Dining at Disney and paying OOP

[luvmy3jewels]

My family is planning its first trip to Disney World in May. We are staying off site in a vacation home and unfortunately, aren't eligible for the Dining Plan.

So, my biggest question is will it be worth to pay out of pocket to dine at Disney World. Or will we get better food at a more reasonable cost off-site? (And I apologize in advance if I offend anyone for even asking ;-)

There are going to be 8 of us (me, dh, my mom, my sister, my bil, dd 6, ds 4, and dd 2 ). I've made ADRs for the following:
Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner), Ohana (dinner), Princess Storybook (breakfast), Le Cellier (dinner), and Boma (dinner).

I guess I'm getting a little scared from a lot of the negative and ho hum reviews I have read from those that are on the dining plan. So, in your opinion, will it be worth paying OOP for the places that I have reservations for?? (Or do you have any suggestions on better restaurants for kids?)

Thanks!!

 

[disney queen]

we have always enjoyed wdw dining. you can find anything from high end to counter service to fit the budget. le cellier is excellent as is most of the epcot countries. i think you will have a better wdw experience if you do eat on property for some if not all meals. have a great trip.

 

[Harambe]

We love the Disney restaurants, and have never done the dining plan. We always pay OOP, alhto we usually have quite a few Visa Dollars to spend.

Some restaurants are really expensive for what you get, but buffets seem to be a better choice for folks with bigger parties, like yours. And you can pay lower prices at lunch at some of the TS restaurants, for the same food as dinner!

 

[Tokay518]

I love dining at WDW but most likely I would not be making that many table service adrs. There are a lot of really good counter service places (Columbia House for one) that would save you time and money. The character meals are fine but most of the characters can been seen in other areas of the parks. You have made great choices but if $$ are an issue I would mostly likely scale back my choices.

 

[Tina G]

We are staying at the Poly in May and be plan to pay OOP for all of our meals. The dining plan just doesn't make sense for us especially when you have to use 2 TS credits for CRT and the Spirit of Aloha Show. Maybe a combination of on-site and off-site restaurants would be the best route. Eat on-site at the places you really want to try and then on some days you might eat someplace on your way home.

 

[The Sweetness]

Its been a long time, but the only *bad* food I ever got was a turkey leg and some luke- warm fries

It looks like most of your choices are all-you-care-to-eat. For the dinners, Id eat breakfast before the parks, and have a snack, or share some counter service foods in the afternoon (lunch time for you)

On your breakfast day, eat as much as you like, you'll probably be perfectly happy skipping lunch all-together, and having a light dinner
Just my 2 cents

 

[slcmkh]

Although my family (two parents and four kids) used the DP last vacation, be always paid OOP prior to that. We found we could save money by having most of our TS meals at lunch; typically less expensive than dinner although the selections are a bit more limited.

We would generally have a light breakfast (cereal in our DVC room), lunch at around 1130 at a TS (nice to get out of the heat), and dinner either back at the room or a light CS. This kept costs down to a reasonable amount. We would usually go to a TS dinner once or twice (Ohana has always been a must for this fam), and one character breakfast. Worked out well.

I agree with the poster who encouraged you to eat on property for a number of meals at least. Definitely part of the experience (dare I say part of the magic?) Although it is expensive I think it is worth the convenience and rounds out the vacation fun quite nicely.

Enjoy.

 

[thunderbird1]

I've made ADRs for the following:
Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner), Ohana (dinner), Princess Storybook (breakfast), Le Cellier (dinner), and Boma (dinner).

I think you made some terrific choices! You have a lot of variety, and some of the most popular places. Boma is our absolute favorite, we finally got into Le Cellier last time and loved it, and I wasn't too sure about 'Ohana, but we loved that, too, especially the entertainment for the kids. We haven't done LTT or the PSB, but you can't go wrong with a character meal and 3 little kids.

Could you get cheaper food offsite? Sure, but it would be a huge hassle to get all 8 of you out of the park and to a restaurant, not to mention incredibly time consuming. IMHO, "Disney time" is worth much more than regular time, and I'm not willing to spend an hour or more exiting the park, getting to the car(s), driving to a restaurant and waiting in line just to eat at the same kind of restaurant we have back home. It's worth a little extra money to A) not have to leave the park, and B) enjoy the unique dining experiences Disney has to offer. That's my $.02

 

[tww369]

I would recomend you do eat at Disney at aleast a few times while there.
Some of the TS restaurants can be expensive, so depending on you budget you might not want to eat all your meals there. I was there in August of last year with my family (14 people total), we stayed offsite but planned for TS meals at Biergarten, CP, Boma and 'Ohana while there for 7 nights. It worked out well for us the on the other days we would return to our rental home during the hottest part of the day and fix a dinner meal while the kids played in the pool. Breakfast was easy we all ate before leaving the rental house. We chose the Buffet Restaurants while in Disney to make things easy, but thats up to you. On days when not eating in the parks usally ended up buying a small snack before the the park closed but it worked out for us. (try a smoked turkey leg..they are good!!)

As for which restaurants, the picks you made are great choices espically with Boma, "Ohana, and Le Cellier. As for the CRT breakast you make wana consider trying to make it a lunch or maybe dinner (for a little more money) instead. It will give them something to look forward to while there and get you out of the mid-day heat for a little while.