Two young kids under 6 -which dining plan is right for us?

[princesslover]

Please help a newbie here..I am lost. :surfweb:

I will have a 6 year old and an *almost* 3 year old when we go to WDW. I know I want a meal plan, but not sure which one.

Is the deluxe one - with 3 meals and 2 snacks really overkill when you have young kids? I mean, my kdis do eat 3 meals a day, but I wonder if we will regret not having the flexibility to "graze" a bit. On the other hand, I really want to get the best value for my money. I'm so confused!

Any thoughts?

[Matt'nMeg'sMom]

Please help a newbie here..I am lost. :surfweb:

I will have a 6 year old and an *almost* 3 year old when we go to WDW. I know I want a meal plan, but not sure which one.

Is the deluxe one - with 3 meals and 2 snacks really overkill when you have young kids? I mean, my kdis do eat 3 meals a day, but I wonder if we will regret not having the flexibility to "graze" a bit. On the other hand, I really want to get the best value for my money. I'm so confused!


Unless your 6 year old is a heavy eater, I think the DxDDP would be overkill.

For the DDP, your family will get 3 snacks, 3 Quick Service, and 3 Table meals per day. With prudent budgeting and sharing your adult meals with your kids, it's very cost effective.

Sample DDP budget
Breakfast 1 large adult QS meal and 2 snacks (such as cereal and fruit bowls.) Supplement OOP as necessary.
Lunch 2 large adult QS meals, 1 snack. QS meals are very large and easy to share with your kids.
Dinner 2 adult and 1 child TS meals, sharing with the toddler or ordering extra OOP for him.

Basic DDP is the most cost effective way to use the plan for your family. If you go Deluxe, you'll have 9 full meals (any type) and 6 snacks per day. It's an incredible amount of food - especially if your 6 year old doesn't eat 3 huge meals + 2 snacks per day. You'll likely have a ton of food and points left over. I agree that it's very nice to have the deluxe option, since you'll be able to eat at fancy "signature" restaurants that cost more points - but do you really want to do that with a 6 and 2 year old?

By the way, your toddler isn't eligible for the dining plan. Apologies if you already knew that.

[princesslover]

Unless your 6 year old is a heavy eater, I think the DxDDP would be overkill.

For the DDP, your family will get 3 snacks, 3 Quick Service, and 3 Table meals per day. With prudent budgeting and sharing your adult meals with your kids, it's very cost effective.

Sample DDP budget
Breakfast 1 large adult QS meal and 2 snacks (such as cereal and fruit bowls.) Supplement OOP as necessary.
Lunch 2 large adult QS meals, 1 snack. QS meals are very large and easy to share with your kids.
Dinner 2 adult and 1 child TS meals, sharing with the toddler or ordering extra OOP for him.

Basic DDP is the most cost effective way to use the plan for your family. If you go Deluxe, you'll have 9 full meals (any type) and 6 snacks per day. It's an incredible amount of food - especially if your 6 year old doesn't eat 3 huge meals + 2 snacks per day. You'll likely have a ton of food and points left over. I agree that it's very nice to have the deluxe option, since you'll be able to eat at fancy "signature" restaurants that cost more points - but do you really want to do that with a 6 and 2 year old?

By the way, your toddler isn't eligible for the dining plan. Apologies if you already knew that.


Thank you! No my 6 year old eats like a bird. :sad2: What you described in the DDP would be perfect for us. And while my second DD will be a week away from being 3 when we go, you're right, she is not exactly ready for lots of fine dining. ;)

Thanks so much!!! :hug:

[Colleen27]

It really depends what you're used to at home and how you would like to eat on vacation. I'd have loved the deluxe plan when my kids were that age just as much as I do now (my kids are 11, 7, and almost-1), but my kids have gone out with us rather frequently and were happy/excited about restaurant meals. For kids who don't like to sit still through meals, it obviously wouldn't be a great idea.

A couple things to think about regarding the deluxe plan -

Counter service can be a bit of a hassle with kids if you're trying to eat at "normal" times. At some locations, it is tough to find a table. At others, the lines are rather cramped. Think of a crowded mall food court...

The breakeven point on the cost of the deluxe plan is roughly 2/3 of credits used for table service. So if you do a character breakfast in the morning and a relaxing dinner in the evening, it doesn't matter if you use counter service for the midday meal. A lot of people read about the plan and mistakenly think they'd need to use all the credits for sit down meals for the plan to be worth it.

Character meals are a wonderful time and sanity saver. Instead of waiting 45min to meet Mickey in Toontown, you spend the same amount of time at Chef Mickeys where he comes right to your table while you enjoy a fairly good buffet. Instead of checking times guides to track down each Princess, they stop by during a nice sit-down lunch in the castle. My DD has been collecting autographs since she was 4 (starting a new book each trip which becomes a scrapbook when we get home), and I cannot say enough about the joys of knowing that we'll get most of the Princesses, the classic characters, Lilo & Stitch, etc. out of the way during meals!

Regardless of which plan you go with, your almost 3 yo won't be on the plan. Since your 6yo is a light eater, you can probably split their meals. The extra snack on the deluxe plan might come in handy, though, because rather than using 2 per day for your 6yo you could use one for each child to get those Mickey bars and cookies they're going to be asking for.

Your kids might not be ready for fine dining, but they might enjoy dining in the castle and seeing some of the dinner shows, all of which take 2 credits per person and are thus not the best value/use of credits on the basic dining plan.

As you can tell, we really enjoy the deluxe plan! It is a lot of food and takes a bit of planning, but it makes the overall experience of our Disney vacations so much more relaxing and enjoyable for us as well as for the kids.

[caroline1851]

We went in Oct on the basic ddp with my ds6 and dd2 (2 weeks short of being 3). In addition to the $604 for the dining plan (7 nights), we paid $150 oop for extra snacks, etc. Still much better of a deal than doing the dxddp. (I think Dxddp would've cost over $1100) We also brought some snacks from home with us (granola bar type things)

[miprender]

We just got back and did the regular Dining Plan with DD5, DS3 and DS1 and that was more than enough. Just eating one big meal a day was fine and we either got QS meal at the resort or park.

[princesslover]

It really depends what you're used to at home and how you would like to eat on vacation. I'd have loved the deluxe plan when my kids were that age just as much as I do now (my kids are 11, 7, and almost-1), but my kids have gone out with us rather frequently and were happy/excited about restaurant meals. For kids who don't like to sit still through meals, it obviously wouldn't be a great idea.

A couple things to think about regarding the deluxe plan -

Counter service can be a bit of a hassle with kids if you're trying to eat at "normal" times. At some locations, it is tough to find a table. At others, the lines are rather cramped. Think of a crowded mall food court...

The breakeven point on the cost of the deluxe plan is roughly 2/3 of credits used for table service. So if you do a character breakfast in the morning and a relaxing dinner in the evening, it doesn't matter if you use counter service for the midday meal. A lot of people read about the plan and mistakenly think they'd need to use all the credits for sit down meals for the plan to be worth it.

Character meals are a wonderful time and sanity saver. Instead of waiting 45min to meet Mickey in Toontown, you spend the same amount of time at Chef Mickeys where he comes right to your table while you enjoy a fairly good buffet. Instead of checking times guides to track down each Princess, they stop by during a nice sit-down lunch in the castle. My DD has been collecting autographs since she was 4 (starting a new book each trip which becomes a scrapbook when we get home), and I cannot say enough about the joys of knowing that we'll get most of the Princesses, the classic characters, Lilo & Stitch, etc. out of the way during meals!

Regardless of which plan you go with, your almost 3 yo won't be on the plan. Since your 6yo is a light eater, you can probably split their meals. The extra snack on the deluxe plan might come in handy, though, because rather than using 2 per day for your 6yo you could use one for each child to get those Mickey bars and cookies they're going to be asking for.

Your kids might not be ready for fine dining, but they might enjoy dining in the castle and seeing some of the dinner shows, all of which take 2 credits per person and are thus not the best value/use of credits on the basic dining plan.

As you can tell, we really enjoy the deluxe plan! It is a lot of food and takes a bit of planning, but it makes the overall experience of our Disney vacations so much more relaxing and enjoyable for us as well as for the kids.

Thank you! This makes a lot of sense to me too. We've never been to disney and my 6 year old is a princess fanatic so we will definitely be doing at least the princess character meal (Cinderalla's royal table?) I guess I should research character meals more and figure out which ones we will go to....

Is it the dinner shows that are 2 credits per person or the character meals too? I wasn't sure by reading that part of your post.

FWIW, my kids LOOOOOOVE going out to eat, even though my youngest isn't always the easiest to take places. However, we also don't go to character restaurants around here, you know? I think it could be a whole different experience in disney. Plus, it's only April now, and she could be a whole different kid by the time we go in December.

One last question (for anyone) if my *almost* 3 yo won't be "in on" the plan, does that mean that I am only paying for a dining plan for a family of 3, not a family of four I assume?

[princesslover]

One last question regarding my *almost* 3 year old....I know she isn't in on the dining plan, but if she goes to a Character breakfast or dinner - say Cinderalla's roytal table, will they let her share her sister's meal?

[Colleen27]

Thank you! This makes a lot of sense to me too. We've never been to disney and my 6 year old is a princess fanatic so we will definitely be doing at least the princess character meal (Cinderalla's royal table?) I guess I should research character meals more and figure out which ones we will go to....

Is it the dinner shows that are 2 credits per person or the character meals too? I wasn't sure by reading that part of your post.

FWIW, my kids LOOOOOOVE going out to eat, even though my youngest isn't always the easiest to take places. However, we also don't go to character restaurants around here, you know? I think it could be a whole different experience in disney. Plus, it's only April now, and she could be a whole different kid by the time we go in December.

One last question (for anyone) if my *almost* 3 yo won't be "in on" the plan, does that mean that I am only paying for a dining plan for a family of 3, not a family of four I assume?

Most character meals are only 1 credit. Cinderella's Royal Table is the only one that costs 2 credits. Dinner shows (Hoop-dee-do Review, Spirit of Aloha luau, Mickey's Backyard BBQ), room service, and signature restaurants also cost 2 credits.

Kids under 3 are free at Disney. You don't have to pay for her on the plan and she won't have meal credits of her own to use, but she'll eat free at buffets and can share with you or your older child at plated meals. Quite a few people have reported that they weren't charged for juice/milk for their under-3 child but that's not written/official policy, so if you order a separate drink for her your may or may not be charged for it.

[princesslover]

Most character meals are only 1 credit. Cinderella's Royal Table is the only one that costs 2 credits. Dinner shows (Hoop-dee-do Review, Spirit of Aloha luau, Mickey's Backyard BBQ), room service, and signature restaurants also cost 2 credits.

Kids under 3 are free at Disney. You don't have to pay for her on the plan and she won't have meal credits of her own to use, but she'll eat free at buffets and can share with you or your older child at plated meals. Quite a few people have reported that they weren't charged for juice/milk for their under-3 child but that's not written/official policy, so if you order a separate drink for her your may or may not be charged for it.

Thanks! That's good to know. :goodvibes