Did Free Dining drive anyone else crazy?

[aubriee]

I had a room booked using an AP code, but gave it up to get free dining Sept 17th-24th. We loved it! I have a tendency to overplan anyway, so making the ADRs were no big deal. The only probelm we had with it was at San Angel Inn where they wouldn't let me order my meal seperate using my DDE card or wouldn't let us order an extra appetizer or drinks using the DDE card. They said you couldn't use two discounts at the same table (even though we had been doing it all week). We had extra snacks left over and just brought home Micky rice crispy bars. We also had six CS left over that we simply had them pack up and then ate at the airport.

I have a room booked with the AP BRP for Dec, so can't buy the dining, but you better believe that when I go back next spring I'll be buyng the dining plan. Because I used my AP while I was down there in Sept, I also have a 7 day MYW with pluses ticket that I can use in the spring (since I don't plan on renewing my AP).

 

[kizmac]

We had no problem ordering adult meals for our kids at CS places. Even with the kids (ages 6 and 4) right there with us. We didn't do it everytime and it was too much food for the kids, but at a couple of the CS places, there was nothing on the kids menu they liked. We ordered all adult meals at Columbia HH, Pecos Bills, Wolfgang Puck Express and the sandwich place at the Beach Club.

Same here!Didn't seem to be an issue at CS. Maybe because they knew people would just use the loophole anyhow. The only time I did order for the kids off of the adults menu though was at Columbia HH because they really just wanted chicken strips. I didn't even ask, the girl said she didn't make them order off the kids menu. All the other places I ordered kids meals for them.

The free dining plan rocked for us, and I would love to buy it in the future but for a 9 day trip for my family we are looking at atleast $1935 for the dining! Free dining saved us a lot that is for sure. I doubt I'll be buying it unless we hit the lotto, but I'm sure we'll be eating at some of the places again. I'd almost rather do less scheduled dining while on vacation anyhow. It was a wonderful experience, but with so many kids it did get stressful at times. I don't see free dining ever happening again, but if it does, I am there!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I loved the free dining plan- maybe a little more than I would have considering I'd PAID for it on the June trip... so free is better than paying! The only thing that bothered me about the paying thing is paying adult price for my oldest child when she eats child's meals (and less than my 7yr old son actually) and paying child meal for my youngest who doesn't hardly eat at all!

CS and snacks are the hardest for me to use- TS I always have planned out with ADR's so they are a non-issue for us. We found that using CS meals at the resort was the best bang for our buck (that we didn't pay this time LOL). Because there you can get a dessert that is anything- even a double scoop waffle cone or banana split if you want! Kids loved that! LOL

We ended up with lots of snacks left at the end of our last trip (but that trip I had a soft-sided rolling cooler that I could put things in and take home with me- used the leftover snacks that way LOL) but this time we just used more of them -again at the resort! You have more choices at the resort. We usually get a mickey bar or two and got popcorn once- with the snacks credits at the park but the rest were used for Nesquik chocolate milks occasionally at the resort and for other snacks at the resort... mostly rice Krispie mickey bars.

I guess since snacks are easy to use up by getting extra snacks (as mentioned above- like even taking rice krispy mickey bars home with us to eat on the flight) -- the CS meals were the hardest for us to use. We just didn't NEED to get one for each of us at each meal... we would have wasted food so we shared CS credits at most meals. And since during our trip I had planned 2 ADR's on 2 of the days, none on the other days and we shared CS meals on that day- we ended up with some extra CS meals on the last 2 days and I just started ordering us all one CS meal at each meal and we didn't finish our food. On the last day our last meal at the resort we barely ate the CS meal only so we could have room in our tummies (and time to eat before leaving on DME) for our big dessert there! LOL

I wish they came up with a way for you to have like one TS for each (3) CS meals or something. Like if you'd prefer another TS you could trade 2-3 CS for one TS credit. That would work better for us. We never used snack credits for drinks because:
A) all our meals came with drinks
B) we always carry bottled water with us and refill it as we go. We don't find the water from fountains distasteful like some do.
C) we had refillable mugs to drink at the resort.

 

[kizmac]

The snack credits......I had 39 left on the morning we were to leave. Needless to say I have a huge bag of mickey rice crispy treats I've been enjoying since our return. We were just too full to even snack between meals! Although there were many times my dad would buy the kids pops OOP and I'd tell him to use his snack credit! Took him till the last couple days to remember to use the snack credit for pop.

I also had 6 CS left and we NEVER shared a single meal either. Ended up getting 6 pizzas to go and we packed them in the cooler and we ate them at the hotel we stopped at on the way home. The drinks came in handy for the trip home too, so it worked out great. It is a lot of food that is for sure.

 

[Brygida]

Skip breakfast and do a late brunch or an early early lunch like say 11am-12pm. There are no lines at the CS spots, tables available and the food fresh.

Make all ADR's in advance and make them for no later then 5:20pm. This ensures no waiting to be seated and very prompt service as the dining room isn't filled to capacity yet

Also - if you plan character breakfast TS meals, plan them later so you can work up an appetite and then only do a CS meal for dinner.

Lastly - plan to use your snack credits for drinks only. Step away from the vending machines - go to your hotel store the FIRST day and use 4-5 credits and buy water and/or soda and store it in the fridge. Always keep a supply so you aren't tempted to pay for a soda/water when things are closed or you don't feel like walking to the store.

Plan on buying the snacks you REALLY enjoy like Dole Whips, soft serve, bakery items out of pocket - if you think of it as true snack credit you will be VERY disappointed as most things do not count.

I agree with the OP about the time management. I would not recommend this plan to someone new to Disney or to commando style families.

Very nicely said!

What worked for us was a tiny breakfast in the room (milk & cereal), a big TS meal at lunchtime, and then whatever we wanted from a CS place in the evening. That was never too much food for us. It was just right. The few times we had a TS for dinner, we made sure it was pretty much at the restaurant opening time, to avoid *any* delay!

However, we did have a rental car, and we did drive everywhere for our meals, which cut the whole meal time experience in 1/2 at least! Plus, for me, it is *NOT* a vacation if we do not have a full-service, sit-down, meal at a good restaurant every day.

I guess I never realized how many families were opposed to this... preferring to ride more, eat popcorn/turkey legs, etc. I could not live on *snacky* food for a week....

Also, I would recommend that instead of using the snack credits for water, buy bottled water from a local grocery (or Goodings!) to keep in the room and to take with you.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Yes, it is a lot of food... but I keep thinking that if it was just me and DH on a trip, it would be nice. The problem I have is that with kids on the dining plan- well my kids just don't eat that much! Even with the ADR's spread way out (like a breakfast ones early, dinner ones late)- I thought the kids would want to atleast have us all split some CS meals in the middle sometime in the day but nope... sometimes even without eating a meal or snack ALL DAY in between there they STILL weren't quite hungry when it came time for the dinner ADR!

I think in the future when we go as a whole family- what I would do is put myself and oldest daughter on one room (since she's considered adult) and get the dining plan... and put husband with other 2 younger children and NO dining plan. Then we'd have 2 adult meals for the dining plan and that will be plenty for us (with some left over to share with youngest- when it's not a character meal ofcourse) and buy kids meals OOP for the other two kiddos. I KNOW DH would eat his money worth on the dining plan. LOL

 

[robinb]

I had virtually no problems with the dining plan. Mine was free, but I would pay for it in the future. It worked very well for us and it saved us tons of money. We paid OOP for many kids meals and had no problem doing so. Only one waitress pointed out that we had kids credits, but we insisted on paying cash.

Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth ...

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I'm just back from free dining and loved the free plan. I'd have to think long and hard about paying for it because it is a ton of food and I could do far better off the plan as far as money out of my pocket. About 3/4 of all the counter meals we bought could have been shared. And certainly, I wouldn't have run up a $250 bill at Spoodles off the plan. Heck. I was full after the $8 mediterranean dips. My wife, my son, and I could have certainly eaten one of the larger appetizers, one entree, and one desert betweeen the 3 of us (perhaps maybe another appetizer or desert) But then came the steak with Scallops and shrimp, plus a desert, portuguese seafood stew and a kid's steak too. I felt like Violet Beauregard after that one. Just get the oompa loompas to roll us to the car will you please? It was a huge volume of food everywhere we went. But nevertheless, it certainly would be good value if I opted to pay for it. The only question is would I want to eat all that much food.

I arrived the first night at 6pm and left at 9 am in the morning. Hence the first night I missed a breakfast and a lunch opportunity. The last day I missed a lunch and a dinner opportunity to use credits. Were I paying for the plan, I'd likely do a room only for one night that first day, then I'd do a package with meal plan for 8 nights. Then a room only the last day. By doing so, my credits would expire at midnight that last night. But who cares? I'm leaving at 9am the next morning anyway. Plus, the first day I was on the plan, I could use credits from about 7am (when I went to exchange keys) rather than only have the use at 6pm the first night. That way, there wouldn't be as much overage of food.

We ended up using a ton of snack credits for water. No matter though. We needed the water as it was hot and humid. The snacks were the only things difficult to keep up with b/c several of the places we got them had computers that were down.

Every single counter spot we had was able to ring up a brownie or cookie if we didn't have or want a desert and several CM's just gave them to the next kids in line that didn't have the plan. It really went without much of a hitch.

Also, the food and wine booths at Epcot allowed snack credits to be used on the food.

It does take a bit of time out of touring, but we found we needed the rest. I don't know how many times we went into dinner with sore legs and left able to do some more because we sat down for awhile.

 

[pamouselover]

We were there Sep.23-29th on the dinning plan.
We received it free of charge because of the magic your way package promo offer we bought. This offer was only good for travel till Oct. 4th.
I thought it was great. It was too much food. But we enjoyed it, and I would pay for it next time. It is well worth it. I do think the downside of it is that we spent more time eating then we would have if we did not have the dining plan. I don’t think we would have eaten so many TS and would have eaten more counter service food. We only had burgers one time! Which was amazing to us.
I think Disney should make it so that you can decide how many days you would like to be on the dinning plan or buy so many credits for dinning.

 

[chobie]

The way I see it, Disney is a master at crowd control. It is likely that one of the major factors behind the dining plan was to keep people corralled into restaurants at certain times of the day. If you are the type that considers dining to be a highlight of your vacations and/or enjoy a sitdown meal once a day on vacation, then this plan is an incredible deal and with a little planning can really make your trip special. If you are they type that would rather snack on food brought into the parks or grab a burger to eat on your way to the next attraction so as to maximize your time and minimize your budget, then maybe the plan is not for you. If the sheer amount of food is so grossly disproportionate to your family's actaul appetite as to be shocking to your conscious, then maybe the plan is not for you. Seems like a good deal to me.

 

[speakupjc]

We normally eat at table service restaurants for all of our meals so this is a real treat and a cost saver. We will have to eat at counter service which is something we are not used to doing so it will open our eyes to new possibilities. Thanks Disney!

 

[bengalbelle]

I just got back and found it - for the most part - very easy to use. ITA with Lilystars's persective. We ran into so many people using the dining plan who did not make any reservations - they had a really hard time. There was also someone else on the bus that went to Brown Derby and hated it to only find out at the end that it was 2 points each. They were livid - then the wife asked me, did you know that - how do you find out what it what on the plan? So there were times, even my DH turned to me and thanked me, esp after LeCellier and Ohana's - both which were outstanding but completely filled our entire stay.

This is what I found - for future dining planners.....

Skip breakfast and do a late brunch or an early early lunch like say 11am-12pm. There are no lines at the CS spots, tables available and the food fresh. You can easily buy all adult CS meals IF you do not buy them all together. Most CM's don't even realize but some do - by buying separate say at different stations at Cosmic Rays - will allow your kids an adult CS meal. Also try splitting CS meals, esp at places with free refills and large portions. This may allow you some breakfast CS meals if you want it.

Make all ADR's in advance and make them for no later then 5:20pm. This ensures no waiting to be seated and very prompt service as the dining room isn't filled to capacity yet (they stagger the ressies on the waitstaff so they aren't bombarded) and they aren't behind on turning tables at appropriate reservation times. This will get you out the quickest as well and back in the parks before they close. This is particularly true for character meals or if you have parties larger then 5 people.

Also - if you plan character breakfast TS meals, plan them later so you can work up an appetite and then only do a CS meal for dinner. If you eat too early like 8-9am, you won't even eat that much and then will be hungry again by 1-2pm and then again around 6-7pm. CRT, Crystal Palace, CM, 1900 Park Fare, Ohana's are all places you can go on rides first at MK and then go eat around 10:20am. You will have better character interaction since most people are leaving at that time, not arriving. I would also plan on doing this meal on the MK early morning hours - more time to ride before breakfast!!

For CS and TS meals, get your dessert to go if you don't think you can finish them, esp if you head back to the hotel right away. I had a wonderful cheesecake one afternoon right after the pool.

Lastly - plan to use your snack credits for drinks only. Step away from the vending machines - go to your hotel store the FIRST day and use 4-5 credits and buy water and/or soda and store it in the fridge. Always keep a supply so you aren't tempted to pay for a soda/water when things are closed or you don't feel like walking to the store. If you opt for a Mickey bar here and there, fine, but everyone needs a soda or a water sometime else during the day. We found we paid for many drinks oop only to have 6 snack credits leftover at the end. Plan on buying the snacks you REALLY enjoy like Dole Whips, soft serve, bakery items out of pocket - if you think of it as true snack credit you will be VERY disappointed as most things do not count.


Our entire family LOVED the dining plan but if we do use it again, we will make some minor adjustments. Overall we tried many new restaurants and enjoyed a different persective to Disney. I agree with the OP about the time management. I would not recommend this plan to someone new to Disney or to commando style families.

HTH

I stopped reading right here because I had to post. This is similar to what we did on the plan and we were extremely pleased with it.
We started out our week getting a CS per person. We quickly decided it was too much food and started splitting meals. Since credits go by paid nights and not how many days you're there, we ended up with enough CS credits to go through our last day there. Our best (and most filling) CS meal we shared was at Cosmic Rays. It was rotisserie chicken and ribs, mashed potatoes, carrots, and cake. We ordered 2 and split them between 4 people and we were completely satisfied when we left. We also used snack credits to get extra drinks.
The only "food" we used our snack credits for was one Mickey bar and several boxes of popcorn for DS(4). Otherwise we used them for the drinks and that worked out really well.

We also made most of our ADR's for off times. The only "dinnertime" seating we had was at O'hana. We waited about 5-10 minutes to be seated and we wanted this meal to drag on a bit because we had a wonderful seat for Wishes. It worked out perfectly for us and the food was amazing.

The only planning we did before we left was to make our ADR's. We didn't try to figure out how to get the best bang for our buck (we got the dining free) and we didn't worry about child credits vs. adult credits. We did use a child credit for an adult TS with no problems (DS was on the pirate cruise while the rest of us had brunch so his was left over) and we used them for some counter service meals because we were sharing and DS got tired of chicken fingers and mac and cheese pretty quickly.

I don't know if I would pay for the dining plan simply because we don't usually eat 3 meals a day at WDW. We usually bring breakfast foods and snacks and have a large sitdown every day. We like TS meals after spending the days in the parks. I do, however, have a new appreciation for some of the CS meals. We found several that we really enjoyed and may try more in the future. Overall I found the plan to be very convenient and easy to use. There was no stress on our part at all.

 

[lkneller]

We have no children, and have some health problems that now eliminate many of the attractions we used to enjoy. So now for us the thing we look forward to the most is eating at our favorite disney restaurants. Since we are 1100 miles away we don't get to do that too often. The dining plan was wonderful for us. Not only did we get to eat at our favorites, we found some NEW favorites along the way.

I agree that it did take alot of time. All of our res were at 5:30 so we had to get out of the pool by 4:00 to shower and get to the restaurant in time. Granted we didn't always feel like getting out of the pool at that time. But the meals were worth it and I would do it again.

We decided to book this trip because of the free dining. It was one of our most pleasant disney vacations.

 

[denman007]

Just curious if anyone else used credits for people not on the plan.

 

[84disney]

One night we treated our cousin who lives in Orlando and works at Disney to a TS. I thought this was OK ? He is always so good to us....teaching us tricks to get around faster . We just loved the dining plan. Like I posted before, it would really be better for us to get two rooms....LARGE family ....and just add it to one room .

 

[kizmac]

One night we treated our cousin who lives in Orlando and works at Disney to a TS. I thought this was OK ? He is always so good to us....teaching us tricks to get around faster . We just loved the dining plan. Like I posted before, it would really be better for us to get two rooms....LARGE family ....and just add it to one room .

I too am thinking about buying it for just one room next time (another large family here ) and just doing less TS meals. The CS and Snacks would be no problem, but I'm not sure about the TS.

For instance, if we had one room with 4 adults and 1 child and one room with 2 adults and 3 children. I could purchase the MP for the 4 ad/1ch room. If we were staying for 9 nights we would have 36 adult cr and 9 child cr. Could we then go to a TS meal and use 6 adult credits at once and 1 child cr and then pay out of pocket for the other three kids or do you think they would only allow us to use 4 adult cr and 1 child cr at one meal since that is how many would be listed on the room account? If that was the case we would still be able to do it but would have to do 9 TS meals instead of 6 and pay out of pocket for 2 adults and 3 kids at each meal or share. I'd rather do less meals.

Anyone have any idea if this would work? I guess it would be using credits for someone not on the plan but it's not getting something extra. I'd not be trying to use child credits for adults or anything like that.

 

[poohguys]

We just got back on Monday. We paid for the dining plan. I thought that it was a great value. We had three TS meals that were $100 or just under. We had two adults and one child. I do agree that the kids meals could be better. I wish I had know that you could order an adult meal for kids at many of the counter service places. The 3 tiny chicken nuggets with fries and applesauce were not a lot for my DS. He is only 5 but has a large appetite. Also as many of the previous posters have said many of the kids meals made no sence. In the AK the pizza place also did not have pizza on the kids menu. We were always full. We usually used our CS meal for breakfast and the TS for dinner. A few times we did a TS breakfast. Two of the best meals we had were dinners at Olivia's and The Yacht Club Galley. In both places the service and food was great. At the YCG they let my DS order an appetizer off of the adult menu. I think the only other place that we ate that he was able to get an appetizer was at Tony's in the MK-they have it on the kids menu there. I don't know if we would purchase the dining plan again. We have always just done CS in the past and one or two nice TS meals. It was alot of running around trying to get to resturants on the bus/monorail etc. It probably would have been a little less stressfull if we had rented a car. Overall it was a nice opportunity for us to try some TS resturants that we have never been too before.

 

[milmore104]

We just got back and had the free dining plan. We LOVED it. It was alot of food but we had a blast trying different things that we most likely wouldn't. We did have 4 TS meals left (which I gave to a honeymoon couple eating @ CG) and 6 CS meals which I gave to a family of 6 that was just starting their vaction. Loved spreading the pixie dust! We will be buying the dining plan on our upcoming trip.

Yes the rest. were more crowded than normal but we got to eat everywhere we wanted and also got to try some we noramlly wouldn't have. I just would decide where we were going in the morning and call and make an ADR that morning for whatever time we wanted. We didn't have any problems except for getting into the 50's so we just pushed back MGM a day and got in the next day!

 

[wdwobsessed]

Reading all the "it was too much food" posts I'm startin' to feel like my family is the hog beast family! ROTFLMAO!

I'm going on the dining plan in December and I can't see where 2 meals a day is too much food ... we must be little piggies! When we eat out it's not abnormal for us to get 2 appetizers ... entree & dessert. Then the kids get a kids meal and share the appetizers & desserts with us. I guess that was my plan to stretch our TS credits.

We also typically would like to have 1-2 TS meals a day. We are not big on CS so that will be intersting this trip ... how we use the CS credits.

As far as snack credits ... water and mickey bars is fine with us.

Oink!



WDWO

 

[poohguys]

Reading all the "it was too much food" posts I'm startin' to feel like my family is the hog beast family! ROTFLMAO!

I'm going on the dining plan in December and I can't see where 2 meals a day is too much food ... we must be little piggies! When we eat out it's not abnormal for us to get 2 appetizers ... entree & dessert. Then the kids get a kids meal and share the appetizers & desserts with us. I guess that was my plan to stretch our TS credits.

We also typically would like to have 1-2 TS meals a day. We are not big on CS so that will be intersting this trip ... how we use the CS credits.

As far as snack credits ... water and mickey bars is fine with us.

Oink!



WDWO

I think that the type of food that you eat makes a difference too. I know I ate bigger breakfast than I normally do. I usually have a bowl of cereal and ended up having bacon, eggs. french toast or pancakes almost every morning. I noticed that I did not eat as many veggies as I normally do at home. I think it is just a shock to your system. Try the frozen banana for a snack it was good!