Children & The Dining Plan

[BellyBaby]

My DH, DS (13 at time of trip) and DD (will be 2 1/2) when we go end of Jan. 08.

Has anyone else gone during low season and found the parks to be crowded enough that a table service every evening may be too much stimulation for a toddler? The dining plan sounds wonderful, but I'm worried that being in parks for a week solid might be too much and she'll act up by dinner time. We're thinking of staying at the Contemporary b/c it's super close to MK (for baby's sake), decor doesn't have Mickey in your face 24/7 (baby's and DH's sake) We will of course still come back midday for naps, but still worried sit down dinner every evening (and long dinner at that, with the appetizer and desserts) will be too much. Any thoughts or experiences with that?

 

[Wilsonfamily4]

We went in January and loved the dining plan with our children 4 and 2. We had ADR's and used all of them. They didn't act up at any restaurant except the first night after we flew in and had been in a plane for HOURS AND HOURS and it was late. Even then the restaurant was fun enough to distract them.
Love the dining plan and will always get it! It was great to "bribe" them with eating dinner so they could get dessert. We don't normally buy desserts so it was fun. Some restaurants like Coral Reef let the kids get a specialty drink fo rtheir drink. My DD4 thought this was great. We would have never done this without the DDP. Our son was 2 so he did not get the dining plan. That was nice as between the 3 of us there was plenty of food to offer him. Most of the time they wouldn't charge us for a drink for him. A few times we paid OOP for a dessert for him. It worked great.

 

[Elmo888]

Our DD2 did fine. Just make ADRs for early in the evening. I would just plan on a snack after the naps. I made mostly 5 pm ADRs, so I didn't plan on her snacking. She still needed one.

Also, we never left the parks before 1, she never took a nap before 2, and we had a difficult time getting to a 5 pm ADR (in most cases, you really need to leave an hour before your ADR). Next time, I'll make ADRs for 6 pm or so. I thought that she would be napping by 1, but that didn't work out. Consider your schedule before you make ADRs.

I think that the keys are snacks and an early evening dinner, and you should be fine.

 

[jenseib]

I think it will all depend on your child too. We are doing the plan. We leave in 9 days!! I have been doing planning since last Sept. But we didn't book a date till Jan. My DD has changed so much in just those few months. She was 2 in Dec. We have decided NOT to go back for naps. She is in a phase where she fights them now, and doesn't take one every day, or takes a cat nap in the car. Other days she sleeps several hours. But she won't go to sleep if we are in the room with her. We are hoping for a "stroller nap" We may just get on the monrail and take a spin to help her along. She is usually good in a resturant if she has food she likes. We are only going 4 days though, so we won't be there too long.
I guess we really have to wing it. She is a late nighter, and likes to sleeep in, but while we are there, I want to get up earlier, and get to bed earlier. So hopefully with the lack of nap, or little nap, she will be more apt to go to bed earlier.

But right now you have basically 10 months, and your baby will change ALOT in that time. So you will have to really see what she wil lbe like then. I think you should be fine with the plan though.
Now when I come back in a few weeks, I'll let you know how it went for us. I may be eating my words!! LOL!

 

[Wilsonfamily4]

Also, we never left the parks before 1, she never took a nap before 2, and we had a difficult time getting to a 5 pm ADR (in most cases, you really need to leave an hour before your ADR). Next time, I'll make ADRs for 6 pm or so. I thought that she would be napping by 1, but that didn't work out. Consider your schedule before you make ADRs.

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We found early ADR's to be hard to get to. With taking rest times and the hour to get there it was difficult to make 5:00 ones, unless at your own resort. I think 6:00 was okay. I think next time we come we will spend some of the TS at a late lunch and do a more free (not $ free but relaxing free) dinner. Snacking through Epcot for dinner sounds fun. Don't get me wrong though we love love love DDP.

 

[chip007]

Keep in mind that you don't have to use the sit-down credit for dinner. It can be used for a character breakfast or a relaxing lunch on your first day there or for one of the special events like the Hoop-De-Do, which I think uses two table credits.

We used the diner plan last week with a toddler and only ended up eating a sit-down dinner with her one night. My point, is that there is a lot of flexibility in the plan whe you use it.

 

[BarbWB]

We went last yr in Jan with a 2, 4, 6, and 8 yo (but only 4 days in the parks)

We used all of our Table Services. You don't need to use them just at dinner. I agree with your thinking that a big dinner every night would put them over the edge! But you could mix up dinner, lunch, breakfast and make things better.

 

[In Luv with Disney]

I went in December and used the Dining Plan. I have two kids...DS who is 5 and DD who is 1. We LOVED the plan!!!! We used them for dinner every night and both kids were FINE. I only had one really late dinner planned (7:40p) and even then they were great! We never go back to our room for naps, because like a previous poster said if we are all in the room, NO ONE will sleep! I bring a double stroller and hope for naps on the go. When they are tired, they will nap!

I usually stay off site, in my timeshare. But the dining plan really makes it worth it to go! Since we enjoy doing a TS dinner each night, it worked out GREAT for us!

We are going in August and were lucky enough to get the Dining Plan for FREE!!! This is going to be our cheapest trip YET!

 

[jenseib]

In Luv With Disney..How did you get teh dining for free? Is it available to everyone now? We won't be going then, but I'm jsut curious

 

[TheDizMom]

I think you will be fine. My kids were and we went during the busy season and it was hotter then haddies too. There are no guarantees for a well behaved child at all times anywhere. You could go out to dinner at home and have your daughter misbehave so don't avoid a TS restaurant solely for that reason. We were there for a week and though my DD(then 4) got cranky she never misbehaved(too much ). Keep in mind that you are at DW so there are kids everywhere. If one child gets a little crazy it's just par for the course. You can do 2 things to help avoid that. A nap, which you say you are going to do, and plan your meals for a reasonable time. If your DD is used to eating at 5:30 every night then make your ressies for then. Use some of your TS meals for breakfast or lunch at which point you could just use your resort CS restaurant for dinner and have an early night occassionally. You could also do more buffets. If you do that you don't have to wait for your food to get to your table and can set your own pace for eating. You have a lot of options with this plan because you can use your meals any way you want, so do your research and plan ahead, and if she gets a little nuts one night don't sweat it. I promise every child at DW embarrassses their parent at least 1 time a day . If they didn't they wouldn't be kids .

 

[jenseib]

Be sure to make ADR's according to which park you wil lbe at as well, so you don't have to transfer all over. if you are at the MK for a day, do MK restaurant.

 

[BellyBaby]

Wow, thanks for all the great input! I never thot about DD2 trying to nap with a room full of people! Pretty unlikely! And the DDP does sound convenient, but is is worth losing a 20% discount on the Contemporary? That's alot of bucks! ($363) See, the 20% off a deluxe resort is offered thru a wedding block booking, but I can only get one or the other. So, I'm a hard-core planner and budgeter: $40 per night for DDP x 7 days = $280. Take into account we will miss bkft and lunch first day (long plane ride) and likely lunch, and dinner on our last day. That's one day less. Also take away one dinner for the evening of the wedding itself. So $280 (that I'd definately be paying on the DDP) divided by 6 days (actual time I'll be eating on site) = $47 per day to spend to break even, should I purchase the DDP. Add on a few more bucks for the dinner I won't be using on wedding day. So, for about $50 a day (per person) I'm allowed to spend out of pocket to equal the DDP. Can it be done? $20 - 25 for dinner, $10 - 15 for lunch, and $5 - 10 for snacks = $35 - 50. I know, I know, I'm trying very hard to justify to hubby we should shell out $$ to stay at the Contemporary. And to give up $207 per night (so reasonable!) is hard to be allowed to buy the DDP. I think I want the convenience of a great location (close to MK and wedding pavilion)after seeing alot of posts about how much time is wasted on buses and such. Also, b/c I'm missing out a day and a half for the wedding (me bad for looking at it that way, but this is my family's first time ever, and when you're looking at $6,000 for the trip, every day, every hour, counts!) AHHHH! This is driving me crazy, what to do? I've been on disney sites for 4 days straight trying to figure out the best deal!
(But the thought of not going back for a nap and "stoller napping" or even riding the monorail for a spell is intriguing. She's only 1 1/2 now and she's very energetic, as "jenseib" said, she'll change lots in 10 months. Good point!
Add this to helping to plan a wedding from far far away.....
Thanks again for all the great info, folks! Nice to know other people take their little ones with them, some of my friends think I'm crazy - the childless ones, I might add. I guess you have to be a mom to appreciate how wonderful it is to see your child's reaction to Disney, even tho they won't remember much of it. That's what photos are for!!

 

[Disneyolic]

We made sure that some of our TS meals on the DDP were lunches. Not too cranky at that time. You can go back to the resort for a rest and come back to the park later and go to a counter service. This may work well for you.

 

[jenseib]

If you have AAA yo ucan check with them at what rate yo ucan get. Sometimes you can get 20% off the plan with. I did my vacation with them and it was cheaper. So maybe give a local agent a call. AAA memberships can come in handy for more than just vacations too. Our member ship was 45 and we saved more than that for our 4 day trip.
Also with the dining plan, you don't have to use them on EACH day. Yo ucan use two TB service in one day if you wish. So you can still use the meals, even if you miss it's "designated" day. Teh yare good for length of stay. You get one Snack, CS, and TS service per night you stay, but you can use them anytime and any order you want.

Is this your wedding? or someones you are going to? If you know people you could even buy an extra CS service and give it to a family member one day if you think you aren't going to use it. You can also do TS that has a show, like the Hoop Dee Veiw, and it uses 2 credits.

 

[larkles]

I usually stay off site, in my timeshare. But the dining plan really makes it worth it to go! Since we enjoy doing a TS dinner each night, it worked out GREAT for us!

We are going in August and were lucky enough to get the Dining Plan for FREE!!! This is going to be our cheapest trip YET!

I'm new here so forgive me if I'm asking in the wrong place...
We (DH and 3 kids) are going in June with the inlaws who have a timeshare but I really want the DDP (and to stay at Disney It seems like you've done this before, any suggestions on doing this affordably?

Thanks!

 

[In Luv with Disney]

In Luv With Disney..How did you get teh dining for free? Is it available to everyone now? We won't be going then, but I'm jsut curious

I was able to get it when I was there in December. It was called the BOUNCEBACK FUTURE STAY PROGRAM. Guests there in Nov/Dec who booked a trip before the day they checked out and gave a $200 deposit right then, were eligible.

 

[In Luv with Disney]

I'm new here so forgive me if I'm asking in the wrong place...
We (DH and 3 kids) are going in June with the inlaws who have a timeshare but I really want the DDP (and to stay at Disney It seems like you've done this before, any suggestions on doing this affordably?

Thanks!

I always stay in my timeshare that is off site. We happened to stay at Saratoga Springs on rented DVC points in December. That was a GREAT deal! We stayed at a Deluxe resort for $110 a night...can't beat that! AND we were allowed to buy the dining plan!

When we go in August, we are trying to make this the most AFFORDABLE (aka cheap ) vacation to WDW we've ever done. We are staying for 8 days, 7 nights at POP. With a 1 day MYW base ticket for the 3 of us. Including dining, all taxes...total $843. Note that FREE DINING hasn't been announced yet, but it should be (hopefully for the sake of all the DISers who have been waiting!) announced by April. It is most of August and September. I happen to think $843 to stay 8 days at WDW including all of our meals and 1 ticket for each of us is a STEAL!!!!

BTW, you CANNOT buy the Dining PLAN if you are not staying at a Disney resort. You might want to check into the Value resorts for June and see what kind of deals you can get! Even paying the $38.99/$10.99 for the meal plan is SO worth it IMHO!

GOOD LUCK!