Dining Plans

[BellaBaby]

I was planning on doing the dining plan for our family at SW but I just read that breakfast is not included. I'm not sure if it is worth it then for us. Can you drink water all day long with it? I guess I'm just not sure I understand the plan. Can someone walk me through it?

Also, same question regarding Aquatica. TIA!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I was planning on doing the dining plan for our family at SW but I just read that breakfast is not included. I'm not sure if it is worth it then for us. Can you drink water all day long with it? I guess I'm just not sure I understand the plan. Can someone walk me through it?

Also, same question regarding Aquatica. TIA!!

Yes, water bottles are included on the Seaworld all day dining plan. You can get a fresh bottle of water all day long, each time you go through the line. In fact, you can get one drink, one entree, and one side (or any combination of those....for example, just a drink and a side if you don't want an entree) each time through the line. It is also worth noting that a side is not always dessert....in addition to cookies, cake, pudding cups, etc. you can get huge pickles, fries, small salads, various types of fruit (grapes, watermelon, strawberries, citrus) as you side entitlements. Entrees vary at each location, but we have enjoyed brisket, chicken tenders, wraps, pasta and chicken, turkey bread bowls, fish and chips, barbecued chicken platters, large salads, pizza, and more.

I don't have a ton of pics of SW food, but here's a few (all items entitlements on the dining plan):












Aquatica's all day dining is a different beast. Its hosted at the Banana Beach Buffet, and as the name indicates, its a buffet restaurant so the offerings are more limited and pretty consistent from visit to visit. Pasta and sauce, pizza slices, hot dogs, chicken legs, salads, pulled pork, garlic buns, strawberry shortcake, etc. You can only eat within the boundaries of the buffet....no taking food back to your beach chair or cabana (fountain drinks are the only exception to this rule). But, you can return as many times as you wish and eat as much or as little as you want. They give you a wrist band to indicate you are a dining plan participant, just like at SW.

Here's the type of food you'll get at Aquatica with the all day buffet:

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

And a few menu pics....all from Voyagers:

 

[BellaBaby]

Thanks Gina! So you can basically eat several meals/snacks during the day if you wanted to? I guess I thought it was like 3 visits and only a certain number of water bottle allotments; that they would keep track of….Not that we are big eaters; it is probably more about the liquid refreshments for us. My DH loves to refill his soda! Just want to make sure it makes financial sense for us!

So what do the colored dots mean on the menu?

 

[BellaBaby]

Oh, I forgot…. can we request a cabana near Banana Beach? I'm not sure if we will rent one, but we are planning to go to AQ on DH's bday so it could be a fun splurge for that! Do you think the cabanas are worth it? TIA!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thanks Gina! So you can basically eat several meals/snacks during the day if you wanted to? I guess I thought it was like 3 visits and only a certain number of water bottle allotments; that they would keep track of….Not that we are big eaters; it is probably more about the liquid refreshments for us. My DH loves to refill his soda! Just want to make sure it makes financial sense for us!

So what do the colored dots mean on the menu?

Yep....you can eat as often as you want. A full meal (entree/side/drink), just a drink and a side, just a bottle of water, just a slice of pizza and a drink......whatever your stomach desires. No maximums as long as its an entitlement on the dining plan. We easily each went through more than 10 water bottles in a day on our visit in August. I am sure DH drank more than a dozen. With temperatures over 100 degrees, we drank our plan value and then some!!

The coloured dots indicate that they are items included on the dining plan. Yellow dots are plan-eligible drinks. Blue dots are sides. Red dots are entrees allowed under the plan. The fruits are desserts are not marked on the signage as plan eligible, but rather they were marked with blue dots on the actual display case as a scant few (like the cookies that included chocolate dipping sauce as opposed to just the bowl of cookies plain) were not plan eligible items.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Oh, I forgot…. can we request a cabana near Banana Beach? I'm not sure if we will rent one, but we are planning to go to AQ on DH's bday so it could be a fun splurge for that! Do you think the cabanas are worth it? TIA!

It will depend on the cabana level you want to pay for.

The cheapest cabanas (Cutback Cove) are across the park from Banana Beach (its not a long walk, but they're not super close either). The Roa's Rapids cabanas would probably be your closest option if proximity is an issue. We have always had the Cutback Cove cabanas and liked their location, despite being further from the buffet.

Do I think the cabanas are worth it? Absolutely! We have had one on every visit (4 times so far). The price points vary seasonally, but we've never spent more than $100 on a day's rental. That includes your private cabana (which is awesome when you need a quiet place to relax and get out of the sun for a bit), your own fridge, 12 bottles of Dasani water, a large locker right in your cabana, a ceiling fan, rental towels (8, I think) and even personal service from a cabana attendant (if you want food delivered to you from the Waterstone Grill menu). Cabana rentals also entitle you to a 20% discount on merchandise on the day of your visit (souvenirs, etc. .... including park photos) so its quite a nice deal.

 

[CampingDad]

At sea world you could breakfast at cypress bakery. It's not advertised but we got muffins and croissants and coffee and hot chocolate on the dining plan.

 

[canadiankim]

Do they still have the souvenir cups that you can refill with drinks at SeaWorld? Does anyone know how much the cup is and how much the refills are? Just reading Gina's comment about 12 bottles of water for them in August is making me think should I go for the meal plan or the souvenir cups? If we had the meal plan for one day and then had the cups would the meal plan cover the cost of refilling them during that same day? (we have the 14 day unlimited access to SW with our DC tickets so might go back a couple of times)

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Do they still have the souvenir cups that you can refill with drinks at SeaWorld? Does anyone know how much the cup is and how much the refills are? Just reading Gina's comment about 12 bottles of water for them in August is making me think should I go for the meal plan or the souvenir cups? If we had the meal plan for one day and then had the cups would the meal plan cover the cost of refilling them during that same day? (we have the 14 day unlimited access to SW with our DC tickets so might go back a couple of times)

They have a couple of different styles of souvenir cups now. One is the fancy "cup that cares" where you build it out of different pieces to make your own custom penguin cup. The rest are the more basic style. I think the penguin Cup that Cares is about $18-ish (with unlimited refills the first day, or something along that lines), while the basic style is in the $8-10 range. Refills are about a $1 or so. You can bring the cup back on each visit and just pay for refills.....year after year, for the life of the cup.

I don't know if refills of the souvenir cups are included on the dining plan. Unlimited fountain beverages are included, though (as are cold water bottles).

Its amazing how thirsty you can get as a result of the high heat and humidity. I've never consumed so much liquid in one day in my life!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Oh yeah....forgot to mention.....not only are the refillable cups good for visit after visit, you can also use your SW cup at AQ and Busch Gardens, and just pay the refill price.

 

[canadiankim]

The cup that cares sounds cute but wow that's expensive! I will think on as to whether to get the souvenir cup or the meal plan. I think the cup would be a good deal for us to us on numerous days especially if we can use it at both parks (not doing BG this year). Thanks Gina!

 

[BellaBaby]

Oh wow. Good to know. Thanks Gina for all your great info!! Sorry I've been MIA, but came down with fever/sore throat in last few days and haven't even felt like being on the Dis!!

Oh yeah....forgot to mention.....not only are the refillable cups good for visit after visit, you can also use your SW cup at AQ and Busch Gardens, and just pay the refill price.