limited menus

[mezzacca41]

Just trying to figure out if this plan is worth it for my family. We plan on eating breakfast in our room having a quick lunch if hungry and sometimes a sit down dinner. I have a 2 yr old (very strong willed) and 6 yr old who is very picky. Will pay for my 2 yr old because eating off my plate only doesn't cut it with her and she will want her own!
Do the restaurants on dining plan have a limited menu? Is it hard to find the rest. on the plan when touring the park? What about the food court in hotel, staying at Caribbean, is that a limited menu for dining? We want to go to Rainforest Cafe for sit down meal. Can you get a dining plan for less days that you are going to be in Disney so I can just get maybe 6 fast service meals for our 7 night stay there. This way we could eat maybe at our resort only and then go to any sit down meals we want at any rest.? We really aren't big planners.
Thanks!!!

[TDC Nala]

You order from the regular restaurant menu. There are a few exclusions or limitations at specific restaurants but they are very few and far between.

There is only one TS restaurant located inside a theme park that does not accept the dining plan. That is Bistro de Paris at Epcot.

Rainforest Cafe does not accept the plan at all - you would have to plan to pay for that meal.

You can't buy a partial dining plan. You have to buy the same one for every member of your party age 3 or over for the full duration of your stay. You'd have to get the plan for 7 nights.

You may wish to read the FAQ in the "Everything you always wanted to know" sticky thread at the top of the dining plan forum.

[mitsybella]

You will need to plan ahead for most sit down meals even if you are not on the DDP, most of the places need advance reservations especially if you want to do character meals, as far as the menus on the DP you can eat almost anything of the menus, I have heard there are a few places that say you can't get certain items, but I am not sure which ones they are as I have not done any of the signature places, mostly done the character meals and there were no restrictions on those menus, there is a set childrens menu vs adult menu except at buffets where they don't force the kids to eat the childrens items also you will not need to pay for your 2yr old at a buffet so you may want to try those places and the family style work out well too, my son was 2 when we were there last year on the DDP and we did not have to pay for any meals and he ate very well, even at CRT they have a meal (i think it was buttered noodles) that they provide for free, and my son was still given a sword and a wishing star and we did not pay for him. We found for us the DDP was worth the money, We did have a TS meal planned each day, we used the snack credits to buy something for breakfast and were free to have lunch where ever we were, the only planning was for dinner, we usually need a break after lunch anyway and sometimes the kids wanted to go in the pool or nap, we had the park hoppers so we would just go to the park where we had dinner reservations in the evening, we tried to get reservations at the parks we knew were having extended hours and of course at epcot it didn't matter as they are open later most nights anyway. As far as just getting less days than you are staying I'm not sure about that, if you are planning on going to CRT you will need the extra TS anyway and you can also eat out of the parks at Chef mickey or other resort places, rainforest is not part of the DDP so you will need to pay for that meal anyway.

[TDC Nala]

I have heard there are a few places that say you can't get certain items, but I am not sure which ones they are as I have not done any of the signature places, mostly done the character meals and there were no restrictions on those menus

The known restrictions are mostly not at signature restaurants. The two most expensive sushi dishes can't be appetizers at California Grill and that applies only to the deluxe plan. Teppan Edo don't allow sushi at all and does not include the salad with the entree any more. Tokyo Dining doesn't accept the plan for the separate sushi-only menu but you can get sushi as part of a platter. Appetizers/desserts for two may not be ordered by one person on dining credits. The Kitchen Sink sundae at Beaches & Cream is excluded. Marrakesh charges a surcharge of about $5-7 per dining plan guest for its multi-course sampler plates. That's all I can remember.

All the character meals are either buffet or all-you-can-eat served family style (except for CRT which is fixed-menu). Kids and adults eat the same food and all of it they want.

[TillyMarigold]

Originally Posted by TDC Nala

All the character meals are either buffet or all-you-can-eat served family style (except for CRT which is fixed-menu). Kids and adults eat the same food and all of it they want.

Except Akershus lunch/dinner, which has buffet appetizers, a la carte entrees, and family-style dessert. (Confusing enough? ) So you can have as much of the appies/desserts as you want, but not the entrees. (I think the Akershus breakfast is all buffet and family-style though.)