Who else goes to the same restaurants year after year by default?

[mommycrawford]

I always think of myself as adventurous when it comes to eating...I have no food allergies and welcome an opportunity to try a new thing.

STILL, I look at the reservations I have made, and see only places I have been to before, despite my interest in other venues.

Does anyone else do this? Is it the result of too many trips to the World, or reading too many reviews?

What do you do/think?

 

[sue_gowin]

DH and I were just talking about this recently. We do the same thing, and we love all kinds of foods too. We vowed that next time we are trying at LEAST 2 new restaurants!!!!
Our "regulars" are Le Cellier (somehow we have manged to get a reservations EVERY year!), Beergarten, Cap'n Jacks, Mama Melrose (i loooove that wood-burning oven smell), and Raglan Road. This past year we tried the new La Hacienda, and it was DELICIOUS. I really really recommend it!

 

[scjo68]

I admit we generally do the same ones. Mostly because we don't want to do too many sit down restaurants and our kids have their favorites that they enjoy. So we find that each trip we do Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace, plus one more character meal. With our picky kids we don't want to spend a lot of time and money on a meal they won't enjoy.

But, I am already thinking about a 20th anniversary trip for just DH and myself, during which we will try new places we don't experience when we go with the kids. Places I always hear about and just want to try...Le Cellier, Cali Grill, Brown Derby...

We just have to wait till 2013... so lots of time to plan.

 

[StEpHandMiKe<3Disney]

DH and I do the same thing. I have to say though, this year we are trying 3 new places!!!!!

 

[dislaney]

We tend to go to the same places too! This year we are trying 2 new ones so I guess that is a start.

 

[eeyore81]

Us too... Coral Reef at Epcot, Sci-Fi at Studios, Tusker House at AK and Liberty Tree at MK and Boma for Breakfast. We really need to branch out and try something else, but everyone has their favorites.

 

[carly chloe]

We do!! When you only get there every other year you miss them so bad!!! I can't wait to eat at them again!!! We did add 2 new ones as we are staying longer this time.

 

[KJay]

Three repeats (the ones we loved last time), and six new ones for us this year! We'll see- maybe some of the six will get into regular rotation if we love them. (HA! Listen to me, talking like I'll be going back on a regular basis- I've already been told by the rest of the family NOT to assume we're going back to WDW time and time again. I guess we'll see...)

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) We patronize only five TS eateries at WDW.
2) Not because of habit.
3) Because the other eateries are not satisfactory to us. *


* We eat out 2-4 times per week for free, or almost free, at many of the better eateries in Orlando and WDW. The majority of WDW eateries do not come close to measuring up.

 

[Halle]

How do you eat out for free? What are your favorite off-site restaurants?

 

[friends with mickey]

1) We patronize only five TS eateries at WDW.
2) Not because of habit.
3) Because the other eateries are not satisfactory to us. *


* We eat out 2-4 times per week for free, or almost free, at many of the better eateries in Orlando and WDW. The majority of WDW eateries do not come close to measuring up.

I have seen your report cards on several posts. I am curious as to seeing your report cards for the 5 TS eateries you find satisfactory if you would be kind enough to share.

 

[DCDisney]

We usually do half old and half new. We are done with character buffets (Thank God!) now that my kids are older except we do 1 char breakfast (harder to mess up breakfast food). We usually do a lunch at LTT or 50s. Dinners once we gave up on Le C we've been trying signatures and usually do 2 of those per trip now (one old and one new) and at least 1 new dinner somewhere. It works out oretty well that way as we don't get burned out eating the same places every time but check out our old faves about every other trip.

 

[minniebride]

We often go to the same CS places, but we try to pick some new TS restaurants each trip. There are always a few "staples" mixed in though, like Boma & CP breakfast.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

How do you eat out for free?

. . . MOST good restaurants in town or WDW have a referral program *
. . . the concierge marks his ID on the card and sends the guest
. . . the concierge can get up to $4 per person for each guest or diner
. . . the guest, in return gets a free drink, free appy or free dessert
. . . the rebate to the Concierge can be in cash or credit for meals
. . . although small in scale, think of the volume of Orlando tourists

* NOTE:
. . . the same goes for referrals on rental cars, tours and dinner shows
. . . the concierge can make up to 25% of the price of a car or tour
. . . so, a 3-day rental car can yield up to $45-$100 in referral fees
. . . or, make $35-$40 per guest for dinner shows, eg. Arabian Nights
. . . and we didn't talk of $20-$40 for some tickets to Disney or Universal/SW
. . . again, think of the volume of guests annually
. . . ticket counters and travel agents can also make the referral money
. . . concierge and travel agents are not working for the low-ish hourly wages
. . . they can make some really good bucks from referrals and commissions

What are your favorite off-site restaurants?

. . . Café D'Antonio - Celebration, Casual Italian
. . . Columbia - Celebration, Spanish/Cuban
. . . Oceanaire - International Drive, Really Fresh Seafood
. . . Norman's, - Orlando Ritz Hotel, Fine Dining
. . . Venetian Room - Caribe Royale Hotel, Fine Dining
. . . Vito's - International Drive, Steaks and Chops
. . . we do each of these at least once per month

 

[jjatwdw]

We do the same thing. We have our favorites and try to add at least a few new ones. I hate buffets so we avoid those. We always do HBD (Cobb salad to die for), Le Cellier, GG, (because DS needs at least one character meal). Last year we added The Wave and Y&Y to the list. This year we are adding CR for the first time and O'hana, which we tried a few years ago and didn't like.

 

[HunnyJar]

We have like four must-do restaurants and then we try to fit in some new restaurants or maybe a restaurant we have been to before but not for that particular meal. This year we have two new restaurants and two we will be trying for breakfast.

 

[girls_trip_2011]

I always WANT to eat at the same places, but try to push myself to eat elsewhere

 

[tinkgirl1984]

I tend to end up at the same places over and over, but mostly because there aren't really any new places to try. I've been to almost every restaurant on property. The ones I keep going to over and over every trip are the ones that I enjoy. That being said, I'm breaking my mold for my April trip and am totally winging it. I'm going with my bff and my grandmother because my cousin's marching band is playing at Universal, so our first two nights will be on property there. We'll be at Disney a grand total of 5 nights/4 days and I have exactly 2 ADRs. The rest, I plan on totally winging. Thought I'd try something different. Wish me luck!

 

[jwfla422]

I always think of myself as adventurous when it comes to eating...I have no food allergies and welcome an opportunity to try a new thing.

STILL, I look at the reservations I have made, and see only places I have been to before, despite my interest in other venues.

Does anyone else do this? Is it the result of too many trips to the World, or reading too many reviews?

What do you do/think?

Guilty GUILTY GUILTY!! of the same thing!! And, I have a Disney dining review website so I try to expand my horizons and try new places but it's so tough to not re-visit the places you love. After all if they were in your town you would be a regular, right? So, if you go to WDW 2x or even 3x a year if you are lucky to go that often, well, that's only 2-3 times going to that restaurant, right? Does that make sense??

We do go to the ones on our "must do" and then I always make an effort to try 2-3 new places or places I haven't tried in a while even if it's for lunch.

 

[Nancy F]

Try to go to at least one new place each trip. This April trip it's Artist Point and Mama Melrose's. But we always go to The California Grill. Usually The Brown Derby too. But we couldn't get the Fantasmic package this time so it's MM instead.

Nancy