TS Desert only?

[boufa]

Has anyone tried to do a desert only at a TS restaurant, just for the experience.

Obviously, not a buffet location, but I would love to see what all the fuss is about at some of the more themed locations, without buying a full meal.

Anyone tried it? How is it, does the server give you evil looks because you are taking a table for a low dollar ticket? Where would you try? I was thinking either 50's Prime Time or Sci-Fi Dine-In.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

Has anyone tried to do a desert only at a TS restaurant, just for the experience.

Obviously, not a buffet location, but I would love to see what all the fuss is about at some of the more themed locations, without buying a full meal.

Anyone tried it? How is it, does the server give you evil looks because you are taking a table for a low dollar ticket? Where would you try? I was thinking either 50's Prime Time or Sci-Fi Dine-In.

Sci Fi - Yes. 50s Prime Time - No. I believe 50s has a bar area called the Tune-In Lounge or something like that.

I'm planning to do this at Sci Fi Diner -- to just go for drinks. If I were to eat lunch or dinner at Sci Fi, there's no way I'd have room in my belly for their cosmic connections drinks -- and that's what I really want! So, we will have drinks around 9pm. DS likes Sci Fi and we like the drinks. Maybe we will have an appetizer... I say maybe because the appetizers at SciFi are not that appetizing... and it's not my fault they can't come up with something better (same crappy appetizers since 2009). The onion rings are good but that doesn't go well with an alcoholic milkshake.

Some people will argue that's taking an ADR away from someone else... I disagree. I'm sure some people eat dinner at 9pm but how crowded will SciFi really be then? From the time we are seated, we will be checked out in less than 30 minutes. That means someone else with an ADR will be seated faster. Disney has employees who crunch numbers to account for stuff like this...

 

[TDC Nala]

Please refrain from discussion about tipping. All tipping discussion is limited to the Tipping Information sticky thread.

 

[annnewjerz]

We do drinks and an app at Sci-Fi each trip and haven't ever had a problem. We like to pop in to take a little break, watch some of the old movie clips and have an adult beverage, usually sometime in the evening after we have a light early dinner.

 

[Mississippianna]

Of course you can do this! DO it!

 

[fromscratchmom]

This is absolutely fine, not only at WDW but at any sit-down style restaurant anywhere so far as I am aware. People go out for desert to restaurants plenty in this country. While it is always possible to get a bad server anywhere I certainly wouldn't expect you to get one who thinks something is wrong with this idea. In general, people who go into a restaurant for dessert take up table space for less time than those who go for a full meal and the turn over makes up for the lower dollar amount. Maybe not always true, but enough that it averages out just fine and you are under no obligation to leave quickly. Enjoy!

 

[boufa]

Please refrain from discussion about tipping. All tipping discussion is limited to the Tipping Information sticky thread.

The question was deeper than just this one small factor and I did not even ask about tipping.

My initial question without offending anyone...

Is it appropriate to do a desert only "meal" to experience the "event" type resturaunts? Do others do it? If you could only do one which one would you do? We would do walk up so as to not tie up an ADR.

 

[Candlz]

Thank you for asking this question - bc I have been thinking of doing the same thing but have been hesitant to try.

 

[TDC Nala]

The first replying poster had concerns about tipping which were edited out. The post I made was to let responders know that if they have any questions or discussion about tipping, those are to go in the tipping thread. It was not in response to the OP's post.

 

[fromscratchmom]

ah yes, which one to try... there are so many ways to decide! The biggest factors are what kind of desserts do you like, which ones are done just fabulously at which restaurants and which of the restaurants' theme appeals to you the most. Pick which one of those things matters to you the most and then still consider the other two things to a certain extent.

I googled "best dessert walt disney world" and I came up with lots of interesting hits, but from a page on the the top 5 :
#5 - Maple Creme Brulee (Le Cellier) - This creme brulee is rich, creamy and absolutely indulgent! If you are a person who loves maple you can’t miss this dessert. The most common creme brulee is vanilla, so this unusual favorite is a nice treat.

#4 – Tamal de Dulce (La Hacienda de San Angel) – This dessert is a sweet tamal filled with guava and topped with strawberry coulis. It’s lighter than you might think considering the tamal is made with corn. The guava and strawberry compliment each other very nicely. Besides, it is a great way to end a meal at the this restaurant while watching Illuminations: Reflections of Earth.

#3 – Baileys and Jack Daniel’s Mousse (Coral Reef) – The Bailey’s and Jack Daniel’s adds a nice touch to this mousse which is topped with ganache and a chocolate cigar. It’s my favorite dessert to finish off my lunch at Coral Reef because it’s not heavy and the last thing you want is a heavy dessert in your stomach before riding Test Track.

#2 – Milkshake (50′s Prime Time) – I know you are thinking I must be crazy picking a milkshake. However, if you’ve never had the peanut butter and chocolate milkshake at 50′s, you are missing out. It is the best milkshake! It’s sweet and is a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup lovers dream shake. It’s like drinking one through a straw. I love to stop by and get one to go and walk around Disney’s Hollywood Studios on a hot day with it. Yum!

#1 – Almond-crusted Cheesecake (Narcoossee’s) – This is by far the best Disney dessert at Walt Disney World, if not in the entire world. It’s a light cheesecake with a hint of almond and surrounded in crushed almonds and topped with Lambert cherry sauce. I’ve never had a dessert that was so good that I could have ordered seconds… but this is it.

One of these you can get without choosing it for your table service experience, the one at La Hacienda San Angel. And the one at Sci-fi you've already had a vote for from a poster here.

I saw another interesting listing at this site:
http://www.themouseforless.com/tripplanning/dining/bestof/dessert-snack.shtml

Some of those are also counter service, but among the ones that were table service I noticed that Jiko, Le Cellier, Ohana and Chef Mickey's are much-talked-about/well-loved restaurants you might want to get to see and from other people's descriptions apparently Rainforest Cafe is very highly themed. good luck deciding between all the sugary goodness listed!

 

[Lu Ann]

We have gone several times to Kona Cafe to get the chocolate tort for dessert, and have gotten that only. We never felt bad for ordering just dessert. Since we are only ordering one course, we will be done really quickly and the table will be freed up for the next customer very soon. We have done dessert-only at other restaurants (California Grill/Wolfgang Puck, etc.) but sat at the bar and ordered. Since Kona Cafe doesn't have a bar, and the bar next to Ohana doesn't let you order the desserts from Kona, we have no choice but to go into Kona to get my favorite dessert.

 

[Mama Who]

It is a kindness to other diners and the servers to schedule dessert only visits to a TS for non-prime dining times. Not required, but certainly a courteous gesture.

 

[boufa]

It is a kindness to other diners and the servers to schedule dessert only visits to a TS for non-prime dining times. Not required, but certainly a courteous gesture.

Absolutely, especially in wanting to do walk up, this was a given. Besides this would be either our mid-day snack or our desert.

#2 – Milkshake (50′s Prime Time) – I know you are thinking I must be crazy picking a milkshake. However, if you’ve never had the peanut butter and chocolate milkshake at 50′s, you are missing out. It is the best milkshake! It’s sweet and is a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup lovers dream shake. It’s like drinking one through a straw. I love to stop by and get one to go and walk around Disney’s Hollywood Studios on a hot day with it. Yum!

Possibly the best sentence ever written, if it is even half true it will be wonderful

Thank you,I'm thinking we might get a milkshake or 2 and a couple of straws for sharing. Being involved in the 50's prime time experience was the reason I was thinking of doing the desert thing.

The first replying poster had concerns about tipping which were edited out. The post I made was to let responders know that if they have any questions or discussion about tipping, those are to go in the tipping thread. It was not in response to the OP's post.

Sorry, I missed the edit, and I am a little sensitive about not breaking any of the "dis" rules. But that's a story for another time.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Had a not so good experience with this at Tutto. I'm far too tired to type out the whole exchange right now just here's the gist of it. We went in around lunchtime and it wasn't busy, I even asked at the podium if it was ok for us to just get dessert and the woman there said it was absolutely fine (which it should be really). Our waiter never seemed to understand this, even though I said it MULTIPLE times. He kept asking "no food? you don't want to order more than that? what else can I get you?". He also didn't seem to understand that we wanted to split our dessert and said "Ok 2 zeppole" and I said "No, one zeppole, we're splitting it." After he finally got the picture, he pretty much ignored us. I understand trying to upsell, but not to the point of frustrating your customer and pushing them to the point of anger.

This was the only time we did this so it's the only experience I have to offer. I don't know if it was just the particular server, or if it was a cultural difference with him being from Italy or what.

 

[Nadjalu]

It is fine to do it. We ate at the Brown Derby for just the grapefruit cake at lunch time. It was my bday "meal"...lol That is all I wanted, paid OOP and the server was great! One of the best experiences we had on that trip. And it was at prime lunch time.

Have fun!!!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

A few years ago a couple of people on this board went to Bistro de Paris for desserts only.

Here is their report. Unfortunately the links to their photos no longer exist, but it is still fun and interesting reading.