Disappointed with the DDP

[thingy003]

Having been back in the UK for a week I have decided to put my thoughts and observations down on the DDP and eating onsite.
This was our first time staying onsite, we have only stayed on I Drive before and have only eaten at Cosmic Rays and Hollywood & Vine previously. Getting the free dining plan was a major factor in us deciding to stay onsite, without it an onsite stay would not really be financially viable for us. We stayed in POFQ and had quite a bit of food from the Food Court there which was all superb with the exception of the Creole Steak Po’Boy which had so little filling that I just stopped eating it.
Generally speaking the QS food that we had in the parks was more than adequate. Friars Nook in MK was good as was Columbia Harbour House.
When it came to the TS restaurants I was pretty disappointed with the service, the food quality and the cost. The first complaint was for Yak & Yeti, we had to wait well over 30 mins past our reservation time despite being there on time. We eventually had to kick off when we found our details kept getting moved further down the pile of people waiting. Our waitress has no interest in serving us and was not interested in talking about the menu or offering suggestions. Had I known then that she wouldn’t even be our worst waitress of the stay I would have started sobbing uncontrollably. The food was decidedly average and certainly not of a standard to ever make me want to eat there again. Friends of ours who were sat at a separate table felt exactly the same way as we did.
The following night we ate at Sebastian’s at CBR. We had a table booked for 8pm but we went to the podium at 7:30pm to see if there was any chance of being seated early. Apparently, there wasn’t despite there being plenty of empty tables in the restaurant. We were eventually seated at 8:30pm and didn’t get any food till 9:00pm by which time both my children were fast asleep. At this time I had a sense of humour failure and kicked off at the manager which resulted in us not being charged any credits for our meal. I still tipped on it though as it wasn’t the fault of the waiting staff.
Breakfast at Ohana was fantastic. The food was great, the service was good but again we had issues with getting seated again. People with later reservations who checked in after us were seated before us, despite us having the same size party. I wanted to go back here one evening but we just didn’t get around to it.
Food in Hollywood Studios was good. We ate at Hollywood & Vine, 50s Prime Time Diner and Drive In as well as grabbing breakfast at Docking Bay 7. I can’t fault any of this. The service and the quality of food was better across all of these eateries than pretty much anywhere else in the parks.
Worst service award of the holiday goes to Skipper Canteen where I should have just walked out. We got attitude at the podium and the waitress was awful. If the kids hadn’t been so hungry and we were not in MK for MNSSHP then I would have complained and left. The theming of the restaurant was nice though.
A highlight for me was eating in Coral Reef, the food and service were top and the cocktails were amazing. I would happily eat here again.
CRT was a nice experience, but the food was little better than what you would find in a gastropub over here. Maybe I was just expecting a little too much.
The best value and in fact the only place, other than our hotel, that we ate at more than once was Pizza Ponte in Disney Springs. Great value to get a giant slice of pizza, a cake and a drink for a QS credit.
All in all the DDP experience was pretty poor and I would think long and hard about staying onsite again. I certainly would never pay for the DDP. I know some people love it but I am am very disappointed with it. Might just be post-holiday blues though.