Buffet Question....

[DopeyDonald]

I absolutely know that I will need to research and price out meals etc., but just off the cuff...are Character Buffets really a bad use of the dining plan?

We are thinking of trying the DDP this year (we've rented DVC points) but are interested in alot of character meals. I've heard it around the boards that these buffets are a bad use of the TS credits. I can see for some of the lower priced ones, but man some of those buffets are around $40 a head. So....before I launch into spreadsheet land..what are your thoughts on this.

Thanks so much!

Just some other info too.....we are not fancy, sitdown kind of people. We prefer buffets, and restaurants like WCC. My son will be 10 in July so it's adult prices for him. We generally only eat 2 meals a day. A big buffet breakfast, a snack in the middle and then an earlier supper. We do enjoy the character buffets very much and know that you are paying to have that interaction.

 

[Liv4Dis]

I personally don't think character meals (buffets) are a bad use of the dining plan but everyone will have their own opinion.

From what you wrote about your family, I think you answered your own question by saying that your family enjoys buffets -- adding the characters to a meal that everyone in your family already likes just makes the experience better. Happy dining!

 

[tinker&belle]

I don't think the character buffets are a bad use. I added up the price of 5 of our 6 meals I want for TS (all character meals, one being CRT 2 credits) The total comes up 60 short of the total dining plan cost. We also want to eat at Rainforest which will be close to the 60. This means all of the QS meals, snacks and the mugs are pretty much free.

We are getting free dining so it won't matter much anyway but crunching the numbers I think I would pay for it if we were going with a room discount instead.

 

[vicki_c]

From what I have read here (not being a DDP person myself), I think characters meals are normally a very good use of your dining credits - especially for kids.

Kids DDP costs $15 a day and character meals for kids usually run more than that (Chef Mickey's shows $20 for kids for dinner right now). And they would still have a CS and snack credits remaining on the regular plan. So that is really a good deal. (Obviously n/a for your son who is 10.)

Similarly, the adult dining plan is $51 now, and Chef Mickey's dinner is $40 for adults. If you purchase a CS meal and some snacks worth more than $11 (which you definitely would) you have made money on the plan that day.

What is often recommended is to not use credits for less expensive locations - like the Plaza. And also not to use 2 credits for signatures I have also seen posted.

(PS - I got all my #s from allears.)

 

[TDC Nala]

Because of their cost and all you can eat nature, character meals are currently one of the best uses of the dining plan (except possibly CRT, the only 2 credit character meal). They are especially excellent deals for children under 10.

At the inception of the dining plan they were not the best deal for adults - adults could do better at a la cartes - but the prices have risen so much that adults can now realize savings on DDP if they book a lot of character meals.

 

[summermac]

Because of their cost and all you can eat nature, character meals are currently one of the best uses of the dining plan (except possibly CRT, the only 2 credit character meal). They are especially excellent deals for children under 10.

At the inception of the dining plan they were not the best deal for adults - adults could do better at a la cartes - but the prices have risen so much that adults can now realize savings on DDP if they book a lot of character meals.

Right, they're not a bad use of DDP b/c of the COST per person. This is probably why WDW has raised the costs so much at the character meals/buffets. They WANT you to use your dining credit there (so you feel like you SAVED money) because in reality it certainly doesn't cost them $40 pp for that meal. Or $20 for kids. I can usually eat on vacation (non WDW that is) for $40 a DAY not $40 a meal.

WDW ain't stupid. LOL!

 

[icc2515]

Character dinners are a great use of the dining plan. Breakfasts not so much. I just took a look over at All Ears and they report that a character breakfast at the Crystal Palace is about $28 while the dinner is about $41. We eat at a lot of buffets for dinner at Disney and feel that we do OK with the plan. We eat an early lunch and a late dinner. We very rarely do breakfast at home and the same goes for vacation.

 

[havoc315]

The pricing structure has changed over the last few years. While prices of the buffets and te ddp has risen at an astronomical rate -- 10-15% per year, the ala carte restaurant pricing has risen more normally.

Thus, practically the ONLY good uses of the ddp -- are ala carte steak dinners, and buffet dinners (not breakfast or lunch).

The break even point for a TS meal is about $34-- which is physically impossible at many ala carte restaurants. So any meal over $34, is a good use of credits.

 

[3pletprincesses]

Credit used on breakfast are usually a bad use of credits because of the value except for character meals IMO

 

[CrabbyPatty]

I think you also need to factor in the value of NOT having to stand in line for however long to get a character signature!

Especially in hot weather (we go to WDW in late August), it's priceless to be able to go to Akershus for breakfast, get your Belle picture, meet all the princesses, have a nice breakfast buffet (which usually keeps us full for quite some time), and bypass the hot hot character lines.

 

[dhardawa]

The reason I do the dining plan is for character meals and, for us, buffets are the way to go. The kids are much more likely to find food they like and my son, who is 4, is a BIG eater. The kids menu doesn't offer enough food to fill him up so a buffet or family style dining is the way to go with him.

 

[Singinglizzie]

I've been asking myself the same question, so starting making a list of the costs at some of these place to see if it is a good value. We are upgrading to the deluxe plan, which runs approx. $86 per adult during the "regular season" verses basic dining which is approx. $52. (excluding snacks and the refillable mug - which is of no value to us) that's approx. $28 per table credit using the delux or $26 using the basic plan. However the deluxe gets you an appetizer + 2 snacks a day, so really my plan uses fuzzy math.


Here are some of the Character Meal/Buffett costs:
Akershaus Breakfast: $39.40
Tusker Breakfast $24.90
Boma (non-character) Breakfast: $24.90
Park Fare BF: $26.62
Chef Mickeys BF $35.14
House of Blues Sunday brunch $33.50

Ohana Dinner $32.99
Boma (non-character) dinner $39.40
Cape May Clambake $42.59
Chef Mickeys $40.96
Park Fare Dinner $42.59


Using my "fuzzy' math, they all appear to be a good value except for Tusker & Boma. Yet, my Sister wants to eat at Tusker - so we are eatring there anyway. Hope this was useful.