We Didn't Give Disney All Our Food Money

[Candlelady]

Lugnut33,

Stop trying to explain yourself. They are basically calling you a liar and you keep trying to defend yourself. The best defense against a forum bully is to ignore them.

I understand what you are trying to convey and we do the same. After lousy service and mediocre food, we went from all our TS meals onsite to only two or three per visit. I prefer to give my dollars to establishments that appreciate my business. We don't spend any less, but we eat much better.

We are also DVC and enjoy a slower pace on vacation. Love our midnight snacks in the villa.

Candlelady

 

[lugnut33]

I can honestly say...good for you, but not my kind of vacation.
1. DH and I enjoy the Disney dining experience.
2. We also enjoy a cocktail or wine with dinner and do not drink and
drive...thus really appreciate Disney transportation.
3. I refuse to cook on vacation.
4. I can have cereal and poptarts for breakfast at home.
5. We go to Disney to leave reality...Mickey take me away!
6. Finally....we plan and save for this vacation all year....
kinda like a hobby for us. I'M not interested in Disney politics.
Just give me my Mickey bar and I am content.

1. We also enjoy cerrtain Disney dining experiences, but have noticed it to be less and less as the costs increase.
2. I would never drink and drive, and we walked from Jiko back to our room. I barely drink anyways. A bottle of wine spread over 2.5 hours and two people is not that much.
3. I used to be that way, and then realized it's not a big deal when one has a full kitchen.
4. We are not much for breakfast anyways, but understand that some people's favorite meal is breakfast. Who doesn't like mickey waffles? For us though, it's not a big deal.
5. Our beautiful 1 bedroom villa at AKL was like leaving reality. Leaving WDW property doesn't make it any less magical for us now. Maybe having visited Disneyland a bunch of times has jaded us because it's located in a very busy part of town.
6. I ate 4 mickey bars while we were there, they are yummy.

 

[lugnut33]

The bottom line is this... Disney won and Lugnut33 lost. The OP thinks they told off Disney and showed them that they didn't get all of their money. They think they've found a way to speak with their wallet. What the OP doesn't realize is that they still spent a lot of money at WDW. And whether the OP has day-tickets or an AP, they wasted perfectly good time on their precious vacation going off-site to eat or retreating back to their villa just to save $XX per day.

When you're on vacation, time is more important than money. You can always make more money, but you will never get back the time you've either lost or squandered. This is not a crack against people who can't afford better. I'm not talking about them. The OP admitted in a PP that they could afford better, but that they chose not to do so. As a result, they lost. They just don't get it. They refuse to see why and most likely always will. It was their vacation and they basically said to their family, "Sorry, but you're just not worth it." It's not a matter of personal opinion. It's simple math, and for that matter, emotion you feel for your loved ones. They lost. Disney won.

I also find it ironic how the OP has spent all these pages arguing their point and not describing or posting pictures of what a wonderful time they had. Sadly, I think that says everything right there.

P.S. Disney won.

Well, here's a link to live reports I was doing during the trip, so I guess I lied about that also
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2781262
Didn't take too many pictures because I didn't feel like it. I've taken about 2000 photos over the last few years at WDW, this time I wanted to move out from behind the camera. You are welcome to go over to the photo of the day threads and seach out the ones I've posted over the years.

I don't get it. How did we lose out by going going back to our resort for activities there? How did we lose out if we like to hang out at the pool in the middle of the afternoon when it's 93 degrees and the dewpoint is 74? So, the hundreds of people at the pool are losers everyday at WDW? The kids who want to go swim are losers because they don't want to commando a park for 14 hours a day?

It's not like we went back to the room and watched TV and slept. When you stay at nice places like AKL there are tons of great activities to do like: community hall where you can play games and do arts and crafts (the wife and I had a fun time playing foosball), the arcade, hang out on the patio watching the animals on the savannah, Wii competitions (kids love this because they get to meet friends), night vision viewing of the savannah, cultural discussions, resort tours, meeting the cast members, swimming, tennis, basketball, and many other things.

As for eating, I would bet we spent less time heading off site then you would getting to your restaurant, waiting for a table, waiting for meal, and then heading back to the park (unless you are eating in the park). Don't forget, we didn't eat every meal off site.

 

[alice99]

Lugnut33,

Stop trying to explain yourself. They are basically calling you a liar and you keep trying to defend yourself. The best defense against a forum bully is to ignore them.

I understand what you are trying to convey and we do the same. After lousy service and mediocre food, we went from all our TS meals onsite to only two or three per visit. I prefer to give my dollars to establishments that appreciate my business. We don't spend any less, but we eat much better.

We are also DVC and enjoy a slower pace on vacation. Love our midnight snacks in the villa.

Candlelady

There is something going seriously wrong with this thread. I am not going to point any fingers , but if you read it there IS a bully being very rude.

 

[CindyCharming]

Lugnut33,

Stop trying to explain yourself. They are basically calling you a liar and you keep trying to defend yourself. The best defense against a forum bully is to ignore them.

I understand what you are trying to convey and we do the same.

Another person here who gets what you are saying. Not sure why what you do on your vacation with your family is such an affront to everyone else? So strange to me!

We too have dropped down to a couple of table service meals per visit and will probably drop the amount of counter service meals on our next trip.

We used to be onsite Disney diehards until a few years ago when we were there and I accidently mixed up two of our reservations. Which we found out when we got to the Teppan Edo check-in. Teppan Edos is a yearly tradition and my kids were really looking forward to the meal so we called the local Benihanas and they had availibilty.

We could not believe the difference in our dining experience! We weren't rushed, there wasn't chaos going on all around us, we were seated immediately, servers were great, food was great. That's when we decided to be open to dining other than Disney dining.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

I am going to have to be one of those that say we enjoy our dining experiences at Disney, but we also do a few offsite in addition to our Disney dining. We have managed over the years to eliminate those dining locations we deem a poor value and continue to visit those we enjoy. I do find that if you are careful with your dining choices you can still get good value. It also does help that we are DVC members, so we tend to use the kitchen facilities for some cooking, breakfast items, snacks and a warm-up or two. We also hit the grocery store on the check-in day, and restock as needed.

My most recent example was our December 2010 trip. 13 nights on site, only two off site dining trips (Giordano's on a restaurant.com coupon and Outback Steakhouse on some gift cards from work). Everything else from the kitchen or dining at a Disney location. Room was on points, APs were from a previous trip. Total out of pocket charges on this trip, including gas and meals for the trip down and back - $1,196.33. And this was over Christmas and New Years! And we felt we ate great - Boma breakfast, Le Cellier lunch, Teppan Edo supper, sunshine seasons, Beaches 'N Cream, and a few trips to Earl of Sandwich. BTW, we used the TIW discount.

You can eat well if you plan well. We did !

 

[Candlelady]

<snip>
We could not believe the difference in our dining experience! We weren't rushed, there wasn't chaos going on all around us, we were seated immediately, servers were great, food was great. That's when we decided to be open to dining other than Disney dining.

Ours was breakfast at Boma's. One of our favorites to start and end our vacation. Each year it got just a little bit less enjoyable for us. Then the last time we dined there, the food choices were less, the service was horrible and it was so loud we couldn't hear ourselves think. We tried the Dolphin breakfast buffet and never looked back. Positively lovely servers, calm environment,unlimited Starbucks coffee, and a very good breakfast, all for about the same $$.

 

[curious3069]

There is something going seriously wrong with this thread. I am not going to point any fingers , but if you read it there IS a bully being very rude.

Seriously, one of the most awesome threads going into the hole I've ever seen!! I don't even understand half the disagreements with the OP. They found a way that works for their family, I never saw anything where the OP said that was the ONLY way or anything of that sorts, just that they wanted value and quality for their money and they don't feel Disney provides that FOR THEM. Doesn't mean that someone else might feel the exact opposite. (and how does eating a hot dog one night refute their entire reasoning behind what they did???)

I HATE messing with the dining plan but we use it due to 2 small kids who love character meals. It works now, but I can see us ditching it when they get older or decide character meals not quite as fun.

 

[HunnyJar]

I can honestly say...good for you, but not my kind of vacation.
1. DH and I enjoy the Disney dining experience.
2. We also enjoy a cocktail or wine with dinner and do not drink and
drive...thus really appreciate Disney transportation.
3. I refuse to cook on vacation.
4. I can have cereal and poptarts for breakfast at home.
5. We go to Disney to leave reality...Mickey take me away!
6. Finally....we plan and save for this vacation all year....
kinda like a hobby for us. I'M not interested in Disney politics.
Just give me my Mickey bar and I am content.

I <3 you!

Me, too! This is also the way we see things as well. If a poptart works for you. Fantastic. But we take a trip maybe once a year if we are lucky. We don't leave town for anything but our once a year (if that) vacation due to my husband's work schedule. We save all year long for this trip. And in all honesty, we want to be totally in the moment while on vacation. I don't even want to think about cooking while on vacation. I don't want to try to save a few dollars and go to Baja Fresh or something similar when I can just eat in the park. Those minutes are precious to my family. And I actually like the food they serve in WDW!

I'm glad you found something that works for you but for my and my family I'd rather just go and really immerse myself in vacation and make believe for the days we are there.

 

[lugnut33]

Maybe part of it is that we come from a small town that only has an Applebee's as its' main restaurant and therefore places like Sweet Tomatoes are out of the ordinary? Or, we've gone enough times that we don't have to eat at the parks all the time, nor do we have to spend every minute in the park. I remember the commando days though.

I asked my daughter tonight at dinner if she felt ripped off in any way that we didn't eat every meal in WDW, and she said no. She was totally fine with what we did.

 

[zales127]

Let me explain why I took the approach that I did.

I said that I think it is AWESOME when people find things that work for them and their family. Disney is definately not a one size fits all vacation.

I guess I get a little defensive when someone puts things out there about the transportation being bad, the service being bad, and the food being bad..then they say its not about money..then they say it is..

If you had a bad experience with transportation once..say it...dont put out there that is just generally bad..because its not...if you dont like the quality of food for the price..of course..dont eat there...but then dont say its terrible all around...with a few exceptions.

In one breath she is saying something about the dining plan and how it has ruined everything..the next she is saying "this has nothing to do with the dining plan so we shouldnt discuss it".


If eating off site works for you GREAT...but dont sit there and say its about the quality of the food when your talking about eating cereal bars, gas station snacks, and hot dogs. It is obviously not about the food quality..its about yuo not wanting to spend the money. You feel you can get more bang for your buck somewhere else...which is FANTABULOUS!!! Great...but call a spade a spade and quit dancing around it and flip flopping.

 

[lugnut33]

Let me explain why I took the approach that I did.

I said that I think it is AWESOME when people find things that work for them and their family. Disney is definately not a one size fits all vacation.

I guess I get a little defensive when someone puts things out there about the transportation being bad, the service being bad, and the food being bad..then they say its not about money..then they say it is..

If you had a bad experience with transportation once..say it...dont put out there that is just generally bad..because its not...if you dont like the quality of food for the price..of course..dont eat there...but then dont say its terrible all around...with a few exceptions.

In one breath she is saying something about the dining plan and how it has ruined everything..the next she is saying "this has nothing to do with the dining plan so we shouldnt discuss it".


If eating off site works for you GREAT...but dont sit there and say its about the quality of the food when your talking about eating cereal bars, gas station snacks, and hot dogs. It is obviously not about the food quality..its about yuo not wanting to spend the money. You feel you can get more bang for your buck somewhere else...which is FANTABULOUS!!! Great...but call a spade a spade and quit dancing around it and flip flopping.

You have reading problems. I have never said such things about the dining plan nor transportation. You are reading into it what you want and not what was written.

For example, I said I get a rental car everytime because that's what I prefer. Personally, I think Disney Transportation does about as good a job as it can, but using it stresses me out. Show me where I said it bad?

 

[zales127]

Several months ago I made a post about how I wouldn't eat on-site because I thought the cost for the table service restaurants and the dining plans was too costly. I just didn't see the value in the cost. I took a lot of heat for those comments, but am glad to say we didn't eat any table service meals during our 10 day trip to WDW. We are 4 "adults" (two kids, but Disney considers them adults)

For breakfast we basically at cereal or cereal bars in the villa, along with juice. We are not big breakfast eaters. I can't imagine our breakfast cost more than a total of $10 per day.

For lunch we had a combination of quick service meals and food back in our villa. We ate at places like Sunshine Seasons, Tortuga Tavern (twice because we felt it's a good deal), and Cosmic Rays. We never spent over $50 for our meals at the quick service locations. Our lunches in the villas consisted of sandwiches, chips, and lots of fresh fruit. Those meals were not over $15 total.

For dinner we basically ate offsite or back in the villa. Our offsite locations were Sweet Tomatoes, Giordano's Pizza, Wetzels Pretzels, and House of Blues. We used a combination of dining.com gift certificates, DVC discounts, and restaurant coupons to keep each meal below $40 total. When we ate dinner in the villa it was easy stuff like pasta, sandwiches, fresh fruit, chicken which wouldn't cost more than $15 total to make.

We did eat two meals at signature restaurants, Jiko ($140 for a mom and dad dinner with a bottle of wine) and Bistro de Paris ($238 all 4 of us). They were really good, and actually not that much more than a dinner character buffet.

We always rent a vehicle no matter what, but if you want to include that cost it was $250 for the 10 days.

Add that all up, throw in some extra costs for snacks in the park, and I'm pretty sure we are right around the $100 per day average. Considering a quick service plan would have cost us $140 per day and the basic plan would have cost $184, I think we saved ourselves a lot of money. Plus it's my little way of protesting the degradation of dining at WDW due to the dining plan.

It had nothing to do with money. It has to do with me not accepting the prices that Disney is charging for the meal you get. I'm upset that the dining plan is ruining dining at WDW.

It's quite easy to get offsite. From Animal Kingdom lodge it's just a couple of minutes to the Irlo Bronson Hwy. Not that big a deal. Oh, and one day we went and spent the day at New Smyrna Beach, which was a lot of fun. The kids loved it. We found a fresh fish store/restaurant and had an incredible meal, for around $50 total.

We came out way ahead financially if you compare it to the dining plan, nobody here can argue that. I will rent a vehicle every time we go to are because it's so much easier than Disney transportation. we will take a bus though to the magic kingdom.

We stayed in a one bedroom villa at animal kingdom and it took us less than 10 minutes to get to sweet tomatoes and giordanos. That is faster than getting to just about any are restaurant using Disney transportation. The other off site places were at downtown Disney.

Lastly. I make plenty of money that we could pay for the deluxe dining plan, we just choose to use our money on different experiences, like la noube.

Why not use the gas stations? They don't rip you off on the cost per gallon and it's a cheap place to get drinks and snacks. I know you're being sarcastic and taking it to the extreme, but food prices at WDW are very high, especially for table service meals. At some point the cost for the food and service you are getting is too high, and we've reached that point. I don't want to overpay for food when there are other things I can spend my money on that are a bigger bang for the buck. Example, La Noube.

Free dining is not part of this discussion because it's not relevant. If you were there during the summer you don't get free dining. Free dining can be a great option for people, especially if staying at a value resort.

You have reading problems. I have never said such things about the dining plan nor transportation. You are reading into it what you want and not what was written.

For example, I said I get a rental car everytime because that's what I prefer. Personally, I think Disney Transportation does about as good a job as it can, but using it stresses me out. Show me where I said it bad?

 

[bcrook]

I'm sorry, but I have went back and read all my posts and nowhere do I see me harping on quality of the food. I see me saying an awful lot about the cost of the food for the quality one is getting. Like I've said, it's a combination. Please go back and point out specifically where I have ripped on food quality?

I wonder if there is a point at which every single person would say, "enough, I am just not paying these prices at Disney. I am going off site until Disney lowers there prices"? It appears that Lugnut has reached that point, and I am right there. I am not going to pay $50.00 a person for Boma. I want to eat there more than anything, I am staying at AKV, but I am just not going to support that type of pricing.

At some point, the people who say that $50.00 for Boma is reasonable will respond the same way as the OP when it reaches $65.00 a person or maybe higher. Especially if the price jumps up 10 - 15% in one year.

Of course free dining and the DDP complicates the issue even more. But at $55.00 a person that will be hard to swallow next summer for the DDP. More people will pass on it.

The dining experience at Disney is definitely changing. It will be interesting to see how the restaurants off site will continue to challenge Disney for their business in that area. Right now is the time, because WDW is testing the outer limits of affordability.

 

[lugnut33]

Zales, you quoted a lot but none of it is ripping on Disney.

 

[marivaid]

I can honestly say...good for you, but not my kind of vacation.
1. DH and I enjoy the Disney dining experience.
2. We also enjoy a cocktail or wine with dinner and do not drink and
drive...thus really appreciate Disney transportation.
3. I refuse to cook on vacation.
4. I can have cereal and poptarts for breakfast at home.
5. We go to Disney to leave reality...Mickey take me away!
6. Finally....we plan and save for this vacation all year....
kinda like a hobby for us. I'M not interested in Disney politics.
Just give me my Mickey bar and I am content.

That too. Well except #2 because we don't drive.

OP you started a similar thread a few weeks (or months) back and this one is going to end up pretty much the same way.

To each his own. Our Disney trips are usually 5-7 days long, we have better things to do than go offsite, cook, and certainely don't have space to bring snacks with us. If people want to do that, fine. I don't give a hoot if someone wants to eat canned corn on Main Street as long as they don't try to tell me that their vacation style is the right one and that I'm a fool for paying Disney prices. And yes, I know you didn't do that so no use defending yourself for something I didn't accuse you of.

This trip we're doing half Disney, half beach. We'll eat a chain or local places on the beach, but we'll pay the $28 or whatever Cape May charges at WDW to eat with Donald and the gang. Our choice.

 

[DisMN]

I think I get what the OP is saying. For the quality of the food disney now serves the price isn't worth it.
Again, the quality isn't worth the price we pay.

That's not harping on the food at all. It's saying that the prices are too high for what many consider lowered/lowering the quality of food.

Teppanyaki used to sell an outrageously expensive kind of beef....kobe fillet mignon for approx $22.00. It's now just a regular fillet and yet the price is now much much higher than when it was the kobe. See what I'm saying? Fine, they want to no longer serve the kobe beef but don't raise the prices sky high and beyond for a lesser quality steak!

Many many people are feeling the way the OP feels and have started eating quite differently when on a Disneyworld vacation. We are one of those. We don't go off property but we order groceries so we're not spending $40+ for crappy scrambled eggs somewhere and we seek out acceptable counter service places and partake in 2-3 sit down meals instead of sit downs every day.

I greatly miss the relaxing with a nice sitdown meal but dang for some odd reason (read: DDP) the sit down restaurants either priced themselves out of our lives.......FOR THE QUALITY of the food they now serve NOT because we can't afford to eat there. I simply refuse to pay MORE money for less. Don't see why that doesn't make sense to others.

Just to repeat....OP, I totally know where you're coming from.

 

[Princess Sleepy]

Also, I refuse to cook and clean during my vacation. However, simple it might be, it's not how I like to spend my vacation.

This, this, 1000x this! I will pay for overpriced food on my relaxing WDW vacation anytime if it means I get the week off from planning, making, and cleaning up after meals.

 

[bumbershoot]

I think I get what the OP is saying. For the quality of the food disney now serves the price isn't worth it.

For us, it's been worth it. Maybe it's that we are vegetarian, and the food we've had there has been EXTREMELY tasty? Maybe try some veggie options and your enjoyment will go back up?

It's now just a regular fillet and yet the price is now much much higher than when it was the kobe. See what I'm saying? Fine, they want to no longer serve the kobe beef but don't raise the prices sky high and beyond for a lesser quality steak!

What if they *have to*? To maintain their business they way they wish to maintain it, with the profit levels and income that they need for their company to thrive, what if they *have to do this*?




We ate at Sweet Tomatoes and plan to do so again. We order *exactly* what we want at the WDW restaurants, and we cooked (and plan to cook more) and bought safe-for-DS-and-DH desserts to have at the villa, and brought Mojo ans Z-bar protein bars for snacks....

But I didn't start a thread about it.

I think that's the difference. It's the in-your-face thread that makes people go wild. I saved mine for specific responses to questions, or for my trip report, to talk about my philosophies on eating at WDW. If I were to start a thread, I would absolutely expect it to blow up, because not everyone agrees with it.

 

[MaisieMooandCometToo]

We LOVE Disney dining but it is mahoosively expensive for us and we wouldn't be willing to pay for the quick service meals never mind the table service neither do we see buying the DDP as cost effective.

Our past two trips and (hopefully) our upcoming one have been with the free DDP which is excellent value especially with the discounted room rates at OKW and SS and we love making the dining the focus of our experience know that we've been there and done it with the attractions. However should we not get the free DDP we would be eating offsite as we have done before and just paying for 1 or 2 table service meals as treats.