ADR Plan and question

[Vernie822]

If you want to keep the DxDP, you could always schedule your 3 meals/day as planned, then after the first day or two, if you find that you don't really need/want a 3rd sit down meal, cancel one TS each day (maybe plan it so that you wouldn't mind missing one each day..) and just have QS instead or snack and switch your remaining meal to a 2 TS, if that makes sense.

 

[JZCubed]

Both kids are used to full days at theme parks such as Kings Island and can rest during meals and/or stroller nap.

Your 2 y.o. & 6 y.o. have experience with 3-squares a day at sit-down meals over an 8-day period?

I tried getting past your first day:

-- Awake and out of room by 7am.
-- Buffet Breakfast from 8:05-9am
-- Rides and attractions from 9am-11:25
-- Lunch at Prime Time 11:25-12:30 (with huge portions)
-- Rides and attractions 12:30-4pm
-- Three-course dinner 4-5:30pm
-- Rides and attractions 5:30-8pm (or later)
-- Fantasmic 8:30-9pm (or later)
-- Back to hotel 9:15-10:15pm

Add it up - that's more time traveling and eating than rides and attractions. And I've only assumed 1-hour for the meal.

Now - you plan on a similar 2nd Day. Awaking early for breakfast and continuing to a 'hard ticket' event that will last until midnight.

I really don't mean to sound snarky, but how is this a vacation?

If you really have to use DxDP - the math works if you do Characters & Signatures.

Try the math again - have room service for breakfast, Characters for lunch & Dinner, and squeeze in as many Signature as you think a 6 y.o. can sit through and a 2 y.o. will sleep through. T-Rex, Coral Reef and most 1-credits are a waste of your money.

 

[10CJ]

I agree that sounds like way too much. I would probably cancel the early breakfasts the day of and after the Halloween party. I would just eat in the room.

I would also try to limit it to one or maybe two table service meals a day.

 

[CaryHaven]

I applaud your ambition, but as others have said, you're going to have very little park time. It is so much with the travel time and just waiting on your food and actually eating your food…. I have a general rule of no more than one table service meal a day, unless we only have one Epcot day, then we Chefs de France and one other. On a personal note, I say drop Coral Reef and Chef Mickeys. They don't get very high reviews for good reason. You're going to have a blast but remember, you get a lot of food at each meal and you'll need some time to digest and relax without running to your next ADR.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

OP, although you've changed a couple things, it seems like you're still planning to stick to mostly 3 TS meals a day.

Let me point out one thing. The DIS boards are notorious for disagreement. You say black, someone will say white. You say up, someone will say, no, it's down. Any opinion question you ask, you're going to get pretty much a split vote on. That's just the nature of the boards--nothing wrong with it!

However, if you look at the responses here or read similar threads you'll see almost--and I did say almost--100% agreement that 3 TS meals is WAY TOO MUCH!!! Very, very, very few people do that successfully. And if they do, it's because they're frequent visitors and have already "been there, done that" sort of thing. They don't mind giving up time. The focus is the ADRs for them.

Most people who go with deluxe dining take advantage of 2 credit meals--shows, signatures. They don't eat three TS meals a day.

Unless you've done it, you really can't grasp just how much time is involved in getting to a meal, waiting for a table, eating the three courses with (app, entree, dessert), paying the check, and traveling back to a park. Then doing it again. Then doing it yet again. And that's not even hitting on the sheer amount of food! We do regular dining, one TS, one QS and a snack a day. We usually eat a quick breakfast in the room--cold cereal, pop-tarts, granola/protein bars, fruit, etc. Then just go with the food provided by the plan. Even then we feel stuffed most of the time! The thought of sitting down to 3 TS meals a day is just totally unappealing!

How are your kids going to feel when you finish lunch, go on maybe two or three rides, and then you say, "Hey, time to head over to dinner!"?

 

[Vernie822]

Totally agree. Time spent getting to/from ADRs is one thing, but another thing - it is just too. much. food. for me, anyways. I know my fiance could eat 3 sit down meals a day. I'm good with a TS, a QS, and a snack. There were 2 instances on our last trip where we had 2 ADR's a day. One, we did 50's PT for lunch and Raglan Road for dinner. My mom and I split our meals at 50's and I still could only eat half of my meal at Raglan Road. Another, we did Tusker House breakfast, no one was hungry for lunch so we snacked, and Be Our Guest dinner. By the time BOG came around we were hungry, but I couldn't imagine eating at a buffet breakfast, then having a sit down lunch and a sit down dinner. To each their own but personally, with the heat and all of the walking, I would want to just lay down and nap after all that food!