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Most of our recent trips have been during free dining times. We still enjoy Teppen Edo, Ohana and Yachtsman as well as a couple of character meals. I agree that you can get better food for a better price off property but I don't like leaving the property until I've checked out. I guess if I had to pay out of pocket for each meal I would consider heading off property.
I still think there are some goo places to eat, Boma, Teppan Edo, Yak and Yeti, Kona Cafe spring to mind. I like theming and disney still does that well, entertainment wise Biergarten was great, i dont really like buffets/character meals, dont like all the getting up and down and seeing all the waste! Would I pay for all the restaurants we visited last year out of pocket? Probably not but when you're going anyway at a free dining time with two teens you're not going to turn down free food. At £146 a night for a one bedroom dvc resort with 4 adults including dining and accomodation it's a no brainer!
If you are free dining it's different, but the service is so poor now compared to what it used to be that I would rather spend my money somewhere else, get better food and pay less :( I feel that the Guests who pay for their food are subsidising the free dining :shrug: :sorry:
Free dining was the worst thing Disney ever did in my opinion, or they should have only allowed the signature restaurants to be included for Deluxe and DVC Guests. If you were on the dining plan and wanted to eat at a signature restaurant I think there should be a surcharge on top of the credit deduction or even a different set menu. That's just my opinion though :shrug:
I always eat onsite. I feel no need to leave disney, even when I did have my car. I think it's the experience more than anything. Don't get me wrong, I do tend to buy a few groceries to have in the room. However, once I'm at disney, it's my little special place away from everything....the rest of the world can wait until I return.
I have to agree that I think the Free Dining ruined it for all of us. But I still believe they could fix that problem. Designate 1 beef dish, one chicken dish, one fish dish and one vegetarian dish as available on the free plan for entrees and then let them go back to fixing the good stuff for those of us who are OOP.
I like eating off site. I like staying off site as well. I'm not one who thinks that I need to be on Disney property to experience all of the magic. I'm not knocking this who do but just going to Disney is my magic :-)
Now when we go for free dining, we are eating all meals on site. And i miss going off site. There are lots of places we don't have at home that I like to try.
I find that if I'm eating on site and I'm not on the dining plan, they I think the good is far too overpriced, even with my Tables in Wonderland discount. I don't know that eating on site is even worth it if not using the dining plan.
I know a lot if people talk about the dining plan dumbing down the menus. This is true but Disney is doing the dumbing down all through out the resort. You used to get POTC merchandise outside of POTC. Now you can get it just about anywhere. Lots of examples like that. They are also doing the same thing with the Disney Parks stuff. I might as well buy souvenirs off site as well.
i don't like the idea of the limited menu or restaurants, i think maybe just get rid of it. I know if i was eating out of pocket i'd probably limit it to a couple of restaurants on site a trip, they're expensive for what they are so i completely see your point. I do remember that when ours were little it was approx $100 inc tax and tip for everything including a couple of beers.
...and that's what Disney did wrong IMHO.Quote:
Originally Posted by britchick
They started off and wanted every table booked solid in hard times, the way to do that was to give everything away.
Then the economics kicked in a bit and they started thinking well hang on, if everyone tries the most expensive dishes on every menu, we're not doing too well on this!
The obvious thing would have been to have a special dining plan menu as John says with a few set items on it.
Problem is, once they'd given people the world, they can't easily go back without everyone saying oh how pathetic, I wont bother then.
well i'm sure the grumblings of a few people on an internet forum won't change things LOL. Next time i go it will probably be to a villa and now i know the range of restaurants off site i will probably just go to old favourites like Boma
thats for sure, they'll go on hard numbers :yes: but I do think that the stats may start reflecting what we've said here. The people willing to pay more for a nice meal are being put off by hoards on cheaper plans... I can't see them liking that long term trendQuote:
Originally Posted by britchick