Best for character meals?

[Delphinidae]

Okay, I just recently jumped into planning for a trip next year. I have not been to Disney since before they started the dining plans so this is all new territory! I think that we may end up coming out ahead just paying OOP, except for the fact that my husband pretty much eats his own body weight in food! I found the link to the menus for all the restaurants and am in the process of adding up what I think we would order at the places we'd like to go and comparing that price to the price of the different plans, but my real question is this: this will be the first time my girls will visit Disney, so of course we are thinking of trying to do some character meals, if they are at all interested. I believe that you can only use TS credits for character meals, correct? Would the "regular" dining plan be enough to do a couple of meals or is the deluxe recommended? I'm guessing either of those would be better than paying OOP for character meals? If it weren't for my husband I don't think we'd be bothering with a plan at all!

 

[Faldred]

The phrase "I believe that you can only use TS credits for character meals, correct? " is confusing, so rather than just say yes or no, I'll phrase it as: all character meals require a TS credit (except Cinderella's Royal Table, which requires 2 TS credits per person).

For children under 10, character meals and other buffet-type places are generally good value for the credit, as a child's admission to that one meal is pretty much the DDP cost for the day. For adults, it tends to be a bit iffy... the value of a DDP TS credit is high enough that many buffets are actually "losing" propositions on the basic DDP (though of course, cost comparisons should look at the entire trip, not just each meal in isolation).

Deluxe (DxDP) only makes sense if you're planning on doing two or more TS meals per night of your stay and/or a lot of signature (2 TS credit per person) dining. Families using DxDP often do more character meals simply because they have the credits to do so

 

[Cafeen]

One thing to keep in mind, and this is especially true for first trips (in awhile) and/or trips with little ones, is that each meal can take upwards of 60-90 minutes from getting your seat to paying the check. (So, add travel and potential wait time too). Depending on your length of stay, this may be too much time taken out for DxDDP.

For the normal DDP, it's typically worth it IF (and only IF) you're planning to dine the way the plan suggests. That is, 1 TS and 1 CS per night of stay, with no apps, but desserts and soft drinks at all meals, with your kids getting kids meals if they're under 10 and adult meals if 10 or over. It's quite a big caveat, but it's pretty important to making sure that you're not paying extra. Another good rule of thumb, is that if you're over on TS credits, pay OOP for adult character breakfasts (and DDP for kids ones) and DDP for adult a la carte meals (and OOP for kids ones). (Note that you can't only get DDP for part of your party, but you may split up the checks as to who's using DDP and who is not just like you would split a check at a restaurant at home).

So, in answer to the question. If you're only interested in a few sit down meals (one per night of stay), I'd focus on the DDP over the Deluxe. If you're interested in many sit down meals (at least 2 per day along with some signatures), then I'd look at Deluxe. If only interested in a few sit down meals (less than one per night), I'd strongly recommend going OOP.

 

[huffjoann]

the cost of the character meals we were interested in last trip convinced me that the DDP was well worth it. I am sure some days we ate less than our day "allotment" but I know some days we ate well over it. so in the end it was worth it for us. I even was a crazy lunatic and kept all our dining receipts to just prove to myself I was right, LOL.

 

[satorifound]

We did the regular dining plan our last trip with the four kids. With so many people (and free dining) it was definately worth it. We did the Chip and Dale meal at Epcot (above the land ride) and a character meal at MK (Crystal Palace I believe). Our food totalled up to about $250 a day that we didn't have to pay. Of course, we did have to pay tips and they are automatically calculated with a party of 6 or more.

 

[Delphinidae]

Thanks for all the replies, and sorry about my confusing wording, I was trying to ask if I was correct in thinking that character meals can only be paid for with TS credits, not (for example) 2 CS credits.

So, in answer to the question. If you're only interested in a few sit down meals (one per night of stay), I'd focus on the DDP over the Deluxe. If you're interested in many sit down meals (at least 2 per day along with some signatures), then I'd look at Deluxe. If only interested in a few sit down meals (less than one per night), I'd strongly recommend going OOP.

This was pretty much what I was thinking. We don't want to do one EVERY night, but I did want to do at least one character meal, possibly two. Eating is definitely not the focus of our trip, but I think they would enjoy the experience at least once. Question: do the parents HAVE to use their credits for a character meal even if they aren't going to eat, just take pictures? I'm guessing probably so since most (all?) of these meals are buffets, huh?

Paying OOP sounds like it would probably work, but I keep reading about people not being able to just walk into a restaurant anymore and find a table, though I'm guessing this complaint doesn't apply to the Quick Service restaurants, does it? Sorry for all the questions!

 

[Faldred]

Character meals, dinner shows, and other buffets in general are "admission" meals. Everyone over 2 who attends has to pay (in some fashion, whether OOP or by credits), regardless if they're eating or not.

As far as "walk ups" you can still make advance dining reservations (ADR) even without a dining plan -- as far ahead as 180 days in advance.

 

[squirrel]

Character meals, dinner shows, and other buffets in general are "admission" meals. Everyone over 2 who attends has to pay (in some fashion, whether OOP or by credits), regardless if they're eating or not.

As far as "walk ups" you can still make advance dining reservations (ADR) even without a dining plan -- as far ahead as 180 days in advance.

Actually it starts when your child turns 3. Unless of course they turned 3 during the trip.

 

[Faldred]

Actually it starts when your child turns 3.

3 is "over 2".

 

[Cafeen]

Paying OOP sounds like it would probably work, but I keep reading about people not being able to just walk into a restaurant anymore and find a table, though I'm guessing this complaint doesn't apply to the Quick Service restaurants, does it? Sorry for all the questions!

You can still make reservations (for TS restaurants) even if planning to pay OOP. Reservations do not require the dining plans at all .

You are correct that the CS ones don't apply, as they do not take reservations at all.

3 is "over 2".

So is 2.5