Does anyone else get put off by the HIGH cost of the dinners/character meals?

[MickeyNicki]

I dont think it is that bad....$19 for a breakfast buffet is the same or a bit cheaper than some places where I live. And dinner is not that bad either.

What I will say is the prices for the holiday time is not that different than any of the local places for the holidays....I would not pay $50 for a buffet no matter if it is Disney or here at home.

 

[crisi]

Well...I'm not even sure if I could spend 6 weeks at Disney! I definitely could never camp there, I'm not a camping sort of person. And I honestly don't feel like we tradeoff quantity with quality. If I wanted to do that I'd stay at a Motel 6 or Days Inn!

But ya know, different strokes for different folks.

As you said, different strokes - there are plenty of people that do feel that CBR is a quality tradeoff compared to the Poly. You've found the level that balances for you. She found one that balances for her. People who stay in Deluxes have found one that balances for them.

 

[taitai]

Actually, I was surprised at how relatively reasonable the prices at Disney are. We are not doing the DDP due to the poor choices for kids but it does seem like a great bargain. We would have saved a couple hundred doing it.

The buffet prices for breakfast, lunch and dinner all seem very much in line with what we see around here for brunch. I actually thought they would be higher.

Taitai

 

[BabyPiglet]

As you said, different strokes - there are plenty of people that do feel that CBR is a quality tradeoff compared to the Poly. You've found the level that balances for you. She found one that balances for her. People who stay in Deluxes have found one that balances for them.

:

 

[mom3girls2007]

The more research I do on the dining choices, the more frustrated I guess I become, It just seems outrageously priced Most of the meals are 120.00 plus just for one meal for 4 people including 2 children who are only ages 9 and 11. We as adults can't even eat our money's worth of food for that price and our kids most definitely can't. With ticket prices, souvenirs, hotel costs, etc etc............you name it-WOW I know that it is Disney but it seems it getting less "FAMILY" friendly by these high costs and the thing is...........................I hear/read reviews all the time of how substandard and not so special the food is and that is just an incredible amount of money to get substandard food/service. Sorry for the rant but the more I looked into it, I was just amazed. Now like the theme park tickets-that is ok..........the resort is ok..........because you pick what you can afford, etc.....The meals isn't so much that you can't afford it but it is the principle of how your money is being spent, ya know? Like I would rather put that money towards cool souvenirs, experiences, etc. We are staying at the AKL and I can validate that expense with the EXPERIENCE of being in Orlando and seeing such cool animals that make you feel like you are indeed in a safari in Africa. The Sunrise Safari, I can see the price on that to get the
1st hand look up close at the animals and talk personally with the guides more in depth and having the breakfast included. I dunno...........I think the big thing is mostly with the kids and the cost of them being treated like adults pricewise for food that they can't possibly eat their money's worth. I mean all over, for the most part, places to eat have menus for kids 12 and under. For a place that centers around children, they should be more accomodating to the ages of kids.

I agree with you --I like dining in nice restaurants on vacation as well, but as I'm planning our second trip to WDW and I am also shocked at the cost of food at the buffets (at least for children over 10). DDP doesn't work for us either, as we have 2 11 year olds, who would no way eat $38 a day each of food unless EVERY day we went to buffets. We have budgeted one character buffet as a "splurge" for our 4 year old, and have booked 4 other table service meals for the week, where the kids can still order off the kids menu or split something if they want. It does seem like there should be a middle ground price (more than $10 but less than $38) for people who want the DDP for kids ages around 10-13! Also, we are going during "holiday pricing" which makes it even more ridiculously expensive!

 

[BabyPiglet]

It's a little funny about the buffet prices thing in different areas. Around here buffets are super cheap cheap, nowhere near WDW buffet prices. But then again everything around here is pretty cheap.

 

[ZoZo]

I think the best strategy is to pick a couple of your top favs and book them and then just do casual eating/ counter service around the parks. That has always been fun for us anyhow when visiting other theme parks other than Disney. I don't really like the idea of having to be somewhere at a certain time all the time either for ADR's.

I feel the same way. We made 4 ADRs for our last trip (8 days in the parks) and just ate at the Food and Wine Festival booths or did counter service for the rest of our meals. Plus, we eat breakfast in our room every day. Saves money and time!

I think if you eat a lot of TS meals, the cost could really add up. There are quite a few CS restaurants that are pretty darn good (Sunshine Seasons, Columbia Harbor House, fish and chip counter at Epcot, etc.). Plus, there's often enough food in a CS meal to split with someone else.

So my recommendation is to scale back, just do a few TS ADRs, eat breakfast in your room, and have CS meals the rest of the time. You'll save money and time!


(PS -- we discovered a great, inexpensive option on our last trip -- Tambu Lounge at the Poly. They have the most amazing lettuce wraps, and I think they cost $8 for a huge plate. It would be enough to split between two people for a snack, or for one person as a meal. They're fabulous, and healthy!

 

[WantToGoNow]

We had the dining plan for our last trip and ate ourselves silly. We were a group of 6 (4 adults, 1 child, 1 under 3). At Coral Reef and LeCellier, our bill was over $250 -- quite a bit more than the dining plan cost us for that day. I think overall we saved something like $500 over what we spent. Now if we were paying cash, we wouldn't have eaten a little more reasonably - we would have chosen less expensive entrees and probably wouldn't have had dessert 2x a day. But we liked being able to sit down and order what we wanted -- not what we could afford - we did 5 buffets/family style (4 dinners /1 breakfast) - Liberty Tree Tavern, Crystal Palace, Ohana, Chef Mickey's and the Mary Poppins breakfast at the Grand Floridian - the kids loved the character interaction. We are going back next November with another family -- there will be 12 of us total (6 adults, 6 kids ages 9,8,5,5,4,2) and plan to do the dining plan again.

 

[mefordis]

No, I'm sorry. When we're at Disney we try not to look at the costs of things. If we didn't have the dining plan though we'd only pic our top 4-5 favorite TS and eat the rest CS (but we love CS, too.)

What I'm put of by is the deluxe resort prices! I could never justify staying there when there's equally clean and friendly Disney resorts for much less money!

I agree with this! We stayed at POR sept '96, then Yacht Club May '97. We checked in the Yacht Club, dh looked around and said, "Can we switch to por?" I called to switch and por was booked! Our room at the yc, dh, said it reminded him of a Marriot room in need of rennovation. Plus no CS there, which is very handy to have, especially if you have 5 CS credits you can't seem to use anywhere! BC CS was closed the night we tried to go there.

 

[Lovin' Lorne]

With Disney character meals I know that I am paying a premium price for the experience and the characters. I first thought that we'd get comparable food, but we just don't see it on the food quality.

Everyone has different tastes and expectations. When we went to Disney last year, I was truly expecting the 'best food ever' after reading the reviews here. I felt quite let down because the food itself was quite average to even poor in a few instances. There were a few exceptions that shone out to us as rising above the rest. Victoria & Albert's, Jiko and Le Cellier.

To many I think that the experience of being at Disney enhances all of their senses and perhaps food that would be average to them if they put it in their hometown is amazing because of where you are.

Since you've read more and have seen the bad reviews with the good reviews, maybe you'll enter with a more level head than I did and will have a very positive experience with all of your dining choices.


(RE Buffet food - I think that part of my own personal problem with it is that most of my buffet dining experience on vacation has been in Las Vegas, and we tend towards the more expensive buffets out there - ironically priced just a tad bit lower than Disney's buffets. There they have gourmet chefs making fresh food for you constantly. The are pastry Chefs at Bellagio are behind the dessert buffet caramelizing the creme brulee for you as you go up to get it - it's unfair for me to put Disney in the same category as Vegas.)

Shut up! Are you my long lost twin?! Everything you just said, every last word of it I totally agree with.

The food at Disney, for the most part, is no better or worse than at my local Chili's or Black Angus. I think people hold it in such high regard because of where they're eating it. It gets all tangled up in that Disney Magic.

I also feel the same way about the food on the various cruise ships. It's not all that great either.

 

[BabyPiglet]

I agree with this! We stayed at POR sept '96, then Yacht Club May '97. We checked in the Yacht Club, dh looked around and said, "Can we switch to por?" I called to switch and por was booked! Our room at the yc, dh, said it reminded him of a Marriot room in need of rennovation. Plus no CS there, which is very handy to have, especially if you have 5 CS credits you can't seem to use anywhere! BC CS was closed the night we tried to go there.

You guys sound like me. I went to Grand Floridian to browse the shops and such one day and (although the resort is pretty.) I would just never stay there. It's not me at all. Guess I'm cheap because I fit in much better at the values and mods.

___________________

I agree that the food at Disney wasn't amazing like I thought it'd be. After one dinner I had to change my mind-set and I enjoyed the rest of the TS a lot more. Sure, I could make the food at home, but it was still tasty. It just wasn't mindblowing like I had been led to believe.

 

[crisi]

I actually think very few people here hold most in high regard. But planning where to eat is a big part of the planning obsession of DISers. (California Grill was a great meal - even compared to eating offsite, the was a foodies great meal.) Planning on where to eat, and saying that something was wonderful (leaving off the "for Disney" disclaimer, as so many of us are repeat guests who understand the "for Disney" disclaimer) is part of the obsession.

One thing to learn is who on the DIS has similar tastes to yours and will review things with the same sort of eye - and who apparently hasn't been to their local Olive Garden in years and believes as long as they don't have to cook it it must be wonderful. That takes a lot of experience though, so I just assume that most people are impressed with the Olive Garden.

(I took the kids to Dead Lobster tonight, yeach! But they got their crab legs).

 

[mickaholic4077]

Shut up! Are you my long lost twin?! Everything you just said, every last word of it I totally agree with.

The food at Disney, for the most part, is no better or worse than at my local Chili's or Black Angus. I think people hold it in such high regard because of where they're eating it. It gets all tangled up in that Disney Magic.

I also feel the same way about the food on the various cruise ships. It's not all that great either.

You don't like the food on cruise ships????

 

[mermaid&cinderella]

If we go eat out here its more or less the same $$$$$ I also have no problem paying more for a character meal to see dd face light up when Aurora talks to her and Mickey hugs her...........priceless

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

This is why we do the dining plan. It runs us about $10 more for the plan than our dinners would have costed. Therefore we (3 of us) get a snack and counter service meal for about $3 per person per day. Crunch the numbers you might be surprised how much it could save you. With the CL breakfasts, CS lunches, and TS dinners we had so much food you couldnt eat it all and we only spent $386 for the entire week for our food.

 

[IHEARTNY]

I don't think the food is substandard at all...When ever we get back from our trip,we had to get used to eating regular food again lol. Anybody else feel this way??? We missed disney food lol.

You get a lot of food on the DDP..yeah you don't get an appetizer now but seriously we could never finich all of our food because you get so much.Even counter services,they give you a lot.

I absolutely agree. We always have Narcoossee's for our last meal but then coming home and eating everyday food... it's hard to get used to.

 

[Nicole721]

Nope.

We *always* do the DDP (we're doing the DxDP in May and the DxDDP in August) and while we think about the cost while we're booking, by the time our reservations come around, there's nothing stopping us from ordering the $54 Surf-and-Turf instead of the $12 salad.

I think with the dining plans (for us), it's allowed us to focus on what we like, what we want to try, instead of what is affordable. It's eliminated any worry over holiday pricing and it just makes the vacation, on the whole, much more enjoyable knowing our meals are taken care of.

 

[mermaid&cinderella]

I absolutely agree. We always have Narcoossee's for our last meal but then coming home and eating everyday food... it's hard to get used to.

I decided to do Narcoossee on our last day this time around...yippie!

 

[Tomader]

The more research I do on the dining choices, the more frustrated I guess I become, It just seems outrageously priced Most of the meals are 120.00 plus just for one meal for 4 people including 2 children who are only ages 9 and 11. We as adults can't even eat our money's worth of food for that price and our kids most definitely can't. With ticket prices, souvenirs, hotel costs, etc etc............you name it-WOW I know that it is Disney but it seems it getting less "FAMILY" friendly by these high costs and the thing is...........................I hear/read reviews all the time of how substandard and not so special the food is and that is just an incredible amount of money to get substandard food/service. Sorry for the rant but the more I looked into it, I was just amazed. Now like the theme park tickets-that is ok..........the resort is ok..........because you pick what you can afford, etc.....The meals isn't so much that you can't afford it but it is the principle of how your money is being spent, ya know? Like I would rather put that money towards cool souvenirs, experiences, etc. We are staying at the AKL and I can validate that expense with the EXPERIENCE of being in Orlando and seeing such cool animals that make you feel like you are indeed in a safari in Africa. The Sunrise Safari, I can see the price on that to get the
1st hand look up close at the animals and talk personally with the guides more in depth and having the breakfast included. I dunno...........I think the big thing is mostly with the kids and the cost of them being treated like adults pricewise for food that they can't possibly eat their money's worth. I mean all over, for the most part, places to eat have menus for kids 12 and under. For a place that centers around children, they should be more accomodating to the ages of kids.

You are 100% correct. I'm a Disney nut. I go every year but the prices are out of hand! The food prices for a family is terrible. Disney is not set up for the average family to enjoy. Everyone I personally talk with the biggest problem they have is the price of food. I don't think Walt wanted Disney to be for the rich only. This should be about kids. Why a 10 year old should have to pay adult prices for a meal is beyond me. I paid 30.00 for a buffet and I will tell you I never consumed enough food to add up to that amount. Disney from when I started going there has just gotten out of hand. I stayed at the Pop this past Febuary. They charged me 130.00 for a room. Not a big room or a room by the pool. These rooms should normally run 80.00 a night. Because it's "PEAK SEASON" they raised all the prices. Now the part that made me more upset was the Magic Kingdom closed at 8:00. If it's peak season keep the parks open "peak hours." The extra magic hours are at one park. I wonder where all the hotels guests are going to go when the other three parks are closed??? I get very frustrated with Disney but for some reason I keep coming back. I guess it's like an addiction. I keep coming back for more.

 

[Mamu]

I totally agree with you about the cost of meals.

I know my DH complains all the time. When your paying $50 dollars a person for one sit down meal that can put a big dent in the budget. At that price you expect the meal to Knock-your-socks-off. While the restaurants try to be gourmet, there still putting hundreds of meals out a day and a lot of it is precooked.

I do find that the counter meals are very good for 1/6 the price. If your there with a large family I would go with counter serve meals and maybe a few sit down meals.

I think MK, Epcot and AK all have good counter serve meals where you can get salads, soups, sandwiches and all offer kids meals. I avoid DHS counter meals think there awful.