Can I Have Some Dining Advice?

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drj898's picture
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Can I Have Some Dining Advice?

I'm surprising my girlfriend for her birthday to a trip to DW in July. I'm also planning to propose. But anyways, I'm hoping we'll have a memorable and romantic vacation. I made all my ADR's already, but I was hoping you guys could tell me what you think, and if I should change any restaurants or anything. And also, based on what/where we'll be eating..should we use a dining plan? And if so...which one? Base or Deluxe?? I was going to pay OOP, but maybe I'm making the wrong decision.

Oh..one more thing...we'll be staying at AKL, club level...so we might just grab a few bites to eat in the club lounge here and there...Idk..just thinking. Anyway, here goes:

Day 1: Arrive, dinner at Raglan Road in DTD.
Day 2: QS Breakfast OR in-room breakfast, CS lunch, dinner at Mama Melrose.
Day 3: Crystal Palace breakfast, CS lunch, dinner at Cali Grill.
Day 4: QS Breakfast?, lunch at 50's primetime, dinner at Ohana.
Day 5: QS Breakfast?, CS Lunch, dinner at Tutto Italia.
Day 6: Tusker House breakfast, CS lunch, dinner at either Boma or Jiko (what do you think?)
Day 7: Probably a nice Boma breakfast before our early flight.

Thank you so so so much!!

RobynPrincess's picture
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Looking at your plan, I definately think you could benefit from the DDP (not the DxDDP), but that does depend on what you like to eat, if you arent planning on eating dessert it might not save you much money.

The only change I would make personally, is tutto Italia, I would *personally* swap it for Via Napoli, but thats cause we LOVE the pizza's in there, the most authentic you can get outside of Italy!

I havent eaten in Boma or Jiko, I have however booked us into Sanaa for our upcoming trip (we havent eaten there either) but have been told to try it by a few friends who have been Smile

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Brad's picture
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All the AKL restaurants are good, but I think Jiko is the most romantic. Sanaa is awesome, but it's better by day because you can see the animal better, but the food is great too. I'd pick Jiko for an engagement trip though.

Skunk's picture
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Another vote for Jiko. Ambiance and good food.

LuvAllDisney's picture
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I would highly suggest the DDP!!! You can't go wrong with the price! DH and I have used the DDP everytime we have gone. We have never been disappointed with it!

Acouple things to consider before making your decision......

How much do you eat? From the looks of your ADR's you have a lot of restaurants picked out! yay And some pretty yummy ones at that awesome Disney portions are HUGE, to say the least. If you are not big eaters or get full rather quickly you may not be able to do 3 meals a day. DH and I usually do 1 QS and 1 TS per day, and maybe fit a snack in sometime, but we are not big eaters.

When I decided on the DDP, I figured out the cost for the whole trip just for the DDP and then figured number of days then divided it in half for DH and me. So lets say the cost of DDP was an additional $700 for 7 days, that would be $100 per day to eat, $50 each....We can easily spend $100 per day to eat at WDW so I decided that the DDP was worth the money for us! laugh

As far as the DxDDP goes, we have never done it, but my friend and her husband did and they loved it. She did say that they did not have time to use all their dining credits, but they did do a lot of TS and a lot of Signature restaurants to TRY to use them all. They also went in July..... If you still plan on keeping all the TS ADR's then you might want to consider the DxDDP because with the DDP you can only have as many TS as nights of your package. So if you stay 6 nights, you can only have 6 TS. Now you can always pay OOP for a specific TS if you have used all 6 and want to try another TS. wink

Temperature...... yuck
DH and I have gone in August and my friend in July. Both months are really hot (90's) and we found that we just didn't really want to eat a lot because of the heat. My friend said they also didn't eat much due to the heat and that's why they had lots of credits left over.

Club Level....... yay awesome clapping
I have never stayed in CL before or AKL for that matter. DH and I are WL lovers till the end muchlove But we have talked to people who have stayed in CL and from what we have been told, you can make a meal of what is offered in the CL. I'm not completely sure but we were told that there are breakfast type foods offered, snack stuff around lunch time, and snack stuff and alcohol around dinner time. However, the times are limited to when it is offered, so you would have to be back at the resort to take advantage of it. Depending on where you were at, that might not be easy to do....

As far as pricing goes at the restaurants.....
You can pretty much plan on *most* meals ranging from ~ $35-$59 pp depending on the restaurant (TS). Meals will be more expensive for Signature restaurants like the California Grill. QS can range from ~ $8-$15. These are 'rough' estimates laugh But you get the point..... you can easily spend $100+ per day.

Hope this helps! I know it is a lot of information....but I am the planner for ALL trips....ours, friends, ect.... so I have learned a lot. If you have any questions feel free to ask! biggrin mickey

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I'm a lover of the DDP so I say go for it....you can actually calculate out the price to just to make sure it would be worth it for you

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DisneyDee27's picture
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Another fan of the dining plan here. awesome
It also helps because it's paid in full before you go...then you can budget for other things. I'd go deluxe if you plan on eating 3 meals a day.
Dee mickey

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ChipnDaleFan's picture
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Agree! I love the dining plan!

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drj898's picture
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I'm having doubts about Tutto Italia for our day in Epcot...any other suggestions in that area we could have instead?

As long as we're back by the WS lake for Illuminations...what's best over there?

ANParker's picture
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Le Cellier for a fancier meal in Canada? Or I really love Rose & Crown in the UK. Less fancy but I really enjoy the food!

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JoAnn C's picture
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Why are you having doubts? I haven't had a meal there but attended a Food and Wine Pairing there during the F&W festival and it was really good.

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Jessi5989's picture
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I love Rose & Crown in the UK and Biergarten in Germany.

drj898's picture
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Jessi5989 wrote:
I love Rose & Crown in the UK and Biergarten in Germany.

See...Biergarten I haven't been to in like 8yrs...but last time I was there it was family-style, picnic table'd dinner with other couples. I'd much rather have a more intimate 1-on-1 dinner.

Here's what I'm down to...and I need your advice!

1) La Hacienda
2) San Angel
3) Le Cellier
4) Yachtsman
5) Nine Dragons
6) Marrakesh
7) Tutto Italia

I know its a lot...but honestly...I'm all confused and I have seven options! lol

Thanks again!

PS: ok ok...add Rose & Crown into the mix too! silly

Skunk's picture
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If you are on the DDP, go to Yachtsman. If not, Il Mulino or Bluezoo. Step away from the park for a relaxing/signature dinner. Just a short walk/boat back to Epcot for Illuminations. Have fun!!

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drj898 wrote:
Jessi5989 wrote:
I love Rose & Crown in the UK and Biergarten in Germany.

See...Biergarten I haven't been to in like 8yrs...but last time I was there it was family-style, picnic table'd dinner with other couples. I'd much rather have a more intimate 1-on-1 dinner.

Here's what I'm down to...and I need your advice!

1) La Hacienda
2) San Angel
3) Le Cellier
4) Yachtsman
5) Nine Dragons
6) Marrakesh
7) Tutto Italia

I know its a lot...but honestly...I'm all confused and I have seven options! lol

Thanks again!

PS: ok ok...add Rose & Crown into the mix too! silly

Ok, so outta those I'd say definitely no to Nine Dragons. I know you're thinking "well I love Chinese food, can't go wrong!" but their food is horrible. yuck. I haven't been to any of the others, but I'm with Skunk in saying that any of the restaurants in the Boardwalk, Yacht & Beach Club, or Swan & Dolphin would be great...just a short walk or boat ride away from the park!

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I LOVE Marrakesh, amazing food!!!! But the service can be hit and miss. Mostly it's excellent, but occasionally they aren't very attentive. They also have a drummer and guitarist that play while a belly dancer dances about every half hour or so. It's nice entertainment.

I went to Tutto Italia before the recent rehab and it was wonderful. I've eaten there twice and it has a nice atmosphere and nice food. I think it's romantic.

drj898's picture
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I'm about to cancel Ohana. I read on wdwinfo that its loud and "chaotic" with kids running around. I don't think that's what I'd want for us for a dinner. Maybe Jiko, Sanaa or Yak & Yeti for dinner that night instead...

Kristen K.'s picture
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drj898 wrote:
I'm about to cancel Ohana. I read on wdwinfo that its loud and "chaotic" with kids running around.

Not really my experience at Ohana, but I've only been there once. I mean, you are going to Disney, there will be children pretty much anywhere. I suppose it depends on what night you go. There can be unruly kids any place.

If It's quiet you would I suggest Jiko.

There's lots of loud drumming at Sanaa every time there's a birthday (and it can go on and on and on and on). The night I was there it seemed like there was a birthday at every table i swear they drummed the birthday song for 20 minutes straight.