Can someone please explain the meal plans?

[Sy-]

I was looking at the packages available durring our stay and saw that for our party 3 adults 2 kids(4,2) they want $360 for "Donald's 3 Day Meal Plan" and $500, $700, and $800 for the 4, 5, and 6 day meal pland respectively. Can someone explain how these work? Is it just a credit that gets applies to my room and I just charge all my dining back to the room or do they give vouchers that I use at the restaurants? Are the vouchers worth a specific ammount? Would a voucher used ar Country Bear be a waste since it could have also been used at the more expensive Blue Bayou? Can you use em for character dinings like Aeriel's Grotto? Thanks for any help.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

they are good
worth 5 10 and 15dollers and then charcter meals im getting 5day one for my family getting brekfest lunch and dinner and 2 15doller ones and 4 10 and some 5 and snacks.
I say they are worth it i like them. Many others dont they say its like pre paying well for me it works seeing as i have money once a year and it goes fast so spending money on food meal plans and knowing when we are there i dont have to worry how much i have in bank for food. well to me it works

Minnie's 5 Days of Disney Dining Plan
Disney's special dining plans make it easy for you to sample a bit of everything while using vouchers instead of cash. For an extra touch of magic, don't miss our Disney Character Dining experiences, available at these locations (priority seating required*) :
• Goofy's Kitchen
o Disneyland® Hotel (serving breakfast, lunch and dinner)
• Lilo and Stitch Aloha Breakfast
o Disney's Paradise Pier® Hotel
• Chip 'n Dale Critter Breakfast
o Disney's Grand Californian Hotel® & Spa
• Minnie and Friends Breakfast
o Disneyland® Park
• Disney Princess Celebration Character Lunch/Dinner**
o Ariel's Grotto in Disney's California Adventure® Park
Minnie's 5 Days of Disney Dining Plan
13 Disney Dining choices per person.
Adult/Junior Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Character Lunch or Dinner 1
Dinner with Goofy 1
Breakfast in the Park 1
Snack Voucher 3
$5 Meal Voucher 1
$10 Meal Voucher 3
$15 Meal Voucher 2
Child Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Character Lunch or Dinner 1
Dinner with Goofy 1
Breakfast in the Park 1
Snack Voucher 3
$5 Meal Voucher 2
$10 Meal Voucher 4
*Priority Seating is required for all table service restaurants in Disneyland® Park, Disney's California Adventure® and the Resort Hotels. Please call Disney Dining up to 60 days in advance to arrange Priority Seating (714) 781 - DINE
Some restaurant locations may charge a nominal fee for guests 2 years and under.
** Voucher for Princess Celebration Character Lunch/Dinner may be applied to the cost of any meal at a Resort Table Service restaurant open for lunch or dinner, including Character Dining. Daily operating hours may vary. Applicable Table Service locations include: Ariel's Grotto, Steakhouse 55, Hook's Pointe, Goofy's Kitchen, PCH Grill, Yamabuki, Storyteller's Cafe, Napa Rose, Blue Bayou, Carnation Cafe, Vineyard Room, Wine Country Trattoria.
13 Disney Dining choices per person Adult/Junior
$188.87
Child
$132.78
-------------------------------------------
Mickey's 6 Days of Disney Dining Plan
Disney's special dining plans make it easy for you to sample a bit of everything while using vouchers instead of cash. For an extra touch of magic, don't miss our Disney Character Dining experiences, available at these locations (priority seating required*) :
• Goofy's Kitchen
o Disneyland® Hotel (serving breakfast, lunch and dinner)
• Lilo and Stitch Aloha Breakfast
o Disney's Paradise Pier® Hotel
• Chip 'n Dale Critter Breakfast
o Disney's Grand Californian Hotel® & Spa
• Minnie and Friends Breakfast
o Disneyland® Park
• Disney Princess Celebration Character Lunch/Dinner**
o Ariel's Grotto in Disney's California Adventure® Park
Mickey's 6 Days of Disney Dining Plan
15 Disney Dining choices per person.
Adult/Junior Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Character Lunch or Dinner 1
Dinner with Goofy 1
Breakfast in the Park 2
Snack Voucher 3
$10 Meal Voucher 4
$15 Meal Voucher 3
Child Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Character Lunch or Dinner 1
Dinner with Goofy 1
Breakfast in the Park 3
Snack Voucher 2
$10 Meal Voucher 4
$15 Meal Voucher 1
*Priority Seating is required for all table service restaurants in Disneyland® Park, Disney's California Adventure® and the Resort Hotels. Please call Disney Dining up to 60 days in advance to arrange Priority Seating (714) 781 - DINE
Some restaurant locations may charge a nominal fee for guests 2 years and under.
** Voucher for Princess Celebration Character Lunch/Dinner may be applied to the cost of any meal at a Resort Table Service restaurant open for lunch or dinner, including Character Dining. Daily operating hours may vary. Applicable Table Service locations include: Ariel's Grotto, Steakhouse 55, Hook's Pointe, Goofy's Kitchen, PCH Grill, Yamabuki, Storyteller's Cafe, Napa Rose, Blue Bayou, Carnation Cafe, Vineyard Room, Wine Country Trattoria.
15 Disney Dining choices per person
Adult/Junior
$219.41
Child
$158.32

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Dining is much much different at DL then it is a WDW. Yes, they give you vouchers for your meals. They can be used for Character meals too I believe. But it's just prepaying for your meals basically, there really is no money saved. Plus you can't use them in DTD or obviously outside at places on Harbor (like Mimi's for example).

To me it's not really worth it, since I'm not saving anything, and it limits my choices of where we can go. I just budget and save my food money ahead of time, and this way we can go where we want.

 

[bumbershoot]

While there are vouchers good for "a character breakfast", most of them are dollar amounts. The "breakfast in the park" voucher is a certain dollar amount as well (when I was looking into the plan I thought it was for Minnie's but it's not).

With these vouchers, if you want to buy some food that is 4.50 and you use a $5 voucher, you will NOT get change back. So if you increase what you're buying and use a $5 voucher towards a $5.50 food purchase, you'll be giving them an extra 50 cents out of your pocket.

It seems like it would be convenient in a way (and there are fans!) but if I am buying something for convenient it needs to be convenient. And to me, having to pay extra when I feel like I have a "plan" doesn't feel convenient.


So I put my budgeted food and souvie money into Disney giftcards and use those instead of card or cash (there are some outdoor vendors that don't take cards, though, so you either don't use them or carry *some* cash or Disney Dollars on you).


There are also people who go for a 6 night stay but buy, for example, 3 days worth of dining plan. That's allowed at DLR and I can't explain why, but I like that idea.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

were only gona be there 4 days but on the day were nt in the park we will celbrate ds bday at gooffys diner then the next day do the parks.
we do use the brekfest in park for minnies just pay with vouchers or money the rest. we see it very worth it as minnies was my DH's fav..becouse of the cast member JAMIE? short blond and had a grate personality really stood out made sure every charcter came to our table she was awsome

 

[Sy-]

Sounds like more of a hassle than what it's worth. Does anyone know if we are able to charge meals (counter service or sit down) back to the hotel room if I'm staying on property? Does the Hotel add a surcharge to these purchases? I really don't want to carry hundreds or thousands of dollars on me while I'm in the park, like I've done in the past. I dont assume that I can't charge a churro and soda from one of those carts back to the room? If I can charge most of my meals back to the room I see any advantage to the dining plans as they don't save any $$$. Am I missing someting?

 

[JadeDarkstar]

um im not sure i thought there was something where you could get a card and charge things to your room? i dont know tho

 

[bumbershoot]

Sounds like more of a hassle than what it's worth. Does anyone know if we are able to charge meals (counter service or sit down) back to the hotel room if I'm staying on property? Does the Hotel add a surcharge to these purchases? I really don't want to carry hundreds or thousands of dollars on me while I'm in the park, like I've done in the past. I dont assume that I can't charge a churro and soda from one of those carts back to the room? If I can charge most of my meals back to the room I see any advantage to the dining plans as they don't save any $$$. Am I missing someting?

I don't know about the carts, but you can charge to your onsite room at restaurants and for souvenirs. When you check in you'll get your room key and a "charge slip", which is a smallish white piece of paper that is proof that you're currently staying at the hotel. To charge to your room you need that, to send souvenirs back to your room (to be delivered the following day) you'll need that, and to get in to MMs on each day it's offered during your stay, you'll need that charge slip.




Jade, that's interesting you could use the voucher towards Minnie's. But I guess since it's just a dollar amount that makes sense. But when I was planning I thought it was FOR Minnie's, so I thought I was getting another character meal. The one that was included in the 3 day plan I was looking at, plus the one I got "free" booking through Costco, plus what I *thought* was Minnie's was just too many character meals for us. When I realized later it was just a dollar amount I felt kinda silly.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

oh, ya we could go to some cart and get food in the doller amount but we chose minnies it wasnt to much more at least not when we looked at it. but like i said some pl dont like it i think im the only one who stands up for them lol
I do agree they could give change or make it diffrent in one way or another
but hay nothings perfect if it was we would be in disney land every day and say f the world lol

 

[bumbershoot]

No you're not the only one, I've seen two others I can think of right now.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

lol hehe cool idk i can see some ppls points it just seems better for my family but i could see some ppl it not working for