OMG... we are going to Disney and DDP

[Cyrano]

Well after booking Delta flights as part of the price glitch we have decided to change up from our previous off site Orlando holidays.

We have booked Old Key West with free Disney Dining Plan for 2 weeks and then 1 week at Royal Pacific Resort.

Given that DW does not like plans and ADR's this should prove interesting

We are at OKW 21 June - 5 July and then RPR 5 July - 12 July.

Anyone with suggestions of uses of DDP, especially for 4th July appreciated

 

[2Tiggies]

I would suggest a few signature meals on a trip that length. If your DW doesn't like too much rigid structure it will at least free up some days with no ADRs. Don't you normally stay off site? It would also allow you to eat at some of your favourite off site restaurants.

Would she enjoy something like Hoop Dee Doo and Luau?

I should also warn you, in case you didn't see it, that Disney is now taking card holds for a LOT of their TS places so if you are not going to show up, remember to cancel so you don't incur a charge

 

[2Tiggies]

Here is a link to one of the articles

http://allears.net/din/restnews.htm

 

[Cyrano]

Here is a link to one of the articles

http://allears.net/din/restnews.htm

Thanks

 

[disneyholic family]

congrats Reid!!!

i'm sure you'll have fun - even with all the planning....and the dining plan does require a certain amount of planning...no question...

it also involves a great deal of food...
we ended up with a ton of credits at the end...it was just too much food for us....

we had leftover table service, counter service and snack credits....
and we seemed to be eating all the time, so i don't understand how we ended up with so much..

if you don't like to plan, i think the easiest thing to do is plan on using your TS credits at the resorts, rather than in the theme parks...
that way you don't have to know exactly which theme park you'll be in on any given day.

however, we don't do that..

what i do is as follows:
i create a blank calendar of the days we'll be there.
i enter all the EMH days for each park - so that i know which parks to avoid on any given day (we never go to EMH, morning or evening)..

this way i know which parks i can go to on any day so then i set a park per day (e.g, this year we were at AK on Tuesday, MK on Wed, Epcot on Thurs, DHS on Fri). Once i know which park i'm at on each day i can set the ADRs.
we actually made it to almost all of our ADRs - we only missed the one on the first night when DS arrived late.

Also, i changed an ADR while we were there - cancelling the one i had and making a new one. And i also made 2 additional news ones - i was 2 ADRs short when we arrived. I made them when we were already in Orlando.

but if you're really really anti-planning, then you can eat at the resorts instead (e.g. - in no particular order - Boma, Sanaa, Grand Floridian Cafe, Narcoosees, Citricos, 1900 Park Fare, Chef MIckey, California Grill, Artist Point, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Kona Cafe, Ohana, Flying Fish Cafe, Jiko, Yachtmen's steakhouse, Cape May Cafe, Captain's Grill, Olivia's Cafe, etc.)

Make the ADRs for the early evening at the resorts - then you can leave whatever park you're at - go to the resort to eat, then go back to the same or a different park or whatever...
that gives you the freedom of going to whatever park you want...

and as already noted, the signature restaurants soak up 2 credits so they go faster that way.... (the signature restaurants in the resorts are: Citricos, Narcoosees, California Grill, Artist Point, Yachtments Steakhouse, Jiko, Flying Fish Cafe, not sure if there's another, i can't remember )

 

[Cyrano]

Thanks Beth. I should have said while Diane does not enjoy planning and having everything prearranged, I am the opposite.

I study Touring Plans before we go, working out the busy park days. I have a PDF of the plan and where we are likely to eat, shop, visit water park or theme park.
As we go through the holiday I update it or adapt it as necessary.

What works with DW is if I give a choice of the 2 best parks to visit. Then it does not appear that the plan has been set

I think I will enlist the troops help and see what restaurants they would to try

 

[Princess Clayre]

Yeah for the upgrade and free DDP

You've already had some great tips. I would defiantly second the thought of adding some 2 credit restaurants to free up some of your days so you don't feel so tied to ADR's. We did this on our last trip and are certainly planning to next year too.

Something else we did was to booked some lunches rather than dinners with some of the credits. This gave us a good long break in the Air Conditioning out of the summer heat and humidity and when some of the attraction queues are at their peak. For example we did Cindy's in the MK and Teppan Edo on one of our Epcot days and Chef De France on another & Sci-FI at the Studios. I does mean you have to go on the calmer rides afterwards of course

Have fun choosing.

 

[darthtatty]

I too would say try to book a couple of sigature meals as they use 2 credits and gives you some days where you dont need to book anything.
I would also say dont worry about what you use your credits on.
Some people obsess about only using their credits at Dinner as Lunch and breakfast werent the best value. some also like to order the most expensive things-just remember you end up paying more in tips this way.
Use your credits right at the start, we found if we hadnt used them right at the start then we'd have been left with loads.
I hear many say how theyd paid for the first meal as theyd figured out their credits. youll probably be fed up with food after the first week and may want to cancel something later into the holiday.

Have fun planning.x

 

[wayneg]

Places I like & dislike in this thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2813652

We are not enjoying signatures any more than 1 credit, give me a Raglan Rd Bread & butter pud or a Garden grill crumble(crisp) any day over the signature desserts. I like proper food not art on a plate. We try 1 signature each trip, certainly wouldn't do anymore than that, I would rather use any spare credits for Hoop or breakfasts even though I am not a breakfast fan.

Plan as a family and read the menus/reviews but go on what you might like not what others think, all restaurants are good or they would not be still there, reviews are all down to an individual exerience in that one day. We had a bad meal/server at Kona Cafe this year, Martin(burt) went in as we came out and it was one of his best meals.

 

[2Tiggies]

I like proper food not art on a plate.

It's quite ironic that I love the QSDP so much - I love art on a plate but won't pay OOP for a signature.

 

[disneyholic family]

Places I like & dislike in this thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2813652

We are not enjoying signatures any more than 1 credit, give me a Raglan Rd Bread & butter pud or a Garden grill crumble(crisp) any day over the signature desserts. I like proper food not art on a plate. We try 1 signature each trip, certainly wouldn't do anymore than that, I would rather use any spare credits for Hoop or breakfasts even though I am not a breakfast fan.

Plan as a family and read the menus/reviews but go on what you might like not what others think, all restaurants are good or they would not be still there, reviews are all down to an individual exerience in that one day. We had a bad meal/server at Kona Cafe this year, Martin(burt) went in as we came out and it was one of his best meals.

Wayne, have you tried Citricos at the Grand Floridian?
it's my favorite restaurant at WDW (other than V&A)..
I don't know if it's worth 2 TS credits (i'm not sure any of the signatures are), but for me it's the only one that even comes close...
the service is outstanding, and the food as well..

 

[wayneg]

Wayne, have you tried Citricos at the Grand Floridian?
it's my favorite restaurant at WDW (other than V&A)..
I don't know if it's worth 2 TS credits (i'm not sure any of the signatures are), but for me it's the only one that even comes close...
the service is outstanding, and the food as well..

No not tried Cirticos, I think Narcossee's is going to be the one we try next year.

 

[disneyholic family]

I too would say try to book a couple of sigature meals as they use 2 credits and gives you some days where you dont need to book anything.
I would also say dont worry about what you use your credits on.
Some people obsess about only using their credits at Dinner as Lunch and breakfast werent the best value. some also like to order the most expensive things-just remember you end up paying more in tips this way.
Use your credits right at the start, we found if we hadnt used them right at the start then we'd have been left with loads.
I hear many say how theyd paid for the first meal as theyd figured out their credits. youll probably be fed up with food after the first week and may want to cancel something later into the holiday.

Have fun planning.x

the majority of our TS credits were for lunch - and i agree, it's a wonderful long break in the middle of the excruciatingly hot day...
i think because we did long lunches each day, we were able to stay full days in the park - something we never did in the past...

let's see... we were there 14 days and i think had 13 TS meals...(we missed our meal the first night - DS arrived late so we just had a CS meal in the pop food court before heading to MK)
day 0 - arrival - missed our ADR as DS and DDIL were delayed by several hours
day 1 (tuesday - first full day at WDW) - lunch at yak & yeti (AK) - outstanding meal and service
day 2 (wed) - lunch at Crystal Palace (MK) - surprisingly bad meal (always has been good in the past)
day 3 (thurs) - lunch at Coral reef (epcot) -excellent meal and service
day 4 (fri) - lunch at 50's prime time (DHS) - excellent service, great milkshake, reasonably good food
day 5 (sat) - dinner at whispering canyon cafe (WL) - outstanding service, reasonably good food
day 6 (sun) - dinner at Rose & Crown (epcot) - good service, good food
day 7 (mon) - no TS meal (see day 8 for 2 TS meals)
day 8a (tues) - lunch at tusker house (AK) (1:15 to get reserved seating at nemo) - ok service, ok food
day 8b (tues) - dinner at 1900 Park Fare (GF) (seated over 2 hours after reservation time ) vegetarian food specially prepared and served by the famous chef TJ - absolutely outstanding and memorable and unsurpassed...(a must do for any vegetarian)...
day 9 (wed) - lunch at sci fi (DHS) - good service, reasonably good food
day 10 (thurs) - lunch at coral reef (epcot) - service not nearly as good as the week before, but the food was just as good
day 11 (fri) - no TS
day 12a (sat) - lunch at sci fi (DHS) - good service, reasonably good food...
day 12b (sat) - dinner at Chef Mickey's (CR) - very attentive service (especially considering it's a buffet), good food...
day 13 (sun) - lunch at sci fi (DHS) - good service, reasonably good food
day 14 (mon) - we left in the morning so no TS that day.

 

[disneyholic family]

No not tried Cirticos, I think Narcossee's is going to be the one we try next year.

i haven't tried narcoosees yet - it's supposed to be good..

i agree with you regarding the California Grill - it was one of our worst meals EVER...we were extraordinarily disappointed, especially after all the praise it always gets...the service was atrocious (ridiculously pretentious) and the food just couldn't make up for the bad service and the extreme noise level ...definitely not a fine dining experience...

 

[wayneg]

We are not enjoying signatures any more than 1 credit, give me a Raglan Rd Bread & butter pud or a Garden grill crumble(crisp) any day over the signature desserts.

Pic of my dessert at Yachtsman ( you might need a microscope to see it) and what Karen & Matt had, this one costs $11 (+tax + tip) = almost £9
Then compare to Raglan B&B pud, my mouth is watering thinking about it, we are considering going in next weekend just for this & a drink.
Last pic of Garden grill crumble

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

i haven't tried narcoosees yet - it's supposed to be good..

i agree with you regarding the California Grill - it was one of our worst meals EVER...we were extraordinarily disappointed, especially after all the praise it always gets...the service was atrocious (ridiculously pretentious) and the food just couldn't make up for the bad service and the extreme noise level ...definitely not a fine dining experience...

for Narcoosees, we absolutely loved it, but to be honest i dont think we have ever been really disappointed with any Signatures. Our next try is going to be Cali Grill. I have heard so many negative reports about it i'm a little dubious, but menu choice and expectations (and a little luck) play a huge part in your dining experience. Take a look at Yachtsmans too, we ended our holiday there last year and it was very very special.
I see your staying at Royal Pacific too, we had two great meals at Jimmy Buffets and Hard Rock Cafe

 

[DISWolves]

Another for Narcoossees.
Been 4 times including twice OOP.
I think our Cali Grill days have finished - the novelty has worn off
May try Citricos next year, but like others have said, simple plain food usually wins the day.
The steak in GF cafe has been our best meal by far for two years running - including beating Yatchsman.

 

[wayneg]

The steak in GF cafe has been our best meal by far for two years running - including beating Yatchsman.

Agreed Nigel, it was my fave steak this trip and the dessert takes some beating for value, all this for $9.95, knocks spots of Yachtsman desserts.

 

[Rienchen]

Agreed Nigel, it was my fave steak this trip and the dessert takes some beating for value, all this for $9.95, knocks spots of Yachtsman desserts.

oh that looks delicious, who got to eat mickey?

Pictures like that make me want to upgrade to DDP instead of QSDP...

 

[wayneg]

oh that looks delicious, who got to eat mickey?

Pictures like that make me want to upgrade to DDP instead of QSDP...

We shared him, he was solid chocolate. Pic of the steak I had also, that was so good with garlic fries.
If you want to see more food pics this Folder has all our food from August this year, includes Disney cruise food also.
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y236/wayneg1/August 2011/?start=all