Signature Dining

[BoltofLight]

Argh! I cancelled a California Grill reservation last Thursday night for 19:45 because my DD6x2 (twins) were too tired to last to 19:45 without dinner and were getting cranky from late nights / worn out from the holiday.

I'm really starting to regret that now after reading this thread!

[Dont mind me]

I prefer to book signatures so i'm not tied to a table service meal each day. Last trip we loved:

Tiffins (they were by the best at doing something different for my Mums garlic allergy.
Narcoosees - (both Sunday brunch - so relaxing and evening meal - amazing lobster!)
Flying Fish - (Mum had an amazing Wagyu fillet and I had the Nero pasta with lobster - again amazing)
Citricos - being honest not the our favourite meal of the trip we actually prefered our 1 credit at the Turf bar and grill at SSR

For our next trip -we'll have a 2 week park pass for a 3 week trip where we'll do signatures when we're not doing a park, and a few table services while we're doing parks.

[sky13]

I did California Grill brunch, Tiffins RoL package, and CRT earlier this year. Definitely worth the 2 TS credits!

California Grill brunch - incredibly relaxed, food and service were excellent, great views of MK and Bay Lake (and could return later at night to watch Wishes). Unlimited mimosas as well! (It was my second time there for brunch and I still want to go back...)

Tiffins - food was excellent. Very inventive and interesting. Service was great, my server made it a point to introduce various things about each dish. Want to go back to try the whole fried fish that the lady at the table next to me had! Oh and by interesting - the flavours of sorbet they had included lychee and dragonfruit...

CRT - fun if only to say that I've eaten inside the castle! Get to meet the princesses which is also rather fun. Though the food definitely paled in comparison to California Grill and Tiffins, but I guess the food is sort of a secondary consideration at CRT?

Of the 3 above - if I manage to go back to WDW I'll be booking California Grill brunch and Tiffins again. Not in a hurry to go back to CRT (more of a one and done though no regrets about having done it).

[Guest]

Originally Posted by lwhit_x

I'm currently trying to plan out the use of our dining credits, we've got 10 days worth of TS credits and because of days we will be spending at Universal, we may be able to have one signature meal.

Is it worth the use of two TS credits?
Where would people recommend?

See more...

We are foodies so definitely worth it for us. We went to a couple of 1 TS restaurants and found them very pedestrian so after that we did counter service or 2 TS meals. We did California Grill for brunch and dinner, Citricos, Tiffins and we also used up 2TS on Cinderella RT.

Definitely liked CG best and we might do the brunch again next year, but I generally like to try different places. We are staying at the Yacht Club next year so Yachtsmen is going to be last night dinner.

[scoobydooby]

It depends. If you have paid for the dining plan then at most signatures you will have to work quite hard to recoup the price of the meal as equivalent to what the dining plan credits costs. If you got dining for free then it just depends if it's what you want. Will it mean you end up paying out of pocket for other meals? Have you thought about the extra tip you will incur? Have you checked if you will need to pay extra for side dishes as if frequently the case at signature meals? We have as a family of four ended up spending $160 inc. tip on 'free dining' at signature meals. So even if you have free dining check the menus and do the maths before you book. I will do it maybe twice per trip but it's rarely good use of the credits in financial terms. I'd never use it at Le Cellier on principal. That used to be a very popular 1 credit restaurant which they changed to to 2 credit meal. The food didn't change. The service reduced and they crammed extra tables into the restaurant.

[mmorrice]

We enjoyed the Boathouse the last couple of trips but to be cost effective you need to be having something like steak or lobster. Our favourite was Le Cellier - the food was amazing!

[MinnieMermaid]

Originally Posted by sheluk

Another yes for the California Grill - fabulous meal and views! We are certainly going to be making more of the deluxe restaurants the next time we are on the DDP!

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Another vote for Cali Grill - I always try and get a firework timed booking

[lwhit_x]

Thank you all for you replies! There's only myself and my partner in our party, thankfully we have similar tastes in food but I tend to be a bit of a fussy eater, but we do like good quality food.

I've only had a brief look at the menus, I think I need to have a proper look and get my other half to do the same! I love the idea of Cali Grill and being able to watch the fireworks but obviously that's not necessarily a good enough reason to use 2TS credits.

Thank you, I hadn't actually thought about the additional costs incurred. We did get the dining plan for free though so I'm just going to have to figure out what extras we will be paying out of pocket for.

Originally Posted by scoobydooby

It depends. If you have paid for the dining plan then at most signatures you will have to work quite hard to recoup the price of the meal as equivalent to what the dining plan credits costs. If you got dining for free then it just depends if it's what you want. Will it mean you end up paying out of pocket for other meals? Have you thought about the extra tip you will incur? Have you checked if you will need to pay extra for side dishes as if frequently the case at signature meals? We have as a family of four ended up spending $160 inc. tip on 'free dining' at signature meals. So even if you have free dining check the menus and do the maths before you book. I will do it maybe twice per trip but it's rarely good use of the credits in financial terms. I'd never use it at Le Cellier on principal. That used to be a very popular 1 credit restaurant which they changed to to 2 credit meal. The food didn't change. The service reduced and they crammed extra tables into the restaurant.

See more...

[Gill H]

We rarely bothered with appetisers, the entree and dessert were plenty (and you get a bread service at Signatures) although we did buy a side of creamed spinach in Yachtsman. We also rarely bothered with alcohol as we're not big drinkers. But yes, bear in mind that although the credits cover pretty much everything on the menu, if you go for something expensive you'll need to budget for a bigger tip.

If you have the free $200 gift card that can be useful for tips.

[tracey1302]

If you have the credits, I would splurge on a Signature meal.

I would just recommend looking at all the menus and seeing which is looking the best for you.

Our favourites are California Grill, Narcoossee's, The Boathouse and Flying Fish.

But we also loved Jiko and Tiffins.

Le Cellier and Hollywood Brown Derby are quite handy as they are in park (as is Tiffins) so are a good option for dining on a day in Epcot/DHS.

But really, you can't go wrong with any of the Signatures. They are all fantastic.