Should we do the dining plan? Specific situation.

[erikaw1971]

I was looking for some opinions on the dining plan from those that have been there,done that.

We are going for the first time January 2011 and starting our planning now. We are taking our two girls who will be 4 and 7 by then. Our 2 year old son will stay home with G&G.

Our 7 year old has Asperger's Syndrome and is very sensitive to loud noises - loud restaurants would not be good); however, she likes normal kid palate fare. Our 4 year old is a VERY picky eater, to the point where this summer she will be in an eating therapy class. She doesn't eat much in quantity.

I am having weight loss surgery (lap band) next month, so by next January, I will hopefully be closing in on my goal weight and eating substantially less, very small portions.

Neither my husband nor I drink alcohol - well, I'll do a glass of wine or two a year, but not when I'm with the kids.

My husband does not each very much...one plate at a buffet, never more.

With all of these factors, does a dining plan still make sense or will we probably do better just paying as we go? I tried searching for some of this stuff, but couldn't really find anything.

Oh...I don't know if this helps or matters, but chances are good that we will be staying at the Bay Lake Towers (buying DVC points). Or, would it be better to do a club level at Animal Kingdom (can use the DVC points here, too, I think) and live off of the lounge food? I'm starting to think it would almost be enough food for us.

TIA.


Erika
Mom to Charlotte, Lola and Reid
First trip to WDW Jan 2011

 

[scojos]

welcome to the boards.
i cant answer your questions, as the mother of an asd child i can only comment on that section.
ds has asd, we have found that he copes v well with ddp, the organised bit, times, menus etc help avoid blips and therefore meltdowns.
all of the restaurants are noisy, even the quiet ones, purely from the size and the number of people (except if you pay for CRT which holds a limited amount of diners.
drinking or not drinking alcohol affects nothing...we drink little and its not included on the ddp.
band info (and asd info0 can be found on the disabilities thread) i would suggest that would be the best place to look
from the info you have given my answer would be no, i dont think you d benefit from the DDp, and maybe it would not suit your family, but i realyy am not an expert
goodluck with your surgery..
tracy

 

[squirrel]

I think you would be better off paying for your food as you go.

Some of the CS meals are quite large. I share the 1/2 chicken meals with my niece even when we are on the DDP.

If your children would okay with the character meals, I would pick one or two that you think they would like. When you check in ask if they have a table in a quieter area, you may not get it or you might have to wait longer-but it's worth a try. The other option is to book a time when it will be quieter-first thing when it opens or late breakfast (not so many pick that time).

 

[TDC Nala]

If you don't buy points at Animal Kingdom and book at 11 months out it will be difficult to get a club level room at AKV. There are only five two-bedroom lockoffs available (these can be split into one-bedrooms and studios but there are still only five of each available). Not sure you can plan on that for certain.

If you were a family who intended to do a lot of character meals then I would think you might be able to use the dining plan. I'm assuming that you won't be doing that since you have a child who won't do well in loud restaurants (I can't think of any quiet character meals; in fact there are very few quiet restaurants at WDW), another who doesn't eat, and two parents who don't eat much. I'd go OOP and plan to make some meals in the villa (one-bedroom and up villas have a full kitchen - the studios only have a microwave and toaster).

 

[queenkim]

Consider taking your kids to Sci-fi diner in DHS at least once. WHY? It is quiet! We have gone twice now and after being in a busy, noisy park, this restaraunt offers a much needed break. The films played seem to quiet the children there like nothing I have ever seen.

Another nice thing at Sci-fi is that for you little one that does not eat much (I have one myself) they have a cheese and fruit plate that is perfect for them. That and a kids sundae is all she ever eats there and she is always happy. We are too, because we don't end up tossing a picked at burger.

You could also split your entree's, which will make much less waste and expense for you. On the ddp, you may end up ordering more than you actually will eat, so OOP may be a better option for you. But that is just my opinion.

 

[bobbie68]

Hi,

I have an 8 year old daughter with Asperger's. We were there this past September and did the DDP. It worked out well for us, however we are all food junkies and like to eat out. My daughter has problems with loud noises so what we do is take her MP3 player so she can listen to music at a comfortable volume and drown out the noise around her. This works for us but I can understand how it might not for anybody else.

I agree with a pp that your going to find noise almost everywhere. I would seriously consider not doing the dining plan, it sounds like it could be more trouble than it's worth.

Good luck with everything.

 

[erikaw1971]

Thanks so much for the DDP help. I think we'll be better off going without the meal plan then. At least, since this is our first time, we can gauge how much we do eat and then the next trip we can always add a dining plan if it makes sense.

We did decide against DVC points this time and to stay at the Swan instead (found out we have Starwood points we can use).

We are going to do 2 character meals...Akerhus breakfast at Epcot (for the princess-lover) and Garden Grove dinner at the Swan for our Aspie who loves Goofy and Pluto. We don't want to load them up too much on the first trip...we'll test the waters slowly. We're going to try the Sci-fi diner, too. My husband will probably love it more than the kids.

Thanks for the Aspie advice all. I get the feeling that noise at Disney will be different than noise at home and that she will manage it pretty well - especially if there are Mickey and friends characters around! I'll head over to the DISabilities board and check out some of the threads there as well.

Wonderful info, thanks again!

Erika
Mom to Charlotte, Lola and Reid
WDW 1st timer January 2011!

 

[dancin Disney style]

Sounds to me like your family could very easily share meals. With that in mind paying OOP would be your best option. We are cereal meal sharers and have never spent anywhere even close to what the DDP costs. We have several time also had the DDP during when we got it in a promo for free. It is a TON of food and we find that half way through those trips we are either canceling TS meals or we are living on one meal and one snack per day.

BTW, since you are staying at the Swan you can't get DDP anyway so that solves that.

 

[JLO]

Hi! I don't think you should do the DDP, especially with weight loss surgery coming up. It's just so much food and to really get your money's worth, you need to eat!

We loved the DDP the first year we did it because we didn't have to worry about the money portion of that part of our trip. It was all paid for ahead of time. Plus, back then, appetizer and tip were included.

Last year, we did it again and I realized two things: 1) It costs a lot for tips if you eat in the places we did and 2) If you get sick, as we did, there are no refunds... My daughter and I were both out of it for a couple of days each and had to cancel our dining plans (we couldn't even eat counter service).

This year, what I did was to figure out how much extra the DDP would be for us and instead of purchasing it, I'm keeping that money set aside and using it for our meals. I think we'll have a lot left over even with having some nice dinners there but we won't have to worry about spending the money when we just want a pizza or a quick sandwich...

I know that the DDP can work really well as it did for us the first time, but I think, given your circumstances, I would pass it up and enjoy your club level snacks and drinks!

 

[Evan&Kimberly]

1st the restuarants at WDW are noisy just think of alot of excited children seeN Mickey &Minnie walking around them while they are eating,I do feel parents could do a better job with kids behavior while at dinner hence the running around and loud talking it is still a restuarant. It seems like you and your husband could pay for your meals and even share them except at the buffets or family style. I can recomend some places to eat that may be about the calmest you are going to get at WDW any signatures,The Wave,Grand Floridian Cafe,Wolf Puck Cafe,my mind just went blank I will try and think of some later

 

[JJsmama]

I would not recommend the dining plan either if several of your party don't eat much. Pay out of pocket instead.

If you are going in Jan, maybe the crowds wont be too bad. However, I would recommend going to EMH in the mornings if they have them, so that you can tour for a coule hours with far fewer people around. Also, go eat lunch and dinner earlier than the normal crowds and you won't have as much noise either.

You might try asking a new question about where the 'secret' quieter spots in restaurants are in the parks. For instance, some CS restaurants have some dining rooms that most people don't see and therefore are quieter.

 

[SomDayMyPrnceWillCom]

I actually found Garden Grill with Chip, Dale, Farmer Mickey and Pluto to be a very quiet character meal. The restaurant slowly rotates and the booths are all separate. This was one of our best character interactions too. The characters came by twice and spent more time with us than anywhere else. It's served family style as well and the food was pretty good.