Just back - Meal Deal Observations

[Tinkerbellarella]

My boyfriend and I just returned from a 5nt stay in Orlando. We visited Sea World and US/IOA and took advantage of the Meal Deal while at the latter two parks. My observations...

*This is a great deal IF you aren't looking for much variety. While there were 3 participating restaurants in each park, the food is generally the same across the board. In some fashion, in at least one restaurant, the following is offered: cheeseburger w/fries, chix sandwich with fries, pizza, salad with/without grilled chicken, fried chicken meal with corn, spaghetti with meat balls, alfredo with/without chicken, and some small variety of chinese/asian food. (That might sound like a lot now, but every time I passed by somewhere serving BBQ, I wanted it simply because I couldn't have it! LOL) Also, it's the same 4 desserts everywhere: lemon cake, jello parfait, chocolate chip cookie or chocolate mouse cake. And they're just ok.

*The quality of the food is just ok. Having eaten CS at both the Disney and the non-Disney parks, I found, Disney and SW had superior food in terms of taste, variety and quantity.

*I actually thought the souvenir cups that you get with the Meal Deal were worth it. Some people don't care for the fact that you can only refill them at the Meal Deal locations but we never had a problem with that. They're pretty big and if you tell them light ice they'll last a while. If you want to refill them somewhere other than one of the Meal Deal locations, it's less than a dollar. We discovered this when we refilled ours at Cinnabon at CityWalk on the way out.

*Of the 3 restaurants in each park, I personally enjoyed The Burger Digs at IOA and Louie's at US. I will say this - be prepared to wait! A lot of people take advantage of this program and, coupled with people who don't, the lines get long! Even during "off" meal times.

Now, would I do it again? Probably not for me. My boyfriend isn't overly picky about what he eats (pretty easy to please) and he eats A LOT. In terms of his meals alone, both my and his deal was paid for once and over again. (To put it in perspective, he's 5'11" and 210lbs of muscle - this man puts away a 24oz. prime rib when we go out for steak.) I, however, didn't use it to it's full "potential' and, as I said, didn't care for the limits or the quality. However, I'm not sorry we tried it. We did this trip on a budget and, for the most part, this kept us within our budget. I would've liked maybe to have done a couple of other sit down meals, but instead we splurged and went to the California Grill one night.

One completely random yet kind of related thing - we had the 2 Park Meal Deal for 2 Days, however we were at US/IOA for 3 days. On the 3rd day we were on our own (also happened to be the day we ate at CG) and we tried out the BK Whopper Bar they now have at CityWalk. If you're a Whopper fan, try this out. It was great. So many ways to customize your burger and the prices were more reasonable than I'd thought they'd be.

Let me know if I can provide any more info, insight or answer any questions! I'm always happy to help.

Happy traveling!

 

[wen8jr]

Very good info. Definately helps me decide if we want to do it or not.

 

[poeticdiabetic]

I concur with the OP. The food is OK and is plentiful, but not with a lot of variety. For instance, the desserts were the same: chocolate mousse cake, lemon cake, or jello parfaits. And there are some different entrees, but most of it was the same.

If you want variety, though, you need to eat the one or two entrees that were different.

But you can eat and eat and eat. You can eat something, ride a ride, eat something else, and then ride something else.

But all in all, I like the Disney plan better... even if it was just CS. And yes, the BBQ smells at other restaurants will drive you insane.

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

But you can eat and eat and eat. You can eat something, ride a ride, eat something else, and then ride something else.

PD (may I call you PD? ) is absolutely right. You can eat like a horse. Heck, you can eat like FOUR horses, BUT you can only take one entree and dessert per person at a time. So, if you want pizza AND a cheeseburger meal, you have to go through the line once, get the pizza. Commence eating. Then go through the line a second time and get the second meal.

We had a feeling it would be like this but never 'tested' it to see if it was enforced until our 2nd to last day. DBF grabbed a pizza and a cheeseburger meal and from ALLLLL the way down at the register, the woman advised him he couldn't do that. It was rather embarrassing. She literally YELLED across the restaurant. And she really wasn't very nice about it either. Had it been any more crowded, I'd probably have asked her kindly not to do that, that we aren't dull or hard of hearing and that she could've just told him when he got to the register.

And yes, the BBQ smells at other restaurants will drive you insane.

Honestly, I'm totally lamenting not having tried the ribs. The woebegone look on my face each time we walked by the BBQ place in Jurassic Park was probably borderline comical!

 

[wen8jr]

PD (may I call you PD? ) is absolutely right. You can eat like a horse. Heck, you can eat like FOUR horses, BUT you can only take one entree and dessert per person at a time. So, if you want pizza AND a cheeseburger meal, you have to go through the line once, get the pizza. Commence eating. Then go through the line a second time and get the second meal.

We had a feeling it would be like this but never 'tested' it to see if it was enforced until our 2nd to last day. DBF grabbed a pizza and a cheeseburger meal and from ALLLLL the way down at the register, the woman advised him he couldn't do that. It was rather embarrassing. She literally YELLED across the restaurant. And she really wasn't very nice about it either. Had it been any more crowded, I'd probably have asked her kindly not to do that, that we aren't dull or hard of hearing and that she could've just told him when he got to the register.

That's pretty rude. How did she know he wasn't planning on paying for the other meal out of pocket? We always go through the lines for each other while another grabs a seat.

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

That's pretty rude. How did she know he wasn't planning on paying for the other meal out of pocket? We always go through the lines for each other while another grabs a seat.

I noticed in 2 out of the 3 US Meal Deal places that all of the staff was new and were being trained. And they were all Senior Citizens (and that's not a remark on their performance but I was actually surprised! I guess I'm just so used to seeing college kids behind the counter). Everyone seemed pretty nervous and so I hacked it up to nerves and let it go. But I agree, she made the assumption (though in this case it was right, DBF was trying to avoid going through the line twice) and acted on it.

You guys really have me thinking about this experience more and more! Another observation, and I have no idea if it applies to ALL CS or just the Meal Deal locations:

At the type of CS where you place your order at the register and then pick it up at the counter (like most Disney CS) as opposted to other places where you choose your food and then pay at the end, they were HIGHLY disorganized. Once they lost our orders altogether and ignored us despite the fact that we were standing there obviously waiting for something and 4-5 groups behind us had been served. We had to ask for our food and then reiterate what we'd ordered. Because they aren't very organized they are SLOW. And I'm not talking at peak meal times either.

It's funny, the more I write, the more negative it all seems but I assure you, these issues were small in the grand scheme of what was a GREAT trip! I guess what really, ultimately, was lacking was the CS options/service.

"I can see clearly now the rain is gone..." LOL

 

[PKS44]

Can you comment on the prices--like what a cheeseburger would cost if you bought it...I am thinking about getting this for my son and me when we go this fall...he does not eat much variety and it is only 2 days -and we have a 3rd day on our own to try other stuff...so how much would it save if you ate like a normal person would eat in a theme park...you know maybe 2 or 3 sodas, a lunch with burger and fries, maybe dessert and the same sort of dinner...what would that cost if you just paid ala carte???

 

[Niki Andiokno]

You can get on allears.net to look at menus. I'm not sure if the counter service menus are on there or not, but it is a starting point.

Are the portions large enough that a normal person would only go through the line once? If so, I'm not sure it would be worth it. If you really need to go more than once, it probably would be. Do you have to finish what is on your plate before you go in line again? What if you want a salad, then some pasta? Would someone yell at me if I only eat part of the salad before getting in line? If I don't like something, would I have to wait to get something else? Could DH and I, both on the meal plan, split a salad and chicken dinner?

I guess these are probably silly questions, but it sounds like they are alot more strict than I thought they would be. I would never imagine someone yelling at me in line.

 

[Lukas87]

You can eat 2 meals cheaper than the cost of the meal deal. If you eat 3 meals, you would have saved money by getting the meal deal.

 

[Metro West]

I've never purchased the MD since I'm only there for a 1/2 day at most but as much as I like to eat, I certainly don't think I would get my money's worth with it...of course I don't have kids either.

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

Can you comment on the prices--like what a cheeseburger would cost if you bought it...I am thinking about getting this for my son and me when we go this fall...he does not eat much variety and it is only 2 days -and we have a 3rd day on our own to try other stuff...so how much would it save if you ate like a normal person would eat in a theme park...you know maybe 2 or 3 sodas, a lunch with burger and fries, maybe dessert and the same sort of dinner...what would that cost if you just paid ala carte???

By way of example:
Cheeseburger platter (with fries): $7.49
Regular soda: $2.39
Dessert: $2.49 (and that's low, I think)
Total: about $13/meal, so if you ate twice and maybe got one other snack, you'd break even.

It also depends on what kind of MD you purchase. The 1-Park Deal is $19.99/day and the 2-Park Deal is $23.99/day. The refillable cup is optional. With the cup each day I think it was about $32 a piece, including tax, for us. Give or take a dollar because it's too early in the a.m. for math.

To be honest, you'd probably save without the deal or maybe break even if you aren't big eaters. You'd also enjoy more variety. Burgers and such are available at just about ALL of the CS places.

Our MD paid for itself and saved us money only because of
a.) the amount of food DBF eats LOL and
b.) we refilled our sodas/teas, etc. almost every time we passed a MD location

But, if you were to get one souvenir mug-thingy to share (which was either 6.99 or 8.99) and then got a meal each, twice, I don't think it would work out for you to use the MD. Especially for the desserts. The ice cream, pop corn, etc. sold in carts/stands around the parks looked far more appetizing than the jello, cake, etc.

Are the portions large enough that a normal person would only go through the line once?

For a "normal" appetite, yes. (Though I noticed that ALL of the places skimped on the fries.) If you've got a big eater, then maybe not.

Do you have to finish what is on your plate before you go in line again?

No, and I should clear this up. DBF only got "spoken to" because he had two meals at one time in line. They do not walk around the tables policing what you're eating and how many meals you have. How could they, really? You paid forthe option to eat as much as you wanted all day. There was a situation where I didn't like what I got (AT ALL ) and so I put it aside (which killed me because I DESPISE throwing away food and it was something DBF didn't care for) and got back in line to get something else. Nobody said a peep to me.

Could DH and I, both on the meal plan, split a salad and chicken dinner?

Not sure what you mean by this one. You could split a single meal but that really wouldn't be using the MD to it's full advantage. But if you mean could you each get a meal and then eat off each other's plates, sure. We did it the whole time.

Again, to clarify, there's no one walking around watching what, how, when or how much you eat. They only enforce one meal per person through the line at a time. I think they're trying to do two things 1.) make sure people aren't abusing it by getting, say, 2 bracelets and then feeding a family of 5 and 2.) trying to discourage wasting uneaten food (at least I'd HOPE this was a concern, although it's probably more the former than anything else).

I guess these are probably silly questions, but it sounds like they are alot more strict than I thought they would be. I would never imagine someone yelling at me in line.

Your questions aren't silly at all. I had the same questions but we just went with the flow. And while the woman yelled, it was more a volume thing than anything since she saw him grab the two meals where he was standing at the beginning of the line and she saw it from all the way down at the register where I was standing. Granted, she could've been a tad nicer or quieter about it, but se la vie. It was the only issue we encountered when using the MD.

I've never purchased the MD since I'm only there for a 1/2 day at most but as much as I like to eat, I certainly don't think I would get my money's worth with it...of course I don't have kids either.

I agree with MW. As I mentioned earlier, next time we go I won't purchase it for myself but I'd leave it up to DBF whether or not he wanted it. He wasn't as concerned about the restrictions of where we could eat as I was. And he certainly ate enough to pay for mine and his.