2009 Dining Plan help

[lindseynleah]

Hi everyone!!

So I came across this board today and began reading on it and thought I had convinced myself that the dining plan would fit my family for our trip in nov/dec 2009. Now I am not so sure. We will be visiting from 11/28/09 to 12/4/09. So, my first question is, I would get 6 CS and 6 TS per person on my ressie since we would be there for 6 nights? Second, can we have a Character meal at Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace for 1 TS each? When I look on the restaurant list on the DIS, it does not list these two as more than 1 TS credit. If you choose not to get dessert, you obviously don't have to pay the gratuity on that amount, correct? I know that sounds silly, but gratuity is just based off of the items you have ordered?

Any help/clarification anyone can give would be awesome!! This will be our first time on the Dining Plan and just thought it would be nice to not have to worry about having the cash for food while there...I know that we do need to pay the tip and all, but on our last trip, I felt like we spent way more on food, snacks, drinks etc. than what I figured we would on this trip with the plan and didn't really have any stellar dining experiences!!!

Thanks a bunch in advance!

 

[dla1843]

I just did the meal plan for the first time. It takes a little getting used to, but you quickly get the hang of it. You will have more food than you need. As for the character dining at Crystal Palace - we did that (to see Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eyeore). It is a buffet, so there's no question about the cost of dessert. A lot of the character meals are buffets (which I prefer - keeps everyone occupied while the characters are coming around). I usually tip less when I'm at a buffet at home, so I followed the same guidelines at Disney. If you choose not to get the dessert, it would not be added to your bill, and therefore, you would not tip on that amount. You do get a regular bill even with the meal plan so you can see how much the meal would have cost. The savings are significant !!

 

[lindseynleah]

thanks a bunch!