Can someone help me with my meal plans?

[eskgwin]

Hello everyone. We are going to DW August 10-19. We have 6 day park hoppers/water parks and 2 days at the pool. Here are my plans so far:

August 10 - Arrival at Beach Club Resort - Cape May Buffet for dinner

August 11 - AK - Yak & Yeti for lunch/MK after AK closes

August 12 - Epcot - Le Cellier for lunch/MK - La Hacienda de San Angel for dinner with illuminations seating

August 13 - Pool - Ohana for breakfast/Kouzzina for dinner

August 14 - HS - 50's Prime Time for lunch/Hollywood and Vine Fantasmic for dinner/MK at night

August 15 - AK/HS - Sci Fi Theater for dinner

August 16 - Water Parks/Epcot - Coral Reef for dinner

August 17 - Pool - Chef Mickey's for breakfast/T-Rex for Dinner

August 18 - Epcot - Biergarten for lunch/MK for Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party (if it still is available).

Do you think we have too many TS? Other meals not listed will be CS or snacks. It seems like we might be park hopping too much. We are not morning people so we will use the late nights when available.

We are not going to do the dining plan because we plan to share meals and one of the kids will probably want to eat kids meals when she can (she will be 11, but does not like much adult food).

Please let me know. Thanks for your help everyone.

Allyson

 

[Eeyore's Pal]

You may want to do the math on having one adult member of your party upgrading to an AP and then buying a TiW card. With a family of six, that many TS meals, and the added 10% merchandise discount, you may very well come out ahead.

$372.75 6 day PH with Plus options, expiring - Adult
$531.44 AP Adult
$158.69 Extra cost
+
$ 75.00 TiW membership
$233.60 Total Additional cost

Potential Savings for family of 6:
$50 per person for souvenirs = $300
10% AP savings = $60
$125 per TS meal x 13 meals in your list = $1625
20% TiW savings = $325
TOTAL Potential Savings = $385
Minus Additional cost of AP/TiW = $91.40

 

[eskgwin]

Hee hee hee! I have no idea what you just said. I feel so ridiculous. Can you explain what you mean? We are 5 people - me, DH, DD1 (13), DD2 (11) and DD3 (11). Maybe I should cut it down to one TS meal a day and then get the dining plan? But we plan on sharing meals or just getting an appetizer and dessert. We know the girls won't eat a whole adult meal.

I have to start making my ADR's on Feb. 11 and am so behind in planning.

Thanks for all the advice.

Allyson

 

[Eeyore's Pal]

Sorry to be so confusing....

There's no harm in two TS meals per day; lots of people do that and only eat two meals, snacking in between.

We never do a dining plan because we like appetizers and rarely eat dessert with dinner. We sometimes make a meal of just appetizers too.

I have an annual pass (AP) and used that to purchase the Tables in Wonderland (TiW) card. TiW gives you a 20% discount at all TS locations and at some QS locations. The AP also gives you a 10% discount on all merchandise purchases (souvenirs, t-shirts, etc).

The calculations I provided show how much you might save if you upgraded one adult to an AP and that person purchased the TiW card. I used fairly conservative estimates for your meals. I think your actual cost of TS meals will be higher because you have five adults and have selected several fixed price meals, and I made no allowance for alcoholic drinks at all. TiW discount works in all bars too.

Hope this extra detail helps!

 

[eskgwin]

Thank you for explaining. It does make more sense. We don't drink alcohol usually (but who knows). We do have a few buffets (3 I think) so those are fixed prices. I will look into the AP and TIW. Thank you so much.

Allyson

 

[Wendy31]

I agree w/ the PP & think that one of you upgrading your ticket to an AP & then purchasing the TiW card would probably save you some money.

Or, you might price out the DP & see how much it would be vs. how much you would be paying OOP.

You have 6 meals planned (I believe) at which you won't be allowed to share & your DDs will be charged the adult price - Cape May Buffet, Ohana, Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic Dinner Package, Chef Mickey's, Biergarten, & the Dessert Party.

We're in the same boat for our upcoming trip... we'll have 2 Disney "adults", & my 11 year old DD just does not eat like an adult yet! We will have the DxDP, & I am dreading paying the $80/day for her!

Oh, & we enjoy Mama Melrose's for our FDP more than Hollywood & Vine... we were not impressed at all w/ our dinner at Hollywood & Vine, but have enjoyed our meals at Mama Melrose's!

 

[purple figment]

You may want to do the math on having one adult member of your party upgrading to an AP and then buying a TiW card. With a family of six, that many TS meals, and the added 10% merchandise discount, you may very well come out ahead.

$372.75 6 day PH with Plus options, expiring - Adult
$531.44 AP Adult

Since you have the 6 day PH with Plus options (waterpark,DisneyQuest) the corresponding adult AP would be the Premium AP ($629 + tax = $669.89). Currently, this AP will give you 20% discount on merchandise. If the adult with the AP isn't planning to go to the waterparks or DisneyQuest, then you could get the regular AP ($499 + tax = $531.44)

Any AP is automatically a park hopper. Since the person with the AP will be able to go to the parks everyday, if the rest of you want to add days to your 6day tickets, it will only cost about $5 per ticket for each additional day.

Of the TS restaurants you have listed, all 5 of the buffets, the Fantasmic package and the Dessert party will charge each person attending the Adult price so sharing won't work at any of these.

Also, T-Rex does not take TIW. Here's a link to some information and a list of the restaurants participating in TIW:

http://allears.net/din/dde.htm

 

[Hootch]

per day are not too much food in my opinion. You may find that the other meal on a two TS day may be more a snack than a meal.

The one drawback many people find is that two TS meals requires scheduling time to ensure you're at the restaurant on time, which often requires cutting out certain activities that take time or have waits, and the actual time for the meal. If you must see some of the characters at the meals it could be 90 minutes. These things can take a lot of time away from the parks.

 

[eskgwin]

I really appreciate all the help. I have been making myself crazy with all these plans. It sure was easier when the kids were under 10. Gosh darn kids. Always growing.

I think I am going to stick with the plan that I have and am still deciding on the AP and TIW and DDP options. I am going to make my ADR's starting on Friday. I hope we can get it all in.

Thanks again.

Allyson

 

[DCbride]

I don't think you are hopping to much especially with the ages of your kids. I like the way you have pool time in the plan too. My only thing is I didn't see the MK in the morning, you might want to begin a day there.

The only restaurant that I have not heard great things about is TRex. Since you do not have a 5-12 yo boy going, you might want to skip that one, unless someone is a dino fan.

And I love Cape May as your first night choice while you check in!