***Official April 2013 thread*** SEE POST # 4028

[samgminov]

Originally Posted by wdw4rfam

I have done this- you are correct. You would need 2 reservations. I got lucky and didn't have to change rooms, but sometimes you have to, because you are actually checking out and checking back in under a new reservation.

Oh, that would stink!

[melindae10]

Are there any negatives to the dining plan? I am trying to convince my parents it is the way to go but the last time they went, 4 years ago, they had it and hated it. They thought it was very confusing to figure out what was included and what was not included. I am thinking that things have been maybe more streamlined since then?? Can my family just get the dining plan, and my parents not have it? We have two rooms and two different reservation numbers. Thank you to everyone!!

[gtpoohbear]

Originally Posted by melindae10

Are there any negatives to the dining plan? I am trying to convince my parents it is the way to go but the last time they went, 4 years ago, they had it and hated it. They thought it was very confusing to figure out what was included and what was not included. I am thinking that things have been maybe more streamlined since then?? Can my family just get the dining plan, and my parents not have it? We have two rooms and two different reservation numbers. Thank you to everyone!!

We really like it, and don't see any negatives to it. As long as you research it a little before you go, it isn't confusing at all. But as long as you have two separate room reservations, there shouldn't be any reason why you can't do it without them. If you are eating together, you'll just pay your portion of the bill with credits, and they'll pay their part oop.

[MINRK]

April 20-28 off site Villa. This is my first post to dis and this trip will be my 3rd time to WDW. My last visit was the year Epcot opened when I was 12. My wife has never been, so this will be her first visit along with our two children. We have a daughter that is 6 and son that is 3. I wanted to wait for my son to be old enough to remember it, so now is the time.
I have became consumed with the planning phase even spending 3 days designing a spreadsheet that calculates all of our dinners, tickets and rooms as well as ECV rental for my mother and double stroller rental for the kids.
We made the choice to go this year a couple weeks ago so I got a late start as far as dinner reservations go, but was able to snag acceptable choices.
Akershus Banquet (dinner) Epcot Sat. 20 6:40 PM
Tusker House (Breakfast) AK Sun. 21 8:05 AM
Le Cellier (Dinner) Epcot Mon. 22 7:45 PM
Cinderellas Royal Table (Lunch)MK Tues. 23 11:45 AM
Crystal Palace (Breakfast) MK Wed. 24 8:20 AM
Be Our Guest (Dinner) MK Wed. 24 7:05 PM
Hollywood & Vine (Breakfast) HS Fri. 26 8:00 AM
Liberty Tree Tavern (Dinner) MK Sat. 27 6:55 PM

I still need to make a reservation to the BBB for my daughter. I hope everyone has a great time!

[pwdebbie]

Originally Posted by melindae10

Are there any negatives to the dining plan? I am trying to convince my parents it is the way to go but the last time they went, 4 years ago, they had it and hated it. They thought it was very confusing to figure out what was included and what was not included. I am thinking that things have been maybe more streamlined since then?? Can my family just get the dining plan, and my parents not have it? We have two rooms and two different reservation numbers. Thank you to everyone!!

We are closer to your parents' ages, I assume, and here is our perspective.

First trip in 2007 -- We loved the DDP. At that time, appetizer and tip were included.

Second trip, 2009 -- We hated the DDP. We like our appetizers and they were no longer included. We aren't big dessert eaters, but that was included. We were so tired of dessert by the end of the trip. Plus tip was no longer included, so more out-of-pocket for us, including tipping on desserts we didn't even want but felt obligated to take.

Third trip, 2010 -- No DDP on this trip and it worked out great for us. Did we pay more than we would have if we had been on the plan? I don't honestly know. But we ate what we wanted, where we wanted, when we wanted, as much as we wanted. When we wanted a snack, we got a snack. We didn't have to look to see what was included on the DDP. We were able to eat appetizers and skip desserts. We don't eat them at home, so it wasn't anything we missed.

Upcoming trip -- Absolutely NO DDP for us. We will pay OOP for everything (and that money is already saved). It is freeing for us to not be obligated to the DDP.

[cgulls]

Originally Posted by melindae10

Are there any negatives to the dining plan? I am trying to convince my parents it is the way to go but the last time they went, 4 years ago, they had it and hated it. They thought it was very confusing to figure out what was included and what was not included. I am thinking that things have been maybe more streamlined since then?? Can my family just get the dining plan, and my parents not have it? We have two rooms and two different reservation numbers. Thank you to everyone!!

I remember this blog post from TouringPlans.com. It's a recent and pretty good look at the Disney Dining Plan. It mostly focuses on how to determine if it's a good deal for you financially. It's a good read in any case. Hope it helps or at least is a little educational.

http://blog.touringplans.com/2012/07...-plan-exposed/

[melindae10]

Originally Posted by cgulls

I remember this blog post from TouringPlans.com. It's a recent and pretty good look at the Disney Dining Plan. It mostly focuses on how to determine if it's a good deal for you financially. It's a good read in any case. Hope it helps or at least is a little educational.

http://blog.touringplans.com/2012/07...-plan-exposed/

Thank you for the link! I was really thinking about it last night and at this time I think we will not be doing the dining plan. First of all my 5 year old does not eat much and so we could easily share a lunch meal with her instead of getting her own. Also we are not desert eaters and while I do love desert I think I would much rather get it somewhere other than the restrauant, I heard Germany has a wonderful bakery! That way I could try more places and more food We also planned on eating breakfast in the room since we don't eat a huge amount for breakfast. We will see if I change my mind between now and then

[tlh4hart]

Hello all....I was just doing some planning and went to look at the operating hours on 4/12/13 til 4/20/13 and both fridays are blank (4/12, 4/19). They weren't before. Does this mean they are revamping the schedule? I just need to know beacuse I got a ADR on 4/12/13 @ 8:30pm, on the 12th, but my flight doesn't get in until 5:23pm, just want to make sure I have time to make the ADR.

[pwdebbie]

I just looked and it looks fine to me. I looked for changes and didn't see any. It still shows the last revision as 11/15/2012.

[tlh4hart]

Originally Posted by pwdebbie

I just looked and it looks fine to me. I looked for changes and didn't see any. It still shows the last revision as 11/15/2012.

Thank you. I went back in this morning and all was backup. Just a weird glitch I guess

Sent from my Xoom using DISBoards

[melindae10]

Wow I am just having a heck of a time with this dining stuff! So I was thinking...dangerous I know! The orginal plan was to do breakfast in the room a CS lunch and TS dinner. My DD will be 5 and my DS will be 2 when we go, which means characters, lots and lots. I actually asked my DD last night who she wanted to see and it was pretty much everyone, the princesses, mickey and gang, the fairies, and then she said that she thought her brother would love the see Winnie and gang, so nice of her to think of her brother. My husband is not a line waiting type of person and I would imagine a 2 year old and 5 year old would be about the same. I am thinking we should do character meals, to get most of the meet and greet out of the way while my husband is being fed, win win for everyone If I do those would it be better to get the DXDP? I was thinking CP, Tusker House, Chef Mickeys, Park Fare, and Akershus. Also getting into the parks early is a plus in my book. Then I think how long would I actually have to wait in the parks to see the characters, we are going at the end of April. Guess I might just have to price everything out, what a pain! Plus my parents will be with us, will they really want to partake in the character meals? I need to sit down and discuss with my Mom but she is so not easy to plan with, so I instead discuss with all of you

[pwdebbie]

Originally Posted by melindae10

Wow I am just having a heck of a time with this dining stuff! So I was thinking...dangerous I know! The orginal plan was to do breakfast in the room a CS lunch and TS dinner. My DD will be 5 and my DS will be 2 when we go, which means characters, lots and lots. I actually asked my DD last night who she wanted to see and it was pretty much everyone, the princesses, mickey and gang, the fairies, and then she said that she thought her brother would love the see Winnie and gang, so nice of her to think of her brother. My husband is not a line waiting type of person and I would imagine a 2 year old and 5 year old would be about the same. I am thinking we should do character meals, to get most of the meet and greet out of the way while my husband is being fed, win win for everyone If I do those would it be better to get the DXDP? I was thinking CP, Tusker House, Chef Mickeys, Park Fare, and Akershus. Also getting into the parks early is a plus in my book. Then I think how long would I actually have to wait in the parks to see the characters, we are going at the end of April. Guess I might just have to price everything out, what a pain! Plus my parents will be with us, will they really want to partake in the character meals? I need to sit down and discuss with my Mom but she is so not easy to plan with, so I instead discuss with all of you

My first thought was whether you will actually be able to get these meals at the time you want. Have you checked availability? The early times might already be snagged by those who also like to get into the parks before they open. I'd check availability before changing up the dining plan. I totally get your point about not waiting in lines though. And I know that there is always the chance to getting one of those coveted ADRs due to a cancellation, but you aren't trying for just one, it looks like you are hoping for five.

[TJDisneymama]

hello......haven't posted in a while.....just want to see what my ticker says.

[TJDisneymama]

Ugh.....4 months and 2 weeks!??! I was hoping it was down to 3, lol (I know, how could it be? lol)

[ja23k]

Originally Posted by melindae10

Wow I am just having a heck of a time with this dining stuff! So I was thinking...dangerous I know! The orginal plan was to do breakfast in the room a CS lunch and TS dinner. My DD will be 5 and my DS will be 2 when we go, which means characters, lots and lots. I actually asked my DD last night who she wanted to see and it was pretty much everyone, the princesses, mickey and gang, the fairies, and then she said that she thought her brother would love the see Winnie and gang, so nice of her to think of her brother. My husband is not a line waiting type of person and I would imagine a 2 year old and 5 year old would be about the same. I am thinking we should do character meals, to get most of the meet and greet out of the way while my husband is being fed, win win for everyone If I do those would it be better to get the DXDP? I was thinking CP, Tusker House, Chef Mickeys, Park Fare, and Akershus. Also getting into the parks early is a plus in my book. Then I think how long would I actually have to wait in the parks to see the characters, we are going at the end of April. Guess I might just have to price everything out, what a pain! Plus my parents will be with us, will they really want to partake in the character meals? I need to sit down and discuss with my Mom but she is so not easy to plan with, so I instead discuss with all of you

I think it's a great idea if you can actually get the reservations that you want. Are all of you staying in the same room? Would your parents have to go on the plan, too (skip some of these meals if they want)? I hope you are able to get at least some of these ADRs, I agree that it would be a great way to keep everyone happy. I'm not sure what the pricing would be for breakfast, so don't know if the DDP would save you money or not. Interested to know how it works out.