Dining Plan Quandry!

[DisneyFEB2013]

So, last year we went to Disney for the first time and purchased the Deluxe Dining Plan that included 3 meals a day and 2 snacks a day. As I have read on this board and agree, it was A LOT of food. We wasted a lot, but ate well and it made the trip easy.

Fast forward and we are going again in February 2014. At a minimum, we will be getting the basic dining plan (hoping for free dining!!). DH wants to get the deluxe meal plan again. We tend to eat a lot of character meals and double credit meals (CRT, Hoop De Doo, and a signature meal or two). I am not a big fan of counter service...especially in the parks.

That being said, there is too much food at the actual meal. I wish they offered 2 sit down meals a day dining plan. My question is...what do people do with the regular dining plan (one sit down and one counter meal). Do you pay out of pocket for any meals not included in the plan or do you strictly eat the allotment? What do you do for the third meal if you eat three meals a day? I am thinking since we eat so many character meals and double credit meals, it is worth it. But, it is so much food!

I am all for the regular dining plan but hubby, who's eyes are bigger than his stomach, wants the deluxe plan.

Any advice welcome.

 

[dskib]

I agree that there should be something in between. We just can't justify the deluxe. It's way too much food for us.

For the most part, If we have the regular ddp, we stick to the plan. This year we have 3 character meals and 3 non character dinners. We're not big breakfast people, so we give my son cereal for breakfast in the room and have an early lunch.

If we have character breakfasts scheduled, we try and use the snacks for something somewhat substantial for lunch. I got a nice sized fried rice in AK last year. The French bakery has ham and cheese croissants. That kind of thing. And if we're really that hungry, we just buy something small. It works for us.

 

[6disneykids]

MY family had the DDP (1TS, 1QS, & 1 snack), and for us it was enough, even for DS15 & DS14. While they both count as adults, they are ravenous teenage boys For our upcoming trip we are doing a split stay with the first 1/2 on DDP and 2nd 1/2 QSDP---the kids wanted more time in the parks. Twice we ordered apps for the table and paid for the OOP.

In 2011 we had the DxDP and while we enjoyed the 'freedom' it gave us, we only had 1 park day, and spent the rest of our vacation swimming, going to DTD renting boats, just enjoying the resort. But now, the price is too much for us to for my family of 8 to spend. And an incredible amount of food

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

We actually find the regular dining is more than enough for us. We're not huge breakfast eaters, so many times that's just a snack or even something we brought with us to eat in the room before we're off for the day. The couple mornings we did have breakfast in the food court, we'd get one of the pancake platters with bacon and that's enough for two people.

I also found with the counter service lunches, we'd end up sharing and splitting meals so they went further. There's often more than enough for the four of us to share 3 (or sometimes only 2) meals and have plenty to eat. Especially when we go in the summer heat, those huge meals are just too much food.

It really depends on individual styles. I'd say sit down, figure out exactly what meals you want to do, give a good estimate at what you'd eat at each and then decide. For us the regular dining, with maybe a few extra snacks thrown in OOP, is more than enough for our family.

 

[tkbbmom]

We tend to eat a lot of character meals and double credit meals (CRT, Hoop De Doo, and a signature meal or two). I am not a big fan of counter service...especially in the parks.

That being said, there is too much food at the actual meal. I wish they offered 2 sit down meals a day dining plan. My question is...what do people do with the regular dining plan (one sit down and one counter meal). Do you pay out of pocket for any meals not included in the plan or do you strictly eat the allotment? What do you do for the third meal if you eat three meals a day? I am thinking since we eat so many character meals and double credit meals, it is worth it. But, it is so much food!

Any advice welcome.

I agree that I wish there was another plan offered -- and I too thought that w/ so many 2 credit meals and character meals w/ all of our party counting as adults that the DxDP was the best option. But, I kept seeing people talking about running the numbers and using a spreadsheet (http://seeyareelsoon.wix.com/seeyareelsoon). So I downloaded it, took the time to enter the info. Then bec I thought it had to be wrong even sat down w/ my kids and went through menus of restaurants and figured the meal prices along w/ any buffets. In the end it worked out that it actually would cost at least $500 less to pay out of pocket for anything not included on the regular dining plan (which we are getting "free").

It does take some of the ease out of just being able to give them our KTTW card to swipe for our meals, but I can handle that to keep the money in our pocket instead of paying Disney up front for food we won't be purchasing. I really wanted to go w/ DxDP and DH wanted anything that would make me happy -- but in the end the numbers won me over.

 

[Scornelius]

We did the deluxe once and loved it, but now that we have a little one there really isn't as much time for so much eating. What we do now is put the cost of upgrading to the DxDDP on a gift card and use that to pay for all the extra food we want, plus tips. It never, ever comes anywhere close to the full cost, and we can spend the remainder on souvenirs.

 

[Fivesacharm]

Myself and several family members did the basic dining plan for the first time this past July. We had never done any dining plan at all. We found that it was more then enough food for us. We never bought another meal outside of what the dining plan allowed, simply because we're weren't hungry. One counter service meal, one quick-service, and a snack may not sound like a lot, but we we ate like gods and never went hungry. We are going back next July and will again do the basic plan. I can't even imagine getting our money's worth if we did the deluxe plan...

 

[Minniesgal]

We found the regular dining plan way too much food especially since we really don't like to eat QS. Personally if I were going to buy a plan I would probably be more likely to buy deluxe than basic especially if it were just myself and my husband. That way we would do a TS breakfast and a signature dinner avoiding lunch altogether maybe just having a snack. Whereas the regular we found the snack for breakfast left us hungry for lunch so we had QS for lunch which then left us not really hungry enough for our TS at night