Care to weigh in your thoughts on new dining plan??

[VickiVM]

I'm pretty intrigued about the new dining feature. Part of me thinks it's a pretty good value, but the skeptical Disney-is-only-there-to-make-money part of me says there must be a catch.

We're a family of 5- 3 kids:11, 8 and 6. The eleven year old will have to pay adult prices, but doesn't necessarily eat like an adult every day. The two girls often share a meal, but that doesn't mean they want to eat the same thing each time. I kinda force it on them so food is not wasted.

But still $10/day for each girl is still pretty good considering that's 2 meals and one snack. We can even double up the sit down meal credits for a character breakfast or Hoop-De-Doo. Not so sure if $35/day for the 11 year old is practical, though.

Another thing that is swaying me towards the meal deal is that a sit down meal every day (more or less) forces us to take a relaxed break each day inside an air conditioned restaurant and that may be invaluable as this will be the first time we do Disney in the summer.

So maybe not the most economical way to eat, but seems to have several upsides.

(I just found my expense listing from our trip 2 years ago - food/meals was almost $700, but for 8 days which inlcuded meals while driving there and back). So, maybe this is closer to break even than I first thought.

What do you all think??

 

[Chuck S]

For families with children, it may be a pretty good deal. However ,after our recent trip (we are 2 adults only), I added up our meal costs. Though some days we ate more than the $70 the plan would cost us, overall we ate better meals and "what we wanted" and came out cheaper. Especially if the plan charges for check-in and check-out day, it would have cost us nearly $200 more to go with the plan.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

The dining plan is for the number of NIGHTS not the number of days.

And overall, it might be a really good deal for your family, especially if you go for a character meal (instead of a regular "sit down" meal)

Example day:

Breakfast:
Princess Breakfast (all you care to eat)
2 adults @ $21.99 each + tax and tip = $53.00
3 children @ $11.99 each + tax and tip = $43.70

Early dinner:
Sunshine Season Food Fair (at the land pavilion)
3 "adult" entrees
Chicken Parmesan $6.99
Chicken N Ribs $7.59
Combo Meal - Tuna Salad Sandwich $6.59
3 drinks = $6.00
2 children's meals = $8.00
Total = $37.45 (with tax)

Evening snack:
Gourmet Ice Cream (Chocolate, Vanilla, Mint Chip, Seasonal Flavors) in a waffle cone $3.69 x 5 = $19.65 (with tax)

TOTAL = $154 (roughly and that did not include a dessert with the counter service or any extra sides)
Price of dining plan : $125
Savings: $29

And really, how much more would you need in a day? And just imagine if you substituted someplace like Le Cellier or even the Castle for your sitdown meal!

(Yes, it is verrrrrrry slow at work today and I have a lot of time on my hands, lol)

 

[DisOrBust]

It might save some cash but if your an AP holder you can't do it right? I also like to have some control...somedays we don't eat at a t sit down etc...

I used vouchers with the last trip and thought they saved money I was forced to order items I would not normally to "save". I ordered them after the price hike for CRT. That is totally out of control!!

I am planning 2 trips for coworkers so I am still deciding the whole dinner deal!

 

[armomof3lvsdisney]

I was wondering about appetizers. There are 5 of us 3 adult plans, since ds is 12 and 2 childrens. My question at the sit down meals can we get 3 appetizers? Just wondering, and do the kids get desserts, too. If thats the case what a savings. And I think I read where the tip is included, too.
So many things to think about. I wonder what I would be doing right now, if it wasn't for Disney.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

I have heard rumors that no dinning plan can be added to the AP's right now. No one really knows until Sunday. However in my case I am going to try the dinning plan. Heck that only comes out to $350 and takes care of my meals.

 

[mousefan]

From the training that I have taken, this question was asked to the trainer directly.

the dining plans that will be offered in new offer are for packages only.
Right now they are considering a dining option for AP holders that normally book room only but nothing is set up at this time. Nor is there a time frame for this to be set up.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

mousefan,

That is what I thought, but thanks for letting me know for sure. I can't wait until Sunday so I can see if the new MYW package is as affordable as Disney is saying since I am a WDW solo traveler.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I'm really hoping that they eventually offer this to AP holders as well (before July!). For me, DH, 2 dds, and ds it would only come to $100 a day. I know we spend more than that for one sit down, one counter service, and one snack a day.

 

[VickiVM]

I had forgotten the part about tip being included. There may be more plusses to this plan than I originally anticipated. One thing I have to keep in mind - we don't typically eat at many sit down/full service rest. than we would like because of the expense. This plan may allow is to do so without regretting cost.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

VickiVM,

That is exactly what I like about it. I pay $35 a day and don't have to worry about what the price is.

 

[Becky2005]

I was wondering about appetizers. There are 5 of us 3 adult plans, since ds is 12 and 2 childrens. My question at the sit down meals can we get 3 appetizers? Just wondering, and do the kids get desserts, too. If thats the case what a savings. And I think I read where the tip is included, too.
So many things to think about. I wonder what I would be doing right now, if it wasn't for Disney.

The way I understand it, your 12 year old would get an appetizer, entree & dessert off the adult menu just like you guys would! So, yes 3 appetizers.

And I'm assuming the children also get dessert (but probably off the kids dessert menu if they have one).

That's the way *I'M* reading it...and of course, tax & tip included.

I, personally, like the plan and think for us it will be a good deal but DH's only concession to going to Disney is to "eat big"....so we were already planning 1 sit-down a day anyway! (We are a family of 6 though, with 11, 8, 5 & 1 year old who is free but at the sit-downs, with the plan we will get plenty of food to feed him without having to order anything extra (and this child can EAT!!! ))

 

[bigbabyblues]

It will be a good deal for us. On our last trip, I budgeted $140 a day for food (me, DH, ds age 3 and ds age 15 months at the time), and we used most of it. This was, it would be $80 a day. I think there was only one day we were under $100, so it's a good deal for us. We do one sit down meal (usually a character) every day, sometimes two. Of course, our 15-mo old was free. Since we plan to eat the same way on our next trip, I will probably get the dining package.

Steph

 

[Nik's Mom]

I figured it out, and we would save money on this new package. DS will still be 2 when we go, but other DS will be 5 and doesn't eat much, so he'll split his plate with his brother or I will give him some of my food. Plus, we'll eat a more variety of food, including character meals! I'll be calling on1/2/05 to get more details.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

I think that this plan will open up alot of food options that people like myself would never have done without it. Never in my life have I spend more than $30-$40 on a meal and that was when I went to Hawaii last new years. Some of the places on the list are $25-$40 places, so paying $35 a day for two meals and a snack is great, plus I only eat donuts or muffins and a glass of juice in the morning anyways. This will let me try out all of those places that I couldn't eat at the last time I went.

 

[Lezah]

I too am really hoping that they are going to have a dining plan like this for AP holders who stay onsite with room-only bookings. It would only make sense for them to do it considering the amount of money that AP holders drop in the parks every year. We would totally use the $35 dining plan. I asked the question at a TA online seminar I took earlier this month, but the facilitator conveniently ignored it!! I think possibly because they don't know the answer to the question yet! We'll have to just wait and see. We go on one trip for about 13 days and then the next year normally for the same amount of time, so an AP or PAP is the only way for us to go to make it affordable for us.

 

[crisi]

Not offered for us DVCers at the moment, but we will jump on it if it is! And we may still end up buying a sit down meal or two, after doing some "special" meals.

We will spend about $35 by the time you add tax and tip to our dinners. And we always eat a sit down dinner. So we'd be getting lunch for free.

And our kids are the same...sometimes they eat, sometimes they don't. But we still buy it for them and put it in front of them.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

crisi,

I am with you. After paying for one sit down meal which could run you $35, you basically do get another meal and a snack for free.

 

[fredms]

When is Disney going to care about DVC members and annual pass holders? I am so frustrated that this meal plan isn't open to some of its most loyal customers. Weak!

 

[MagicKingdom05]

fredms,

I am sure at some point soon, they will allow AP and DVC members to add the dinning plan on. At this point it is only something that can be added to a Disney vacation package, but I am sure that they will take a look at things in two or three months and tweek as they see fit.