Thoughts on dining plans....

[Tink0812]

Next week we will be 180 days out and I can't wait to make our ADR's. This is my first time planning a trip on my own (now that I'm married, my dad is no longer the planner). This will be my husbands first trip to Disney since his early childhood (which was all bad memories for him) and I am hoping to win him over to the Disney-loving side. That being said, he is a huge foodie so this will be my secret weapon in winning his approval. I have picked a couple of restaurants that I have eaten at before but mostly these restaurants will be new to me as well. Opinions on any of them would be wonderful For those who don't know me, we are going October 13th-19th, staying at Coronado Springs, and have the Deluxe dining. I am 23 years old and DH is 24. It will just be the two of us this time around!

Evening of arrival will be spent at DTD so I was thinking of Raglan Road for dinner. I have only ever been there as a child to watch the dancers and once on my last trip for drinks, never a meal.

Monday: Breakfast at the hotel, snack credits for lunch, and dinner at Chefs de France (all will be new to me)

Tuesday: Breakfast at the hotel, Lunch at Be Our Guest, and Dinner at Spirit of Aloha (all will be new to me)

Wednesday: Breakfast at Cape May Cafe, snack credits for lunch, and dinner at Le Cellier (I had breakfast at Cape May on our 2006 trip and have not eaten at Le Cellier)

Thursday: Breakfast at Tusker House, snack credits for lunch, and dinner at Whispering Canyon (I have never had Tusker House and Whispering Canyon is my fav. Disney restaurant thus far)

Friday: Breakfast at the hotel, lunch at the Rose and Crown, and dinner at California Grill if they are re-opened (all will be new to me)

Saturday: Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare (never eaten there before either)


Some back-up options include: Biergarten (I have eaten there before for lunch and really enjoyed it), Hoop-Dee-Do (which I haven't been too since our 1996 trip), La Hacienda de San Angel, and Ohana.

 

[LisaTN]

the only one of those I've tried is 1900 Park Fair breakfast and we loved it. great option...

 

[MentalVacation]

we will be crossing paths as we arrive 10/18. Can't wait!

I did deluxe on our last trip -- we ate our way around the world, literally! it was wonderful.

The only one on your list that I have done and not been jazzed about is Chefs. It was our first night ADR (a last minute change up from Teppan Edo because we got in a little later than anticipated). It was 'just okay' and I won't go back.

I LOVE Le Cellier (have only been once but it was amazing), and we would rank the following three as our top choices from a "foodie" perspective:

California Grill
Jiko
Narcoosees

Everyone has different opinions of course. But I think you will be happy with CG if it is re-opened. We aren't doing it this trip b/c we are taking two kiddos and no sitter (last time we went there on our anniversary and got a window table for two...perfect for fireworks!!!!!!) and we are doing reg. dining so I have to be a little more conservative with my TS credits.

PS I also really liked Tusker House!!!!!! Especially because we got the earliest pre-RD time and were on Kilamanjaro Safaris practically first thing!

Have a great trip wherever you decide to eat!

 

[Tigger's ally]

If it were me, I would switch out the lunch at Rose and Crown and the dinner at LeCellier. Reason being I would try and do the supper out on the patio prior to watching our favorite Illuminations.

Also, If i were you, I would have your dad plan the trip again. Word has it he likes to do that for his Lil Tink!

 

[btk2333]

Next week we will be 180 days out and I can't wait to make our ADR's. This is my first time planning a trip on my own (now that I'm married, my dad is no longer the planner). This will be my husbands first trip to Disney since his early childhood (which was all bad memories for him) and I am hoping to win him over to the Disney-loving side. That being said, he is a huge foodie so this will be my secret weapon in winning his approval. I have picked a couple of restaurants that I have eaten at before but mostly these restaurants will be new to me as well. Opinions on any of them would be wonderful For those who don't know me, we are going October 13th-19th, staying at Coronado Springs, and have the Deluxe dining. I am 23 years old and DH is 24. It will just be the two of us this time around!

DW is 26 and I am 25 and I convinced her to love WDW as well! Food is a great weapon to convince people to love Disney! Good luck! We've never done deluxe dining, we tend to get APs for the room discount and then get a TiW card (alcohol discounted too if you like to have a glass of wine at dinner...)

Evening of arrival will be spent at DTD so I was thinking of Raglan Road for dinner. I have only ever been there as a child to watch the dancers and once on my last trip for drinks, never a meal.

Have not been, might try it out in June or November on one of our trips, let us know how it is!!!

Monday: Breakfast at the hotel, snack credits for lunch, and dinner at Chefs de France (all will be new to me)

We did Chefs as part of the Candlelight processional dining package two years ago. It's very crowded in there, we enjoyed the soup and the cheese plate. The entrees were just ok. It's not a place we've gone back to since, mainly because we have a lot of other favorites in the area.

Tuesday: Breakfast at the hotel, Lunch at Be Our Guest, and Dinner at Spirit of Aloha (all will be new to me)

Lunch at BOG is the way to go, we did both lunch and dinner at BOG in December and agreed that lunch was a better experience. The desserts are the same and we all enjoyed our lunch entrees better than our dinner entrees. have not done Spirit of Aloha but it looks fun!

Wednesday: Breakfast at Cape May Cafe, snack credits for lunch, and dinner at Le Cellier (I had breakfast at Cape May on our 2006 trip and have not eaten at Le Cellier)

Never done breakfast at Cape May. If you are going to Le Cellier for dinner for a steak, I might recommend the Yachtman. The steak there is fantastic and it is much less crowded than Le Cellier. Le Cellier is fantastic, but we enjoy the atmosphere at Yachtsman a little more. it's only a short walk to the Yacht Club from the International Gateway

Thursday: Breakfast at Tusker House, snack credits for lunch, and dinner at Whispering Canyon (I have never had Tusker House and Whispering Canyon is my fav. Disney restaurant thus far)

Never done breakfast at Tusker House (can you tell we don't eat breakfast much!) Haven't done Whispering Canyon- it's on our to-do list though!

Friday: Breakfast at the hotel, lunch at the Rose and Crown, and dinner at California Grill if they are re-opened (all will be new to me)

This is the type of day I love at WDW. Rose and Crown and California Grill are two of my favorite meals. I hope CG is open for you guys!!

Saturday: Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare (never eaten there before either)


Some back-up options include: Biergarten (I have eaten there before for lunch and really enjoyed it), Hoop-Dee-Do (which I haven't been too since our 1996 trip), La Hacienda de San Angel, and Ohana.

Biergarten is fun, especially if you get paired with another younger couple at your table. The last time we went, it was with our travel buddies (27 and 25) and we were paired with a family of four. It would have been more fun if we could have interacted more with the other family, but were happy to see them having a good time on their vacation too! Haven't been to the others you mentioned but hopefully someone else can give you some advice.

I just read the advice to get R&C for dinner. I agree!!! book a late reservation and try to watch Illuminations from outside (tell them in advance that's what you want to do and tell them you're willing to wait). I still stand by my recommendation of trying to do the Yachtsman for your steak house though!

Being on Deluxe Dining is a great opportunity to do some deluxe meals. Hopefully CG works out for you guys. I agree with the poster who enjoyed Jiko and Narcoosee's, those were some of our favorite meals on property too. Have fun planning and have a great trip!

 

[Jonathan Swift]

I'd like to help you calculate the cost for this. I'm assuming the following:

• 5 nights Deluxe Dining Package
• You will order dessert 100% of the time with every meal when possible
• You will order an appetizer with every meal when possible.
• You will order a non-alcoholic beverage whenever possible
• 2 adults and no children
• You will have 1 snack per person per day

Assuming you do everything EXACTLY as planned and order things based on preference, not price, you would be better off with the regular dining plan than the deluxe. Having no plan would save you even more.

If you intend the order the most expensive items on the menus of the places you selected, you can definitely come out ahead, but the regular dining plan still beats the deluxe. The only gotcha is the Spirit of Aloha show. Are you sure it counts?