The Yachtsman?

[jlynne01]

We have adrs at The Yachtsman on our next trip and I was wondering if it is worth the money. We are a family five but four of us will be eating off the adults menu and only one off the childs menu. I am hoping they dont tell our 13yr old she cant eat off of the childs menu because of her age.. If that happens she wont be very happy due to the fact that she doesnt like anything on the adults menu.
Anyhow I added it up yesterday, adding taxes and grutuity and the meal is going to end up costing us $240.00 and that is not including a dessert or any specialty drinks. We are going with my brother and his family and this is a restraunt they wanted to go to. They have two adults and three small children 7,4,2.
Is this restraunt worth the money? I dont mind spending that much if its absolutely amazing and unfortable.
Any opinions on this restraunt?

 

[DISNEY1975]

I went once years and years ago.

The food was very good, not OMG fabulous. The service, however, was OMG fabulous! Helped that there were not a lot of people in the dining room.

I too am a family of 5, 2 adults, 2 teens and a 4 year old. A typical meal out at a local restaurant ends up costing around $140 including tip. We do not drink alcohol and usually never get dessert, but do get apps. $240 is really not that bad for A) Disney B) the great service C) most likely ordering steaks (??).

I just came back from Boston where every breakfast was running me over $100! Maybe Im still in overprice mode!!

 

[Rootskate]

My husband and I went last year. The service was incredible, the food very good. We are going back in October and really looking forward to it.

 

[jlynne01]

lol... Yeah I know! As a family of five we have always spent between
$130-160 for meals in disney. We normally do not eat desserts or drink specialty drinks. This was going to be $100 more then our normal dining and that is why I was asking.. We will most likely spend right at $200 for Bama's but I guess its when it gets up above $200 for the meal that starts to make me think lol.. Also our trip is 10 days and we have sit down adrs 9 of those 10 days...
I told my hubby and myself that I wouldnt worry about money this trip but I am just not built that way lol.. I think even if we had millions and millions of dollars I would still worry about spending foolishly....
This is our last trip with our oldest daughter who gets married 7 days after we return from the trip so I need to relax on this trip lol...

 

[3for Me]

We just celebrated my DD's birthday meal here a week ago. Great service and yummy food. Atmosphere is good, but nothing special.

I do think it is an expensive meal - hard to say if it is "worth it". We really enjoyed it. My older DD is 12 and she was given an adult menu. We didn't ask for a childs menu, but given the wonderful demeanor of our server - I don't think it would have been a problem.

Just a warning - they have samples of all the desserts on a tray as you walk through the restaurant to your table. They are VERY appealing - especially to kids (and adults!!) I would go ahead and budget for those as well, as they will be very hard to resist!

 

[Wild4Walt]

I've had dinner there before and it is very good. The service was great too.

 

[Rootskate]

If you booked a package have you thought about adding the dining plan? Im just wondering if that would save you some money.

 

[jlynne01]

If you booked a package have you thought about adding the dining plan? Im just wondering if that would save you some money.

Good idea but we are staying at SoG this trip so we are already saving a bunch. We have never been there either so that is a first.
I probably wouldnt be so worried about price if we were not paying for a wedding also....
Hubby is being sent to Afghanistan in January so she pushed her wedding up a year and it just happens to fall right after our trip (which I refused to reschedule).
I'm sure we will like the restraunt and it doesnt sound like anyone has anything bad to say about it.
I just wanted to be sure the service and food was good.

 

[ChelleinNC]

OP, any chance you're an AP holder or Fl resident? If so, the DDE card will be a huge savings for you!!!! If you're unfamiliar with DDE check out http://allears.net/din/dde.htm

I can say that Yachtsman is a signature fine dining experience. Think Captiol Grille/Morton's/Ruths Chris, not Outback/Lone Star. The food is incredible and service is excellent. We went as a family of 4 (DD14 & DS11) in June. We had 2 appy's and 4 adult meals --DS learned last year at Disney that he filet mignon -- We were too full to get dessert and did not have any specialty drinks, total with tip after DDE discount was $204. It was worth every penny

One other thing, you mentioned that there will be small children in the party. This will be a 2 hour meal. If they won't be able to be happy & well behaved for all that time, you may not enjoy the meal enough to justify the money. JMHO

 

[DISNEY1975]

Also our trip is 10 days and we have sit down adrs 9 of those 10 days...

In my very own opinion, if you are eating at 9 Disney restaurants and spending 10 days at Disney, eating at the Yachtsman is not going to make your vacation any more special. I would probably not go. The extra $$ is basically for the personal service. $100 could buy some great souveniers. The theme of the restaurant is a little eehhh. You may enjoy a uniquely themed place like Bomas or one of the Epcots. If you are looking for great steaks, try Le Cellier at Epcot or Konas at the Polynesian Resort. Most restaurants have great steaks, just not the quantity of choices like Yachtsman and honestly I can not tell the difference between a porterhouse and a NY strip!

Good luck with your decision.

 

[jlynne01]

OP, any chance you're an AP holder or Fl resident? If so, the DDE card will be a huge savings for you!!!! If you're unfamiliar with DDE check out http://allears.net/din/dde.htm

Wow... I didnt know about this, thanks for the info.. Unfortunately my annual pass has expired and with dh going to Afghanistan in January I think we will wait to renew when he returns 12 months later...
That information is very helpful though....

Another thing I didnt realize is that gratuity is now 18%!
I was accounting for 15%... We planned for spending for food way more then we are actually going to spend on this trip so we will be fine. I'm just what you might call a tightwad lol.... Or at least I act like I am then I always end up overspending

 

[rcraw45425]

As a family of four we dined there in January. We were on the dining plan (never again), and the tab, before tip, was over $200. DH had the porterhouse, I had the ribeye and the girls (10 &12) shared the Chateaubriand for two ($85). The food was delicious and very plentiful. Yachtsman's steaks are hand cut and dry aged, you will definitely notice a difference in the quality between that and say, LeCellier, which we have found to be "eh" on our last two visits. If your 13 YO is not a large eater you may conceder sharing with her. The children's menu is for under 10. The portions have also shrunk considerably. The creme brulee is awesome! The server we had was awesome, as was his assistant (yep, assistant). He did let my girls get the dessert off the children's menu. We tipped him like $45 too.

 

[luvtheBuzz]

The four of us just ate there last week. The meat was GREAT there, but other than that....the place is pretty overrated in my opinion. I was expecting a lot more from what I've read here. It was crowded. VERY NOISY!! Even our waitress commented on the screaming toddler, and how the child sounded like the same screaming child from the night before! Our waitress, was not impressive at all -- she seemed very rushed and overwhelmed. This is something I do not expect from a signature restaurant at Disney. And, of course, we have a DDE card, so she was getting 18% gratuity no matter what kind of service we got --aagh!

We had also eaten at CG, Citricos, and Jiko on this trip, and the YS is the one restaurant of the four that I will not be returning to. Maybe we just hit an off night, but for the money I just can't see going back there to eat again.