Back from DLP last week. The good the bad and the food.

[manicdave]

My wife and my two toddlers stayed in the Cheyenne from Sunday the 25th to Wednesday the 28th September.

The hotel was basic for the money we paid, but seeing as it Disney thats par for the course. The room was small, very small. We hardly fitted a cot into the room for our 18 month old, and they only place we could fit it was beside the connecting door to the room next door. So as you can guess, he was woken up quite a lot.

The food in the hotel was beyond a joke, firstly the "dinner". For the 50 euros we spend on this somebody should be sacked. The food was cold, and lacked any care in cooking. it was all lumped onto dishes and chaucked out. The ribs where hard as rocks, the chips cold and hard and the pasta was lumps of mush.

The parks themselves, ill star with the postive, ( dont want to offend ) where great. Buzz lightyear made it for my little boy who made me go on it at least 4 times. I loved Space MT and the Hollywood Hotel. The rides are all great and the qs where not bad at all apart from Sunday.

Disney might wonder why DLP is loosing money. IM wondering that too seeing as they scalp the B,jesus out of you from the time you8 arrive. 3 euro for a bottle of water!! 9 for pop corn, and then the food. MY god, i thought the hotel was bad. The food in the park, i have had better burgers at festivals.

Leaving all that aside the Disney Village is great. Some good food there even if you need a second mortgage for it.


all in all I would go again. But would stay in a differnt Hotel, and drive. Why drive. so i can get out of the parks and get some food at night.

 

[DLPdaft]

yep, theres no getting away from it, DLP food and drinks all over the resort is expensive.

Where else did you eat, apart from the Cheyenne?

 

[Pluto_fan]

Thanks for your report. Glad you enjoyed the parks...for our family, that's what it's all about!

Next time, you might consider the Davy Crockett Ranch. Lots of space to spread out (or put the kids to bed in a quiet place), cooking facilities if you're so inclined, fabulous swimming pool with plenty of fun stuff for little ones. Price is comparable to the Cheyenne and Santa Fe. Plus, if you drive, you can bring plenty of snacks/drinks/etc. along with you.

 

[gbaz44]

Firstly glad you enjoyed the parks and rides, they are what you go there for with that disney magic.

Secondly you'll get no argument from me over the cost of food in and around the parks. I know it's a holiday but you shouldn't be constantly worrying about money/credit card bills when simply buying food or the odd drink around the place. Can't comment on the hotel dinners as I've not done one there.

I realise you can pre-pay for your food, half-board options etc but these aren't exactly cheap either.

Having said all that I can't wait to get back but I won't be paying the ridiculous Christmas Eve or Christmas day prices for "special" meals. I know it's a special time of year and the characters are there but really!!

I've got my shares and just received my shareholders card which was done mainly for the discounts on food and gifts - with 6 of us going I think I'll more than cover my outlay.

 

[manicdave]

WE ate in that big food place besdie Space MT. my god it was bad. And in Studio 1 in DS.

We had hot dogs on Main Street USA, they where ok.

After the first day we went out to The Earl in the Village for lunch. Was nice and did not cost the world.

Had a trip to McD's too.

We are going back with a gang in August next year after a fmaily wedding. we are looking at the SL

 

[TheMoonman]

I've found the restaurants in the Village are all good, from Annette's Diner (cheapish) to Planet Hollywood (not cheap at all!).

The food at Cafe Mickey is not great, but it's worth the cost for the character interaction.

 

[DLPdaft]

I'm not keen on any of the burger places inside either park at DLP, so we tend to avoid them altogether. I do agree about the one in Videopolis, service is so slow in there and the food isn't good.

 

[kizzabel]

Welcome home
I must be very lucky, we've not had any awful meals except Plaza Gardens (tasteless and cold) and BBWWS (vomitted after the Chilli Con Carne) which werent great at all. Had good meals in Walts and Cafe Mickey. Its a pity its so over priced and I think you have a good idea with driving the next time. You'll have a lot more choice and will get the opportunity to see some things outside the parks.
Glad that you enjoyed the Parks and the rides

 

[tennisfan]

Welcome back, I found the best food to get was table service as it was only slightly more then counter service.

Half the problem with the prices is that the € is poor for the £.

 

[manicdave]

Welcome back, I found the best food to get was table service as it was only slightly more then counter service.

Half the problem with the prices is that the € is poor for the £.

The Euro and Sterling have nothing to do with the prices.

Im Irish we have the euro. A meal in Dublin does not cost what it does in DLP. And its a hell of a lot better. €45 euro for burger and chips for 4. Its a joke.

Its greed pure and simple. DLP is not making money, so they scalp as much out of you as they can when they get you in.

I would go twice a year if i was not ripped off, i think a lot of people would be the same.

 

[tinkertaylor05]

Glad it's not put you off! We tend to just do a table service meal in the evening and a pastry during the day so haven't had much of the other food.

I agree it's expensive but I don't think it's a dlp thing so much as just going out to theme parks and the like, these places are always over the top and the counter service food usually

 

[tennisfan]

The Euro and Sterling have nothing to do with the prices.

Im Irish we have the euro. A meal in Dublin does not cost what it does in DLP. And its a hell of a lot better. €45 euro for burger and chips for 4. Its a joke.

Its greed pure and simple. DLP is not making money, so they scalp as much out of you as they can when they get you in.

I would go twice a year if i was not ripped off, i think a lot of people would be the same.

Not nitpicking but DLRP are making a profit, its just has debts fro years ago.

Yes the food is expensive the same goes for any theme park in the UK or most tourist attractions, they have a captive audience & charge what they like

Glad it's not put you off! We tend to just do a table service meal in the evening and a pastry during the day so haven't had much of the other food.

I agree it's expensive but I don't think it's a dlp thing so much as just going out to theme parks and the like, these places are always over the top and the counter service food usually

It totally agree, my last trip I actually preferred table service as you get more for your money, especially the buffets

 

[tinkerbells mum]

i've got to say i've always been really lucky with the food and not had a bad meal there at all. i've just booked for my 5th trip and have got Half Board Plus vouchers this time so will be eating at Walts and Cafe Mickey for Dinner (only had breakfast there before). the food is very expensive but as someone has already said it's a captive audience. i do like the idea of the food being paid for before we go though so i won't have to worry about it once we're there.

glad it didn't spoil your time there though and you are planning on going back xx

 

[tinks_1989]

Wow I must be really lucky or have no taste buds but I can never really remember having bad food at DLRP.

I agree the rooms don't allow space for travel cots we have just returned from 4 nights at the davy crockett and our bedroom was meant to have 4 single beds and a cot in it but there is no way it all would of fit in there.

Apart from the few negatives glad you had a good time and still planning on returning

 

[kizzabel]

Theres always Mc Donalds when you're on a strict budget
I thought Annettes was great value for money, we got huge meals - compared to Eddie Rockets, the theming is better at Annettes and so is the food.
I actually think CM is good at €30 for starter, main and dessert plus characters.

We stayed in Limerick last May and the best we were getting for 2 courses was €20ish pp. So I think relatively DLP isnt so bad.

 

[Strawberryblush]

The dinner served at Cheyenne (Chuck Wagon Cafe) is disgusting. We ate there on our first night....never again. Pink chicken is their speciality no thanks! It was like SLOP.

We also ate at Cafe Mickey, Walts, The Steakhouse, BBWWS ( Food ok here but show & food way over priced!) & Annettes and found the food in all of these quite nice....but again like everyone else mentioned....still over priced for what you get.

I love disney....but they do screw you over with their prices!

 

[the_princess]

Welcome home!
DLP is a very expensive place to eat and drink. We always go to the little kiosk at the train station and get sodas and snacks, so we don't have to pay 3 euro for water ;-)

 

[manicdave]

I got my survey last night after my trip. I in detail told them whats wrong with the food set up at DLP IMHO. Is this something new there? Now i know they are not going to Cut Prices. But as i said in my reply to them, i would not mind paying a premium for Food if it was good. How hard can it be to produce Burgers and Chips that are not cold and rank in the Park.

On the Hotel, are they all as bad as the Chuck(up) Wagon? I have asked for a refund of my 51 euros. I doubt ill get it but you never know.

 

[Ware Bears]

Welcome back

WE ate in that big food place besdie Space MT. my god it was bad. And in Studio 1 in DS.

We tend to eat at table service/buffet restaurants at DLP as we're not huge fans of fast food but unfortunately you chose to eat at the two that I would have said to avoid if possible.

Counter service is very expensive at DLP as it is in all theme parks/attractions (the worst offender I've ever encountered was London Zoo) but I think the table service/buffet restaurants are much better value and I find it costs us pretty much the same to eat at one of them at DLP as it will for us to eat out at home.

It's very easy to eat cheaply offsite by taking the RER train to Val d'Europe (one stop) and eating at one of the many restaurants there - perhaps you could consider this for next summer?

 

[jillrobinson]

We tend to fill up at breakfast and have 1 table service meal and snacks that I take with me to keep us going in between.
Buffets work well for us with 2 teenage sons to fill up. I haven't eaten at either of the park restaurants you've mentioned, but we did discover Col. Hathi's last visit and would definately visit again, 45 euros for 4 but decent pizzas, salad, drink and a dessert, one of the best value for money places in the park.
We also ate at McD's for the 1st time during our last trip, in the past I'd always been reluctant, because IMO you can go there anytime, boys loved it, OH loved the bill.
I will never eat at the Chicago Steakhouse again though, our bill came to just over 200 euros, it was supposed to be a special meal and I'd been given some money towards it, the steaks were tiny and what was there was mostly fat and gristle. Total disappointment and waste of money