Lori of the Lodge
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2000
- Messages
- 224
Sharing my DDP experience (1/03/07 - 1/06/07):
My mother and I do a "girls long weekend trip" to WDW every year or two. We love to experience the different restaurants and try new things.
We just got back from a 3 night trip .. our 4th "girl's trip" and our first DDP experience.
We aren't big "breakfast eaters" so it was nice to use the snack credit for a morning pastry or fruit cup (but I'm not sure it was a very good value). We still had to pay for coffee, so we basically got a $2 or $3 muffin with our daily snack credit. One day we used our snacks for an afternoon cappuchino instead (a 3.20 value).
We found that with the large portions available we could typically share a quick service meal at lunchtime, and the dessert selections were pretty blah (not something I would pay for normally). This helped stretch out our credits, and we liked the flexibility.
The Quick service meal at Tangerine Cafe was very good, as was Quick service at the Mara (our resort's food court). In most places the desert offering was nothing we'd pay for (or want anyway), so it felt wasteful. (We actually threw some deserts away, uneaten.)
In general, the Table service credit was just more food than we would normally order and the quality of appetizers was marginal. At Restaurant Marrakesh the beef appetizer and chicken were totally dry and flavorless. I feel sorry for anyone who actually orders and pays full price for these items.
The entrees were pretty good, but the desserts were also a real let-down. We won't eat there again. (Tangerine Cafe was a much better quality meal for the money--and I love middle eastern food.)
We also had table service at Kona Cafe at the Poly. The appetizers were disappointing. I found the $10.95 "lump" crabcakes to be dry and "fishy." They tasted like something out of the freezer, rather than "fresh lump crab," as the menu described. The $6.95 potstickers were marginal and the sauce was very bland. Our entrees were both very good - I had the noodle bowl with chicken, mom had the club sandwich. By far The best part of the meal was the dessert...banana creme brulee and chocolate macadamia nut tart were both DEVINE!
In the end...the dining plan wasn't for us. We just don't eat that much food at one seating and it was unnecessarily stressful to keep up with the credits and "how many meals remain" and picking an item under $4.00 for a snack, and so on... I don't think we saved much money...we probably would have spent the same eating the way we normally do. We are really big on sharing and splitting meals anyway, and the amount of food just felt wasteful. I'd much rather have several snacks and small meals as I "get the urge."
We also agree that the overall quality of food at Disney World restaurants has declined over the last 2-3 years. I'm not sure if that is contributable to the DDP or not?
In the future we'll go back to our typical way of snancking and "grazing" as we want to and planning a few table service meals throughout our stay. The dining plan was an okay value--but too much food and too much hassle.
My mother and I do a "girls long weekend trip" to WDW every year or two. We love to experience the different restaurants and try new things.
We just got back from a 3 night trip .. our 4th "girl's trip" and our first DDP experience.
We aren't big "breakfast eaters" so it was nice to use the snack credit for a morning pastry or fruit cup (but I'm not sure it was a very good value). We still had to pay for coffee, so we basically got a $2 or $3 muffin with our daily snack credit. One day we used our snacks for an afternoon cappuchino instead (a 3.20 value).
We found that with the large portions available we could typically share a quick service meal at lunchtime, and the dessert selections were pretty blah (not something I would pay for normally). This helped stretch out our credits, and we liked the flexibility.
The Quick service meal at Tangerine Cafe was very good, as was Quick service at the Mara (our resort's food court). In most places the desert offering was nothing we'd pay for (or want anyway), so it felt wasteful. (We actually threw some deserts away, uneaten.)
In general, the Table service credit was just more food than we would normally order and the quality of appetizers was marginal. At Restaurant Marrakesh the beef appetizer and chicken were totally dry and flavorless. I feel sorry for anyone who actually orders and pays full price for these items.
The entrees were pretty good, but the desserts were also a real let-down. We won't eat there again. (Tangerine Cafe was a much better quality meal for the money--and I love middle eastern food.)
We also had table service at Kona Cafe at the Poly. The appetizers were disappointing. I found the $10.95 "lump" crabcakes to be dry and "fishy." They tasted like something out of the freezer, rather than "fresh lump crab," as the menu described. The $6.95 potstickers were marginal and the sauce was very bland. Our entrees were both very good - I had the noodle bowl with chicken, mom had the club sandwich. By far The best part of the meal was the dessert...banana creme brulee and chocolate macadamia nut tart were both DEVINE!
In the end...the dining plan wasn't for us. We just don't eat that much food at one seating and it was unnecessarily stressful to keep up with the credits and "how many meals remain" and picking an item under $4.00 for a snack, and so on... I don't think we saved much money...we probably would have spent the same eating the way we normally do. We are really big on sharing and splitting meals anyway, and the amount of food just felt wasteful. I'd much rather have several snacks and small meals as I "get the urge."
We also agree that the overall quality of food at Disney World restaurants has declined over the last 2-3 years. I'm not sure if that is contributable to the DDP or not?
In the future we'll go back to our typical way of snancking and "grazing" as we want to and planning a few table service meals throughout our stay. The dining plan was an okay value--but too much food and too much hassle.
