So, who's cooking more in their villas these days?

[trampslady]

A thread about Boma prices on the Restaurant page inspired me. We LUV our Disney, and we always will. However, I have to admit that the food, which has always been a huge part of our enjoyment there, is getting ridiculous in price. When would you pay $80+ for breakfast for two in the real world?

Please don't flame, because I'm a wee bit broken hearted in feeling this way. I love Disney. But the whole numbers game with the dining plan seems to work against our plan to enjoy sit down dining and still feel like our DVC ownership is proving to provide a reasonably priced wonderful vacation.

This trip over Thanksgiving, we found ourselves cancelling many reservations, opting for order in pizza from Giardanos, sandwiches and chips from the Beach Club Marketplace (which were delightful), lunching out instead of lunching AND having dinner at table service, and also enjoying some of our favorite counter service (and Beaches and Cream) more often. We also bought ham, cheese, and sandwich thins for quick morning breakfast sammies. We have the TIW card and will probably keep getting it, but even with the 20 percent....whew!

 

[lisa3635]

US! We are only doing Ohana in January. The prices with or without the dining plan have gotten crazy and it takes so much time. We also hate having to leaves the parks to get to a dinner reservation. We're getting a car this time and planning on cooking more in studio (mostly microwavable and sandwiches, breakfasts. I'm actually looking forward to it. In October we did the dining plan and it was so inconvenient.

 

[Ella's Mom]

I agree that the high buffet prices are getting out of control. I might pay higher prices if the food was outstanding but it's not, just okay in my opinion. I just cancelled some ADR's for our March trip. I don't think we'll do more cooking, but we'll definitely do more counter service.

 

[Cyndibear]

I agree! Prices for dining are incredible. We are going with friends in January and are using the dining plan. They like the table service meals and since they are a family of 4 adults, figured even with our TIW discount, the dining plan is cheaper. We just Dh and I go, we just do the counterservice plan. It gives us the freedom to eat whenever we want to and are not strapped to making a ADR. I don't think I'll start cooking yet, just a quick breakfast in the morning is all the cooking I'll do on vacation right now.

Cyndi

 

[Tiger926]

We will be on our next trip, as I mentioned in that thread. This past trip in July, we ate almost every breakfast in our villa, with a few lunches and dinners. We are considering a March trip, and we might try to eat every meal in our villa. We have never done that before! We only book 1 bedrooms now, so we have the full kitchen, and are looking forward to using it!

We have pretty much done it all - DxDP, Reg DP, DDE/TIW, Signatures, Special Events, etc. and so we are used to 2-3 TS meals per day, but not anymore. Meal prices, even with our TIW card, are getting to a ridiculous point. Kids love character meals, but we are preparing them for no more character meals.

We used to dislike CS meals, but we are going to eat a few of those as well, and will not schedule any TS meals. Dining has gone seriously downhill, while at the same time, increasing way too high for our liking.

Happy eating to all, Tiger

 

[rmcildw2m]

My family and I ,stay at okw over the thanksgiving holiday in a 1br ,and we cooked breakfast each morning to save $ . The cost of just a hamburger at hws is over 9 dollars . It almost depressed me to pay 32.00 per person to eat thanksgiving dinner at hollywood & vine ,but what can you do sometimes when you love disney that much you gotta pay for it .

 

[disfreaks]

We always eat breakfast in the room. Kids have Eggo waffles and bacon even in a studio! We have coffee and oatmeal too. We usually eat our big meal for lunch at the park if we are there, lunch menus are usually cheaper, then we always come back and make dinner. Tacos, chicken, Hamburger Helper, veggies, salad, usually costs us about $150 for groceries for a week for 2 meals a day. We also get microwave popcorn, then pop it and put in bags to take for snacks to the park. We do the same with goldfish, crackers, fruit, chips. I bring Ziplocs from home, and I always have ready to go my Splenda, coffee filters, salt and pepper, and a couple other things. For 4 people, 2 being teens, it saves us a bunch!

 

[Alexander]

It isn't the cost of the food that has us eating in, it is the quality of the food. WDW food has gone from decent to okay to just plain lousy. I can prepare better tasting meals in a studio with a crock pot and electric skillet! We used to enjoy the TS restaurants because the meals were so good, but now they essentially do nothing but fill us up and empty our wallets. I saw another thread where someone posted that you should be able to walk out and say, "Wow, that was great!" But that just isn't the case anymore.

We will be in WDW for 2 weeks over Christmas and have only one ADR for the Candlelight Processional package.

 

[Sammie]

Not so much in villa but definitely more off property.

 

[nickspace]

The worst meals we ate on our last few trips were at the sit down restaurants. When you spend alot on a meal you expect an excellent meal in return and that has just not been happening.

The best meals for our last trip were in our AKV studio. I make BBQ beef and Butternut Squash, for example, at home and froze them at home. I used them to keep my other food cold in my suitcase and just checked the bag at the airport. When we arrived at AKV our food suitcase arrived at our door minutes after we entered our room. The frozen food was still partially frozen and the rest of the suitcase was still chilled.

I just have a hard time spending so much money on mediocre food. For the money I would spend on one big family meal at Disney I can buy a weeks worth of groceries.

When we do want a meal out I am very happy with counter service.

 

[Caren]

Cooking is pretty standard for us. We order groceries from wegoship--including real food like potatoes, carrots, and hunks of meat. We eat breakfast in, usually eat lunch in the parks, take an afternoon break, and have dinner in before we head out again. It saves money and the food is much better.

 

[LIFERBABE]

I agree. For years we have been cooking in. Since we work in the industry, I'm not willing to pay those prices for Sysco food truck food!

We are at home, so dh loves to make breakfast and I like to entertain and cook

Our Nye tradition is King crab, French bread and green beans. Cost less than $100 for our family of four. If the quality was there we would pay Disney prices but it's not so we don't. There are still a few favorites, but the list gets shorter with every trip.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We just came back from 8 days in the World, and we ate only 3 meals at favorite Disney establishments this trip. We had Teppan Edo for our candlelight processional package, Artist Point, and Turf Club. We spent over $400 for those 3 meals (two people) with no alcohol.

 

[MELSMICE]

We have always eaten breakfast in our villa.....cereal, bagels, egg sandwiches, etc. We spend a lot of time at the pool usually & make sandwiches in our villa & then take them to the pool for lunch.

Most dinners are eaten off property or at counter service, but honestly, even counter service is just mediocre for the price. The only counter service that I think is somewhat worth it's value that is good is Earl's at DTD.

 

[bookwormde]

We have always eaten most of our meals in the villa, exept for 2 or 3 character, show or other special meals. So no we are not eating more in the villa. The ability to do DDP 1 day at a time may actually have us do a little more CS out (As much for the DP beverage cup and snacks as for the meals). I do not think it will increase or TS meals.

bookwormde

 

[londonderrydisneyfan]

We definitely cook more in our villas than we used to, nothing too complicated though. Our next trip we're doing the DDDP for one night and we're going to eat at Le Cellier, Boma and Cape May, but we wouldn't be doing that if DVC didn't allow you to split reservations now.

 

[eliza61]

Please don't flame, because I'm a wee bit broken hearted in feeling this way. I love Disney. But the whole numbers game with the dining plan seems to work against our plan to enjoy sit down dining and still feel like our DVC ownership is proving to provide a reasonably priced wonderful vacation.

!

No flames from me, I've been disappointed for a while and if I have any criticism of Disney it's their restaurants.

First let me say that I may not be totally objective since I grew up in my uncles restaurant, so I know for a 100% fact that good food can be made at decent prices.

Basically 90% of our meals are either in our villa or offsite. I know some people feel that you don't go to disney for the food but I don't go to disney for any 1 thing. A good vacation for me is made up of many parts, sort of the old "spoke in a wheel" argument. When one spoke, eating is broken it effects my entire vacation. No it doesn't ruin my disney trips but it does color them, so to speak.

I still have my favorites at the world but more and more, I'm lovin my villa

 

[JKLLady]

In the villa or off-site for us too! The food quality has gone way down & the price of the buffets is just too much. I won't to pay over $140.00 for our family of four to eat mediocre buffet food (especially since my DS is only 13). We always eat breakfast in the room, and usually lunch too. On waterpark days we pack lunch & beverages in a soft sided cooler, and on regular park days we just go back to the room.

Sometimes my DD and I will make dinner (fajitas or something else quick), and we've begun doing take-out and bringing it back to the villa. In July we got pizza & salad from Flippers and gelato for dessert at Goodings. That night dinner ran less than $30.00 for the four of us.

On our up-coming New Year's trip we're doing take-out from Panda Express and Boston Market and eating off-site at Chevy's, Uno's and either Town Tavern in Celebration or Miller's Ale House.

We tend to do a lot of long weekend trips (when DS has a Monday or Friday off from school), and just bring stuff with us in our cooler (no extra grocery stops that way) and in our DVC tote bags, after a quick trip to Publix at home. With the money we save with DVC and APs, I refuse to waste money by spending a fortune on crummy food when eating out.

 

[Emagine]

No flames here either!

We just got back as well and I am now on this bandwagon with you. We had Studios at AKL because it was a Grand Gathering and we did the meal plan. But in March we have the full kitchen and I intend to use it.

Outside of a few sit down table service places I was not pleased at all. Nevermind the outstanding cost for the food, it is not worth it IMO. Some of the places, mostly the QS had zero in the way of variety unless you wanted a grease pit or a Cesar Salad. Two places offered a different dressing on the menu but were out and one did not even have a Cesar dressing but did a different one. Needless to say I was tired of the lack of options.

My kids are very picky when it comes to the menu there, one has sensory issues and will vomit and the other severe allergies. Even at some of the TS it was chicken nuggets on the kids menu. I often fed them off my plate and found we wasted a lot of food which I dislike.

We are not fried food folks or high carb ones either, we do not fry at home at all. Sure once in a while we like a burger and fries but not for 9 bucks and at every meal.

I told DH while there I was not pleased with the eating or the food. I will for sure be using our kitchen in March. But I refuse to pay these prices again for what someone at a CS referred to as the 'American way of eating'.

 

[jelwallace]

I love cooking at the villa! We used to have breakfast and dinner reservations most days because I thought it would be too much of a hassel to cook. Now we make breakfast and most dinners (we splurge 2 or 3 times a vacation) in the room. It is faster, cheaper and definitely healthier. I spent $150.00 for the week on groceries and got 7 breakfasts, 5 dinners (including Thanksgiving dinner) and several lunches plus snacks and wine. All for a family of 4. They were delivered by the garden grocer so I didn't even have to shop! Dinners usually aren't fancy (spaghetti, tacos, dinner salads) but it is soooo easy!