2 TS Restaurants - Are they worth it?

[redhead09]

Just looking for a little help.
We are going to Disney in Sept (free dining of course) and want to make the most of our first family experience in WDW. We like to dine out and our 4 yr is pretty good with different foods (not that Disney has different kids foods :))

Are the meals really that much better at the 2 TS restaurants? And if so, which one is YOUR fav?

[Princess Disney Mom]

I've done the dining play paying for it and for free. I'd say for free 2 table services are worth it. We found the food portions are huge so were really filled from the counter food. However last trip we paid for the dining plan and I felt with 2 table credits we would be losing money so I am not in the business of getting less than what I pay for. If it is free than 2 service is will be just fine.

[bangzoom6877]

We will probably use DDP credits for CRT dinner next summer when we go, as I did the math over our 10-day trip, and even using the DDP for CRT dinner (2TS), the DDP will save us a minimum of $265 over the course of our 10 days. The maximum it will save us is $566. The minimum is based on ordering the absolute cheapest items in the restaurants, the maximum is based on the most expensive ones. Likely, the savings will be somewhere in between because we will not make it a point to always order a NY strip steak as that will get boring after a while, and DH NEVER orders a vegetarian entree, and I almost never do unless it just looks that good! ;)

[Pakey]

The food at most of the 2TS restaurants is better than the 1TS but the portions are much smaller on the entrees at the signature restaurants (not all of them but most of them). I'm talking about the upscale dining places rather than CRT or the dinner shows that require 2TS. The signatures used to offer many great and unique items but the after the dining plan became so popular, the signatures have standardized a great portion of their menus and IMHO, I don't think they are at the level they used to be. They are not twice as good as the meals offered at the 1TS places.

If you are looking to maximize the value of your plan, the 2TS are not a good return on the dining plan. You will get more dollar to dollar value from dining at two 1TS restaurants than you will get from eating at 1 2TS restaurant. I think the only dollar value meal that's a good exchange at a 2TS is the whole lobster or surf and turf entrees offered at Narcoosees. Those entrees are +/- $50 each so you get your 2 credits worth there.

Also the 2TS signature restaurants take at least 30 minutes longer per meal for dining than the 1TS as they are supposed to be "fine" dining.

[LoveTheEars]

My Friend went to Narcosses (had a steak) and said the Le Cellier was so much better. Le Cellier was only 1 meal and Narcosses was 2 meals.

The bill at Le Cellier was almost the same so he could no see why Narcosses was a signature dining restaurant.

I do use 2 meals for dinner shows and CRT since I value experiences over the actual meal selections.. :flower3:

[Letsbgoofy]

Over the years I have looked at the menus and prices and decided that the 2 TS restaurants are not worth it monetarily. We are going to Narcoossee's this trip because:

1. it's our anniversary and the 1 meal we won't be eating with my brother's family (with 2 young kids) Meaning this will be our one adult meal and I want it to be relaxed and different (one of the only restaurants we have never eaten at)

2. we have the free DP - so it's free!

3. We come in at 4:30 pm the first night and will not be doing a TS - leaving us with one extra anyway

So, "worth it" can mean different things to different people. On most trips, paying for the DP, using 2 TS for one meal would not be worth it to me.

[tinkerbell313]

And the 2 TS restaurants count for 2 TS for the kids plan as well. So, its better just to pay OOP for the kids then to use up 2 TS for them. We the made the mistake this past june at Flying fish...the rest of the week at Yachtsman and Jikos...we learned.

We went to Jikos, Yachtsman and Flying fish...did not think any was worth two TS. However, we loved Jikos (just didn't think it was worth 2 TS). The food was great and our waitress, Darlene, was awesome.

[TDC Nala]

If you are looking to maximize the value of your dining plan - no, they are not worth it.

[Lizzybear]

We ate at Cali Grill, Jiko, Yachtsman and Hollywood Brown Derby last trip, we had free dining and were visiting a lot of off-site attractions so it was really the only way we could use all the credits without constantly eating, plus we rarely eat at expensive restaurants at home so it was nice to experience them for an all-inclusive vacation price :) Out of all of those we thought Cali Grill was the best, Yachtsman was second though if we're talking best DDP value that would come out on top for sure! Hollywood Brown Derby was only OK, no better than Coral Reef IMO (I changed at the last minute from 50's Prime Time and regretted it!) and Jiko just wasn't our thing, though I know it has many fans ;)

[cheezNE1]

I usually prefer getting an extra day of TS meal, but I must say, the california grill from my last trip was worth it. The view of MK was beautiful and the food was pretty good. I guess it all depends on where you use the 2 TS at.