gardengirl628
Help, help, a Herrible Hoffalump!
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2009
I think Frontera Cocina has just officially made the list for our April trip. It looks amazing!
A honeymoon, a 3rd wheel & 3 very full tummies: We get how much food?!?!? 19 Nights DxDP!!!!
- Thread starter robinsa88
- Start date
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
I would highly recommend it! We hadn't heard much about it before our trip but the menu appealed to us. It turned out to be a fabulous surprise!
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
Day 20 – October 5th – Cinderella’s Royal Table Breakfast
On our last morning, Peta and I have a tradition – CRT breakfast before 3 fastpass rides then heading to the airport. This trip was no exception except that we had an afternoon flight, and enough time to also get lunch after breakfast back at the hotel (lucky given the number of QS credits left at this point). We took some snaps at MK before heading to the castle:
The usual fanfare occurs at breakfast, and we had a photo first:
We were then escorted straight upstairs, and our table was set the minute we sat down with the standard starter”
Pastry Plate - Assorted Breakfast Pastries
Allergy Friendly Pastries
These were tasty, and noticeably fresher than those eaten previously at BOG.
Characters came next and we had several snaps with each:
Then, mains arrived soon after. Trent and I ordered the same thing:
Caramel Apple Stuffed French Toast - Decadent French Toast stuffed with sweet Cream Cheese, baked with Caramel Apples, and drizzled with a Calvados Caramel Sauce
This was very tasty but also VERY sweet. I didn’t enjoy the amount of cinnamon, but the caramel sauce was wonderfully tasty and balanced it nicely. It was a huge serve, and neither of us made it through!
Peta only had one choice:
Healthy Choice - Hard-poached Egg on a bed of Arugula, tossed with Quinoa, Avocado, Roasted Vegetables, and spritzed with Myer Lemon Oil and White Balsamic Vinegar
Sadly Peta was SUPER disappointed in her only option. Let’s be honest – a salad with egg doesn’t scream delicious breakfast. Previously the healthy choice was a great platter with yogurt, oatmeal, fruit and other things on a really cool tray and it was her favourite breakfast on property. It seemed like such a good choice and it is curious that they switched it out for a less conventional option.
She did eat most of it out of hunger, but it wasn’t really breakfast like, it may have been a nice option as a lunch appetiser or something but was overall rather plain.
And so, the score card:
Food: 3/5 – Fine, but just OK, nothing special
Service: 3/5 – It always is a bit rushed here and this morning was no exception
Experience: 4/5 – Still the princesses in the castle, but definitely not the same vibe as lunch or dinner
On our last morning, Peta and I have a tradition – CRT breakfast before 3 fastpass rides then heading to the airport. This trip was no exception except that we had an afternoon flight, and enough time to also get lunch after breakfast back at the hotel (lucky given the number of QS credits left at this point). We took some snaps at MK before heading to the castle:
The usual fanfare occurs at breakfast, and we had a photo first:
We were then escorted straight upstairs, and our table was set the minute we sat down with the standard starter”
Pastry Plate - Assorted Breakfast Pastries
Allergy Friendly Pastries
These were tasty, and noticeably fresher than those eaten previously at BOG.
Characters came next and we had several snaps with each:
Then, mains arrived soon after. Trent and I ordered the same thing:
Caramel Apple Stuffed French Toast - Decadent French Toast stuffed with sweet Cream Cheese, baked with Caramel Apples, and drizzled with a Calvados Caramel Sauce
This was very tasty but also VERY sweet. I didn’t enjoy the amount of cinnamon, but the caramel sauce was wonderfully tasty and balanced it nicely. It was a huge serve, and neither of us made it through!
Peta only had one choice:
Healthy Choice - Hard-poached Egg on a bed of Arugula, tossed with Quinoa, Avocado, Roasted Vegetables, and spritzed with Myer Lemon Oil and White Balsamic Vinegar
Sadly Peta was SUPER disappointed in her only option. Let’s be honest – a salad with egg doesn’t scream delicious breakfast. Previously the healthy choice was a great platter with yogurt, oatmeal, fruit and other things on a really cool tray and it was her favourite breakfast on property. It seemed like such a good choice and it is curious that they switched it out for a less conventional option.
She did eat most of it out of hunger, but it wasn’t really breakfast like, it may have been a nice option as a lunch appetiser or something but was overall rather plain.
And so, the score card:
Food: 3/5 – Fine, but just OK, nothing special
Service: 3/5 – It always is a bit rushed here and this morning was no exception
Experience: 4/5 – Still the princesses in the castle, but definitely not the same vibe as lunch or dinner
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
Day 20 – October 5th – Contempo Café Lunch
After our fast passes we head back over to BLT and before grabbing our car to head back to the airport we went back to the Contempo Café – which had been great earlier in the trip.
I had an old favourite:
Spicy Chicken Sandwich - spicy breaded chicken breast topped with vegetable-style coleslaw on a multigrain bun $11.49
I simply couldn’t leave without getting another of these, and it didn’t disappoint! I am devastated to learn that it has recently been taken off the menu for a different option ☹
Peta got a:
Allergy Friendly Cheese Flatbread - $11.49 – Made specially for Peta! They were very accommodating here!
It was pretty good and super fresh. Nice and cheesy and good to fill up before the LONG journey home.
And Trent went with:
Beef and Pork Sliders – Special of the day - $12.49
He devoured these and said the meat was tender but well cooked. These came out super hot and were clearly very freshly made, which is excellent for QS.
For Dessert, we all picked from the amazing cabinet, which seems to change every day!
Lemon Friand - $4.49
Peanut Butter Dome - $4.99
Both super tasty, and not too sweet!
And for Peta…..
Flourless Chocolate Raspberry Cake - $4.99
Would you believe Peta thought this was the best dessert of the trip? What a great way to finish!
After our fast passes we head back over to BLT and before grabbing our car to head back to the airport we went back to the Contempo Café – which had been great earlier in the trip.
I had an old favourite:
Spicy Chicken Sandwich - spicy breaded chicken breast topped with vegetable-style coleslaw on a multigrain bun $11.49
I simply couldn’t leave without getting another of these, and it didn’t disappoint! I am devastated to learn that it has recently been taken off the menu for a different option ☹
Peta got a:
Allergy Friendly Cheese Flatbread - $11.49 – Made specially for Peta! They were very accommodating here!
It was pretty good and super fresh. Nice and cheesy and good to fill up before the LONG journey home.
And Trent went with:
Beef and Pork Sliders – Special of the day - $12.49
He devoured these and said the meat was tender but well cooked. These came out super hot and were clearly very freshly made, which is excellent for QS.
For Dessert, we all picked from the amazing cabinet, which seems to change every day!
Lemon Friand - $4.49
Peanut Butter Dome - $4.99
Both super tasty, and not too sweet!
And for Peta…..
Flourless Chocolate Raspberry Cake - $4.99
Would you believe Peta thought this was the best dessert of the trip? What a great way to finish!
auntfrannie
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2001
Seriously? A salad for breakfast was the best they could do? That's beyond disappointing.
OasterP
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2013
Day 16 – October 1st – Tusker House Breakfast
After a late night at California Grill (Mostly due to the late fireworks) we kind of regretted our choice of an early breakfast at Animal Kingdom.
We were late due to an accident and practically ran through to Tusker House. There was a massive line by the time we rocked up, but all larger tables so we were sat nice and quickly.
Our server got the chef out straight away to walk Peta through the buffet. The characters were in the other half of the restaurant so Trent and I also got up and grabbed plates of food.
We were very excited by the choices here, all the basics if that’s what you like plus a variety of unique dishes. And photo fail….apparently I was so busy enjoying the food that I didn’t get any photos!
The characters here were excellent, and we had quite lengthy interactions:
Our server was also lovely, and kept the POG juice coming, much to Peta’s delight! Here, it is clear that they have a high staff to table ratio. Our server appeared to be managing us and only 3 other (albeit large) tables. She was always right next to us, filling up juice and coffee and we had a lovely conversation with her about her home country of china. She told us she was new and was super excited to be at Disney, it had been a long dream of hers.
And so, the score card:
Food: 4/5 – One of the best buffets, such a great choice and everything fresh and hot
Service: 5/5 – Such a lovely server and so attentive!
Experience: 4/5 – Great characters, but this is held back slightly by how loud and overwhelming the whole space can become.
I'm glad to see this. We booked a PPO breakfast, and I wasn't overly thrilled with how rushed the characters were the last time we went (was at a brunch time). Maybe earlier they will be better.
Day 18 – October 3rd – Be Our Guest Breakfast
I’m not going to lie, we only did this meal for 2 reasons, given all the bad press:
1. Pre-park opening breakfast
2. Trent had never been and was interested in going in the beast’s castle.
I should have skipped it for a further 2 reasons:
1. Park opening times changed, and despite having an 8.30am reservation on a 9am opening, they wouldn’t let us in early!!!!! They made everyone wait in a line that was longer than the rope drop line, and let us in only 2 minutes or so before everyone else. By the time we got in, the park was way busy.
2. There were terrible reviews circulating about the quality of the food
None-the-less……we stuck with it. At least we were seated very quickly as we had pre-chosen our food. It was absolute chaos with the mass of people all let in at once and heading straight for BOG. I was relieved that not many others seemed to have pre-ordered so thankfully our line was super quick. We chose to sit in the west wing and it was super dark, but pretty cool.
It filled up quickly and the line for the drink machine was ridiculous.
We were served quickly:
Pastry Tray - Comes with meal, one per table
I don’t know why, but everything here was cold and rock hard – it must have been in the fridge right up to serving. I get that it is mass poroduced food, but at least take them out and bring them to room service before the land on the table. Chilled, hard pastries are not tasty at all….
For his meal, Trent ordered:
Feast a la Gaston - Scrambled Eggs, Roasted Potatoes, Bacon, and Chicken Sausage served with Fresh Fruit
Trent felt the flavours here were just OK. Sadly, it was cold and that impacted on his enjoyment. It would have been a fairly solid meal if it wasn’t cold and dry.
Peta chose:
Allergy Waffle with fruit
This was a standard allergy waffle and it actually came warm! Phew! It really was the only thing without complaint.
I went with:
Vegetable Quiche - Mushroom, zucchini, bell pepper, onion and Chive Quiche served with Fresh Fruit
This was almost stone cold, and I was so disappointed. All I could really taste was egg, there wasn’t any other flavour and the pastry was a weird chewy texture. At least I ate the fruit……
After breakfast we did show Trent around, and a lovely CM took a few snaps of us in the ballroom:
And so, the score card:
Food: 1/5 - Cold and just not enjoyable at all.
Service: 2/5 – Technically it’s not supposed to be full service though (despite the price!!)
Experience: 2/5 – Loud and Dark…..just doesn’t appeal to us at all. Once you’ve seen it, there isn’t really anything special. We won’t be back.
So disappointing! I have a reservation for breakfast on our next trip and now I'm not so sure. What had changed with park hours? That's so bizarre that they wouldn't let you in. I am ONLY doing it for the PPO, so if not I wouldn't be interested.
Day 20 – October 5th – Cinderella’s Royal Table Breakfast
On our last morning, Peta and I have a tradition – CRT breakfast before 3 fastpass rides then heading to the airport. This trip was no exception except that we had an afternoon flight, and enough time to also get lunch after breakfast back at the hotel (lucky given the number of QS credits left at this point). We took some snaps at MK before heading to the castle:
The usual fanfare occurs at breakfast, and we had a photo first:
We were then escorted straight upstairs, and our table was set the minute we sat down with the standard starter”
Pastry Plate - Assorted Breakfast Pastries
Allergy Friendly Pastries
These were tasty, and noticeably fresher than those eaten previously at BOG.
Characters came next and we had several snaps with each:
Then, mains arrived soon after. Trent and I ordered the same thing:
Caramel Apple Stuffed French Toast - Decadent French Toast stuffed with sweet Cream Cheese, baked with Caramel Apples, and drizzled with a Calvados Caramel Sauce
This was very tasty but also VERY sweet. I didn’t enjoy the amount of cinnamon, but the caramel sauce was wonderfully tasty and balanced it nicely. It was a huge serve, and neither of us made it through!
Peta only had one choice:
Healthy Choice - Hard-poached Egg on a bed of Arugula, tossed with Quinoa, Avocado, Roasted Vegetables, and spritzed with Myer Lemon Oil and White Balsamic Vinegar
Sadly Peta was SUPER disappointed in her only option. Let’s be honest – a salad with egg doesn’t scream delicious breakfast. Previously the healthy choice was a great platter with yogurt, oatmeal, fruit and other things on a really cool tray and it was her favourite breakfast on property. It seemed like such a good choice and it is curious that they switched it out for a less conventional option.
She did eat most of it out of hunger, but it wasn’t really breakfast like, it may have been a nice option as a lunch appetiser or something but was overall rather plain.
And so, the score card:
Food: 3/5 – Fine, but just OK, nothing special
Service: 3/5 – It always is a bit rushed here and this morning was no exception
Experience: 4/5 – Still the princesses in the castle, but definitely not the same vibe as lunch or dinner
Oh my. That breakfast would have me so annoyed. I realize paying for experience/characters, but just no. I have a breakfast here that I thought might be fun with my daughter, but really not sure I'll bother keeping it. My son has seen the castle before (we had dinner there) and my daughter is so young she won't care. Plus we have Akershus booked as well.
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
Final Dining Plan Tally:
We also took home a total of 94 Snacks, care of 67 left over snack credits and 9 meals traded for snacks to take home, these were not taken into account on the above or any prior spreadsheets. Here’s some of the stash (Trent and Mine – Peta’s went with her straight to Melbourne!):
Would we have gotten all of these otherwise? Absolutely not, but we traded some extra meals on days we didn’t need them all and were very happy to have over 6 months of snacks for at home (we still have lollipops, some candy bags and mints on the go!). We estimate we would have brought home around 10 items if we didn’t have the plan, and although necessary, given the weight limit in our luggage this probably also saved us money on other souvenirs which we wouldn’t have been able to fit as a result!
Total Value of these: $499.59!!!
Plus the value of 3x Length of stay refillable mugs at each stay: $161.91
These do make really nice souvenirs, and we may have gotten them without the plan – I drink a lot of tea at home and it’s so easy to just fill these up.
Meaning that, Overall we pretty much came out even, with Trent and I definitely doing better overall than Peta. And remember, as we may not order regular drinks other than water off the plan I did not include the cost of these anywhere (except for specialty drinks)! So there is extra value there as well! Especially on our QS meals, as this would definitely up the value there!
If you did drink soda regularly or standard juice/coffee/tea at breakfast (and actually, we did have juice, lemonade, ice tea etc. on the plan) you could have easily added average cost of $4+ per person per meal (excluding buffets), in our case, accounting to roughly $325 not accounted for about (approx. 30 meals where this applied).
In reality, we did do this – if nothing else at QS we grabbed cold bottles of water, and at TS we often went with ice tea – so actually, we did get more value that I described.
We loved the flexibility and choice, and until we have our own children to bring it is likely that we will continue to enjoy the dining plan! The convenience and ability to pre-pay is another huge draw for us!
So, by the time we add in snacks refillable mugs and the drinks I didn’t account for, we did end up slightly better off with the dining plan. Truth be told, we probably would have got more monies worth if we had have stayed on property the whole time – if we had used our remaining meal credits for TS we absolutely would have come out on top, and the only reason we didn’t is because we were at Seaworld, Universal, discovery cove etc.
We also took home a total of 94 Snacks, care of 67 left over snack credits and 9 meals traded for snacks to take home, these were not taken into account on the above or any prior spreadsheets. Here’s some of the stash (Trent and Mine – Peta’s went with her straight to Melbourne!):
Would we have gotten all of these otherwise? Absolutely not, but we traded some extra meals on days we didn’t need them all and were very happy to have over 6 months of snacks for at home (we still have lollipops, some candy bags and mints on the go!). We estimate we would have brought home around 10 items if we didn’t have the plan, and although necessary, given the weight limit in our luggage this probably also saved us money on other souvenirs which we wouldn’t have been able to fit as a result!
Total Value of these: $499.59!!!
Plus the value of 3x Length of stay refillable mugs at each stay: $161.91
These do make really nice souvenirs, and we may have gotten them without the plan – I drink a lot of tea at home and it’s so easy to just fill these up.
Meaning that, Overall we pretty much came out even, with Trent and I definitely doing better overall than Peta. And remember, as we may not order regular drinks other than water off the plan I did not include the cost of these anywhere (except for specialty drinks)! So there is extra value there as well! Especially on our QS meals, as this would definitely up the value there!
If you did drink soda regularly or standard juice/coffee/tea at breakfast (and actually, we did have juice, lemonade, ice tea etc. on the plan) you could have easily added average cost of $4+ per person per meal (excluding buffets), in our case, accounting to roughly $325 not accounted for about (approx. 30 meals where this applied).
In reality, we did do this – if nothing else at QS we grabbed cold bottles of water, and at TS we often went with ice tea – so actually, we did get more value that I described.
We loved the flexibility and choice, and until we have our own children to bring it is likely that we will continue to enjoy the dining plan! The convenience and ability to pre-pay is another huge draw for us!
So, by the time we add in snacks refillable mugs and the drinks I didn’t account for, we did end up slightly better off with the dining plan. Truth be told, we probably would have got more monies worth if we had have stayed on property the whole time – if we had used our remaining meal credits for TS we absolutely would have come out on top, and the only reason we didn’t is because we were at Seaworld, Universal, discovery cove etc.
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
And now, drum roll, please………….The best of the best of the best awards from our amazing foodie trip:
The Gaston award for rudest service goes to Ohana (Dinner)!
The Tigger award for most happy ‘Oh my!’ moments goes to Flying Fish!
The Cinderella award for most attentive service goes to Garden Grill Dinner!
The Eeyore award for most depressing food goes to Akershus!
The Ros award for lowest overall enjoyment goes to Crystal Palace!
The Prince Charming award for most romantic, immersive meal goes to Artist Point!
The Bolt award for best quick service goes to Contempo Cafe! This was the hardest one to judge as we had excellent QS experiences this trip!
So, do we have any regrets?
Food and Wine
I must admit that Peta’s limited options did impact on our enjoyment and overall engagement in the Food and Wine Festival. There were a few things I didn’t try as I felt a little awkward as only a couple of stands had suitable options. Peta herself didn’t seem too fazed. This would have changed our eating habits a little, as originally, I had planned early breakfast, late dinner and food and wine in between, but then changed times along to way to better accommodate when I saw all the booth menus online.
We stand by our choice not to utilise F&W for dinner. By the evening the booth crowds were largely unmanageable and I was put off by the large number of intoxicated individuals. This impacted our enjoyment of EPCOT and I was happy with our decision to avoid eating dinner in EPCOT (except for our Eat to the Beat day).
The Deluxe Dining Plan
In hindsight, we could have done the standard plan for the first week, but at the time we didn’t know Clint and Steph would be joining us. We don’t regret doing the full plan at all as our breakfasts were good and there was good value for the character meals, but doing QS for lunch drove down the value of our plan substantially!
The standard plan wouldn’t have met our needs at all for the second two weeks. We had no problem using 3 credits a day. We could have been wiser though, and next time I think we will focus on Snack credits for breakfast (with refillable mugs) followed by an early lunch/late brunch and a late (signature) dinner or pay out of pocket for breakfast (ala carte options at GF café and Kona Café were SO cheap!). We are not fireworks people (save for the lovely view at Cali Grill) and this would both maximise our value next time and allow us to hit the big ticket rides quicker in the morning, whilst giving us a big chunk of park time in the afternoon.
Because of Peta’s chronic pain, we don’t mind taking meals at a leisurely pace either, and find it nice to have some forced down time for our meals. I know a lot of you will disagree, but it certainly works for us. When we have kids I doubt we will see it the same though and with probably go with the standard plan instead. I wouldn’t expect children to tolerate sitting down for more than one table service a day – unless doing the buffet character meals. Obviously on this trip we also had 19 nights so we didn’t feel like all the meals were taking away from our park time. It would be a different story on a quicker trip.
I’m an anxious person, and I have to be honest in saying that the deluxe plan works for that. Except for the 1-2 alcoholic drinks we had, everything (except tips) was included. This helped us budget and plan – and meant that we were not subject to changes in exchange rate after the fact (as it turned out, and as predicted, our dollar dropped and this could have lead to a cost of several more hundreds of dollars over the 19 nights! We were super lucky with that regards). If we lived in the US I could also try the gift card route, but being from Australia we don’t have that option.
There were meals we enjoyed on the plan that were the highlights of our trip, but because of the cost (eg. Flying Fish Lobster dish and Cali Grill Rib-eye at over $60) we would have NEVER entertained the thought of ordering these OOP. We may have saved money by eating OOP and sharing desserts and apps, but to be honest it was a fantastic opportunity to really splurge and enjoy the food on vacation!
Finally, I can see why dining plans make little choice for vegetarians! Peta definitely got the least value out of all of us, simply because vegetarian food is MUCH cheaper than meat/seafood options! I would not recommend any dining plan for any vegetarians – far too hard to break even!
Restaurant Choices
We only have a few regrets here. The only one that is an absolute no for another try is Skipper Canteen. Other than this, everywhere else would likely get another chance (even Akershus for a different meal for example).
I didn’t choose restaurants based on their cost but I might on a shorter trip to maximise value. We surprised ourselves with some great quick service choices, which certainly adds to our choices for future trips – we wouldn’t have considered these in the past!
The Gaston award for rudest service goes to Ohana (Dinner)!
The Tigger award for most happy ‘Oh my!’ moments goes to Flying Fish!
The Cinderella award for most attentive service goes to Garden Grill Dinner!
The Eeyore award for most depressing food goes to Akershus!
The Ros award for lowest overall enjoyment goes to Crystal Palace!
The Prince Charming award for most romantic, immersive meal goes to Artist Point!
The Bolt award for best quick service goes to Contempo Cafe! This was the hardest one to judge as we had excellent QS experiences this trip!
So, do we have any regrets?
Food and Wine
I must admit that Peta’s limited options did impact on our enjoyment and overall engagement in the Food and Wine Festival. There were a few things I didn’t try as I felt a little awkward as only a couple of stands had suitable options. Peta herself didn’t seem too fazed. This would have changed our eating habits a little, as originally, I had planned early breakfast, late dinner and food and wine in between, but then changed times along to way to better accommodate when I saw all the booth menus online.
We stand by our choice not to utilise F&W for dinner. By the evening the booth crowds were largely unmanageable and I was put off by the large number of intoxicated individuals. This impacted our enjoyment of EPCOT and I was happy with our decision to avoid eating dinner in EPCOT (except for our Eat to the Beat day).
The Deluxe Dining Plan
In hindsight, we could have done the standard plan for the first week, but at the time we didn’t know Clint and Steph would be joining us. We don’t regret doing the full plan at all as our breakfasts were good and there was good value for the character meals, but doing QS for lunch drove down the value of our plan substantially!
The standard plan wouldn’t have met our needs at all for the second two weeks. We had no problem using 3 credits a day. We could have been wiser though, and next time I think we will focus on Snack credits for breakfast (with refillable mugs) followed by an early lunch/late brunch and a late (signature) dinner or pay out of pocket for breakfast (ala carte options at GF café and Kona Café were SO cheap!). We are not fireworks people (save for the lovely view at Cali Grill) and this would both maximise our value next time and allow us to hit the big ticket rides quicker in the morning, whilst giving us a big chunk of park time in the afternoon.
Because of Peta’s chronic pain, we don’t mind taking meals at a leisurely pace either, and find it nice to have some forced down time for our meals. I know a lot of you will disagree, but it certainly works for us. When we have kids I doubt we will see it the same though and with probably go with the standard plan instead. I wouldn’t expect children to tolerate sitting down for more than one table service a day – unless doing the buffet character meals. Obviously on this trip we also had 19 nights so we didn’t feel like all the meals were taking away from our park time. It would be a different story on a quicker trip.
I’m an anxious person, and I have to be honest in saying that the deluxe plan works for that. Except for the 1-2 alcoholic drinks we had, everything (except tips) was included. This helped us budget and plan – and meant that we were not subject to changes in exchange rate after the fact (as it turned out, and as predicted, our dollar dropped and this could have lead to a cost of several more hundreds of dollars over the 19 nights! We were super lucky with that regards). If we lived in the US I could also try the gift card route, but being from Australia we don’t have that option.
There were meals we enjoyed on the plan that were the highlights of our trip, but because of the cost (eg. Flying Fish Lobster dish and Cali Grill Rib-eye at over $60) we would have NEVER entertained the thought of ordering these OOP. We may have saved money by eating OOP and sharing desserts and apps, but to be honest it was a fantastic opportunity to really splurge and enjoy the food on vacation!
Finally, I can see why dining plans make little choice for vegetarians! Peta definitely got the least value out of all of us, simply because vegetarian food is MUCH cheaper than meat/seafood options! I would not recommend any dining plan for any vegetarians – far too hard to break even!
Restaurant Choices
We only have a few regrets here. The only one that is an absolute no for another try is Skipper Canteen. Other than this, everywhere else would likely get another chance (even Akershus for a different meal for example).
I didn’t choose restaurants based on their cost but I might on a shorter trip to maximise value. We surprised ourselves with some great quick service choices, which certainly adds to our choices for future trips – we wouldn’t have considered these in the past!
Sailormoon2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2015
Fantastic Review!!! Thanks for sharing all the cost comparisons, and I have definitely learned a lot about GF/Vegetarian eating at the World.
toomuchtv
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2013
I really enjoyed this whole report. It did make me yearn a bit for the deluxe plan, though. My DH & I did it when it was just the 2 of us, but we went with the standard plan this year with our little guy. We ended up paying OOP for some table service meals and trading in some quick service meals, so maybe the deluxe is for us after all!
krrrristen
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2014
I really enjoyed reading this dining report! I am gluten free (although not vegetarian), so it's been neat to see what Peta ordered everywhere. Definitely giving me some great ideas for the next time we plan a "real" trip 
robinsa88
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2010
Thanks for joining along! Peta certainly didn't go without!
We really found that as well - it was usually the vegetarian and GF that complicated things (other than skipper canteen of course!) Thanks for joining in!
Deluxe is quite a commitment and I think we will do it again, but that will be pending our family circumstances - I'm not too sure about it being feasible to do so many sit down meals with kids in tow! And certainly, you really need the signatures to get good value out of it all.
I really enjoyed reading this dining report! I am gluten free (although not vegetarian), so it's been neat to see what Peta ordered everywhere. Definitely giving me some great ideas for the next time we plan a "real" trip
Thanks for joining along - Even the regular menus now at disney have started to flag GF options, and we were offered allergy menus almost everywhere. Eating GF at Disney is certainly much easier than even a few years ago!
It is such an investment, and it really does take lots of commitment and planning, but I would encourage everyone to give a 'foodie' trip like this at least once.
My pleasure! We feel exactly the same, and I don't feel worried about every cent I'm spending at the time! Tips can mount up pretty quickly though!
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