just back- dining plan opinion

[dopey's wife]

We are back from a fabulous 7 day trip to WDW- DH, DS-17, DS-14, DD3 and I are still talking about all the places we ate and how wonderful everything about our trip was. We did the dining plan, and will never regret that or any of the restaurant experiences that we had. The first 6 nights we stayed in FW cabins and then moved to Poly for a final night.

For those of you interested, I thought I would share my thoughts on things I might do differently now.
We ate at:
50's Prime Time- DH's b-day-wonderful time! Wonderful food
ESPN Zone- Ok- but not my cup of tea
Le Cellier- Absolutely perfect! Everything was amazing!
O'hana's- good, but could have been better- maybe it was our table
Whispering Canyon- you have to do this for the laughs
Narcoosee's- Again, Absolutely perfect!

My biggest problem was, and we ended up staying an extra day due to this in fact (although I am not complaining about the extra day), we spent a lot of time traveling to different resorts. If I were to know before our trip what I know now, I would plan to have dinner in each park at least once. Especially since DD still needs a nap. Maybe it wouldn't have mattered, but it's something I would consider if I were still in the planning stages. Dining Plan is definitely a bargain.

Hope you find this helpful!

 

[goodferry]

Thanks for the report! We leave in a week and will use the dining plan, we are really looking forward to it!

 

[tortoni]

Thanks for your report. Good observation about the travel time. Tell me please what you liked about Prime Time.

 

[undertheseas]

Thanks for the report, you ate at 4 of the places we're going to in Sept. What did you have at Narcoosee's?

 

[JoiseyMom]

Thanks for the great report. I have already planned to do just that. I have ADR's for the parks when we are there, so we won't be traveling much. I also want my little one to nap during the afternoon.

 

[natalielongstaff]

thanks for the report

 

[Minniespal]

Thanx for sharing.

 

[Leota]

We ar considering Narcoosee also. But we are already having one signature dinner (CG) and not sure if we want to do 2 of them. Did you think Narcoosee's was worth the 2 credits?

 

[moopdog]

YEAH - I'm starting to wonder if we have too many resort type meals planned too. As a matter of fact we only have one meal planned for a park the day we're there. Just kind of worked out that way, but I don't want to feel like our whole trip is "on the bus" with a 2 & 4 year old. Should we reconsider our choices?

 

[dopey's wife]

I really enjoyed the whole experience of 50's Prime Time. Of course, we wanted DH to have a truly 'memorable' b-day, so we all played along, and when we were checking in I asked to be sure we had a CM that would treat DH 'extra special.'

They really are in character the whole time, and it is loads of fun. I don't want to go into too much detail, because it may ruin the fun for some. I read before we left that they won't let you have dessert if you don't clean your plate. That is really true! It was lots of fun for our whole family. DS- 17 and DS 14 were picked on pretty good, but it was all in good fun, and they enjoyed it immensely. Definitely a must do from now on.

Cousin Patty was our server- she was awesome.

Hope this is helpful.

Dopey's Wife

 

[dopey's wife]

Narcoosee's is definitely worth the 2 food credits. I think our total bill was around $350. Including drinks and slipper dessert (well, worth $14., but our CM gave it to DD- I had actually ordered it for myself and she didn't want to share- but I did slip my spoon in when she wasn't looking and had a small taste, she caught me and was very upset)

As far as what we had: 3 of us had surf & turf- absolutely amazing- DS and DH had this as well at Le Cellier and they said Narcoossee's was better. I had a tenderloin at Le Cellier that is tough to beat, but Narcoossee's was wonderful. And I don't really want to compare the 2 because they were both very different. I also ordered the Key Lime Creme Brulee for dessert, and wasn't thrilled with it, but DS had some kind of chocolate cake that was to die for. DH had strawberry rhubarb cobbler that was awesome as well, and DS 17 had a piece of cheesecake I think, CM put it on the table and it disappeared. Like I said it was truly magical.

We had window seats and DD and I were looking across the bay at the castle. It was truly magical.

Without the DP, we would not be able to take our family and would be really stretching our budget to go ourselves. If you have the credits, I would highly recommend that you try it.

 

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

I try to plan my ADR's for either the park we will be in that day or a resort close by-ie: On the day we go to MK I booked O'Hanas. My family likes to stay in the parks until the last minute before we have to get to our ADR's, so I've found it helpful to plan ahead.

 

[dopey's wife]

I truly have no regrets about any of the resorts we visited. It gave us ample opportunity to see other areas of WDW as a whole and maybe think about where we would like to stay on a future trip.

BUT- there were things at all of the parks that we didn't get to do, that we may have had I considered travel time when making our ADR's.

DD needed her nap every afternoon. We knew that she would and had planned for that, but instead of going to another park, we went to another resort, and then went to another park. With the extra day we were able to live with the things that we didn't do at MGM, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom.

With a 2 and 4 year old, I would make sure you have at least one meal planned for MK, and then decide your absolute must-do's and plan accordingly.

I learned that you can't make a wrong decision about WDW restaurants. If you leave everything as is- you are going to have a wonderful time. If you make a few changes- you are still going to have a wonderful time. It's all what you make it- and it's all good.

Hope this helps.

Dopey's Wife

 

[huey578]

Our 7 day trip to WDW is 71 days away. So the you encounter any problems using the Disney meal plan? This is the first time we are using meal plan. Are there any places we should stay away from? Any tips to fully use our meal plan? Thanks to all who reply.

Huey

 

[dopey's wife]

No- We didn't encounter any problems at all! The service everywhere was everything you would expect from Disney. We did (please don't flame me) pay for DD's meals to allow us extra table service, but we also had drinks at most places, and did add more to the tip than the dining plan allotted for, but not because we felt obligated, because the service was so awesome.

Can't really tell you anywhere to stay away from, but Le Cellier and Narcoosee's were awesome, as was Whispering Canyon and 50's Prime Time.

Outside of the plan, we also had breakfast at CRT,which was awesome, and I did the My Disney Girl perfectly princess tea party at GF which was worth every penny as well.

Have a great trip!

 

[Dizneydaz]

For those of you interested, I thought I would share my thoughts on things I might do differently now.
We ate at:
50's Prime Time- DH's b-day-wonderful time! Wonderful food
ESPN Zone- Ok- but not my cup of tea
Le Cellier- Absolutely perfect! Everything was amazing!
O'hana's- good, but could have been better- maybe it was our table
Whispering Canyon- you have to do this for the laughs
Narcoosee's- Again, Absolutely perfect!

My biggest problem was, and we ended up staying an extra day due to this in fact (although I am not complaining about the extra day), we spent a lot of time traveling to different resorts. If I were to know before our trip what I know now, I would plan to have dinner in each park at least once. Especially since DD still needs a nap. Maybe it wouldn't have mattered, but it's something I would consider if I were still in the planning stages. Dining Plan is definitely a bargain.

Hope you find this helpful!

Thanks for the report. I totally agree with you on Ohana's. We did it Jan (on the dining plan-paid for) for the first time and we were also disappointed. We also thought it was just our table. We were towards the entrance-table for 6 or 8 with just us 3. Food was so-so (we loved the starters thought) and where were the games. There was only one while we were there and by the time we reached the starting area, the race had started. We won't be returning (even for free)

Also agree on 50's Diner. Glad to hear it on Le Cellier (we eating there for the first time in Sept.)

40 days and counting!

 

[Leota]

Thanx for your opinions on Narcoosee. Based on that & other positive reviews I've seen, we decided to cancel 2 TS meals & change them into a night at Narcoosee. I have been wanting to try it for a couple years & now seems like a good time.

 

[kimmbagley]

I try to plan my ADR's for either the park we will be in that day or a resort close by-ie: On the day we go to MK I booked O'Hanas. My family likes to stay in the parks until the last minute before we have to get to our ADR's, so I've found it helpful to plan ahead.

I was just wondering, if we are in MK would it be quite a trip for dinner at whispering canyon?

 

[jann1033]

know this is not the resort board but what did you think of the cabins????

 

[jann1033]

no you can take a few min boat ride from MK dock ( kind of between the bus stops and the monorail stop )to WL and WC, maybe 10 mins tops