The $%&# with it. I"m waaay over my dining budget...and I DON'T CARE!!!

[michaela mouse]

Let me know if I'm crazy....
You know...my intentions WERE good....I swear. I figured we would try to save a few pennies at the end of the day on meals by going to some less expensive restaurants. Sounds like a great plan right.....

But as our trip gets closer and the exitement builds, I can't help myself but to build a DREAM dining itinerary.

My family hasn't been to THE WORLD in 4 long years and my kids are the perfect age 5 and 8 to soak up all the magic and fun....I realized that it isn't all about the money. This will most likely be our last trip for at least 2-3 years and don't want any regrets. And I'm not too keen on burgers and hot dogs all the time.

Our must haves are....

Grand Floridian Cafe breakfast
Fulton's
Boma lunch & Dinner
Kona Cafe

Going to try for the first time:
T-Rex

Going to try again..after a long time:
Teppan Edo

On the Fence:
Portabello

Do you ever have dining regrets?

 

[cbg1027]

My only dining regret at Disney was Les Chef des France.

As far as how much money I spend on dining at Disney.....no regrets whatsoever!

I don't think you're crazy, but eating at Disney is one of my favorite parts so maybe I'm not the one to ask.

Maybe you could cut back a little in some area at home.....perhaps eat out less?

 

[Declan2]

I know what you mean we are going this summer and the budget has ben blown. I just wanted to mention we went to T-Rex two years ago. My kids then 7 loved the atmosphere. I didn't like the food at all but since your kids are also young they might not really care that much about what they eat.

 

[Mamu]

Our must haves are....

Grand Floridian Cafe breakfast Great food and great service
Fulton's Never done
Boma lunch & Dinner Even though we've stayed at AKL we have never done this meal. It get good reviews
Kona Cafe Good food

Going to try for the first time:
T-Rex We love T-Rex and have an ADR for arrival day

Going to try again..after a long time:
Teppan Edo Never done

On the Fence:
Portabello We like it very much

Do you ever have dining regrets?

Sure we all do. We read the reviews here and the ones everyone raves about we try. Some we love, some are OK, then there are some we will never return to. Everyone is different, and they have different taste. Make your decisions and stick with them, what we hate you may love.

 

[MAGIC...itis!]

Sure we all do. We read the reviews here and the ones everyone raves about we try. Some we love, some are OK, then there are some we will never return to. Everyone is different, and they have different taste. Make your decisions and stick with them, what we hate you may love.

I couldn't say it any better... enjoy your picks!

Dining for us is a very big part of our WDW experience. We enjoy the planning, and then the anticipation...and then we enjoy the food.

The one and only restaurant I am leery to try myself is Coral Reef because I can not remember hearing anyone I know say they had a good meal there, especially vs the cost. I will probably try it for myself someday, but sadly, it gets shuffled to the bottom of my must-try list every single year.

 

[momtoejanda]

The one and only restaurant I am leery to try myself is Coral Reef because I can not remember hearing anyone I know say they had a good meal there, especially vs the cost. I will probably try it for myself someday, but sadly, it gets shuffled to the bottom of my must-try list every single year.

Completely agree. We had a bad experience at coral reef. My boys were 2 and DD was 5. We were kept waiting for 45 minutes after our ADR. Then when seated we didnt see a waitress for another 15 minutes for drink and she said she would come back for our order and came back 20 minutes after that. So that is a total of 1 hour and 20 minutes BEFORE ordering dinner. Well with 2 two-year olds we were done, we left and grabbed CS on the way out of the park. That sort of soured us to Coral Reef and have not gone back. However, I have put it on my spreadsheet (yes I know there is something wrong with me) for our upcoming trip in October to try it again!

 

[gigi1313]

Let me know if I'm crazy....
You know...my intentions WERE good....I swear. I figured we would try to save a few pennies at the end of the day on meals by going to some less expensive restaurants. Sounds like a great plan right.....

But as our trip gets closer and the exitement builds, I can't help myself but to build a DREAM dining itinerary.

My family hasn't been to THE WORLD in 4 long years and my kids are the perfect age 5 and 8 to soak up all the magic and fun....I realized that it isn't all about the money. This will most likely be our last trip for at least 2-3 years and don't want any regrets. And I'm not too keen on burgers and hot dogs all the time.

Our must haves are....

Grand Floridian Cafe breakfast
Fulton's
Boma lunch & Dinner
Kona Cafe

Going to try for the first time:
T-Rex

Going to try again..after a long time:
Teppan Edo

On the Fence:
Portabello

Do you ever have dining regrets?

no regrets here, except maybe we are never able to squeeze in a visit to one of our family's faves... the Plaza in MK... we always say "we'll go back this trip" but it's the one that is regularly left on the cutting room floor!

a few questions... where are you staying? if not at AK, i'd reconsider two meals at Boma... lots of traveling for two very similar meals...

also, have you considered the dining plan? it may save you some money...

 

[marivaid]

Boma doesn't serve lunch, so you're going to save some money right there

 

[michaela mouse]

We are staying at the AKL, that's why we're doing Boma twice. Thought about Coral Reef for the atmoshere only but they only had openings for lunch. Feel good about our current itinerary.....with 30 days before we leave...plenty of time to tinker...too much time..

 

[luvdisney00]

I couldn't say it any better... enjoy your picks!

Dining for us is a very big part of our WDW experience. We enjoy the planning, and then the anticipation...and then we enjoy the food.

The one and only restaurant I am leery to try myself is Coral Reef because I can not remember hearing anyone I know say they had a good meal there, especially vs the cost. I will probably try it for myself someday, but sadly, it gets shuffled to the bottom of my must-try list every single year.

Funny, Coral Reef is our favorite must do. We always have a great meal there and have never had a long wait. We have done lunch the last 2 years though, so maybe lunch is better than dinner.

 

[sanapp]

The only regrets I have had was wasting time and paying OOP for a Chef Mickeys dinner - might try breakfast some time, but never dinner again.

Also regreted going to the Yak & Yeti CS. DH wouldn't eat any of the food at all. It really wasn't very tasty!

We always love Tepan Edo, but we don't have a tepanyaki near where we live (maybe 2 hours away).

I am considering trying BOMA for breakfast on next trip, but I think we would have to take a cab to get there as we wouldn't have a vehicle. We would want to do it early, so a park transfer probably wouldn't work. Not sure if I would want to give up our normal Tusker breakfast though. Perhaps it would work if we do AK twice.

I agree with others that eating out at Disney is a big part of the trip and I really enjoy it. I spend as much time planning our dining as I do our touring plans!

 

[#1hoosierfan]

My only regret was Cape May. I was so looking forward to this meal, and the crab legs were overdone and salty. NOT worth the money. My ds did enjoy playing on the beach, though and we got to walk around the boardwalk at sunset.

 

[MAGIC...itis!]

Funny, Coral Reef is our favorite must do. We always have a great meal there and have never had a long wait. We have done lunch the last 2 years though, so maybe lunch is better than dinner.

luvdisney00... Thank You for the Coral Reef vote of confidence. And I appreciate the idea about going for lunch. It never even crossed this mind...lol!
None of our friends and acquaintances had ever had good luck there for dinner. And some posters have not been so pleased with their experiences. So because CR is one choice of many good Epcot dining experiences, it was relegated to my "maybe" pile. If it was located in MK or HS, I'd have already been for sure. But, like I said, I will try it for myself hopefully one visit this year... for lunch!

 

[ness1996]

Here's another vote for Coral Reef.

We ate here for dinner and while the food was not super duper fantastic; it was very good. And the atmosphere is great! For our next trip in Sept, I had us all pick our favorite from last time to repeat and my husband's was the Coral Reef.

 

[southern_redhead]

Your title made me laugh, it's kind of how I feel. We are going for the first time (should have done it years ago but it always seemed too expensive) and I want my kids to experience as much "magic" as they can while they are young enough to be "WOWED" by it. I started with thinking we'd only do 3 meals and the rest in the condo. 1900 PF dinner for DD to see Cinderella, Chef Mickey to see the Mickey gang, and TRex because I had tons of points to cash in on mypoints and the meal will be all but free there. Well.....every review of CM left me less than impressed. I started playing around with the ADR site and decided we "needed" to try breakfast at 'Ohana. They have Mickey there so I cancelled the CM, then added Cape May breakfast to see other characters. Then I added Crystal Palace, we aren't big Pooh fans and never have been, but I got the early ADR so we get to go into MK before it gets packed out and get some pictures in front of the castle. Also, if we are ever going to see and enjoy the Pooh gang I figured now's the time.

It isn't really that I'm over budget, I won't have to cancel other things to cover the new meals, but I'm certainly having to set more aside now (six people isn't cheap no matter how you slice it LOL) But, like you, I figured WDW is going to be pricey regardless so why not live it up (as long as I don't go into debt or get into a place where I can't pay my bills to do it)? If the kids love it we may go back every year but, who knows, this might be once in a lifetime or at least not again for a few years. I don't want to end up thinking "I wish I'd taken the kids here or there". Also, we are seeing such a range of characters at meals that I think it'll help keep us from standing in so many lines to see them in the parks.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

love boma - we've booked our stay at AKL on that basis (esp. the hummus, salads and desserts)

As far as I know there is no lunch but the breakfast is also worth a visit.

I agree - you never know when or if you will return to WDW - we always live each trip as if it will be our last.

 

[HunnyJar]

love boma - we've booked our stay at AKL on that basis (esp. the hummus, salads and desserts)

As far as I know there is no lunch but the breakfast is also worth a visit.

I agree - you never know when or if you will return to WDW - we always live each trip as if it will be our last.

My husband and I totally believe the same thing. Yes, we could do it cheaper, but we don't want to regret anything. We want to treat each and every trip as if it was our once in a lifetime trip because you really don't know what's going to happen in the future. And we also want our kids to experience the magic that Disney offers like no one else.