Animated Evenings at Walt Disney World combine Cirque du Soleil and prix fixe menus at more than a dozen Disney Springs restaurants

WondersOfLifeAug 06, 2022

I've seen it twice. The music is just so good!

Kevin_WAug 05, 2022

I saw that on tour last year - agree, it was great.

JIMINYCRAug 05, 2022

As a family that’s visited WDW a lot, we’ve tried most of the restaurants. Some we’ve decided they aren’t for us and others we will go back multiple times. As a planner I pour over the menus and see what I might want and DW with her diet that’s touchy we know pretty much what we will be ordering when we make our ADRs and it helps figure out that part of our vacation budget. We would do the Cirque meal deal as long as we like the selections. I look at it as a hard worker money can always be made and when we are on the trip we spend to enjoy ourselves. And I agree Edison was meh for us on our last trip so we wouldn’t take that option. There are others that would tempt us.

HauntedPirateAug 05, 2022

Research before you buy something? Bob & Josh would like to speak with you in private. 😉🤫

WondersOfLifeAug 05, 2022

My group of 8 is completely obsessed with Rainforest Cafe, to give you any indication of how classy we are. LOL My wife and I share the nachos and pastalaya... And then we top it off with a Volcano Cake. It is a tradition on every trip to get that combo. It's our food splurge.

WondersOfLifeAug 05, 2022

If you ever decide to see a Broadway show either in NYC or professionally on tour... I strongly recommend Come From Away. Also, you cant go wrong with the obvious "overrated" choices. (They're overrated for a reason. They're good.) The Lion King, Wicked, Matilda, The Book of Mormon, ect.

UNCgolfAug 05, 2022

That and the limited selections are my biggest issue, although I also often don't want dessert. There are some restaurants that I like, but I wouldn't want any of the entree options they're including in the prix fixe price -- Maria and Enzo's being one of those, actually.

LuvtheGoofAug 05, 2022

I agree that you have to research first to see if it is worth it. While we have eaten at Edison, that’s not a place we would choose for this deal.

UNCgolfAug 05, 2022

There aren't that many people who order an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert -- appetizers especially would generally be split among the table, as opposed to each person getting their own. If they are smaller appetizers to be sized as an individual portion, then the cost calculus shifts. The other issue, as I mentioned, is the selection. It's not like you can pick from everything they normally offer on the menu. At the Edison, the prix fixe price is $65, and the most expensive meal you can put together from their options based on the standard menu price is $71. So you'd be saving $6 at most, but if you end up full after the appetizer and entree and don't want a dessert, well... you're getting it anyways. You don't have the option to just not order a dessert and save more money than if you'd gone with the prix fixe. You could also put together a three course meal from their options that's actually $9 more prix fixe than it would be if you just ordered a la carte from the standard menu. That doesn't mean it's automatically bad, but you really have to think about what you're getting from their options to make sure you're not actually paying more than you would have otherwise, even if you do want all three courses.

LuvtheGoofAug 05, 2022

Different strokes. We are both huge foodies and think nothing of spending a few hundred for a dinner. We've never seen a Broadway show, and it's doubtful we ever will, but I won't say never. Oh, and the pizza at Blaze is really good! We've had that a few times.

WondersOfLifeAug 05, 2022

I do not, unless it is a buffet... But also, just ordering an entree and a drink is fine, too. I have reservations for Sci-Fi and 50's Prime Time... But I don't plan on spending over $30 per person on it. Just get an entree, a drink, and then eat the snacks you packed in your backpack. Cirque is definitely worth the price of admission. I guess that is my "fine dining," as I'm a theatre major and do theatre for a living and have seen over 40 Broadway productions. A professional show is my fine dining I guess. But food? I don't get it. I mean, I do... But I don't... I'll take the $10 pizza at Blaze over $30 spaghetti any day.

LuvtheGoofAug 05, 2022

Well, as I noted above, we would eat at Enzo's and save $20 per person with this deal. I don't think it's as small a minority as you think.

UNCgolfAug 05, 2022

That's generally why they're pushed, I think -- people feel like they're getting their money's worth with the fixed price so it's easy to sell, but usually people would spend less if they were ordering a la carte because they wouldn't all get desserts and appetizers (and would often prefer something on the menu that's not included in the prix fixe options, but that's a different issue). They end up spending more money. It's a lot like the Disney Dining Plan, really. The restaurants wouldn't do it if they didn't see it as a way to increase profits.

wdwmagicAug 05, 2022

I think fixed price appeals to a lot of vacationers who are trying to forecast costs. It takes the mystery out of what the final bill is going to be.