How are Canadians saving on meals at wdw with the low dollar

[ABCanada]

I have one character breakfast at Cape May booked but I think I'm going to cancel. With the exchange it would be $80 for my son and I. He's going to be so disappointed

Depending on your son's age Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness lodge for breakfast or lunch might be an alternative. We always have fun there. The food is good and regular Disney prices. I like the skillets but you can order off the menu as well. Check out the menus and reviews. They do say that there is not always a lot of activity but there always has been when we have been there. Kids of all ages seem to be having fun. We usually go for either a late breakfast or late lunch.

Then take advantage of any opportunities to see the characters in the parks or at the resorts and get a few pictures.

 

[LemonNeko]

That's a shame. It's such a nice, low key character meal. Anyway to shave eighty dollars elsewhere?

I could likely do it but since he's only 4 if he was cranky or the meal wasn't good I know myself I would get so upset after spending that much. I still have a couple of days to decide about the reservation. My parents are down in Florida already. Maybe their powerball ticket is the winning one and I will be able to rent out the whole restaurant.

We are going to Universal this trip so no park day planned at Disney. I have the breakfast booked the day we are flying back. I am planning on doing the Chip & Dale campfire since the price is right so I know he'll get to see some Disney characters.

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

From my experience and from what I've been reading, the meal plan is more of a convenience rather than a cost savings. Having all your meals pre-paid allows you to order what you want w/o the sticker shock at the end of the meal (with the exception of the 20% gratuity). We would never buy the meal plan, but take advantage of course when it's offered "free" in a promotion. In addition, when paying OOP, we don't eat the same as when we have the meal plan. Having the meal plan we have the urge to maximize every cent to ensure get "get our $$ worth" - but we never eat the volume of food at home as we do when we on the meal plan at Disney.

 

[Disney127]

DD and I are planning to share our QS meals and will be bringing our own water and some snacks. We do have a few TS reservations. Usually, we like to eat what we want on our Disney trips but this time, we will be more selective.

 

[hcoker1]

I did the math two trips ago and found we would spend less on food OFF plan. We either order delivery groceries or pick up if driving. Just having breakfast and snacks/drinks for the hotel room saved a lot. But it's still our vacation and I want to have fun too so I save all year for our trip since we only go every three years.

 

[Donald - my hero]

OMG you might all like this ... hubby just got home and i had this window open, he giggled and said "start a diet the day you leave!"

 

[tmcgraw]

Hi: We are supposed to go to wdw april 2016. I am wondering is it still beneficial to buy the meal plan or is it better to just pay out of pocket and do less table service meals.

What are others doing.

Deb.

I've been obsessed with the meal plan and even went so far as looking up the restaurants we are thinking of eating at and adding up the costs of what I think we would eat. For my family, it's just not worth it. We're not big meat eaters and we don't drink soda or eat a lot of desserts. I think the best thing is to look up menus and see how much you think you would spend. It took a lot of work, but I think it's going to save us a couple of hundred dollars by doing so.

 

[DoingDisney]

I know some people swear by the DDP, and I am sure for some of them it even saves them money, but it only saves you money in VERY specific circumstances. Like, you have to TRY to make it work to save you money. Disney does not offer the dining plan to save you money, its to make themselves more money.

 

[ottjdub]

Publix Grocery Stores and Restaurant coupons from the Off-site Resort. We were at WDW Jan 2016 and stayed in a 2 bed condo with full kitchen in Kississimee. Made breakfast and lunches for the parks. Bring a backpack to carry a refillable water bottle and your snacks. Saves a ton.

 

[Duckiedee]

We are still going with the DxDDP - but for us - we use it to increase our overall experience (Character Meet and Greets, early entry for Park restaurants, themed dining and shows.) It's going to be expensive, by golly yes, but we've saved.
So far though I've just put down the deposit... and when gas goes up, the dollar will too - and then I'll pounce and pay it off.

 

[Tam&Sam]

We did the DDP for the first time on our last trip. Most the general comments we found on the internet said that it was quite hard to save money on the dining plan but when WDW offered it for free as a promotion we decided to try it a keep tabs to see if it was worth it. We came in with a savings of $31 USD, we pretty much broke even. That being said, we are not picky eaters and ended up ordering the most expensive entrees, desserts, and drinks like specialty juices or Perrier.

The problem with the DDP is that you get too much food, food you probably wouldn't be ordering if you would follow your hunger. On top of that, you still have to pay for gratuities (if you order the most expensive dish it can go up rather rapidly) and breakfast since you're covered for 2 meals and one snack. When we pay out of pocket, we end up ordering a lot less food because let's face it, the portions at Disney are enormous! The total of our regular expenses is always lower than what we would pay if we had to pay for DDP. We also ended up with a lot of unused snack credits towards the end of our trip and we ended up eating classic snacks for a day instead of having a regular meal to go through them. Not the most balanced diet but we had fun running left & right for Dole whips, Mickey bars, Mickey pretzels, etc.

If you plan on going to many character meals and you have hearty eaters in your family then the DDP might be a better value for you than paying out of pocket.
If you're looking to cut down cost since the exchange is not on our side, I would suggest paying out of pocket and just be mindful of portions and prices. A lot of starters and desserts can easily be shared!

The nice thing the DDP has going for itself is that it does give you the same feeling of freedom an all inclusive would since most of your meal related expenses are already paid. We loved that worry-free feeling!

One little tip to end this post: most restaurants will let you take a big bottle of sparkling water as your drink in your table service because they do not have small Perriers. The bottle are the best deal since they're usually close to $10 and they're very hard to find on the resorts. You can always order one and bring back the other to the resort.

 

[Duckiedee]

LOL... we are not - DXDDP all the way for us. Maybe we'll get partial free dining, but I'm not counting on it... It IS a lot of food, but the character experiences, shows and just great food and amazing table service etc are part of the Magic for us.

 

[Misha72683]

We had free dining and while we found it too much food, we found it worth it. We did four character meals (and likely will do just as many next trip if my kids get their way), so that added up. The dollar also did a decent drop between us paying for our trip and going and the difference was about .10 per dollar, so we saved around a $100 by having the plan prepaid for. Even if we'd paid OoP for the plan, we still would have saved money, mostly because of all those expensive character meals (and we maximized snack credits at food and wine)

 

[Disney Dukers]

We had the dining plan once and we also thought it was way to much food. The only think we liked was that our meals were already paid for. So every trip after that we went to Target, in the states, and bought a $100 Disney gift card for each day that we were going to be there. We keep them in the safe and then pull one out each morning before we head to the park. For our family of four that $100 a day gift card pays for quick serve lunch and dinner and a snack (we never buy drinks). We eat breakfast in our hotel room and also bring water and snacks to the park.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

Publix Grocery Stores and Restaurant coupons from the Off-site Resort. We were at WDW Jan 2016 and stayed in a 2 bed condo with full kitchen in Kississimee. Made breakfast and lunches for the parks. Bring a backpack to carry a refillable water bottle and your snacks. Saves a ton.

House of Blues has a $50 off coupon for $20, with the requirement that the meal (and drinks) total be $100 or more. Was great!

 

[Tam&Sam]

We had free dining and while we found it too much food, we found it worth it. We did four character meals (and likely will do just as many next trip if my kids get their way), so that added up. The dollar also did a decent drop between us paying for our trip and going and the difference was about .10 per dollar, so we saved around a $100 by having the plan prepaid for. Even if we'd paid OoP for the plan, we still would have saved money, mostly because of all those expensive character meals (and we maximized snack credits at food and wine)

It's true that the meal plan is worth it when you do a lot of Character meals, those are pricey!

 

[Cdn Gal]

Two years ago I packed tons of frozen food including shrimp, steaks from Costco, bacon, sausage etc in my carry on suitcase. Everything went into a zip locked bags, and yes it was heavy, it was still partially frozen by the time we got to our timeshare. I also packed cheese. My husband and dad BBQed and it worked out well! In my main suitcase I pack maple syrup, pancake mix, granola bars, licorice, coffee, sweetener, Crystal lite, cereal, crackers, peanut butter, jam, candy, chocolate bars that were on sale, and unopened condiments. You can bring anything across the border as long as it's not fruits and vegetables. The rest we buy there. We save tons on money when we purchase on sale in Canada, and bring food with us. We make breakfast in the room and being in snacks into the park in a cooler Knapsack. We freeze bottles of water the night before and use that in our case to keep yogurt/cheese/fruit/veggies chilled. For lunch we go back to the room and have snacks. We usually eat out for dinner, but it depends who we are travelling with and what they can afford. That year we had a lot of people with us so it just made sense to BBQ. Man.. When I think back...I really packed that carry on suitcase! Lol we never bring food back as the extra room in our luggage is packed with our souvineers

 

[Marlyn]

Two years ago I packed tons of frozen food including shrimp, steaks from Costco, bacon, sausage etc in my carry on suitcase. Everything went into a zip locked bags, and yes it was heavy, it was still partially frozen by the time we got to our timeshare. I also packed cheese. My husband and dad BBQed and it worked out well! In my main suitcase I pack maple syrup, pancake mix, granola bars, licorice, coffee, sweetener, Crystal lite, cereal, crackers, peanut butter, jam, candy, chocolate bars that were on sale, and unopened condiments. You can bring anything across the border as long as it's not fruits and vegetables. The rest we buy there. We save tons on money when we purchase on sale in Canada, and bring food with us. We make breakfast in the room and being in snacks into the park in a cooler Knapsack. We freeze bottles of water the night before and use that in our case to keep yogurt/cheese/fruit/veggies chilled. For lunch we go back to the room and have snacks. We usually eat out for dinner, but it depends who we are travelling with and what they can afford. That year we had a lot of people with us so it just made sense to BBQ. Man.. When I think back...I really packed that carry on suitcase! Lol we never bring food back as the extra room in our luggage is packed with our souvineers

Lol....where did you put your clothing?

Other than some snacks and easy breakfast type foods, I don't keep food in my room. I don't pack food to take with me as we dont check baggage. I will have a rental car and will hit grocery for water, snacks etc on our first day. Other than breakfast we eat at Disney. I never cook on vacation. I know a lot of people do....just not my thing. We also don't like to carry big bags in parks, especially in the summer heat....so we usually go back to resort at some point to swim or whatever. Grab a snack then.

 

[mernin]

We went in December and stayed 8 nights off site. We stopped at target by our condo and bought groceries for the week. We ate all but 1 breakfast in the condo. Packed a lunch about 4 or 5 of 8 days- sandwiches, cheese, fruit, veggies, crackers, granola bars, juice boxes & water bottles (frozen so we could use to keep food cold). We ate at the parks for dinner on 3 or 4 nights otherwise made supper at the condo. We always bring water with us in the parks and my kids share a kids meal as they generally won't eat a whole one each. We also share off our plates when the sizes are large.

 

[Canadian Girl]

We did a split stay last end of November early Dec and took the DDP for the final three days as our return flight was an evening one. It worked out great as we had the free mugs for really four days use and were able to do some great buffet type meals that cost nearly as much as the one day DDP. Minnie's holiday and dine with the Fantasmic package was still only one credit. We ended up converting some of our CS credits to the three snacks and took home rice crispy Disney treats etc for Christmas stocking gifts. Many of the CS meals could be split for two young Disney Adult kids. We were staying at AKL and changing room types and the split stay worked out fine. Too much food as usual but we had a great time.