Disney DDP Restaurants No Longer Worth It

[Purseval]

Had another lackluster meal the other night at Raglan Road, definitely not worth the $100+ dollars we paid for it. That will be our last meal at any restaurant that offers the DDP. They know they will get a crowd no matter what so they have no incentive to provide quality food anymore, which I suppose is OK as long as you are on the plan (especially if you get it for free) but it's definitely a ripoff to cash customers.

As in any other opinion piece YMMV. We used to look forward to trying the food at the various parks and DTD. Now they are either all booked up or don't deliver a good meal at a fair price. Good thing we always have a car

 

[Laketravis]

Garden Grill at Epcot. Not worth it by a longshot.

And whatever you do, avoid being seated in the "outer" ring. The A/C vents above you drip condensation that lands on your table and your food.

 

[Huff]

Lots of DDP discussions along the same lines. Honestly I haven't seen that. Like any restaurant sometimes we have an excellent meal and other times not so good no matter the restaurant. We were there last September for 8 nights DDP dining. 6 of the nights were excellent. Two were bad at Les Chefs and Teppan Edo. Both very bad food and service. But others who ate around the same time said great things about their meals. I find the same thing at restaurants here at home.

All in all DDP works for us. I do not go to Disneyworld and expect first class top notch dining. It's a tourist trap and if I want top notch I don't go to tourist places. Still, food overall was excellent and our trip affordable.

 

[nessz79]

Lots of DDP discussions along the same lines. Honestly I haven't seen that. Like any restaurant sometimes we have an excellent meal and other times not so good no matter the restaurant. We were there last September for 8 nights DDP dining. 6 of the nights were excellent. Two were bad at Les Chefs and Teppan Edo. Both very bad food and service. But others who ate around the same time said great things about their meals. I find the same thing at restaurants here at home.

All in all DDP works for us. I do not go to Disneyworld and expect first class top notch dining. It's a tourist trap and if I want top notch I don't go to tourist places. Still, food overall was excellent and our trip affordable.

So true- we've really enjoyed our food at Raglan Road when we were there in August. Maybe it was just an off day?

 

[ClareH37]

I've had good and bad food/service at all the restaurants I've eaten at over the years, but since the introduction of the DDP I tend to only go to certain restaurants when I have the DDP, as I really don't think they are worth the prices they're charging if one is paying OOP.

 

[bumbershoot]

Hmm, 8 of us had thoroughly enjoyable meals at Raglan just a few nights ago! I do hate the HUGE bowl thing, really makes the entree look tiny and can make you feel that there isn't enough food before you even start your meal...

 

[ElizabethB]

We, too, are avoiding any restaurant that takes the DDP these days. Last month, our best meals were at non-DDP restaurants, such as Il Mulino and Fulton's.

We enjoyed Jiko, although the desserts are no longer worth $10 (thanking DDP for that -- everybody is entitled to a dessert, so the desserts are now small, generic and boring).

We were seriously disappointed with CG, which we have loved for years. Artist Point is no longer worth the price or bother. Yachtsman only has about 5 entree choices.

It's now non-DDP restaurants for us. We also thought our meals at the Universal Resorts were great.

 

[seven dwarfs]

I think part of the problem is Disney is raising their restaurant prices so high that when you pay cash for your meal, the total of the bill doesn't match what the quality of the food is. Kind of like McDonald's. It isn't great food but for $20 for a family, who can complain. When your food is prepaid, it is easier to say well the food wasn't great but since it was free (free dinning which isn't free) who can complain. If you paid for the dinning plan, you still don't have to take out money to pay and you don't realy think about the value exchange.

I can see all sides of this coin. For now, Disney is smart because their restaurants are full, and the quality isn't important anymore. Including the fact that a lot of the food is the same everywhere you go which saves them even more money.

As long as the DDP is popular and the restaurants stay packed, I don't see anything changing except people who pay cash will take their business elsewhere.

My family has seen the food decline every trip. We have used the DDP and paid cash. Our last trip was a cash trip and the only place I would return to would be sci fi and that's for sandwiches only. And I am still not sure it was worth the money.

It does sadden me to see something so special to us go downhill and it is a pain to go off site rather then eating on site. But at the end of the day, its a pain to eat on site and have lack luster service and food and be out double the money.

 

[GeorgeG]

Allowing for the fact that everyone has their own tastes and expectations when it comes to dining, most of the WDW restaurants have been getting such mixed reviews that it should be clear to anyone that something is very wrong. A simple comparison to the average restaurants in the real world should be an indication that Disney doesn't have to lower food quality and double prices to make a profit. To me, that just screams rip-off.

I suspect decent restaurants will seize the opportunity to locate as near to the parks as they can to make it easier for people to slip out for meals. Heck, they might even consider providing shuttles like the off-site hotels do. Do you suppose that would get Disney's attention?

 

[Laketravis]

I recently posted this in another post:

What we don't know and can't quantify is the nature of the internal negotiations among the various dining entities. On our recent trip I noticed a very slight hint of disdain when the hostess would ask "Will you be using the dining plan?" at a TS.

Small incremental changes have been made as to what constitutes a "snack" item, with gradual removal of items with higher cost points.

CS items have become bland, central kitchen produced items to cut costs.

Inflated pricing hopes to create a perception of value while driving away OOP patrons, contributing to the downward spiral.

The manipulation (re: reduction) of portion sizes, menu choices, quality metrics, inconsistent levels of service and server attitudes simply prove that Disney hasn't figure it out yet. If they had, you wouldn't see any changes.

But the changes are constant.

In my own personal opinion, they've created somewhat of a quasi-hybrid all inclusive but not really package. The further they go down this road, the more dangerous it becomes.

The fast food industry still despises Taco Bell for creating the dollar menu years ago, because now none of them can get away from it.

It will be interesting to see what Disney's next move is.

 

[Purseval]

I recently posted this in another post:

What we don't know and can't quantify is the nature of the internal negotiations among the various dining entities. On our recent trip I noticed a very slight hint of disdain when the hostess would ask "Will you be using the dining plan?" at a TS.

Our waitress asked us that and she laughed when when I told her "No, we want the real food."

 

[Tara]

I think part of the problem is Disney is raising their restaurant prices so high that when you pay cash for your meal, the total of the bill doesn't match what the quality of the food is.

I agree with this for the most part. That's why we eat almost exclusively at 2TS credit restaurants. They've seen some changes, but are still closer in quality to the dollar amounts being charged and offer what feels like unique experiences from restaurant to restaurant. We haven't ventured over to S/D to try the restaurants there, but we probably will on the next couple of trips.

 

[thej]

I will admit on our last trips there has been no free dining. From our perspective the food has been roughly the same on all of the trips. A few bad meals, a few bad service experiences, but no more than pure chance would dictate.

We did the DxDP and the DDP on two of those three trips. The last one we went out of pocket, and even though it was expensive every time we ate were much happier for it. Over all it saved us some $$. I'd honestly be very leery of "free dining" time frames if just for the increased crowds at the TS locations! That alone would probably impact service and food quality.

 

[GeorgeG]

Our waitress asked us that and she laughed when when I told her "No, we want the real food."

I love it!

 

[Kay1]

We, too, are avoiding any restaurant that takes the DDP these days.

We enjoyed Jiko, although the desserts are no longer worth $10 (thanking DDP for that -- everybody is entitled to a dessert, so the desserts are now small, generic and boring).

.

I agree about the desserts. OTOH, since appetizers aren't included maybe we should just stick with those.

 

[Tara]

I agree about the desserts. OTOH, since appetizers aren't included maybe we should just stick with those.

The desserts I've had at Citricos and Jiko (as recently as August and June for Citricos and August only for Jiko) were all outstanding. I've had the chocolate lava cake dessert at CG a couple of times recently and I always have them modify it since I detest cherries, and it's always been good, though lately the dessert menu there hasn't included anything that is really "in my wheelhouse."

 

[Sweet Melissa]

I agree about the desserts. OTOH, since appetizers aren't included maybe we should just stick with those.

I disagree about the desserts. Jiko's dessert menu piqued my interest more on our last trip than it ever has in the past, and I loved the Amarula crème brûlée I had. That said, I think Jiko's appetizers are phenomenal, and far better than their desserts.

 

[eliza61]

Lots of DDP discussions along the same lines. Honestly I haven't seen that. Like any restaurant sometimes we have an excellent meal and other times not so good no matter the restaurant. We were there last September for 8 nights DDP dining. 6 of the nights were excellent. Two were bad at Les Chefs and Teppan Edo. Both very bad food and service. But others who ate around the same time said great things about their meals. I find the same thing at restaurants here at home.

All in all DDP works for us. I do not go to Disneyworld and expect first class top notch dining. It's a tourist trap and if I want top notch I don't go to tourist places. Still, food overall was excellent and our trip affordable.

I'm going to pick on you just a little Huff (only just a little, I don't like to flame people)

I'm totally different.

1) When I go on vacation any vacation, I pick places that offer me a variety of experiences. I don't go to disney for any 1 thing.
The resorts, the theme parks, the customer service, the food all are what use to make disney a knotch above all other "tourist traps". So I think of it like a spoke in a wheel and when any one of those spokes breaks down it may not ruin the vacation but it makes it a little less magical.
I mean really even if you don't expect top notch dining, who goes out to dinner with the expectation of recieving a hoo-hum meal. IMO there is nothing worse than leaving a restaurant that is supposed to be better than applebees and saying "it was eh, nothing special". and yes, I expect much better than applebees from Disney. They are the ones who market themselves as much better than six flags.

2) Sorry but imo when you charge 50 bucks for a piece of steak whether it's at a tourist trap or not, I expect very good at the bare minimum. My pat answer is this, when you have a steak house and the best thing people like about it is either the breadsticks or the soup Houston, we have a problem.

3) My dad was an old army guy, he used to have a saying, when one person complains take it with a grain of salt- When 100 different people complain, take it to the bank. The severity and frequencies of the complaints about Disney dining is telling. When you start to have thread upon thread from a wide variety of people voicing disappoint in the food, as I said before Houston we have a problem.

 

[Tiger926]

I agree with this for the most part. That's why we eat almost exclusively at 2TS credit restaurants. They've seen some changes, but are still closer in quality to the dollar amounts being charged and offer what feels like unique experiences from restaurant to restaurant. We haven't ventured over to S/D to try the restaurants there, but we probably will on the next couple of trips.

We don't find the Signatures worth it at all. We did have fabulous meals at Citricos and Yachtsman a couple of years ago, but we haven't been back there, as prices are too high. We mostly find Signatures to be more overpriced food, although service is usually better. We were highly disappointed in Cali Grill and Brown Derby, and have not dined at any other Signatures as of late either. We also were disappointed at Mother's Day Brunch a few years back, and CRT is not really worth it either.

I'm going to pick on you just a little Huff (only just a little, I don't like to flame people)

I'm totally different.

1) When I go on vacation any vacation, I pick places that offer me a variety of experiences. I don't go to disney for any 1 thing.
The resorts, the theme parks, the customer service, the food all are what use to make disney a knotch above all other "tourist traps". So I think of it like a spoke in a wheel and when any one of those spokes breaks down it may not ruin the vacation but it makes it a little less magical.
I mean really even if you don't expect top notch dining, who goes out to dinner with the expectation of recieving a hoo-hum meal. IMO there is nothing worse than leaving a restaurant that is supposed to be better than applebees and saying "it was eh, nothing special". and yes, I expect much better than applebees from Disney. They are the ones who market themselves as much better than six flags.

2) Sorry but imo when you charge 50 bucks for a piece of steak whether it's at a tourist trap or not, I expect very good at the bare minimum. My pat answer is this, when you have a steak house and the best thing people like about it is either the breadsticks or the soup Houston, we have a problem.

3) My dad was an old army guy, he used to have a saying, when one person complains take it with a grain of salt- When 100 different people complain, take it to the bank. The severity and frequencies of the complaints about Disney dining is telling. When you start to have thread upon thread from a wide variety of people voicing disappoint in the food, as I said before Houston we have a problem.

Tiger

 

[Tara]

We don't find the Signatures worth it at all. We did have fabulous meals at Citricos and Yachtsman a couple of years ago, but we haven't been back there, as prices are too high. We mostly find Signatures to be more overpriced food, although service is usually better. We were highly disappointed in Cali Grill and Brown Derby, and have not dined at any other Signatures as of late either. We also were disappointed at Mother's Day Brunch a few years back, and CRT is not really worth it either.

Well, I don't really count CRT as a signature even though it's 2 credits, I don't care WHAT Disney calls it!

It's always funny to me how different people's experiences can be. I've dined at CA Grill 3 times this year and once it was between average and good and the other 2 times it was great. I dined at BD years ago and had a bad experience and didn't return until this August (and only did so at my husband's request to go the F! dinner, and this was all that was available). I was very surprised at how good it was and will definitely give it another shot.

If you haven't tried them lately (or at all), I'd encourage you to try Jiko and/or Citricos. I have a soft spot in my heart for CA Grill, but I do think Jiko and Citricos are finer dining experiences overall, both in food and in atmosphere.