1st trip-- meal plan/ park hopping for partial trip??

[Chantelle B]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first Disney trip, my husband and I are doing an adult only trip. We are trying to decide if meal plans are worth it with the trip we have set up. Also looking for any advice about if the trip we have planned is set up in a good way. Appreciative of any and all help, thanks

-arriving Sunday Oct 30, leaving Sunday Nov 6 (staying at one of the "moderate" Disney hotels, not sure which one yet)
-thinking about using park hopper tickets and FP+

Monday: do Animal Kingdom all day--get the kinks worked out for how to navigate the park/FP+ etc
Tuesday: Magic Kingdom all day with EMM (This is the park we are most excited about)
Wednesday: Hollywood studios morning/afternoon, outlet malls shopping late afternoon
Thursday: Epcot
Friday: Universal studios/Island of Adventure 1/2 day each
Saturday: flex day, maybe go back to magic kingdom for a half day

Questions:
-how does the benefit of meal plans work if we are taking a day at universal studios (not disney). Can you get a meal plan for just 3 days of the trip?
-what is the best way to maximize park hoppers...can you get them just for 3-4 days or do you have to get them for all of your tickets?

 

[Figmentmommy]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first Disney trip, my husband and I are doing an adult only trip. We are trying to decide if meal plans are worth it with the trip we have set up. Also looking for any advice about if the trip we have planned is set up in a good way. Appreciative of any and all help, thanks

-arriving Sunday Oct 30, leaving Sunday Nov 6 (staying at one of the "moderate" Disney hotels, not sure which one yet)
-thinking about using park hopper tickets and FP+

Monday: do Animal Kingdom all day--get the kinks worked out for how to navigate the park/FP+ etc
Tuesday: Magic Kingdom all day with EMM (This is the park we are most excited about)
Wednesday: Hollywood studios morning/afternoon, outlet malls shopping late afternoon
Thursday: Epcot
Friday: Universal studios/Island of Adventure 1/2 day each
Saturday: flex day, maybe go back to magic kingdom for a half day

Questions:
-how does the benefit of meal plans work if we are taking a day at universal studios (not disney). Can you get a meal plan for just 3 days of the trip?
-what is the best way to maximize park hoppers...can you get them just for 3-4 days or do you have to get them for all of your tickets?

You aren't able to have the dining plan for just a few days of your stay. You need to have the dining plan for as many nights as you are staying.
No partial park hopper choice either - the Park Hopper option is for the length of the ticket regardless of how many days you actually park hop.

You'll have dining credits for the same number of nights as you are staying. You can use those credits as you wish from check in until midnight of your check out day. You could always use the credits from your Universal days for a 2 credit meal/dinner show another day. Lots of options once you figured out your plans.

 

[tobikaye]

First, make sure the dining plan will work for your trip. I might be trying on my next trip, but that will be the first time I have been on it. I am still on the fence right now. If you do go with the dining plan, know that you get a total number per night, but you can use them anytime during your trip. So, you could use the credits from the day you go to USO on a different day.

As for the park hoppers, as the pp indicated, they are added to the total of the tickets so even if you wanted to add it on the very last day, you would pay the same as if you added it on the first day. I am a park hopper as I like to have flexibility in my day. I try to only plan half of each day so I can decide as I go where I want to be.

 

[loves to dive]

You will get as many different answers to these questions as there are people on the boards,none are right or wrong.

Is the dining plan the way to go? That is completely subjective. Some use it for the convenience of having meals paid in advance, some feel it will save them money. You really need to decide which of those reasons you want it. If it's for convenience then it's up to you if it's worth getting. If it's to save money, the only way you will know is if you look at menus at places you think you would want to eat. Be honest about what exactly you think you would order, if it's the most expensive or not on the menu. Do the math then compare that to the cost of the dining plan. Do not use one of the on line calculators, they average out the costs and are far from right. Also be honest about your eating style. Do you eat 3 full meals a day including desserts and drinks other than water. Do you drink adult beverages. Do you eat snacks between meals. You need to understand unless you get the deluxe plan which includes 2 table service and appetizers you are going to have to pay out of pocket for appetizers, adult beverages, taxes and gratuity.

Park hoppers are another of those subjective things. Some feel it's not worth the extra money, they are able to plan their days around being in one park and don't mind the semi-strict planning required. Some feel it's worth it because they like to move to another park if the one they are in is too crowded or they feel it's not a full day park. You can add park hoppers at any time during your trip but it will still cost you what it would have to start with but if you get single park tickets you might find you don't need park hoppers. Some feel it takes too much time to go to another park so you have to decide if you want to go balls to the wall all day or take a half hour to hour of down time to switch parks. Personally, we have never been without hoppers in over 30 years of going. In all that time we have only 1 day spent the entire day in one park and we actually weren't in the park the entire day and did not intend to be there. We were in Epcot fully intending to hop over to HS and then back to Epcot later in the night for me to hear Herman's Hermits. On a whim we stopped at a DVC booth, ended up going on the tour (which by the way was not a tour we went over to BW which we were staying at and went into the DVC office, saw a video and wasted a good 3 hours). It was so late when we got out we missed the show we wanted to see and were just too wore out to deal with staying for the later show. We don't over plan our trips, we might plan 2 or 3 FPs and other than that we just fly by the seat of our pants so park hopping works for us.

 

[GPC0321]

Looking at your tentative schedule that you have listed, I wouldn't think Park Hoppers would be necessary. The only day you seem like you might "hop" would be the last day, but if that's the case then I wouldn't bother. Now, if you think you'd like to "hop" and would change the plan you have in your post to incorporate that, then that's up to you. I like hopping, personally, but everyone is different. I have to have the reassurance that at any point I can go to the Magic Kingdom on a whim.

Dining? It really depends on your eating habits and preferences. We found even the quick service dining plan rather confining and like we were always worried about getting our money's worth by picking the most expensive places and items and getting dessert even if we didn't really want it, etc. I felt guilty throwing so much barely-touched food away. It was wasteful. Sometimes you just want to grab a quick sandwich or whatever without worrying that you're not getting the good out of the dining plan. You really have to plan around your meals a little more when on it, I feel.

 

[kappyfamily]

I agree with the above. Personally, I wouldn't get park hoppers. sometimes we get them sometimes we don't. Remember you can add them park hopper portion on when you are there if you decide you need them. Dining plan, for your first time I wouldn't do it either. We've never done it and like being able to eat what we want and when. Sometimes we aren't all that hungry and don't feel like we have to get all that food. Either way have a good trip! Also make sure you book that hotel soon. We are going November 4th-11th and I know it's slim pickings (and very expensive for the first half).

 

[Chantelle B]

Thank you very much everyone, you have all been so helpful! Both my husband and I don't like to be tied down to a specific diner reservation and more like to snack throughout the entire day and share things along the way to try a variety of different foods. With what you have all described, I don't think the meal plan is for us. Since we have 5 full days, and I think we will be able to find more than enough to do spending a full day in each park (being first timers) I think I will rearrange our schedule as follows:

Arrive Sunday
Monday (Oct 31)-full day Animal Kingdom
Tuesday(Nov 1)-full day Magic Kingdom with EMM
Wednesday-full day Epcot
Thursday- full day Hollywood Studios
Friday-Universal Studios and Island of Adventure (universal--buy pass to hop between both)
Saturday-shopping at outlet malls, decide last minute if we want to buy a ticket at the gate to go back to Magic Kingdom for the afternoon
Leave Sunday

-this would mean I would buy 4 standard tickets with FP+ (that I can use on any day at any park within 14 days, correct?) as well as buy the universal tickets to hop between the US and IOA parks on the Friday. if after the first day we think we really wish we would have had the park hopper, I'll add it on.

Does this make more sense?

 

[Chantelle B]

one more question: If we buy the regular standard ticket without the hopper, can we enter and exit the same park on the same day?
For example, if we went to animal kingdom for half the day and then wanted to go back to our Disney on property hotel for a nap, then come back to animal kingdom for the evening...is that possible? or once you leave is your ticket done?

 

[subtchr]

Saturday-shopping at outlet malls, decide last minute if we want to buy a ticket at the gate to go back to Magic Kingdom for the afternoon
Leave Sunday

-this would mean I would buy 4 standard tickets with FP+ (that I can use on any day at any park within 14 days, correct?) as well as buy the universal tickets to hop between the US and IOA parks on the Friday. if after the first day we think we really wish we would have had the park hopper, I'll add it on.

Does this make more sense?

It does make sense, but that would be a VERY expensive decision to return to the MK that final afternoon. If you add a fifth day to your original park tickets, it would cost about $16 more per ticket. A one-day MK ticket is over $100 (how much more depends on the season). If you can possibly decide you will want that day, add it before you leave on your fourth day in the parks!!

 

[Chantelle B]

It does make sense, but that would be a VERY expensive decision to return to the MK that final afternoon. If you add a fifth day to your original park tickets, it would cost about $16 more per ticket. A one-day MK ticket is over $100 (how much more depends on the season). If you can possibly decide you will want that day, add it before you leave on your fourth day in the parks!!

oh good point! Thank you

 

[caroline1851]

I think you should skip shopping as you don't have much time at WDW. I also would skip Universal. It's too much to cram both those parks in one da anyway. Plan a separate Universal trip. Use that extra day to go back to MK or whichever park you end up liking the most.

 

[Hopefully]

I agree with PP. You are trying to do too much in too little time.
I definitely would skip the outlets. I definitely would buy the 5 day ticket up front.
And I personally wouldn't try to cram UO into this trip.
Good Luck

 

[GaryDis]

I don't see a problem with one day at Universal. Sure, it would be cheaper to add another day to the WDW park tickets. But very few people would ever plan a seven day vacation around USO, which means eventually people are likely to spend a day or two there and the rest of the time at WDW. And if you've never been to either, there's something to be said for trying them both on your first trip, because who knows? They may discover they like USO so much better that they cut back on WDW even more the next time.

Besides, a young couple may have kids along for their next visit. And while USO really does have stuff for the little ones, its reputation is more around the thrill rides, and better to try those when you're young and life does not yet have the complications of kids. (Or maybe they have kids and were clever enough to convince the grandparents to watch them.)

If anything, I'd consider making Saturday a second USF/IOA day, at which point it may even make sense to split the stay, staying the last two or three nights at Cabana Bay or Sapphire Falls. It's likely to be a good savings over a Disney moderate, more than offsetting the cost of getting back to the airport, and it buys early admission (but not express pass, which may not even be necessary).