Questions for experienced dining planners.

[MScott1851]

I started making PS today at our 90 day mark...I've never made them more than two weeks in advance before, but with the abundance of MYW with dining packages, I felt I had get on the ball!

My schedule is as follows: (DH is a "meat and tater" man...so that was easy. Every restaurant has at least one steak dish)

Sunday 9/18 -Whispering Canyon at 8:10. I think MK closes at 7 that night, so I want to see Wishes, then hop on the boat back to eat. I may need to change this to 8:30pm. Any thoughts? This was one of DH's choices.

Monday 9/19 - Chefs de France at 7:00. Hopefully, Illuminations will be at 9. Will this allow us time to eat and get outside?

Tuesday 9/20 - Open. Dh wants to eat "in the castle" for dinner. I've heard mixed reviews of this restaurant, so any advice is appreciated.

Wednesday, 9/21 - Le Cellier. It's our anniversary...so this is subject to change. I'm strongly tempted to book a signature restaurant and pay out of pocket...the Yachtsman Steakhouse. Tell me it's worth it.

Thursday 9/22 - Cape May. We ate here last year before an Illuminations cruise and DH loved it. Me, not so much, but I let him pick two restaurants and this was one of them. So, no discussion there. It's a done deal.

I guess I need the most guidance with times...planning around non-existant park hours and ? fireworks times is hard.

 

[webray]

Sunday 9/18 -Whispering Canyon at 8:10. I think MK closes at 7 that night, so I want to see Wishes, then hop on the boat back to eat. I may need to change this to 8:30pm. Any thoughts? This was one of DH's choices.
...are you sure he isn't thinking of Artist Point. If he is a meat and taters man..he will love Artist Point. Whispering Canyon..probably not so much.
Monday 9/19 - Chefs de France at 7:00. Hopefully, Illuminations will be at 9. Will this allow us time to eat and get outside?
.......Chefs de France is fantastic..you could also try for Le Bistro, upstairs, very small, very intimate..go early..when they open...very slow and relaxed dinner
Tuesday 9/20 - Open. Dh wants to eat "in the castle" for dinner. I've heard mixed reviews of this restaurant, so any advice is appreciated.
........We haven't eaten in the Castle for a while now, because there are so many better places to eat and I hate paying high prices for mediocre food. Everyone should eat in the castle at least once..so I would keep this.

Wednesday, 9/21 - Le Cellier. It's our anniversary...so this is subject to change. I'm strongly tempted to book a signature restaurant and pay out of pocket...the Yachtsman Steakhouse. Tell me it's worth it.
....Yachtsman Steakhouse..definately not worth it. If your husband knows what a wonderful steak is he will be sadly disapointed in Yachtsman. Head over to Artist Point, Flying Fish (one of the best steaks in all of disney property) or Jiko (also a wonderful filet)..none of those will disapoint.Thursday 9/22 - Cape May. We ate here last year before an Illuminations cruise and DH loved it. Me, not so much, but I let him pick two restaurants and this was one of them. So, no discussion there. It's a done deal.
...like you..we aren't all that impressed with Cape May. Hopefully this time around for your sake it will be better.

I guess I need the most guidance with times...planning around non-existant park hours and ? fireworks times is hard.[/QUOTE]

 

[MScott1851]

Yep, you pretty much confirmed my suspicions...

DH isn't quite the researcher I am, but VERY easy to please. Heck, he eats anything I cook and put in front of him. I, on the other hand, am pretty discerning when it comes to food I like and/or don't like.

We are using the MYW with free dining, and sadly, most of what you recommended were signature meals (which use two dining credits). I do think that we will eat at Artist Point for our anniversary, but not two or three signature meals.

We chose Whispering Canyon because it's in our hotel, and it's "free" with our prepaid package.


Any suggestions for other restaurants? I think DH was interested in Mama Melroses (he likes Italian food) and Le Cellier or Concourse Steakhouse.

 

[Laurajean1014]

Tuesday - Go for it. We ate there a while back and it was good, not great, but good.

Wednesday - I like LeCellier, but if you have seen illuminations this trip or are definite on another day, I would suggest JIKO at AKL or CA Grill at Contemporary. (You can custom order your own anniversary cake at CA GRILL plus you can watch Wishes from the Observation Deck). If you get the private room, and have a later meal, you will see the electric light parade. These two restaurants are the best in chefs and offer a great array of wines and specialties. Don't miss out.

Your DH will love both places. They both offer a "to die for" filet mineon.

 

[threeboysmom]

Going on the historic hours for last year, Wishes was shown every night in September at 9:00 p.m.

That is what I'm counting on. Made a ps at Kona Cafe for 6:30 so that I can be back in the MK for 9:00 to see Wishes.

Hopefully, the hours will be out next week because one of us will have to change their dinner time!!

 

[oogieboogie]

Sunday 9/18 -Whispering Canyon at 8:10. I think MK closes at 7 that night, so I want to see Wishes, then hop on the boat back to eat. I may need to change this to 8:30pm. Any thoughts? This was one of DH's choices.

might want to change this to 8:30pm because by the time Wishes ends, you'll be going out with the herd. WCC is good enough and if you don't mind the rowdiness, then he'll get in some good ribs, baked beans, etc if you get the skillet.

Monday 9/19 - Chefs de France at 7:00. Hopefully, Illuminations will be at 9. Will this allow us time to eat and get outside?

Chefs de France is pretty good in terms of taste, but I wasn't impressed with the quantity. The steak that DH had the last time was so small he left feeling hungry. Epcot is a park that's pretty steady in operating hours so Illuminations is most likely at 9, plenty of time

Tuesday 9/20 - Open. Dh wants to eat "in the castle" for dinner. I've heard mixed reviews of this restaurant, so any advice is appreciated.

Never tried dinner at CRT but we did lunch and the portions are big and the prime rib is pretty good. The food here is actually pretty good

Wednesday, 9/21 - Le Cellier. It's our anniversary...so this is subject to change. I'm strongly tempted to book a signature restaurant and pay out of pocket...the Yachtsman Steakhouse. Tell me it's worth it.

Le Cellier is our favorite. The food is excellent, the atmosphere is nice and the portions are pretty good sized. The Grilled Beef Kebab for appetizer is delicious

Thursday 9/22 - Cape May. We ate here last year before an Illuminations cruise and DH loved it. Me, not so much, but I let him pick two restaurants and this was one of them. So, no discussion there. It's a done deal.

Haven't tried this for dinner, so I can't say.

If you want to pay out of pocket, consider Shula's or Kimonos at the Swan. Excellent food and great value for your dollar.

 

[llij]

We've eaten at CRT for dinner during each one of our trips and our entire family has truly enjoyed it. We pretty much stick to their specialty though which is the prime rib and have never been disappointed. The atmosphere is great there.

Another family favorite is Le Cellier and again, we've never had a bad meal there in our 6 or 7 meals there.

My father is a meat and potato kind of guy too and we took him to Yachtsman Steakhouse for a birthday celebration last December. The service was outstanding (I can't speak highly enough about it.) The food was wonderful. My father is pretty picky about his steaks and we live in an area with wonderful restaurants.

Good luck with your choices! There are so many wonderful restaurants at WDW. Half of our fun as a family is to try all the different restaurants out! It's all about the food....

 

[DeterminedOne]

I agree with a previous post about Yachtsman's outstanding service. And the steaks were good, too!

 

[LizL]

If you are going to pay out of pocket, do it for one of your non-signature meals. Then use the extra two credits to go all out on your anniversary meal at a signature restaurant. Like another poster, I highly recommend Jiko. It is a must-do for us each trip. The filet is wonderful!

 

[Marseeya]

Yep, you pretty much confirmed my suspicions...

DH isn't quite the researcher I am, but VERY easy to please. Heck, he eats anything I cook and put in front of him. I, on the other hand, am pretty discerning when it comes to food I like and/or don't like.

We are using the MYW with free dining, and sadly, most of what you recommended were signature meals (which use two dining credits). I do think that we will eat at Artist Point for our anniversary, but not two or three signature meals.

We chose Whispering Canyon because it's in our hotel, and it's "free" with our prepaid package.


Any suggestions for other restaurants? I think DH was interested in Mama Melroses (he likes Italian food) and Le Cellier or Concourse Steakhouse.

We ate at Concourse on the dining plan and I thought the steaks were extremely good! I got the filet and absolutely loved it. The atmosphere isn't all that great -- it's right in the middle of the contemporary and it's a bit noisy. Plus there are birds flying around, LOL! Didn't bother us because we're bird lovers, but it seemed to bug a few folks.

 

[CinderellaPug]

I definatly think you should go to the Yachtsman. If your husband likes steaks he will like it here. My DH and I went a few years ago and loved our meal. We've also tried the steaks at Schula's...the food was good, service not very disney. Not as good as Yachtsman. To be fair, we have not tried the steaks at Le Cellier...yet. We will be next week

 

[BCV23]

I think you have done a marvelous job of planning. I would stick with all your choices. You have an excellent mixture and are hitting the few restaurants that your husband has requested. I say stick to your plan.

While I love many of the signature restaurants that others are naming I would not use two free meals for any of them nor pay out of pocket when the dinners you have scheduled are free to you.

Illuminations will be at 9:00. It changes in December for the Candlelight Processional but the rest of the year it is at nine.

We love Mama Melrose but enjoy it very much for lunch. If you are tempted that might be a good out of pocket meal.

Don't second guess yourself. You really have done a great job!

Have a great trip!