Has Free Dining ruined WDW restaurants?

[Sleeping Becca]

I wouldn't say ruined, the restarants are not terrible.

They are not what they used to be, true. Disney tightened the belt and the quality and variety went down.

I don't really mind all that much, the signatures are excellent, and the table services are pretty good for the most part and there are some decent counter service options available.

When I started going to Disney my hometown had seafood restaurants, a Shoney's, a steakhouse, a pizzeria, a Picadilly, and a Mexican restaurant, so the food at Disney was an amazing treat. Now my hometown has just about every kind restaurant imaginable, so I don't go to Disney expecting amazing meals, but do think their restaurants offer fantastic atmosphere and entertainment.

I don't get too bogged down in prices, I know in advance it's going to cost a bundle (I do spreadsheets for cost analysis). I don't even look at the prices, while I'm there.

 

[Brygida]

Or the ways that some visitors would try to beat or cheat the system with child versus adult meals, more people than on the room reservation, etc., etc. Seriously. One said she would love to say, "Go offsite and eat at Denny's people. It is really worth all the intrigue just to be able to eat at LeCellier?"

I can't count the number of posts I read that say something like "...we couldn't afford to go w/o FD". Well, baloney - yes they could, but they would eat off site more - just like they did before FD was offered.

I have never, ever eaten offsite when at WDW! What is the point of that? Without free dining, it absolutely cost more for us to go. We would try to eat at the less expensive venues before free dining. Even at Disneyland, I only eat at Disney restaurants.

How do you cheat with adult vs kid credits, each are counted separately? How do you cheat with more people on the ressie, you have to buy a MYW ticket for each person!

In my opinion, it does not count as a Disney trip, unless you eat and sleep at Disney! When at home, I dream of eating at a WDW restaurant Don't you?

Not staying at Disney or not eating at Disney is akin to skipping a park - Hey let's not go to Magic Kingdom this trip, I hear it's crowded at this time of year - Damn those 10 day MYW tickets! - They're ruining MK!

 

[tony67]

We maximized our DDP credits and it was great. FREE DDP is great for middle-class people with kids. It is absolutely a money-saver!

Yes it is a good deal for many people.

Of course for the middle class family that is not on the DDP it is way overpriced compared to the quality.
This was not the case in the past.
I always found it reasonable and I am in no way rich, I just like good food.

For the locals who come to Disney for the day it is way overpriced especially since they can get similar food at a Red Lobster\Outback\Margaritas for half the price.

There was a time when I looked forward to eating at Disney, it was the main reason we went.
It was reasonably priced and very high quality.
The food in Epcot was truly representative of the country and the staff was proud to serve it.
I’ve talked to enough of the staff to know they are not impressed with what they are serving anymore.

And no there are no restaurants I am dreaming about eating that is run by Disney except V&A.
I’ll get there one of these days.

 

[Brygida]

There was a time when I looked forward to eating at Disney, it was the main reason we went.

And no there are no restaurant I am dreaming about eating that is run by Disney except V&A.
I’ll get there one of these days.

You make me want to cry! How sad you are so bummed by the Disney dining!!

I ate at V&A in February and I can say, you have to be an adventurous eater to truly get the most out of it. I don't like gamey meats or seafood (so I basically eat chicken, pork, beef, shrimp), so the majority of the items were just too weird for me! I ended up ordering almost everything off the vegetarian menu, and they really aren't set up to substitute chicken for something else in the dish. I tried one of the pork dishes and I sent it back thinking it was undercooked, but no, even more cooked it tasted "spoiled" to me (translation - gamey!). On the other hand, the souflee I had for dessert was worth the price of the whole meal!

 

[GeorgeG]

I'm going to stick my neck way out and add that, to some extent, the quality of the visitors to WDW has declined, which could be related to the decline of the quality in dining. Bouncin Tigger makes a good point regarding the disappearance of so many good restaurants at WDW. The "Top of the World" (Contemporary) had a nightclub atmosphere and a show (Broadway at the Top" with dinner and dancing. Men were required to wear a jacket and tie. There was a truly fantastic bunch there as well as one of the best breakfasts in WDW. The California Grill just doesn't come close. The Gulf Coast Room, also in the CR was another fine restaurant (jacket and tie) with great food and a strolling guitarist. The Pueblo Room (CR) was a nice casual restaurant. The Empress Room in the old Empress Lilly was special. Now Fulton's Crabhouse, it's among the best restaurants in WDW, but nothing like the Empress Room was. The Yachtsman Steakhouse started as a very good restaurant, but the quality has slipped while the prices just about doubled. The old King Stephan's Banquet Hall in the castle was so much better than Cinderella's Royal Table. And so on, and so on.

These days, people want to have dinner in bathing suits and tank tops and men rarely even remove their hats at the table. They want "free" dining and try to use the same "free refill" cups year after year.

Now, I enjoy a hot dog or burger at a CS as much as anyone, but I also like a really nice dining experience once in awhile. I also like wearing a t-shirt in the parks, but don't mind wearing a collared shirt for dinner. It's become obvious that WDW has been caught up in competing with Universal and other "amusement parks and carnivals." Yes, I believe there is some decline in the quality of visitors. Yes, I'm an old Disney snob, but I believe I'm right.

 

[tony67]

You make me want to cry! How sad you are so bummed by the Disney dining!!

Yes I'm just so sad. Thanks so much.

 

[wdwlinz]

I'm going to stick my neck way out and add that, to some extent, the quality of the visitors to WDW has declined, which could be related to the decline of the quality in dining. Bouncin Tigger makes a good point regarding the disappearance of so many good restaurants at WDW. The "Top of the World" (Contemporary) had a nightclub atmosphere and a show (Broadway at the Top" with dinner and dancing. Men were required to wear a jacket and tie. There was a truly fantastic bunch there as well as one of the best breakfasts in WDW. The California Grill just doesn't come close. The Gulf Coast Room, also in the CR was another fine restaurant (jacket and tie) with great food and a strolling guitarist. The Pueblo Room (CR) was a nice casual restaurant. The Empress Room in the old Empress Lilly was special. Now Fulton's Crabhouse, it's among the best restaurants in WDW, but nothing like the Empress Room was. The Yachtsman Steakhouse started as a very good restaurant, but the quality has slipped while the prices just about doubled. The old King Stephan's Banquet Hall in the castle was so much better than Cinderella's Royal Table. And so on, and so on.

These days, people want to have dinner in bathing suits and tank tops and men rarely even remove their hats at the table. They want "free" dining and try to use the same "free refill" cups year after year.

Now, I enjoy a hot dog or burger at a CS as much as anyone, but I also like a really nice dining experience once in awhile. I also like wearing a t-shirt in the parks, but don't mind wearing a collared shirt for dinner. It's become obvious that WDW has been caught up in competing with Universal and other "amusement parks and carnivals." Yes, I believe there is some decline in the quality of visitors. Yes, I'm an old Disney snob, but I believe I'm right.

Thank you for posting this. I could not agree more!

 

[Micca]

I don't know the actual reason, but WDW restaurants have certainly dropped in quality over the many years we've been going there.

 

[Heard02]

Yes, it has and it isn't fair to the people who pay full price to eat at these places. (those not on the dining plan)

 

[Mimi1965]

It's become obvious that WDW has been caught up in competing with Universal and other "amusement parks and carnivals." Yes, I believe there is some decline in the quality of visitors. Yes, I'm an old Disney snob, but I believe I'm right.

I agree-

I remember when staying onsite was a dream-when there was only Contempoary & Poly . It is a completely differnet crowd than 25 years ago

 

[TDC Nala]

not exactly "free" though - we took on the DDP on the last trip and found that was less flexible than we envisioned, and actually ended up not sueing some of the meals, but still had to pay for all of them

This is how the dining plan works. You prepay for all or the majority of your meals. If you don't eat them, you don't get a refund. This is why if you are on the dining plan, you should plan out how you are going to spend your credits so you don't leave any. Unless, of course, it doesn't matter to you that you've already paid. Some guests like to use the plans just for the perceived convenience (I say perceived because I myself don't find the dining plan convenient, YMMV)

 

[justbishop]

The last time we were at the World was in 2008, so I may be out of touch, but I don't remember having one bad meal (though Jiko was the first time we've done a Signature and just weren't impressed). I do understand how menu prices going up due to the DDP could be really frustrating to those who choose to pay OOP, though.

I think a good compromise might be a fixed price type of thing for DDP guests at ALL TS restaurants that accept the DDP. Maybe slightly smaller portions of 4-5 of the most popular dishes at each place, no prices listed. Not sure how that would work with gratuities being extra, but I'm sure something could be worked out. That way, those who wanted to forgo the DDP wouldn't have to feel like they were being gouged (that's IF Disney adjusted the regular menu prices accordingly).

I agree-

I remember when staying onsite was a dream-when there was only Contempoary & Poly . It is a completely differnet crowd than 25 years ago

Internet tone is a funny thing. If it hadn't been for the winking smilie at the end of that sentence, I'd have thought nothing of it, but as it is, I'm sorry that those of us who can generally only afford (or choose) to stay at the Values or off site have ruined your "dream" vacation destination. I'm happy that WDW staff has never made me feel like some of the posters here do simply because we happened not to be staying at a monorail resort.

 

[TDC Nala]

think a good compromise might be a fixed price type of thing for DDP guests at ALL TS restaurants that accept the DDP.

This probably won't happen. Disney appears adamant that dining plan users not feel like "second class" guests by being offered a separate menu. Some of the third-party restaurants had exclusions; they don't anymore - they just took the expensive items off the menus. Only Marrakesh still has a surcharge, and that's only for multi-course meals.

 

[justbishop]

This probably won't happen. Disney appears adamant that dining plan users not feel like "second class" guests by being offered a separate menu. Some of the third-party restaurants had exclusions; they don't anymore - they just took the expensive items off the menus. Only Marrakesh still has a surcharge, and that's only for multi-course meals.

I can see that POV as well. I don't know, though, I do think it's kind of dumb that the DDP being sort of a free-for-all-feeding-frenzy type of thing has been allowed to have a negative effect on the quality of the restaurants. I mean, really, if that's the road they're choosing to take, they might as well just turn all of the TS places into buffets and call it a day (and this is from someone who loves and swears by the DDP!)

 

[TDC Nala]

Given the current WDW and Disney in general business model, I tend to think that the negative effect on the quality of the restaurants would have occurred with or without the dining plan. I know I mentioned the standardization push has also affected Disneyland restaurants. Disneyland does not have a comparable dining plan.

 

[justbishop]

Well that makes sense then. Sad all the same. As childless adults, the restaurants were one of the things we looked forward to the most. Maybe now that we have a kid, the trip's success won't sit so heavily on them, though

 

[brunette8706]

I think most veteran visitors to WDW have seen at least some decline in quality, not only in the dining options, but in general.

When we first started going 24 years ago we used the "World Adventure Vacation Plan," a.k.a. "Gold Key" plan which included three meals a day at TS restaurants (dinner shows included). It was not, in any way, "free dining." It was more of a convenience that you paid for and if you didn't know how to use it you actually paid more than you normally would for dining.

I'm sure any current "free" dining plan or any dining plan is not really free. Someone is paying for it either directly or indirectly and in many cases the quality of the food has gone down enough for so many people to notice. We've noticed it, but there are still a lot of good meals to be had in WDW. Realistically, a $12 burger had better be a really good burger or people will find alternate places to eat. Sure, Disney may make some profits for awhile, but they will lose in the long run. I have seen a trend in restaurants no longer serving breakfast, and in some cases, lunch so they don't have to staff for meals that weren't filling the seats.

*
AWESOME POST! Thanks so much! Brunette

 

[Mimi1965]

Internet tone is a funny thing. If it hadn't been for the winking smilie at the end of that sentence, I'd have thought nothing of it, but as it is, I'm sorry that those of us who can generally only afford (or choose) to stay at the Values or off site have ruined your "dream" vacation destination. I'm happy that WDW staff has never made me feel like some of the posters here do simply because we happened not to be staying at a monorail resort.

Oh-we could not afford to stay onsite then-we camped in our van-in the groovy 70's

In the late 80's we were SO excited when a reasonable WDW hotel -Caribean Beach Hotel opened and we COULD stay onsite

 

[justbishop]

Oh-we could not afford to stay onsite then-we camped in our van-in the groovy 70's

In the late 80's we were SO excited when a reasonable WDW hotel -Caribean Beach Hotel opened and we COULD stay onsite

I'm sorry if I took that the wrong way. I've just found (in the short time I've been "hanging out" here to get a jump on planning our 2011 trip) that there are many on these forums who seem to look down on anyone who for whatever reason doesn't stay at a Deluxe, and I just got defensive.

And kudos to you, I've never been the type of girl that goes in for camping, van or no

 

[Art 1]

Yes, I'll be happy to see free dining go away for good. Being a local it has no benefit to me and has noticeably lowered the standards at WDW.