there...we were almost afraid that we arrived too late at Brown Derby because the entire Lounge area was completely empty, but we were very quickly seated and waited on. I wish I would have taken more pictures of the outside, but it's the same area that used to be outside seating from the restaurant, so I have pictures of them in the old Brown Derby review. My Sister caught a snap earlier in the day (although you can't see much):
Best I can do for the actual time we were there is a picture of my Sister with a Bokeh background (just remember it was REALLY late, we had both been sick from Sci-Fi, so forgive her tired appearance...I guess it's a good thing she never reads my blog or she might be mad at me for posting this). Just remember, it's for the background only. Also, the lighting was VERY weird, so all the colors are off and I hate messing too much with white balance because it can screw things up quick...so please forgive:
We ordered drinks first...she had a Side Car (her usual):
And, to be honest, I have no clue what I had...it was champagne-y with flower petals in it, but that's about all I got.
She ordered her Cobb Salad and, although smaller than what she would get inside, it was just the right size for that night:
And after it's mixed:
I decided to go ahead and order a piece of their famous Grapefruit Cake. I'm not sure why I continue on ordering this...probably because I like grapefruit and I really want this to be good, but nine times out of ten, it's not. This one was probably the best I'd had ever so I've got a new appreciation for it now!
The sponge cake at the back, however, did NOT get eaten...it was bland and had a weird texture:
Overall though, I would definitely PREFER the Lounge over the Restaurant itself and I quite enjoyed the experience! It was quiet (at least when we were there) and we had time just to sit and talk, reflect on the day, and to just plain enjoy ourselves...something you can rarely do in a Disney Restaurant because they are trying to get people in and out as quickly as possible. Come this fall, we have to eat at the Restaurant proper, but I'm really looking forward to the next time we can eat at the Lounge!
I've mentioned once or twice (or ten times) that I'm not a big fan of The Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant (see it's last review HERE) at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It's always hit or miss with me on the food, but my Sister LOVES it, specifically the Cobb Salad. Following with the "Hollywood" theme, the restaurant is easily classified as California Cuisine and I am not a fan of mixing savory and sweet on the same plate.
But, since the future of Sci-Fi is up in the air with all the construction at the Studios, we decided to have dinner at Sci-Fi and hit The Brown Derby Lounge later so that my Sister could still have her Cobb Salad. It was an Extra Magic Hour night that we were there (a night when a particular park stays open two hours later for Disney resort guests), so we had plenty of time to spare after Fantasmic (it's review is HERE). Speaking of which, thanks to my zoom lens, I got some AH-MAZ-ING shots of Fantasmic this time! Bad part was the focal length at the small end for that lens is 50mm (high at 210mm), so the "regular" focused shots were still too close. I need a zoom lens that goes from like 18mm to 300mm, but anyhoo, just a couple of "brag" shots:
Something I have NEVER managed before...Princess parade floats. This is the best pic but it also highlights the 50mm focal length issue because I'm too "close" to the subject even though we were seated almost in back of the theater:
Sorry...got off track a bit there...we were almost afraid that we arrived too late at Brown Derby because the entire Lounge area was completely empty, but we were very quickly seated and waited on. I wish I would have taken more pictures of the outside, but it's the same area that used to be outside seating from the restaurant, so I have pictures of them in the old Brown Derby review. My Sister caught a snap earlier in the day (although you can't see much):
Best I can do for the actual time we were there is a picture of my Sister with a Bokeh background (just remember it was REALLY late, we had both been sick from Sci-Fi, so forgive her tired appearance...I guess it's a good thing she never reads my blog or she might be mad at me for posting this). Just remember, it's for the background only. Also, the lighting was VERY weird, so all the colors are off and I hate messing too much with white balance because it can screw things up quick...so please forgive:
We ordered drinks first...she had a Side Car (her usual):
And, to be honest, I have no clue what I had...it was champagne-y with flower petals in it, but that's about all I got.
She ordered her Cobb Salad and, although smaller than what she would get inside, it was just the right size for that night:
And after it's mixed:
I decided to go ahead and order a piece of their famous Grapefruit Cake. I'm not sure why I continue on ordering this...probably because I like grapefruit and I really want this to be good, but nine times out of ten, it's not. This one was probably the best I'd had ever so I've got a new appreciation for it now!
The sponge cake at the back, however, did NOT get eaten...it was bland and had a weird texture:
Overall though, I would definitely PREFER the Lounge over the Restaurant itself and I quite enjoyed the experience! It was quiet (at least when we were there) and we had time just to sit and talk, reflect on the day, and to just plain enjoy ourselves...something you can rarely do in a Disney Restaurant because they are trying to get people in and out as quickly as possible. Come this fall, we have to eat at the Restaurant proper, but I'm really looking forward to the next time we can eat at the Lounge!
Comments
Linda