This is me for the last three years or so. I try to stay where there's a kitchen or kitchenette whenever possible, but even a room with a fridge, I'll bring sandwich fixings and eat sandwiches in the room more than I buy food in the parks. I typically have one or two TS meals, maybe, but never more unless I'm traveling with a newbie who wants the "full experience". I have a 10 day trip booked next month with one ADR, and I'll be in a DVC studio, so I'll have the kitchenette. I will eat probably 2/3 of my meals in the villa, and only eat lunch out in the parks (which will be CS for the most part).
But to be honest, it's more about the making of reservations six months in advance and the high prices than the food quantity/quality. I haven't had any bad meals, but I don't know until I wake up in the morning which park I'm going to on any particular day. I hate being tied down to an ADR schedule. I wish they only took ADR's for the signature and character dining, and left most of the TS dining as first come, first serve. I remember the first come, first serve days, and I don't remember waiting much more than I wait now with an ADR.
I spent a week at WDW the beginning of December, ate at Prime Time, Plaza Restaurant, and both were good. I had a lot of meals at Beaches and Cream since I was at the YC, and they were great as always.
We are the opposite in terms of ADRs - we love making ADRs in advance, but now that the food is so mediocre, we just aren't as excited to eat in TS restaurants anymore, so no need for ADRs at this point. Although I miss the actual planning of ADRs online, I am looking forward to the freedom we will gain by not dining in TS restaurants. We will have more park and resort time!!!
I agree Plaza and Beaches and Cream are usually good, but it is very easy to make those sandwiches in our villa. We also like Prime Time as well.
Should note that we continue to find Flying Fish, Citricos and California Grill to be good restaurants.
But we've also gravitated lately to places like Blue Zoo, Shula's and Il Mulino--AT Disney, but not really Disney restaurants.
Can't speak to buffets, counter servive or 1 TS service restaurants as we never do those anyway...
I also agree that Citricos is outstanding, but will disagree about California Grill. Greatly overhyped and overrated - we had a horrid experience there, and won't go back for awhile. Great service, but very long dining experience, and food was mediocre. DD's steak was so burned, that they comped her meal. They attemped to cook the 1st steak as it came out raw, for a 4 year old! Then they attemped to cook it again, and then they re-cooked another one, and it was unedible. Not a great experience at all.
We do eat at a few TS restaurants when we go too but we don't go to signatures. During our last trip we ate at the Scifi Diner (for the atmosphere, huge Mystery Science Theater buffs) and the Rose & Crown because we still like it well enough. I love the on-line system or I probably wouldn't even set up ADR's for those.
I don't think that the food at WDW is totally awful or anything like that. It's just expensive and mediocre and that is disappointing enough IMO.
Glad you had a good meal at Rose and Crown. Our last meal had ants marching across our dirty table, extremely noisy, wrong food and horrible service. Won't be going back there again! I love the online ADR system as well!
I'm eating at Disney. I don't rent cars, and if I did, no wine with dinner. Nor do I use the villas to cook. So I am going to the Swan/Dolphin restaurants much of the time now.
Still some 1 TS restaurants I'll do: Sanaa is great, Turf Club is pretty good. I've liked Kouzzina all four times I have been there. La Hacienda had good food (expensive) but service has been lacking. Le Cellier's been pretty good but not worth the hype (not getting up at 5 AM just to get a reservation there) and it'll be a 2 TS for dinner soon.
This is so true for millions of families - they can't rent a car or go off-site, so they must eat on-site. We do want to try Sanaa (had to cancel our last 2 ADRs there as we were running behind both times), and Turf Club is very good. Don't even get us started on Le Cellier - oy!
This is for us now too. We eat breakfast and lunch at our villa or we will grab some small CS item if we don't feel like going back for lunch. Dinner is then at a handful of signatures or the Swan/Dolphin restaurants (where we also split a bottle of wine).
Dining used to be the major reason we vacationed at WDW (and purchased over 500 DVC points). Now we find we vacation at WDW less and less and we go to Las Vegas for good food.
Dining was one of the major reasons we went to WDW too, along with the parks. Now, it is no longer, so we are spending more time in our villa cooking, and this gives us more time in parks, as we have our own car, or, stay close to parks (Boardwalk!), and we can be back to the parks in no time, usually faster than dining at a TS meal. Plus, we are saving thousands of dollars too!
For us, we still find the following restaurants (plus the ones above) to be great food and service: Kona Cafe, Marrakesh, Tokyo Dining, Tusker House (lunch buffet), The Wave and Yachtsman. We've been there, done that, many times with pretty much all TS restaurants on property, so we are looking forward to taking a break for awhile, in the hopes that things freshen up and improve.
So interesting to read everyone's thoughts on this issue, Tiger
It is inexpensive and you can join their email club and get coupons! Texas de Brazil has a email club too 
