Anyone NOT happy w/ Meal Plan?

[HLAuburn]

Has anyone used the MYW Meal Plan and not been happy? We're leaning towards adding it to our package, but with an 18 month old, I don't think we'll be able to take advantage of many of the "nicer" sit-down restaurants, which I think it where you really get your money's worth. We have ADRs for Chef Mickey for dinner ($27), Crystal Palace (lunch $21), and dinner at Artist Point (I'm guessing about $100). Other than that, we may do Kona and WCC for dinner, but we wouldn't necessarily go there unless we did have the meal plan.

So how do you really decide if its worth it? Any drawbacks of the plan anyone has?

Thanks

 

[iliketoby]

The very best thing to do is figure out now where you're planning to eat and see if it works for you.

If you do the dining plan, you receive one sit down and one counter service per night. If you don't use 'em, you lose your money. So if you skip a sit down and eat an extra counter service, you'll have to pay for both the meal you didn't eat and the extra one, too.

I'm in the tiny minority that doesn't like the dining plan. We used it for our up-coming trip and it has been such a hassle that I'm not doing it again.

 

[thelionqueen]

If you like to plan in advance, and like Disney restaurants, snacks and counter services, then definitely get the dining plan. We saved over $1300.00 with the free dining plan (if we had to pay for it, we still would have saved $800.00)

If you don't like to make reservations, and don't plan on eating at many Disney food places, then the dining package is probably not for you.

Me, I am an obsessive over planner, and I made the absolute most I could off the dining package. Disney will be happy to know that I will never travel to the world without the dining package! We loved it!!

 

[disneyjunkie]

I used the dining plan last April and loved it. We're using it again next April.

I didn't try to get the most out of it. I just booked the places we wanted to try (teen son and I) and just ordered what we could finish. Many times we skipped the dessert because we were just to full.

I love having our meals prepaid.

Do you think your daughter will enjoy the characters? If so I'd book as many character meals as possible. That way she'll get to enjoy the characters without waiting in long, hot lines.

 

[Ilovestitch]

Just add up how much you plan on spending on the meals you want to do- and see if its more or less than the dining plan.

Our last trip was 3 nights and it was $200 more to add on the dining plan. Well I was already planning on eating 3 sit down meals which would have been over $200 right there- so it made sense to get the dining plan b/c it was like getting all the counter service and snacks for free.

But our next trip is going to be 8 days and we probably won't get the dining plan. We are still probably going to do only 3 or 4 sit down meals- we will mostly do counter service. And a lot of times we share counter service, so that's going to be less than $70/day for the two of us.

I will say the dining plan was surprisingly easy to use and convenient, though. I like how it prints what you have left on the receipt and the convenience of just carrying your kttk card. Like at Typhoon Lagoon, my bf just carried his kttk card in his pocket and that's all we needed to get lunch, snacks, drinks, etc.

-Steph

 

[oots]

if you cannot eat at table service restauarants for dinner-then the dining plan is probably not worth it.

 

[PoohHappens]

Hi, We used the plan in October and we were very happy with it. My husband said he would definately use it again. I think Artist Point is 2 credits so in what you have scheduled you will already use 4 TS credits. Also do not forget that the credits include tax and gratuity, you would have to add that to your buffet prices you listed. So just chef mickeys would cost at least 30 a person and you are only paying 34.99 plus tax. An average CS costs about 10 and a snack 2.50. Because of getting dessert and beverage with your CS we often only used one and split it. We would get a breakfast platter and some fruit or a muffin and a drink and split for breakfast and then would do the same for lunch. We added it up, we were 2 adults and a 3 year old (so we had to pay for the plan for him) 6 nights. Our total food bill was $900 for items purchased with the plan and it cost $480 for the plan. We also loved the convenience of the plan. However we do think it is possible to eat for less money, we have done it, but you have to be very careful and selective with what you eat rather than order whatever you want. Have a great time.

 

[mickeyjen]

Just an FYI... the dining plan prices are going up for 2006. They are $37.99 for adults and $11.99 for kids... Of course, most of the dining prices are going up as well, so it is probably still "worth" the same.

 

[disneyjunkie]

if you cannot eat at table service restauarants for dinner-then the dining plan is probably not worth it.

I think that depends on what you're looking for.

We used our TS credits for dinner, lunch and breakfast. We were able to visit many restaurant we would not have tried if I had to pay out of pocket.

We didn't max out the plan, but it was still worth it for us.

 

[nluvwithmickey]

if you cannot eat at table service restauarants for dinner-then the dining plan is probably not worth it.

ITA. If your daughter is not the kind to want to stay put very long (they often are at this age) then it could be a waste of money. If she likes the characters, then it could be doable....as long as she doesn't freak out when she sees them. My 2 DD's were totally freaked out by Santa at that age.

 

[HLAuburn]

ITA. If your daughter is not the kind to want to stay put very long (they often are at this age) then it could be a waste of money. If she likes the characters, then it could be doable....as long as she doesn't freak out when she sees them. My 2 DD's were totally freaked out by Santa at that age.

Oh she freaked about Santa this year. Of course, putting her on some weird guys lap and having a cute character walking around her are a little different (I hope).

Thanks for all your responses. I think we decided that between CM, CP, Artist Point (just me and DH), Kona, and WCC all for dinner or lunch, we should come out ahead. And my parents will be joining us for a few nights, so we will have some "reinforcements" during long dinners, although most places we chose seem to have pretty lively, entertaining atmospheres.

Thanks again!

 

[imsayin]

Oh she freaked about Santa this year. Of course, putting her on some weird guys lap and having a cute character walking around her are a little different (I hope).

I don't know if there is much difference. DS8 was always afraid of Santa & Disney characters until he was about 6. DD11 never feared any of them.

 

[mgarri]

With our young children we tend to use the buffet meals/all you can eat plated dinners. Our favorite place is 1900 Park Fair for dinner (cinderella) or breakfast (mary poppins & friends last time we checked) For us the buffet's allow us to feed the kids adult food (who wants to have chicken nuggets or mac&cheese every meal) and cut down on the time between being seated and eating. I know this may not seem great to those w/o kids but for us it works out well and we can eat our food in relative peace.