Hi - We are just back from free dining. DH and I thought it was just fabulous. Had never had DDP before and now would not go without it (I would definately pay - its a great deal). We had made adr's (thank goodness), and had difficulty getting them. Glad we had them, as it was hard to get additional dinner reservations at popular locations (but not impossible, so if you keep calling and are flexible in time and location, you can get some reservations). All over disney are these "update" forms telling people how hard it is to get reservations. So if you are heading down, I would call in advance - thanks to reports on this board, I did. Also, we had a car, which made it easier to get to restaurants.
I will give brief comments on our table service meals. I know that people are curious as to whether the plan is a good deal (yes, it is!!) so for TS meals I'll put in the total price that the DDP covered including tax and tip but not including alchohol or the additional tips that we left. I would say that DDP (free or not) is an unbelievable deal if you like to go out to eat like we do. It is way too much food though.
Here's where we had table service;
California Grill - unbelievable sushi and great steak. The snake in the grass is huge and delicious. It is shrimp tempura, eel, avocado and cucumber - and possibly the largest sushi roll I have ever seen. The spicy sensation is also huge and great. I had a rib steak that was so big, it should have been for (at least) two people. My husband had the filet with tamarind sauce. Had the full 5 selection cheese plate for desert (so great). This bill was so much that I couldn't believe it (about $180). I would say that it was way too much food for two people. The sushi can be a meal in itself.
Yachtsman Steakhouse (should have shared, as this was way too much food). The scallop appetizer was delicious. We had the 24 ounce porterhouse steaks. Really good (and huge). The sampler desert for two was just lovely and a great way to try great deserts. This was our first time here, and we plan to make it a regular stop. So nice and yummy, but as I said too much food. (about $150)
Concourse Steakhouse - Had salmon, which was pretty good. Not much to go with it. But tasty, a large filet and not dry at all. The scallop appetizer was good, but not as good as the version at the Yachtsman. DH liked his steak. For desert I had the brownie sundae which was so cute as it was shaped like mickey - plus a mickey chocolate and sprinkles. The cappuccino had cute mickey chocolate sprinkled on the foam. ($85)
Kona Cafe - I had the duck pot stickers, which I always love there. DH had sticky wings, which I highly recommend as they are delish. We both had the charred filet - which came with yummy potatoes and asparagus. For desert I had an unbelievable banana creme brulee. DH had chocolate cake with ganache which he liked, but I thought my creme brulee was better than his. (about $95)
Captain Jacks - This was a reservation I got once I was already at disney and frankly, it was all they could offer me for that evening. I went with low expectations, but it was tasty. We enjoyed the river cruise to DTD (it made for a lovely evening). One thing that you will like to know is that they have lobster. I had lobster tails and DH had steak and they let you add on the lobster tail with the steak (wow!). The lobster was yummy, and quite a treat to have on the free dining plan. I didn't think the veggies and rice that it came with was anything to write home about (not bad - but when you compare it to the other fabulous dinners, it just wasn't as good). the crab cake appetizer was tasty. The deserts were fine. If I was not comparing them to the other restaurants, they would be more than fine - but in comparison they were ok. Still in all, the setting was lovely, the boat ride nice and hey - you can't argue with lobster!! If we had to pay for the dinner, I wouldn't have been happy to pay the $125 or so that it came to but under the plan, it was more than fine.
Boma - yum, yum yum. What a great place to eat. I had to call more than once when making my adr's to get this one and I am glad I perservered. All the reports on this are right - it is truly special. The soups are great. I had coconut curry seafood stew and salmon with tamarind barbeque sauce. A salad of avacado, grapefruit and papaya was refreshing and delicious. Zebra domes for desert are great. ($70)
Prime Time Cafe - couldn't get a dinner reservation about a week or so before I left for my whole trip so I said what about lunch. I got a late lunch -3:40. Here the menus are almost the same anyway. But we had to wait a little there and by the time we got seated, they had changed over to the dinner menu. Had salmon that was yummy, with a tasty shrimp cocktail for appetizer. DH had onion rings (way too big for one person), plus the fried chicken. We shared a delicious vanilla milkshake. This was another place that the DDP gave a rediculous amount of food and we probably would have been better off sharing and maybe ordering an extra appetizer (though I don't think we would even have needed it). I highly recommend this. The setting is just too cute and the food surprisingly good. It was about $80.
Notes on CS: We mostly used our CS getting breakfast at our hotel. It was more than fine.
We had one CS at the ABC Commissary that was pretty bad. I had curry chicken, which sounded like an interesting choice but was simply not good. DH had a Cuban pork sandwich that was grilled like a panini that he said was good. The deserts were bad - I had a weird strawberry parfait. I would say skip this and get your CS elsewhere. The upside was the nice air conditioning and many tables.
For snacks, I had some completely yummy snacks. The selection is so big you can get about anything, Here are my highlights: a big chocolate pecan pattie at the main street confectionary; pineapple dole whip floats in adventureland (the best!!), the strawberry shortcake at the main street bakery, a cup of soup, mint chocolate chip ice cream with hot fudge, some boxes of cookies to take home, and a chocolate covered banana. And then plainer things like grapes, water, a banana.
I hope that this helps those that are planning to go down. As I said earlier, free or not, the plan is such a great deal that I can't believe they even offer it and include all the really good restaurants for that price.
I will give brief comments on our table service meals. I know that people are curious as to whether the plan is a good deal (yes, it is!!) so for TS meals I'll put in the total price that the DDP covered including tax and tip but not including alchohol or the additional tips that we left. I would say that DDP (free or not) is an unbelievable deal if you like to go out to eat like we do. It is way too much food though.
Here's where we had table service;
California Grill - unbelievable sushi and great steak. The snake in the grass is huge and delicious. It is shrimp tempura, eel, avocado and cucumber - and possibly the largest sushi roll I have ever seen. The spicy sensation is also huge and great. I had a rib steak that was so big, it should have been for (at least) two people. My husband had the filet with tamarind sauce. Had the full 5 selection cheese plate for desert (so great). This bill was so much that I couldn't believe it (about $180). I would say that it was way too much food for two people. The sushi can be a meal in itself.
Yachtsman Steakhouse (should have shared, as this was way too much food). The scallop appetizer was delicious. We had the 24 ounce porterhouse steaks. Really good (and huge). The sampler desert for two was just lovely and a great way to try great deserts. This was our first time here, and we plan to make it a regular stop. So nice and yummy, but as I said too much food. (about $150)
Concourse Steakhouse - Had salmon, which was pretty good. Not much to go with it. But tasty, a large filet and not dry at all. The scallop appetizer was good, but not as good as the version at the Yachtsman. DH liked his steak. For desert I had the brownie sundae which was so cute as it was shaped like mickey - plus a mickey chocolate and sprinkles. The cappuccino had cute mickey chocolate sprinkled on the foam. ($85)
Kona Cafe - I had the duck pot stickers, which I always love there. DH had sticky wings, which I highly recommend as they are delish. We both had the charred filet - which came with yummy potatoes and asparagus. For desert I had an unbelievable banana creme brulee. DH had chocolate cake with ganache which he liked, but I thought my creme brulee was better than his. (about $95)
Captain Jacks - This was a reservation I got once I was already at disney and frankly, it was all they could offer me for that evening. I went with low expectations, but it was tasty. We enjoyed the river cruise to DTD (it made for a lovely evening). One thing that you will like to know is that they have lobster. I had lobster tails and DH had steak and they let you add on the lobster tail with the steak (wow!). The lobster was yummy, and quite a treat to have on the free dining plan. I didn't think the veggies and rice that it came with was anything to write home about (not bad - but when you compare it to the other fabulous dinners, it just wasn't as good). the crab cake appetizer was tasty. The deserts were fine. If I was not comparing them to the other restaurants, they would be more than fine - but in comparison they were ok. Still in all, the setting was lovely, the boat ride nice and hey - you can't argue with lobster!! If we had to pay for the dinner, I wouldn't have been happy to pay the $125 or so that it came to but under the plan, it was more than fine.
Boma - yum, yum yum. What a great place to eat. I had to call more than once when making my adr's to get this one and I am glad I perservered. All the reports on this are right - it is truly special. The soups are great. I had coconut curry seafood stew and salmon with tamarind barbeque sauce. A salad of avacado, grapefruit and papaya was refreshing and delicious. Zebra domes for desert are great. ($70)
Prime Time Cafe - couldn't get a dinner reservation about a week or so before I left for my whole trip so I said what about lunch. I got a late lunch -3:40. Here the menus are almost the same anyway. But we had to wait a little there and by the time we got seated, they had changed over to the dinner menu. Had salmon that was yummy, with a tasty shrimp cocktail for appetizer. DH had onion rings (way too big for one person), plus the fried chicken. We shared a delicious vanilla milkshake. This was another place that the DDP gave a rediculous amount of food and we probably would have been better off sharing and maybe ordering an extra appetizer (though I don't think we would even have needed it). I highly recommend this. The setting is just too cute and the food surprisingly good. It was about $80.
Notes on CS: We mostly used our CS getting breakfast at our hotel. It was more than fine.
We had one CS at the ABC Commissary that was pretty bad. I had curry chicken, which sounded like an interesting choice but was simply not good. DH had a Cuban pork sandwich that was grilled like a panini that he said was good. The deserts were bad - I had a weird strawberry parfait. I would say skip this and get your CS elsewhere. The upside was the nice air conditioning and many tables.
For snacks, I had some completely yummy snacks. The selection is so big you can get about anything, Here are my highlights: a big chocolate pecan pattie at the main street confectionary; pineapple dole whip floats in adventureland (the best!!), the strawberry shortcake at the main street bakery, a cup of soup, mint chocolate chip ice cream with hot fudge, some boxes of cookies to take home, and a chocolate covered banana. And then plainer things like grapes, water, a banana.
I hope that this helps those that are planning to go down. As I said earlier, free or not, the plan is such a great deal that I can't believe they even offer it and include all the really good restaurants for that price.
I am thankful that I did make all of our ADRs early (even though I'm expecting lower crowds the week that we are there!)
impressive!
