Good values!

[TMJJS]

First, I know you don't go to a Walt Disney World restaurant to get a deal!
My family relies on me to do most of the planning for our family vacation at WDW. 2 years ago, we stayed on-property at our DVC villas and did the Dining Plan which was excellent. This board helped me pick great restaurants to get good food and a lot of value out of the restaurants we picked.
This summer (July 5th-12th), we will be staying at a timeshare off-property that my brother got so no Dining Plan.
There will be 12 of us total (6 adults, teenager, toddler and 4 other children).
My question is now, where are the restaurants that people think are a great value for your money when having to pay for your meals instead of being on one of the different plans?

Our family really like the buffets since you can try different food and get as much as you want for a relatively good price versus other table service restaurants. However, we would like to have some sit down meals with a server, so what are some places that people feel might be a better value when paying for the meal? I'm not sure if it's ok to mention places off-property, but we will have a car and not be going to the parks everyday, so any recommendations of places outside would be great also!

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[GazerBeam]

Value is subjective and relative, but I think the buffets and family-style restaurants, in general provide good quality and quantity at the price.

We always seem to get out of Kona Cafe pretty inexpensively. (Again, in relation to some of the other options out of there)

On the other side of the coin, I think Le Cellier is very expensive if you are paying out of pocket.

Also, consider lunch instead of dinner, usually it is a little less expensive for the same quality, and there are fequently less expensive options that aren't on the dinner menu.

GB

 

[Mich123]

I'd recommend Ohana for your family--it's lots of fun and a fixed price, all you can eat. You get the quantity of a buffet with a fun sit down dinner.

We have traveled as a large group with extended family at WDW and some of our favorite places were Biergarten and Boma (what a gem!). We are not usually buffet people, but the quality of these meals was great and the variety was a lot of fun.

 

[bluejasmine]

I havent done alot of buffet at WDW Im not a big buffett person but Ohana seem to be a good value, I hear Trails End Buffet at Fort Wilderness is a HUGE value, cheapest buffet on site. I havent tried it tho. Oh I tried H&V and I didnt like it, we loved Boma breakfast, I thought the price of breakfast was more than Id pay at home for breakfast buffet but it was one of the cheaper breakfast buffet, probably cause its not charachter.
Some good CS places for value also, Pecos Bills, my daughter and I share the chicken wrap its huge and we've shared the double cheeseburger thats huge too. I havent tried it yet but Tangerine Cafe portions look huge also. My fave CS that has alot of varity with TS feel and taste is WGPE in DTD! Also EOS sandwhiches are amazing at 5.99!
I would ask about off site restaurants on the other thread thats for offsite hotels/attractions/restaurants you may get more responses there. The only one I can tell you about is Golden Corral, huge variety, good food. Breakfast prices are great like $8.99 for adult including drink.

 

[MHSweb79]

We always like the character breakfasts for a big fill-up. They're all buffets or all-you-can-eat so you don't need another big meal that day, and they are pretty reasonably priced.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Tokyo Dining at Epcot is very reasonable. Not a buffet (and not to be confused with Tepan Edo which is next door and where they make your food in front of you). I think their entrees start at around $20 or less and the portions are large.

Sci Fi, Beaches and Cream and the Plaza at MK are all very reasonable. All of those are not good "values" on the Dining Plans but if you pay out of pocket, they are. Oh, ESPN is another good one, big portions, easy to share and not horribly expensive compared to other WDW eateries.

Trails End Buffet at the Ft. Wildnerness is a GREAT value by WDW standards, especially for breakfast.

I'll also throw out Wolfgang Puck Express. This is counter service, but much of the food is identical to what they serve at the sit down, Wolfgang Puck Cafe. Its expensive for counter service, however the portions are huge, they bring the food to you on real plates and bring you your drink and the portions are huge!

And I second going for lunch instead of dinner. Virtually every place at WDW, buffet and non buffet are cheaper at lunch.

If you haven't already, check out the menu's on www.allearsnet.com for pricing and more ideas.

The only place I have eaten offsite is Chevy's (very close to DTD in the Goodings Market shopping center). Decent Tex Mex and far cheaper than what you pay at WDW. Plus free chips and salsa!

 

[TMJJS]

Thanks for the responses!

My personal favorite idea is to try to catch one of the last seatings for a breakfast buffet and then be there for the change-over to lunch food while still getting breakfast food and pricing! Our personal favorite meal place is O'Hana, so I'm glad it got some mention here as a pay value also!

Thanks again and looking forward to any more suggestions!