Whenever DBF (22) and I (20) go to Disney, it's all about the food!! We never go through a TA but we do go through the menus online whenever we need a Disney fix - usually procrastinating for exams and stuff like that, but it's still getting something done - or at least that's how we look at it!
Are you upgrading to Deluxe Dining? Every time we've gone, we've had Deluxe and we've never felt like it was too much food - maybe because we mostly eat dinner at signature restaurants. Also, some people feel like it takes away from their park time.... we don't feel this way at all. We usually eat breakfast before the park opens and eat dinner after the park closes. For lunch and during the day, we use snack credits.
The one thing we always have an issue with is getting rid of those 3 snack credits. The thing is, we tend to split most snacks rather than getting two of something, so we look at it more as 6 snacks during each day that we're getting. The nice thing is at the end of the trip, when we load up on cookies and other snacks to bring home. It helps ease us back into reality to have Disney food around!
If you're sticking with the basic dining plan, I'm not really sure about CS restaurants. I've never eaten at them with DBF.... being in college and working in a restaurant, I eat burgers and chicken a lot... that's not really what we're looking for when we go to WDW. I have eaten CS (although not many, so don't think this is the only good one!) with my family - Flame Tree BBQ in AK is the only one i enjoyed and would probably bring DBF to if we had some extra room for food - which we don't haha! And I almost forgot Earl of Sandwich in DTD! We pay OOP for this usually and I could eat there every day if I had the chance!
As for TS restaurants, we do the following:
*Sci-Fi first meal every trip - themed restaurant, low-key, quick lunch so we can get some fuel and into the parks
*Le Cellier at some point. We tend to eat here for lunch since it is worth only 1 TS credit and we usually eat at signature restaurants every night. Since they're not open during the day, we can only eat there for dinner and therefore we need to "get rid of" the 1 TS meals during the day! If we eat here for lunch, we make the earliest ADR available and make dinner the latest ADR possible!
*Crystal Palace - first breakfast every trip, as long as the MK is not open for EMH. We make our ADR for 8:05 and get there super early so we are on Main Street alone. We refuse to go to MK on our arrival day so we can see the castle first thing, practically alone, when we wake up on our first full day there....
*Liberty Tree Tavern - A lot of people don't like it here, but if you get something good I think you'll enjoy it. It's also very quick for being a sit-down restaurant so we sometimes do it for lunch when we're in the MK. (I always get the William Penn pasta, if that helps....)
*Tusker House for breakfast before AK opens! We tried this on a whim once - just trying to get into the parks before they open - and it was so amazing. The selection of foods is great, the juice is fantastic, and the characters wake us up a little bit!
*Kona (for breakfast and dinner) - we HAVE to stop here for breakfast every trip for some Tonga Toast. If you are doing the basic plan, though, I would say you could pay OOP for this meal (or any other breakfasts that aren't buffets) because they run about $10/person.... For dinner, the food is excellent and unique - I'm always surprised there aren't more people here. The steak and the sushi are equally fantastic and the desserts are fun, too.
*Chef Mickey's for breakfast - people have mixed reviews about it, but we always go when it opens - 7:05 ADR and everything is hot, fresh, quick, and relaxed. The characters seem to go through a bit faster here, though, than at Tusker House or Crystal Palace.
Some Signatures:
*Artist Point - when we want our nice, quiet, romantic, relaxed meal of the trip. It's always so quiet and pleasant here. The champagne is good, and I can order some things I don't usually eat at home - I usually have the venison spring roll and the buffalo, which is amazing.
*Narcoossee's- Ordering the surf and turf here is the highlight of our trip, I think, haha! It seals the deal, for us anyways, that the deluxe is worth it.The seafood chowder is also great.
*California Grill - absolutely love it. I know people like to go to watch Wishes, but like I said we just go after the park closes.... We usually make the 9:50 ADR. Flatbread, great steak, awesome sushi.... And we've always had fantastic waiters who have never given us a bad recommendation.
Some other good 1 TS credit restaurants:
Prime Time
Boma
Ohana (we don't LOVE it, but lots of other people do, so I'd say give it a shot)
Whispering Canyon (we've had good and bad meals here, so I'm neutral....)
Cape May Cafe Breakfast
San Angel (but it seems like it used to be better a few years ago)
I don't think our friends "get" why we go to Disney so much. Or why we choose to get up to eat breakfast at 7AM when we're on vacation, etc. But it really doesn't feel bad when it's in Disney!! If you and your DBF are anything like us, we work so hard to be able to go to Disney a couple times a year - 40 hours/week at work, full time students, extracurriculars, etc. When we finally get there it's like we don't really want to waste any time! I love hearing about other couples our age who are going
. If you have any other questions let me know.... Sorry I didn't know if you were doing deluxe or basic, but either way I'm sure you will find plenty of good food to eat!!
Good luck!
