Free Dining Reviews 8/15-8/19/06

[spacemtn1971]

The cast: Me (35M Dad Disney Addict), Her (32 F Mom Likes Disney but likes Daytona Beach better!), Thing 1 (5.5 F Likes Rides, even Everest), Thing 2 (5.5 F Likes It's a Small World and HATED! Everest)

Free Dining at Disney was consumed in the following manner:

8/15 Chef Mickeys at 540 p.m. It was packed!!!!!!!!!! The food was edible but very uninspired.

8/16 Dinner in Japan Pavilion. This was a good meal. Filet for free!

8/17 due to the large crowds and the incentive to use a TS for CS in exchange for a pin, we had a nice meal at Columbia Hrabor House.

8/18 we ate at the Hollywood and Vine Playhouse Disney Character Lunch. Food was very good. Jojo and Goliath were a hit!

Three quick observations:

1) Free Dining encourages gluttony and waste. How many pieces of chocolate cake can you eat? Be sure and get that dessert since it is free.

2) Marketing did not inform the Restaurants about the popularity of free dining until it was too late. We got a call on our voice mail the night before we arrived asking us to make ADR's in advance. Come On! If we had waited we would not have gotten any TS meals at all!

3) The restaurants are CROWDED!!!!!!!!!!! Plan Accordingly unless you want to wait 40 minutes in line for that Dole Whip.


The plan is very easy so that was not a problem.

Just plan in advance. And develop an appetite for prepackaged chocolate cake!


Have a Disney Day,

Jeffery

 

[chobie]

I can eat a lot of chocolate cake... We don't do DP because we are Fla residents with annual passes, but we have had people try to give us their free desserts before because they could not eat them.

 

[MomPlanner22]

Can you give some more details about the H&V lunch? We have an ADR for it in December. I have looked at the menu on allearsnet but it is a little sketchy. If you could give a bit more info about food choices, especially for the kids, etc. I would appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[amarberry]

I'd love to hear more about the H&V lunch too. We'll be there next month with our Jojo obsessed DD. Did you happen to notice any vegetarian entrees?

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your review ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[spacemtn1971]

The Hollywood and Vine Character experience was actually one of the better meals we had.

I am not a huge fan of buffets but with kids it became a necessity.

We arrived at 1210 and had about a five minute wait. We noticed that the staff all seemed to be over the age of 60. Strange.

The buffet consisted of a cold meat tray with ham, salami, turkey and three or four cheeses. There were some cold salads and mixed greens.

the hot meats were turkey, meatballs, a curry pork, pot roast (not too bad)

we liked the fact that they had several good veggies, (green beans which were cooked well), a corn casserole which was awesome and carrots, mashed taters and new potatoes.

i did not notice a vegetarian entree as i am a true carnivore.

dessert was not bad either: apple cobbler with a vanilla sauce, some truffles with mickey shapes, key lime tarts etc...


all in all not a bad meal.

 

[sunny_]

Thanks for the review! This is our second trip taking advantage of the free dining and we sure do get a lot of food!! dh and I are big eaters and even we left food at every meal. We eat what we like the best first so when we get too full, we are not leaving that prime rib or filet mignon or whatever our favorite may be at that meal! lol

 

[dawgfan]

Thanks for the review.

 

[carol-lamb]

Have to agree about wasting food. We tried very hard during our trip last week to not waste food. If it meant sharing desserts or not ordering them at all, that is what we did.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Thanks for your thoughts - I have a feeling I'll be handing out some packaged chocolate cakes or refusing them altogether when we go on the dining plan. I eat dessert after a meal MAYBE once a week so this will be a huge change!

 

[spacemtn1971]

Thanks for your thoughts - I have a feeling I'll be handing out some packaged chocolate cakes or refusing them altogether when we go on the dining plan. I eat dessert after a meal MAYBE once a week so this will be a huge change!

we actually tried to not take a dessert several times. the cast members looked like they were going to cry.

not wanting to cause tears to flow, we just took the dessert.

i am not sure why this philosophy exists. even if they give it away, should a guest take something they are only going to throw away?

what happened to environmentality?

 

[Disney owl]

Thanks for sharing

 

[Leslieann1024]

we actually tried to not take a dessert several times. the cast members looked like they were going to cry.

not wanting to cause tears to flow, we just took the dessert.

i am not sure why this philosophy exists. even if they give it away, should a guest take something they are only going to throw away?

what happened to environmentality?

When on the DDP, server's tips are based on what you order - ergo, the tears when you didn't order dessert ! Try being on the DP and not only foregoing dessert, but also deciding not to order appetizers for each person !

 

[n2mm]

We got home a week ago and I'm still craving chocolate cake. Help...I think after 5 days of the ddp, I'm addicted to chocolate cake. Of course, we head back in about 6 weeks and I will be back on the ddp again for 13 days, can you say chocolate cake! I'll have to pack two different size clothes to make it to the second week though! Of course, that trip won't be free ddp, but worth every penny.