Only 3 Pound Weight Gain? A DxDP Review upd 2/9 Yachtsman and Final Thoughts

[creativeamanda]

Before I begin with my final review, I need to take people back to 2009. In 2009, I was on a solo trip and I had dinner at Yachtsman. I was super excited about this meal, and you can imagine my disappointment with the place:

After an eh breakfast and lunch, I had 8:30 reservations at the Yachtsman Steakhouse.

By the time dinner had rolled around, I was starving. I drove over to the Yacht Club, knowing where it was, and decided to tour the resort for a while first. I enjoyed my trip, especially listening to carollers in the lobby at the Beach Club (I walked over there), and reported for my adr at 8:00pm so I could sit down for a while. It had been a long day.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

For 45 minutes past my ADR time. Yes, I was seated at 9:15pm. By that time, I was not hungry anymore. I was tired and just wanted to get through dinner. I ordered my app quickly. I had:

Lobster Bisque - Maine Lobster and Creme Fraiche finished with Brandy $9.00 (courtesy allears website)

Oh, my, goodness. This was heavenly. I could have meade a meal out of this and the bread.

But no, my entre was this:

Yachtsman Filet Mignon - 8-ounce Filet with Mashed Potatoes and a Red Wine Sauce $39.00

THe mashed potatoes were wonderful. The filet was tender. But it was NOT cooked to order. I asked for medium. I got well done. I was so tired, I did not want to even wait for another entre, so I ate it. And got my dessert to go.

Mango Cheesecake --with raspberry foam and artisan ganache $8.00

I did eat the cheesecake for breakfast a couple of days later, and I enjoyed it a lot.

I think the extreme wait, the fact that I was so tired, and my filet not being cooked correctly made my experience at Yachtsman less than magical. I'll try it again someday, but not anytime soon.

Overall:
Atmosphere: 5 out of 5
Service: 3 out of 5 I sat with an empty drink glass for a long time
Wait Time: 0 out of 5 Waiting 45 min after the adr time is not acceptable in my book. Others who waited that long reported to me later they were at least compensated in some way. I did not want compensation--I wanted and apology. I did not get one.
Food Quality: 3.5 out of 5 Thos would have been a 5 if my filet had been cooked properly.
Overall: 2.3 out of 5

I'm sorry to all of those who love the Yachtsman who loved it. I did not. Perhaps under different circumstances I would have, but that is a moot point now.

DIsney lovers, you can see how this was a risk for me not only to make a reservation at Yachtsman, but also for it to be be the last reservation of the trip. We came into Yachtsman and were seated almost immediately (okay, better) at a table at the window overlooking Stormalong Bay. Already things were looking up.

After placing our order, bread was brought out to us.

The onion bread was delicious, and I had to slow myself down just with the bread.

Sweetie ordered her app: lobster bisque

She declared it heads above Chefs and ate every mouthful.

I got the Heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad

Wow, this was delicious! I love tomatoes and this was a light way to start dinner, knowing I had a steak coming up.

Sweetie's entre:

Filet mignon with the red wine sauce on the side. I was able to have a taste, and it was definitely cooked to order. It was delicious and those potatoes were to die for.

My entre:

New York Strip with Augratin potatoes. Again, perfectly cooked. and a million times improvement.

We almost couldn't handle dessert, but did it anyway. Sweetie got the Yachtsman sundae:

This is a gelato trio--chocolate, cherry, and vanilla. She really liked it, even the cherry, which is not something she typically eats.

Our server, knowing I was full, offered me something off menu:

I think it was cherry, pineapple, and lemon. This was the perfect end to dinner.

So, this time, we had an attentive, but not overly so, server, a good seating location, steaks that were perfectly cooked. If not for California Grill, this would have been the best of the trip.

So it also goes to show you, if you have a bad experience at a restaurant, return. After Dec 2009, I sent a letter to Disney about my experience and gave suggestions for improvement. I won't go into it all, but one thing the server did when he brought us our steaks was wait to make sure they were cooked to our satisfaction. I noticed a few other things that I suggested, and it looks like Disney really does take their emails to heart

our ratings for Yachtsman:
Service: 4--we had an attentive, but not overly so server
Atmosphere: 5--nice atmosphere and the location where we were sitting was the best the restaurant has. Since I have an affinity for the Yacht/Beach Club area, it was wonderful for me to be next to SAB
Food Quality: 4--I also appreciate being able to order something off menu, and I wonder if it's usually reserved for special diets
Value: 4--only if using the DxDP. Definitely not an oop good value.
Overall: 4.25--Definitely not a mistake eating here for our last Disney meal.

All in all, we made a good decision in our choice doing the DxDP. We were able to order what we wanted without worrying about cost while on trip. This coming trip, I'm not doing the DDP for half of it, and I'll be able to compare.

 

[iloveeeyore]

So glad you enjoyed Yachtsman this trip! We actually enjoyed it more than CG this time, but that's because CG was the one that disappointed us a little.

 

[gardengirl628]

Great reviews...thanks for sharing! We also had a less than stellar experience at Yachtsman 2 years ago. Maybe will consider trying it again after your review.

 

[amandaw]

Sounds like you made the right choice in giving Yachtsman a second chance! Everything looks & sounds delicious. That is a restaurant that has made it onto my "must try" list.