2006 Disney Dining Plan FAQ

[ChloeChipper]

We may want to pay for some meals without using the Dining Plan. How do you coordinate with the actual restaurant whether or not you are using the Dining Plan? Do you tell them when you make the reservation or when you check in for your table?

Does everyone need to use one of their credits at every table service meal? Can my daughter & I share a meal? (She is 17 but hardly eats a thing). I know that at buffets you cannot share but what about at regular restaurants. We could easily share the food and still have some left over. Is that allowed, or frowned upon?

AND Are you allowed to take some of the food TO GO?

 

[teacher2005]

The last time I went to the World was in October, a few years back. We followed the Unofficial Guide and experienced SHORT lines. We are going this April, for Spring Break. Tour Guide Mike was mentioned as being better than the UG. Does anyone recommend Mike tour planning over the UG?

Also wanted to say thanks to all the DP info. We are definitely going with it!

 

[Disneyenthusiast]

Restaurants that cost 2TS

It looks like our favorite choices on the DDP would cost 2 TS each. Since this amounts to ~$76 each, I would like to know how much people have spent at the 2TS restaurants. Is this still a good deal, or should I use only or mostly 1TS restaurants to take best advantage of the plan?

 

[jjohnson]

The last time I went to the World was in October, a few years back. We followed the Unofficial Guide and experienced SHORT lines. We are going this April, for Spring Break. Tour Guide Mike was mentioned as being better than the UG. Does anyone recommend Mike tour planning over the UG?

Also wanted to say thanks to all the DP info. We are definitely going with it!

Sorry I know nothing of Tour Guide Mike other than he's our new sponsor. You may want to ask over on the Theme Park Board but I'm not sure what kind of answer you may get. I sortof followed UG last August but there wasn't much need as the lines were short but some kind of plan will definitely help in April.

 

[jjohnson]

Restaurants that cost 2TS

It looks like our favorite choices on the DDP would cost 2 TS each. Since this amounts to ~$76 each, I would like to know how much people have spent at the 2TS restaurants. Is this still a good deal, or should I use only or mostly 1TS restaurants to take best advantage of the plan?

The best way to do this is to look at the menus & pick out what you would probably order & add it up w/tax & tip to see if you should use (2) TS (most places I venture to guess no) we have figured out on the boards that (1) TS should be worth about $27 if you allow $7 for CS & $3 for snack.

Take a look here for menus:

www.wdwig.com

 

[jjohnson]

We may want to pay for some meals without using the Dining Plan. How do you coordinate with the actual restaurant whether or not you are using the Dining Plan? Do you tell them when you make the reservation or when you check in for your table?

Does everyone need to use one of their credits at every table service meal? Can my daughter & I share a meal? (She is 17 but hardly eats a thing). I know that at buffets you cannot share but what about at regular restaurants. We could easily share the food and still have some left over. Is that allowed, or frowned upon?

AND Are you allowed to take some of the food TO GO?

All you need to do is tell your server you will be paying out of pocket for the meal. Be careful though if your charging it with your room key since the credits are also on there. Yes you can share a meal with your daughter except, like you mentioned, at the buffets.

I've read other posts of taking dessert back to the room so I don't see why you couldn't do it with leftovers.

 

[mom2my3kids]

Hello,

I want to make sure I understand this, if I want to add the dining plan on for my 2 1/2 year old I would have to buy a ticket for him? I have a DVC reservation for the first four nights of our 6 night stay and I dont have to purchase tickets through disney to get the dining option.

 

[jjohnson]

Hello,

I want to make sure I understand this, if I want to add the dining plan on for my 2 1/2 year old I would have to buy a ticket for him? I have a DVC reservation for the first four nights of our 6 night stay and I dont have to purchase tickets through disney to get the dining option.

Some else confirm this.

She could make her 2 1/2 yo 3 on the reservation & add the dining plan without buying a ticket right?

 

[DebIreland]

Hello,

I want to make sure I understand this, if I want to add the dining plan on for my 2 1/2 year old I would have to buy a ticket for him? I have a DVC reservation for the first four nights of our 6 night stay and I dont have to purchase tickets through disney to get the dining option.

With a DVC stay, you definitely don't need to buy park tickets to get the DP. The only stipulation is that you must buy the DP for every night of your DVC stay (as is the case with MYW packages too).

Just to be sure though, you know you don't need to add your 2 year old to the DP yeah? He is welcome to share from your plate at all meals or indeed, eat whatever he wants at buffets! Or, third option, it might be cheaper to just pay a few dollars for an appetizer for him on occasion (i.e. when you're not doing buffets or when he doesn't want the food you're eating).

It will cost you 44 dollars to add him to the DP, I know it's not much but it's 44 dollars you don't have to spend, know what I mean? I have a 2 year old and I plan on definitely not adding her to the Dining Plan - we'll have plenty of food to share with her and let's face it, if we go back in a few years, she'll cost us an arm and a leg, we'll take the freebies while they're going.

 

[bicker]

It looks like our favorite choices on the DDP would cost 2 TS each. Since this amounts to ~$76 each, I would like to know how much people have spent at the 2TS restaurants. Is this still a good deal, or should I use only or mostly 1TS restaurants to take best advantage of the plan?

My guess is that the 2TS stuff is more a matter of keeping the number of folks using the dining plan that way low, rather than an attempt to have it reflect actual value. After all, some of the 2TS restaurants are only 10% more expensive than some of the 1TS restaurants. If the cash equivalency is your main priority, you'd want to steer clear of 2TS restaurants.

 

[maybees02]

I haven't been to Disney since 1992, and just booked a 7 day 6 night package for July, for 3 adults and 2 children.

I only purchased the 5 day parkhopper tickets - am I correct in understanding from reading here that I need the 7 day park tickets in order to use the dining plan fully?

Also, the character breakfasts, since they have to be reserved so far in advance and paid for, how does that work on the dining plan? Do I tell them I have the dining plan when I call to reserve?

And finally, do you recommend advance reservations for all table service dining?

Thanks so much, I was sent to this board by great friends and have learned so much already!

 

[The Sweetness]

As far as I know, the character breakfasts, other than the 1 at cindys castle are 1 ts per person. As they are all you care to eat, no sharing is allowed (except for with a tot under 3y). Also AFAIK, You dont pay for these in advance. There are a few where this is required such as the castle, Hoop Dee Doo, Spirit of Aloha, and Mickeys BY bbq

You better make your adrs as soon as you can figure out what you want and when, you dont want to be disapointed by not getting your first choice of time,day, or place.


The DP is tied to the #of nights you stay (6), not the # of days your hopper is(5). You would have to use a day of your hopper to go into a park though, even just to eat. (There are plenty of resort dining choices available, or you could use the extra days DP credits on the 5 days that you are in the parks)

 

[aviva5675]

The length of stay is what determines the DP , not the length of the tickets. So if you're staying 6 nights, you'll have to purchase 6 days of dining. You don't have to extend the park ticket. Im not sure you have to pay in advance for the characters--maybe CRT?? Possibly some you will now have to leave a credit card number tho. From what I've read on the boards if you are going to the most popular places you should reserve as far out as possible. Especially if you want a specific time frame. I'm a planner-- so I'm going to make ADR almost 180 days out--just waiting for park hours to post. If you don't mind risking it, wait till closer. I wouldnt go without ADR tho.

 

[jjohnson]

I haven't been to Disney since 1992, and just booked a 7 day 6 night package for July, for 3 adults and 2 children.

I only purchased the 5 day parkhopper tickets - am I correct in understanding from reading here that I need the 7 day park tickets in order to use the dining plan fully?

Also, the character breakfasts, since they have to be reserved so far in advance and paid for, how does that work on the dining plan? Do I tell them I have the dining plan when I call to reserve?

And finally, do you recommend advance reservations for all table service dining?

Thanks so much, I was sent to this board by great friends and have learned so much already!

First of all:



The past few posts have answered your questions. When you make your ADR's they usually ask if you are on the dining plan but it doesn't matter either way. I would definitely recommend making all your TS reservations in advance. You might also consider getting to park tickets for the length of your stay. The difference betwen a 5 day or 7 day pass is $5.00

 

[MinnieGi]

Has anyone substituted a fruit platter for their dessert option at a counter service meal. We will be a family of four using the dining plan and there is no way we need or could even eat four desserts. I was hoping some places would be flexible in letting me order fruit "sides" as my dessert. Anybody do this? Thanks!

 

[The Sweetness]

Now that would be fabulous

 

[DisneyMom5]

Has anyone encountered any limitations on what you can order from the menu?

What about the appetizers or entrees listed for 2 people?

How do they handle that if you wish to order it. Would 2 in our party need to order it and we would use 2 credit instead of us each ordering a seperate appetizer or entree.

Thanks, this is all very confusing.

I haven't read all the posts after this one, but my dd and I shared the dessert sampler at Le Cellier using both of our dessert credits on the plan. We were just told that ONE person cannot order something meant for two. Don't know if this has changed since August, or if it is just for certain items. By the way, the dessert sampler was great!

 

[DisneyMom5]

We did encounter some TS places that didn't have kids appetizers and didn't allow kids to order adult appetizers among those was Whispering Canyon, Mama Melrose, and Le Cellier. The policy we were told was that they could only order from the children's menu period. So in terms of desserts they were limited to the children's menu desserts or a plain scoop of ice cream at MM. At WC both desserts were chocolate and my son doesn't eat chocolate so they allowed him to have a shake instead but that may have actually counted as a drink rather than dessert. At CS the kids could haev any dessert. This was the last week of January.

Yvonne

Must vary from server to server, because we were able to order an adult appetizer for one of our kids at Le Cellier. (Unless you meant the dessert was the only problem at Le Cellier.)

 

[DisneyMom5]

Has anyone substituted a fruit platter for their dessert option at a counter service meal. We will be a family of four using the dining plan and there is no way we need or could even eat four desserts. I was hoping some places would be flexible in letting me order fruit "sides" as my dessert. Anybody do this? Thanks!

I believe at Pop Century that I was able to purchase fruit as my dessert. It was my stab at being healthy. LOL

 

[disneymom3]

Awesome thread, thanks for all the great answers!

After this last trip and having two days of having a counter service and table service meal and each day total well over what the DP would cost, we have determined that that is the way for us to go. And we didn't even order as much as we would have preferred as we were watching costs--i.e. drank water instead of soda or tea. The only question I need to figure out by reading menus etc is if it will still be a good deal as DD will be over ten when we go back. She is a pretty adventurous eater though and would probably have a blast choosing from the adult menu!

I need help tryiing to figure out the Japan exclusions. Lewis, you said to do a search, but I am not having a lot of luck with that.