We were on the dining plan and LOVED it. We did lots of sharing so that a) we were able to visit two of the TS places that require 2 credits, and b) because there's just so much food for the TS credits.
With one exception, we loved all of our TS meals.
Flying Fish Cafe - service was terrific, loved the atmosphere and food was excellent. I'm not much of a fish lover, but the waiter indicated that the red snapper dish was a filet and was very mild, but delicious. He was right on target - it was a great dish!
Spoodles (dinner) - We ate here 2 years ago and weren't terribly impressed (especially given all of the great reviews). This time, our experience was quite different. We weren't terribly hungry so we used just 2 TS meals and also ordered chicken noodle soup for my DD. The apps were great (flatbread, calamari) and the main dishes were delicious as well (chicken w/ Lemon orzo, spinach and tomatoes). Had no complaints with the service either.
Spoodles (breakfast) - Since we enjoyed our dinner so much and ended up having a few extra TS meals, we decided to have a TS breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. It was delicious. Service was fast (others have said that Spoodles is slow for breakfast) and omelets were very good. Kids enjoyed their MM pancakes.
Crystal Palace (dinner) - was surprisingly good. I'm not a big fan of buffets (this was our only one), but we decided to try it because I didn't want to commit tons of time to a sitdown dinner while in MK. We all found things we liked very much such as grilled salmon, corn spoonbread, roast beef, nicely done green beans, and potato chowder. We didn't come here for the characters (Pooh, Tiger, Piglet), but they did make the rounds and were definitely fun.
Wolfgang Puck Cafe (dinner) - LOVED this meal! We were there on Thanksgiving and it was absolutely jammed, but everything that came out of the kitchen was perfection. My vegetable spring rolls appetizer was excellent, my husband loved the calamari and our entrees were excellent as well (macadamia crusted chicken and Wolf Steak). The kids enjoyed their meals as well (spaghetti & meatballs for DD8 and "Wolfgang's Meatball" for DS11). DH was disappointed w/ the sides that came w/ his steak (french fries AND onion rings). I agreed that garlic mashed potatoes (that came w/ my dinner) would have been a better match. The other minor complaint was that they ran out of a number of desserts that night. We were pretty stuffed so it really didn't make a difference, but I found it surprising. The menu here is eclectic, but there is something for everyone. Service was good as well.
Yachtman's Steakhouse (dinner) - MAJOR disappointment!!! Very poor service and steaks that were just ok. DH and I got the Chateaubriand (sp?) and it was served lukewarm, the kids each got a filet and they were not cooked enough (we all ordered medium, these were very clearly med-rare, perhaps more on the rare side). Our server was nowhere to be found. We eventually flagged down another waiter and got the kids' steaks put back on the grill. 15 mins later, they came back to us. My filet had a ribbon of fat running through it (??!). The wait between entrees and dessert was 30 mins, and the wait for our check was another 20 mins. Our total bill came to $208. Had we not been on the DDP, and had we not wanted to get out of there and over to Epcot, I would have spoken with the manager.
We definitely tried restaurants that we would not have tried before and although we had one bad experience (that actually cost 2 TS Credits each), we definitely enjoyed our TS meals. We'd purchase the DDP again in a heartbeat!!
With one exception, we loved all of our TS meals.
Flying Fish Cafe - service was terrific, loved the atmosphere and food was excellent. I'm not much of a fish lover, but the waiter indicated that the red snapper dish was a filet and was very mild, but delicious. He was right on target - it was a great dish!
Spoodles (dinner) - We ate here 2 years ago and weren't terribly impressed (especially given all of the great reviews). This time, our experience was quite different. We weren't terribly hungry so we used just 2 TS meals and also ordered chicken noodle soup for my DD. The apps were great (flatbread, calamari) and the main dishes were delicious as well (chicken w/ Lemon orzo, spinach and tomatoes). Had no complaints with the service either.
Spoodles (breakfast) - Since we enjoyed our dinner so much and ended up having a few extra TS meals, we decided to have a TS breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. It was delicious. Service was fast (others have said that Spoodles is slow for breakfast) and omelets were very good. Kids enjoyed their MM pancakes.
Crystal Palace (dinner) - was surprisingly good. I'm not a big fan of buffets (this was our only one), but we decided to try it because I didn't want to commit tons of time to a sitdown dinner while in MK. We all found things we liked very much such as grilled salmon, corn spoonbread, roast beef, nicely done green beans, and potato chowder. We didn't come here for the characters (Pooh, Tiger, Piglet), but they did make the rounds and were definitely fun.
Wolfgang Puck Cafe (dinner) - LOVED this meal! We were there on Thanksgiving and it was absolutely jammed, but everything that came out of the kitchen was perfection. My vegetable spring rolls appetizer was excellent, my husband loved the calamari and our entrees were excellent as well (macadamia crusted chicken and Wolf Steak). The kids enjoyed their meals as well (spaghetti & meatballs for DD8 and "Wolfgang's Meatball" for DS11). DH was disappointed w/ the sides that came w/ his steak (french fries AND onion rings). I agreed that garlic mashed potatoes (that came w/ my dinner) would have been a better match. The other minor complaint was that they ran out of a number of desserts that night. We were pretty stuffed so it really didn't make a difference, but I found it surprising. The menu here is eclectic, but there is something for everyone. Service was good as well.
Yachtman's Steakhouse (dinner) - MAJOR disappointment!!! Very poor service and steaks that were just ok. DH and I got the Chateaubriand (sp?) and it was served lukewarm, the kids each got a filet and they were not cooked enough (we all ordered medium, these were very clearly med-rare, perhaps more on the rare side). Our server was nowhere to be found. We eventually flagged down another waiter and got the kids' steaks put back on the grill. 15 mins later, they came back to us. My filet had a ribbon of fat running through it (??!). The wait between entrees and dessert was 30 mins, and the wait for our check was another 20 mins. Our total bill came to $208. Had we not been on the DDP, and had we not wanted to get out of there and over to Epcot, I would have spoken with the manager.
We definitely tried restaurants that we would not have tried before and although we had one bad experience (that actually cost 2 TS Credits each), we definitely enjoyed our TS meals. We'd purchase the DDP again in a heartbeat!!
Otherwise they wouldn't do it. As for the service, don't the servers know that we have the option to leave an extra tip for good service? 
We ordered the steak and our waiter mentioned that the sides that were with it didn't really go and would we rather have the garlic mashed potatoes instead? We did and the potatoes were delicious. Apparently, the waiter did know what he was talking about. 
