We Didn't Give Disney All Our Food Money

[lugnut33]

Well, I am proud to say that $ is an issue for our vacation.

I would love to stay onsite, use buses, get free dining, etc., but in our case, it was much better to stay offsite.

My grandma gave us a condo exchange, which cost us $180 for the week. We will be eating 2 meals a day at our condo (varies between breakfast and lunch). However, the money we will be spending to eat at Disney, we are planning character meals that DD will enjoy. We are spending $184 on meals (plus $56 in tips), and we have budgeted another $100 for random snacks/drinks.

We are eating at: Crystal Palace, Akerhus, Hollywood and Vine, and Rainforest Cafe. I am very excited about our choices (more for the experience than the food), and I feel like we're getting a great deal.

I'm not worried about time leaving property - we are driving to Disney, so car is not an issue. For the days we are going to DHS and AK, we will be eating a late lunch and just eat dinner whenever we leave the parks. For MK and EPCOT, we are eating breakfast, we will leave sometime in the afternoon for DD to have a nap/rest time and to eat dinner. We will be back in the parks no later than 7 for fireworks.

Getting off site is really easy.

The character meals you are eating must be breakfasts? How many of you are there? For us 4 to eat a lunch at Crystal Palacce costs $116, then add in tax 123.54, and then gratuity (18%, though I've never really been sure if that is way too much for a buffet tip, but it is what Disney charges for groups of 8 or more or if you use the Tables In Wonderland discount card) and we finish out at around $145. If we were to eat dinner there it would come out to just over $200 for us 4. That is pretty pricy if you ask me.

 

[treehugnmama]

We are dvc and last trip we rented a car to go to world and vero I will now always have a car. In the past we would take a taxi to the other resorts but having a car was awesome. It was so nice to walk to the car get in it and drive rather than wait for the bus. I never thought I would feel this way

Also being dvc we no longer comando we enjoy are time at the resort. Kids love to do all those little extras rayed than the parks so I get it. Lugnut when you say you enjoy that resort time. We make breakfast before we leave he villa saves time and $$ and is healthier. Mostly it is a bit of a hassle to go to restaurant when we could eat before we leave. Each trip we go on we seem to have another Disney restaurant that we take off our list of ones we enjoy. We have only a couple left. I did the dining plan for one day of our 10 day stay for or trip next month. I did dlx so we will use it for two days of meals. We will try seat tomatoes. Do tou have any other recommendations for offsite dining? We are taking my parents this trip the two Disney restaurants we wanted to go to are in the parks and they aren't going to parks so offsite ( but close within 10 min drive) would be great.

 

[lugnut33]

We are dvc and last trip we rented a car to go to world and vero I will now always have a car. In the past we would take a taxi to the other resorts but having a car was awesome. It was so nice to walk to the car get in it and drive rather than wait for the bus. I never thought I would feel this way

Also being dvc we no longer comando we enjoy are time at the resort. Kids love to do all those little extras rayed than the parks so I get it. Lugnut when you say you enjoy that resort time. We make breakfast before we leave he villa saves time and $$ and is healthier. Mostly it is a bit of a hassle to go to restaurant when we could eat before we leave. Each trip we go on we seem to have another Disney restaurant that we take off our list of ones we enjoy. We have only a couple left. I did the dining plan for one day of our 10 day stay for or trip next month. I did dlx so we will use it for two days of meals. We will try seat tomatoes. Do tou have any other recommendations for offsite dining? We are taking my parents this trip the two Disney restaurants we wanted to go to are in the parks and they aren't going to parks so offsite ( but close within 10 min drive) would be great.

Depending on what resort you are staying at will determine the Sweet Tomatoes you go to. There is one at the crossroads shopping center and there is another one located on the Irlo Bronson Hwy right next to the Super Target store and is really close if staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge (just drive up Shereboth Road to the Irlo Bronson Hwy). Be sure to sign up for their e-mails as they always include some great coupons. You don't even need to print the coupons if you can show them on your phone.

If you go to restaurants.com you can pick up $25 gift certificates for $2 to House of Blues at Downtown Disney when they run their 80% off special. With that certificate we fed all of us for $43 total.

We also used a Giardanos gift certificate from restaurants.com and there are several of those places in Orlando. Just choose the one closest to your resort. We went to the one on the Irlo Bronson Hwy. Our bill with gratuity was $20.

According to the guys on the Dis Podcast another good selection is the Orlando Ale House. There are two of those, one on the Irlo Bronson Hwy and another near Crossroads.

There are several nice restaurants in Celebration, which the podcast crew raves about including Columbia Restaurant and Celebration Town Tavern.

We have also ate at Pei Wei asian restaurant, and while it was really tasty it is about a 20 minute drive or more. There is a Bonefish Grill right next to it also.

 

[twooley2]

personally to each is own and I do not care what the OP does or how she eats. Although I was curious as to how this worked for the OP as I always say we are going to cut cost the next time but can't see how it would be doable with our family. My kids have gotten used to Disney Dining although now they are saying they prefer not so many character meals anymore. They are finding it annoying and the food is not that good at the character meals although they like some of the other meals at disney that are not character meals.

 

[brunette8706]

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

*
I couldn't agree more. If the OP wants to spend his time/money wisely so be it. Also, I do agree that the DDP has gone down the wayside. Five years ago or more the restuarants used to have top notch food. They have taken prime food items off some of the buffets (i.e. primerib from Boma and prime rib from Le Cellier amoung some other modifications). I have never tried the Bistro Paris, how does that rate from the French restaurant at EPCOT? We still love BOMA, and I think it's one of the best table service (not including signatures) on property, in my opinion.

 

[mickeysbestfriend]

every way you can think of to discover Disney from the budget minded bring all your food and pack lunches to keep in a locker the the all inclusive vacations on the Gold Key and enjoyed them all. Can I afford to eat three meals a day in the on site restaurants...yes....but my days of being able to eat that much food are long gone. One major meal, breakfast in our villa and a snack gets us by just fine.

Do Disney as it's best for you and you will have a great time!

Citrus swirls rule!!

 

[brunette8706]

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.

*
HI! You make some valid points. Sooner or later I think Disney will out price themselves or this may FORCE some people to buy the DDP thinking they are getting a good deal. I understand completely.

 

[lugnut33]

*
I couldn't agree more. If the OP wants to spend his time/money wisely so be it. Also, I do agree that the DDP has gone down the wayside. Five years ago or more the restuarants used to have top notch food. They have taken prime food items off some of the buffets (i.e. primerib from Boma and prime rib from Le Cellier amount some other modifications). I have never tried the Bistro Paris, how does that rate from the French restaurant at EPCOT? We still love BOMA, and I think it's one of the best table service (not including signatures) on property, in my opinion.

We have ate at Chef's De France also and while it was good, it was not nearly as good as Bistro De Paris. The quality of the food was much better, as was the ambiance of the restaurant. I'm sure it all comes from the same kitchen, but there is a difference. There is no hurry at all from the servers. It's also a lot quieter upstairs at Bistro.

All four of us got the prix fixed (spelling??) which included appetizer, main course, and desert for just under $50 per person. That was a good deal. I had the marinated tuna with limes and herbs appetizer (raw, but very very good, the kids also like it). Then I had the Grilled beef tenderloin with mushroom crust, bordelaise sauce, mashed potatoes which were all very good. The meat was soft and savory, but the star of the show was the mushroom crust. For desert I had the Warm peach clafouti, vanilla chantilly and peach sorbet which was subtle but tasty.

 

[debbs0723]

<superfacepalm>

I did not BASH the food!! Where did I bash the WDW food in this thread? Now you two are making stuff up.

And for the second time, we had Wetzels pretzels because we had just come out of La Noube and it was after 8 pm. It's not like it was a choice between Wetzels Pretzels and Boma. It was a choice of any of the DTD restaurants and we decided to have hotdogs. Is that such a terrible thing? Besides, we were able to eat there for under $35 as opposed to a $200 meal at Boma. I have never compared Boma to Wetzels Pretzels, you and zales are doing that.

For us the choice was Boma or Bistro de Paris, we chose Bistro which is also a Disney restaurant. That is where we decided to spend a lot of money. Are you saying that since I'm at Disney I should blow as much money as possible on every meal?

And yes it's a combination of cost and quality. I can pay a lot less money to get the same or better food off-site. That's how you save money and that is what I've said since the opening post. Here is my opening paragraph, tell me where the bashing is, and notice I even mention cost!!

Well, I understood what you said. It is about perceived value. You never said Wetzels pretzels was the best food you ate but you liked it for the price. Not every meal has to have the meaning of life. I think what people also don't think about is that those first few meals seem great but after a few days you have eaten so much that it all starts to taste the same so people have different experiences at every restaurant. It all depends on what you are looking for at the time of your trip. Our first trip we did 8 days of DDP. 8 table service restaurants and had a blast. Kids were young and we needed to get in those characters. 2nd trip we did counter service for 5 days and had an absolute blast. We loved the two snacks but they even took that away for 2012. Having said that we did research before we went on the best use of those credits and all the places that didnt just serve burgers. This time I'm reading threads like this because we are staying offsite for the first time and I love to hear positive experiences with this and how there really are other ways to do it.

Debbie

 

[debbs0723]

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.

What an absolutely ridiculous blanket statement you have just made. What if eating offsite for a few meals provides their kids an entire extra vacation in that same year? Your basically saying that if a family eats offsite for a few meals here and there they are ripping off their kids? Aren't you a good little consumer? I like having people like you around. Honestly I get rich off people like you.

I apologize to anyone new reading this as I usually do not get this irritated by posts but this statement really got to me.

 

[hannahdrewmom]

I completely agree with you lugnuts. We have the money for the meals but there is something wrong with spending $116 dollars to eat EGGS! Do you know how many eggs you can buy for that!

I think if you are going to disney every now and then it might be worth it. But I think for the people who go often, or have dvc, or have gone for YEARS... there comes a point where you say... ahhhh I think I"m done with it. My questions is why is Disney different from other places, say the beach? Many people go to the beach for a week and cook most meals (sans 3 or 4) and nobody gets upset with them??

There are of course meals that we will try on different trips now. We love FF and I think that one is worth the money. My kids are still young so I opt for one character meal. But overall I have a problem with paying for substandard buffets that are $45 per person. In the real world you can go to a NICE restaurant for that.

That doesn't mean this is what everyone will want to do. And that is fine... but don't judge people based on their choices. As a dvc owner I can totally see how after years the food isn't anything "unique" anymore.

 

[amberdburke]

Getting off site is really easy.

The character meals you are eating must be breakfasts? How many of you are there? For us 4 to eat a lunch at Crystal Palacce costs $116, then add in tax 123.54, and then gratuity (18%, though I've never really been sure if that is way too much for a buffet tip, but it is what Disney charges for groups of 8 or more or if you use the Tables In Wonderland discount card) and we finish out at around $145. If we were to eat dinner there it would come out to just over $200 for us 4. That is pretty pricy if you ask me.

There are 3 of us, but DD is 2 until the end of November, so we will only be paying for 2 adults. We are mainly eating breakfasts. I did check today and some of the character meals have gone up, so it's actually going to be about $250. Plus, we have a $50 Disney giftcard that we are putting towards our food budget.

 

[Pumbaa_]

the lack of civility and general rudeness on this thread has brought its closure