A couple more dining plan questions.

[MackenzieFL]

Okay... so if you are a FL resident, can you get the room, fl resident ticket prices AND a dining plan? Or do you have to pay regular ticket prices to get the dining plan?

And I hear the dining plan is free, and then I hear you have to pay... I can't figure out the deal.

Half our party is type 1 diabetic (it's genetic on both sides) so we really just look for counter service, we tend to share meals & graze all day usually plus have our own snacks like protien bars and stuff. So I am looking at the cheapest plan because we rarely do table service and never do buffets.

With that, I'm trying to figure if it'll be cheaper to pay FL resident tickets and pay for meals out of pocket (keep in mind we will not have a car and be using disney bus transportation so we can't run outside the resort for meals).

Thanks in advance so much, I have been to Disney so much but I am just not used to doing the vacation package plans-- usually we just have annual passes and drive over for the afternoon or day, or else we camp in our tents at Ft. Wilderness; never done a moderate resort or dining plan or package.

 

[TDC Nala]

You must purchase a package to get DDP. I don't know if you can get Florida resident tickets as part of a package. If you have an annual pass (I think this includes seasonal annual) you can book a ticketless package with dining.

Free dining is a specific discount offer and is available only with a three night minimum package including at least 2 day MYW tickets per person. It is not available without that ticket purchase.

Not sure a prepaid plan that includes dessert with every meal (except breakfast) would save money for a party that is half made up of diabetics and tends to share meals.

 

[MackenzieFL]

You must purchase a package to get DDP. I don't know if you can get Florida resident tickets as part of a package. If you have an annual pass (I think this includes seasonal annual) you can book a ticketless package with dining.

Free dining is a specific discount offer and is available only with a three night minimum package including at least 2 day MYW tickets per person. It is not available without that ticket purchase.

Not sure a prepaid plan that includes dessert with every meal (except breakfast) would save money for a party that is half made up of diabetics and tends to share meals.

Thank you!... the more people mention it, the more I'm thinking the dining plan is just going to be a waste for us. That would mean 50 meal credits and 25 snack credits for the week.

Usually we share like 3 counter service meals among 5 people. And 2 dole whips are good for all 5 of us. So by my estimates of our past trips, we would only need about 30 meal credits and maybe 15 snack-- even if we threw in breakfast it's still much more than we need. And we just can't eat a lot of that food so excess isn't an option. And I can't get a refund, and I can't give it away... so, meh... probably be cheaper to just get FL res. ticket prices & pay oop for food.

Thank you for your help

 

[PictureJumpr]

You might want to look at the Tables in Wonderland, though.

As a FL resident, you can purchase this with or without an annual pass. If you have a pass, they knock $25 off the price.

It isn't going to work at in-park CS places except at AK, but it will work at value and Port Orleans food courts for discounts on any CS eaten there. And if you decide to do a character meal or other TS experience, then it will save you on those as well.

 

[Skylarr29]

You might want to look at the Tables in Wonderland, though.

As a FL resident, you can purchase this with or without an annual pass. If you have a pass, they knock $25 off the price.

It isn't going to work at in-park CS places except at AK, but it will work at value and Port Orleans food courts for discounts on any CS eaten there. And if you decide to do a character meal or other TS experience, then it will save you on those as well.

TIW is not accepted at the Riverside Mill food court...

 

[MHSweb79]

Also I believe that free dining is only offered when you book a full-price (rack rate) room. As a Florida resident, you can often get good discounts on the room rate.

But as others have said, it's a lot of food and much of the value is calculated by using the full allotment of credits, including dessert at lunch and dinner. So for your group, you would almost certainly be losing money.

 

[MackenzieFL]

Thanks everyone for the replies. This is how we usually eat:

- Breakfast in room/campsite (we bring a bag of dry food like cereal, parmalot milk, coffee drinks, canned fruit, etc).

- Lunch is occasionally sit-down like Trail's End at Ft. Wilderness or we pick up a pizza or fried chicken meal there; or if at the parks we eat counter service-- 3 meals, plus maybe an extra side salad or two, split between five people.

- We often get a treat at some point, usually split 3 between five people.

- We go back to campsite/resort and eat sandwich stuff, jello or pudding packs, etc.

We almost never get soft drinks-- usually exclusively water. Occasionally a diet soda or lemonade but we all split a large. And any other snacks are usually what we bring with us-- popcorn baggies, nuts & seeds, protein bars/shakes, etc.

I don't even count this stuff in the budget because we have a stock of it at home. We simply fill up a grocery bag before we leave.

We would like to do the F&WF and that would probably be our big splurge for our trip to buy a few food samples while there. But we never do character dining, do casual table service for lunch probably only about 1/3 of our time, and on a typical day only buy about 3 meals and about 3 snacks in total.


So from what everyone is saying, I'm getting that it just wouldn't be worth it spending money for a dining plan or Tables in Wonderland... unless maybe they offer free dining in Sept. but even then I'm going to have to compare it.

Does that sound about right?