Best Restaurants for Your Money..Dining Plan

[rachel09985]

Hi everyone!

Which restaurants are the best places to go to get the most out of your money?? AKA..the most expensive?? And only one table credit? We are going in November with the dining plan and want to make the most of our money. I feel so guilty going somewhere and not "spending" a lot because I feel that I should be getting the most expensive thing on the menu, even if I would rather have the cheapest.

I know lunch is cheaper most of the time but what restaurants, quick service and table service..are generally the most expensive for 1 Credit? Just wondering

 

[catne]

You'll probably get plenty of the "you need to pick restaurants according to what you want to eat, not to maximize value." However, I know it's possiblyto have plenty o' fun & good eatin' WHILE you're getting great value for your $$$. So, here's my experience:

counter service...most expensive (and wonderful food) is Wolfgang Puck Express in Downtown Disney. A dining plan meal there (entree, dessert and a soda) can run over $20...one credit. In Epcot, think the most expensive counter service would be the shwarma platter at Tangierine Cafe/Morocco...or either the Asian station platter meal or the Grill station pork chop meal in Sunshine Seasons/The Land (make sure to choose your dessert from the actual bakery counter over to far left...don't choose the little prepackaged desserts if you're trying to maximise value.) In Magic Kingdom, the ribs/chicken combo platter at Cosmic Rays is probably the most expensive meal for one credit. In DHS, can't help you with most expensive, because we only eat counter service at Starring Rolls, and I doubt that's the most expensive. In Animal Kingdom...don't know which would be most expensive, because we tend to always go to Flametree BBQ...the ribs platter is pretty spendy, but not sure it's the most expensive.

Table service is probably easiest to maximize value for your credits...skip all buffets, first off - they are the cheaper tabs on table service places. So choose menu/server places only. Then skip the pasta dishes & skip the chicken dishes: just choose the steak on virtually any menu in Disney (the steak choices are usually the most expensive entrees in Dining plan restaurants.) Le Cellier & Coral Reef are both probably among the highest priced one credit TS places (and Le Cellier is actually going to 2 TS in March 2011) But almost all of the Disney restaurants we've been to have steaks on the menu. Just check menus before you make your reservations.

 

[everythingALICE]

Not sure if you're interested in character dining, but...I think that Akershus is about $36 or so per person.

 

[NWOhioAngela]

Remember to factor in the cost of your gratuity when trying to figure most bang for your buck.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

the most expensive?? And only one table credit? We are going in November with the dining plan and want to make the most of our money.

1) I guess this is why DDP is hurting the dining quality at WDW.
2) The question is no longer "the best food" for dining credits.
3) The question now is "the most expensive", without much regard to quality.
4) So, eateries at WDW
. . . have more standardized the menu items
. . . have dumbed-down the menu items
. . . have fewer unique menu items
5) I guess it is a sign of the times.

NOTE: Sorry, just a pet-peeve and venting.

 

[lidec]

I was one of those that always fell into the "most for your money" catagory. We have free dining this year and I really want to change my
way of thinking. I want to know where is the "best tasting" TS restaurants?. I have Le Cellier, 50's Prime Time, Crystal Palace, Cape May Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Chef Mickeys, Boatwrights. Anything else you can add. Im trying to keep most of the restaurants in the parks for less travel. We are doing DTD and Boardwalk. My family is not big on "different foods" like (Bomas etc). Any suggestions on some real good tasting restaurants. Looked at WGP as another possibility.

 

[Magic3forme]

lidec--for best tasting, Kona in the Polynesian hands down! havent been there but have heard great things about GF Cafe.

Chef Mickeys is not a cheap dinner either. and you dont have to wait in any lines to see them. (although the food isnt the greatest, my kids love this restaurant with the monorail passing through).

 

[PinkEars]

I can see doing this to a point. Im not going to use a TS for a dinner at say Beaches and Cream when its only going to cost maybe $40 for the three of us. I would pay out of pocket and bank my TS. Also Kona for breakfast isnt much either i wouldnt waste a TS on that. As far as ordering the most expensive thing on the menu then no, i would order what i would normally want on or off the dining plan.

 

[Huff]

1) I guess this is why DDP is hurting the dining quality at WDW.
2) The question is no longer "the best food" for dining credits.
3) The question now is "the most expensive", without much regard to quality.
4) So, eateries at WDW
. . . have more standardized the menu items
. . . have dumbed-down the menu items
. . . have fewer unique menu items
5) I guess it is a sign of the times.

NOTE: Sorry, just a pet-peeve and venting.

Tops for us are Chefs de France, San Angel, Kona, Coral Reef and a few others.

While some do have the beliefs you do there are many of us who don't. I have been to the lower priced restaurants and higher. Outside of free dining most people do not have the DDP and pay OOP so the argument against DDP to me is not valid. Most restaurants that are higher priced have better tasting food to those in our group. The lower priced TS's are often lower priced for a reason. They may have good food if you like the style but some styles are cheaper, Disney or not.

I feel the lower quality of food overall over the years is not because of the DDP. It is cost cutting and it is NOT limited to restaurants being the only cuts.

Honestly, if I was paying OOP and wanted a top notch dinner I would not eat onsite at WDW. A few of our trips have been OOP and we ate offsite at some fantastic restaurants there were far better than anything you could ever get at WDW for the same money. Disney sells Disney and thats what you pay for, location and Disney theming, not food quality.

That said, I do like the DDP for what you get. Its not as good as in prior years because of removal of appetizer and tip. But it is still a good value if eating at the higher priced restaurants. We don't eat at the buffets. I find them way over priced and quality of food poor compared to buffets at offsite resort hotels.

In short, WDW restaurants have never been comparable in value to off site restaurants for food quality. DDP allows me to have an enjoyable meal at a Disney restaurant I would not otherwise bother going to.

 

[MSLRAC]

1) I guess this is why DDP is hurting the dining quality at WDW.
2) The question is no longer "the best food" for dining credits.
3) The question now is "the most expensive", without much regard to quality.
4) So, eateries at WDW
. . . have more standardized the menu items
. . . have dumbed-down the menu items
. . . have fewer unique menu items
5) I guess it is a sign of the times.

NOTE: Sorry, just a pet-peeve and venting.

I have to agree with you. There was a large gap in our Disney trips and we found the quality just was not there on our last trip and I have to blame part of that (not all) on the DDP and people having 'the most expensive' mentality. Why should Disney care about the quality of their food if the people ordering don't care?

We had the DxDP last trip and we would have been miserable had we picked the most expensive items at each restaurant just to maximize the plan. We wanted quality so we picked accordingly, with no regard to prices and still got a huge bang for our buck (the plan saved us over $1000).

That said and in an attempt to answer the question at hand, we had 21 TS meals and of them, excluding alcohol, Tutto Italia was our most expensive meal ($225 plus tip) and it was just 1 TS. It was also one of of favorite meals.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Remember to factor in the cost of your gratuity when trying to figure most bang for your buck.

This is an important part of the equation that you might not be considering. Expensive ala carte ordering = expensive tip.

I personally feel I enjoy myself the most if I choose the places we'd be going to anyway even if we didn't have the plan.

 

[rachel09985]

1) I guess this is why DDP is hurting the dining quality at WDW.
2) The question is no longer "the best food" for dining credits.
3) The question now is "the most expensive", without much regard to quality.
4) So, eateries at WDW
. . . have more standardized the menu items
. . . have dumbed-down the menu items
. . . have fewer unique menu items
5) I guess it is a sign of the times.

NOTE: Sorry, just a pet-peeve and venting.

Haha, true!! I have noticed there is not many selections on the menus, which does disappoint me. I have only really gone to disney during Free Dining so i wouldn't know what the difference is before there wasn't free dining. If I don't like one of the more expensive options of course I wouldn't get one but if I picked between a less expensive one and a more expensive one mostly for everyone they would do the most expensive. I wonder if Disney will every stop doing Free Dining?

Youre fine to vent no worries!!

 

[rachel09985]

This is an important part of the equation that you might not be considering. Expensive ala carte ordering = expensive tip.

I personally feel I enjoy myself the most if I choose the places we'd be going to anyway even if we didn't have the plan.

True, tipping does get expensive...

Where in NW OHio are you from? I am from Maumee Ohio.

 

[Huff]

I have to agree with you. There was a large gap in our Disney trips and we found the quality just was not there on our last trip and I have to blame part of that (not all) on the DDP and people having 'the most expensive' mentality.

The problem with that argument is this. Read back to forums dating to 2006 up until now. You will see the exact same arguments against DDP in 2006, 07, 08 etc. Even in 2006 people said food was better before without DDP. Each year they again repeat the same claim. Here we are in 2010 and people say how great the food was just a few years ago before DDP was as popular as it is today. Hmm, during those years people on the forums complained about the food yet todays views are that it was great back then?

I think quality of food as well as overall park quality in general has gone downhill. DDP has little to do with it and the past forum discussions over the years tends to suggest just that. Perception is everything.

 

[hayanyujah847]

Wolfgang Puck Cafe, Tutto Italiano & Coral Reef are the three best bangs for the buck we have on our upcoming trip. I always calculate the cost of our meals before going so I can allot the right amount for tips.

 

[MellieluvsDisney]

While this will be our third year with FD, I don't have that mentality. I eat what I really want to eat even if it's just 15.99$ for fish & chips or if it's le filet Mignon at 34,.99$. It really doesn't matter to me.

 

[sjs314]

Remember to factor in the cost of your gratuity when trying to figure most bang for your buck.

What pp mentioned is a very good point, looking for the best value dollar wise is also going to up the amount you need to tip, so what are you gaining by ordering the most expensive items on the menu?

I have never used the dining plan we prefer to pay OOP but if I did I would still eat where and what I wanted, personally I enjoy buffets since being diabetic it allows me more choices and no need to ask to substitute items