14 days of free disney food- the verdict

[Moleymole]

Just back and overall I was a bit disappointed with the food we had on the DDP, there were a few goodies in there though. Here's a quick breakdown:

Chef Mickey's-dinner- This was our second vist here (came 2008), atmosphere and characters were great, we were seated in the exact same spot as last time (spooky). Chracters were good, but the buffet (first of many this trip) was just ok.

Donald's Safari Breakfast - really nice breakfast buffet in a lovely setting, characters were great and the kids loved the little march/dance around the restaurant. The only thing that ruined this were the rather rude and rushed servers. The bread pudding there was to die for (yes for breafast...sounds wrong...but tasted sooo right).

Yak & Yeti- lunch - Really linked this place, It was nicely themed inside, the server was great and the food delicious. Hubby had the steak and shrimp entree which he loved and I had the Bourbon chicken which was a little too sweet but nice enough. For dessert the fried wontons were the best dessert I think I've ever had.

Confisco Grille (character breakfast) Islands of Adventure-Universal.. Bit of a disaster this one as they were short of servers (and kept telling us so). Took forever to be seated and we were left over 30mins before I had to go and ask for someone to take our drinks order (we were gasping for a coffee!). Food wasn't great but the characters were really great, Spiderman, Cat in Hat and Things 1 and 2. The gave us a 25% discount to make up for the bas service, which we gladly took.

Chefs de France- lunch- rather posh in here, hated my entree (a chicken Crepe thing), nice and bright and top notch service though. Had to wait ages to see Remy, server looked scared to tell us he had gone and that the restaurant itself does not control the character. Fortunately after a long wait he sent Remy straight over on his return which was great.

Garden Grille (Epcot),-dinner- I really liked this one, but DH didn't like the food (family platter of beef,fish and turkey,mash and stuffing). Kids got their own platter with chicken drumsticks and fries etc and loved the whole experience! Characters great...server again not great.

Sci-Fi Dine in - lunch- It was really freezing in here...uncomfortably so, so we couldn't enjoy the food (which was pretty basic). I had the turkey sandwich which was a little tasteless and cheesecake for afters which was also a little tasteless. We knew it was standard fare in here though and went there for the theming...which didn't really do much for me either. Server 'Tony' was fantastic though...couldn't do enough for us and gave us special cups filled with popcorn as our anniversary gift, as well as a card signed by staff.

Boma - dinner - Our second time here after finding it too hectic last year (and too expensive lol). This year we had a great experience on the whole, food was delicious, especially the soups and durban chicken and the atmosphere less chaotic than last time. AKL always a joy to visit...low point was the server who we only saw once and could barely crack a smile.

Crystal Palace- lunch. I chose this for our actual anniversary day as we enjoyed it so much for dinner last year. Confetti had been scattered on our table, food was good but didn't seem as nice as last years dinner. Characters seemed in a rush this year too...only Tigger seemed to put any effort in with the kids. Server (who I likened to an older out of shape Dr Phil) was just awful...grumpy infact. We had to ask for more drinks and he did not once wish us 'happy anniversary' or ask if we wanted coffee. He also kept trying to take our plates away when we were not done with them. He gave zero effort and zero politeness (if you can't force a smile in Disney...work somewhere else)... we gave him zero tip!

1900 Park fare- character dinner, errrrm... this was a strange one, n ot sure where to start. Our first look at the GF and we were a little disappointed with it if I'm honest (expected more of a wow). Buffet was not a good as Crystal Palace, and by now I was tireing of the mish mash of buffet flavours on my plate. Server was a nice polite and friendly chap... but couldn't seem to remember anything lol. characters apart from one ugly sister who had great fun with my DS5 were in too much of a hurry to be enjoyed.

Le Cellier- lunch- Well into our holiday and sick of hectic mealtimes we were glad to be given a quiet table at the end of the restaurant. Server was fantastic, explaining all the can and can't haves of DDP. I had a delicious smoothie and as a non steak eater opted for the potato gnocchi which was horrible. DH enjoyed his Steak but beware it comes with just one potato...no greens etc. Nice experience though I hated what I chose to order!

Trails End Buffet- dinner- Love it over at FWL and was looking forward to this but I hated the buffet...which was sloppy and basic. The fried chicken had no white meat parts that I could see and the mash was watery. Kids hardly ate anything. Nice place though. Server was quite nice but seemed rushed even thouhg it was half empty. They gave us a shout out and a big "yeeeehahhh" for our anniversary though!

Ohana character breakfast- Nice to have a look at the Polynesian, liked the feel of this place actually. Breakfast was rather average though, server was all talk and no action. Kept saying he was bringing this and that over and then never did. Characters were good fun but had to wait an eternity for Mickey to come to our table. Kids again enjoyed the little march/dance with the characters, again felt very rushed in here.

Cinderella's Royal Table- dinner- Characters were Cinders in the lobby only, Snow White (a spooky one at that), Belle, Aurora and Ariel. No Jasmine much to DH's dismay. Awful food... yeukk... I had the cornish hen which was greasy and came with a greasy mass of mac and cheese. Had this awful weird cold custard thing for dessert. For starters the soup was a nice beef stew sort of thing but way too salty. Characters seemed like they weren't focused at all, eyes darting to the next tables...very impersonal (apart from Ariel who put more effort in). Bit of a let down and not as good as the breakfast we had last year.

Not so many character meals or buffets next time (if there is a next time). I'm just glad it was free DDP as I would have begrudged paying OOP for quite a few of the above.

[Cinnabon]

Welcome back and thanks for the report.

[MichelleB]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Shame you had poor service in some places. I know what you mean about buffets, can get a bit samey after a while!

[BriarRose]

It was great to get your thoughts on all your meals - we are going to a lot of the same places, so here's hoping the servers have bucked up a bit by then!

[Guest]

Welcome Home, Thank you for the very detailed report.
Im so glad we are going to try alot of places out of WDW this year as most of the reports coming back are for average food and poor service

[NatsyNoo]

Sorry to hear you had some not so good experiences on the DDP
We've done DDP twice and never had a bad experience (touch wood) and can't wait to try it again on our next trip!
You did have a lot of buffets, and from my own experience of buffets, I would try to keep them to a minimum as they can get a bit samey, but nice for a couple of times
Like you say, it was free, and I hope other parts of your trip made up for the bad

[Guest]

Would you do DDP again or has this put you off? - have you done it previously?

I'm curious as we have the QSDP - to be fair it cost nothing and is probably worth a couple of hundred pound. We're more eat-on-the-go types so it suits us down to the ground.

I thought about the DDP but was well aware of having to book ADR's etc. - No way could I plan 180 days in advance - not even sure what to have for dinner this evening!

[Moleymole]

Originally Posted by quacker

Would you do DDP again or has this put you off? - have you done it previously?

I'm curious as we have the QSDP - to be fair it cost nothing and is probably worth a couple of hundred pound. We're more eat-on-the-go types so it suits us down to the ground.

I thought about the DDP but was well aware of having to book ADR's etc. - No way could I plan 180 days in advance - not even sure what to have for dinner this evening!

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Hi, No haven't done it before and yes I'd do again it for free lol. A big advantage for us was planning table service in advance which certainly made for a stress free eating experience. I did make sure there were days when we weren't tied into reservations though and I can see how one would have to be careful of being too restricted. Quick Service though was even more difficult for us to find somewhere to use the credits that we liked, Wolfgang Puck express for breakky at DTD was a good example... ABC Commisionary (chicken curry) at DHS was a bad example. Old Key West where we stayed though wonderful in every other way was not so good for counter service, and so where you stay can make a huge difference in getting most out of QSDP. I started to worry about the whole counter service element when we went to Earl of Sandwich at DTD (which has rave reviews on here)... but we all hated it (apart from DH).

[DIBBadmin]

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