Dining plan questions!

[lolobug]

Hi!
Please help me decide if dining plan is a good option for our family.
1. What do you do when you have a 2 year old and the rest of the family is on the dining plan? I realize she will be free at buffet meals but what about CS and TS meals (ohana?)
2. For breakfast: We will probably grab a light breakfast for kids and myself. DH will most always just have coffee, I also like coffee and my girls will want a milk.
3. Lunch: mostly CS, occasional TS.
4. Dinner: almost always if not always will be a TS. We adults like alcoholic beverages occasionally we would order an appetizer and a dessert.
Our plans include:
Akershus- breakfast
Teppan Edo- dinner
BOG- dinner
Sanaa- dinner
Ohana- dinner
CRT- dinner
Kona- dinner?
Chef mickeys breakfast?

Do you think we would be better paying OOP? Can someone remind me what you get with the regular dining plan and it's cost? Thanks

 

[bc133]

Our son will be 1 1/2 when we go & we're just letting him share with us. You get so much food with the DP. Your 2 YO likely won't eat all of a child's portion & can share with you especially with appetizers & DP comes with a dessert too. For breakfast if you need more than your plan allows just POP. There are a couple of different plans to choose from & price varies by season.

 

[lolobug]

Our son will be 1 1/2 when we go & we're just letting him share with us. You get so much food with the DP. Your 2 YO likely won't eat all of a child's portion & can share with you especially with appetizers & DP comes with a dessert too. For breakfast if you need more than your plan allows just POP. There are a couple of different plans to choose from & price varies by season.

So, are you saying that buffet meals will be free for my 2 year old and for the rest of our TS meals/CS meals she can just share with us? Are you doing DDP or DDxDP? (Thanks!)

 

[Fivesacharm]

Hi! Please help me decide if dining plan is a good option for our family. 1. What do you do when you have a 2 year old and the rest of the family is on the dining plan? I realize she will be free at buffet meals but what about CS and TS meals (ohana?) 2. For breakfast: We will probably grab a light breakfast for kids and myself. DH will most always just have coffee, I also like coffee and my girls will want a milk. 3. Lunch: mostly CS, occasional TS. 4. Dinner: almost always if not always will be a TS. We adults like alcoholic beverages occasionally we would order an appetizer and a dessert. Our plans include: Akershus- breakfast Teppan Edo- dinner BOG- dinner Sanaa- dinner Ohana- dinner CRT- dinner Kona- dinner? Chef mickeys breakfast? Do you think we would be better paying OOP? Can someone remind me what you get with the regular dining plan and it's cost? Thanks

1) The two year old, as you said, is not covered. If he want his own meal, you'll have to pay OOP for him. Our two year old usually didn't eat enough to always justify a completely separate meal, but when he did, we just charges it to the card linked to out room. 2) my family isn't huge breakfast people and if we wanted something, we used our snack credits to get a muffin or something. The snack credits have a lot of uses, but are great for just a little something in the morning. The meal plan comes with a refillable mug for everyone on it and is good for unlimited soda, teas (iced and hot), and coffee during your trip (NOTE: as of now, you can only refill them at the resorts NOT in the parks). 3) The "regular" dinning plan comes with one snack, one QS, and one TS meal per person, per day. HOWEVER, you don't have to use one of each per day. You could use two TS one day and two QS another day, you could also use all your snacks on the first day you were there if you felt the desire to (why you would do that, I'm not sure, but you get the point) Basically, You are just allotted a specific number of snacks, QS, and TS meals for the week. How/when exactly you use them is up to you!

4) For adults, the regular plan has been raised to $58.66 a day (age 10 and up). For kids 3-9 it's $18-20 a day depending on the season in which your going. Keep in mind, kids 3-9 on the dining plan have to eat off the kids menu.[/QUOTE]

 

[WildReekies]

HI!!!
Ive spent hours trying to figure this one out for my family here is what i know.
Regular dining plan:
1 ts 1 qs 1 snack gratuity not included! non-alcoholic drinks included (like soda) all adult beverages are on you.
ts= 1 entree, desert, and beverage
Deluxe dining plan

3 ts 2 snacks?? i cant remember if its one or 2 snacks.
table service = 1 app, 1 entree, 1 bev, 1 desert. Beverage same as above. gratuity not included

quick service:
1 snack 2 qs.

we are doing it for the Free Dinning in sept-october. This works for us because of free and convenient. If there isnt a free dinning promo we will still go with the dinning plan because i hate touching our bank account during a vacation, and i will order what i want instead of what is cheapest.

hope that helps

 

[purple figment]

So, are you saying that buffet meals will be free for my 2 year old and for the rest of our TS meals/CS meals she can just share with us? Are you doing DDP or DDxDP? (Thanks!)

Yes, because the 2 year old will not have a dining plan she will share from your plates. In most cases, there will be enough for her to share, but if you want to order a meal or something specifically for her, you would have to pay OOP.

Do you think we would be better paying OOP? Can someone remind me what you get with the regular dining plan and it's cost? Thanks

Here's a link to the 2014 dining plan prices. They include tax. There is no peak pricing for the busier times of the year anymore:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3172886

 

[mickeygirl78]

We've found with CS meals there is so much food we order one less meal then people and share. Then we have an extra CS credit to use at breakfast. I would think you'd have plenty of food to feed your two year old off your plates. When my niece was 2 1/2 we never bought her a meal, she shared with all of us.

Don't forget to include her in your head count though when you make your ADR's though, she will need to be on it.

 

[thesteffs]

When we went in October 2011, it was me, the wife, a 15 year old and a 9 year old.
I thought it was much easier having the dining plan. You order what you want and we shared deserts. I would get the dining plan again if the family went. Have the child share.
When the wife and I go (no kids) we will not purchase the dining plan. We order an appetizer and share an entree. Much cheaper and less calories consumerd!

 

[gtpoohbear]

My DS was 2 last spring when we went (on the DxDDP). At buffets and family-style places, he was able to get whatever he wanted, on his own plate. At other TS meals, he usually just shared with us (he is not a big eater, unlike ODD, that would never have worked with her, lol!)

At a couple of our meals, the server let him order a full meal from the kids menu at no charge. We didn't expect that or ask for it at all, but when we mentioned that he would just be sharing, they insisted that we pick something off the menu for him, "on the house". So you never know, sometimes you'll get a little pixie dust

If you find that sharing isn't working, just order a separate kids meal, they usually aren't that expensive (compared to the adult meals). You can either pay cash for it or just charge it to the room along with the tip. But, that is a reason to consider more buffets when you have a little one

 

[sharonabe]

How many nights are you staying? You have 9 TS credits used in your list. If you're staying less than 9 nights, you may want to go OOP since some of your meals will be OOP anyway.

 

[lolobug]

How many nights are you staying? You have 9 TS credits used in your list. If you're staying less than 9 nights, you may want to go OOP since some of your meals will be OOP anyway.

Hi!
8 nights, I'm thinking OOP might be a better investment for us. Thanks!

 

[serene56]

Just back from 7 nights. 2 adultlts one child

We put 800 on a dining card to,pay formallmour meals and snacks. We did not do desserts with meals...which is a significant savings of 4.00 pp per meal which adds up over the course of the week.

We ate 2 meals every day breakfast was in the room except formohana and 1900.park fare days. We all had one snack per day.

With our 800 gift card our meals were prepaid..lol

We came home with 6.36

By paying OOP we saved a tad over 200

 

[lolobug]

Just back from 7 nights. 2 adultlts one child We put 800 on a dining card to,pay formallmour meals and snacks. We did not do desserts with meals...which is a significant savings of 4.00 pp per meal which adds up over the course of the week. We ate 2 meals every day breakfast was in the room except formohana and 1900.park fare days. We all had one snack per day. With our 800 gift card our meals were prepaid..lol We came home with 6.36 By paying OOP we saved a tad over 200

Can you explain the money card? Why did you choose this over a credit card? I'm staying on site, would it be just as easy for me to charge everything to our room? (Thanks!)

 

[Hopefully]

Can you explain the money card? Why did you choose this over a credit card? I'm staying on site, would it be just as easy for me to charge everything to our room? (Thanks!)

I believe what the PP means is they purchased a Disney Gift Card and used that as a charge card for their food. There is no such thing as a "dining card". The value for doing this is that it can be "prepaid" in advance. It would be just as easy to charge with your KTTW card to your room. The downside of doing it that way is a big credit card bill when you get home. But one way or the other, you still pay the same.
To answer your basic question you need to do some research for your specific family. Look at menus here and at allears.net and see what you likely would order at the restaurants you want to go to. Add it up daily and see which way costs more.
For us, we do the DDP. It saves us a little bit and I like the convenience. As far as paying for it, I charge the whole cost to my Disney Visa card in advance. I earn Rewards Points on that balance as well. And before our trip I get a rewards card with the points which I post against our room account. So not only is the DDP paid for in advance, I have point to use for extras in WDW
Good Luck

 

[lolobug]

I believe what the PP means is they purchased a Disney Gift Card and used that as a charge card for their food. There is no such thing as a "dining card". The value for doing this is that it can be "prepaid" in advance. It would be just as easy to charge with your KTTW card to your room. The downside of doing it that way is a big credit card bill when you get home. But one way or the other, you still pay the same. To answer your basic question you need to do some research for your specific family. Look at menus here and at allears.net and see what you likely would order at the restaurants you want to go to. Add it up daily and see which way costs more. For us, we do the DDP. It saves us a little bit and I like the convenience. As far as paying for it, I charge the whole cost to my Disney Visa card in advance. I earn Rewards Points on that balance as well. And before our trip I get a rewards card with the points which I post against our room account. So not only is the DDP paid for in advance, I have point to use for extras in WDW Good Luck

Thank you!

 

[lolobug]

Can anyone give me a basic idea of the breakdown of costs? $58 for DDP for adults/ night...what do you think the cost of each is TS?, QS?, Snack? Thanks!

 

[sharonabe]

Can anyone give me a basic idea of the breakdown of costs? $58 for DDP for adults/ night...what do you think the cost of each is TS?, QS?, Snack? Thanks!

Including tax the breakdown is roughly

TS $37.50
QS $17.50
Snack $4.00

 

[summermac]

In my experience, we are better off without DDP. Last trip we spent less (inc. ALL purchases) than what DDP would have cost. We had 4 TS meals by the way - two of which weren't cheap.

Also keep mind that b/c the DDP allots a drink & a dessert for every person, if you order those you also increase your gratuity. We probably saved $100 just by that alone.

 

[holula]

We don't do the dining plan. In October we bought Disney gift cards for the equivalent QS DDP for two people. We came home with $25 and we spent a lot at F&W and did 3 TS restaurants (and one offsite). I would completely recommend doing this because if we charge to room we end up spending so much money. With this we spent less than the plan and got more for it.

 

[lolobug]

Thank you, everyone!