So how has your free dining experiences been?

[square pond]

Yeah, but ultimately it's your vacation. Sometimes when I'm on vacation, I'd rather just go with the flow and not deal with any potential conflict.

That is kind of how we looked at it. The appetizers were great(at least what they let us finish.. ) as well as the potatoes and desserts so we were not hungry when we left and we just decided to move on and enjoy our vacation. The wonderful meal at Mama Melrose the next night more than made up for it!

 

[ctinct]

We felt rushed at Prime Time and tony's. Both places brought out our entrees as we were still eating our appetizers. I didnt mind so much at Prime Time as we were nearly done, but at Tony's we had barely begun our appetizers. My daughter sent her entree back as it was cold by the time she got to it. On the other hand, at Boma our waitress allison told us to take all the time we needed before we asked for our check, as she had heard some diners were feeling rushed. Also, at Whispering canyon our waitress asked if we were sure we wanted to use our credits for lunch because most people wanted to use their credits for a more expensive dinner. I really appreciated her concern.

 

[Microcell]

OK ... I am putting on the flame retardant suit but I have to say something here ...

If a waiter tried to snag my soup out from under me whilst I was eating it I would say "Excuse me ... I was not done with that".

If my meat tasted bad I would say "My meat tastes funny ... I would like something else please"

I'm not bashing you by any means! Please make note of that!! I just feel frustrated when people walk away without being satisfied. We NEVER walk away without being satisfied.

Next time you get a bad dish or a bad server ... call them out on it! That only improves things for the next time!

WDWO

Having worked in restaurants before (I have not done this, but have seen it done- and yes, I made the people in question redo it if I saw them do it)
I must say, you may have been satisfied, but how many times has your food been spit on?

 

[Delaware Mike]

I must say, you may have been satisfied, but how many times has your food been spit on?

...sad, very sad.

 

[debvil]

We just returned today 8/20-8/24 and LOVED the DDP. So much so that we would consider getting even it if it wasn't free.

We were a party of 7 (grandparent to preschoolers) and we only waited at most 10 minutes for our ADRs. The restaurants were full - the waiters had the meal card stuff down and were good at steering us in the right direction to optimize the plan. Did not feel rushed at all. I saw people turned away who didn't have ADRs and I saw walk-ins accomodated on the spot.

We ate at Ohana, Chefs du France, Liberty Tree Tavern and Hollywood & Vine for our dinners. For lunches mainly pepper market (we were staying at CSR) and once at The moroccan place in epcot.

Food was good to excellent (best meal I had was the QS Moroccan platter)

Tons of food but hey we were on vacation and enjoyed it. (Same problem as many we had leftover snacks but were able to cash them in on pastries to take to the airport.)

all in all a great trip.

 

[toocooltobeMom]

Just got back Sunday after a whole week of superb food. There is nothing better than eating while you're at WDW (besides the rides, o/c)
All of our ADR's were made 2 months before our trip, so we have no problem eating where we wanted to eat. The longest wait for our table was 1-hr @ O'hana (because my teens showed up 45 minutes late for dinner )
We ate at:
Wolfgang Puck Cafe - great food/over-worked waitress
Boma - just o.k. food for us; press-coffee was the best
O'hana - simply yummy
Marrakesh - Very good food; maybe not for everyone' s palette
Matsu -something - lounge @ Japan - great sushi and tempura w/ killer view of the Firework.
Chef Mickey - Surprisingly good (eventhough, DH and I went w/o Kids)
We really enjoyed every CS and TS at WDW. Can't wait to go back.
Have fun

 

[Debbie]

Wow, it's interesting to see the different experiences! We did the free dining August 15-23--->8 nights.

We did:
Concourse-good food, but they really rushed us...appetizers, turn around, main course, oops, here's your dessert. Good food, but . . . .
Sci-Fi Lunch-excellent food, great service, not rushed. This was a first for us, and I know that we'll be back!
50's Prime Time-very good, as always. DD was 'subjected' to having the choo-choo come with one spoonful of her beans, before dessert. She was a good sport!
Grand Floridian Café-2 hours, and the waiter visited us....um....5 times. Once to take the order, once to deliver each course, and, of course, once to get the bill. Refills were non-existent, and it wasn't because they were busy. The food was good, but we likely won't go back.
Whispering Canyon Café- the food was very good, but by this time, we were quite tired of eating. My DD asked for a glass of water, but it never came. I think that we've WCC'd out, now that the kids are older.
Hollywood and Vine-it was nice to have a buffet meal at this point. If I were doing the DDP again, I would definitely plan a few buffets to break up the constant TS meals.
Le Cellier-best meal and service of the trip. Our server, Patrick, was awesome! My DH was thrilled with the cheddar cheese soup, the mushroom filet, and the creme brulé samplere.
Chef Mickey's breakfast buffet-always a lot of fun. I overheard our server-Lee C-telling someone new to the plan..."Don't worry about the tip-it's included! Everything is taken care of."

On Monday, DH wanted fish and chips, and I wasn't aware that the CS in England was down for rehab (I'd promised him, you see). He boldly walked up to the podium at the Rose and Crown at 12:15, and we were seated by 12:25. We paid OOP and shared three meals. Again, the server (Ian) was great.

As a former member of the Clean Plate Club, it was good to see DH admit that it is okay to order, sample what each of us got, and not clean the plate, leaving room for the dessert.

Thanks, Disney, for the opportunity to try lots of new places, and not worry about the cash! It was deliciously fun!

 

[MariDisney]

Wow, it's interesting to see the different experiences! We did the free dining August 15-23--->8 nights.


On Monday, DH wanted fish and chips, and I wasn't aware that the CS in England was down for rehab (I'd promised him, you see). He boldly walked up to the podium at the Rose and Crown at 12:15, and we were seated by 12:25. We paid OOP and shared three meals. Again, the server (Ian) was great.

With apologies to the OP for a mini thread hijack. I wasn't aware that the UK counter service was being rehabbed. Getting fish and chips there is our first night tradition, and I wondered if anyone has any info about this...particularly if it will repopen by 9/23. Thanks!! (oh, and thanks for the informative reviews!)

 

[mince]

Did not feel rushed. In fact service was somewhat slow at times with the exception of Le Cellier where our steaks did arrive when my wife was still finishing her app.

 

[mince]

We felt rushed at Prime Time and tony's. Both places brought out our entrees as we were still eating our appetizers. I didnt mind so much at Prime Time as we were nearly done, but at Tony's we had barely begun our appetizers. My daughter sent her entree back as it was cold by the time she got to it. On the other hand, at Boma our waitress allison told us to take all the time we needed before we asked for our check, as she had heard some diners were feeling rushed. Also, at Whispering canyon our waitress asked if we were sure we wanted to use our credits for lunch because most people wanted to use their credits for a more expensive dinner. I really appreciated her concern.

Prime Time was dreadfully slow. Took over 1.5 hrs, not to mention waiting for our table for 1/2 hr. Over 2 hours for that experience easn't worth it.

 

[ReallyFunMom]

Wolfgang Puck Cafe - great food/over-worked waitress

Have fun

Did you happen to share a TS credit here? I'm curious if they allow it.......

 

[stites1]

We were on the DDP from */16-20 and all in all it was great. The places were crowded, though, so showing up early wasn't a good idea. We got seated within 10 minutes of out ADR time at all but the Morrocan restaraunt. They had some sort of snafu and were running late. We got seated at 7:40 with a 6:30 ADR. The DW and DS^ got a tad crabby. But the food and dancer were so good, we soon forgot about it and had a great time.

 

[toocooltobeMom]

Did you happen to share a TS credit here? I'm curious if they allow it.......

No we didn't share any TS credits. However, we could easily eat another TS for WGP.
Some one has mentioned that they have tried sharing TS in some place and was allowed to do so. I DON'T KNOW HOW. But Who Knows.
Since we didn't pay for DDP (being all big eaters and all), we splurged big time.
Bon appetite!!

 

[HappyGramma]

DD and I had the free dining package for our trip in Sept 05 and we just loved it. There were no problems with any service due to the free dining package. We got in very late our 1st night so had an extra day of meals and decided to go to Yachtsman Steak House at the Yacht and Beach Club one night which cost 2 sit-down meal credits. It was well worth it. The food was wonderful and the service was flawless. We are purchasing the meal plan for our trip in Oct. When we figured what it would probably cost us for our meals we decided that the meal plan is a very good value. I am also planning on purchasing the meal plan for the trip I am planning for Dec 08 as long as the prices are as reasonable as they are now.

 

[nurseypoo5]

thanks for all of your responses!! great thread if i do say so myself lol!

keep it going, its so nice to hear most of you had fantabulous experiences!

 

[wdwobsessed]

Having worked in restaurants before (I have not done this, but have seen it done- and yes, I made the people in question redo it if I saw them do it)
I must say, you may have been satisfied, but how many times has your food been spit on?

That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!! So if I'm served crud on a stick I should just keep quiet?

I worked in restaurants for years from pizza joints to nicer places. I have to say I never saw anyone do that .... we joked about it ... but only if the person we were waiting on was a real A.H.!

I don't yell and scream and get all nasty or do anything that should provoke anyone in that way. I simply say something like "I'm sorry ... my steak is medium and I asked for medium rare. Can I please get one cooked medium rare?"

If things are that bad that I would have to complain that much ... to the point where I think it would upset the server ... we would leave .... or wait to complain at the end of the meal.

My gosh. Excuse a person for not wanting to be crudded all over when being waited on. I guess I deserve to be spit upon "I must say".

WDWO

 

[dvcmbr94]

With apologies to the OP for a mini thread hijack. I wasn't aware that the UK counter service was being rehabbed. Getting fish and chips there is our first night tradition, and I wondered if anyone has any info about this...particularly if it will repopen by 9/23. Thanks!! (oh, and thanks for the informative reviews!)

I wasn't aware of this either. I did notice that they have fish and chips at Cookes of Dublin, the counter service connected to Raglan Road at Pleasure Island. You could give them a try!

 

[Kteacher]

We were on the free DDP 8/21-8/25. Our table service were Ohana, Le Cellier, 50's Prime time, Rose &Crown, and Kona ( oop ). Counter service were CHH ( twice ), Tusker House, Cafe Tangerine, pastry shop in france 9 can't remember the name ). We used snack credits for breakfast items. We had one CS credit left over ( DS16 wasn't feeling well one night ), and 6 snack credits, which we used up in the shop at the Poly before our flight home. I totaled our receipts, and it came to about 850.00 worth of food for us ! We had no problems using the DDP anywhere