5 Meals, 500 Bucks!

[disneysteve]

we are staying at Orbit One this time, thanks in part to the great reviews you've posted. Any recommendations on whether we should ask for a ground floor? I know you had one once, but I'm a little concerned about safety with the patio at ground level.

We had ground floor in '04 and 2nd floor in '05. Personally, I prefer first floor so I don't have to haul luggage up and down the stairs. We didn't feel there was a safety issue at all.

 

[georgina]

Thanks for the information on DDE! I bought an annual pass for the Beach Club discount in July, now I'll have to figure out if DDE will be worth it for us. We don't do a lot of table service, but with 5 people, even a few may cost the $300 it would take to break even on DDE, especially since it is good at Beaches & Cream. I only have a voucher now though, will I need an activated pass to purchase DDE? Is it something I can buy after I activate my AP? And where?

Edited - it looks like 3 planned TS meals - LTT dinner, Sci-fi lunch, and Cape May breakfast - will put us over $300, so it would be a good deal for us. I'll have to call Monday and find out how to get it!

 

[jeankeri]

FayeW- Good idea to skip and sit down dinner during MVMCP. The best thing about being in MK then is your ability to do rides without lines. I would never waste party time waiting for food. You'll have a much better experience for it.

 

[Carrie Ellis]

FayeW- Good idea to skip and sit down dinner during MVMCP. The best thing about being in MK then is your ability to do rides without lines. I would never waste party time waiting for food. You'll have a much better experience for it.

We did a sit down before MNSSHP last year and I would never do it again. We ate at Liberty Tavern and they were so behind. We got out late even with the early reservation.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Sci Fi does not have to be expensive and it is a really fun place to eat! I pulled out our receit from Jan. There are 4 of us 2A DS13 (oh yes he can eat alot!) and DD6 (really just looks at the food but likes to order!) Our total with tip was $89.52 for lunch. I ordered the house salad and a child's grilled chicken meal (actually cut the chicken into the salad), DD ordered the kids pasta and the lite up drink (still uses the cup and ice cube) and ice cream dessert, DS Burger, onion rings, cheesecake. DH Burger, and Yuegling Lager. Ds and I had soda. That is really a lot of food.

Our total with tip at Le Cellier was $88.06. We ordered 2 Cheese Soups to share. DH and I both ordered the chicken sanwich(not to share but each), DD had kids chicken strips, DS New York Strip (like I said this kids can eat!) DH had a beer and everyone else had soda. No dessert today.

On our trip we honestly were not watching the budget but ordered what we wanted. I was surprised this trip how often I choose the kids meal for myself. The options are much better than I remember and truthfully I didn't want as much food as comes with an adult meal. I always asked if it was ok and they always said no problem. Order what you want.

 

[ducklite]

I just made 5 ADR's for our upcoming trip, and I can't believe that I am willingly and knowingly spending over $500 on 5 TS meals for my family of 4! I am really trying to justify this with my inner cheapskate!

2 of the restaurants are places we had reservations at for our trip last Oct, but got everything got cancelled or changed around because of hurricane Wilma (Sci-Fi and WCC). Alot of our trip will be "free" because I am using incentive rewards through work so I thought we would splurge a little and try some places I would normally be too cheap to spend the money on. I have Sci-Fi and LeCellier booked for lunch, and 'Ohanas, CP and WCC booked for dinner.

As much as I want to try some of these places, I am really having a hard time with the concept of paying $150 (including tax & tip) for the 4 of us to have dinner! I guess I have to stop looking at the individual prices of each meal, and just set a total food budget I can live with.

Your at WDW. Forget about the cost and enjoy. Unless you truly can't afford it--ie going into debt to pay for the meal--then fretting about the cost will only give you indigestion! And if you are going into debt for the meal, you shouldn't even be having this conversation... (I'm assuming that the latter isn't the case. )

DH and I LOVE a good meal, and understand that it doesn't come free. (We dropped $150 for dinner for two at Blue Zoo last week!)

Some of your choices aren't really the best bang for the buck IMHO.

I posted this on the dining board the other day, but it bears repeating. Saturday night we had dinner at Chef's De France, and I had the "French Dinner" which consisted of Onion Soup, half a chicken, and creme brulee. It could EASILY feed two children, or even a child and an adult. With an extra order of soup, it's enough of a meal for two adults. At about $26 it's a STEAL! Two of those and one or two additional appetizers would feed your family an incredibly good meal in a very nice (but still casual) atmosphere for under $70+ tip.

Anne

 

[summerrluvv]

That's why we are going to eat like pigs on the free dining and make sure we try all the expensive great meals so I don't have to feel bad.

We will try
LeCellier (1st time for us that meal alone for 4 - 2 adults, 1 adult kid, & 1 child will run us over $150 alone)
Concourse steakhouse (our bill here was over $130 last time with $30 oop)
Chef Mickey's breakfast (must on each trip for us)
1900 Parkfare (my girls just love it and the food is wonderful)
Biergarten (we just have to much fun here and the food rocks)
Kona Cafe (1st time for us but we love steak and the menu looks so good)
Donald's breakfastasaursus (DH favorite is the duck so we are there again)
Hollywood and vine for the new playhouse disney lunch - unless disney brings back the buffet in adventureland like last year at El Pirato which I would love to try for free dining

all the food and no guilt -well none about the price anyways waist line is a different story.

Can you tell me more about the Playhouse Disney lunch? I hadn't heard of this. We have an ADR at Sci Fi, but DS loves PD! I'm on the dining plan, so I added up the cost of our ADR's and estimated counter service and it's around $500 for the two of us!!

 

[kfeuer]

By the way, we are staying at Orbit One this time, thanks in part to the great reviews you've posted. Any recommendations on whether we should ask for a ground floor? I know you had one once, but I'm a little concerned about safety with the patio at ground level.

Another Orbit One fan here--definitely call ahead and request a ground floor room! I didn't do this so we got stuck on the third floor and there's no elevators. It was a big pain in the neck carrying all our stuff up all those flights of stairs! Orbit One has a gated entrance and is pretty quiet, I wouldn't worry about having a ground floor unit.