Does anyone ever get the dining plan while staying at FW?

[lovemy4sweeties]

Do you find it's worth it? We're thinking of staying 7-10 days, but I think we'll only spend about 5 of them at the parks. We're also going in January so it looks as though 2 of the 4 restaurant choices at FW are closed for the season. We also plan to do some day trips off of Disney grounds. I know for convenience factor the dining plan would be good, but I'm wondering if it will actually save us money since we may not need to use it every day.



Kerri

[figmentfan1]

We will use it in Dec and my sister and her familt used it last Dec when they stayed at FW. We find that it is a good deal, we especially like that it is "pre-paid" and like not worrying about budgeting for food. It is always a deal for us because character meals are expensive.

I know for some people there is really no savings, so it is just dependent on your individual situation.

:)JE

[VACAMPER]

We just used the dining plan and thought it was ok but a little inconvient. It was great because we enjoyed alot of character meals which we would not have done otherwise. You didn't have to stand in those park lines the meet the characters that in itself made it worth while. (highly recommend Donalds breakfast Safari). On the other hand we had rain and sickness which lead to alot of leftover meals. We did find out you can count 3 snacks and a drink for a counter service meal which help us a least get snacks for the trip home, so it wasn't money completely wasted. You can also downgrade a table service to a counter. I would probably do it again.

[Drewsmommybear]

I wasn't cooking on this vacation so we got the dining plan and it worked for us because we were almost always in the parks. If you aren't going to the parks everyday, it isn't as convenient. The closest CS is Roaring Forks and though their food is good and we didn't mind the boat ride over, some people do. We also made a trip over to the Polynesian for dinner at Captain Cook's and I thought that was worth the trip too.

I guess we look at things differently than most people because we travel for everything at home. The closest Walmart is 45 minutes away and a good restaurant is about that far as well. Going out of our way to get somewhere is just part of normal life for us.

Maybe you should look into getting it for the days that you're in the parks. It's really great then.

[Rhonda]

We're also going in January so it looks as though 2 of the 4 restaurant choices at FW are closed for the season.

FW really only has 2 restaurants -- Trail's End and Crockett's Tavern. Both of them are open year-round. There is also the Hoop-Dee-Doo dinner show, and that runs all year too (but takes 2 Table Service credits each off the Dining Plan).

Mickeys Backyard BBQ (which would take 2 Table Service credits) is not offered in January though. And the Meadows Snack bar is not open either, but that's not ever offered on the Dining Plan anyway.

We like the Dining Plan. The Table Service credits can be used for any meal -- so sometimes it's nice to use for a nice sit-down breakfast someplace (maybe a character breakfast?) :)

Some of our favorite restaurants are included in the Dining Plan, such as: Wolfgang Puck in Downtown Disney, Kona Cafe at the Poly, and the Cape May Clam Bake buffet! So, we definitely get our money's worth with the Plan. :goodvibes

[chief19spixi]

I always use the dining plan while at the fort.. I do not do it to save money though.. if I was it would not be that great of a deal.. I like it cause at least I do not have to cook at all!!

[musicmama]

We used the meal plan in December 2005 (first and last time we camped at WDW) and at the time, people thought we were crazy. We actually had to go through AAA in order to get the plan because CRO didn't want to sell it to us. We spent most of our time in the parks and not at the RV, so it made lots of sense. It also meant that we didn't have to bring lots of food and make a special shopping trip or order food deliveries. It was also great because everything was pre-paid, so DH was not worrying about the bill at each meal and he could order exactly what he wanted. Win-win for all of us! :thumbsup2

BTW, we haven't camped at Ft. W again due to vacation schedules and the prohibitive cost of gas. When I budgeted our 2005 trip, our previous travels had shown about 15 mpg for our '96 Four Winds Class C. So, I budgeted accordingly. We actually got 12 mpg, and it cost waaay more than I planned. :scared1: (It was much less expensive to fly the 3 of us the next time.)

I was looking forward to trying it again, but with the conversion of the loop we liked to Premium and with our vacation schedule being limited to during Christmas break, I'm not so certain.

[djblu883]

we loved the dining plan and it made the vacation much more so...no cooking after being all day at the parks....character dining, I don't think I'll go again without it EVER!!! it may cost more but it was certainly worth it to us!!!

[kmurawski]

We love the plan for our DVC vacations but will fore-go it for our FW trip.

[icepickjazz]

Is the meal plan worth if if you are not interested in character dining? I think my kids are past that stage.

What's the cost of a meal plan?

[djblu883]

Is the meal plan worth if if you are not interested in character dining? I think my kids are past that stage.

What's the cost of a meal plan?

I don't have that figure but it is expensive...there are other things to do with the DDP besides the Character meals such as the Luau (Spirit of Aloha), Hoop De Doo at the Fort, Its a savings if you plan to eat each meal out and a savings on your sanity trying to get back to the Fort for meals when you can eat in the parks without having to dig in your pockets each time...pre paying for meals is a great way for families to try new places and foods they might not try without it...example...we were at the Hollywood Studios one day and hadn't really made a meal decision that day and got hungry before we were ready to go home...we found sci fi theatre had a table for us...we had wanted to eat there but thought there was no way we could have gotten in....the meal with the plan would have been 78 dollars for 2 adults and a toddler under 3!!!...all it cost us was 2 table service meals and we had so much fun!...we did the character meals as well and actually by accident spent too many of our table service meals so we had to pay out of pocket for the LUAU...so planning IS important...that meal cost us over 100 bucks!!! live and learn...it was our first time but we will sure be doing it again...won't go without it...Mom gets a vacaton from cooking for everyone...win win situation!!!!!!:santa: :cool1: :rolleyes1

[Rhonda]

Is the meal plan worth if if you are not interested in character dining? I think my kids are past that stage.

What's the cost of a meal plan?

Hi! :wave2:

Nobody is past that stage!! :eek: Our son, when he got to around 10 years old, tried to act like he didn't care about Mickey anymore. But, every time he'd come to Disney with us, he would still get excited when Mickey would come out and say hi to him! lol

The cost is $37.99 for adults and $11 for kids ages 3-9. For that, each person gets 1 Table Service meal, 1 Counter Service meal, and 1 Snack per day. The Table Service meals includes entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic drink. The Counter Service meal includes basically the same thing -- just at the walk-up restaurants.

[lovemy4sweeties]

Thank you so much for all of your replies. It definately sounds like it's worth it. How far in advance can you book the restaurants and where can I find a list of the Characters meals that are offered (and included in the dining plan)? The Luau sounds great. I'll definately want to do that.

[Rhonda]

Thank you so much for all of your replies. It definately sounds like it's worth it. How far in advance can you book the restaurants and where can I find a list of the Characters meals that are offered (and included in the dining plan)? The Luau sounds great. I'll definately want to do that.

The restaurants can be booked 180 days (6 months) ahead of time. Here's the list of restaurants that are included: Dining Plan Participating Restaurants (http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/packages/2008restaurants.html)

[kc5grw]

The dining plan would only make sense for me if I didn't have a kitchen to cook in. I can't stand to eat at restaurants everyday. We do eat out while we're there, but we limit it to a few dinners and a breakfast or two. Since my DDs are over 9 the dining plan would be $152/day for my family, I can manage a lot cheaper than that by cooking in the trailer.

[IDoBelieveInFairies2]

We are staying in the cabin and getting the dining plan. We will eat breakfast at the cabin and the other meals at the park. I am on vacation! No cooking, except for after Typhon Lagoon, then we will grill at the cabin with friends. It is a treat to eat at such a variety of themes and cuisines (SP!) and is part of the fun for my family.

[bama_ed]

Be careful about the DDP. If you buy it, you HAVE to buy it for every day that you book the "room" (campsite or cabin). It is not just for the days in the parks (unless you break your room into seperate ressies).

The DDP was a good deal when it first came out years ago but when Disney saw how people jumped on it they have trimmed it back each year. This year tip is no longer included. :sick:

It's not a good deal unless you have folks that eat like horses anyway and would eat at a sit-down restaurant and order full meals every single day. There is a convenience factor to consider but when you multiply the cost per person times the number of days times the number of people, those trips to the grocery store or snack counter don't seem so bad! :scared1:

Bama ED

[momoffive]

I think it was sooo worth it for us. A family of 7. The cost per day was about $135-$140. Our trip in 2005 our only meal out was Chef Mickey before the MNSSHP and that cost us over $200. Another trip, the kid's first, we had 1 counter service, with each of the kids getting a hot dog and DH and I each a hot dog and drink, and that ran us $63. That said :teacher: together $263 vs $140, I'll take the meal plan I realize the days that it is cost effective are few(until it cost us $280/day). Once the quads reach 9 and we have to pay adult fare for them, it will not be worth it. It will be a long time before any of my kids could eat that much food in 1 day, let alone every day of our trip. We did end up with 42 snack options left at the end of our stay, so we hit the bakery on Main ST and came home with a "bag" FULL of the rice crispie treats. I think we still have 1 or 2 in the freezer.
Loretta aka momoffive

[mrtroutjedi]

I think it was sooo worth it for us. A family of 7. The cost per day was about $135-$140. Our trip in 2005 our only meal out was Chef Mickey before the MNSSHP and that cost us over $200. Another trip, the kid's first, we had 1 counter service, with each of the kids getting a hot dog and DH and I each a hot dog and drink, and that ran us $63. That said :teacher: together $263 vs $140, I'll take the meal plan I realize the days that it is cost effective are few(until it cost us $280/day). Once the quads reach 9 and we have to pay adult fare for them, it will not be worth it. It will be a long time before any of my kids could eat that much food in 1 day, let alone every day of our trip. We did end up with 42 snack options left at the end of our stay, so we hit the bakery on Main ST and came home with a "bag" FULL of the rice crispie treats. I think we still have 1 or 2 in the freezer.
Loretta aka momoffive



This is pretty mutch our story too but theres 6 of us and as my wife puts it "I'm on vacation too!"

[Tent Camping Mom]

I think we're all on vacation when we're at Disney World :lmao:

But for us, the DDP would be an idiotic choice because we would be wasting money...we rarely cook and paying out-of-pocket is a better choice for us. If your kids are 9 and under then it could be worth it, especially if you do a lot of character meals. But DS out grew that a few years ago :sad2:

I hear so many times, "I'm on vacation, I'm not cooking, therefore I'm buying the DDP." It makes me wonder if some people think you have to purchase the DDP to eat at Disney restaurants :confused3

NOW, on another note, if you get the FREE DDP then I can see it being worth it for most everyone...still have to weigh the cost of purchasing a package vs. if you are annual passholders, AAA discounts, Disney Visa discounts, etc., etc...

[Sonoma]

NOW, on another note, if you get the FREE DDP then I can see it being worth it for most everyone...still have to weigh the cost of purchasing a package vs. if you are annual passholders, AAA discounts, Disney Visa discounts, etc., etc...


This is what we are doing this September. We originally had 20% off the cabin price, so in my mind we are only paying $400 for the 6 of us to eat for the week. In reality, we would not have eaten at a TS each day, but now we can and I'm sure that we would have spent that $400 on CS meals alone. We're looking forward to trying some new places and going back to a few of our favorites.

[lovemy4sweeties]

I think it was sooo worth it for us. A family of 7. The cost per day was about $135-$140. Our trip in 2005 our only meal out was Chef Mickey before the MNSSHP and that cost us over $200. Another trip, the kid's first, we had 1 counter service, with each of the kids getting a hot dog and DH and I each a hot dog and drink, and that ran us $63. That said :teacher: together $263 vs $140, I'll take the meal plan I realize the days that it is cost effective are few(until it cost us $280/day). Once the quads reach 9 and we have to pay adult fare for them, it will not be worth it. It will be a long time before any of my kids could eat that much food in 1 day, let alone every day of our trip. We did end up with 42 snack options left at the end of our stay, so we hit the bakery on Main ST and came home with a "bag" FULL of the rice crispie treats. I think we still have 1 or 2 in the freezer.
Loretta aka momoffive



I have 4 kids and they will be 7, 5.75, 3.5 and almost 2. So, we'll only have to pay for 3 of them and it's the child rate. I figure it will cost us about $100 a day and we do want to do as many of the character meals as we can. This will be our first trip.

Kerri

[chief19spixi]

I think we're all on vacation when we're at Disney World :lmao:

But for us, the DDP would be an idiotic choice because we would be wasting money...we rarely cook and paying out-of-pocket is a better choice for us. If your kids are 9 and under then it could be worth it, especially if you do a lot of character meals. But DS out grew that a few years ago :sad2:

I hear so many times, "I'm on vacation, I'm not cooking, therefore I'm buying the DDP." It makes me wonder if some people think you have to purchase the DDP to eat at Disney restaurants :confused3

NOW, on another note, if you get the FREE DDP then I can see it being worth it for most everyone...still have to weigh the cost of purchasing a package vs. if you are annual passholders, AAA discounts, Disney Visa discounts, etc., etc...


DELETED IT.. HOPELESS DEBATE

[auntie]

We used the meal plan in December 2005 (first and last time we camped at WDW) and at the time, people thought we were crazy. We actually had to go through AAA in order to get the plan because CRO didn't want to sell it to us. We spent most of our time in the parks and not at the RV, so it made lots of sense. It also meant that we didn't have to bring lots of food and make a special shopping trip or order food deliveries. It was also great because everything was pre-paid, so DH was not worrying about the bill at each meal and he could order exactly what he wanted. Win-win for all of us! :thumbsup2

BTW, we haven't camped at Ft. W again due to vacation schedules and the prohibitive cost of gas. When I budgeted our 2005 trip, our previous travels had shown about 15 mpg for our '96 Four Winds Class C. So, I budgeted accordingly. We actually got 12 mpg, and it cost waaay more than I planned. :scared1: (It was much less expensive to fly the 3 of us the next time.)

I was looking forward to trying it again, but with the conversion of the loop we liked to Premium and with our vacation schedule being limited to during Christmas break, I'm not so certain.


Not trying to change the topic..but you might consider what we are doing and that is renting a 5th wheel from someone here on the board. We are from NY, and as much as we love FW...we really don't want to tow our tt there. Just don't have the time needed, and with the gas prices being what they are now..well, that doesn't make the case for towing to Disney any better. TinaH is a member of the camping forum and she rents out her 5th wheel. We will be using it in August and there are several other members here who are renting from her. Whenever I see a post like yours..it just reminds me of our situation and thought I'd put it out there as something you might want to
consider.http://www.campatthefort.com/index.asp

[Tent Camping Mom]

DELETED IT.. HOPELESS DEBATE

Hmmm....am I missing something? :confused3 You quoted me and said "Hopeless Debate." I was answering the original OP. She asked if it was worth it and I told her my opinion...not debating. I'm glad people purchase the DDP (like I said before, I have a financial interest in Disney, Disney knows how to take your money and they do it well ;) ) but I don't like people being misled, thinking that it will save them money and that they must purchase it to eat at Disney restaurants...that's misleading. It's not worth it for everyone. I will reiterate....I answered the OP, I was not debating.

[Shannone1]

We were all set to to the deluxe dining plan. For my family of 5 it would cost us $300 a day. Times 12 nights at it was $3600 !! :scared1: :scared1: Since we started planning the trip 15 months before we are going, we figured saving the money wasn't a problem. Now that they took away tips and appetizers and you only have one snack with the basic dining package, we figured if we got a dining package at all it would be the deluxe so we'd get 3 meals and 2 snacks each day. :teacher:

But then I starting writing it all down and I realized that all of my days are going to be planned around my ADR's for lunch and dinner. There really won't be much flexibility at all. We will have 2 dogs back at FW that we need to come back and let out on park days...and that will have to be worked around ADR times too. And we are getting park hopper tickets but then we really couldn't do much hopping unless I planned out all of the meals. Sigh.

In the end I think we've decided to NOT do ANY dining plan.

1- We can do breakfast at the motorhome with maybe a few mornings OOP at Trail's End or Chef Mickey's.

2- Lunch we can do counter service somewhere if we are at the parks, at the motorhome if we are at FW, or off property if out and about somewhere else.

3- I will make ADR's for dinners on the nights we will be at the parks and we will just pay OOP. As soon as the Dec hours are released I can do that. We do want to have some nice meals in the parks and I know they will be super busy on the holidays. On the nights we are not in the parks we can be spontanious and either eat at our site, or go off property.

We are not fancy eaters and after looking at some of the "nicer" restaurants I realized we wouldn't eat much off of the menus anyway. So when you take away the signature dining it wouldn't financially make sense for us to pay $300 a day for the DDP.

And this way we can pick and choose our parks based on how we feel that day and just make sure we are where we need to be for dinner. We can do MK early in the morning, go back to FW for the afternoon and then hit Epcot for our dinner ADRS. And I don't have to make as many of those decisions 6 months ahead of time.

What really made me realize how crazy it is was when my MIL told me she is moving to FL this summer. She and my FIL want to come visit us one day at FW while we are there in Dec (we won't see them again until then). I told her that if we were on the DDP I would need her to tell me in June which day she wanted to come see us so we could add them to our ADRs. She was like "I have to tell you NOW ?? What if I am not feeling good that day, or it's pouring rain "?? When she said it like that, it did seem crazy. :laughing: Now we can just tell her which days we aren't going to be at the parks and she can come see us when it works for her. :)

[Tent Camping Mom]

Do you find it's worth it? We're thinking of staying 7-10 days, but I think we'll only spend about 5 of them at the parks. We're also going in January so it looks as though 2 of the 4 restaurant choices at FW are closed for the season. We also plan to do some day trips off of Disney grounds. I know for convenience factor the dining plan would be good, but I'm wondering if it will actually save us money since we may not need to use it every day.
Kerri


I would like to offer a few tips that helped me in deciding if it was worth it or not:

1) Create a spreadsheet . I can create a sample for you, if you are interested (finance is my line of work so it won’t be a problem :thumbsup2).
2) Look at the menus and prices here (http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm). Jot down the prices on the spreadsheet of items you would normally eat.
3) On the spreadsheet, jot down the cost of the DDP and add 15 percent (tips are not included in the cost of the DDP)
4) Compare the two.

Take into account the ages of your children. Remember, kids 10 and older must pay the adult price. In my experience, 10 year olds can eat off the kids menu at most of Disney restaurants but not buffets (I say most because we haven't eaten at all restaurants on property but the ones we have, DS was always offered a childs menu). Also, if you drink a glass of wine with your meal, that isn't included either. As another poster said, you will need to purchase the DDP for every night of your stay so if you do any cooking, that could put a dent in your pocketbook. It's the little things you will need to consider.

Again, it isn’t worth it for us but it can be for some people. Just let me know if you want that spreadsheet. I can throw one together this weekend (Sunday night, I'll be tied up all day on Saturday), so just let me know. :thumbsup2

[Tent Camping Mom]

I have 4 kids and they will be 7, 5.75, 3.5 and almost 2. So, we'll only have to pay for 3 of them and it's the child rate. I figure it will cost us about $100 a day and we do want to do as many of the character meals as we can. This will be our first trip.

Kerri

Oh, I just saw this. Then it may be worth it even if you cook one night. I would hit every one of the character meals, especially with those little ones. :thumbsup2

[auntie]

You can't feed kids anywhere for $10.00 a day...I think it's very worth it when little ones are involved. Even if you don't make the most of it..so what, it's not that big an expense.

We did the Dining plan for the first time last year..and I've got to say we really enjoyed it. We always plan at least one sit down meal anyway, so we thought we'd give it a try. I was pleasantly suprised at how much we enjoyed it. I didn't think I'd want to be tied down to the ADR's..but then realized we always make two or three prior to the trip anyway, so what was the difference with adding a couple more. We even did change our plans while there, and had no problem getting into Kona Kafe one morning for breakfast..just a walk up. I think going during free dining is probably another issue. I found that my younger son, ordered things, and tried things he might not have, had we been paying out of pocket. Since we are all adult eaters, and almost any entree at a table service meal is around twenty to thrity something...we knew we'd be spending more than that if we went out of pocket. I mean lunch for 5 is at least $50.00. I would advise that you pull up the menus..that's what I did. I anticipated what we might order..and how much it would cost..and compared that to the price of the plan..and it made sense to go with the plan.
Now, we have a trip planned in August just the two of us..and I'm not so sure if I would use it at that point. I think it really depends on who is going and where it is you would plan to be eating.

[lovemy4sweeties]

[QUOTE=Tent Camping Mom;24561917]I would like to offer a few tips that helped me in deciding if it was worth it or not:

1) Create a spreadsheet . I can create a sample for you, if you are interested (finance is my line of work so it won’t be a problem :thumbsup2).
2) Look at the menus and prices here (http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm). Jot down the prices on the spreadsheet of items you would normally eat.
3) On the spreadsheet, jot down the cost of the DDP and add 15 percent (tips are not included in the cost of the DDP)
4) Compare the two.


If you still think I should do a comparison, I would love for you to create a spreadsheet for me. That is so nice of you to offer.

Does anyone happen to know which of the restaurants on the dining plan list are character meals? I know if you click on them individually, it says if it's a character meal, but there are so many, I don't want to miss any of them. What are the best ones? Or maybe there's a better spot for me to ask this quesiton??

Thanks to everyone who has answered my questions :) .

ETA, that's weird, I thought I quoted the top part, but it's not in yellow . I tried the little quote box at the top of this post. I'll see if it works.

[lovemy4sweeties]

I found the list of Character meals, but can anyone suggest the best ones?

[lovemy4sweeties]

Okay, I found the list here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/dininglist.cfm

But, I'm not sure how to figure out what is included in the dining plan.

[lovemy4sweeties]

Oh, one more question (well, I can't promise just one more, but one more for now LOL). Since we're going in Jan 09, this doesn't apply to me, but can you get the free dining offer while staying at the Fort? I'm just wondering for future reference.

[Shannone1]

[QUOTE]
Does anyone happen to know which of the restaurants on the dining plan list are character meals? I know if you click on them individually, it says if it's a character meal, but there are so many, I don't want to miss any of them. What are the best ones? Or maybe there's a better spot for me to ask this quesiton??



There is a Dining Plan Plan board which would probably be the best place for information. They talk extensively about the pros and cons of the DDP, and the participating restaurants. It's under the trip planning forums. :thumbsup2

[lovemy4sweeties]

Thanks Shannone :).

[VACAMPER]

We liked Donald's Breakfast Safari & Crystal Palace. Both had good food as well. If you have little girls they would probably like CRT. Our least favorite was Liberty Tree Tavern. Food us good but its really loud and crowded.

[Laurabearz]

I wanted to suggest, to those with older kids.

Disney now allow's AP holders to buy the Disney Dinning Experince (DDE) card, where you get 20% food and BOOZE.

http://www.allearsnet.com/din/dde.htm

The above link has all the details and a complete list of places to eat.

Just thought I would toss it out :-)

[AuburnJen92]

I wanted to suggest, to those with older kids.

Disney now allow's AP holders to buy the Disney Dinning Experince (DDE) card, where you get 20% food and BOOZE.

http://www.allearsnet.com/din/dde.htm

The above link has all the details and a complete list of places to eat.

Just thought I would toss it out :-)

Just don't forget that you have a mandatory gratuity placed on your bill regardless of size when you use it. This is the reason we are not renewing it when it expires this summer.

[Laurabearz]

Just don't forget that you have a mandatory gratuity placed on your bill regardless of size when you use it. This is the reason we are not renewing it when it expires this summer.

It's a 18% gratutiy(Which 99.9% of the time we leave anyway so I dont see what the big deal is about that and FYI if your service sucks you can have that 18% reduced, so I am not sure why people have issues with it :confused3

And I rather have an Auto tip figured in, rather than be force to have a dessert I dont want, and then have to pay OOP for an appitezer I do want... Or when I prefer to eat a few appitizers in lue of a big meal, which you can not do under the DDP... And that glass of wine at dinner goes down even nicer knowing it's 20% off.

Just trying to let people know there are other options for dining deals at WDW other than the "plan"

[Tent Camping Mom]

[QUOTE]

If you still think I should do a comparison, I would love for you to create a spreadsheet for me. That is so nice of you to offer.

Does anyone happen to know which of the restaurants on the dining plan list are character meals? I know if you click on them individually, it says if it's a character meal, but there are so many, I don't want to miss any of them. What are the best ones? Or maybe there's a better spot for me to ask this quesiton??

Thanks to everyone who has answered my questions :) .

ETA, that's weird, I thought I quoted the top part, but it's not in yellow . I tried the little quote box at the top of this post. I'll see if it works.

You probably don't need to do a comparison, especially with all those little ones. Financially, it would be a wiser decision to do the Dining Plan and do a Dinner Character Meal every night.

I have some free time this morning so I'll do a quick spreadsheet and post it by this afternoon just in case anyone else wants to use it.

[Tent Camping Mom]

I wanted to suggest, to those with older kids.

Disney now allow's AP holders to buy the Disney Dinning Experince (DDE) card, where you get 20% food and BOOZE.

http://www.allearsnet.com/din/dde.htm

The above link has all the details and a complete list of places to eat.

Just thought I would toss it out :-)

Thanks! We may do this in the future. We periodically get APs but we need to use up our 10-day non-expiring park-hoppers first (we still have 9 days on them). Now, I'm going to have to do a spreadsheet and compare this too :headache:

[Tent Camping Mom]

Voila! Here is the DDP vs. OOP comparison for a family of 3. I only did one day's worth of meals and snacks but the spreadsheet will calculate the totals based on this one days average and the number of days staying at the resort. I used EPCOT as my basis since that's our most expensive meal day at WDW.
Click Here (http://home.mchsi.com/~stuffy2000/DDP/CompareDDP.htm) to take you to my web server where you may download and or view the comparison.
Here's the long link:

http://home.mchsi.com/~stuffy2000/DDP/CompareDDP.htm

I finished this a little while ago and haven't test driven it very well but if you find some discrepancies or errors, please let me know.

-

[Dis Dawg]

We don't get the DDP. We just get a couple of Giant Turkey Legs and dine on them for the whole vacation.:)

[Dis Dawg]

I found the list of Character meals, but can anyone suggest the best ones?

The kids really enjoyed the Princess meal in Norway.

[Sonoma]

Oh, one more question (well, I can't promise just one more, but one more for now LOL). Since we're going in Jan 09, this doesn't apply to me, but can you get the free dining offer while staying at the Fort? I'm just wondering for future reference.

You can get free dining if you stay in a cabin, but it is not available with the camp sites.