Any other DVC folks tired of Disney TS Dining??

[edk35]

I have to say...that I am having a hard time coming up with any great dining plans. My dd and I sat here and combed through the menus on All Ears and I am so over some of these meals and not sure what we will do next month. We booked Le Cellier and we will probably eat at Liberty Tree for lunch (dinner blech) but we are skipping character meals...been there done that so many times. Plus the prices for those buffets are !!!! I am actually looking forward to trying a few places offsite since we are actually driving for this trip. I think if it were just dh and I at WDW (who knows when that day will come ) we would eat at some places we would not eat at with kids. However we have eaten at so many of the popular/regular places I am kinda burned out on TS meals at Disney.

I know we will eat quick breakfasts and snacks in our 2 br villa. We usually order pizza in one night from Flippers or Giordanos. I have NEVER cooked a real dinner in our villa. Not sure I am ready to do that on vacation either.

 

[DVC Mike]

We still enjoy the Signature Dining spots...

 

[iluveeyore]

We never tire of dining at WDW because we only eat out once a trip!
I actually love stocking our villa's kitchen - that's my family's favourite time of day whenever we meet up at the villa and share some food together. We love the change of scenery from home, and we especially enjoy the view from our patio table at our favourite OKW balcony. It saves us so much money too. This year we can't wait to cook our Christmas dinner and share it around the table with the whole family while we look outside at palm trees

 

[edk35]

We still enjoy the Signature Dining spots...

See Mike..that does sound appealing to me. ONE day when hubby and I go..it will be nice to try those. However I don't see taking an 11 year old and very finicky 16 year old. Our dd 19 would love and appreciate it more.

 

[Figment2]

We have our favorite places that we hit every trip (Boma, Sanaa, Trails End, to name a few).

What we don't like is having to plan 180 days out to make reservations. We are more off the cuff people. Usually we don't know what park we're going to hit until the night before or the morning of.

Cyn

 

[Steamboat Girlie]

We thought Sanaa was fantastic. We liked it so much, that we ate there twice on our last visit. Still love Jiko, and think dining in the wine room there is heaven! The Wave at CR was very nice too. Looking forward to trying Cat Cora's new place over at Boardwalk next time. Still have yet to eat at the restaurant in Germany. It is on my to do list, but somehow I am always outvoted!

 

[jekjones1558]

I know I am inviting flames but we feel that many of the signature restaurants at WDW are overpriced for the quality of food. We also dislike having to plan our vacation days around ADRs made way ahead of time. Bottom line, more and more we are dining off-site and not missing Disney meals much at all. We do quick breakfasts and snacks in the room. If we have young kids along we may do character meals. We book Candlelight Processional packages. I wouldn't think of cooking on vacation. I find the stovetop to be very handy as extra counter space.

 

[JimC]

We enjoy House of Blues, T-Rex and others at DD. Also Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52 off property are excellent choices and not commonly available elsewhere.

There are nationally recognized restaurants such as Uno, Olive Garden, Tony Roma's, Outback Steakhouse and others just off property to add even more variety.

 

[perdidobay]

In some ways I am tired of TS dining at WDW. After so many trips there, other than our very favorites, I do not enjoy the choices as much.
I don't cook on vacation, I do that every day at home, so no cooking in the villa for me.

Now that DD and DSIL have moved to Clermont, we are eating off property more than ever. We have always eaten at Giordanos once a trip, and usually Margaritaville or Bubba Gumps at Citywalk. But now we are trying places that DD and DSIL have discovered in the area.

 

[spiceycat]

my food allergies make it more reasonable for me to cook than some of you.

yes disney tries to allow food allergies - but the last 2 times - waited for 2 hours (not kidding) - this woman wants to eat and be back in the parks - not waiting, waiting, waiting for the food.

so these are things that i do.

when at home - cook twice as much of your favorite foods. freeze the extra and take it to WDW with you.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Mike and Jean both mirror my feelings. We feel that the dining plan has ruined food service at WDW. Even the signatures have dumbed down their menus and slacked off on quality of food.

It has gotten so we only do a few each trip. Jiko, Artist Point and Teppan Edo are givens each trip. Beyond that, we sometimes hit Turf Club at SSR (a real diamond in the rough), and sometimes Citircos, but we are stuck in a rut.

 

[JimMIA]

When Disney gutted the DDP by eliminating the appetizers and gratuity a few years ago, we basically switched to eating offsite.

Our experience so far (5-6 trips) has been that the food is better (although some Disney outlets still do a good job), the variety is infinitely better, reservations are either very easy or not needed, and the cost is less than any comparable Disney plan or discount.

We like to do a mix of dining on vacation, from casual to fine dining. The elimination of the appetizer ruined many of the signature dining places for us, and we'd much rather eat at Charley's or Columbia offsite than any of the signature places. For regular dining, we prefer the wide assortment of chain restaurants offsite to the everything-cooked-in-the-central-kitchen food onsite. And for casual, you can't beat some of the quick and easy places offsite.

We now usually eat only one character meal onsite. Last week, we didn't even do that, although we did eat an early walk-in dinner at Le Cellier which proved to be a mistake.

 

[Daddio]

We're becoming part of the "been there, done that, crowd too. The quality of food has definately fallen at some of the restaurants. I have tried the Yachtmans Steak House three times over the past year and a half and never gotten a good steak yet. LeCellier and Chefs de France are the exception.

I used to love Liberty Tree Tavern but can't justify spending $40.00 for a turkey dinner anymore.

So, it's TGI Friday, Olive Garden, Sweet Tomato, Outback Steak House and IHOP for us. Same quality (or better) food and less than half the price.

We still enjoy the Signature Dining spots...

And we expect them to be part or your enjoyable trip reports for many years to come.

David

 

[JimMIA]

I have tried the Yachtmans Steak House three times over the past year and a half and never gotten a good steak yet.

For better steaks, try Charley's. Yeah, it's a little pricey, but at least you get what you pay for.

 

[Micca]

I think we get a little burned out paying high prices for meals that are good, but not great. We like having some food in the room. We don't really cook, but we stock up on some nice quality stuff like deli, cheeses, bagels, cookies, chips, beer and wine and it's extremely pleasant chilling out in the room. We don't eat offsite, but we've certainly imported some delicious pizza to enjoy in the room and that was fun too.

 

[LisaS]

DH and I are vegetarians and it can be difficult to find a satisfying meal when we travel. There are several WDW restaurants that we look forward to visiting because they offer great vegetarian options that we can't get anywhere else. Boma (I love their unusual salads -- I could make a meal out of just that part of the buffet), Tusker House, Sanaa, Jiko, The Wave, San Angel Inn and Chefs de France are our favorite TS places. Because they offer food that is both delicious and unique, we really look forward to eating there and still plan our trips around where we want to eat.

ETA: We also prepare simple meals in the room one or two nights during our stay. We don't like to eat out every night -- it's just too much food.

 

[edk35]

I think we get a little burned out paying high prices for meals that are good, but not great. We like having some food in the room. We don't really cook, but we stock up on some nice quality stuff like deli, cheeses, bagels, cookies, chips, beer and wine and it's extremely pleasant chilling out in the room. We don't eat offsite, but we've certainly imported some delicious pizza to enjoy in the room and that was fun too.

We must shop at the same places ..we have the same items in our villa too.

 

[bwvBound]

We are not yet burned out on the meals themselves -- simply the process (necessity and difficulty) of booking reservations!

 

[edk35]

We enjoy House of Blues, T-Rex and others at DD. Also Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52 off property are excellent choices and not commonly available elsewhere.

There are nationally recognized restaurants such as Uno, Olive Garden, Tony Roma's, Outback Steakhouse and others just off property to add even more variety.

Where is Bahama Breeze and Seasons?

 

[Sammie]

We too have given up and gone off property to eat.