My dining experience: Not so good

[rubato]

I just returned from an 8 day trip on Wednesday. It was me, hubby and 10 year old son. We paid for the dining plan for the first time. I wasn't sure the dining plan was for us, but thought it was worth trying it once.

Well, I was right. There is no way I will ever pay for this again. We are very thrifty people, so it's hard to throw food away that we've paid for. We started our first day with a CS lunch at Pizza Planet. Since my son is now an adult (only in Disney ;)) he got to order off the adult menu as well. When I got the tray, I was shocked. Wow was that a lot of food! Dessert at lunch is ridiculous! We learned from that day forward to get whatever dessert option could travel with us. Also, the snacks! We don't drink soda or bottled water. The only snack we got in our 8 days was an ice cream cookie sandwich at the Main St. Bakery. Of course, we didn't realize it was so big that it needed 4 scoops of ice cream! Again insane! Other than that, we used every snack credit at Goofys and had them packaged for travel. We brought 20 snacks and all of our CS desserts home to Kansas. It took one entire suitcase.
Another issue I had was my son. What child is going to get their money's worth on the adult dining plan? He's an adventurous eater, but by the end of the trip, I was basically paying for him to eat macaroni. It was tough to swallow.

Now, on to the restaurants! Out of 8 TS restaurants and 7 CS restaurants, we only enjoyed 3. In order of enjoyment, the best was Citricos, followed by Wolfgang Puck Express and lastly, Le Cellier. I loved Citricos. I will be doing signature from now on and no dining plan. We also absolutely loved WPE. The food was truly excellent. Although, I don't recommend getting the pizza. Kind of greasy. Le Cellier was okay, but did not live up to the hype. The pretzel bread was the only reason I enjoyed it. Our waiter was non existent, but at least we got lots of food and pretzel bread.
We didn't enjoy: Chef Mickeys, Garden Grill, Whispering Canyon, Biergarten, Hoop De Doos food (although we loved the show), and Donalds Safari Breakfast. Most of these meals were for the experience, not the food, but man, the food was BAD! We actually got our credits back for Biergarten. The food was horrible this time. We've eaten there 2 times before and the food was good on both of those trips. The show was only 3 songs long which is about half of what it used to be. I just asked the front desk at my hotel if there was a number I could call to make a small complaint. The CM wanted to know why and said we should never be unhappy with an experience at Disney. I didn't want the credits back because we did eat the meal, but she insisted. That's Disneys customer service for you! :mickey:

So, we've learned. The next trip will be no dining plan, signature dining where we can, and, apparently, lunch everyday at WPE!

[EeyoresBestFriend]

That's too bad.

We also tried it for the first time on our last trip and found the same thing. We don't eat nearly enough to make it worth while. I also hate wasting food ~ free or not ~ so on most of our meals we would pass on the desert or drink. We got alot of raised eyebrows and CMs saying "but it's free". Doesn't matter ~ we won't eat ourselves sick just because its free and we won't waste it (though I know not everyone feels that way) :D

It was a great thing to try cuz now we know for next time! It's all good ! :thumbsup:

[DizneyRox]

I'm very surprised to hear about Biergarten and Donald's Safari Breakfast. Two of the restaurants we've never had a complaint with.

I 100% agree with you on the Dining Plan. Bad value overall, something I don't even think about getting.

[Ms. Mode]

On the flip side...I LOVE the dining plan!

It is a lot of food, but when you walk 4000 miles a day you need fuel. We use the CS for a brunch and then schedule dinner for later. My
DH is not a dessert eater either, but he always wipes the plate clean because the food at WDW is different from what he gets at home.

With the exception of Tony's we have had only excellent food on all of our trips. Sorry yours wasn't to your liking. :mickey:

[rubato]

I'm very surprised to hear about Biergarten and Donald's Safari Breakfast. Two of the restaurants we've never had a complaint with.

I 100% agree with you on the Dining Plan. Bad value overall, something I don't even think about getting.

Trust me, no one was more surprised than me. I love Biergarten. But, the Rouladen was hard and old and the schnitzel was not like the old schnitzel (chicken instead of veal) and was also hard and old. There didn't seem to be as much of a selection either. Now, I do have to say that the full litre of beer was just as good as I remembered it to be!:thumbsup:

Donalds was probably my mistake. I scheduled it at 10:15. The food was old by then. And, as they were running out, they weren't replacing it. Plus, we felt like we never got to eat because the characters were spaced exactly far enough apart to make you run for a plate and not get back in time. The waitress was great about going to find us, but it was just super rushed!

As for walking it off, I understand. But, we truly couldn't walk enough to eat that much food. It was just crazy. We would schedule lunch for right at 12. Then, dinner was between 6:30 and 7:30 depending on the night. The day we did Donald's breakfast, we skipped lunch entirely. We never went to a meal hungry. Plus, sitting down to a 2 hour dinner seemed like such a waste of time to me.

[Scar]

rubato,

Did you do Biergarten for lunch? They have always had a smaller selection for lunch than for dinner, which is why lunch is cheaper than dinner. And I think I read somewhere that they do still have veal for dinner. Of course old, hard food is unaceptable, unless your in the army.

But I agree on the DDP, tried it once, never again.

[BigRedDad]

The DDP is one of the main reasons the quality and selection of food is diminishing. It is far too much food and no where near worth it unless you plan very carefully exactly what to order to get your money's worth.

We were going to do the QSDP, but that was still too much. I would have to have two $14 counter service meals to break even. My DW and I can split one CS meal without dessert and still be full. In the extreme case that I do spend more than the QSDP, I will be more than happy to lose that money.

[DizneyRox]

The lunch vs dinner thing is a big one. I've noticed the selection is less during lunch, but the quality has never been a problem. Someone recently mentioned the veal/chicken thing, I hadn't really noticed (maybe it's the liter of beer).

Donalds was almost certainly the time. We did a later breakfast there because everything else was booked. Upcoming trips are all planned almost first thing in the AM.

In the end though, there's no excuse for either. There's reasons, but the price doesn't go down the older the food gets.

[SBETigg]

I'm glad you really enjoyed Citricos. I find that I'm more and more impressed with the Signature dining and less so with the regular dining (though some is good, and there are places I enjoy). I think your future plan is a good one for your family. I'm sorry you had some downers.

[rubato]

We did Biergarten for dinner. We had a 6:30 ressie. And, don't get me wrong, I love german food. I am german and have been to Germany 2 times. Maybe it was just a bad night. And, the schnitzel was chicken at dinner. At least, that's what the sign said.:) Kind of hard to tell, really!;)

[TheVBs]

Sorry about your bad dining experiences. :( We've come to the same conclusion on the DDP. It's just not a good value for us. We can't eat that much food. We don't want dessert at lunch either. It's rare that we get it at dinner! We had a funny experience at 2 seperate CS where everyone was trying to give away their desserts at lunch time. :D

[Joannelet]

I am another one agreeing with you on the dining plan. We just did it in December and never again. WAYYYYYY too much food. We think we are getting a deal on it but when you see how much food and cs are wasted because of it you end up losing money. I hated feeling like I had to eat in order to get my money's worth when I wouldn't have eaten all that food in a day....
My family is like yours and don't snack often but we did end up using all of our snacks and taking them home with us.

[HoosierDisneyFan]

Sounds like most of the problems were not with the DDP but rather with the experience at the resturants themselves. I agree that if you are not going to eat desserts or snacks that the DDP may not be a great value but that should have been a known part of the equation before purchasing.

[PharmD]

Hey Rubato,

I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience. Especially since 2 of them ones you had bad food at are my favorites. Chef Mickey's and Garden Grill. We make it a point to eat there most everytime. We have lucked out the last 3 times and gone with the free dining. When you get it for free it's great. We don't usually have any wasted food as we love good food. And to agree with another post you walk several miles each day so you can burn some of it off. I have yet to gain any weight while there ;).

[GreenBeetle]

We've always found the dining plan to be a good value for us (big eaters in my family), but we encountered a few disappointments this time around too (Teppan Edo and O'Hana).

On the other hand, we had some truly scrumptious meals too. And one of those was the CS at Wolfgang Puck Express. It's our new favorite!! We also loved Boma and Tutto Italia.

We just take the good with the bad as we continue to try new places each time we visit.

[Stu29573]

We tried the plan this past time. It was TONS of food and, yes, we did feel guilty if we didn't finish everything. However, I got steak at almost every meal (my wife is a vegetarian, so that was a real treat) and it was, overall, wonderful. Dollar for dollar was it worth it? Maybe not, but it was sure nice....:blush:

[d_m_n_n]

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your dining experiences on your trip. We had excellent experiences in December, with the exception of RandC (the waitress was non-existent and while trying something new, we just had trouble finding anything we really liked). We always get the dining plan and absolutely LOVE it!!! Is it too much food? You bet, but we have learned to be strategic with it! DS and I will share CS meals, we take desserts to go for breakfast, and we hardly get snacks. Then on the last day we have a huge shopping trip to use up our credits. This year we went to the Candy Cauldron (I think is the name...at DTD) and grabbed cupcakes, brownie fudge, and candy apples to bring home with us. Then we went to POR (because it was close and I really enjoy their food court) and grabbed CS meals that we enjoyed while traveling home. It helps that we drive and have a cooler, but none of the credits went to waste! :mickey:

In that it isn't much of a value if you don't get everything...ok, I can see that. For us the portions are huge at TS meals and we probably wouldn't get a dessert on top of it. BUT WE'RE ON VACATION!!!!! Disney is the only place we go where we get to enjoy desserts. And ENJOY them, we do!!! :blush:

[disneydad153]

We tried DDP on our last trip because the friends we were staying with wanted it. I won't do it again though. Way too much food for us at each meal and kids hardly touched theirs. Yes I did eat it all and of course gained six pounds that week even with the walking. I also disliked trying to stick with the adr's for the dinners (wanted my moneys worth of course).

Going back to our old plan of a nice breakfast and then winging it from there.:yoda:

[crazygoalie39]

I'm really sorry to hear about your bad experience with the DDP, and everyone elses. For us it's a godsend. Although it's probably cheaper for us to just pay for meals w/o the DDP, we love it because of it's convenience. We don't have to pay for a thing once we're down there, other than souvenirs. We also love the one snack, one cs, and one ts. We use the cs for lunch, we usually get a water with the snack, and then have a sit down ts dinner. It's absolutely perfect for our family and i'm really sorry that it's not the case for a lot others.

[WRWDisney]

A big difference on value is your kids age. If your have a 10-12 year old, $45/day is a lot. The reality is that most are happy with a kids meal (Disney has thing besides pizza and chicken nuggets--my son always get the piece of fish, and let me tell you is is a nice looking meal) or if they are adventurous, they may eat an appetizer as an entree'.

I wish you could opt for kids DP for ages 10-12; it might make more sense.

[DisneyFr33k]

What child is going to get their money's worth on the adult dining plan?

:thanks::exactly::ditto: Amen!!

The only reason I push to do the dining plan is that my DH finds it hard to purchase anything at Disney. By pre-paying for food, he will actually eat. :shake:

[Ian]

As far as the dining plan goes, I've done the math ... my family likes to eat (the dining is part of the experience for as at WDW, with so many unique places to choose from) and we more than get our money's worth out of it. It's not even close. We save hundreds by using the DDP.

However, I do agree that the quality of the experience is slipping dramatically. Breakfast seems to be the worst. All the food has become nothing more than mass produced, cafeteria style slop. Runny eggs, limp bacon, and greasy potatoes seem to be the norm.

Also something I find tremendously frustrating (and really just about boiled over on it this past trip) is that it is basically impossible to get a CS breakfast in a theme park. About all you can get is pastries. They just absolutely try to force you into a character breakfast and I find that very frustrating. At DHS we actually had to use CS breakfast coupons to get pastries and coffee at Starring Rolls just to avoid eating at Hollywood and Vine!

[Hammer]

However, I do agree that the quality of the experience is slipping dramatically. Breakfast seems to be the worst. All the food has become nothing more than mass produced, cafeteria style slop. Runny eggs, limp bacon, and greasy potatoes seem to be the norm.

Also something I find tremendously frustrating (and really just about boiled over on it this past trip) is that it is basically impossible to get a CS breakfast in a theme park. About all you can get is pastries. They just absolutely try to force you into a character breakfast and I find that very frustrating. At DHS we actually had to use CS breakfast coupons to get pastries and coffee at Starring Rolls just to avoid eating at Hollywood and Vine!

Agree about the breakfast options! Only place where we have had consistently a high quality breakfast was at Grand Floridian Café. While my sister has not veered from the Lobster Eggs Benedict, I've tried many things and all were good (and I think most posters here know I look at things with a critical eye).

And CS options? Not only are they severely lacking at the parks, some of the resorts have little to choose from as well. While I know that Deluxe and DVC resorts do not have food courts, couldn't the Quick Service places there have more than 2 hot options at breakfast? The exceptions I found perusing the menus are Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, the Contemporary and the Poly (though that isn't DVC and I know you predominately stay at DVC resorts). Beach Club, Boardwalk and OKW? Your choices are very limited.

[Ian]

Agree about the breakfast options! Only place where we have had consistently a high quality breakfast was at Grand Floridian Café. While my sister has not veered from the Lobster Eggs Benedict, I've tried many things and all were good (and I think most posters here know I look at things with a critical eye).I think some of the TS places that aren't buffets/all-you-can-eats still offer decent meals. I know the last couple times we ate at Kona Cafe for breakfast, the food was still pretty decent.

[Djscherr]

I think some of the TS places that aren't buffets/all-you-can-eats still offer decent meals. I know the last couple times we ate at Kona Cafe for breakfast, the food was still pretty decent.


I think Kona Cafe is an excellent breakfast, and one of the truly great values at Disney. Heck even my spendthrift father said that it was good food (he never says that) and at a good price (he says that even less).

And with the earlier poster who mentioned the ice cream cookies from the bakery as too big for a snack. That's where you went wrong, they aren't a snack, they are lunch :) And another outstanding value. I'd say they had an inch or two of ice cream between two big freshly baked cookies for about a quarter more than the pre-packaged toll house ones.

[Ian]

I think Kona Cafe is an excellent breakfast, and one of the truly great values at Disney. Heck even my spendthrift father said that it was good food (he never says that) and at a good price (he says that even less).

And with the earlier poster who mentioned the ice cream cookies from the bakery as too big for a snack. That's where you went wrong, they aren't a snack, they are lunch :) And another outstanding value. I'd say they had an inch or two of ice cream between two big freshly baked cookies for about a quarter more than the pre-packaged toll house ones.Yeah, we definitely agree on Kona. That's one of our faves. The Plaza in MK is another one we think is underrated.

Regarding the ice cream cookies, my wife would agree with you 100%. ;)

[DizneyRox]

The problem with CS for breakfast is the park hours. When they cut the hours down to 9am (from, in some cases, 7am), out went the need to staff and prep a kitchen for breakfast for only a couple of hours (lunch starts at 11 usually).

This leaves guests in a pickle as in order to get to a park for opening, you're leaving an hour early (because we know how unreliable the busses are), figuring there's no need to eat at the hotel they can grab a quick meal at the parks.

Now that we know that's not true, we can plan accordingly, however it still aggrivates me that there's literally NOTHING to eat before lunch. Epcot is the only exception that I can think of.

[Ian]

The problem with CS for breakfast is the park hours. When they cut the hours down to 9am (from, in some cases, 7am), out went the need to staff and prep a kitchen for breakfast for only a couple of hours (lunch starts at 11 usually).

This leaves guests in a pickle as in order to get to a park for opening, you're leaving an hour early (because we know how unreliable the busses are), figuring there's no need to eat at the hotel they can grab a quick meal at the parks.

Now that we know that's not true, we can plan accordingly, however it still aggrivates me that there's literally NOTHING to eat before lunch. Epcot is the only exception that I can think of.It's even more of a quandry when you're trying to get to a park for EMH because it's near impossible to get breakfast somewhere and still be at a park by 8AM.

Personally, I don't think it has as much to do with the later park hours as it does with cost savings. They've basically eliminated lower profit margin CS spots (and the need to staff and stock them) in favor of pushing people to the very high margin character breakfasts.

I mean think about it ... the average character breakfast buffet is around $36 per person now. That's an outrageous price for some cold eggs and limp bacon.

[Granny Jill A]

I'm really bothered by the emphasis on eating mass quantities of food wherever you go - not just as Disney. And, it's not as if you can have them box up your order and have it for a later meal when you're in the parks.

Unless you have nothing but teenage boys in your family, buying the dining plan would probably be a bad idea, healthwise. If the food is on the plate, we tend to eat until it's gone. Even if we're full.

Obviously, the dining plan makes money for Disney, but it sure is a waste of food and calories.

[DizneyRox]

Personally, I don't think it has as much to do with the later park hours as it does with cost savings. They've basically eliminated lower profit margin CS spots (and the need to staff and stock them) in favor of pushing people to the very high margin character breakfasts.
Maybe... But knowing that the CMs make minimum wage (or pretty close), how much does it really cost to have an eatery staffed with a few cooks, a few cashiers and a few poeple busing tables? One large family would probably spend enough to cover an hour's wages for those CMs.

It would appear there's money to be made here. I don't care about EVERY CS place being open, but one or two in each area really wouldn't break the bank IMHO.

And I've always thought that some money is better than no money.

[Ian]

I'm really bothered by the emphasis on eating mass quantities of food wherever you go - not just as Disney. And, it's not as if you can have them box up your order and have it for a later meal when you're in the parks.

Unless you have nothing but teenage boys in your family, buying the dining plan would probably be a bad idea, healthwise. If the food is on the plate, we tend to eat until it's gone. Even if we're full.

Obviously, the dining plan makes money for Disney, but it sure is a waste of food and calories.Eh ... I tend to disagree. I think vacation is a time to lighten up and have fun. Overeating isn't good as a way of life, but indulging a bit on vacation is just fine if you ask me.


Maybe... But knowing that the CMs make minimum wage (or pretty close), how much does it really cost to have an eatery staffed with a few cooks, a few cashiers and a few poeple busing tables? One large family would probably spend enough to cover an hour's wages for those CMs.

It would appear there's money to be made here. I don't care about EVERY CS place being open, but one or two in each area really wouldn't break the bank IMHO.

And I've always thought that some money is better than no money.A couple things ...

#1, it's not just the cost of the CM's but the cost of the food inventory and maintaining it, moving it around, etc. There's probably a significant cost around that and, if the food doesn't get used, a pretty big loss.

#2, don't forget the union aspect of Disney's workforce. There may be considerations we're not privvy to that drive costs up beyond what you'd think they would be under normal circumstances.

#3, there's really no downside for Disney. Either you eat at your resort, you grab some pastries at Starring Rolls, or you buck up for a TS character meal with their huge mark-ups and margins. I mean ya gotta eat, right, and I doubt too many guests are driving off property to Denny's or something. Even if only 10% of the people opt to go TS instead of CS that probably equates to big dollars for Disney.

[OogieBoogieMan]

I mean think about it ... the average character breakfast buffet is around $36 per person now. That's an outrageous price for some cold eggs and limp bacon.

I love this line. I think it should be posted on every character dining menu. I was watching an exec from Sesame Street on the news the other day and they talked about how they parody adult topics in the show, like a muppet version of CSI. They said research shows that if parent is engaged the child is more engaged as well (Duh!), so the child learns and the adult gets amused. It used to be the kids could have a great time with the characters and I had a great breakfast. Now the kids have fun with the characters and I have cold eggs and limp bacon...not so much fun and not worth $36.

[Ian]

I love this line. I think it should be posted on every character dining menu. I was watching an exec from Sesame Street on the news the other day and they talked about how they parody adult topics in the show, like a muppet version of CSI. They said research shows that if parent is engaged the child is more engaged as well (Duh!), so the child learns and the adult gets amused.Sesame Street has the same idea that another gentleman had once upon a time. Someone we've probably all heard of ... one Mr. Walt Disney:

"We believed in our idea - a family park where parents and children could have fun- together."

[Rhetoric2000]

What child is going to get their money's worth on the adult dining plan?

* The Eight-year-old me is jumping up and down and waving his arms about like a lunatic. *

Love Biergarten and always sad to hear of people having bad experiences there.

[Ian]

Just happened upon this snippet relating to the Fantasyland expansion and found it relevant to what we've been discussing here:


The Be Our Guest Restaurant, which will be located at the very center of the Beauty & the Beast attraction that’s to be built as part of the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland Forest expansion project, will allow WDW visitors to dine in full-scale recreations of the Castle’s library, the West Wing & the Grand ballroom. It will be a quick service restaurant for breakfast & lunch. But then – in the late afternoon – this space will then transform into an elegant full-service restaurant.Maybe someone at Disney is listening after all.

[DizneyRox]

Just happened upon this snippet relating to the Fantasyland expansion and found it relevant to what we've been discussing here:

The Be Our Guest Restaurant, which will be located at the very center of the Beauty & the Beast attraction that’s to be built as part of the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland Forest expansion project, will allow WDW visitors to dine in full-scale recreations of the Castle’s library, the West Wing & the Grand ballroom. It will be a quick service restaurant for breakfast & lunch. But then – in the late afternoon – this space will then transform into an elegant full-service restaurant.

Maybe someone at Disney is listening after all.
Aye, however they haven't even started it yet, there's plenty of time to trim the budget down. Who knows, we may just end up with a new coat of paint on the back of the castle and fixing a few of the bulbs that have been out for months.

[SuzieN]

My family LOVES the DDP!!!! It's so nice to be able to order anything on the menu and not worry about how big the bill is going to be. Also, having meals pre-paid really makes our Disney vacations seem all inclusive. We pretty much never have dessert at meals at home unless it is a special occasion so having dessert at WDW is a big treat! The only "bad" food I've ever had at WDW was a cuban sandwich at ABC Commisary 4 years ago. I have a 14yo son andan 11yo son and can't imagine them being satisfied by the lousy little kids meals so having them be Disney "adults is fine with me. (They are both skinny as rails) Can't wait until my almost 8yo daughter is not limited to kids meals!!

[SuzieN]

WOW!! Is this board picky!!!! I most certainly didn't swear in my above post and can't BELIEVE I got edited!!!

[MaxPower]

I think it's important for others to realize that portion sizes can be good or bad depending on the person - many don't think that dining plan has "too much food. This post is helpful for those trying to plan.

[Ian]

WOW!! Is this board picky!!!! I most certainly didn't swear in my above post and can't BELIEVE I got edited!!!Sometimes it's context ... the board can't really determine how a word is being used.

[KAT1811]

Le Cellier was okay, but did not live up to the hype. The pretzel bread was the only reason I enjoyed it. Our waiter was non existent, but at least we got lots of food and pretzel bread.
We didn't enjoy: Chef Mickeys, Garden Grill, Whispering Canyon, Biergarten, Hoop De Doos food (although we loved the show), and Donalds Safari Breakfast.

Our last trip to Le Cellier was horrible. We used to love it but the last time we were there our waiter was rude and the food was no where near what it used to be. We've moved on to the Yactsman Steakhouse and love it.

Chef Mickey's and Garden Grill are not something I personally care for at all. Whispering Canyon is okay. We love the WL and I can always find something to eat. Hoop Dee Doo is certainly something you go to for the show not the food (okay the unlimited wine isn't bad either ;)) Beirgarten is nothing I care to eat and we haven't tried Donald's Safari breakfast but if we do it will be early before the park opens for the pure reason that it would get us in the park early while it is empty. There is something magical about the feeling of having a whole park virtually to yourself.

I was over the dining plan ever since they got rid of the appetizer option. At least give me the option to choose between an appetizer or dessert.




Also something I find tremendously frustrating (and really just about boiled over on it this past trip) is that it is basically impossible to get a CS breakfast in a theme park. About all you can get is pastries.

I couldn't agree more!!! All I want to be happy is an egg sandwhich maybe a couple pancakes. I'm not even asking for a plated meal!


Can't wait until my almost 8yo daughter is not limited to kids meals!!

When we used to do the DDP our oldest DD was not yet 10 but had a sophisticated palate and would not have enjoyed the children's options so I upgraded her to the adult plan simply by paying the difference between the two plans. The for the trip she could eat anything she wanted just like we could. When you book your next vacation just explain the situation to the CM and I'm sure they can help you make the adjustment.

[bkfree]

I'm really sorry to hear about your bad experience with the DDP, and everyone elses. For us it's a godsend. Although it's probably cheaper for us to just pay for meals w/o the DDP, we love it because of it's convenience. We don't have to pay for a thing once we're down there, other than souvenirs. We also love the one snack, one cs, and one ts. We use the cs for lunch, we usually get a water with the snack, and then have a sit down ts dinner. It's absolutely perfect for our family and i'm really sorry that it's not the case for a lot others.

We feel exactly the same. We have used the DDP on our last two visits and LOVE it. It worked out great for our family. And yes, while we normally would not order or that much, it's VACATION. We also used most of our SC for items to take home the last day. We have eaten at about 75% of all the TS and CS places,and while we do have our clear favorites, I cannot ever say I had a meal that was Bad.
We love having everything paid for ahead of time. We also love knowing where we are having dinner each night, so that decision is off the plate, Hehehe..
One reason we love visiting WDW, is that we now have it fine tuned into a truly stress free vacation, and the DDP and ADR's are a big part of that.

[DizneyRox]

When we used to do the DDP our oldest DD was not yet 10 but had a sophisticated palate and would not have enjoyed the children's options so I upgraded her to the adult plan simply by paying the difference between the two plans. The for the trip she could eat anything she wanted just like we could. When you book your next vacation just explain the situation to the CM and I'm sure they can help you make the adjustment.
I wouldn't even worry about asking the CM, just book them as adults. To do this, you pay the adult DDP and adult ticket prices.

[eandrsmom]

I have very picky 10 and 11 year old children that don't eat a lot. Now that they are "adults", we won't be getting the dining plan in the future. It would be a waste of money for us. Perhaps when they are a few years older we'll consider getting it again, but right now it isn't worth it.

[MinnieMommie]

[QUOTE=Djscherr;2013948]I think Kona Cafe is an excellent breakfast, and one of the truly great values at Disney. Heck even my spendthrift father said that it was good food (he never says that) and at a good price (he says that even less).

We ate at Kona for breakfast last month - there were 5 of us and we all ordered something different and all the food was delicious and big portions! The big kahuna (DH ordered) can feed more than 1. You can also get the French pressed Kona coffee (which is incredible). Kona is our favorite breakfast. :thumbsup:

[pamickeys]

did the DP once , won't use it again. not worth the time of planning out every little aspect of the day. spontaneity is the spice of life

[phlo8810]

We got the deluxe dining plan the last two years, and absolutely love it. We found that many of our snack credits got wasted but this year we are going during the F&W fest so that should eleviate that problem. We usually get a breakfast and a 2 credit dinner. This last trip we saved every receipt. We didn't use I think 12 dining credits and 21 snacks(between 6 of us). We added up our meals and still made out by getting the Deluxe plan. I will say this though I absolutely agree that the DDP is to blame for the quality and service going downhill. The first year or two was great tips were included, and appetizers were on the basic plan, and best of all Fultons was on it. Is it me or are all the non- signature restaurants menus starting to look alike?

[Jared]

I actually agree with the original poster regarding the merits of the dining plan. My family tried it once several years ago and has decided to skip it since. I have calculated the numbers and discovered we would basically break even with the plan, but it simply allots too much food that we don't want or need. The counter service desserts are completely unnecessary. They are mostly prepackaged overly sweet cakes that add little to a meal. The bakery section at Sunshine Seasons in Epcot is one of the few exceptions. My family also does not need sickly sweet soft drinks two meals each day.

That said, I still believe there are plenty of dining options at Disney worth trying. Looking at the original poster's choices, I think that may explain her disappointing experience.

As an aside, I tried Donald's Safari Breakfast in January and loved it, and I don't even like breakfast much.

[comicguy]

I think that the DDP really allows a family to try resturant types that they may not really have an option to try (depending where a person is from)

Also, in regards to the amount of food on the plan, if you don't want desert then you do not have to order it. At most of the TS you can order a dish of ice cream instead of the "big" deserts. I do that a lot.

CS deserts I can see the point. It does not add a lot, but remember you are on vacation try the deserts(you don't have to eat the whole thing)

Drinks at CS you can substitute bottle water instead of soda. I also like to order milk occassionally instaed of soda.

I am not trying to be a pain, but rather just pointing out some possible optons for people to consider for the future if they are in DDP

[betteratmk]

:mickey:We usually get the DDP, I calculate the cost of the entree with a drink for the time we are there, along with a cs meal. If it ends up less than paying out of pocket we get the DP. It usually does. Dessert is an extra bonus! The cost of a buffet now is about $30. alone, counter service meals are usually at least $10. and a snack ( usually ice cream at least $3.) I know we'll break even at least and don't have to worry about carrying that much $$$. If we don't want dessert we don't get it or bring it back to the resort for a pool side snack.

[mom2morgan]

The dining plan works for us with our eating and touring style, and we generally like the food. I'll certainly agree about the children's plan, though. Last time we went my daughter was just weeks away from her 10th birthday, so we got child prices. She ate very, very little of anything - she just wasn't hungry. For $11 a day, that's fine...but now that she's 11 I'd really hesitate since she still eats about the same, and I can't imagine paying nearly $40 a day for the same amount of food. I wish they'd institute a "junior" price level, or raise the child age to at least 12 or 13.

[crltkcagle]

We love the dining plan and actually don't get enough food on it! We have an 8 year old son who can eat like an adult so I usually give him my adult meal and eat his kid meal. Sorry you had a bad experience!

[homeschool mom]

We got free dining in Sept. 08, but we would never pay for it. It is far too much food and far too pricey for our family of 7 (8 adults 11 and up and 1 child). Although we did enjoy the convenience of it when we had it, we were all looking at the food on the last day and saying, "do we have to eat again?" We thought about getting it for our upcoming trip just for the convenience, but at an additional $1600 we figure we can eat for a LOT less than that even with doing the Hoop Dee Doo!
That's just my opinion!