dumbing down of menues is Disney making you eat of site

[eliza61]

my computer is having issues!! LOL sorry

 

[eliza61]

I don't understand. You would leave the parks, spending 2+ hours going off-site for lunch, rather than do CS for 30 minutes or TS for 75 minutes on-site? That sounds like a terrible waste of time to me. In that case Disney has won, because you've already purchased your park tickets and you're spending less time in the parks re-gaining the value of those tickets.

For me it's not a matter of "winning". I don't measure a successful vacation by the number of times I ride a ride or the number of hours I spend in a park.
I hate "wasting" my time on mediocre food. For my family dinner is a time to slow down, talk and laugh about our day. what we liked, what was funny. we like to do that over great food. So yes I would rather spend 2 hours having a great, memorable meal than 75 minutes eating bad food. I eat for enjoyment, not simply to fill my stomach (in no way implying that's bad or that's what others do). IMO there is nothing worse than walking out of a restaurant (especially at the end of a long park day) and when some ask "how was your food?" everyone says "eh, it was ok, nothing special"

IMO, I don't want to go to a disney restaurant and get the same food I get at TGIF and unfortunately to many times thats what I get. If that's what there going to serve I can go to TGIF right at the crossroads (10 minutes away and only take 60 minutes) and save some dough.

It all depends on what's important to you.

 

[bobbiwoz]

When I take a Disney Vacation, I go to Disney. It would take away from my enjoyment of the vacation if I felt I had to drive off site to eat so many times. Traffic around WDW is often horrendous. I would find a less stressful vacation venue!

 

[eliza61]

When I take a Disney Vacation, I go to Disney. It would take away from my enjoyment of the vacation if I felt I had to drive off site to eat so many times. Traffic around WDW is often horrendous. I would find a less stressful vacation venue!

Heck, we definitely find it less stressful than driving from cherry Hill to Cape May or Wildwood!! talk about traffic!!
I guess since we've been so many times we've never had any issues. we also go to Universal and some times sea world so we're used to driving off site.

It's actually ironic the one time we stayed off site, it was actually quicker to get to our condo using our car then it was going to our resort using disney transportation. We find it to be the easiest thing in the world.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

You can save money, or you can save time. Your choice, based on how much your time is worth.

And, when I say "really not much better" I really mean "quite a bit worse." There are a few exceptions, but usually a Disney restaurant will be a notch above a national chain in the same genre.

That is where we disagree. Over the past year I have found Disney to be sub par on chains. Food quality and service just are not there.

I am there a lot. It is not a big deal to give up an hour in then park.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I don't understand. You would leave the parks, spending 2+ hours going off-site for lunch, rather than do CS for 30 minutes or TS for 75 minutes on-site? That sounds like a terrible waste of time to me. >>>I agree. I find it a waste. You cant convince me that out of all the resturants in disney, the restaurants off site are better than any found on disney property?? In that case Disney has won, because you've already purchased your park tickets and you're spending less time in the parks re-gaining the value of those tickets.

I get sick of the same items on all the 1 ts places so we have switched it up to add in more signature places and more exotic like Kouzzina, Sanaa etc

We cannot eat the same shrimp pasta, NY strip or chicken dish every single night

I would never eat off site...half the fun of going to WDW is eating at WDW. I can eat chain restaurants at home>>> I TOTALLY AGREE! Half the fun is eating at the unique restaurants Disney has to offer. You can get any of the chain restaurants at home. I want something more unique. Mind you, I visit disney once a year....not monthly like some that are nearby. If i did visit monthly or bi-monthly, maybe i'd feel different? who knows. (doubt it thou, haha).

 

[KeroKero]

Even though the menus may have less choices, there is still so much variety to be had between the 4 parks, DTD and Boardwalk, there is still something for everyone. This is why I always believe that a trip to WDW needs to be planned - so you know where things you want to eat are.

 

[DisneyCher]

For me, it seems like a huge waste of time to leave the park to eat at a Friday's or an Olive Garden, or some local Chinese buffet, rather than just eating at the parks. But, I can say that spending an extra $20 or $30 on dinner to avoid that hassle is fine with me. And while I have not been "over the moon" with very many Disney meals, I have only been truly disappointed in one, and I intend to not return to that place.

I don't go to Disney as often as many on these boards do, so when I go, I want to make the most of my time. Food is pretty much fuel, garbage-in-garbage-out as my DH says, so I don't really care that much.

I also don't bother with the meal plan, so I feel I have more freedom to choose where I eat, and what meal components I order. If I want a soup and salad for a TS meal, I can do it.

 

[lugnut33]

We are going for 10 days coming up in August and I only have two reservations. The rest of the time we will be eating in our villa or off-site. I just can't justify the cost anymore of eating a sit-down meal in the parks. We will still eat counter service meals.

Disney should be happy as it frees up more space for the Dining Plan people.

 

[GeorgeG]

We always have a car since we live only an hour away and when we stay over several nights we never do a dining plan, which gives us the freedom to eat wherever and whatever we want. Before we go off-site in the WDW area we would go to the great restaurants we have around home, but we do prefer the restaurants at Downtown Disney over most of the restaurants in the parks and resorts. We've been going the WDW for 25 years and the one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the fuss over "signature" restaurants at Disney. Those same restaurants were so much better before they were marketed as "signature," but that designation has so many tourists mamboozled! If we're hungry while in a park for the day we will go with whatever we don't have to wait for as long as it's one on our dwindling list of park favorites. If we're ready to leave the park for the day and don't want to wait until we get home, we head to Downtown Disney and eat at places like Fulton's or Raglan Road. Am am one of those who feels the DDP, especially "free dining," has ruined Disney dining. Folks, it was so much better five years ago.

 

[gina2000]

In the past we've gone to WDW in the off season so the parks close just in time to head offsite and find a good restaurant. There are several very good restaurants to be had offsite that aren't chains. There are also several chains that offer comparable or better food at a much better price. We love the freedom a car offers us and would never be without one.

At one time I would say that WDW restaurants offered value for the prices charged. The restaurant choices were consistant in their quality and presentation. I no longer feel that this is true. I feel that the restaurants have been turned into cattle car chow joints that get 'em in and get 'em out as quickly as possible. Couple that with the lack of variety and it has become an easy choice for us.

I can't compare WDW restaurants to a day at any amusement park or stadium because I spend ONE day at those venues. I spend several at WDW and restaurat quality and prices get old quite quickly.

 

[crostorfer]

For us we tend to stay for 14 or 21 nights (European thing) so were never rushed to do the parks heck this year we only have 2 days set aside for theme parks.We will only have a car for a week in the middle this year as going to Vero for a few nights.
But even without a car we would walk to the crossroads and are doing so this time where there are plenty of eating places.TGIF,Olive garden, Orlando ale house, Chiles to name a few within walking distance lot more within 10 min taxi ride from DTD.
We like to walk as we like a nice stroll in the evening before a meal.
As for putting the DDP in the mix as we wont have it didnt put it in the mix
Paul

Ahh, you're from across the pond, that explains some. See, with the places you have mentioned a lot of American travelers wouldn't consider them in any way special or worth leaving property for. TGIFridays, and Chili's in particular, if you live in a major metropolitan area they are everywhere and just like in a theme park they serve overpriced, mediocre food, (like many people say they serve at Disney.) Olive Garden? BLECH I'm not paying $15 for a plate of pasta and microwaved meat on top. I'd much much much rather eat on site at Disney than take any time to drive over to one of these establishments when I could easily eat them at home if I so choose to do so, I'd never go out of my way for any of those chains.

 

[eliza61]

Ahh, you're from across the pond, that explains some. See, with the places you have mentioned a lot of American travelers wouldn't consider them in any way special or worth leaving property for. TGIFridays, and Chili's in particular, if you live in a major metropolitan area they are everywhere and just like in a theme park they serve overpriced, mediocre food, (like many people say they serve at Disney.) Olive Garden? BLECH I'm not paying $15 for a plate of pasta and microwaved meat on top. I'd much much much rather eat on site at Disney than take any time to drive over to one of these establishments when I could easily eat them at home if I so choose to do so, I'd never go out of my way for any of those chains.

LOL except at Diseny you pay 30 for that plate. You cannot possibly be saying that tony's town square and/or Mama melrose is one whit better than olive garden? whew tonys is horrible!

I haven't eaten at the new one inEpcot so I'm hoping that it lived up to the hype.

 

[crostorfer]

LOL except at Diseny you pay 30 for that plate. You cannot possibly be saying that tony's town square and/or Mama melrose is one whit better than olive garden? whew tonys is horrible!

I haven't eaten at the new one inEpcot so I'm hoping that it lived up to the hype.

See, I would never eat at Tony's, period, and if I ate at Mama Melrose I wouldn't order pasta, so for me it's a non-issue. We are trying Via Napoli for the pizza in Sept., as my hubby is a pizza loving man. As long as it's better than Dominoes, it's all good, LOL.

 

[goofyintoronto]

LOL except at Diseny you pay 30 for that plate. You cannot possibly be saying that tony's town square and/or Mama melrose is one whit better than olive garden? whew tonys is horrible! >>>oh goodness, I couldnt agree with you more. Tony's is the most disgusting meal i've ever had at disney. Absolutely horrible! ...I haven't eaten at the new one inEpcot so I'm hoping that it lived up to the hype.

See, I would never eat at Tony's, period,>>>thank goodness! Lol! and if I ate at Mama Melrose I wouldn't order pasta, so for me it's a non-issue. We are trying Via Napoli for the pizza in Sept., as my hubby is a pizza loving man. As long as it's better than Dominoes, it's all good, LOL.

 

[TDC Nala]

I have been to Tony's once and never went back. I really don't eat table service at MK anymore either. It's counter service or I leave the park and go to one of the resorts. I would like to have lunch at Liberty Tree again though.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Yes, some of the TS and CS places are redundant. But, if you really think about it, you could eat at some wonderful places AND have variety onsite. Last year, we were at WDW for 10 nights, and we ate all meals on property. We did not find ourselves bored at all. Here were our meals, broken down by day:

1: Lunch at Earl of Sandwich; dinner at Chef Mickey's
2: Lunch at Sci-Fi; dinner at Whispering Canyon
3: Lunch at Cosmic Ray's; dinner at CRT
4: Lunch at Akershus; dinner at Biergarten
5: Breakfast at 1900 PF; dinner at Kouzzina
6: Lunch at 50s PT; dinner at Captain's Grille
7: Lunch at San Angel; dinner at Le Cellier
8: Lunch at the 24-hr. CS at Swan/Dolphin; dinner at Sanaa
9: Breakfast at Crystal Palace; dinner at Kona
10: Lunch at Chefs de France; dinner at Marrakesh
11: Breakfast at Cape May

We had American food (CS, TS and buffet), a few character breakfasts, Mediterranean food, African/Indian food, steak, Polynesian food, and various ethnic foods at Epcot. We like all different types of cuisines, and we like to go to restaurants that offer different varieties. We find them to be much better than the chain restaurants off property, even though we drive down and have a car with us. So no...I would not leave property to eat.

We don't do the dining plan anymore...none of the options fit into our plans. We get the TiW card instead...sometimes I would order an appetizer as my entree, plus DH and I like to drink an alcoholic beverage with dinner, and the TiW discount includes 20% off alcohol too.

 

[paulh]

one of the places were eating of site is CAFÉ TU TU TANGO http://www.cafetututango.com/contact.html dont think thats a chain?
Paul

 

[paulh]

DH and I like to drink an alcoholic beverage with dinner, and the TiW discount includes 20% off alcohol too.

seam to recall that there is an auto 18% tip with the TiW card so the discount smaller
Paul