Comments on my planned ADR, please

[flav]

My ADR booking window is opening up tomorrow. I am now second guessing my choices and would like to bounce off our current plan for dining at Disney World on our next vacation in August 2016.

A bit of background... This will be our fifth Disney World trip and, so far, we always went with the Deluxe Dining Plan. The two adults eat reasonable portions, the two kids eat very lightly but now the oldest is 10 so pays as an adult. One of us cannot eat gluten. We have done all the Character Dining except Garden Grill, all the Grand Floridian restaurants that participate in the DD and all of the Polynesian restaurants. We also dined at 50 Prime Time Cafe, Sci-Fi dinner and others.

So we want to change the formula and try different things (like counter service!). If Disney offers free Dining Plan, we will go for it and this means we do not know for sure which resort we will stay at. Also, we will be budget conscious. We are planning to do ADR based on that so only dinners at Table Dining restaurants (that is still 10 ADR) plus 1 lunch at BOG.

So far the line-up looks like:
T-Rex
San Angel Inn
Mama Melrose (a must)
Whispering Canyon
Yak & Yeti
Raglan Road
Garden Grill (only if Free Dining is offered)
Jungle Cruise Skipper Canteen (or the Wave... since no ADR for JCSC yet)
Beaches and Cream (or our resort restaurant if Free Dining is offered)
Coral Reef


I am affraid these will be too redundant, all explorer themed and quite dark. Do you have any suggestions to liven it up or do you think it sounds good?

Looking forward reading your thoughts.

 

[crabbygal902]

T-Rex: The food is very similar to what you can get from your local Applebee's. I'm not complaining, because I happen to like eating at Applebee's occasionally. The theming is so extensive! If you have a dinosaur-lover in your group, they will be in heaven. I work in a middle school and can tolerate a lot of noise and a certain amount of chaos, but this place did me in. It was just too much! If you go in expecting that your meal will not be relaxing and quiet, you'll be okay.

The DIS podcast just did a review of San Angel. Sadly, it was not positive. I realize that tastes are different and restaurants can have off days. This place is almost always on my to-do list because of the unique atmosphere, and then it gets cancelled because I read more negative than positive reviews. However, we have been to La Hacienda and absolutely love it. It is probably our favorite place on property.

Mama Melrose is another favorite of ours. We went in expecting nothing, booked it as part of a Fantasmic package. We were blown away by the food quality and the great service.

Good friends of ours dined at Ragland Road recently. They are not picky or fussy at all. They were very disappointed with the food but said the entertainment was fantastic.

I think that saving Garden Grill for free dining is a smart move. It is a great way to spend dining credits but really hurts the wallet OOP.

Skipper Canteen/The Wave: I'm excited to try SC. You are hitting my faves, because we also love The Wave. What a hidden gem.

B&C: This is such a good value OOP and has wonderful burgers and ice cream!

Coral Reef: Fabulous atmosphere! We had a bad experience (high prices, small portions, food was not even mediocre) a long time ago and haven't been back. I would love to hear some positives about this place.

I like your choices; you've picked many places that are out of the ordinary and have those special Disney touches.

 

[flav]

Crabbygal902, thank you so much for taking the time to read my thread and comment on my choices. You feed my thoughts and reassure me on many of the ADR I'll be making tomorrow morning!

 

[LVSWL]

My ADR booking window is opening up tomorrow. I am now second guessing my choices and would like to bounce off our current plan for dining at Disney World on our next vacation in August 2016.

A bit of background... This will be our fifth Disney World trip and, so far, we always went with the Deluxe Dining Plan. The two adults eat reasonable portions, the two kids eat very lightly but now the oldest is 10 so pays as an adult. One of us cannot eat gluten. We have done all the Character Dining except Garden Grill, all the Grand Floridian restaurants that participate in the DD and all of the Polynesian restaurants. We also dined at 50 Prime Time Cafe, Sci-Fi dinner and others.

So we want to change the formula and try different things (like counter service!). If Disney offers free Dining Plan, we will go for it and this means we do not know for sure which resort we will stay at. Also, we will be budget conscious. We are planning to do ADR based on that so only dinners at Table Dining restaurants (that is still 10 ADR) plus 1 lunch at BOG.

So far the line-up looks like:
T-Rex
San Angel Inn
Mama Melrose (a must)
Whispering Canyon
Yak & Yeti
Raglan Road
Garden Grill (only if Free Dining is offered)
Jungle Cruise Skipper Canteen (or the Wave... since no ADR for JCSC yet)
Beaches and Cream (or our resort restaurant if Free Dining is offered)
Coral Reef


I am affraid these will be too redundant, all explorer themed and quite dark. Do you have any suggestions to liven it up or do you think it sounds good?

Looking forward reading your thoughts.

I know you must be so excited to begin your meal plans!
Just my 2 cents...
We LOVE Mama Melrose...ask for Barb!
Ate at Yak & Yeti for the first time this year..fabulouse! Ask for Ellen!
We prefer LaHacienda over San Angel Inn, they were great with GF Vegan offerings
Have a wonderful time!

 

[senadler]

I think your choices look great! Personally, I would also add Coral Reef to the "only with free dining" category. I like the atmosphere, but I think it is very overpriced for what they offer. If paying OOP, I would much prefer Via Napoli or something else in World Showcase.

 

[flav]

I have to say, DH and I reviewed your input very seriously (with great excitement, yes!) tonight.

The two sticky points were San Angel Inn and Coral Reef. We read reviews, comparisons, pros and cons, even listened to the suggested podcast. Basically, both these choices have great atmosphere, expensive menus and inconsistent food quality. So we cut the pear in two:

• We will try the San Angel Inn because the atmosphere always appealed to us. We will just be careful to order less food and no desert to minimise the disapointment. Yes, it takes nerves after this podcast!
• We are replacing Coral Reef with Tepan Edo! Many threads recommend going in that direction. There, that feels better already!

Thank you so much! Looking forward to confirm all this!

 

[Grumpy247365]

I ate at San Angel Inn last year and I had a totally different experience than the guys on the podcast. The service and food was amazing and the dessert John didn't like is actually really good. I would recommend it. Whispering Canyon is awesome, a lot of different choices and mixing it up with the waitress/waiter is always fun. If you happen to be eating there for breakfast, the banana bread french toast is out of this world. I really liked Yak & Yeti. Food was solid and the theming is really nice as well. Raglan Road was just meh for me. I didn't dislike the food, but I wouldn't go back. You're on your own for the rest as I haven't experienced them. Have fun and enjoy.

 

[flav]

Cool! Happy to read this on San Angel Inn. With Grumpy's post, I have now received comments on all my planned ADR.
Only 8 hours to go

 

[Crickey]

Went to Raglan Road few years ago and loved the food but i am from the UK so we do tend to eat alot of Stews etc.

 

[crabbygal902]

Teppan Edo....mmmmmm! Love it! Save a place for one more, I'll be along shortly.

 

[senadler]

We are replacing Coral Reef with Tepan Edo! Many threads recommend going in that direction. There, that feels better already!

Great choice! That is our other go to in Epcot, and a frequent request from the kids.

 

[flav]

I was up and early to book the ADR at 6AM. The online system was letting me see available hours for the length of my stay but when I was trying to book... Poof! So I patiently (well after trying on every type of electronic devices I own) waited until 7AM to call. Fortunately, these were not hard to grab ADR so the very kind cast member helped me out.

The lineup remains, but our perpective on modifications and food orders we would make have changed:
T-Rex (I had to call the restaurant directly, no availability in Disney system)
San Angel Inn
Mama Melrose
Whispering Canyon
Yak&Yeti (we booked for lunch but hope that the show Rivers of Light will extend park hours to do dinner)
Raglan Road
Garden Grill (which we will keep only if Free Dining)
BOG for lunch
The Wave (and we might squeeze in Jungle Cruise Skipper Canteen another day)
Beaches and Cream
Teppan Edo

Thank you, that was a lot more fun with you all! What a confidence boost you gave me!

 

[heidijanesmith]

We love T-Rex. A must do for every trip. The mushroom ravioli is so yummy.
We had a very bad experience at San Angel Inn, similar to the DIS review. Terrible food, small portions and BIG price. We did love the atmosphere though.
Teppan Edo is fantastic, we like it much better than our local hibachi. A must for us each trip.

Have a great trip!

 

[flav]

Teppan Edo....mmmmmm! Love it! Save a place for one more, I'll be along shortly.

The more the merrier!

And regarding your status i.e. Lapu Lapu, we stayed at the Poly a total of 16 nights on two separate trips and, because we were so full from DDxDP, we never made it to ordering one!

 

[flav]

Great choice! That is our other go to in Epcot, and a frequent request from the kids.

Yes, that swap from Coral Reef to Teppan Edo really clicked for us. We are looking forward to that dinner.

 

[flav]

We love T-Rex. A must do for every trip. The mushroom ravioli is so yummy.
We had a very bad experience at San Angel Inn, similar to the DIS review. Terrible food, small portions and BIG price. We did love the atmosphere though.
Teppan Edo is fantastic, we like it much better than our local hibachi. A must for us each trip.

Have a great trip!

Now compiling menu suggestions.
These mushroom ravioli are noted

 

[KT0191]

Yak & Yeti is such an underrated (IMHO) restaurant. It was one of the best dinners we had last September! The food was seriously good and the restaurant was beautifully themed.
Raglan Road was also a favorite of mine. Get the bread pudding!

 

[flav]

We are enjoying our trip as we speak. We have enjoyed all our meals so far:

T-Rex: Loud, fun, crazy, Cottoncandytini, exactly what we needed on arrival day. Tried one of their specials, yummy.

San Angel Inn: Waited a few minutes for a table on the river, nice. We had the sirloin and the red snaper. Both amazing. The avocado margharita is better with the meal than by itself.

Mama Melrose: Excellent shrimp pasta.

Whispering Canyon: Tried the skillet and really loved it. The DDs loved the tomato soup. Animation was enjoyable. We then went to Chip and Dale Campfire and took Smores for dessert.

 

[flav]

We are back from our trip and were delighted to have tried these new restaurants. Paying OOP was the right decision for us, it allowed much more flexibility. We spent less than budgeted on food and said yes to everything: Snacks, entrée and drinks!

To continue the review...

I have to mention that the African Margharita at Dawa Bar was the best of all drinks on this trip... And we had other great ones.

Yak&Yeti: Our only true disappointment. Oversalted to the point of being unedible. The redid the worse of our dishes and it was ok. Also, they totally forgot my daughter birthday.

Raglan Road: Gluten free fish and chip is better than the regular one. Food was not memorable but we had an excellent table for the entertainment which was professionnal. Impressed by Disney Spring in general.

BOG lunch: We liked it better than at dinner. The braised pork and the tuna salad were fantastic.

The Wave : Another level of refinement, we now want to try cooking scallops on corn risotto, it was delicious. Worth leaving MK if you already been to its restaurants.

Beaches and Cream: Grilled cheese was ok but we should have stuck with our first idea of ordering only ice cream... Our DD8 did and it was the best banana split ever! We were too full from the entrée so we shared a Frozen Sunshine as a desert, miam.

Teppan Edo: Delicious, fun, abundant and attentive. Now part of our favorites.

Thank you! Your help really enhanced our experience.