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

[wpgminnie]

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?

[A Big Kid]

My wife and I view the food options as an attraction much in the same vein as the Jungle Cruise or ToT.

[Tinkerbellfan]

We are a couple in our early 30s without kids. And, personally, dining at the high-end restaurants at WDW is one of the many highlights of our trip.

At home, we are less likely to go out for a $150 dinner with appetizers, main course, dessert and several cocktails.

We figure, at home, we can make a burger, hotdog or popcorn any day. But, we can't make the special dinners at Jikos, California Grille, Flying Fish Cafe and so on.

That's is one of the many wonderful things about WDW - there is food and a resort for everyone's tastes!

[Shugoondola]

I guess you have to do what you like the most at WDW, but I enjoy eating at the nice places just as much as going to the parks.

[Inkdrainer]

I don't go to WDW to eat, but it's certainly a huge part of my vacation, personally. I think people love eating at WDW because every restaurant (even most of the counter services) are themed. It's fun eating in a themed restaurant, whether it's an American 1770's colonial deal, a gothic-like wine cellar, or a 1950's household kitchen. At Epcot you can eat in front of a glowing pyramid and beautiful volcano! Disney goes all out when it comes to the dining atmospheres.

The food is great, but I really just love eating in the parks and enjoying the themes. My family and I get really hungry after walking all day and it's nice to sit down and enjoy a meal that you know will get you your money's worth. Disney could in fact just have restaurants throughout the parks without any true theme and people would still go -- it's them taking that extra step to make it what it is. I think a big part of the fun there for me is just taking advantage of these great places.

Plus, thanks to the dining plan we can enjoy these places. We don't go out to eat a lot as it is, so it's really a treat to do it at Disney.

[Maleficent's Dad]

We enjoy finer dining - both at home and on vacation. One of the nice things about WDW is that we can eat at very nice places with our children in tow!

Whereas I find Le Cellier a very nice place to dine, and we have eaten here numerous times; I don't really consider it "fine dining," however. Now go to the Cali Grill, Flying Fish, V&A's, Narcoosee's, Bistro, and even the Brown Derby - those are more finer dining!

One of our kids favorite places is the Brown Derby. It's a great place for all of us to unwind and enjoy some rather fine food - together on vacation!

But hey, it's not a criticism, everyone does as they please on their vacations!

[crazypoohbear]

Until last years free dining I'd never eaten at any of the "fine dining" restaurants. I have to say I did enjoy myself, but when it comes time to pay OOP again, HELLO Peco's Bills!
One trip we had ice cream for supper!

[dolphinmickey9170]

Now I thought we were the only ones who have had ice cream for supper, don't tell my mother. Anyway, my kids loved it. But we don't do the "fine dining" at home. Like a previous poster noted, we can make burgers, popcorn, etc at home. Wow, I love this place

[EmiB]

We usually much and snack our way through the parks...
unless we have reservations at Le Cellier or Mitsukoshi.
Those are my exceptions to the rule, haha, although many others are still good.
I just prefer to get a quick taste of everything!

[SurferStitch]

DH and I do plenty of fine dining on every WDW trip....Narcoossee's, Cali Grill, V&A, Flying Fish, Jiko, Le Cellier, Coral Reef....it's just part of the overall Disney experience for us. Like another poster said...we don't do many dinners that are $150 plus at home (maybe a few a year), so at WDW we splurge and do A LOT of them!

Now, if fine dining isn't for you....so be it. That's your choice. Some people really appreciate great food, others are happy with the basics. Great thing is, at WDW you can have ANYTHING you want.

Besides, getting ADR's is hard enough....I welcome anybody who isn't into dining at the finer restaurants!

[TennesseeTink]

Until last October we had never really eaten at any of the TS restaurants. But after a few trips, I just got tired of what the CS restaurants have to offer. You can only have so many burgers and chicken fingers before it gets really old. We enjoy the TS restaurants for variety, not to mention theming and an hour or so of relaxation after hours of walking throughout the parks.

With that said, we haven't made a single ADR for our upcoming trip. We're just going to play it by ear. Wherever we are, that's where we'll eat.

[irish1967]

At home I get the pleasure of being (among other things) head chef, waitress and dishwasher. Vacation is for the ENTIRE family and as such, the adults all enjoy a chance to sit down after a long day in the parks, have a nice cold and eat really good food. We like it, we do it. To each his own.

We often choose not to go out to eat at other times in order to save up for dinners at Disney.

The beauty of WDW - something for everyone. I'm glad you found what works best for you!

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

Until last years free dining I'd never eaten at any of the "fine dining" restaurants. I have to say I did enjoy myself, but when it comes time to pay OOP again, HELLO Peco's Bills!
One trip we had ice cream for supper!

That would be us.

We were able to take advantage of the FD the last two years. We did not do any of the real fine dining places but, we did a lot of the character dining and TS we would not normally do.
Now, we are DVC members and can not get FD. We are considering purchasing the DP but are not sure. If we do not get it, it will be cooking back at the room (1 bed at SSR) and CS for us.

I wish we could do fine dining. I envy you that do. In between the added cost and cranky kids we choose not to. Some day.

[GrmGrninGost]

I used to feel like you do. Now, some of our vacation highlights are the meals! I love WDW dining!

[DawsonAR]

We go as much to eat as anything else. We don't go out a lot at home and we use vacation as a time to really relax and enjoy.

[dixielandings]

We also are 30-somethings with no kids - that along with DH's love of dining ensures that we will have plenty of great meals at WDW. For us, it's part of the experience. But I tell ya, there are many times I wish we could just snack our way through a Park one day. (I don't think I could ever get DH to go for that.)

I grew up going to a 6Flags park in Houston where dining in the park meant yucky fast food in a personality-free restaurant. The first meal I had at a Disney Park was at the French Market in DL, where they had real METAL silverware and plates that would actually break if you dropped them. I had spaghetti and marinara under the trees listening to a Dixieland trio. I'll never forget it and ever since then, Disney dining has been a central of every Disney trip!

[snifflesmcg]

For me, the dining is part of the relaxing treat I look forward to once a night in WDW. I cook almost every night at home and since I try to save money to go to the world, going out has been cut back. I love going in to the AC and having great food that I would normally have to pay and arm and a leg for (thanks DDP) and being waited on.

[DREAMADREAM93]

Now I thought we were the only ones who have had ice cream for supper, don't tell my mother. Anyway, my kids loved it. But we don't do the "fine dining" at home. Like a previous poster noted, we can make burgers, popcorn, etc at home. Wow, I love this place

ditto :]
we usually enjoy the high end meals.
They are a way to wind down at the end of the day and get you pumped for things like Wishes!, Spectromagic, Illuminations, Fantasmic, and Extra magic hours :]
And it saves us from spending on the fattening, sweet things like cottoncandy and popcorn.


JOrdan :]

[Spaceship Tigger]

As someone else said, the dining options are the same as attractions to us. And I think that the theme and atmosphere of the place is at least as important as the food itself. It would take something out of our WDW trips to think about our next meal coming from yet another CS place.

[Jen66]

We love the TS restaurants! Although we do not usually do the signature very often (one per trip) we do at least one nice TS per day. Since we have to go in the summer due to work, the restaurants are a great way to relax and get out of the heat.
We eat out a lot year round, and really enjoy it!