biggest bang for your buck with Dining Plan

[3kidz4dis]

On a previous post I mentioned we have a lot of Character meals which are buffets but now we added the dining plan and are wondering if we are making the most of the plan because we could do a few more sit down dinners where you are actually able to spend more for the same coupon. I did change my Trails End to Le Cellier. Does anyone have a good suggestion for a nice sit down where the 1 coupon will go a long way. I guess I do not have to necessary cancel any character meals, maybe just pay cash for them. thanks!

 

[MariDisney]

I don't really have any specific suggestions for you. I just wanted to share my opinion about our upcoming use of the dining plan. We generally would have a TS meal every day, anyway. So, I made the ADRs for the places we really wanted to go without too much thought to whether I could actually spend more money at a different restaurant. I want to be able to say, "boy, we had the best time at such and such" rather than "boy, can you believe our dinner would have cost us 200 bucks if we paid OOP". I did make one extra TS ADR above the dining plan, so of course it makes sense to pay OOP for the cheapest meal, which will be a one of our character breakfasts. But, overall I'm sure the per day cost of the dining plan is less than I would spend at the restaurants we really want to go to, so that's good enough for me.

OK, I do have one suggestion...the Brown Derby at MGM is pricey and really good, so that'd be a good bang for your buck place. And if you haven't been to Le Cellier yet, you'll love it!

 

[3kidz4dis]

I don't really have any specific suggestions for you. I just wanted to share my opinion about our upcoming use of the dining plan. We generally would have a TS meal every day, anyway. So, I made the ADRs for the places we really wanted to go without too much thought to whether I could actually spend more money at a different restaurant. I want to be able to say, "boy, we had the best time at such and such" rather than "boy, can you believe our dinner would have cost us 200 bucks if we paid OOP". I did make one extra TS ADR above the dining plan, so of course it makes sense to pay OOP for the cheapest meal, which will be a one of our character breakfasts. But, overall I'm sure the per day cost of the dining plan is less than I would spend at the restaurants we really want to go to, so that's good enough for me.

OK, I do have one suggestion...the Brown Derby at MGM is pricey and really good, so that'd be a good bang for your buck place. And if you haven't been to Le Cellier yet, you'll love it!

I agree, however when we were running the numbers to decide whether or not the dining plan was worth it using the the meals we currently have reserved (mostly buffets and character meals) it was basically at a little under break even, so we just thought we should evaluate what we have and make some different experiences anyway without all the up and down of a buffet while at the same time making more use of the dining plan and making us do better than break even. Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[ducklite]

My suggestion is that you can get the biggest bang by eating where you want to eat instead of trying to squeeze every last cent out of the plan. It's a good deal no matter how you look at it, so I'd just go with what you had already planned, because that's what you had wanted.

MHO.

Anne

 

[my4kids]

Isn't LeCellier 2 TS credits now?

 

[pepperw23]

I don't really have any specific suggestions for you. I just wanted to share my opinion about our upcoming use of the dining plan. We generally would have a TS meal every day, anyway. So, I made the ADRs for the places we really wanted to go without too much thought to whether I could actually spend more money at a different restaurant. I want to be able to say, "boy, we had the best time at such and such" rather than "boy, can you believe our dinner would have cost us 200 bucks if we paid OOP". I did make one extra TS ADR above the dining plan, so of course it makes sense to pay OOP for the cheapest meal, which will be a one of our character breakfasts. But, overall I'm sure the per day cost of the dining plan is less than I would spend at the restaurants we really want to go to, so that's good enough for me.

OK, I do have one suggestion...the Brown Derby at MGM is pricey and really good, so that'd be a good bang for your buck place. And if you haven't been to Le Cellier yet, you'll love it!

Oh you lucky duck!! Looks like you are leaving tomorrow??

 

[Brooknwdw]

Hi!

Having used the Dining Plan on our trip in June, I can tell you that you will come out ahead (if you would normally eat a TS per day anyway) no matter where you eat at.

We did alot of Character meals b/c of our kids, which tend to be buffets or family style dining. You will enjoy those SO much!
In fact the only ones I can remember that weren't were Prime time & the one in France.

We still got a great deal. It is much less stressful to eat where you want to rather than try to figure out which one would "pay off" the most.

I do want to eat at LeCellier next time though, everyone seems to rave about it.
HTH

 

[3kidz4dis]

Isn't LeCellier 2 TS credits now?

When I made the reservation they said it was one.

 

[Brooknwdw]

OH...my above post was true for us, we had 2 kids under 10 so they were both $10.99 per day. If some of yours are charged as adults, that may change the value a bit, not sure.

Next trip our oldest will be 10, so that will add alot more $$ to our dining plan.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Brown Derby is two. So not worth the TS credits.

Le Cellier and Teppanyaki are good values.

 

[gigi1313]

we got the best bang for our buck at Boatwrights' at POR... we were staying at POFQ so it was an easy trip for us to get there...

other places where you get a lot of good quality food for one TS credit are: LeCellier, Teppanyaki, and Coral Reef

 

[SheenaXena21]

We had the DP on our last trip. If I could have done it all over again, I would allow us only one buffet. We had 2 girls, ages 5 and 7, and they were happy with or without characters present. The food is so much better when it's not a buffet. They were not that good, and in my OPINION, we wasted 2 TS credits going to these buffets. We loved Le Cellier and ended up eating there twice. Also, the Whispering anyon Cafe had really good food, IF you order off of the menu, don't get the all-you-can-eat fare, it wasn't that good. Plus the kids enjoyed it and the Wilderness Lodge was beautiful. Our next trip, we're going to try Liberty Tree Tavern. It has gotten great reviews, and it is a character dinner. Plus, it's not a buffet.

 

[MariDisney]

Oh you lucky duck!! Looks like you are leaving tomorrow??

Indeed we are...have already done online check in for Air Tran and leave for the airport at 4:30 am...that's just about 13 1/2 hours!!!

 

[kittythepoohbear]

California Grill all the way! This is one place we always wanted to eat in, but the prices were a bit steep for our normal vacation budget. With the DP, we enjoyed the best meal of our trip. It is 2 TS credits, but we paid for one of the buffets OOP in order to save the extra TS credit for CG.

Kat