Am I the only person who does not like eating at the high end WDW restaurants?

[Goes4FastPass]

I think the Walt Disney Company correctly assumes everyone who plans a WDW vacation buys park tickets so emphasizing dining gives them an opportunity to sell more product.

It's like resort merchandise delivery. Is it convenient? Yes. Does WDW do it because like they used to say at the end of the Mickey Mouse Club, "Because we like you!" No, somebody made all the calculations to determine the cost would be offset by increased merchandise sales.

How does this relate to "fine dining"? My wife once observed, "(the) Disney (company) has thought of everything you might want... and how to add it to your room account charges." Some people are "park commandos" and want fast food. WDW provides variety and quality at, considering the setting, a reasonable price. Some people consider restaurant dining an integral part of their vacation. WDW, seeing that market, provides an ever increasing list of choices. If there was a market for "Magical Midnight Snack with Belle and Friends" WDW would provide it.

I personally feel like the attractions at WDW are world class and the food isn't. I like the California Grill but if I had to choose between cutting it or Expedition Everest from a WDW vacation there would be no contest. Happily, we've never had to cut either. I think WDW guests who plan every hour of their vacation around their ADRs are a little too restaurant obsessed but it's their vacation and their choice, isn't it?

[big blue and hairy]

It's all in what you like and what you're used to. If you like to sit down to a very nice meal at WDW you can. If you want to go counter service, you can get good counter service meal. It's all in your priorities, just like what level of hotel you're willing to pay for. Sometimes with us it varies from trip to trip. We've done a few trips where we have very few sitdowns, but usually there are several.

Hey, if you want to skip the sitdowns, skip them, it just makes it easier for us sitdown fans to get an ADR!!

[Marilyn Michetti]

We always ate at TS restaurants until the DDP made it so difficult. Now, we pick the "must do's", and just leave the rest to fate. I HATE being locked into a moment, when we might be somewhere else, or just plain not hungry. It's also an "age" thing - we're older, and can't eat that much and stay upright. I like buffet breakfast's before the park, then just mostly eat wherever, whenever, whatever. (With the exception of Boma's, Cape May Seafood Buffet, and LTT).

[LoriMistress]

Last time DH and I couldn't really afford to eat at a lot of restaurants. We had to limit our budget to what we could spend. This time we're eating at more restaurants. We figure since' we don't have kids, it's nice to relax and enjoy some good food at a nice TS restaurant.

[Donald Duck 224]

Eating might not be the main part of our trip, but it is important. We love the great food at WDW and with the meal plan we can get 3 courses of great food.

[Mickey'sGirl]

We've only eaten at one Signature restaurant (the California Grill) in all of our visits to the World....and it was a really lovely experience.

Other than that, yes, we do eat at a Table Service restaurant every day. I wouldn't necessarily call them high end, but there sure are some good ones (Kona and Marrakesh come to mind ) . We love the Buffets, because it introduces a bit of variety for our non-french fry/hot dog/chicken finger/macaroni and cheese children. We enjoy the time to sit down and catch our collective breath and talk about our day. I couldn't do grab and go for more than a day or two.

[Kairi_7378]

I personally feel like the attractions at WDW are world class and the food isn't. I like the California Grill but if I had to choose between cutting it or Expedition Everest from a WDW vacation there would be no contest. Happily, we've never had to cut either. I think WDW guests who plan every hour of their vacation around their ADRs are a little too restaurant obsessed but it's their vacation and their choice, isn't it?

"Midnight Snack with Belle and Friends..." Priceless. LOL.

[Natazu]

In fact, I'm probably in the minority here, but I find V&A's to be an absolute bargain for what you get for the price! \

I'm right there with ya Frank.

[mook3y]

Fine dining is part of what we look for in our vacations.

Probably why our two favorite vacations are Disney and cruising.

[snifflesmcg]

[FONT=Arial If there was a market for "Magical Midnight Snack with Belle and Friends" WDW would provide itFONT]

Where can I sign up for this one???
Seriously though, I can't find anything past 10 or 11 at the latest to get an ADR (I'm a TOTAL night owl).

I live about 15 min from Allentown, PA and within a half hour radius from where I live, I can get just about ANY chain I want. However, I feel that WDW brings alot of different choices with alot of theming and charm that I can't get at my local chain restaurants.

[xipetotec]

I have a very hard time understanding why people eat at high end WDW restaurants. I have
ate at most in 30+ trips to WDW, maybe one a trip. But that is not why I go to WDW!!! I am
happy with fruit and popcorn at AK for breakfast. A treat at France for lunch, and dinner with Sonny Eclipse (best floor show in
the world. I don't need to eat in "the cellar"
(it's a joke). There are many steak houses
across North America... but I do love riding
the rides and going to attractions! How about
you?

Well we're mixed on this.
Although we are not very finicky and really love Pecos Bill or Cosmic Ray's. this usually constitutes lunch for us. We typically go in big crowds and split up during the day and like to meet up for a nice dinner.

We have thought about the fact that sit down dinners take time away from park hopping and attractions, but we do enjoy to have an everyone together meal in the nice THEMED restaurants Disney has to offer.

In a related story, one of my best friend had been to Disney a couple of times and complained that as much as he loved it there, "The food *****, it's all fast food and fried except for a couple of restaurants in Downtown Disney"... Then we went down at the same time as them, introduced them to World Showcase and the Boardwalk as well as OTHER restaurants in DD... They now see disney as a fine dining destination as well as a fun place to take the family.

[Becky'sMom]

DH and I love to eat at nice restaurants. We have never spent $400 on dinner for two, but since we spent our anniversary on a diet and haven't been eating out much at all, we've reserved an evening at V&A as a make-up for our anniversary dinner. My sister will be with us for 1 week of our stay and will watch our 4 year old. We've booked one or two TS meals during each day at WDW, 3 of them signature restaurants, 6 of them character and the others just nice places like Le Cellier and Boma.
There are many cuisines at WDW that we don't have near me, and of the ones that we can find by me....they simply aren't as good as the ones in Disney - even the nice restaurants by me aren't as good in any aspect......food quality, service or atmosphere.
Having said that, you are a lucky person if you can spend an entire day in the parks doing nothing but the rides - grabbing something to fill your stomach as you race for the next line.....not giving a second thought to the people sitting in that air conditioned restaurant - escpaing form the heat and crowd if only for 90 minutes or so to recoup and recharge. You are saving ALOT of money!