Wow! My # visits cannot compare to yours!
Since I despise churros I have no response to that comparison. But I would enjoy debating the other points further.
At WDW I have never done the dining plan. Or a character meal. FWIW.
But I would say:
o WDW has DLR beat hands down as far as creatively themed dining. Be Our Guest and Sci-Fi Dine-In come to mind first. Very creative and detailed.
o WDW wins on ethnic options - Boma's and Sanaa, many of the Epcot World Showcase restaurants among them. I have not had a chance to dine at Tiffin's yet at AK. Yak and Yeti I have dined at a few times. Just nothing like any of that at DLR. Most are pretty good quality and some are really good.
o I love Italian food and WDW has way too many options now - but DLR has basically zero aside from Via Napoli's in DTD. At WDW I do like Mama Melrose's a lot.
o I think Shula's at the Dolphin has The Best Steak Anywhere Anytime. Only thing at DLR that comes remotely close IMO is Steakhouse 55. I have dined at DLR Napa Rose once. Never at Vic and Alberts at GF at WDW.
o Dinner shows - I have only done HDD and it is hokey but DLR has nothing
o Options - you just have so many freaking choices at WDW. Many are pretty good. Some are really good.
Well, it's not really fair to compare DL to WDW options that don't even exist at DL. We all know WDW has MORE restaurants, more variety, etc. But, if you take every restaurant at DL, you can match it to a comparable one at WDW, and when you compare JUST the quality of the food, DLR wins.
First and most obviously, DLs Counter Service options FAR surpass WDWs and many of DLs options rival TS restaurants at WDW. Simple comparison, DLs Plaza Inn Fried Chicken plate is heads and shoulders above ANY fried chicken plate at WDW, and at $17, a much better value. And it's CS! Places like Rancho del Zocalo serve up Mexican platters that are much better than any of WDWs Mexican TS restaurants as well. I had a half chicken platter with refried beans and rice, with corn tortillas and a side of fresh chips and salsa yesterday for $16. It was better than anything I've had at San Angel In or Hacienda de San Angel in Epcot and cost half the price. Lots of DL CS use real plates and silverware as well. CS that directly compare to WDW TS include the following: French Market, Rancho del Zocalo, Plaza Inn, Flo's V8 Cafe (arguably one of the best themed CS I've ever been to), Cucina Cucamonga, Paradise Garden Grill, and Lucky Fortune Cookery.
Naples is better than Via Napoli and Tutto Gusto. Wine Country Trattoria is FAR better than Tony's Town Square and Mama Melrose. It's not even close. But Italian food isn't as popular in southern California as it is on the East coast. I'd rather have ONE good Italian place at DLR than 15 mediocre ones at WDW.
As for themed restaurants? I agree BOG is spectacular. However, Blue Bayou is fantastic as far as theme goes (the food, eh). I do think DL does a better job themeing their CS locations. Red Rose Tavern is great. Flo's V8 Cafe is amazing. French Market has live musicians performimg jazz music most of the time on a stage, and there is often a live Mariachi group performing near Cucina Cucamonga at DCA. Smokejumpers Grill has great themeing. Hungry Bear is fun. The Pizza Port has cool retro themeing and will soon get a Pizza Planet overlay, you can watch the Jedi Training show while eating at Galactic Grill. I can go on. The food at every character meal at DLR far surpasses the food at WDWs. Plus, the character interaction is also better.
As for ethnic options, you are right that DL doesn't have anything. BUT, the surrounding local area has PLENTY to offer that is much better than WDWs Americanized theme park versions of ethnic food. There's a huge diverse population here, with a ton of Mexican, Middle Eastern, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian and South American representation. My city is predominantly different types of Asian, Middle Eastern, and Indian cuisine. Real authentic (scary things I would never eat type authentic). You can easily Uber or drive to any type of ethnic place you can imagine.
Napa Rose is home to the best steak I've had anywhere. We tend to measure "Disney" steaks up against Morton's and Ruth's Chris. NR beats both in terms of flavor and creativity. CA Grill has a good steak, but it's not as good as NR. I have heard great things about Shula's, but technically that's a chain restaurant. You can also walk to a Ruth's Chris from Disneyland if you are looking for a high quality steakhouse steak.
I have not had dinner at Steakhouse 55 yet, but the breakfast is out of this world good. I would say the CA Grill Brunch matches it in terms of quality, and that's it. They have a dish that is "French toast" but it's a literal cube of brioche bread, hollowed out, made into French toast and then filled with what tastes like creme brulee, fresh macerated mixed berries, and topped with FRESH vanilla whipped cream. It is the single best breakfast food item I've ever eaten in my life. Served with house made pork sausage and real maple syrup.
Dinner shows...ok, WDW wins that one. I can't stand dinner shows though. I hate eating in a loud environment and so do my kids. So, that's not even something we pay any attention to.
I have eaten almost everywhere at DL and have made quite a dent in WDW as well. We are taking a 10 day WDW trip in July and I've only made 4 ADRs: Homecoming, Bluezoo, Wave (lunch on our resort switch day) and Garden Grill Breakfast for my son's birthday (who LOVES Chip, Dale, and Pluto). That's all I am motivated to make. Nothing else is a "must do." We might end up at more TS if we can snag same day reservations but I just don't care where we end up eating over there.
I was freaking out. We were (are?) WDW vets and the lack of planning made DLR seem super stressful, like I was forgetting something.
. As far as TS, it really is not much of a competition since Epcot blows everything else away, and you are talking about 4 parks and 13 hotels with TS options. Sci-Fi is one of my favorites for the theming - but the food is pretty average. Mama Melrose has always been hit or miss (do not even consider Tony's at MK, DLR is better off with no Italian options if it means it would get a Tony's). Boma's is pretty awesome, as is watching the MK fireworks while having dinner at California Grill, HDDR is hokey but so fun (done it twice), 'Ohana has the best pot stickers, Tonga Toast at Kona (and Capt Cook's) is amazing and should be brought over to Tangaroa Terrace. The luau is not bad, HDDR has a better show but the luau has better food. You are not missing much on the character meal front, other than eating inside the castle - that is pretty special to do at least once.
