$39.99 for Boma, Ohana and Cape May??

[GeorgiaHoo]

The "eat offsite" idea works wonderfully - if you have a means of getting offsite. You'd need to rent a car (if you didn't drive to WDW in the first place) or take a cab. Those who take advantage of Disney's Magical Express airport transportation service are a captive audience unless they want to spring for a cab. They'd need to be judicious about the restaurants they choose and what they want to spend, and do their research like the OP did. She made a decision that she didn't want the dining plan and wasn't going to book those buffets at those prices.

I'm also kind of scratching my head at the posts that say one shouldn't expect good food, it's just a theme park after all. Well, there are alternatives - rent a car, get the dining plan (it might save you a little money, or at least give the psychological benefit of prepaying in that you don't have to open your wallet and look at the bill while you are at the restaurant), just don't do buffets. Or just suck it up and pay for it. As long as the restaurants are full, it's going to be the status quo.

It's kind of crazy how buffet/fixed price prices have risen in the past couple of years, especially when you add the holiday surcharges. And they still fill the restaurants.

I'm wondering how close the offsite restaurants are. We'll be there in February during my wife's birthday and were going to eat at Cape May on her birthday but it sounds like we might be better off going somewhere offsite. I don't mind spending the money but do expect the quality to equal the cost.

 

[GoofyforDisney3]

Is the $39.99 the price during peak times only? I am seeing the price as $29.99 other places and just wanted to know if it would be even remotely worth trying to go to or not.

 

[larryz]

As long as they still serve schooners of beer I'll go back there.

If by schooner you mean the half-liter, yeah, it's still on the menu.

As is the battleship...

 

[larryz]

I'm wondering how close the offsite restaurants are.

Go out thru DTD's hotel row, and they're just off site to the right along 535. Turn left on Vineland to get to Landry's, Golden Corral, Bahama Breeze, Carraba's and Outback. Or you can go out onto 192 for even more variety.

 

[Disney Dad Canada]

I remember one thread where someone said with the amount of people Disney feeds it's expected that the quality might not be great. All I can think of is what about places like Vegas or a cruise ship.

Neither one is comparable. Vegas has one thing that keeps the quality up and prices down ... competition. You charge too much or serve crappy food, and there's 3,000 twitters about it in 35 seconds telling you to walk 25 feet to the next hotel to get their buffet.

With a cruise ship, you're paying through the nose for a floating buffet. No competition once you're on board, but there's definitely competition to GET you on board. Disney has their niche market, but most cruise companies are pretty much the same, so again quality and prices are heavy judged and reported online.

Disney restaurants are mainly competing with ... other Disney restaurants. Until enough people stop paying for what they are serving, they will keep doing so. That said, I personally don't think the quality is all that bad, but I know the prices going in and budget accordingly.

 

[MickeyNicki]

My 2 cents...Boma and Ohana, no way are they worth the cost but Cape May? For us it is totally worth it! We have been there 7 times and each time the food it fantastic, the crab and the littlenecks is the majority of what we eat and to pay $27.99 at a regular restaurant and get just 10 crab legs is a huge rip off...for $40 and we both can eat all we want? Well that is a deal!

 

[Candlelady]

Boma was hubby's favorite breakfast up until the last visit in late October. It's always our first breakfast destination. Last visit he noticed the selections were not as plentiful, the noise was deafening and the waitstaff, while somewhat accomodating, was spread extremely thin. He doesn't want to go back. He's not a food snob, his idea of fine dining is Olive Garden.

Anyhow, I know he loves buffets so we tried the buffet breakfast at the Dolphin. It was better than Boma and our cost was $41.17 (TIW card so that included tip) for the two of us. For that price we had a very attentive waitress, peaceful meal, all the food you'd expect at a breakfast buffet including eggs cooked your way, and unlimited starbucks coffee. Costs are close to Boma but the calm atmosphere, better food, and actually being waited on has turned us away from the Disney restaurants.

We plan on dining offsite (Olive Garden ) and both the Swan & Dolphin for our next visit. It seems they have dinner buffets at the Garden Grove restaurant and the menus looks pretty darn good. Different food on different nights and they accept the TIW card.

 

[over50visits]

Most buffets have risen drastically - a few short years ago, we paid like $26.99 for dinner at Chef Mickey's, and now during peak season (I'm a teacher), it is around $40.00 without tax and tip. Crazy, ridiculous prices, and I'm convinced that Disney is doing this in order to force everyone to purchase the DP.

It's a very clever plan by Disney to maximize revenue. Sort of like raising prices on something to a level that is unreasonable and will sell few (if any) items, then putting them on "sale" and people think they are "saving" money. You are right, $50 (price plus tax plus tip) for a fixed menu (basically a buffet that comes to you) dinner at 'Ohana (albeit very nicely dressed up with the setting and the view) is something we wouldn't consider at home. Enter the DDP where people tell themselves they are saving money, so willingly pay for the plan.

Add to that the hidden price increase - a few years ago DDP included appetizer and tip. So they have increased the price AND reduced the product. And the restaurants are packed! What a great business model.

Once you've resolved that you want the highest price food, and accept that Disney prices are out of line with reality but hey, it's a vacation, then the next step you take is seeing the DDP is a lower total cost. Get it and and enjoy it, the total dining experience (being at Disney) is quite memorable.

 

[Eeyore's Pal]

My two comments:

1) If you're planning to take taxis off site you need to factor in those costs, and they add up quickly. People don't realize how big WDW is when you start paying by the fractional mile to go to eat. For the first time in many years DS and I did a weekend trip and used taxis....OMG....$15 + tip average each way just to get to a restaurant right past Goodings. So we ended up adding $36 to our "cheap" dinner.

2) I continue to suggest that the declining situation of Disney food is cyclical. Go back about 10-15 years ago and the food was often unremarkable and bad, and no one thought of WDW as a food destination. Then we hit a high about 3-4 years ago, and now we're in the decline again. We'll probably hit the lowest point by 2012 and then the upswing will begin. so stay tuned.

 

[Disney Dad Canada]

My two comments:

2) I continue to suggest that the declining situation of Disney food is cyclical. Go back about 10-15 years ago and the food was often unremarkable and bad, and no one thought of WDW as a food destination. Then we hit a high about 3-4 years ago, and now we're in the decline again. We'll probably hit the lowest point by 2012 and then the upswing will begin. so stay tuned.

You also have to remember that the people who post on here are not the "normal" WDW visitors, and are in general a lot more critical. The average visitor who goes once or twice probably has nothing to compare this version of the restaurants to, and therefore has nothing to complain about.

 

[Tiger926]

It's a very clever plan by Disney to maximize revenue. Sort of like raising prices on something to a level that is unreasonable and will sell few (if any) items, then putting them on "sale" and people think they are "saving" money. You are right, $50 (price plus tax plus tip) for a fixed menu (basically a buffet that comes to you) dinner at 'Ohana (albeit very nicely dressed up with the setting and the view) is something we wouldn't consider at home. Enter the DDP where people tell themselves they are saving money, so willingly pay for the plan.

Add to that the hidden price increase - a few years ago DDP included appetizer and tip. So they have increased the price AND reduced the product. And the restaurants are packed! What a great business model.

Once you've resolved that you want the highest price food, and accept that Disney prices are out of line with reality but hey, it's a vacation, then the next step you take is seeing the DDP is a lower total cost. Get it and and enjoy it, the total dining experience (being at Disney) is quite memorable.

Absolutely! We are a small fraction of Disney's guests. Most of them stay on-site, and will therefore find the DP to be a great deal in many cases. For many, they probably wouldn't even consider going to Disney without some type of dining plan.

When you have a captive, on-site audience, they have no choice but to eat on-site. Most guests aren't going to rent a car, pay for taxis or order groceries to their room. Most guests are going to eat what Disney provides, as this makes for a much less stressful vacation, especially when you have children.

Disney's business model is genius, and is important as it's ensuring profitability. But, for us as DVC members and park veterans, it's not so good, so we will eat in our room, or, because we have a car, we can eat off-site as well. Over the course of a year, this will save us a couple of thousand dollars in Disney food costs, which ultimately does translate to lost revenues for Disney, but I am well aware that there are many DP families making up this lost revenue to Disney.

Tiger

 

[Planogirl]

I wonder if most WDW visitors actually stay onsite. How many hotel rooms does WDW have? Assuming that they sell every room, I wonder what percentage gets the dining plan. It's not always a good deal for every party.

I just know that I'm grateful to have a car. The dining plan doesn't work well for us so far and if we stay onsite we can always flee to an offsite restaurant if we need to.

 

[racechick8293]

I wonder if most WDW visitors actually stay onsite. How many hotel rooms does WDW have? Assuming that they sell every room, I wonder what percentage gets the dining plan. It's not always a good deal for every party.

I just know that I'm grateful to have a car. The dining plan doesn't work well for us so far and if we stay onsite we can always flee to an offsite restaurant if we need to.

IMO, those from out of the US would seem more likely to stay onsite, as well as those for whom it's a first (or special) trip, and also those with the most disposable income.

For my family, we've always stayed off-site. We live less than 90 minutes from WDW, so we'll always have a car with us. I won't book a hotel room unless it has a fridge and microwave. Just what we save by eating breakfast prior to going to a park is worth the little bit of driving to the parks for me.

 

[Beauty & the Best]

I'm wondering how close the offsite restaurants are. We'll be there in February during my wife's birthday and were going to eat at Cape May on her birthday but it sounds like we might be better off going somewhere offsite. I don't mind spending the money but do expect the quality to equal the cost.

The quality is there IF you plan on eating crab legs. For the crab legs, it actually is a good value.

My 2 cents...Boma and Ohana, no way are they worth the cost but Cape May? For us it is totally worth it! We have been there 7 times and each time the food it fantastic, the crab and the littlenecks is the majority of what we eat and to pay $27.99 at a regular restaurant and get just 10 crab legs is a huge rip off...for $40 and we both can eat all we want? Well that is a deal!

MickeyNicki - I TOTALLY agree!!! An entree of crab legs is at least $28 around here and you only get 2 claws. We eat probably 8 claws each plus desserts and drinks at Cape May so it really is a bargain.

I do think that most Disney food is overpriced. The dinner at Cape May could be the one exception IF you eat the crab of course

 

[mdsd8700]

Our kids have been Disney adults for some years now DS is 17 and DD is 14 and honestly we quit doing the buffets when we were required to pay for 4 adults. I have no problem spending that kind of money on a meal, I just want it to be worth the cost. My 14 year old daughter nor I is ever going to eat enough food to justify the charge. I will admit we do an occassional character breakfast on the morning we depart just for old times sake, but even that is becoming less and less. We never do the dining plan because I just don't like to eat that much food and my daughter never eats that much so for us the buffets just are not practical, plus the quality has gone way down in my opinion.