Yachtsman Bound

[MablePines24]

Hi all!
I'm heading out to Disney World in 12 days for my first trip with my father and my son. I made an ADR months ago for the Yachtsman Steakhouse. My son will be enjoying his evening at the Sandcastle Club (daycare at boardwalk). My father loves steak and this restaurant came very recommended from both The Dis and others. Plus, I'm planning on spending the day at EPCOT, so it's conveniently located.

I have a couple questions I hope you all can help me with. Is this the kind of restaurant you need a jacket or dress for, or does a nice blouse and Polo suffice? Also, when using the dining plan can you substitute something for dessert? Looking at the menu, the appetizers and charcuterie sound more appealing than the desserts, I'd even take soup over the dessert lol. Any help with these questions would be greatly appreciated!! Or, menu recommendations too.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[RN_Kate]

We are going for DH's birthday on 12/1 so I would love to hear the responses!

 

[KiniShakenBake]

We're headed there for our honeymoon dinner, and we'll be there in 14 days (at Yachtsman).

Rumour has it that at all signatures you will find people dressed for the parks (shorts and t-shirts) and people who are more dressed up for their evenings and dinners.

My theory is that you should dress for what you want for the evening. The Yachtsman (and all signatures) does request a more dressy attire, but many ignore that request. I choose to go back to my room, freshen up, put on a nice dress and some makeup, have hubby wear at least a polo shirt and dockers, if not shirt and tie, and have a great night out for the two of us, with dinner, maybe some dancing and fun at Jellyrolls, and a great evening out for the two of us. When we're focused on our fun, it doesn't matter what everyone else is wearing - only that our photos reflect our nice evening out at a nice restaurant. Cropping does wonders for the photos, too! We like dressing up and we certainly don't want to wear the clothes we wore all day in the parks to a nice restaurant.

I also have a theory that the wait staff may appreciate people who paid attention to the dress code request and it may reflect in your service. There's absolutely no evidence of any sort to back this theory up, but I did work in hospitality for quite some time, and people who can and do follow directions are really appreciated.

YMMV.

 

[RN_Kate]

We're headed there for our honeymoon dinner, and we'll be there in 14 days (at Yachtsman).

Rumour has it that at all signatures you will find people dressed for the parks (shorts and t-shirts) and people who are more dressed up for their evenings and dinners.

My theory is that you should dress for what you want for the evening. The Yachtsman (and all signatures) does request a more dressy attire, but many ignore that request. I choose to go back to my room, freshen up, put on a nice dress and some makeup, have hubby wear at least a polo shirt and dockers, if not shirt and tie, and have a great night out for the two of us, with dinner, maybe some dancing and fun at Jellyrolls, and a great evening out for the two of us. When we're focused on our fun, it doesn't matter what everyone else is wearing - only that our photos reflect our nice evening out at a nice restaurant. Cropping does wonders for the photos, too! We like dressing up and we certainly don't want to wear the clothes we wore all day in the parks to a nice restaurant.

I also have a theory that the wait staff may appreciate people who paid attention to the dress code request and it may reflect in your service. There's absolutely no evidence of any sort to back this theory up, but I did work in hospitality for quite some time, and people who can and do follow directions are really appreciated.

YMMV.

We are going this time with 4 adults and 3 children. My sister and law and I are all for dressing up but DH is always the one that wants to know if there is a dress code and if they will kick him out for wearing jeans. If they won't kick him out.. then he is wearing them! Also, with 3 children under 5 I just don't know how going back to the hotel to change will work out for us. Plus, we are already packing so much since we will be in the park for 8 days! I guess I can always be the only one dressed up, right?!

 

[ArmyVet80]

We were at Yachtsman roughly 3 weeks ago (26 Sep 2015) and wore the same clothes we wore to Epcot that day. I was in khaki cargo shorts, 3 button polo shirt and OG flip flops. My wife was in a sun dress with OG flip flops.

A majority of the guests were dressed like my DW and I. There were a few that were in slacks and jackets and evening gowns but they were the minority.

With the dining plan you should be able to change your dessert for something else. My wife changed hers for the "Artisanal cheese plate" and had soup as her app.

As for the menu... I had the 18-oz KC Strip Steak cooked medium. It was outstanding. I have also had the 32-oz Porterhouse for two before which is also very very good. My DW always gets the 8-oz Filet which was pretty good also.

As an appetizer I get the charcuterie board which I would highly recommend.

If you were to give the desserts a try... The Chocolate-Peanut cake and yachtsman sundae are our two favorites. I'm not a big sweets person and tend to only eat them on vacation.

 

[disprincess2213]

We ate there 2 weeks ago and had great steak! DH was in khakis and a polo shirt and I wore a dress. DD wore her princess Elsa dress lol. We didnt see anyone in screen tees or anything and everyone seemed a step up over park clothes but not jackets. The menu had many changes to the appetizer including pork belly (which was awesome). I havent seen it listed on Disney website yet but it was great. Both of our steaks were incredible (filet and porterhouse) and DH was able to get a cheeseboard for dessert. The only thing we were disappointed with was the service...it was terrible. Waitress never came over to check on us and it took 1 hour to even get our appetizer! Other than that, food was A+++! Enjoy!

 

[Hopefully]

We go back to the room and freshen up and dress up a bit before Signature dnners. DH wears dress shorts and a collared sport shirt, and I wear nice capris and a nice blouse.
On the basic dining plan you can not substitute an appetizer in place of a dessert. This is not allowed. I believe the cheese plate is considered both an appetizer and a dessert.
We will be there in 4 days - very excited!!!

 

[naylor90]

Hi There!

We ate there on our honeymoon back in early Sept. and casual-fancy dress was what we wore (polo and shorts for husband/sundress for me).

Our wonderful server Bev allowed us to sub either salad or soup for dessert - we had the Land salad and it was amazing. She did mention that these were the only appetizers you could sub for dessert.

We each had the 8 oz. filet and it was amazing!

Hope this helps!

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We went in Sept and had server Barry. He was awesome. We didn't exchange dessert but dressed per the policy. Steaks were incredible and service excellent. Might turn into every year for us.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

You won't need to dress up at Yachtsman - blouse/polo is perfectly ok. Unclear to me if you can make substitutions - the general rule is that the dining plan does not include appetizers but you may be able to substitute a dessert for a specific item as mentioned above. We really enjoyed our meal at Yachtsman.

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

Just had dinner there on the 3rd - it was excellent. You'll see all kinds of attire, some people dress up and some people come from the parks.