Do you obsess over making ADR's at mediocre restaurants?

[Jasper Dale]

i am really interested in others opinions about the whole drama over ADR's. after experiencing so many "blah" meals at the "hard to get" restaurants, i just can't figure out why so much effort is made to acquire ADR's.

i wonder if part of it depends on where you live. i grew up in a small town and there were very limited dining choices. we had to drive about 2 hours to find any kind of ethnic food (other than Chinese), and we always made a big deal about going "to the city" to eat at some exotic place.

now that i live in a "big city" and have dozens of really good restaurants within 2 miles of my home, i am much less interested in chasing after ADR's at WDW. i think that a lot of the food is way overrated and overpriced.

now, that being said, there IS something to be said about getting away from the crowds and sitting down to a nice sit down meal.

but for those of you who find the whole dining experience a huge part of your vacation, what are the things that you find exciting about the restaurants?

my wife and i are certainly not "food snobs", however we have had so many blah table service meals at the world, that we are much happier grabbing food "as we tour", rather than block out chunks of time to sit down to mediocre food.

is it the food that attracts you? is it the fact that you get to take a break and sit down at a table service? or is it the thrill of being able to snag a table at a popular eatery?

 

[Kathy Z]

My DH & I are what one of my friends so cutely refers to as "Junior Seniors." Whether it is just the two of us at WDW, or when we take grandchildren with us, we need the nice breaks in the day to sit down for a while in a comfortable restaurant with A/C to "recharge our batteries." We tend to walk an average of 5 miles per day at WDW which is more than what we are used to at home and by planning at least 1 TS meal per day we can do just fine.

One grandchild will eat almost anything but the others are harder to please. Translation: we have a granddaughter and a grandson who are very picky eaters. Planning ahead to find which places have food that they'll eat without nagging is necessary for a good time for all.

And for the trips where it is just DH & I (last Dec. & this Dec.) the foodie in me comes out and I choose several of the Signature Restaurants where I order things I don't normally eat at home.

 

[MommyRobin]

What some may consider mediocre is far from mediocre to others. For instance, I was thrilled when I scored Crystal Palace, 'Ohana, CRT, Sci-Fi and 1900 Park Fare. I KNOW that some people steer clear of those places and I've heard mixed reviews about most of them. Meanwhile, I happened to book my trip months ago and had quite a pick of "superior" restaurants. I know that my kids would not be impressed by what many think is fine dining. But the look on my kids' faces when we eat at our chosen places, especially when the characters greet them, will be priceless. Nothing mediocre about adding to the magic of Disney for your kids!

 

[jojomoore]

In my normal daily life, I do not take the time to go out and eat at sit down restaurants, well maybe one every two or three months and that is usually if we are invited by someone to go grab a bite after an event. I just can't see spending half of my grocery money on one meal. Yes, i live in a small town where I would have to drive 30minutes to an hour to get great food. As a mother, wife, and a full time worker, I just do not take the time or effort of doing this. So it is very special for me while on any vacation to take the time to sit down and eat with my family. Its not necessarily the food as much as it is the experience. I do not budget sit down meals in my monthly budget but I do make room for them in my vacation Budget. My daughter and her BFF were 9 last year, so I planned several character buffets. I am doing this again this year. They are only young once and who knows how often in the future we will get to experience WDW. Once I make my character reservations, I never change them. But I do tend to obsess and frequently change other reservations. I just want to make sure everyone will enjoy their meal, atmosphere and food. And have a very special experience. I have to admit I do not see why so many people like Jiko's- I just didn't get it at all. That being said I am in love with AKL. Alot of people do not like CRT. And this meal is one I will never forget. I also, liked 50's prime time, olivia's, boma, Earl of sandwich, chef mickey's, Crystal Palace, and Askerus. I do tend to change it up every trip with the only repeat being Crystal Palace. I love italian food but was very dissapointed with Tony's and with Chef de France alike. These are the two meals that the food was not very edible. I do not eat seafood and rarely eat steak but i find it wonderful that WDW has such variety that I can find something that me and my very very finicky family can eat and enjoy without having to drive out of WDW or worry about waiting a very long time for a table.

 

[kennedyandkailey]

You hit the nail on the head for us! No, Disney Dining is not gourmet IMO with a few exceptions. However, we now live in the same small town I grew up in. DH and I lived in very large cities for 12 years, but moved back to my hometown 3 years ago to raise our children in this lovely little community. However, what we lack here is a variety of cultures and food options! We take day trips to surrounding cities in a three hour radius to eat and shop! We also try to travel quite a bit to keep our children from being small minded so to speak about the world due to growing up in a very insulated small town! Travel and dining all play a role in introducing them to new and different things!

The other reason is that we do enjoy sitting down to three peaceful meals each day while in WDW. Our youngest needs it to recharge and our DD likes calm and quiet places so it is a plus for her as well! It just allows us to slow down and not get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of touring WDW that we forget to relax, look each other in the face, and have wonderful and meaningful conversations as a family! This is exactly why we do deluxe dining and I make sure we are all booked w/ressies at 180 days! It is just important to us all the way around.

 

[Jasper Dale]

i am guilty myself of making an ADR for someplace i know will be mediocre. my wife has wanted to go to Sci Fi for a long time, and i finally booked an ADR for our upcoming trip next month.

i suppose it will be hard to mess up a hamburger and fries. (at least i hope so!)

when i lived in a small town, i would have probably been much more impressed by ANY ethnic food at WDW, just because it would have been a new experience.

the only thing that bothers me is that i feel that many chefs at the world don't really get to "shine" because they don't get to work with the quality of ingredients they would prefer to have.

 

[catne]

another one who lives in rural area...1.5 hours round trip to get some variety restaurants. We go out to eat, but mostly national chain places like Applebee's because that's what's closest to where we're running errands/shopping, etc.

We love Disney restaurants (with a couple notable exceptions, of course) Our bucket list is to get to almost all of them. So far, we've been to about 35 of the 50 or so table service places.

Part of the fun is that there are so many different choice all THERE. No driving for an hour to try something different every night. Indulgent fun for us.

Can't really say there's been much mediocre food in the lot...guess we're pretty easy to please. And we don't actually obsess over making reservations...we're going often enough that I know we'll get there eventually if I can't get a reservation when & where I want on a specific day. We just go to the next one on the list that fits our park plans.

 

[kennedyandkailey]

i am guilty myself of making an ADR for someplace i know will be mediocre. my wife has wanted to go to Sci Fi for a long time, and i finally booked an ADR for our upcoming trip next month.

i suppose it will be hard to mess up a hamburger and fries. (at least i hope so!)

when i lived in a small town, i would have probably been much more impressed by ANY ethnic food at WDW, just because it would have been a new experience.

the only thing that bothers me is that i feel that many chefs at the world don't really get to "shine" because they don't get to work with the quality of ingredients they would prefer to have.

We are trying Sci Fi for the first time as well. I have avoided it for years but I know that the kids will love the atmosphere. I am fearful of the food based on all of the reviews here. We'll try it once for the kids and the experience though! Should be interesting.....

 

[Melodious]

I've lived a couple of places and now I live in Liberia where I would sell my left hand for a salad, so yeah , I'd say it does depend on what is available to you in your daily life. It's why one of my favorite places to eat is Le Chefs in Epcot because French food is more difficult to find. When I lived in New Orleans, I really didn't care about eating anywhere BUT New Orleans

Usually, we're too busy running around commando style to worry about restaurants in WDW but this time we're staying longer and have many more ADRs. But dining in Disney is more than just the food, it's the experience. I want to see the show at the Biergarten and sit with others and drink a huge mug of beer. I want to see Wishes from the balcony outside California Grill at the Contemporary. I want to have breakfast at Crystal Palace so we can get into MK early and so we can see Eeyore without waiting in line. I want to have high tea at the GF with my mom

 

[stepdisney]

Well, for us, we have the free dining plan each year so we need to book ADR's in order to eat....which we have to do every day anyway... For us, the press for ADR's is booking the best place near where we will be that day. Best places for us are places with ambiance. We love Boma and are happy to add Sanaa this year...(both have interesting menus) We love 'Ohana because it reminds us of where we honeymooned in Kaui, we love crystal palace because we usually sit by the window where we can see the castle while we eat lunch, and this year we will try Captains Grille where last year we dined at Kouzzinas. We always dine on the boardwalk. (grew up on the Jersey Shore). I love how Disney can transport you to different locations without leaving the grounds. That is what ADR's are about for us. I happen to think the food is good. The atmosphere, most likely, contributes to how we feel about the food.

 

[disneychick0412]

i am guilty myself of making an ADR for someplace i know will be mediocre. my wife has wanted to go to Sci Fi for a long time, and i finally booked an ADR for our upcoming trip next month.

i suppose it will be hard to mess up a hamburger and fries. (at least i hope so!)

when i lived in a small town, i would have probably been much more impressed by ANY ethnic food at WDW, just because it would have been a new experience.

the only thing that bothers me is that i feel that many chefs at the world don't really get to "shine" because they don't get to work with the quality of ingredients they would prefer to have.

I love the onion rings at Sci-FI, and they actually have really good burgers (you can add sauteed mushrooms and onions). I'm not sure why Sci-Fi gets such bad reviews, but to each their own.

 

[Vijoge]

Our dining choices were so easy this trip. . .four character meals for Kate and Jiko for me!

 

[nbs2]

It sort of depends on your definition of mediocre. From what I hear, the food at CRT isn't anything special. But, it took a few days to score that reservation. I don't know how LC will be, but I struggled for that one. I've heard complaints about the food at Akershus, but I was intent on going there for dinner every night we had at Epcot (we are not PHing) because I know the girl loves her princesses. And I'm still frustrated at not being able to pick up an 'Ohana for a family reasonable time (2145 is not reasonable).

I'm not saying any of those are mediocre, as I haven't been to any of them before, but I have seen folks that would call all of those "mediocre."

 

[DW2010]

It's a combination of wanting to try it for ourselves because what may be mediocre to you, may not be to us, and have a sit down meal gives us a break. We have CRT, Le Cellier, California Grill, Via Napoli and 'Ohana all booked for our trip.

Also, CRT is really for the experience for my little girl .

 

[chocovrdmicears]

I plan our ADR's based on the idea of a Dining Experience, rather than just the menu options. We have eaten at many places in the World and have only had a few (maybe 3 or 4 ) really *terrible* meals. For the most part we have really enjoyed both the atmosphere and food.
Are the scrambled eggs and waffles really the best at a Disney breakfast buffet? Nope. But eating them while my kids get to see Mickey or Goofy, than yes, it becomes worth it to obsess over them.
Some places simply hold no appeal to us (Marrakesh), some we love and re-visit often (like Tusker House breakfast before the park opens or Teppan Edo) ,only a few we have tried and will never go back to (Ohana & Tony's) and each trip I always try to book 1 or 2 new places . This year we have Free Dining and Park Hoppers, so planning has been fun! With kids 7 & 8 sitting down for at least one meal a day is important to the success of our day. I try and plan something that is convienent to our touring plan, and will be a fun experience for all of us.

 

[chocovrdmicears]

Just wanted to add that one persons definition of a *mediocre restaurant* may very well be the *best dining experience on Disney property* for another.
Us, we will NEVER go back to Ohana, for others, it is the one MUST DO place on vacation.

 

[disneychick0412]

Just wanted to add that one persons definition of a *mediocre restaurant* may very well be the *best dining experience on Disney property* for another.
Us, we will NEVER go back to Ohana, for others, it is the one MUST DO place on vacation.

I'm thankful that there is something for everyone. Imagine if everyone loved the same restaurants Just think how hard it would be to get ADR's then.

 

[pixarmom]

We don't live in a small town, and I didn't grow up in a small town, so we've always had access to a wide variety of dining options outside of Disney. If I had to select a favorite restaurant, it would probably be Auberge du Soleil in Napa. At Disney, it's Brown Derby with Cali Grill coming in second.

But I don't really compare Disney restaurants to non-Disney restaurants like Auberge. I compare Disney restaurants with other theme park restaurants and non-Disney kid-friendly restaurants. And Disney comes out way, way ahead because we can eat relatively interesting food in a relaxed setting with our kids. Not only can we bring our children, but they are welcome!

Most of all, as a previous poster mentioned, the ability to sit down with our three boys and talk with them during a fun and busy day is very important to us. Mealtimes at WDW are easily some of our favorite times at WDW. We now make two ADRs per day - lunch and dinner - and use TIW. So I wouldn't say that I obsess over ADRs, but they are important to us, and we want to make sure that we try to fit in everyone's favorites!

 

[U2_rocks!]

We don't eat out a lot at home - it just isn't part of our lifestyle, we usually cook from scratch at home. We just find it easier to eat reasonable portion sizes and not over-indulge on rich food, and of course it's cheaper. Eating out is a treat, and therefore part of our vacation experience wherever we go. We like to have a kitchen on vacation, so we won't be eating every meal in a restaurant, but we will eat out once or twice a day. We also don't like mob scenes when we want to eat, and would much rather sit down with waiter service and have a break than line up, get food, find a table in a busy CS place. But we do CS for some meals because sit-down for every meal adds up in time and cost. i.e. we do a mixture at WDW of TS, CS and our own meals.

When deciding on ADRs, it's a combination of where we plan be that at that time, what we don't get enough of at home, what atmosphere (ambience) we particularly like, what restaurant might give us some advantage (e.g. in park before opening, reserved seating for Fantasmic or Nemo Show) etc. Obviously we would like the food to be good, but we're willing to eat "OK" food on occasion, in order to get some other benefit.

One other important thing for us: when my Dad is with us, we have to do TS, because of his food allergies (he needs significant modifications to his food). There are very few CS places he can safely eat at.

 

[Anthony1971]

I live near NYC and work in NYC so overpriced.... Disney is not to me in fact it is a bargain for a tourist location
I make ADR's a day or two in advance if not the day of... In most cases I can get what I wnat as someone cancels..if not there is no shortage of places I like to eat at. Some places have good food some not so much it dedends on your taste and where you are from. Can not say I have had bad food at Disney just food I did not care for I can say I have bad food in NY that was $$$