Just returned from 7 days of great food

[cadpigmnusa]

Our family of 5 has just returned from 7 days of great food. Thank you Disney! We never planned on going to WDW this year but when we saw the ad for free dining last spring we knew this was an opportunity we couldn't miss. For our family meals at Disney usually involve the following: Breakfast - a pop tart or cereal while waiting for the bus(we like to be on the first bus); Lunch - a sandwich and chips back at the room during afternoon break; Supper - yea! counter service!! Needless to say we felt like royalty. I know there are those not happy with the free dining and there are some valid reasons. If you are used to a quiet sit down meal it may be difficult to find. Please plan ahead and make ADRs. I know some of you like to wing it and if you are doing CS that is fine but if you want to sit down anywhere plan ahead. In the same manner-don't make ADR's and not show. We saw soooo many people turned away. We saw many people holding their dining brochure trying to decide where they would eat, comparing the offerings at each but we knew they were not going to even get into the restaurant. Their TA's (obviously not that familiar with Disney) had not informed them how important ADR's would be. You will NOT get in. We did encounter several ill behaved families. At Boma we were near a large table with two families. Three of the adults sat and visited at length while 5 kids ran around the table, gargled their pop, and threw things at each other. One of the dads tried to take some control but after receiving no help from the others gave up and left. I only know they were on free dining because they loudly proclaimed that if they were leaving the tip they wouldn't leave 18% for a buffet. However, for every inconsiderate family there were awesome kids having the time of their life. This became part of our kids dining experience - looking for the well mannered, polite kids. It was a great learning experience. Much has been said about lower quality service. Now, granted we don't have a lot of experience with sit down meals at Disney but we had great service. Yes, we were asked if we were on the plan. If we weren't asked we told them. I didn't ever feel it was to make us feel 2nd class. Immediatly after inquiring if we were on the plan our waiter would make sure we knew to should order an appetizer, entree and beverage and that he would get our dessert order after our meal. Once I thought we were being snubbed. I had prepared myself that this could happen. We went to the Rose and Crown for supper. It was a warm day and I was looking forward to the air conditioning. Instead we were seated on the terrace. "Sure", I thought. "DP outside, no air." It took me a few minutes to realize we had been given a prime seat on the edge of the terrace as the sun was beginning to set. It was a perfect meal, a great waiter, and very peaceful. When we finished we walked through to the restrooms. The inside was nice but so much noisier and lacking the view. We felt very lucky. For TS we ate at Crystal Palace, Prime Time, Alfredos, Boma, Chef Mickey's, Whispering Canyon, and Rose and Crown. They were all great but the kids favorite was Boma. Even our 11 year old had a great time eating off all the adult menus. One important note. Disney is offering an alternative to the TS. You can substitute a TS for a CS. Tell the cashier before you order. You will receive your regular CS as well as your choice of one of the following: 2 snack coupons, a lanyard with pin (their choice) or a lithograph. I found this info on the TV resort info. Concierge and Front Desk knew nothing about it at the time but the cashier will. This may be a great option for some and your kids can always trade the pins.

Lastly, use those snack credits. We observed many in our food court using their remaining snack credits as they were checking out of the hotel. One guest had 16 Mickey Mouse rice crispie treats!

 

[PureTcrazy]

for the positive outlook! Sounds like yall had a great trip!

 

[kbmoo]

I agree with you. We were there last week and for the most part had a wonderful experience. We loved the dinning plan. I was alittle annal the first day trying to get the most for my money, but after I relaxed I just ordered whatever sounded best to me. I thought all the staff and food was great!

 

[*Susan*]

Glad you had a great time, sounds like you had a positive outlook which no doubt contributed to your enjoyment of your trip. Good for you!

 

[matt&jakesmom]

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you had a great time. We leave the 28th and our so looking forward to it.

 

[missmun52]

I was getting a little worried about everything so i really appreciate your positive review. I will be leaving on the 27th and i hope i have a great experience also!

 

[toocooltobeMom]

Having just returned from a whole week of Free Food, we sure appreciate all your positive inputs. There were lots and lots people who missed the window of opportunaties to have the "special promo" ran by Disney. I Kind of felt sorry for them. Have to emphaze again and again to those who thought we paid Rack Rate for our room, we didn't!!! The rate was actually higher weeks before the Freebies kicked in. Obviously, we stayed at the value resort with 4 (2 adults+ 2 teens) in a room. You all know how much teenage boys eat and drink in a day. A LOT.
So to those going to WDW on the DDP, just sit back and relax. You all going to love to flash the KTTW card to the cashiers/waitress, and never have to look at the bill (unless you wanted to)
About those unused credits at the end of your trip, we had 5 CS left on our departure day (@10:00am) The CM at the food court checkout allowed us to grab sandwiches(4), fruit cups(2), chips(3), bottles of drinks(5) and 2 chocolate croissants. Literally it was not allowed because it was still Breadfast hours. NICE LADY. It's a karma thing.

 

[shadonjenon]

A perfectly well rounded review of the DDP. Its great to see someone actually LOOKING for the good and not focusing in on the bad. You have made me that much more excited for our October trip and I thought that was impossible.

 

[nluvwithmickey]

Thank you for posting! It is clear how much you appreciated being able to try new restaurants just by reading your comments.

This will be our 3rd time on the DDP and the 1st time it being free. We are still debating on whether we will still go the DDP way for our next trip DD10 is sooo picky. The fact that we would have paid 38$/day for her would have killed me. This will be a good test to see if she eats 38$ worth of food everyday.

 

[ntsammy5]

This is a cool thread. I'm looking forward to DDP and am not going to hoard credits or try to maximize anything. After all, this is a vacation at my happy place.

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[Tinkerbell_Girl]

Thanks for the great review!!!!

 

[DiszyDeanette]

At Boma we were near a large table with two families. Three of the adults sat and visited at length while 5 kids ran around the table, gargled their pop, and threw things at each other. One of the dads tried to take some control but after receiving no help from the others gave up and left. I only know they were on free dining because they loudly proclaimed that if they were leaving the tip they wouldn't leave 18% for a buffet.

Not everybody on the dining plan is getting it free. There have been numerous posts from people who booked after the promotion ended (or who were unaware of the promotion) saying "I'm going in <insert any free dining timeframe> and bought the DDP, how do I get it free!?"

 

[debbie655]

We met a really nice couple from Indiana. They were staying in a room near us and every morning we'd talk while drinking our coffee out in the little area outside our rooms. I asked if they had the free dining and they said NO. They didn't have the dining plan at all. I don't know what rate they paid for their room but still, I felt bad for them. I'm sure they didn't pay that much less than us and here we were eating like Kings..