DDP Rant

[Dismom55]

Condorman, that is what I was thinking, hubby loves elephant ears and I have seen many of them in my day be totally devoured by him. That is what the pic of the beaver tails reminds me of.

I hope they don't get rid of the DDP, I like it just fine at my age I need the rest and can't afford all the table service restaurants otherwise. Also, love the fact that I don't have to worry if I kept enough money aside for food, or tell the kids you can't buy that until the end of the trip IF we have money enough. Of course my kids are older now, but still remember those days of always having to tell them no and worry about having put aside enough money to last until the end of the trip. One table service restaurant in those days, the rest were wait until we get back to the room to eat or counter service and that gets old after awhile. One thing, we only do cash for our vacations, no credit cards usage for a vacation, so we make due with what cash we have saved, or we do without.

 

[srdipert]

I have to say we love Disney food and we have been many many times. Things have changed but we still think the food is great and one of th main reasons we do. Although I have to admit that we do not have much to choose from where we live. One thing I did notice a decline in is service.

 

[VAN]

I had one of the beaver tails ... and I thought it was just like an Elephant Ear!!

So for anyone who wants to taste a "beaver tail" - just go to your local county fair and get an elephant ear. Cedar Pointe sells them too.

 

[DVC Sadie]

I have never thought the Disney restaurant were over the top food wise by any means...They are mid range at best with the exception of the signature restaurants.

But I guess when you are in a resort, vacation enviornment you don't expect the best.

I can get 3fold better here at home but then again I am not at the World...As long as the food is edible I am happy

Once upon a time, prior to DPP, WDW had some wonderful, inventive chefs who had unique menu offerings for all of the different restaurants. I remember being able to order surf and turf which included a filet mignon and lobster, now lobster isn't offered in as many restaurants and the fitel mignons are disappearing.

Maybe I am quirky but I expect a higher level of restaurants, menus and service when I am in a resort area.

 

[perla75]

i also live right outside of boston, and its true we have some amazing restaurants. we have many fine dining and 4 star restaurants.
but, i think its important to remember what disney is, its a theme park. they arent in the business of 4 star restaurants. in fact i think the only fine dining restaurant in the entire park is victoria and alberts, which has never been on the DDP.
the rest of the restaurants are not expensive because of what they serve, but rather where they are, and i dont think thats changed over the years. the food there has always been decent, but not over the top, food.
now there are different teirs of food, buffet, table service and signature. personally i dont even find the signatures in a 4 star catagory. but they dont have to be, they will always have a captive audience.
we also have to remember that the cost of a meal, isnt about the food you are getting. and thats true anywhere you eat. a very small percentage of what you pay goes to food costs. you are indeed paying for everything else, atmosphere(plates, silvereware,lighting,heating,entertainment,ect etc..) and in disney, those costs are high.

From someone North of Boston to someone South of Boston:

Excellent points with everything you said, especially about the food costs vs. actual costs I think people often don't factor this in.

 

[tasha99]

I will admit to having salivated over the menus for months as I made my ADRs only to be disappointed by the food at Disney. The only exception I can think of was Jikos. I wasn't a fan of the steak on macaroni and cheese, but I thought the flatbreads were very, very good. I've decided that on the next trip, I won't get hyped up over the food. We'll eat offsite a bit, and I'll drag poor DS to Victoria and Alberts chef's table for the experience. Other than that, I'll just figure we're not there for the food.

*Actually now that I think of it, I was pretty happy with Olivia's, too. I had very low expectations, so I was pleasantly surprised.