RailRider Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 One of our favorite parts of a Disney World vacation is the dinning. We view our evening meals as Mom and Dad's treat for spending a long day in the park and we have managed to eat at the majority of the Signature Restaurants on property. Thanks to the dinning plan and typically going during the free dinning promotion, we also usually upgrade to the Deluxe Plan because of our intentions to eat at Signature locations. We would never go somewhere like California Grill if we were paying out of pocket seeing as our meals there have typically been over $200, but with the dinning plan we pay gratuity and no more. Pretty awesome way to experience some of Disney's finer things and cutting out the need to eat fried theme park food everyday. Here are some of our highlights from this past trip. We love to start every trip with dinner at California Grill high above the Contemporary Resort. Planned right you get amazing nighttime views of Magic Kingdom and one of the best seats for the fireworks. They pipe the music in so it is quite the experience. Cali Grill also has some of the best food and sushi on property. One of our absolute favorites. Not a bad view from our table, pardon the grainy cell phone picture. You get the idea This year we were treated to Holiday Wishes and Fireworks come from every direction. Very awesome to be this high up and watch the show. Great way to get even more excited about the parks. While adults enjoy some of the best sushi on property, kids have a great dessert sushi option. How awesome is that? One of our new restaurants this trip was the Flying Fish Cafe at Disney's Boardwalk. This was a great surprise and I loved the location at the Boardwalk Resort. Great meal and then a relaxing stroll out on the Boardwalk to work dinner off. The decor in the Flying Fish fits in perfectly with the Overall Boardwalk Theme. Potato wrapped Snapper and NY Strip Steak. Love some surf and turf and this was fabulous. No better way to wrap up a day at Epcot than with a meal at Le Cellier. I believe they have the best steak on property. While a tougher reservation to get because of size, the food is still first class After this trip here is a quick rundown of the Signatures Locations we have experienced. Artist Point California Grill Cinderellas Royal Table Flying Fish Cafe The Hollywood Brown Derby Jiko Le Cellier Narcoossee's Yachtsman Steakhouse Not a bad list and quite the unique collection of meals and some of the best food I have experienced. Up Next. No Rhyme or Reason. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 At the Signature locations what kind of dress is required? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkroz Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/disney-dining-dress-codes/ There's an element of practicality to it. The understanding, especially for in-park dining, is that you're coming from a day at the parks and that it would be impractical for you to wear a suit to Magic Kingdom all day because of a lunch reservation at Cinderella's Table. Even "dress shorts" are allowed. Recently, they began to allow t-shirts (no doubt after years and years of angry families turned away because of it). If you're dining at a Signature Location, you probably do want to play it up a bit though. Why not? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Agreed. Just didnt know if I could rock the polo shirt with khakis and dark shoes or if I had to go with a button down. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailRider Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 Yes the biggest thing that is a no-no are tanktops. Other than that you will see all facets of dress. A signature within a park is much more casual than a late evening meal at California Grill. Typically I have always opted for jeans and golf polo at non park signature locations and that has always been more than enough. Plus dressing up just a little makes the evening even more special. My daughter loves wearing a fancy outfit to signature meals. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Victoria and Albert's at the GF is the only Disney restaurant which strictly enforces a semi-formal dress code. No suit, no dress, no service. On an unrelated note, I was finally able this morning to grab a time for the Frozen princess meet and greet for the final member of our foursome that overlaps with everyone else. We're all now holding times with entrances within 20 minutes of each other, so we can all enter together at the start of the latest of the 4 times. Persistence pays and also now frees up that last FP 2 hours earlier, which in the MK is like gold. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailRider Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 That is excellent about the sister FastPass+. I love the ability to have 3 pre booked before arrival especially for the most popular attractions like the sisters and the 7D. V&A is very unique to Disney. Besides the dress code there is also an Age restriction of 10 and above and it is not part of the dinning plan. This is a very specialized venue that meets the clientele of the Grand Floridian. Gorgeous resort, but have no desire to stay there. Im not stuck up enough... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I've stayed there a couple of times. It really isn't any more elitist than the other Deluxe resorts. Given that the Poly, Contemporary, Yacht/Beach and WL are all roughly the same price, I'd opt for GF every time. I still can't believe Disney charges almost $500 a night (rack rate) for the Contemporary and Poly (esp. the Poly), given the age of those hotels. When I last stayed at the Poly, I found the rooms to be adequate and in places, aging. I've personally found Yacht to be pretty snobby in terms of guests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailRider Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 ^ Yes the Yacht & Beach club is a very country clubish feel to it. Wasn't impressed with the resort or the Steakhouse there. Nothing about it screamed Disney to me. For the money the moderates are some of the nicest resorts on property. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgoble3 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 On the dress code discussion, when I was there in 2012, only Signature Restaurants located at resorts enforced any kind of dress code. Those in parks or at Downtown Disney had no dress code, and you could (and I did) eat at those in a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals. However, I chose to make a point of packing two golf polos, a pair of dress slacks, a dress belt, and a good, clean, like new pair of shoes (though not dress shoes) in my suitcase specifically for those two restaurants. That remains the only time in the past ten years that I have willingly dressed up more than required for anything. I normally hate dressing up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailRider Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 Sorry for the long delay in updates. The family has been wiped out the last few weeks with sickness and between that and work there has not been much time for anything else. This will be one of the last updates with pictures and it really is just some random shots that either didn't fit anywhere else or I forgot to add. These also include some of my favorites from the trip. One of my favorite pictures from the trip. Nothing makes Little Miss RailRider any happier than her Mickey Ears Balloon. Yes we purchase one every trip and it is typically the favorite item from the trip. There is nothing better than watching the joy a simple balloon brings to a child at Disney. I know I know, I sound overly sappy but just watch kids faces light up the next time you are at Disney as they get their balloon. Some balloons through the years. Something so simple can bring so much Joy... One of the neat things at the deluxe resorts during Christmas is they all have Giant Gingerbread House displays. Really something to behold and all were a different theme. The display at the Contemporary was a Frozen/Small World theme which was awesome, plus we were able to get a pin of it which was pretty neat. Pictures didn't turn out so well, but this is the house that was at the Grand Floridian. Awesome Christmas tree at the Grand Floridian My mother had waited for over 60 years to finally ride the Tea Cups Some other great TeaCup pictures Someone asked earlier about the Magic shots, here is Little Miss RR with Tink All in all a wonderful trip to DisneyWorld with some new Magic and some old. Christmas is a great time to go with all of the decorations and special events. The new My Magic / Disney Experience and Magic Band are an amazing system to use and honestly took much of the stress away from the vacation planning process. The features this system provide are great and while there are some growing pains I cannot wait to see how the system evolves. Thanks for taking the time to relive the trip. If you are contemplating a trip to the World, especially with children, Go... There is no place like it and it will create memories for a life time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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