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ADR's, Dining, Food and Restaurants Anything and Everything to do with Eating.

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Old 13 Nov 19, 10:55 AM  
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#21
thingy003
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I think Mr Morrow hit the nail firmly on the head there and he is quite right, there is absolutely no way that we would pay the prices for the food if we were paying OOP.
I have no issue with paying for quality food and an exceptional dining experience but I think we have been spoilt slightly by my brother running one of the up and coming restaurants in London.

Before this holiday I had already said that we wouldn't be going back to WDW for several years but despite being disappointed I would go back next year and get the DDP again. I need to find the money to stay at the Polynesian next time but I think buying a food truck and changing career is next on the to do list.

I don't think I mentioned in my original post that we also did the buffet lunch at Tusker House and the food was great. I find it a bit odd that we thought the food was generally better in the buffet restaurants than elsewhere. I still wouldn't pay OOP for it though
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Old 13 Nov 19, 11:03 AM  
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I didn’t have a dining plan on my most recent trip. As we stay onsite without a car, we are something of a captive market and we paid OOP for all meals onsite. We drew the line at character meals, we usually like to do one or two, but the OOP cost is particularly silly.
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Old 13 Nov 19, 11:09 AM  
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rafjen
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We had a few issues with late seating as well- It can be frustrating with tired kids in tow- I think we'll try and book earlier slots in future. A few times we had great service for the first 20 minutes- drinks sorted, best use of plan re specialty drinks recommended etc, order sorted but then couldn't find the server for the rest of the meal- fine if we had no issues but frustrating at times. we felt like it was sort you out and move on.
We loved the ddp for ease of use and when getting it free as a package seems good value - however but the cost of the meals makes the tips ridiculous- I think the free dining offers and ddp have let Disney get away with silly prices.
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Old 13 Nov 19, 11:24 AM  
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thingy003
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On reflection I think the best server we had was in Coral Reef. She was fantastic, helpful, brought menus back so I could taunt people with description of my cocktail!
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Old 13 Nov 19, 08:49 PM  
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Sandraoh40
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We had a trip to YC booked in May that we have cancelled and are doing Naples and Key Largo instead. We had it with the dxddp. There were a few reasons I changed it but I’m actually even more glad we did now. After reading some dining reports I just think I would have had an overwhelming feeling of a waste of our money. I know that the ddp is technically free, however what we would have paid for the hotel and the upgrade to dxddp and tips added on, its a huge amount to essentially see things we have just seen on October ( no matter how much we enjoy it , it’s still just the same stuff) and eat at restaurants that have looked good in trip reports. And tbh, some of the reports I have read recently I think I would have been disappointed. I actually can’t believe that in some of the 2ts places you have to pay extra for a side and a sauce with your steak. I think that’s shocking.
Some of the places we have eaten in the past and really enjoyed onsite are Yak and Yeti, Prime Time, 9 Dragons and Biergarten. Where we have eaten and really not enjoyed were The Rainforest Cafe and Chef’s de France. We also love the Hoop Dee Doo.
As for offsite, there are loads of fabulous places to eat. We love the steak at Texas Roadhouse. Also for fine dining A Land Remembered is excellent. I can’t imagine any of the signatures being any better.
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Old 13 Nov 19, 11:33 PM  
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Well we are sharing a dessert we brought home with us last night from Bonefish Grill. Our total meal cost there on the Tuesday special was $42 for 3 courses each inc tax.
Excellent service so we tipped all but 20% which was still cheap for a meal of that quality

So let's look at fish at Disney. Now what fish would that be?
Of course you used to be able to get Mahi Mahi, Snapper, Grouper, Halibut and Catfish in a lot of non Signature places.
What do you get now? Oh yes farmed salmon that's cheap as chips and distinctly poor quality.
Cost cutting in the extreme.

Apart from the Wave which is excellent the rest of the places are poor. The Wave is a distinctly different experience and it comes to something when my Wife says that apart from there her best meal was a $11 plant based burger in the Pop Century food court!
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Edited at 11:36 PM.
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Old 13 Nov 19, 11:44 PM  
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I agree that without the free dining plan I wouldn't eat at most of the TS restuarants in Disney primarily due to the cost.

Personally my experiences of the food and the service have generally been either good or very good. I like the changes to the plan to cut out the deserts to the QS meals and introduce alcoholic drinks. My biggest gripe though is the amount of food and therefore waste. I wish the prices were a little lower and the portions a little smaller but that's just me and my small appetite!
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Old 14 Nov 19, 12:03 AM  
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dx4100
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It’s a bit of a difficult one to answer because I speak in one mind from being a Brit who is already paying 4K in flights plus all the other costs associated with getting from the UK to Orlando.

Would I pay for 14 TS meals out of pocket if I wasn’t on the dining plan. No - if I was paying out of pocket I would probably be staying offsite, eating out of the parks, taking snacks in and then maybe doing the odd targeted TS meal for the characters and odd one we really do like.

But if I lived in America and I was within driving distance of the parks and so on and I had that extra 4K to spend on other things than -flights then I think that changes the dynamics. I would struggling to spend 4K on food probably so I probably would pay out of pocket.

But this is why we get offered the free dining plan - its too offset the cost of getting there.

I think the food is over price (shock horror its a theme park) but I find the vast majority nice and in a places like Tokyo Dining, Steakhouse and Yak and Yeti really good (obviously we all have own experiences and tastes).

I don’t know what DW used to be like - my experiences start from 2018 staying onsite and 2019 when I stayed offsite but didn’t do Disney but I did do what was on offer in wider Orlando.

What I found in 2019 when I did places like Perkins, Cracker Barrell, Longhorns, Denny’s and so on was how outside the parks just how disappointing the food in Orlando is outside the parks. It’s all very similar, lacks variety, goes up and down in price and quality as does the service. I was left VERY disappointed with this experience.

In 2018 when I did the dinning plan at Disney World I found the food, service and variety to be very good. I love how you can have such a mix in Theme Parks to be able to buy food from all over the world - from poutine to bobotie.

I still never been to a place like Disney World that offer such an experience when it comes to food. TS, QS and all the snacks. Great drinks from craft ale to cocktails to specialist milkshakes.

It’s such a wonderful mix for me and I am very much looking forward to taking on the deluxe dining plan next time we go. I am sure we will get back service in places, some poor meals but like everything in life, it will be balanced off with good experiences in other places. It’s the same in and out of the parks.

Edited at 12:05 AM.
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Old 14 Nov 19, 12:41 AM  
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dippiedawnie
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It's the variability that annoys us. We have been going for nearly 25years yet every visit one of our favourite restaurants is an awful experience with poor service and food quality. Nowhere has stayed consistently ok even fron one year to the next never mind over a number of years. Choosing ADRs is like playing Russian roulette these days as you don't know if you will be lucky or unlucky with what you get 🙄
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Old 14 Nov 19, 01:04 AM  
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Mr Tom Morrow
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Originally Posted by dippiedawnie View Post
It's the variability that annoys us. We have been going for nearly 25years yet every visit one of our favourite restaurants is an awful experience with poor service and food quality. Nowhere has stayed consistently ok even fron one year to the next never mind over a number of years. Choosing ADRs is like playing Russian roulette these days as you don't know if you will be lucky or unlucky with what you get 🙄
My goodness. Sadly so true.

We at taking our Disney Barman friend out tonight. I hope to God the meal is good as the last 2 occasions have been poor and it's embarrassing for him and us.
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