Dining Plan Lessons Learned

[originalrabbit]

This was our second time on the Dining Plan and we took some chances to located new "must do" restaurants. Our results were:

Chef Mickeys - AWESOME!! Will now become a tradition for each trip especially if we have the grandsons with us. Attentive staff and superior character interaction for everyone including the adults.

Maya - Disappointment!! Seated by the kitchen door in an area with no view and a snotty and unorganized server. Our seating we suspect was because we had our 5 year old grandson with us. This area of the dining room was tacky and in need of refurbishment. We had to beg for drinks and when we asked to view the dessert menu our snotty waiter just sneered and said there was not one available.

Pepper Market - YUK!! I had the Wok special which tasted as though it had been sitting for hours and was actually slimey. The wife had hot wings which were cooked fresh after 30 minute wait and hot does not even begin to describe the level of heat in the coating - perhaps searing would be a better word.

Royal Table - Totally attentive staff and characters. Preplated breakfast was actually tasty. The wife and I received two etched champagne flutes for our anniversary celebration - very nice glassware! Will return with younger grandson during his trip with Lola and Poppa.

Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner - A realatively quiet dinner which was tasty and plentiful. The character interaction was superior as was the wait staff. Will return.

Cape May Clambake - did not live up to our expectations. Too few food choices. Nice one time adventure - will not return.

Our list of "must do" repeat restaraunts that we visited this time and their ratings were:

Plaza in MK - A continued favorite

ABC Commissary - Not again

Coral Reef - A top notch favorite again - specially printed menus for our anniversary and free glow drink for the grandson. An especially nice and attentive wait staff.

Sunshine - Adequate but nothing special for us.

Rose and Crown - An anglophile favorite continued to please.

Crystal Palace - Can't visit MK without beginning with breakfast shared with Pooh and the Gang.

Harbour House - A quiet upstairs table with fish and chicken was a welcomed haven once again.

Tusker House - just food - can't wait for the new table service being built. We usually spend two hours at Rainforest because we like the food, but skipped this trip.

Frozen Lemonade - A life saver in the record December heat for our grandson and his Poppa.

'Ohana - what can I say - plentiful and excellent food with good service plus
fireworks!!

Grand Floridian Tea Lounge - a tradition for the wife and a life changing event for a five year old boy. He was totally taken by the special chocolate tea poured through the silver strainer into his own china cup like his Lala's!

Pucks - WILL NEVER RETURN!! What a crappy attitude among the whole staff when they learn you are on the plan. And don't even think about bringing a child into their space. We and three other families were treated very shabby, waiting on food for over thirty minutes, no drink refills, and for me a 36 dollar slab of fat and grissel that must have been specially bred in a third world country. I complained and was offered a salad! NOT! You will not charge me for my child's meal and give me a free dessert! Two couples sat for thirty minutes watching the four families being mistreated and were not even offered drinks - they left in a huff.

Pop Century Food Court - lived up to our expectations as always.

Hope this helps you make some ADR decisions.

The Hare

 

[DisneyMama629]

I was just wondering about the Plaza Restaurant. Glad to hear it's a favorite of yours!

 

[Minniespal]

Thanx for sharing.

 

[disnut1149]

Hi
I was thinking of trying the Cape May Buffet in August. Why didn't you like it?

 

[PoohFan97]

Maya - Disappointment!! Seated by the kitchen door in an area with no view and a snotty and unorganized server. Our seating we suspect was because we had our 5 year old grandson with us. This area of the dining room was tacky and in need of refurbishment. We had to beg for drinks and when we asked to view the dessert menu our snotty waiter just sneered and said there was not one available.
...

Pucks - WILL NEVER RETURN!! What a crappy attitude among the whole staff when they learn you are on the plan. And don't even think about bringing a child into their space.

Wow, sorry to hear about some of these bad experiences. We recently tried both Maya and Wolfgang Puck Cafe, and my family enjoyed both. In fact, we liked WPC so much that we went back for another dinner before we left WDW. We were on the DDP and our 9yo son was with us, and we had absolutely no trouble with seating, service, or anything.

I'm glad you had some great meals, too! Thanks for sharing!

 

[DisOrBust]

Just a guess but since these two restaurants are not Disney owned they do not get the 18% gratuity i believe it more like 10$. Someone else must have the exact numbers. I think it s a direct relationship to your poor service, IMHO.

 

[eacatwork]

OriginalRabbit - what anniversary were you celebrating and how did the restaurants come to know of this? Did you inform them when making your ADRs or at the door when you arrived? DH and I are going in October for our 5th (not that it's THAT big of a celebration...but it's special to us!) and I was wondering about this.

Thanks!

 

[originalrabbit]

Hi
I was thinking of trying the Cape May Buffet in August. Why didn't you like it?

Limited food choices. We were told that there was a carved red meat area.
The carved meat was flank steak and the server was very stingy with portions. Basically you had the choice of clams, different clams, and even more different clams, shrimp from the salad bar, and flank steak. We wanted to try the clams while being assured of having alternate food available if we didn't care for the clams. I ate three different type of clams and was finished with that new experience. Disappointed in alternative food items.

Give it a try if you are a clam fan but don't expect many other choices.

 

[originalrabbit]

OriginalRabbit - what anniversary were you celebrating and how did the restaurants come to know of this? Did you inform them when making your ADRs or at the door when you arrived? DH and I are going in October for our 5th (not that it's THAT big of a celebration...but it's special to us!) and I was wondering about this.

Thanks!

#32!! Just made mention when making my ADRs. As a side note I did the same when making ADRs for my son's honeymoon meals in September and they were not treated special by any of the establishments. Of course that was during free dining.

 

[HACAM]

thanks for the reviews...we felt the same way about Maya Grill and Pepper Market.

 

[Booknut]

Thanks for the review, sorry you hated Pucks, we must have lucked out. We ate there both times and couldn't fault them for service or food. They weren't the friendliest of servers but they weren't rude either and when i'm hungry i'm not too picky!

At the Cape May Clambake what did they have on offer?

 

[hmp2z]

At the Cape May Clambake what did they have on offer?

We were just there Tuesday night; they had clams in regular broth & clams in tarragon butter sauce. They also had salmon, mac & cheese, pizza, chicken nuggets, green beans, mashed potatoes, peel & eat shrimp, a variety of salads, clam chowder, a carving station & something like ribs I think (don't eat meat), some chicken dish, breads, desserts, and that is all I can think of. They had a few different meat dishes on the side with the mashed potatoes & salmon - maybe 3-4 of those, though I didn't pay attention to them, except to know I was skipping over them. I think that Boma has a superior buffet, especially for someone like me who doesn't eat meat.

Cheers!
Heather W

 

[disnut1149]

We were just there Tuesday night; they had clams in regular broth & clams in tarragon butter sauce. They also had salmon, mac & cheese, pizza, chicken nuggets, green beans, mashed potatoes, peel & eat shrimp, a variety of salads, clam chowder, a carving station & something like ribs I think (don't eat meat), some chicken dish, breads, desserts, and that is all I can think of. They had a few different meat dishes on the side with the mashed potatoes & salmon - maybe 3-4 of those, though I didn't pay attention to them, except to know I was skipping over them. I think that Boma has a superior buffet, especially for someone like me who doesn't eat meat.

Cheers!
Heather W

Hi
I don't eat meat either. Did you find enough to eat anyway? My DD loves clams and mussels and I thought they did have mussels. We will have children ages 4 to 13 with us. Do you think they will find enough to eat? There are so many other place we could go to, and I'd like to use my credit the best I can. Thanks for everyone's answers!!

 

[3dog2kidmom]

Grand Floridian Tea Lounge - a tradition for the wife and a life changing event for a five year old boy. He was totally taken by the special chocolate tea poured through the silver strainer into his own china cup like his Lala's!

Originalrabbit... was this tea on the dining plan? We would love to do that in June!

 

[hmp2z]

Hi
I don't eat meat either. Did you find enough to eat anyway? My DD loves clams and mussels and I thought they did have mussels.

Hi! I definitely found enough to eat. Not as much as I usually find at Boma, but still plenty to fill me up. They do, indeed have mussels. I don't eat them, so had forgotten about them, but they were there on the buffet. I think that children would definitely find enough to eat. There's a pretty good selection, even for selective eaters like me

Cheers!
Heather W

 

[disnut1149]

Hi! I definitely found enough to eat. Not as much as I usually find at Boma, but still plenty to fill me up. They do, indeed have mussels. I don't eat them, so had forgotten about them, but they were there on the buffet. I think that children would definitely find enough to eat. There's a pretty good selection, even for selective eaters like me

Cheers!
Heather W

Thanks Heather. We've been wanting to try Cape May, so we'll probably go.
Joan

 

[KilleriMac17]

Limited food choices. We were told that there was a carved red meat area.
The carved meat was flank steak and the server was very stingy with portions. Basically you had the choice of clams, different clams, and even more different clams, shrimp from the salad bar, and flank steak. We wanted to try the clams while being assured of having alternate food available if we didn't care for the clams. I ate three different type of clams and was finished with that new experience. Disappointed in alternative food items.

Give it a try if you are a clam fan but don't expect many other choices.

actually they only have 2 types of clams(none of which are steamers), they have muscles, and quohogs. but, in some containers they are just steamed, in other containers they have some kind of broth in them(they taste wrotten with the broth), they do the same with shrimp, some just steamed, and others with that broth stuff. they usually do have Carved beef, and BBQ chicken and a few other items there though. Not big on their clam chowder either.(I am from new england, so I know a clambake/clamboil) I make em a few times a year.

 

[emerymt]

Originalrabbit... was this tea on the dining plan? We would love to do that in June!

It's not, I already checked. My sister, daughter and I had a great time there while the boys continued to race around MK. The little ones can choose "Mrs. Potts Tea," which is indeed chocolate milk in a beautiful teapot, and the sandwiches they receive are more along the line of PB & J and tuna. Lovely setting, very traditional High Tea and if you go, don't plan on dinner, you will be full the rest of the day.

 

[blanq]

Just a guess but since these two restaurants are not Disney owned they do not get the 18% gratuity i believe it more like 10$. Someone else must have the exact numbers. I think it s a direct relationship to your poor service, IMHO.

My family just returned from WDW, and we ate at WGP Cafe. When our bill came, I specifically asked our server about the tip process with the DDP, as I had heard mixed things since this restaurant is not Disney owned. I was advised that a 15% tip is paid to the servers when a patron uses the DDP there, and was thanked for asking the question.

Our experience on the DDP at WGP Cafe could not have been more opposite than that of the OP. We had fantastic service and excellent food!

 

[dawgfan]

We seem to have the same tastes in places to call favorite. Thanks for the review.