Just got back: $ damages and mini food reviews

[Eastern]

So it was 4 adults travelling for 5 nights and dining with TIW. My usual 'budget' is $50 pp per day for food, so for this trip, I guesstimated a rough $1000 food budget. I planned on people getting whatever they wanted, so I knew I was going to go over, but I wasn't sure by how much. Previous trips were done with an occasional pre-dinner cocktail and 1TS per day, with apps and sushi at CG on one night.

This trip was different in that we did two Epcot days where we drank/ate around the world ($$), and we got drinks, apps, entrees, and desserts at CG. yeah, that one hurt my budget, bad.

Reviewing the receipts I had upon our return, here are the totals:

Grand total: $1,727 for 2 resort mugs, food, and drinks/cocktails/one 24 pack of waters
Subtracting CG meal ($510 including cocktails/5 people tonight) from total: $1217
Subtracting total trip cocktails only ($307) from total: $1420
Subtracting CG and cocktails ($717) from total: $910
Added up receipts again/corrected totals

So the lesson here is that if you want your food budget to stay around $50 pp, do not drink cocktails or eat at CG. Also remember that this was done with TIW, so if you don't have that, add extra for tips.

Reviews to follow.

 

[Hopefully]

Personally I think $50/adult/day is too low. We go as 3 adults and I want to enjoy my long planned for, long saved for vacation. We do enjoy a beer or a glass of wine with dinner. And we do usually go to one Signature per trip. This year we are doing HDDR again and greatly looking forward to it.
For us, we wouldn't enjoy the restrictions of your plan. I would delay our trip until I could afford to go in the manner that suits us. To each their own.

 

[Eastern]

There were two things I had read about frequently before we left: smaller portion sizes and declining food quality. Also, a lot of people ask about sharing meals, so I took note of which meals were 'shareable'. Background: we are average eaters who don't really snack between meals, and don't usually order dessert.

Monday: on our arrival day, we got in around 2pm, so we stopped for lunch at Sassagoula Floatworks at POFQ. We all got Shrimp Po' Boys with housemade chips. We had to wait a bit, maybe 10 minutes? They give you a beeper to notify you when it's ready for pickup. They were freshly made and hot, and the size was suitable for sharing. The roll was a bit disappointing: a tad stale and overly large. I discarded some of the bread but it was still enough food.

Dinner that night was at Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen. This has gotten good reviews for food seasoning (usually non-existent at Disney) and theming/CM interaction so I was looking forward to it. When we got there, there was a loooong line at check in. In the hot sun. And it was not. moving. There were 2 CMS working at the podium, but one was having an extended conversation with a couple. It looked like they were just chatting away about whatever was going on in their lives. And it went on. and on. as the line grew longer. and longer. I just don't get that.

We finally got our pager and were called within minutes. We were seated in the big (main?) room. We ordered several apps and entrees. They were all very good, quality-wise, and seasoned well. However, the portions were spartan. The pictures on the menu showed nice portions, but our servings looked a bit anemic. For example, the falafel was shown on a bed of hummus, with a cucumber/tomato relish along the plate. It actually arrived with a smear of hummus, and a delicate sprinkling of the relish. I actually asked for more relish, I should have asked for more hummus. The falafel was good but on the dry side, it seemed baked rather than deep fried? The arepas was again, very good, but there were like two tablespoons of it on the plate. The shrimp dish was 5 or 6 30-40 count shrimp size wise, with some rice and two small pieces of bok choy. It was more like a shrimp cocktail than a meal. All meals were rather spartan. I think they are going for 'healthy' here, which is fine, but you need more food if you want to charge those prices. We were still hungry after dinner. We went and got snacks somewhere else!

Interaction: I thought this place was supposed to be great fun...but all of the servers in our room seemed very rushed. Food runners delivered most of the plates. Zero fun ''interaction'. As we were leaving, we heard loud laughter from the smaller room. We peeked in and 2 CMs were having fun with a large table. This was the only time I noticed any effort at entertainment. If you are not going to give me enough food, at least make me laugh.

On our way out of MK that night, they stopped me and asked me if I would please take a short survey about my dining experience in MK that day. Justice.

 

[Eastern]

Personally I think $50/adult/day is too low. We go as 3 adults and I want to enjoy my long planned for, long saved for vacation. We do enjoy a beer or a glass of wine with dinner. And we do usually go to one Signature per trip. This year we are doing HDDR again and greatly looking forward to it.
For us, we wouldn't enjoy the restrictions of your plan. I would delay our trip until I could afford to go in the manner that suits us. To each their own.

Not sure if you got my point, but there were no restrictions.

People often ask, how much do you budget for food at Disney? I was giving a random dollar figure that I have used in the past. Then, I was showing what you could do to keep close to that particular dollar figure. I am sure that most people do not spend that much on food. Most of the TS restaurants we dined at were not full. I got last minute reservations at nearly every place we ate, including 7pm at CG on a Friday, for 5 people.

I could have thrown out a budget of $40 pp per day, or $75 pp per day. I chose $50 as a reasonable figure for a good number of people.

The advice at the end was to explain how I would cut down expenses if one wanted to stay ~ $50 pp per day.

 

[Eastern]

Tuesday: We went to Sunshine Seasons for breakfast. Hot breakfast choices were adult breakfast platter $10 (eggs, potatoes, bacon, 2 sausage, piece of french toast and biscuit), child breakfast platter $5 (eggs, bacon, french toast & a child size Dasani water) or breakfast pannini (served with potatoes). Honestly, I thought the child's platter was the best value. Enough food for breakfast and you get a free water. The pannini was good for larger appetites. I would share the pannini, but not the adult platter. I would get each person a child's platter instead. The only difference between the adult and child's platter was 2 pieces of sausage and some potatoes. Definitely not worth $5 more.

We didn't want a big lunch so we ate and drank around the world at Epcot. That cost around $125. We split nachos in Mexico, orange chicken in China, and a chicken and lamb platter at Morocco. The platter is good to share if you order extra pitas ($1.50 each). Two can share for lunch, 4 for a snack.

We went to Garden Grill for dinner. I usually like GG, but my kids consider it a must-do. I did notice a food quality decline here. The beef was variable, sometimes decent, sometimes dry and charred. They have switched out the fish offering for italian sausage links. The turkey was the same. The platters seemed to be heavier than normal in terms of sides: 4-5 slices of meat, 2 sausage links, and a few slices of turkey, but massive quantities of potatoes and stuffing. They also brought a plate with mac and cheese, green beans, and sweet potato fries. We wanted to ask for more beef and turkey but our server was gone for a long time. Then it took him a long time to bring the next plate. We also asked for mac and cheese only (it comes in a smallish bowl) and he brought us an entire platter with green beans and sweet potato fries. I felt bad but we just left all of those sides. What a waste. The dessert is different too, some pieces of dry cake with a berry compote over top with a small amount of whipped cream. Just ok overall. Good character interaction, as always.

 

[phabric]

Looking forward to more of your reviews.

 

[Hopefully]

Not sure if you got my point, but there were no restrictions.

People often ask, how much do you budget for food at Disney? I was giving a random dollar figure that I have used in the past. Then, I was showing what you could do to keep close to that particular dollar figure. I am sure that most people do not spend that much on food. Most of the TS restaurants we dined at were not full. I got last minute reservations at nearly every place we ate, including 7pm at CG on a Friday, for 5 people.

I could have thrown out a budget of $40 pp per day, or $75 pp per day. I chose $50 as a reasonable figure for a good number of people.

The advice at the end was to explain how I would cut down expenses if one wanted to stay ~ $50 pp per day.

I did get your point. I was referring to the bolded statement - your advice at the end wouldn't work for us. As I said "To each their own"
I am enjoying your reviews.

 

[Eastern]

Wednesday: Early breakfast at Crystal Palace. I hadn't booked this before since it gets so many mixed reviews, such as 'chaotic' and 'dirty'. I can see how this can happen as it is a big place and lots going on with the characters. We had an 8:30am reservation and got to the park early. I think we checked in about 7:50am? They gave us a pager and we walked over to the castle. As soon as we got there, they paged us. We were among the first few tables and I told my party to watch for characters as they only come around once and then have to start over again (thanks to Disboards for the tip). We met Pooh right away and then we saw Eyeore lurking one row over. He had a few tables to go so we ran to the buffet for seconds (seemed like) and when we got back, he was gone! Never to return during our dining time. oh well, he's depressing, anyway. We saw Piglet and went over to the meeting spot for Tigger (I didn't know that he doesn't make the rounds, you have to go to him).

Buffet: we really liked this meal. It was clean and food was replenished promptly. Coffee and juice refills kept coming without asking. Overall, this was a great breakfast. If you are concerned about crowds, get an early ADR. The buses start about 6:30am (Magic Kingdom- Resorts).

Lunch was at Pecos Bill. We didn't go here last trip because of the change. We decided to try it this time, and were pleasantly surprised. We all had nachos and used the fixins bar. Choices included corn, shredded cheese, guacamole and avocado. Two people could split the nachos- the portion is smaller than the one at the Mexico Pavilion but the toppings bar makes it more substantial.

Dinner was at Kona Cafe. We got several apps and sushi. It was all good and consistent with previous visits. Portion sizes may be decreased a bit.

 

[Nancyg56]

Not sure if you got my point, but there were no restrictions.

People often ask, how much do you budget for food at Disney? I was giving a random dollar figure that I have used in the past. Then, I was showing what you could do to keep close to that particular dollar figure. I am sure that most people do not spend that much on food. Most of the TS restaurants we dined at were not full. I got last minute reservations at nearly every place we ate, including 7pm at CG on a Friday, for 5 people.

I could have thrown out a budget of $40 pp per day, or $75 pp per day. I chose $50 as a reasonable figure for a good number of people.

The advice at the end was to explain how I would cut down expenses if one wanted to stay ~ $50 pp per day.

LOL!!! The cocktails are the budget killer!! We went on an extended family trip last August and one of our members thought her bill was too high....you know all those tips! No. Your bill was high because wine at dinner and cocktails at the pool add up. LOL!!!

I think that it is really difficult to budget correctly for Disney food because every restaurant serves different portions as you pointed out with Skipper's. Prices tend to vary and the beverages can throw caution to the wind, and bust your best laid plans. For my family $50 per person would not be adequate because I know upfront how we dine, and I need to budget for it. You knew basically how your family dined, but as you also pointed out, you were prepared for the worst when you added CG. I think that as a Disney vet, your plan works for you.

My concern when people ask how to budget money for food is that if they have never been, or if they are adding TS restaurants for the first time, they can get blindsided if they do not budget enough to cover meals. I know the DDP gets panned a lot as a money pit, but for some, it is the best way to ensure that folks budget enough. I traveled with a friend whose husband allocated $30 per day for her food, (That is another discussion) and so when DH and I were planning my budget we included enough to cover her because I would never have gone anywhere she could not go too. The DH was cheap, but also planned based on his own experience when he went anywhere. I wonder how many others under budget based on their previous experience anywhere else.

 

[Eastern]

Thursday: Breakfast again at Sunshine Seasons. Got some breakfast platters and a strawberry shortcake. The cake seemed smaller than before, and at $4.59 was not the best value, but it's tradition.

Snacks and drinks around the world ~$125.

Dinner at Boatwright's. This has been getting good reviews lately so wanted to try it again, and it was convenient. We got the Colonel's Peace's Pieces for an app, it was really good. The remoulade sauce was excellent. Dinners included the prime rib, chicken and waffles, and crawfish etouffee. It was all very good. We didnt' make a dent in some entrees, so I will say that sharing is advised here!

 

[Shanti]

Personally I think $50/adult/day is too low.

Agreed. I don't even drink, and when I saw that number, I was thinking, that would have to be strictly counter service for every meal.

 

[Eastern]

Friday: Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. Food quality was good here. We got pot roast, hamburgers, vegetable sandwich. Ooey gooey cake and Boston cream pie for dessert. We enjoyed everything, but I will say that the portion sizes all seemed a bit smaller than last time. I might share the burger, but for everything else, get your own. We had no leftovers. Not even a crumb.

Dinner was at California Grill. I was unsure about a signature this time as there had been so many reports of miniscule portion sizes, but we did not find that here. We usually order cocktails, apps and sushi, and get out for around $200-$250. It was a special occasion so we decided to order multiple courses. I planned on a $500 meal for 5 and I got a $500 meal for 5 (actually $510).

Apps included the cheese plate, goat cheese ravioli, sushi, flatbread. It was all good. Entrees were more hit or miss. I would say that they were good, but not great. For example my dish was the scallops. They were seared well, and the corn and asparagus was nice, but the duck confit was way too salty, and there was a lot of it. I ended up leaving most of it. Desserts were 'just ok'. Someone in my party ordered 'coffee' and got a $7.49 press pot. Good times.

We had a great time but I've had an equally great time ordering cocktails, apps and sushi at half the price. I did notice that 'tuna 4 ways' is now 'tuna 3 ways'. Most of us did not finish our meals so I would not worry about portion size being too small.

 

[Eastern]

Overall, I thought the food was better than average park food. There are some quality declines, and some portions are a bit smaller, prices are higher, but overall, we were happy with our food choices.

As I posted above, our total would have been $910 without CG and alcohol involved. That is 45.50 pp per day, and subtracting CG and alcohol, we still ate at 1 TS per day, and 2 TS on one day. We bought a 24 pack of water for $6.39 and asked for free ice water at the CS locations (they made announcements telling people that it was available, surprising). We snacked through the world, got caramel items at Germany, got snacks at the bakery in France, a few $3 bottles of Dasani, and generally ordered whatever we wanted. If you take away one TS (cause we did two on two days, including CG) add in $50 for a CS instead, and subtract the breakfast $42 I paid on the last morning, it is about $40 pp per day using TIW. People are saying $50pp per day is too low but it is not if you stick to one TS, one CS, snacks and little or no alcohol. We typically don't drink as much as we did on this trip.

As I mentioned earlier, the TS locations had lots of availability. I found this surprising, as the parks were crowded. I changed my ADRs around up until the last minute and got everything I wanted. Pretty much everything was available except BOG, 'Ohana, 1900 Park Faire, and Chef Mickey's. So be aware: if you want them, book them.

CS were very crowded. Part of the reason I booked a couple of daytime TS was because I didn't want to search for a seat at the CS. So I spent extra money to be able to sit and relax in air-conditioned heaven.

We also got many appetizers, which many may not find necessary.

As for budgeting: If you like cocktails, revise upwards $10 pp per drink per day. If you're going to a signature, estimate $100 pp if you are getting drinks, app, entree, dessert. Only you know how your family eats. I think the best budgeting tip is to plan your meal locations, and then look through the menu to see what you would actually order. Take the time to do this. The dining plan is good if you don't want to calculate anything, but be aware of its limitations as well, as you may be paying for meals that one person in your party is not eating because they'd rather have a bowl of soup. There is no one answer, but hopefully I've given people an idea of what money will buy you food-wise at Disney.

 

[Nancyg56]

Thursday:

Dinner at Boatwright's. This has been getting good reviews lately so wanted to try it again, and it was convenient. We got the Colonel's Peace's Pieces for an app, it was really good. The remoulade sauce was excellent. Dinners included the prime rib, chicken and waffles, and crawfish etouffee. It was all very good. We didnt' make a dent in some entrees, so I will say that sharing is advised here!

We have always enjoyed our meals at Boatwrights. We plan dinner there fo any POFQ arrival night. I know that we should have shared our meals at this restaurant.

Friday: Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. Food quality was good here. We got pot roast, hamburgers, vegetable sandwich. Ooey gooey cake and Boston cream pie for dessert. We enjoyed everything, but I will say that the portion sizes all seemed a bit smaller than last time. I might share the burger, but for everything else, get your own. We had no leftovers. Not even a crumb.

Dinner was at California Grill. I was unsure about a signature this time as there had been so many reports of miniscule portion sizes, but we did not find that here. We usually order cocktails, apps and sushi, and get out for around $200-$250. It was a special occasion so we decided to order multiple courses. I planned on a $500 meal for 5 and I got a $500 meal for 5 (actually $510).

Apps included the cheese plate, goat cheese ravioli, sushi, flatbread. It was all good. Entrees were more hit or miss. I would say that they were good, but not great. For example my dish was the scallops. They were seared well, and the corn and asparagus was nice, but the duck confit was way too salty, and there was a lot of it. I ended up pushing most of it to the side. Desserts were 'just ok'. Someone in my party ordered 'coffee' and got a $7.49 press pot. Good times.

We had a great time but I've had an equally great time ordering cocktails, apps and sushi at half the price. I did notice that 'tuna 4 ways' is now 'tuna 3 ways'. Most of us did not finish our meals so I would not worry about portion size being too small.

My experience at LTT in December was the opposite in terms of portion size. We were on DDP and wanted to be sure that we did not waste credits by throwing uneaten food away, so we ordered 2 pot roast entrees between three of us. Plenty when we included out desserts.

I am looking forward to dining at CG on our next trip. WE have not dined there since the refurb, sothis one will be brand new to us. My crew likes sushi, so they will be happy campers I think, and I love pressed pot coffee, so I'm good. I know my cocktail bill will be high....some of us will be indulging during this meal! LOL!

 

[Eastern]

I am looking forward to dining at CG on our next trip. WE have not dined there since the refurb, sothis one will be brand new to us. My crew likes sushi, so they will be happy campers I think, and I love pressed pot coffee, so I'm good. I know my cocktail bill will be high....some of us will be indulging during this meal! LOL!

Cocktails were very good here and at Poly. Drinking around the world in Epcot was mostly for the young adults in our party, mostly sake and slushie type drinks.

 

[loves to dive]

Loving your review, sounds like you really know your family. I always get a kids breakfast, it's usually more than enough for me and I actually eat kids meals at CS most of the time unless all that is available is nuggets or pb&j. It is always more than enough food for me, I even end up not always finishing it. We found the food at Skipper's more than enough to share but we ate around 11:30 am knowing we were going to GF for tea at 3:45 and that would be a lot of food. We shared the appetizer that had two or three things on it, can't remember the name and shared the vegetarian entre. It was myself and my grown son. Between that and the tea, that was all we ate that day and still felt stuffed. I'm one of the few people that thinks 99% of the meals at WDW are too big, I can't remember a time when I've eaten everything.

 

[Nancyg56]

Overall, I thought the food was better than average park food. There are some quality declines, and some portions are a bit smaller, prices are higher, but overall, we were happy with our food choices.

As I posted above, our total would have been $1189 without CG and alcohol involved. That is a bit less than $60 pp per day, and subtracting CG and alcohol, we still ate at 1 TS per day, and 2 TS on one day. We bought a 24 pack of water for $6.39 and asked for free ice water at the CS locations (they made announcements telling people that it was available, surprising). We snacked through the world, got caramel items at Germany, got snacks at the bakery in France, a few $3 bottles of Dasani, and generally ordered whatever we wanted. If you take away one TS (cause we did two on two days, including CG) add in $50 for a CS instead, and subtract the breakfast $42 I paid on the last morning, it is about $53 pp per day using TIW. People are saying $50pp per day is too low but it is not if you stick to one TS, one CS, snacks and little or no alcohol. We typically don't drink as much as we did on this trip.

As I mentioned earlier, the TS locations had lots of availability. I found this surprising, as the parks were crowded. I changed my ADRs around up until the last minute and got everything I wanted. Pretty much everything was available except BOG, 'Ohana, 1900 Park Faire, and Chef Mickey's. So be aware: if you want them, book them.

CS were very crowded. Part of the reason I booked a couple of daytime TS was because I didn't want to search for a seat at the CS. So I spent extra money to be able to sit and relax in air-conditioned heaven.

We also got many appetizers, which many may not find necessary.

As for budgeting: If you like cocktails, revise upwards $10 pp per drink per day. If you're going to a signature, estimate $100 pp if you are getting drinks, app, entree, dessert. Only you know how your family eats. I think the best budgeting tip is to plan your meal locations, and then look through the menu to see what you would actually order. Take the time to do this. The dining plan is good if you don't want to calculate anything, but be aware of its limitations as well, as you may be paying for meals that one person in your party is not eating because they'd rather have a bowl of soup. There is no one answer, but hopefully I've given people an idea of what money will buy you food-wise at Disney.

The issue is that not everyone is elliglble for TIW, which does reduce the cost of meals. I do think that it is possible to manage a food budget in WDW but you really need to stay on top of your dining choices. For our yearly trip we do not limit our dining and drinking options, and order extra's. We know about what this will cost, include the funds, and enjoy. In December, I planned a last minute budget trip. I found that I needed to put more thought into our dining choices. I think that when newbies look for advice in budgeting food for their family, threads like this are very helpful because you have detailed how your money was spent, and where you could have either shared, or when that woudl not have worked, as well as which restaurants could have become budget busters.

 

[Nancyg56]

Cocktails were very good here and at Poly. Drinking around the world in Epcot was mostly for the young adults in our party, mostly sake and slushie type drinks.

For my group drinking around the world is me and my son in law. We find sharing here works really well!

Eating around the World is also my son in law and anyone who wants to order something. He takes one for the team and finishes anything we cannot.

Did you get cocktails at Kona or did you go to Trader Sams? We are in the middle of planning our December dining and resort hopping, and my oldest son and his wife will be joining us for the first time. DDIL will like a cocktail while DS will enjoy Kona either for breakfast or lunch. WE have a lot of wants on this trip and only so much time!

 

[LovePug]

Thank-you for your reviews!

 

[Eastern]

The issue is that not everyone is elliglble for TIW, which does reduce the cost of meals. I do think that it is possible to manage a food budget in WDW but you really need to stay on top of your dining choices. For our yearly trip we do not limit our dining and drinking options, and order extra's. We know about what this will cost, include the funds, and enjoy. In December, I planned a last minute budget trip. I found that I needed to put more thought into our dining choices. I think that when newbies look for advice in budgeting food for their family, threads like this are very helpful because you have detailed how your money was spent, and where you could have either shared, or when that woudl not have worked, as well as which restaurants could have become budget busters.

Yes, I realize everyone is not eligible for TIW. It is just another variable. I did calculate my receipts twice more and my original total was $179 too high so new totals are listed.