Just got back: $ damages and mini food reviews

[Eastern]

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!

We did not go to Trader Sam's. We got cocktails at the Tambu lounge and then a couple more at the restaurant (they use that bar).

 

[Nancyg56]

We did not go to Trader Sam's. We got cocktails at the Tambu lounge and then a couple more at the restaurant (they use that bar).

Tambu Lounge is a favorite respite for me. It is always cool and inviting in the afternoons.

 

[Eastern]

I saved about $220 using TIW. Nearly $100 of that was at CG. Skipper Canteen did not take any discounts.

PS- And I was thinking of staying at BWI or BC but we went with POFQ so I kind of felt like I got free dining cause I saved so many hotel $$$

 

[Mich123]

Great report! I liked your dining analysis--you're right, the alcoholic beverages do add up. I think it's really smart to save by ordering the kid's breakfast platters. On the DDP, we often use snack credits for breakfast and that helps, too.

 

[DLFan123]

I like the idea of choosing a budget and trying to stick to it, although it's not for everyone. There have been times when I know my DP and I come up under budget if we said $100 a day for the both of us. On our first WDW trip, we had some groceries delivered to our room, really didn't drink any alcohol (I think we had one cocktail for the whole trip), and mostly ate breakfasts from our room, like granola bars, fruit and yogurt. Then we tend to split things at restaurants. Since then, we indulge A LOT more, but still I don't think we go much over $120/day for the two of us on many days of our trips. Of course one signature or a couple cocktails a day undoes the whole plan. Or one visit to Trader Sam's LOL.

 

[smiths02]

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.

First, thanks for you review!

I think we probably won't even bother with Skipper's Canteen. I think we will be disappointed. Kind of like 50s PT...when we were told how much food we would get and how entertaining the servers were.

Anyhow, when I say what someone should estimate, I think the price of the dining plan is a good way to make a budget so $61.82 X 4 x 5
$1236.40

 

[DisOrBust]

1. Ok I always say the DDP is a huge waste and we have always used TIW but now after your report I think the DDP at 60/pp isn't all that bad.

 

[Nancyg56]

1. Ok I always say the DDP is a huge waste and we have always used TIW but now after your report I think the DDP at 60/pp isn't all that bad.

The DDP is a waste for people who do not like two meals a day, or who never like to add a beverage and desset to meals, or who avoid the pricier options on the menu naturally. WE are not able to get the TIW card, so I cannot make the comparison, but we always manage to at least break even, even when we do not "max" the plan. People really need to know their families, and need to be honest with themselves in regards to dining. That is sometimes vey hard when you want to make your budget.

 

[Eastern]

We spent $910 without alcohol and taking away CG. We still had 2 TS on another day, so you could definitely do 1 TS and 1 CS per day for less than dining plan (add in $120 for the money I save using TIW $910 + 120 = $1030). If I subbed a CS for our CP breakfast that subtracts another $75 so less than $1000. That's how much I originally budgeted. That adjusted total includes a case of water, several individual waters, and various snacks.

 

[Eastern]

1. Ok I always say the DDP is a huge waste and we have always used TIW but now after your report I think the DDP at 60/pp isn't all that bad.

CG and a lot of WS slushies/sake made the total much higher than average. And if you got the dining plan, CG would cost you 2 TS credits.

So the total bill included 8 TS credits, 5 CS (counting 2 days of eating around WS, approx 1 entree per person, shared), tips, and $307 worth of alcohol.

The point I am trying to make is not to look at my grand total and say, 'oh, the dining plan makes sense'. I am showing what these different amounts buy you in terms of meals and drinks, and how variable it can be.

 

[MamaJessie]

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.

That's disappointing as my family loves fish but not so much the sausage. Good to know :\

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, the 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).

I have yet to try CP - but not getting to see characters at a character breakfast is pretty disappointing. I think we will end up trying it anyway just because our youngest should be at a good age and it is on my Disney bucket list.

Thanks for the reviews!

 

[Disneytam]

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.

Loved your reviews, thank you. You bring up a good point that you don't see mentioned here very often and that is the sit down type "all you can eat" meals. You stated that you wanted more of the beef and turkey but the server wasn't around to ask. That has happened to us at both HDDR and at the Luau at the Poly. They advertise these as all you can eat and many years ago when we dined at the HDDR it was but our last two trips a small plate of meat was left at the table with plates of sides and then the server was gone, totally out of sight so no one to ask for anymore. I did ask another tables server(she was bringing over a forgotten drink) if they could find our server but no one came over until the show was almost done and they were bringing desserts.

We had three adults at our table for the HDDR and the meat at the table was 3 pieces of chicken (a breast, a thigh and a leg) and 4 ribs. The large serve yourself strawberry short cake that I fondly remember is now a tiny little serving in a tin that was only a bit or two each. We were all hungry after and I think the MIA servers are intentional so that you can't ask for more.

 

[Sinders99]

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!

So happy to see this positive review of Boatwrights. We too have been seeing really positive reviews recently and are looking forward to dining here on our September trip. Thanks for the tip on sharing. We'll be sure to take this into account when ordering

 

[Octoberbaby]

We typically spend $50 pp per day on meals. Yes, cocktails and drinks by the pool is a budget killer for sure. I enjoy my drinks. So...I usually add another $50 per day for drinks for myself and sometimes my husband. He isn't a big fan of alcohol. A drink here and there is plenty for him.

 

[VillianDiva]

I loved your reviews! Yeah, alcoholic beverages are always my budget killer. If I'm only eating it's easy for me to stay within 50 a day on a breakfast TS and dinner TS. But, those cocktails easily bump me up to 100 a day. What can I say? I love a good drink!

 

[amytech]

This was a super helpful dining/budget review! Thank you! It is hard to know how much to budget per person and you're right-it totally depends on how your family eats and drinks. We tend to love apps, some of us drink and no one except dd is really into dessert. So the DDP doesn't really make sense for us. We are planning an upcoming trip in March for 9 of us (all adults and one teen) and these numbers were very helpful.