Dining?

[HunnyPot]

Hello to all! Thanks for taking the time to read this thread. I did a search and found A LOT of threads about dining, but I didn't find exactly what I was looking for, so I thought I would just ask and risk being yelled at for being repetitive.

I am going in January and even thought I've been tons of times and stayed on property, I've never done any kind of dining plan. We are thinking of doing on this time, and I just wanted you opinions about a few things:

1.) Did it really save you money overall?
2. ) Did it make your comings and goings hard trying to work out all your PS's? For example, you might have a dinner at MGM but that day your group really wanted to go to Epcot, so was it hard to coordinate? I think we will be going to different parks everyday, probably just depending on our mood. So, do you think that will be tough to swing?
3.) Would it be worth it to eat at one of the Signature Restaurants, specifically California Grill, and use up 2 table service meals?
4.) Anyone have a favorite restaurant? I've only eaten at a few of the table service.

We're staying at CBR, but I've heard bad things about Shutters. What do you think? Since we are going in January, the park hours are going to be shorter, so I was thinking it might be good to make some dinner ressies at places like the ESPN club or Planet Hollywood. Any thoughts?

Again, sorry if I missed something when I searched. Hope you have a magical day!

 

[PixyDust]

First, I've not done the dining plan, but being BIG on sit down meals, I can hopefully help with a couple of the questions.

#2. You really need to coordinate your meals to be in the same area as where you're planning to spend your time that day. Otherwise you're wasting time. For instance, I looked at the Unofficial Guide back in July to see the crowd levels for my upcoming trip in Nov/Dec. I then began to plan which days I'd go to each park. Then I added in my meal plans to correspond to my park plans. While some might see that as micro-planning, it really just helps to get everything organized. We know we want to go to each park, we know which restaurants we want to eat at. Why not go ahead and make those plans now while I can rationally see how to make the most of each day???

#3. Yes - eat at one of the signature restaurants. You will not want to eat so many sit downs once you get there and see how much time they take from your "play" time. We do a sit down a day - be it either a breakfast, lunch or dinner, but not two in a day. And some days we forego a sit down so that we can really splurge for the Yachtsman or something comparable. And my husband is BIG on the meal aspect of our vacation.

#4. We have several favorites. We enjoy the restaurants inside the deluxe resorts best of all, with a few of the Epcot restaurants in there too. The sit downs in the other parks we normally hit for lunch when the menu prices are a little better. We don't go to Planet Hollywood, Rainforest or any of the "trendy" places because we can go to those places in other cities.

Here's the Huffman Family's Top 10 Sit Down Restaurants:
10. Biergarten
9. Rose and Crown
8. Whispering Canyon Cafe
7. Sci Fi (lunch)
6. Yachtsman
5. Ohana
4. Boma
3. 1900 Park Fare (breakfast)
2. Nine Dragons
1. Hoop Dee Doo

Now, just because I have a restaurant in our top 10 doesn't mean they have the very best food, but because the food is at least above average, and combined with either the entertainment or something special, it is a place where we can truly enjoy our meal time.

As far as the early closing times for the parks. Remember, you can make a reservation up to closing time. For example if the park closes at 7 pm, enjoy the park all day, then know that you have an ADR at a restaurant nearby at 6:50 or so.

Now, there are a couple of places we're trying in a few weeks that we've not tried before. Actually, of our top 10, we are only going to a couple of them this time. We are excited to be trying Artist Pointe, 1900 Park Fare (dinner) and California Grill for the first time!

And, I have to put in a plug for one other "restaurant" before I submit this reply. In my opinion, the VERY BEST sandwich to be had on Disney property is at the Earl of Sandwich. I could eat there every single day I think, and not tire of it.

 

[AkiraRaptor]

I've never used the new dinning plan, but did use the old Wishes plans several times. So my opinions are based on the old way, not the new plans.

#1 Yes, the Wishes plan saved us hundreds of dollars, but you could use it on more than just dining. And the biggest savings were on things like tours, golf, ect. But if used just on dining, it would have still saved money.

I've read here on other threads it can still save you money. The biggest thing is you absolutly must be smart on using it. Don't use them on sit down restaurants that would have ended up costing you less in cash.

#2 For us, no. But we try to plan our day around the PS. We no longer run around the parks at full speed. It's a slow pace for us, so if we need to hop to get back to a restaurant at another park, we just make the time for it.

#3 Heck yea! The Signitures are the best! Some are worth doing more than once! :slurp: You should get at least one in. Do two if you can.

#4 Many...but top of the list for me is Flying Fish. I'd add Spoodles, Narcoossee's, Boma, Jiko, Rose and Crown, Liberty Tree Tavern, Kona Cafe and Nine Dragons. Some other fun spots to eat are Sci-Fi Dine-In, 50's Prime Time, Whispering Canyon Cafe, 'Ohana and Cinderella's Royal Table.

Have fun!

 

[HunnyPot]

Thanks so much! I'm getting a good idea about how to use the plan. I need to get organized so we can make all the places we want to eat and get the most out of our money. Thanks again! :wave:

 

[BRER STITCH]

1. YES

2. NO

3. YES

4. OHANA

:wave:

 

[swimmom]

We haven't had any experience with the Dining Plan yet, but it appears that you would definately save some money.

Some of our favorite table service restaurants are LeCellier, Ohana, Whispering Canyon, Nine Dragons & Cinderella's Royal Table.

 

[wdwcastwannabe]

My Top Ten Dining Experiences:

10. Tie Citricos or ESPNZone, more for the atmosphere than the food.
9. Biergarten, if you don't like the German buffet, skip to the desserts, all you can eat decadence!
8. Narcoossee's
7. Shula's Steakhouse, take the giant steak challenge.
6. Flying Fish Cafe
5. 'Ohana
4. 50's Prime Time Cafe, it doesn't look like the food would be anything special, but don't judge a book by it's cover, the atmosphere is killer and the food is just as good...good downhome cooking
3. Bistro's de Paris/Chefs de France
2. Coral Reef Restaurant, great atmosphere, first class food
1. Le Cellier Steakhouse (the most UNDERRATED restaurant in WDW)

 

[saltmom1]

We stayed at CBR last year and went to Shutter's. I would never go back there even if I was staying at CBR ( which I LOVED !!! ) The food was not that great and the service was so-so. It wasn't that busy when we went, either. Don't use the convenience of Shutter's. The food court was better and that was just fast food, nothing great.

 

[shoppingnut]

1. The dining plan is well worth it, you definitely get your money's worth when you consider that just having breakfast at the foodcourt in the hotel can run you $8.00 easily, a snack is about $2-3, leaving about $24 for dinner, which as you know most dinners at sit down's run more than $24.

2. What we did was plan our dinner at the Park where we were going to be for that particular evening. Take a spreadsheet and layout the days you are going to be there and which parks have EMH's etc and just decide that this day will be this park and we'll have dinner here or in the am well be at one park and the pm another and have dinner there.

3. The signature restaurants are definitely worth it, but, however, if your budget is tight and this would mean you'd have to pay out of pocket for any extra meal, then don't bother with it, there are many other restaurants that are not signature, but excellent, for instance Le Cellier, Boma, Cinderella's Royal Table.

4. My favorites are: Le Cellier, Chef de France, 50's Prime Time, Cinderella's Royal Table, Crystal Place, Nine Dragons.

Don't bother with ESPN, it's a hamburger & fry joint, you could have that kind of stuff anywhere and Planet Hollywood is not worth the money or the line you will have to wait in to get in.

For the menu's of any of the restaurants, check out www.allears.net

 

[kellydisney]

I'm the resident food junkie I think... so I'll try to help

1.) Did it really save you money overall?

We used the DDP for free in September. We have since decided that we will never do a Disney vacation WITHOUT it again. It paid for itself ten times over. We went to Le Cellier for free. Our meal easily cost over $100. Same with Alfredo's. We didn't pay for food other than breakfast. And it is what, $30 - $35pp? It's definitely worth it.

2. ) Did it make your comings and goings hard trying to work out all your PS's?

There were nights that we were glad we had a rental car. We had many PSs in Epcot though we wanted to see the end show in another park. We only missed one end show due to timing, but it was Fantasmic the Sunday before Labor Day and it was just too crowded! Just time it out and you'll be fine.


3.) Would it be worth it to eat at one of the Signature Restaurants, specifically California Grill, and use up 2 table service meals?

Depends on how long you are staying. We both agreed that it's SO MUCH FOOD you need a night off somewhere. So yes I think it is worth it to do something cool like CG.

4.) Anyone have a favorite restaurant? I've only eaten at a few of the table service.

Le Cellier. Hands down. Second is Ohana at the Poly. :slurp:

We're staying at CBR, but I've heard bad things about Shutters. What do you think? Since we are going in January, the park hours are going to be shorter, so I was thinking it might be good to make some dinner ressies at places like the ESPN club or Planet Hollywood. Any thoughts?

ESPN is only busy if there's a serious game going on. Other than that it's always dead. Especially for lunch. I wouldn't waste a "sit down" meal on ESPN or Planet Hollywood. JMHO.

HTH!

 

[Sharired1210]

I know I'm being repetitive but...

We ate at Shutters during our stay at CBR and it honestly was the worst meal we had the whole trip.

The best is a toss up between Hoop Dee Doo and Ohana.

 

[DisneyMarg]

Here's a link to my report from our visit in March.

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=53406<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

I think they have solved the one problem we had - not enough choices in Epcot. Now most Epcot restaurants are included.

We definitely saved money.

We enjoyed eating at places we wouldn't otherwise go to (Whispering Canyon, Boma, 'Ohana) since we normally stick to the parks. We ate most of our counter service meals in the park and sit downs outside. Even if we were in the park, it wasn't a big deal to take the transportation to the resort where our reservations were. This let us see several resorts we'd never been in.

The only one we didn't love was Cape May Cafe - but that may have just been because we were tired. Also, we live near Myrtle Beach SC and can get lots of good seafood anytime. I think we were expecting something even more and that's probably not realistic.

Our hands down all time favorite is Boma.

We didn't try out any signature places, but I think I would if I were doing it again.