We just got back last night so I thought I better post this while it is fresh in my memory.
We used the MYW Dining Option. It worked for us this time because we would not have went to the restaurants if we paid out of pocket. Each dinner table service meal for 5 (2 adults and 3 kids) was over $150. No way would we have done this without the plan. However, most of the food was just average. Nothing spectacular. Plus, my opinion based on my experience so do not get upset, but the service sucked just about everywhere. I am just talking about the food service. The hotel staff was very friendly and accommodating. It seemed that once you told them that you were on the dining plan, they treated you differently. Perhaps because they thought that they would only get 15%, but we would have tipped on top of that if the service was good. I probably would not do it again. I'd rather have the CS meals while in the park and have dinner outside the World.
Oh well, now about the food. The problem is that it is more food than you normally would eat, so if you eat a later lunch you are not hungry for dinner. Also, we conserved our counter service credits in the beginning and ended up with 8 credits left over at the end of our trip. The lesson learned is eat a big breakfast and no lunch or eat lunch early so that you are hungry and ready for dinner. Also, use the credits as you go and if you run out then you can pay out of pocket at the end. We ended up buying lunch for several couples before we checked out. Now for a quick dining review:
Restaurantsaurus at AK - The burgers were good. pretty much the same at every counter service place. The fixins bar helped dress up the burger. The strawberry shortake dessert was good.
Spirit of Aloha - The service was bad, although I think we just got a bad server. Others looked like they were better. The food was o.k. The kids did not like the vegetables in the rice. The ribs and chicken were good. I thought the show was very entertaining. Overall, I would recommend if you like dinner shows.
Concourse Steakhouse - Great. I had the filet mignon and DH had the ribeye. The ribeye was much better than the filet. The parmesean mashed potatoes were awesome. The kid choices were limited (as they were everywhere). Two had the cheese pizza and the third had the pasta. The desserts were pretty but not great. DH had the cheesecake which was not very good. I had some chocolate pudding cake thingy which also was not very good. Although the kids loved the artists pallet where they could decorate their own sugar cookie. They also loved the kid's drink which had a light-up ice cube. The service here was fine but not friendly. Overall the food was much better than the buffet places so we actually ate here twice during our stay.
Whispering Canyon - I have to preface this review by saying that we were not hungry when we went here but had ressies so we went anyway. No one ate very much. DH and I got the all you can eat skillet. We did not even finish half of it. The meat had a smoked flavor, so if you do not like the smoked taste, stay away. The mashed potates were good again. The kids had chicken strips. Not much to say about that. Again we got stuck with a bad server. It was the end of the day and perhaps he was tired, but he certainly was not in the mood to have a good time. We saw all the servers around us carrying on and having fun but ours was a dud. We tried to engage him and the kids told him jokes, but he didn't respond. We had to ask him to make the kids hats (everyone else had them). He brought me a drink in a small 8 oz glass. I finished it within 15 seconds and had to wait another 15 minutes to get a refill. I noticed that all the other tables had drinks in much larger glasses. Again, I think we were cursed with all the burned out and tired servers. Every time we asked them for something, they acted like we were a pain. Needless to say, we never tipped anything extra over the 15% gratuity included in the plan.
Pecos Bills at MK- Love the burgers and the fixings bar. The dessert was chocolate cream pie. It was pretty good.
Electric Umbrella at Epcot - Again, we had burgers. Pretty much the same as all the other counter service meals. Not bad for fast food.
Ohanas for breakfast - Food was just o.k. I did like the mickey waffles though. Again, however, the service was terrible. The character interaction was good. Mickey, Goofy, Chip and Dale were all there.
Chef Mickey's Dinner Buffet - The kids choices here were very limited. For the cost, they should have more choices. Only cheese pizza, hot dogs, chicken strips or mac & cheese. That is it. MY 8 yr old DS hardly ate anything the whole trip. He does not eat burgers or hot dogs and he did not like the pizza or the mac and cheese. That left chicken strips which he refused to eat anymore after the 2nd day. If you have a picky eater, you need to bring something else for them to eat. THis place can get crazy and I did not care for it. We had ressies for the Crystal Palace for the next night, but decided that we had enough of buffets and character encounters so we cancelled and went to Concourse steakhouse again.
Counter Service at Disney Quest - I had the Philly Cheesesteak and fries. It was good - a change from burgers. DH had pizza which was just o.k. THe kids had hot dog and pizza. The desserts here are good because they are from the cheesecake factory. This was the only place that argued with us about the large soda.
Captain Cooks at the Poly - We only ate there once. We had breakfast. It was fine. I thought they had a lot more options for breakfast than for any other meal. THe refillable mugs were great.
Comments about MYW Dining:
Snacks are limited. Use them for drinks and ice cream while you are at the parks. DH kept conserving and we had 26 (yes 26) snacks left over. We bought chips and rice crispie treats to bring home. My DH kept refilling the same bottle of water. I told him to just throw it away and get a new one, but he just could not bring himself to do it. If you are going with someone who is a penny pincher, good luck!!!
Counter service meals are all pretty much the same. The burgers are good and some places have great fixings bars with hot cheese for the fries. Always ask for a large soda. Only one place argued with us about it - CS at Disney Quest. We always ordered regular meals vs child meals for our kids. No one questioned this.
Table Service Meals - Make PS's in advance. Although we were able to change them once we were there, we often got seated at the end of the day which I think contributed to the bad service. At Concourse Steakhouse we had a PS for 9:50. The restaurant closes at 10:00. As soon as we sat down the waiter wanted our order so the kitchen could close. I told him that we had a reservation for 9:50. Why would they make them so late when the kitchen closes at 10:00. Needless to say, I felt rushed through this entire meal.
If anyone has any questions, let me know.
We used the MYW Dining Option. It worked for us this time because we would not have went to the restaurants if we paid out of pocket. Each dinner table service meal for 5 (2 adults and 3 kids) was over $150. No way would we have done this without the plan. However, most of the food was just average. Nothing spectacular. Plus, my opinion based on my experience so do not get upset, but the service sucked just about everywhere. I am just talking about the food service. The hotel staff was very friendly and accommodating. It seemed that once you told them that you were on the dining plan, they treated you differently. Perhaps because they thought that they would only get 15%, but we would have tipped on top of that if the service was good. I probably would not do it again. I'd rather have the CS meals while in the park and have dinner outside the World.
Oh well, now about the food. The problem is that it is more food than you normally would eat, so if you eat a later lunch you are not hungry for dinner. Also, we conserved our counter service credits in the beginning and ended up with 8 credits left over at the end of our trip. The lesson learned is eat a big breakfast and no lunch or eat lunch early so that you are hungry and ready for dinner. Also, use the credits as you go and if you run out then you can pay out of pocket at the end. We ended up buying lunch for several couples before we checked out. Now for a quick dining review:
Restaurantsaurus at AK - The burgers were good. pretty much the same at every counter service place. The fixins bar helped dress up the burger. The strawberry shortake dessert was good.
Spirit of Aloha - The service was bad, although I think we just got a bad server. Others looked like they were better. The food was o.k. The kids did not like the vegetables in the rice. The ribs and chicken were good. I thought the show was very entertaining. Overall, I would recommend if you like dinner shows.
Concourse Steakhouse - Great. I had the filet mignon and DH had the ribeye. The ribeye was much better than the filet. The parmesean mashed potatoes were awesome. The kid choices were limited (as they were everywhere). Two had the cheese pizza and the third had the pasta. The desserts were pretty but not great. DH had the cheesecake which was not very good. I had some chocolate pudding cake thingy which also was not very good. Although the kids loved the artists pallet where they could decorate their own sugar cookie. They also loved the kid's drink which had a light-up ice cube. The service here was fine but not friendly. Overall the food was much better than the buffet places so we actually ate here twice during our stay.
Whispering Canyon - I have to preface this review by saying that we were not hungry when we went here but had ressies so we went anyway. No one ate very much. DH and I got the all you can eat skillet. We did not even finish half of it. The meat had a smoked flavor, so if you do not like the smoked taste, stay away. The mashed potates were good again. The kids had chicken strips. Not much to say about that. Again we got stuck with a bad server. It was the end of the day and perhaps he was tired, but he certainly was not in the mood to have a good time. We saw all the servers around us carrying on and having fun but ours was a dud. We tried to engage him and the kids told him jokes, but he didn't respond. We had to ask him to make the kids hats (everyone else had them). He brought me a drink in a small 8 oz glass. I finished it within 15 seconds and had to wait another 15 minutes to get a refill. I noticed that all the other tables had drinks in much larger glasses. Again, I think we were cursed with all the burned out and tired servers. Every time we asked them for something, they acted like we were a pain. Needless to say, we never tipped anything extra over the 15% gratuity included in the plan.
Pecos Bills at MK- Love the burgers and the fixings bar. The dessert was chocolate cream pie. It was pretty good.
Electric Umbrella at Epcot - Again, we had burgers. Pretty much the same as all the other counter service meals. Not bad for fast food.
Ohanas for breakfast - Food was just o.k. I did like the mickey waffles though. Again, however, the service was terrible. The character interaction was good. Mickey, Goofy, Chip and Dale were all there.
Chef Mickey's Dinner Buffet - The kids choices here were very limited. For the cost, they should have more choices. Only cheese pizza, hot dogs, chicken strips or mac & cheese. That is it. MY 8 yr old DS hardly ate anything the whole trip. He does not eat burgers or hot dogs and he did not like the pizza or the mac and cheese. That left chicken strips which he refused to eat anymore after the 2nd day. If you have a picky eater, you need to bring something else for them to eat. THis place can get crazy and I did not care for it. We had ressies for the Crystal Palace for the next night, but decided that we had enough of buffets and character encounters so we cancelled and went to Concourse steakhouse again.
Counter Service at Disney Quest - I had the Philly Cheesesteak and fries. It was good - a change from burgers. DH had pizza which was just o.k. THe kids had hot dog and pizza. The desserts here are good because they are from the cheesecake factory. This was the only place that argued with us about the large soda.
Captain Cooks at the Poly - We only ate there once. We had breakfast. It was fine. I thought they had a lot more options for breakfast than for any other meal. THe refillable mugs were great.
Comments about MYW Dining:
Snacks are limited. Use them for drinks and ice cream while you are at the parks. DH kept conserving and we had 26 (yes 26) snacks left over. We bought chips and rice crispie treats to bring home. My DH kept refilling the same bottle of water. I told him to just throw it away and get a new one, but he just could not bring himself to do it. If you are going with someone who is a penny pincher, good luck!!!
Counter service meals are all pretty much the same. The burgers are good and some places have great fixings bars with hot cheese for the fries. Always ask for a large soda. Only one place argued with us about it - CS at Disney Quest. We always ordered regular meals vs child meals for our kids. No one questioned this.
Table Service Meals - Make PS's in advance. Although we were able to change them once we were there, we often got seated at the end of the day which I think contributed to the bad service. At Concourse Steakhouse we had a PS for 9:50. The restaurant closes at 10:00. As soon as we sat down the waiter wanted our order so the kitchen could close. I told him that we had a reservation for 9:50. Why would they make them so late when the kitchen closes at 10:00. Needless to say, I felt rushed through this entire meal.
If anyone has any questions, let me know.
