Do You Foresee Le Cellier Becoming Mostly a DDP Restaurant

[patsal]

I do not go to LC anymore. I do go to Jiko (where the serivce pretty much stunk as well)--I'd rather pay OOP for a signature dining experience than pay OOP for the noisy, overcrowded, subpar service I seem to get since I do not use the DDP. It used to be easy to pay "theme park" prices for food at Disney because the food and experience were special--I think the mainstreaming of menus to keep bulk purchasing in line have affected my enjoyment and I doubt I'll eat all or even most of my meals on site anymore. From my experiences in April, I think the servers are more concerned with the DDP customers at tables of four than any other customers--in fairness that is a tip they have control over--larger parties are auto grat, smaller non DDP don't purchase as much food and DDP is at least two and sometimes three courses so the'y have the most to lose by not being attentive. I plan on keeping my ADR's to start in July, but if after a few expriences they are anyhting like April I will be cancelling the rest without regret.

 

[esdras]

We actually didn't go to LC for the steak - although I did enjoy the Filet Mignon with Mushroom Risotto. Was it the best - no. I think it was better than some steak places I've been to - worse than others.

Steak is a funny thing though. I can't think of ANY restaurant that does steak consistently well. Some do it consistently badly, but all the others will have off days here and there - some more than others.

What I do know is that I can keep an eye out for specials at our supermarket and get Canada AAA steaks (equivalent to USDA Prime) for a bargain. Just last week I was grilling a 16 oz Canada AAA 1 inch thick striploin - and I only paid $7 for that. Perfectly marbled meat, tender - and I know exactly how to grill a steak to my personal taste. No restaurant has every come clost to what I can do myself.

On the other hand, I couldn't make a good mushroom risotto to save my butt - so I miss out on that part of the meal.

Basically, LC has pretty good steaks, nice appetizers, good deserts (I love the maple creme brulee) and it is a captive audience. It will be expensive - and perhaps not worth OOP - but maybe if it is a favourite.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I'd rather pay OOP for a signature dining experience than pay OOP for the noisy, overcrowded, subpar service I seem to get since I do not use the DDP.

My thoughts exactly!!!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

This is the type of reply I was thinking of. I was just wondering how many people paying OOP would still go to LC for the filet. Will there be a significant number paying OOP, or will most patrons be on DDP.

Well, I am on the DDP this trip, and was on it last trip. Though I've paid for the filet OOP, and this time I'm planning on getting a burger with the DDP, so I don't really care about the cost of it, or anything else I eat, while on vacation.

 

[Villains_Rock]

As a transplanted Ann Arborite I completely agree with you about the variety and quality of places to eat, but I think Ann Arbor is the exception not the rule.

I think the Disney appeal is more the setting than the food. It would be nice to have the food the same quality of the setting.

btw-I really miss Ann Arbor and Blimpy's especially

I grew up in the Ann Arbor area and I agree that it is an exception when it comes to dining. I've lived in 3 states and none of the other cities had nearly the selection as Ann Arbor did. And not that it's food related...but I miss Pinball Pete's!!!

 

[k5thbeatle]

Since they've changed the menu, especially the steak prices, it really doesn't make sense to pay OOP there anymore. (Naturally, this is just my personal observation. ) For a couple $ more, you can eat steak at a Signature restaurant. We've eaten at LC & several of the Signature restaurants & LC doesn't even compare to the nicer restaurants, in our experience. If you plan to order anything but steak, I suppose it may still be worth paying OOP. LC is now an even better value on the DDP, but ridiculous for those paying OOP. Before someone yells at me for bashing their beloved LC, that's not my intention. It's simply an observation from someone who pays OOP for meals.

I personally don't care for Le Cellier, and cannot understand why it is so hyped up on these boards. As I've posted in another thread earlier this evening, you could get better food, better service, and a lower price, at an Applebee's or Outback Steakhouse. There is no reason to pay OOP for this restaurant, and I would even be hesitant about using a DDP credit because of the abundance of good restaurants in Epcot.

Couldn't agree more! And as the DDP continues more and more restaurants will continue to fall into "mediocrity" for both service and food quality.

...I guess that as long as you have to make reservations 6 months in advance to eat there, they will do what they know best: increase prices and lower quality.

...and ddp will keep this trend going.

 

[Katiebell]

This will only be our second trip to WDW, but we go to DL about once a year. DL has no dining plan. The prices are still high, the restaurants are good but usually not amazing, and you still have to make advance dining reservations, especially for busy seasons or for hot tickets like Goofy's Kitchen, Ariel's Grotto, or Blue Bayou.

It's not the fault of the DDP. The DDP is just part of Disney's overall market strategy of getting guests to stay on property, commit to eating at TS restaurants, commit to eating at least one TS meal a day, and tailoring menus to lower purchasing costs for the restaurants.

We used the DDP last May, and will use it again this September. The food was good, the service was great, and the atmosphere for the restaurants was fun -- we had no complaints. But to hear the stories from WDW veterans who have been going to WDW for years, it sounds like in years past the restaurants were each serving unique gourmet menus, huge portions at very affordable prices, fabulous service, and you could walk in to practically any restaurant any time of day and be seated. I don't know if that's an overly-rosy picture, or if that's really the way it was, but I don't see things heading in that direction.

 

[bicker]

That's a bit rosy, but what is most notable is that you can say the same thing about restaurants in Burlington MA: Menus have been downgraded, portions made more reasonable (smaller), prices through the roof, quality of service has degraded, and wait times for a table sky-rocketing.

And we don't even have any roller coasters here Burlington.

 

[Debbie]

On the other hand, I couldn't make a good mushroom risotto to save my butt . . . .It will be expensive - and perhaps not worth OOP - but maybe if it is a favourite.

I'm doing a first for me this year. Just me and my DD14. When I asked where the one place she'd like to eat, it was Le Cellier. . . and that wasn't for the steak, (although I will suck up the prices and order my mushroom filet), it was the fun that she had 2 years ago when she went. We were on the dining plan, and the server was great. She loved it, and we are headed there this August.

No DDP for us this time, so we will be paying OOP. I'm saving my loonies and toonies as we speak. And to get enough of them to pay.....my pockets will be splitting with the weight. But that is what she wants. I am thinking of seeing if I can switch to lunch, though. I think that I might save my back if I did.

Thankfully, the rest of the trip will be counter service. If I make her drink water from the fountain, that could buy her a dessert. Has anyone had the moose recently? I didn't see it listed on the menu pages at AllEars.

 

[Katiebell]

No DDP for us this time, so we will be paying OOP. I'm saving my loonies and toonies as we speak. And to get enough of them to pay.....my pockets will be splitting with the weight. But that is what she wants. I am thinking of seeing if I can switch to lunch, though. I think that I might save my back if I did.

Thankfully, the rest of the trip will be counter service. If I make her drink water from the fountain, that could buy her a dessert. Has anyone had the moose recently? I didn't see it listed on the menu pages at AllEars.

Lunch certainly seems to be a better deal. The mushroom filet is 25.99 at lunch and 34.99 at dinner Don't know if the portion or sides are any different, but that's a $9 difference...

And quite a few people have reported that they've been able to order the chocolate moose.

 

[Brian Noble]

I think Ann Arbor is the exception not the rule.

Perhaps. I may just be lucky having lived in college towns and smaller cities, but the same was true of Palo Alto (not any cheaper, but much much better), Berkeley (the Gourmet Ghetto! Awesome and cheap!), and surprisingly enough, even Pittsburgh (excellent French, Italian, several steakhouses, passable seafood, and a surpringly good Malaysian take-out place in the midst of the mostly-Jewish Squirrel Hill neighborhood.)

I think the Disney appeal is more the setting than the food.

Agreed 100%. I still enjoy the more "experiential" Disney restaurants, but for me, LC isn't one of them.

As an aside, $35 for a filet is not out of the ordinary. While the steaks at our local place are better, they are priced similarly, and they include no sides.

http://www.thechophouserestaurant.com/media/chopann_menu.pdf

 

[hopey1kenobi]

Agreed 100%. I still enjoy the more "experiential" Disney restaurants, but for me, LC isn't one of them.

As an aside, $35 for a filet is not out of the ordinary. While the steaks at our local place are better, they are priced similarly, and they include no sides.

http://www.thechophouserestaurant.com/media/chopann_menu.pdf

I agree with you LeCellier. Would not eat there except on the DDP. That's if I could get a adr

Chop House=Yummm, so good

 

[gk90]

I think Ann Arbor is the exception not the rule.


Perhaps. I may just be lucky having lived in college towns and smaller cities, but the same was true of Palo Alto (not any cheaper, but much much better), Berkeley (the Gourmet Ghetto! Awesome and cheap!), and surprisingly enough, even Pittsburgh (excellent French, Italian, several steakhouses, passable seafood, and a surpringly good Malaysian take-out place in the midst of the mostly-Jewish Squirrel Hill neighborhood.)


Agreed 100%. I still enjoy the more "experiential" Disney restaurants, but for me, LC isn't one of them.

As an aside, $35 for a filet is not out of the ordinary. While the steaks at our local place are better, they are priced similarly, and they include no sides.

http://www.thechophouserestaurant.com/media/chopann_menu.pdf

Ann Arbor is definitely an exception--I was lucky enough to get a summer grant at U of Michigan 17 years ago and one of my fondest memories is of all the great food variety. I lived in Manhattan for many years and have to say that in some ways it's even easier to find a good meal in Ann Arbor!

 

[Cool-Beans]

Since they've changed the menu, especially the steak prices, it really doesn't make sense to pay OOP there anymore. (Naturally, this is just my personal observation. ) For a couple $ more, you can eat steak at a Signature restaurant. We've eaten at LC & several of the Signature restaurants & LC doesn't even compare to the nicer restaurants, in our experience. If you plan to order anything but steak, I suppose it may still be worth paying OOP. LC is now an even better value on the DDP, but ridiculous for those paying OOP. Before someone yells at me for bashing their beloved LC, that's not my intention. It's simply an observation from someone who pays OOP for meals.

I honestly think that the popularity of Le Cellier stems from the hype it gets on the DIS. It isn't a bad restaurant, but it isn't as good as the hype it gets.

Before Le Cellier, it was Boma. You could NEVER get a last-minute seating there. I don't remember what it was before Boma. But Boma was no worse before or after its hype. It just goes in circles.

Until another restaurant becomes the darling of the DIS, I think Le Cellier will be booked by people who plan trips months or a year ahead of time. But when some other restaurant (please, God, not Crystal Palace or Restaurant Marrakesh!) is THE place to go, Le Cellier will be a place that anyone eats. I haven't been there in a while and would go again. And I never get any sort of Dining Plan.

...don't get me started on the Dining Plans and what they've done to selection and craziness of ADRs. Argh.

 

[dioxide45]

I honestly think that the popularity of Le Cellier stems from the hype it gets on the DIS. It isn't a bad restaurant, but it isn't as good as the hype it gets.

There has to more to it than the hype of DIS. Not to take anything away from these boards, they are great, but they are truely only a drop in the bucket of the number of visitors that visit Disney World.

 

[bicker]

A good bit of it is that it is the only restaurant around the World Showcase that serves food that non-adventurous American diners would enjoy.

 

[B-Ride]

I think you give "the Dis" too much credit. Le Cellier is difficult to book because the food is good and it is a small restaurant.

First of all, hype will only get you into the restaurant once and LeCellier has a lot of repeat business, our family included.

Second, there is a great big world out there who are not Dis members.

Every time we have eaten there we have found the food to be great and the service to be fast and friendly. We never miss it.

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

All of Disneys prices are jacked up and that goes with any vacation spot almost anywhere in the US. We own a small beach house in Eastern Shore MD. The town is called Ocean City; I think part of the boardwalk themeing came from here actually. I have seen the prices in that small beach town rise to the point that we hardly go out to eat any more. Disney prices are tame compared to these prices IMO. So I dont get sticker shock at the world because prices locally are higher. We have used DDP two times so far just for conveinience not for "value". If we dont book DDP on future trips we will still eat at TS places. I really dont see it only becoming a DDP restaurant. I just see Disney changing as is every other vacation spot. We have never eaten at LC and hope to get a ressie there this trip. Chefs got terrible reviews and we found the place to have great food and great service last trip. Go figure.

 

[bavaria]

That's a bit rosy

A few years ago, when we first started to see the marked decline in food quality, variety, and service, bicker told me to go to Disneyland Paris. So I did, over and over and over again... (I am actually at a Disney park somewhere in the world every month or so, but I enjoy Disneyland Paris the most right now)

Great food, great service, good value.

Then markus.ca told me to go to EuropaPark to experience how we Germans do a quality theme park and resort, so I did - over and over again.

Great food, great service, good value - even better than Disneyland Paris.

Unfortunately, until WDW starts to see a decline in revenues, I doubt that we will see the variety and quality of food that we saw when it peaked at WDW a few years ago. In the meantime, I will eat a a few favourites, or offsite, or in my DVC unit. I will save the quality theme park dining experiences for DLRP and EuropaPark

 

[Cool-Beans]

A few years ago, when we first started to see the marked decline in food quality, variety, and service, bicker told me to go to Disneyland Paris. So I did, over and over and over again... (I am actually at a Disney park somewhere in the world every month or so, but I enjoy Disneyland Paris the most right now)

Great food, great service, good value.

Then markus.ca told me to go to EuropaPark to experience how we Germans do a quality theme park and resort, so I did - over and over again.

Great food, great service, good value - even better than Disneyland Paris.

Unfortunately, until WDW starts to see a decline in revenues, I doubt that we will see the variety and quality of food that we saw when it peaked at WDW a few years ago. In the meantime, I will eat a a few favourites, or offsite, or in my DVC unit. I will save the quality theme park dining experiences for DLRP and EuropaPark

Well, la-dee-da. You know, I heard they have rides and fireworks at Europa Park.

Hi, Bavaria! I was starting to worry that you were...that you had been...that you were in a certain group. Good to see you!!

I'm going to WDW in a couple weeks and have a friend who read about Le Cellier here and is just tearing her hair out that we didn't get a table. Argh. She also wants to try Tony's in the MK and told me that she read on the DIS that it isn't that bad and that they suggested everyone should try things out for themselves. I put my foot down about Tony's but we will be dining in the Rainforest Cafe. Wish me luck.

ITA with you (surprise! surprise! surprise!) about WDW having hit its peak dining-wise a couple years ago. Smart money says they're going to slide right on back to where they were.