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Muppets Courtyard (MuppetVision & PizzeRizzo)

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Don't forget Sal's at Portofino. It's as good as the pizza in Pittsburgh's many Italian neighborhoods. We eat at Sal's a couple of times every vacation. :)

Yeah, Sal's is great and the other restaurant next door is really good as well! Heck, I think the Kitchen at Hard Rock has the best burgers on site.

There are a lot of great options around...I just don't know if I'll ever get the family over Cowfish or Toothsomes as I tend to go for a weekend....
 
Yeah, Sal's is great and the other restaurant next door is really good as well! Heck, I think the Kitchen at Hard Rock has the best burgers on site.

There are a lot of great options around...I just don't know if I'll ever get the family over Cowfish or Toothsomes as I tend to go for a weekend....
I keep meaning to go to Cowfish, but I never get around to it. Toothsome looked absolutely beautiful when I was there in October, but I figured I'd wait until this coming vacation to avoid the opening crowds.
 
I keep meaning to go to Cowfish, but I never get around to it. Toothsome looked absolutely beautiful when I was there in October, but I figured I'd wait until this coming vacation to avoid the opening crowds.

I was disappointed by Cowfish when I went in 2015. Toothsome was more than satisfying in 2016.
 
I was disappointed by Cowfish when I went in 2015. Toothsome was more than satisfying in 2016.
I had the opposite experience. I was really impressed with Cowfish and let down a bit by Toothsome - and not even because of high expectations. The food quality was mediocre at best during my visit. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt that it was a fluke, though.
 
I was disappointed by Cowfish when I went in 2015. Toothsome was more than satisfying in 2016.

I had a good first experience at Cowfish when it first opened, it was packed with all seats taken and i snagged a spot at the bar. My general rule of thumb is to go to the bar if it's busy and often bartenders wont let your food suck.

Months later I returned and it was middle of the week and it had just opened. The fishtank for the cowfish was cloudy and no one seemed to want to be there. It was hot and they tried to seat us outside despite being one of the first three parties on a hot day. No thanks. Food was "meh" and service was acceptable but not at all special.

Similarly, I've been to Morimoto's three times (four times if you count the pre-opening walking tour). The first time was the walking tour where all the hopes and dreams of how it would operate were explained - things like the Forbidden Lounge have not played out as designed because they need the seating. In theory you could only be up there by asking for it by name and using the side door and special staircase with the taiko drums. Anyways - wonderful experience at the Forbidden Lounge on my first real visit dfuring the grand opening. They had imported liquors they technically shouldnt have in the US and I took advantage of that.

Second visit, real reservation, packed but seated quickly and had more normal food (at the Lounge i had mostly drinks and smaller plates followed by dessert). It was quite good. And then just a few weeks ago, midday weekday and it was still busy but got us in quickly, again on the first floor, and the food and service were both good.

Some places are just run better. Toothsome was good when i went, and my friend who had been previously suggested it so she had good experience prior and on our visit too.
 
Also another note on seating in an empty restaurant..

Went to Chefs des France once when it was opening and they tried to seat myself and a different friend right by the windows on the main promenade. She would have none of it, especially the mime outside the window. So with a cold look the host put us behind a post a few rows away from the windows. We had an excellent server and food, so it still won my friend over.

I get why they try to seat people outside and by qwindows when they first open - but not everyone wants to be there.
 
I had a good first experience at Cowfish when it first opened, it was packed with all seats taken and i snagged a spot at the bar. My general rule of thumb is to go to the bar if it's busy and often bartenders wont let your food suck.

Months later I returned and it was middle of the week and it had just opened. The fishtank for the cowfish was cloudy and no one seemed to want to be there. It was hot and they tried to seat us outside despite being one of the first three parties on a hot day. No thanks. Food was "meh" and service was acceptable but not at all special.

Similarly, I've been to Morimoto's three times (four times if you count the pre-opening walking tour). The first time was the walking tour where all the hopes and dreams of how it would operate were explained - things like the Forbidden Lounge have not played out as designed because they need the seating. In theory you could only be up there by asking for it by name and using the side door and special staircase with the taiko drums. Anyways - wonderful experience at the Forbidden Lounge on my first real visit dfuring the grand opening. They had imported liquors they technically shouldnt have in the US and I took advantage of that.

Second visit, real reservation, packed but seated quickly and had more normal food (at the Lounge i had mostly drinks and smaller plates followed by dessert). It was quite good. And then just a few weeks ago, midday weekday and it was still busy but got us in quickly, again on the first floor, and the food and service were both good.

Some places are just run better. Toothsome was good when i went, and my friend who had been previously suggested it so she had good experience prior and on our visit too.
Ive been to Cowfish many many times now (its one of my favorite places) and have always had good food and great service. Toothsome's is good, but there's always a long wait on the dessert (one time we waited nearly 30 minutes between meal and dessert - and no one came by to let us know what was going on. We almost left without paying).
 
The hot air balloon atop MuppetVision 3D is gone. It was removed due to sightline issues it would cause from Star Wars Land:

MuppetVision3D-balloon-02022017-3.jpg


MuppetVision3D-balloon-02022017-1.jpg


There was also a permit filed the other day pertaining to the attraction and an upcoming refurb of the facade:

Disclaimer
 
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The hot air balloon atop MuppetVision 3D is gone. It was removed due to sightline issues it would cause from Star Wars Land:

MuppetVision3D-balloon-02022017-3.jpg

I am confused by some of imagineering's decisions when it comes to sight lines. There is the old story about doing things making the finishing on the Enchanted Tiki Room look like western longhorns since it would be seen from Frontierland. Then there are opposites like adding Rapunzel's tower to Fantasyland and destroying sightlines throughout Frontierland and Liberty Square, or the even more egregious placement of the Dolphin hotel behind the France pavilion at Epcot. I think that the imagineers could have come up with a more creative way to use the balloon so it could have been kept. Maybe keep Kermit on one side and then on the other paint a Star Wars character like Yoda, or maybe make one side look like a planet from the Star Wars galaxy.
 
The balloon never really added anything to the area, so I'm fine with it going away. I'm more concerned about the Miss Piggy fountain staying a planter. I know the water's expected to return once they finish working with the pipes around Star Wars Land, but you can never tell.
 
The balloon never really added anything to the area, so I'm fine with it going away. I'm more concerned about the Miss Piggy fountain staying a planter. I know the water's expected to return once they finish working with the pipes around Star Wars Land, but you can never tell.
I agree. To be honest, I only really noticed it from aerial shots of construction. I'm excited for the rumored expansion of the courtyard to the Streets of America facades that are still up.
 
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