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[onewishupon]

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[Disneydawg74]

Good for you! I’m doing the same in December (primarily because I couldn’t book the top tier restaurants I was trying for). So, I’m setting myself up to really enjoy places I’ve never eaten (hello Nine Dragons and The Plaza). It will be a different type of trip. But I know we’ll enjoy it. I know there’s a WDW “premium” built into restaurant pricing, but, like you, I don’t want to get so little value for so spending much money. I could have booked Monsieur Paul, but $195 per person before wines are purchased is over the top for me. I know others will enjoy it more than I would.

 

[onewishupon]

Good for you! I’m doing the same in December (primarily because I couldn’t book the top tier restaurants I was trying for). So, I’m setting myself up to really enjoy places I’ve never eaten (hello Nine Dragons and The Plaza). It will be a different type of trip. But I know we’ll enjoy it. I know there’s a WDW “premium” built into restaurant pricing, but, like you, I don’t want to get so little value for so spending much money. I could have booked Monsieur Paul, but $195 per person before wines are purchased is over the top for me. I know others will enjoy it more than I would.

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[onewishupon]

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[snikki]

We are doing the same this trip. Skipping the hard to get, pricey ADRs. It made booking ADRs super easy. We are also doing mostly lunch ADRs and some lounges. We plan to share at most places too. The plan is to get appetizers and share an entree. This also gives us a chance to try all of the QS places we have wanted to try along with snacks. We have a whole day AK with no ADR because there are so many snacks we want to try.

We have SK71, San Angel Inn, Sanaa, Sci Fi and Homecomin’. Our splurges are Topolino’s breakfast and Cali Grill. We have Il Mulino booked too but may cancel but if we go we will get the smaller portions. We

We’ve also been lucky to have done most of the popular places and thankful for the memories.

 

[Smugpugmug]

For my family and I, the prices would be okay if the food quality made up for it but most of the time it hasn't. Decreased food quality in many Disney restaurants is what is making us do more offsite dining and other places instead. We're also not bothering with any prix fixe meals since they seem overpriced for what you're really getting.

We have all of our offsite dining booked (including Cowfish at Universal) and we plan on doing Jaleo, Ale and Compass and Jiko in terms of Disney dining.

 

[snikki]

For my family and I, the prices would be okay if the food quality made up for it but most of the time it hasn't. Decreased food quality in many Disney restaurants is what is making us do more offsite dining and other places instead. We're also not bothering with any prix fixe meals since they seem overpriced for what you're really getting.

We have all of our offsite dining booked (including Cowfish at Universal) and we plan on doing Jaleo, Ale and Compass and Jiko in terms of Disney dining.

I agree. I live in an area with great food. I don’t mind spending money for great food. But it hurts to spend big money on just ok food. We’ve done it before and are thankful for the memories (CRT, BOG, Chef Mickey) but are switching our approach lately.

 

[onewishupon]

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[sponica]

Not only that - but sometimes Disney serves WAY too much food. It's like - here's your trough of food. LOL

Going into my trip in april, all I saw were complaints that the portions were small...and I was very confused by getting A LOT OF FOOD all the time. Granted I wasn't buying lobster rolls at CHH, because the market price for lobster rolls at home on the New England coast has been 40ish bucks, so I don't want to know how little lobster is in a 17 dollar lobster roll.

 

[unrequited23]

We will have a "Disney adult" 11 yr old for our next trip and it has caused me to re-evaluate my ADR wish list.

 

[Mousetopia]

I have bought into the dining hype before followed by the thrill of the hunt for the elusive reservation. Last trip we got it all!! We were wildly excited..then oh...hmm. Food was ok in all cases but worth the price ? No mostly not. Im not doing that anymore. Ill revisit favorites, pick new to suit my interests (Flying Fish!) and special experiences like HOOP dee Doo. ADRs were stress free. For me this upcoming trip is a farewell tour. Ive had many magical experiences and meals. I plan to focus on the magic remaining, keeping my face out of my cell phone..not buying Genie as I know how to tour without needing it and just enjoying the memories! I have many meals with no ADR at all..bet Ill not starve and Ill have some delightful meals anyway!

 

[MinnieMSue]

We have switched to mostly quick service for our last few trips and enjoyed it a lot. Also no worries about getting to ADR on time. You can still get a wide variety of food without having ADRs

 

[Dis Dragon]

We skipped a restaurant meal on a trip to substitute eating around the world for variety... that was a big mistake. There's 4 of us and it ended up costing more than a sit down by a lot, it's expensive for what you get but there is some great bites. At least for us it's not a money savings.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

I have slowly been letting go of some ADRs, even ones that I really wanted, for a few reasons. I'm just finding it hard to reconcile paying $200+ for so many meals when I'm irritated about the price of a dozen eggs at home. Also, this will be the first trip navigating with Genie+ and I don't know how that will pan out, especially during a busy week. We're DVC so there will be more trips. I did keep 1 ADR per day just to escape crowds, but we're throwing a few lesser known places without prix fixe so we can share.

 

[tgropp]

Same here. We have Biergarten, Steakhouse 71 (never tried) and whispering Canyon over an 8 day trip in Dec. Usually it’s 6 or 7 meals but excessive prices and mixed reviews have changed my dining patterns. As OP had said, I feel lucky to have dined at almost all the good Disney restaurants and will let others fight for the reservations.

 

[Lilsia]

I agree that the prices have far outpaced the value. I only do 1 sit down restaurant per trip now, usually Boma.

 

[Misha72683]

We will have a "Disney adult" 11 yr old for our next trip and it has caused me to re-evaluate my ADR wish list.

This has been a big factor for us, especially since it is my pickiest eater.

 

[LisaL]

We will have a "Disney adult" 11 yr old for our next trip and it has caused me to re-evaluate my ADR wish list.

I am literally here about that same issue. I have a very particular (read picky), vegetarian 11 year old kid and it is almost impossible to feed him on-site from the kids menu let alone the adult menu. They say they will accommodate, but then it's an issue when we get there. Can't find a simple grilled cheese sandwich. My day 60 is tomorrow at 3 am. Rethinking everything! ugh...(This post sounds fussy, but I'm really just exhausted and worn out. I know that sounds redundant, but it's really both )

 

[unrequited23]

Can't find a simple grilled cheese sandwich.

Yup, cause they gotta get fancy and use multiple cheeses...once we were between staying at POR and POFQ and the deciding factor was POFQ had a grilled cheese at the CS.

 

[Disturbia]

I am literally here about that same issue. I have a very particular (read picky), vegetarian 11 year old kid and it is almost impossible to feed him on-site from the kids menu let alone the adult menu. They say they will accommodate, but then it's an issue when we get there. Can't find a simple grilled cheese sandwich. My day 60 is tomorrow at 3 am. Rethinking everything! ugh...(This post sounds fussy, but I'm really just exhausted and worn out. I know that sounds redundant, but it's really both )

We have kids with multiple allergies. Unfortunately QS takes just as long as TS (tracking down the chef, placing multiple separate orders etc). We can’t just pick up something from a gift shop (AKL directed us to do that when they had no openings for the last 2 hours for mobile orders at Sanaa - our worst deluxe stay by far).

Steakhouse71 steak was triple salted and tough and service extremely slow during our last visit. Space220 dinner was extremely long and disappointing (2.5 hrs). We had submitted a special diets form and they took everything off our sons plate (egg, dairy allergy) and he had fries and a dried piece of meat (can’t remember if it was chicken or steak). They had no marinara or even grilled veggies! He only ate a few fries (vs Topolinos chicken and pasta was so delicious and not dry). My special order birthday dessert was missing and the manager apologized but did nothing else. Everything had closed so our son went hungry; we missed harmonious (our only night at Epcot). We might try the lounge but everyone screams no if I bring up dinner. We were supposed to get 3 sets of trading cards and we reminded our waitress twice and she never gave them.

There were some surprisingly good places like Topilinos and CRT (had been mediocre for the past 5 years), so you know Disney can deliver good service and meals but they choose not to. Despite having great meals we cancelled Topolinos due to Genie+ conflicts on our second HS night.

These past few trips we’ve done more QS than we usually have in the past and it made the trip so much more flexible and relaxing (no worrying about Genie+ conflicting etc). That said, during peak times Disney needs to up its staffing (reports of 2 hrs to order at QS during Christmas week). Pecos Bill took us 1.5 hr standing in line just to order during Spring break (marching bands ordering with coupons).

It’s really hard to get ADRs simply due to the current crowds. I would say book what you planned, then read some recent reviews/watch YouTube videos and then cancel.