jennybobenny
banana fanna fo fenny
- Joined
- Aug 19, 1999
Just got back from 6 days in WDW. Rather than find the individual threads for each restaurant I thought I'd lump all my opinions into one post.
TABLE SERVICE
Whispering Canyon Cafe...I read posts here on the board about Bobby leaving and how management asked the waitstaff to tone things down. Well I'm here to tell you, things haven't changed - at least not that we noticed. We had a group of 13 broken down into 2 tables - one table of 8 (6 adults and 2 young adults) and a table of 5 (age range from 5 to 10yrs). Doug was our waiter and he was fantastic. All the old jokes are still there (extra large pitchers of iced tea, ketchup cattlecalls, quiet while so-and-so is on the phone, spongebob t-shirt, hokey pokey etc. etc.). Actually, compared with our last visit to WCC a few years ago, this time we were asked to stand up and recite things more often. Our neighboring waiter (wish I got his name) was hysterical (had the 5 kids go with him to sing to one of his tables), spoke to the kids *every* single time he walked by and had them all laughing in the aisles. All of us had a great time (and the pork chops were awesome!).
PS: We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and on several occasions could hear the laughter and antics coming from WCC as we passed thru the lobby. Didn't bother us a bit.
Crystal Palace Character Breakfast Buffet: Loved it. It's a classic and a never-miss for our family.
Ohana Character Breakfast: Our first time. Loved it.
Le Cellier: Our waiter was awesome. Food was fantastic. We had the little talk with our kids about "dining" vs. "eating" but I'm not sure it's the best restaurant choice for us (especially after what our kids got away with at Whispering Canyon!) On the other hand, my 12 year old daughter impressed the heck out of us by ordering (and eating) mussels and filet mignon.
1900 Park Faire Character Dinner Buffet: Our first time. No complaints. Prince Charming was hot (lol) and totally kept his composure when a bunch of teenage guys started razzing him a bit.
50's Prime Time Dinner: Another classic. Never realized how often my family puts their elbows on the table! The waitress told my daughter to ease up on the sprite or she'd need rubber sheets.
COUNTER / QUICK SERVICE
Roaring Forks (Wilderness Lodge Food Court): Awesome. I was so impressed with the food here I wished we could have skipped a few table service meals and eaten here instead. The Grilled Chicken Salad w/Apple Vinegarette Dressing was great. Hamburgers were great, individual pizzas were great. Several times we waited until we got back to the resort for lunch/dinner rather than eat at one of the parks specifically so we could eat at Roaring Forks. This was our first time having the luxury of a food court (we usually stay at Boardwalk Villas) and it is definately a selling point.
Cosmic Ray's: Not a big fan, but it was quick and convenient.
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OVERALL DINING PLAN
We had 3 adults and 1 child. Our stay was 6 nights. Grand total for the dining plan was $750. Each night we tallied up how many TS, QS and Snacks we used and how much the meal would have cost had we not been on the dining plan. (In order to do this you'll need to write down the total amount on your receipt after signing the restaurant's receipt as the slip you keep has nothing but zeros for totals). At the end of the 7 days our receipts totalled $1030. So..it was definately worth it, although I must say we probably wouldn't have eaten at so many table service restaurants had we not been on the dining plan.
If I were to do it all over again I wouldn't shy away from the table service meals that require *2* table service credits (Hoop dee Doo, Cinderella's Castle, Yachtsman Steakhouse, etc.) just for the sake of not having to plan for a big meal every single day (life is rough, isn't it??). Also, I made the mistake of 'saving up' the snack credits for the first few days because I didn't want to run out. Unfortunately that left us with 2 days remaining and 13 snack credits to use. It ended up working out ok as we got some carrot sticks, grapes and fruit cups, along with a few bottles of water on our checkout day. Even though we had come out ahead money-wise I didn't want to leave Disney while we still had snack credits! (LOL)
TABLE SERVICE
Whispering Canyon Cafe...I read posts here on the board about Bobby leaving and how management asked the waitstaff to tone things down. Well I'm here to tell you, things haven't changed - at least not that we noticed. We had a group of 13 broken down into 2 tables - one table of 8 (6 adults and 2 young adults) and a table of 5 (age range from 5 to 10yrs). Doug was our waiter and he was fantastic. All the old jokes are still there (extra large pitchers of iced tea, ketchup cattlecalls, quiet while so-and-so is on the phone, spongebob t-shirt, hokey pokey etc. etc.). Actually, compared with our last visit to WCC a few years ago, this time we were asked to stand up and recite things more often. Our neighboring waiter (wish I got his name) was hysterical (had the 5 kids go with him to sing to one of his tables), spoke to the kids *every* single time he walked by and had them all laughing in the aisles. All of us had a great time (and the pork chops were awesome!).
PS: We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and on several occasions could hear the laughter and antics coming from WCC as we passed thru the lobby. Didn't bother us a bit.
Crystal Palace Character Breakfast Buffet: Loved it. It's a classic and a never-miss for our family.
Ohana Character Breakfast: Our first time. Loved it.
Le Cellier: Our waiter was awesome. Food was fantastic. We had the little talk with our kids about "dining" vs. "eating" but I'm not sure it's the best restaurant choice for us (especially after what our kids got away with at Whispering Canyon!) On the other hand, my 12 year old daughter impressed the heck out of us by ordering (and eating) mussels and filet mignon.
1900 Park Faire Character Dinner Buffet: Our first time. No complaints. Prince Charming was hot (lol) and totally kept his composure when a bunch of teenage guys started razzing him a bit.
50's Prime Time Dinner: Another classic. Never realized how often my family puts their elbows on the table! The waitress told my daughter to ease up on the sprite or she'd need rubber sheets.
COUNTER / QUICK SERVICE
Roaring Forks (Wilderness Lodge Food Court): Awesome. I was so impressed with the food here I wished we could have skipped a few table service meals and eaten here instead. The Grilled Chicken Salad w/Apple Vinegarette Dressing was great. Hamburgers were great, individual pizzas were great. Several times we waited until we got back to the resort for lunch/dinner rather than eat at one of the parks specifically so we could eat at Roaring Forks. This was our first time having the luxury of a food court (we usually stay at Boardwalk Villas) and it is definately a selling point.
Cosmic Ray's: Not a big fan, but it was quick and convenient.
***********************************************
OVERALL DINING PLAN
We had 3 adults and 1 child. Our stay was 6 nights. Grand total for the dining plan was $750. Each night we tallied up how many TS, QS and Snacks we used and how much the meal would have cost had we not been on the dining plan. (In order to do this you'll need to write down the total amount on your receipt after signing the restaurant's receipt as the slip you keep has nothing but zeros for totals). At the end of the 7 days our receipts totalled $1030. So..it was definately worth it, although I must say we probably wouldn't have eaten at so many table service restaurants had we not been on the dining plan.
If I were to do it all over again I wouldn't shy away from the table service meals that require *2* table service credits (Hoop dee Doo, Cinderella's Castle, Yachtsman Steakhouse, etc.) just for the sake of not having to plan for a big meal every single day (life is rough, isn't it??). Also, I made the mistake of 'saving up' the snack credits for the first few days because I didn't want to run out. Unfortunately that left us with 2 days remaining and 13 snack credits to use. It ended up working out ok as we got some carrot sticks, grapes and fruit cups, along with a few bottles of water on our checkout day. Even though we had come out ahead money-wise I didn't want to leave Disney while we still had snack credits! (LOL)