Free Dining Nightmare

[testtrackalumni]

I am heading down in September (14-20 to be exact) and every where I look there is more and more and MORE dining being added to meet guest demand! Is it that out of hand this year?? I've heard of it heightening guest numbers, but not enough to ADD dining (i.e. The Tomorrowland Noodle Stand)!!

Anyone got an idea of what we're looking at? First hand experience would be good!!

 

[Monty]

They've added dining options in previous years.

So long as you've already got your ADRs in place, you'll be fine.

Crowds are generally not too bad once the local kiddies go back to school... Free dining or no.

 

[blackthidot]

Yeah if you have your ADRs straight you should be fine. Its never really TOO crowded while we are there in September. The first night of Food & Wine is a little intense but you wont even be there for it.

 

[RiversideBunny]

Getting the ADR's is the hard part during 'Free' Dining.

People even resort to eating at Tony's Town Square and other questionable places, so WDW adds additional spots where the guests can go so they won't reach the point of staging an open rebellion.

Free Dining-
Oink, oink. Head for the feeding troughs. Sououe-eeee-pigs.
Dont' get run over by the stampede.

IMHO

 

[Tinkyroo]

Getting the ADR's is the hard part during 'Free' Dining.

People even resort to eating at Tony's Town Square and other questionable places, so WDW adds additional spots where the guests can go so they won't reach the point of staging an open rebellion.

Free Dining-
Oink, oink. Head for the feeding troughs. Sououe-eeee-pigs.
Dont' get run over by the stampede.

IMHO

Is it really a bad place to eat? We have never eaten there but since we have free dinning for our next trip and there are so few TS places at MK I was going to make an ADR for TTS. Should we not eat there? And if not any recommendations? The only other spots are Liberty Tree Tavern and the Crystal Palace which have good reviews and The Plaza Restaurant which I still have to find reviews for.

Thanks

 

[Computer Magic]

This is my 4th time in Sept. Seems a little crazier this year. :shrug:

 

[SirGoofy]

Is it really a bad place to eat? We have never eaten there but since we have free dinning for our next trip and there are so few TS places at MK I was going to make an ADR for TTS. Should we not eat there? And if not any recommendations? The only other spots are Liberty Tree Tavern and the Crystal Palace which have good reviews and The Plaza Restaurant which I still have to find reviews for.

Thanks

Tony's is much better than the Crystal Palace, but I hate character dining, so that factors into it. Liberty Tree is very good.

But this is just another reason why the dining plan is the work of the devil.

 

[lilclerk]

The Plaza Restaurant which I still have to find reviews for.

Thanks

My review: The Plaza is simple, but wonderful =) It can get a little loud since it's so small, but the food is great and we've always had amazing service.

 

[Monty]

Is it really a bad place to eat? We have never eaten there but since we have free dinning for our next trip and there are so few TS places at MK I was going to make an ADR for TTS. Should we not eat there? And if not any recommendations? The only other spots are Liberty Tree Tavern and the Crystal Palace which have good reviews and The Plaza Restaurant which I still have to find reviews for.

Thanks

Over the years I've had some really great meals at Tony's and maybe two that were less-than-great but still good. As with any restaurant, it happens that people get meals they don't like or servers that are less than stellar and those voices get heard more than voices of praise. My suggestion is to try it, you are likely to enjoy it.

 

[toystorymaniacs]

We've done free dinning every year since it started except last year. The first year it was a breeze because nobody really knew about it yet. You could still get ADRs the same day at alot of places. Since then it ahs become a little harder but still not impossible. I have made about 5 reservations in the last week for our up coming trip and have been able to get the following (Boma for breakfast and dinner, WCC for lunch, the Plaza, Nine Dragons). I could have also gotten Raglan Road, Chefs de France and a couple others. If you are flexible about when and where you eat you can still get them. I think it's nice the Disney tries to add some extra things for people who really want to eat in the park.

To the op, we've eaten at Tony's twice and it's been fine (not great but not awful) we are eating there again this trip. However our favorite MK meal is LTT for lunch (love the pot roast) then CP breakfast.

 

[nepalostparks]

Along with what the other posters have said, here's the low down on Free Dining (in September anyways):

- Disney Resorts will be more crowded as people have to stay on site for Free Dining. You may notice the levels in the food court, busses, around the pool, etc. We generally spend most of our times out at the parks and get a rental car, so it didn't bother us.

- Restaurants: Generally, they will be busy. As long as you have your ADRs for table service, you will be fine. For counter service, try eating at off peak hours - try to avoid standing in the longest lines right around noon and 5 - 6 p.m.

- Parks: Crowds will be light! Last September, about the same week you are going, we enjoyed walking on some rides, and except for the big headliners, we almost never waited more than 15 minutes for an attraction. And for the big ones, like Soarin, etc - use FASTPASS, and save yourself the wait. Honestly, the whole week we were there, the longest wait we ever had was about 25 minutes one night for Peter Pan.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[nibblesandbits]

Along with what the other posters have said, here's the low down on Free Dining (in September anyways):

- Disney Resorts will be more crowded as people have to stay on site for Free Dining. You may notice the levels in the food court, busses, around the pool, etc. We generally spend most of our times out at the parks and get a rental car, so it didn't bother us.

- Restaurants: Generally, they will be busy. As long as you have your ADRs for table service, you will be fine. For counter service, try eating at off peak hours - try to avoid standing in the longest lines right around noon and 5 - 6 p.m.

- Parks: Crowds will be light! Last September, about the same week you are going, we enjoyed walking on some rides, and except for the big headliners, we almost never waited more than 15 minutes for an attraction. And for the big ones, like Soarin, etc - use FASTPASS, and save yourself the wait. Honestly, the whole week we were there, the longest wait we ever had was about 25 minutes one night for Peter Pan.

Enjoy your trip!

Couldn't agree more with this. This is spot on.


As for the additional restaurant that will now be open during this time period...I think a lot of it is probably geared towards walk ups...for those who didn't know that they needed ressies, and try to get into LeCellier at 6:00 for dinner. This way, Disney has a place to possibly send these people so there's not so much of a problem. Sure, they're open to everyone, but they're more geared (IMHO) for the non-planners.

 

[meekoman]

Just be careful if you have ADR's for likes of Raglan Road and ESPN club, etc. If it isn't ran exclusively by WDW, your reservation doesn't mean much. If you have ressies at 7pm, that doesn't mean you will get a table at 7, more like when they have a table open up and no one else is waiting. I waited for an hour at Raglan Road and watched group after group of people without ressies get tables ahead of us. When I questioned the host/hostess why we were not being seated, they stated that we had "priority seating" which didn't entitle us to a seat at our designated time, just when a table opened. I got so mad at the manager, I told him to take the menus and shove them somewhere I can't mention here. I saw several other parties have the same issue at ESPN too.

 

[dznygirl64]

September is a great time to go we will be there Sept 19-26 just like last year we decided against the free dining and took the cheaper room instead this trip.We are still eating at all our favorites anyway,with the annual pass and the dining discount card it was a better deal not to take the free dining.Have a great trip and dont let what you read on the internet worry you the crouds will be low,lots of strollers though!

 

[Captain Hank]

As long as you have ADR's in place, it shouldn't be too bad. Keep in mind, though, during peak mealtimes even Guests with ADR's may experience a wait. Just don't make the same mistake of several Guests I've had the pleasure of being yelled at by and show up for a week stay during Free Dining without any ADR's in place. Magical times.

 

[Monty]

As long as you have ADR's in place, it shouldn't be too bad. Keep in mind, though, during peak mealtimes even Guests with ADR's may experience a wait. Just don't make the same mistake of several Guests I've had the pleasure of being yelled at by and show up for a week stay during Free Dining without any ADR's in place. Magical times.

I've seen a few of those show up at Le Cellier during Free Dining. I feel so bad for the CMs, but also for the guests. Did they book through an agent but weren't told about ADRs? Did they book on-line through Disney and not do any research? Or were they thinking that it's crazy to make reservations and regardless of advise wanted to "wing it" because you'll always find somewhere to eat?

I was lucky enough to find this site long before ADRs became an absolute necessity.

 

[nibblesandbits]

I've seen a few of those show up at Le Cellier during Free Dining. I feel so bad for the CMs, but also for the guests. Did they book through an agent but weren't told about ADRs? Did they book on-line through Disney and not do any research? Or were they thinking that it's crazy to make reservations and regardless of advise wanted to "wing it" because you'll always find somewhere to eat?

I was lucky enough to find this site long before ADRs became an absolute necessity.

I've seen it too...and I'm sure I'll see it again in a couple of weeks.

 

[nepalostparks]

We were lucky enough to get Le Cellier for dinner on our last trip in September 2008 with free dining. Sure enough, while we were waiting for our table to be ready that evening, a woman walked in and asked if they had anything available for a family of 9.

The cast member calmly told here there was nothing available the entire evening. She did look into the reservation system and found an available ADR at Morocco for 8 p.m... and told her that was all that was available in Epcot.

I couldn't imagine not having ADRs anytime of the year, let alone during free dining... especially if I was with a group of 9 people! But then again I love to plan out vacations months in advance, so I guess it's just how you look at it