Dining plan

butterfly715 · Aug 4, 2015

Hi this would be my 1st visit to Disney World I have 2 adults and 2 Children aged 9 and 4 . Going in March . What dining plan do you guys recommend I get ? And any dining suggestions I would appreciate .
Thank You

PoohsHunnyBee · Aug 4, 2015

Without more information, I would recommend the standard dining plan. Schedule advance dining reservations for your Table-Service meals for character meals, dinner shows, and Disney's more unique restaurants based on your family's preferences. For more accurate advice, you could give us more information such as who your children's favorite characters are, which parks you're visiting, what resort you're staying at, what types of food your family likes and dislikes, etc.

And :welcome:

to the boards!

Alesia · Aug 4, 2015

We always save tons of money by not getting a dining plan. We like the flexibility of eating what we want, when we want, so only eating one table service meal every 3 days is what works best for us.

The first thing you need to do is to figure out what will work best for your family. Looking at the menus at allears.net will help you understand what is available. After you get an idea of how your family will likely eat, This: http://www.distripplanner.com/ will help you decide what plan, if any, will work best for you.

Some things to keep in mind:

Portions are huge at WDW. We often split 2 counter service meals between the 3 of us.
You should allow 90 minutes for TS meals, plus any transportation times.
CS meals generally take about 30 minutes

MakiraMarlena · Aug 4, 2015

With two children under 10, get the regular dining plan IF you wish to have a table service meal each day of your trip, with an emphasis on character meals/buffets/all you can eat family style restaurants. Try not to choose any 2 credit restaurants. that's really the best way to actually save money using the dining plan.

butterfly715 · Aug 4, 2015

Thanks guys , I would want to do Chief Mickey and Rain forest Café one day . As mentioned above my kids will be so excited to be thee and will be into everything I think my daughter wont like the princess castle dinning she out grew it but would love to see the princess's . As I said this is out first trio and very over whelming ..lol.. We are staying at Port Orleans Hotel

rwdavis2 · Aug 4, 2015

Remember that the plans are not designed to save you money. Nor, IMHO, are they any more convenient that paying out of pocket. Unless you do several character buffets you will have to work pretty hard to actually break even.

BobC · Aug 4, 2015

Years ago, a TS Dining Plan did save you money I remember. Now, it's more or less break even or even pay more.

However, to some people the convenience of having everything paid for (minus liquor and tips) is worth it.

I'm going in 3 weeks and opted for the Counter Service plan. I'm going solo and don't want to worry about hopping around DIS to meet my reservations. If I was going with family, I'd definitely opt in for the table service and not worry about prices or anything.

On the TS plan, I always order the most expensive thing typically to make it worth it, (ie crab legs, steak, etc...) to recoup the costs.

JZCubed · Aug 4, 2015

butterfly715 said:
Hi this would be my 1st visit to Disney World I have 2 adults and 2 Children aged 9 and 4 . Going in March . What dining plan do you guys recommend I get ? And any dining suggestions I would appreciate .
Thank You

I recommend no dining plan.

rwdavis2 · Aug 4, 2015

Dining suggestions are a wide ranging topic. What kind of foods does your family eat? Character meals?

StirlingSilver83 · Aug 4, 2015

Our family always get the Deluxe plan. Yes its a ton of food and yes it takes away park time, but for our family to be able to have 3 sit down meals a day is a break from the park. For us going to the restaurants is an experience as well as going to the parks. We love character dining and we usually do at least 1 character meal a day if not 2 times a day. I have 2 kids 1 is 8 and my other just turned 2. We also liked having everything paid for a head of time. The deluxe works for us. You need to decide what is more important to you and also if you have big eaters in the family. Because like I said the deluxe is a ton of food, but if you space your meals out it can be doable.

GeorgiaHoo · Aug 4, 2015

I'd also say no dining plan unless you get free dining (which I don't believe is ever offered in March). If you want table service restaurants -- most of which require a reservation -- and intend to eat a lot of character meals then MAYBE the dining plan will save you some money. Otherwise you'll be better off paying out of pocket. Now, if you aren't particularly concerned about saving money and just want the convenience then I would recommend the regular plan, although as someone else mentioned you'll (1) need reservations for the table service restaurants and (2) need to plan about 90 minutes for a table service meal (plus potentially travel time). As for where to eat, there are a ton of options. Epcot in particular has a lot of restaurants, plus you can walk out the back gate at Epcot to the Boardwalk area in about 5 minutes and there are numerous additional restaurants there. Haven't had Chef Mickey and actually would pass on Rainforest Café (but others like it). Port Orleans has a good table service restaurant and a pretty decent quick service place. There's really too many places to make an educated recommendation without knowing more about your dining preferences, price limits, etc.

And on edit I wanted to note that there is a lot to do and see the first time you visit Disney World, so it might make sense to limit your table service reservations somewhat. I'd certainly recommend no more than 1 a day for someone who has never been.

Hopefully · Aug 4, 2015

Dining plans result in very mixed advice. It really depends on your goals. If saving money is your primary goal, you need to research menus, what you would likely order, the cost of all of those items and compare it to the cost of the DDP,
For us, we always get the basic DDP - 1 TS, 1 QS and 1 snack per person per night. (not per day). We break even cost wise. I like the convenience of everything prepaid and not worrying about the cost of what I am ordering.
The dining plans works well for us as it mimics how we eat at home. We eat a quick breakfast in the room eating groceries I have delivered to our room by Garden Grocer, we eat a QS lunch in the park and a nice sit down dinner in the evening.
On a first trip with the children the ages of yours, I would not do the Deluxe Dining Plan. I think it is way too much food, and too much time sitting in restaurants and not enjoying the parks.
Take a look at the menus here on the DIS and also at allears.net
Good Luck

wdwrich · Aug 4, 2015

OP - Another piece of advice (aside from whether to get a dining plan)- Be sure to make your table service reservations (ADRs) early. Disney's system allows you to make them 180 days in advance, and some of the more popular places book solid right at that point. Good luck!

PoohsHunnyBee · Aug 4, 2015

butterfly715 said:
Thanks guys , I would want to do Chief Mickey and Rain forest Café one day . As mentioned above my kids will be so excited to be thee and will be into everything I think my daughter wont like the princess castle dinning she out grew it but would love to see the princess's . As I said this is out first trio and very over whelming ..lol.. We are staying at Port Orleans Hotel

As people have said, consider whether or not you want to use a dining plan at all, but if you do want to, I stand by the standard plan being best for most first-timers. The Deluxe Dining Plan will eat up too much time that you'll want for exploring on your first trip and the Quick-Service Plan won't cover all the places you want to eat. The regular Disney Dining Plan is a good balance for most people.

For your daughter, I would consider 1900 Park Fare for dinner. It has Cinderella and her prince, but also the step-mother and step-sisters hamming it up. Otherwise, you can of course see the princesses in the parks without having a meal with them.

Port Orleans Riverside has a very nice food court where you can use Quick-Service credits for meals. And some people rave about the beignets at Port Orleans French Quarter (personally, I think they're overrated). Port Orleans has boat rides to Downtown Disney (which will be called Disney Springs by the time of your trip) and there are lots of great dining options there too!

supersnoop · Aug 4, 2015

rwdavis2 said:
Remember that the plans are not designed to save you money. Nor, IMHO, are they any more convenient that paying out of pocket. Unless you do several character buffets you will have to work pretty hard to actually break even.

They do save you money if you have children on the plan. The daily cost of a child is easily covered by a single table meal. The savings easily subsidizes the parents. But once the kids reach 10, you won't save any money with the dining plan.

Alesia · Aug 4, 2015

supersnoop said:
They do save you money if you have children on the plan. The daily cost of a child is easily covered by a single table meal. The savings easily subsidizes the parents. But once the kids reach 10, you won't save any money with the dining plan.

Not necessarily.

When we went in 2009 our daughter was 9-years-old and we ate out-of-pocket for $600 less than the dining plan would have cost us.

butterfly715 · Aug 4, 2015

Thank you guys for all your input

supersnoop · Aug 4, 2015

Alesia said:
Not necessarily.

When we went in 2009 our daughter was 9-years-old and we ate out-of-pocket for $600 less than the dining plan would have cost us.

How many days were you there?!?! In 2009, $600 would cover the entire plan for almost 7 days for two adults and a child!

Alesia · Aug 4, 2015

supersnoop said:
How many days were you there?!?! In 2009, $600 would cover the entire plan for almost 7 days for two adults and a child!

10 days. You also have to add in the cost of tips to the cost of the dining plan. We only had 3 TS meals the entire trip, so we saved over $100 just in tips. We also usually shared 2 counter service meals between the 3 of us. We didn't eat that way because we wanted to save money, but because we didn't want to waste food or eat until we made ourselves sick.

butterfly715 · Aug 4, 2015

supersnoop said:
How many days were you there?!?! In 2009, $600 would cover the entire plan for almost 7 days for two adults and a child!

6 days we are there for

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