Questions about Restaurants near Disney and DDP

We are doing a 4 day land, 3 day sea January 4, 2009. I have looked at the Disney Dining Plan and can%26#39;t decide it%26#39;s worth it for our family. (Myself, husband, my Mom and my 8 year old son.) Because of blood sugar problems and allergies, we don%26#39;t order dessert or drinks and we don%26#39;t eat junk food. We want to eat at some of the nice restaurants inside the parks, but they are so expensive. Also wondering if The Outback and Olive Garden are nearby. Typically, when we go out to eat, those are the kinds of restarants that we can eat at and are affordable. Are there any others like this close by? I am not sure if the counter service meals on the DDP would work for us. We will not have a rental car and are staying at the Polynesian. I would love to hear opinions from others on this forum. Thanks!

Questions about Restaurants near Disney and DDP

There is a location of Olive Garden in Lake Buena Vista, just outside the Disney property near Downtown Disney. There is also an Outback Steakhouse on Vineland Road, not far from Lake Buena Vista area.

There are many more restaurant places in and around Lake Buena Vista and also out in Kissimmee. However, if you won%26#39;t have a car, these will be very hard to get to.

Why not look into getting the Deluxe Dining plan, which has many more table service meals than counter service?

HEre%26#39;s some additional info about it:

http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/packages08b.htm

Questions about Restaurants near Disney and DDP

Thank you. I will take a look at the Deluxe Dining Plan.

If you are at all concerned with Special Dietary Needs, have a look at

www.allears.net/din/special.htm

We have gotten to know many of the Chefs at Disney, they go the extra mile to meet our needs, as I%26#39;m sure they would do for you.

All the Counter Service Restaurants have a nice little book ( just ask to see it ) with all the menu items and ';what%26#39;s in it'; so you can know before you order what you are eating :)

Thank you. I think this book would be very helpful.

We don%26#39;t do the Dining Plan because it is too much food for us-however,all of the table service restaurants AND counter service places at Disney have healthy options without making any special arrangements. I%26#39;ve never eaten at an Olive Garden or an Outback so I don%26#39;t know if there are any around;there%26#39;s lots of good places around LBV like Carraba%26#39;s and the Crab Shack. At the Polynesian,you%26#39;ll have a fridge so you can easily stock it with healthy foods from the grocery store-the Goodings is easy to get to.But you can certainly do the DDP and get plenty of fruit,salads,seafood,steaks and so on with a bottle of water for your drink-you don%26#39;t have to order Coke for a beverage and cake for dessert

Oh, and with the Disney restaurants and many of the counter services...most offer a sugar free or no-sugar added dessert. My Dad watches his sugar intake, so it%26#39;s something he likes. He had the no sugar added raspberry sorbet in Italy and the sugar free cheesecake at the Boardwalk bakery. Both of which he enjoyed.

I would seriously take a look at the menus on www.allears.net because you%26#39;ll find that it%26#39;s a bit of a hassle to always leave the parks to find something to eat. As it%26#39;s been stated, the counter service%26#39;s at the parks are great for some healthy food. With people becoming more health conscious...or at least pretending to... many of the kids meals side options don%26#39;t even include chips or fries (you can get it, but you have to ask specifically for it) they instead include things like grapes, applesauce, or carrot sticks. Even the hot dogs are only served on whole grain rolls...

Thank you both for all the new good ideas. I forgot about the fridge at the Polynesian. Lots of times on trips, we buy things at the grocery store and store them in the fridge. I also didn%26#39;t realize that the counter top meals had any healthy choices at all. Very helpful information.

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