I guess I'll be *that guy* who plays Devil's Advocate. :lol:
I, too, reserved the Yachtsman as a special celebratory anniversary dinner on the night of our 18th anniversary in September. I had always read such rave reviews so I thought it was a safe ADR to make. Without typing it all out again, here's the detailed bits from my trip report that chronicle our anniversary dinner there:
Starting at the Crew's Cup next door and through dinner.....
.....
and wrapping things up with the custom cake I ordered before the trip for our celebratory dessert.
During the course of our trip we ended up being in contact with one of the Yachtsman's managers to let them know how disappointing the food portion of our meal was. We were invited back to give them one more shot at knocking our socks off on the last night of our trip. We went but in the end wish we hadn't. We should've just left well enough alone and gotten something quick on the fly. Even at the price of 'free' I don't think it was worth the 2nd trip, especially not on the last night when time is so precious.
Here's the bits about our 2nd round.
Believe me, nobody can question me more than I do myself on some things. I've been perplexed for a long time as to why I seem to disagree with the impressions others have when it comes to food so frequently. Am I too picky? I don't think so. Am I more picky than the average person? I don't know. Maybe at WDW because the prices are so astronomical for what you get and as a consumer in these times I have high expectations for every dollar spent. Maybe I don't have the pixie-colored glasses as much anymore. We lived in the New Orleans area for a long time before living here so truly amazing, rich foods that make your toes curl are something we are probably a bit spoiled to. Living in Texas, steaks that melt into your soul aren't that hard to find. If I had to compare the steaks at the Yachtsman to anything I'd say maybe Outback. Definitely get better at Texas Roadhouse for half the price.
In retrospect, the best meal I think I've ever had at WDW was in May of '08 when the hubby & I did the Lunch with an Imagineer at the Brown Derby. A few other meals have really grabbed my attention and been super-yummy in all our trips but that seems to happen less and less as time passes. I dunno.
I'd recommend the Yachtsman if your standards aren't that high or if you tend to be easy to please with food/flavor/texture. I will say the service was stellar and I second the recommendation for Oscar. He's an incredible person in addition to being a skilled server. I think being on the DDP makes it a better value (considering you won't have the insult of shelling out the big bucks directly from your pocket if you aren't impressed). Would I go again? Heavens, no. Would I recommend the Yachtsman to a relative or close friend? 99.9% chance of "no".
