Did we mess up?

[sdteacher]

My family of 4 didn't get the dining plan. We have two kids - 9 and 11 and we thought that we could each cheaper if we made sandwiches for lunch a couple of days and ate breakfast in our room before going to am emh a couple of morning. I am also packing some snacks in our luggage to bring along.

However.....even though money is tight, should we splurge and get the dining plan? I am so confused by it all. I know we could try different restaurants that we wouldn't eat at. My only concern is basing our vacation around eating and restaurant reservations. My husband and kids are not big eaters at all.

What are your thoughts?

 

[World Bouncer]

I don't think you messed up. We have done this before while at Disney. There have been a couple times when the budget was so tight, we shouldn't have went, so we got creative with our food!

Keep within your budget and you will still be able to have a great vacation, it doesn't have to be about the food!

If eating in Disney Restaurants is important to you and, you really need to do that, then the dining plan could be a good way to go.

Keep it realistic for your family &
Have a great trip

 

[catne]

Though we love the dining plan, I'd have to say if you're not big eaters, you'd probably find it a waste of your money, especially if you can easily bring snacks, sandwich makin's and breakfast foods.

I'd say just pick one restaurant you really want to do, get a reservation & pay cash for that...wing it on the rest of your meals. You might find that you can split a lot of meals (portions at Disney are good-sized, and you get a good deal on the combo meals at counter service restaurants.)

 

[docgrumpy]

If it works for you, you did not mess up. While the DDP can be a good deal, if you are not big eaters, it shapes up to be less of a good deal. It also is more time consuming and can require advance planning. Go, eat what and when you want, and ENJOY!!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I don't think you messed up at all. We got the Dining Plan for our trip in 06. Our kids are also picky eaters. We did often feel that we were tied to our dining reservations. There were a few times when we probably would have left a park earlier but had to wait for our reservations. We could have left anyway and skipped the meal, but then we would have had extra TS credits and felt like we wasted money. There were times when my boys didn't feel like eating real meals. The older one sometimes just wants a pretzel for lunch. That would be fine occasionally but we had CS credits to use up so we went for full meals.

Next time, we won't buy the Dining Plan. We found we would rather wing it and be more flexible with meals than the plan allowed. The way we like to eat, I think we would end up spending less overall on food if we didn't have the plan. I would probably still book 2 or 3 favorite TS restaurants during the trip, but not one every day.

 

[squirrel]

This last trip was the first time we had the Dining Plan. We had free dining. For me it would not be worth purchasing the DP, but I did enjoy having it for free.

My first trip to WDW we did 3TS (CRT-B, GG-L, CM-D). On the second trip we just did CM for dinner.

For some people it is worth paying for the DP. We (niece and I) had 15 Snack credits and 2 CS credits and 2TS credits on our last night. I ended up giving a family a bunch of water (that's what they wanted) that wasn't on the DDP. I also brought back a box of Divvies Chocolate Chip cookies that my niece can eat with most of the Snack credits.

 

[septbaby]

You can add the Dining Plan up to 72hrs (3days) before your trip. If it is really bothering you, your budget can handle it and you can make ADRs for meals add the plan. If it doesn't work for you then at least you'll know.

We never really thought of our meals as just eating:
Chef Mickey's character meal (my nephew still talks about it)
Boma was a culinary delight
Coral Reef's tank made it interesting
Narcoossee's was 2TS dream

CS meals are great because they are big enough to share, we never ordered 3 at once 1-2 was plenty to share.

We are fans of the DP, but it is a personal choice.

 

[klynn]

We also are a family of 4. Our kids are 15 and 11. Last month were at Disney for 3 weeks on 3 different reservations. The first week we were on the DDP. By the end of the week we were tired of all the desserts and snacks. Also my dd11 mainly wanted to order off the kids menu. A few days before our second week started, I canceled the DDP. We still kept all our ADR's and ate whatever we wanted. Our dining the second week included ts and cs daily. Since my 11yo is a light eater, she always either ordered off the kids menu or we split an adult entree. Like I said, we ate exactly how we wanted. Anyway, the second week we SAVED over $500.00 by paying OOP and using our DDE card. The third week was the same savings. We found we really like just using our DDE card and eating how we want!

 

[eyor44]

My family of 4 didn't get the dining plan. We have two kids - 9 and 11 and we thought that we could each cheaper if we made sandwiches for lunch a couple of days and ate breakfast in our room before going to am emh a couple of morning. I am also packing some snacks in our luggage to bring along.

However.....even though money is tight, should we splurge and get the dining plan? I am so confused by it all. I know we could try different restaurants that we wouldn't eat at. My only concern is basing our vacation around eating and restaurant reservations. My husband and kids are not big eaters at all.

What are your thoughts?

When are you going? Check and see if your dates are for any of the free dining that is going on. Once at Epcot I saw this family eating a picnic lunch, it looked so good. It was towards the end of our trip and I was a little tired of hamburgers and chicken.

 

[septbaby]

We also are a family of 4. Our kids are 15 and 11. Last month were at Disney for 3 weeks on 3 different reservations. The first week we were on the DDP. By the end of the week we were tired of all the desserts and snacks. Also my dd11 mainly wanted to order off the kids menu. A few days before our second week started, I canceled the DDP. We still kept all our ADR's and ate whatever we wanted. Our dining the second week included ts and cs daily. Since my 11yo is a light eater, she always either ordered off the kids menu or we split an adult entree. Like I said, we ate exactly how we wanted. Anyway, the second week we SAVED over $500.00 by paying OOP and using our DDE card. The third week was the same savings. We found we really like just using our DDE card and eating how we want!

Nice story, but most of us can't get the DDE or now the Tables in Wonderland card for the discount, so I don't think OP can use your savings example to decide.

 

[klynn]

Nice story, but most of us can't get the DDE or now the Tables in Wonderland card for the discount, so I don't think OP can use your savings example to decide.

Using my example without the DDE we still would have saved over $400.00.

 

[portocall]

I am thinking just like you OP... Breakfast will be eaten in the room regardless... just makes sense. I asked DH and he is all for eating sandwiches and the like and he said that is fine. We are staying at the Poly, I am saving for two years so we will cash it only this trip, and the Poly is pushing the budget, but it is a childhood dream of mine. I am glad I am not the only one thinking how to cut the costs...

 

[VAN]

I think you did exactly right. My DH and I were down there last month with free dining. It was our first time with the dining plan. While we enjoyed it, we did have to make sure we got out early enough to eat lunch by noon so that we would be ready for our table service dinner. Dessert was included, which we normally don't eat. [But we forced ourselves and boy was it good!]

We did a lot of eating and had to work at using the credits.

Love FREE dining, but I would not pay for it as we don't normally eat that much. We also enjoy going to some of the off-site restaurants where the meals and drinks are more reasonably priced.

I think you did exactly right.

 

[musicmama]

We've been with and without the DP, and it was much better when the tip was included. The appy was nice, but I was always too full to finish and enjoy my dessert.

DD and I have had 'free' dining and our last trip with DH was 'paid' dining. Obviously free is better, but it's not the be-all and end-all. If it's not free and you wouldn't eat all that food, then you definitely didn't "mess up". Even if it's free and you couldn't eat all that food, then you definitely didn't "mess up".

 

[septbaby]

I didn't see a response to your concern of "basing the trip around eating/reservations". Make no mistake, if you get the DP you need to plan your meals, not all, but you should make some ADRs. We didn't see them as intruding on our park time as I planned things to suit our days. We had one exception, but that came up because we changed plans for the day, we made the ADR, but only because it was our Fantasmc pkg and we wanted the seating perk.

Here are some tips, lets say you have a 4 night stay, so 4 TS meals:

Make one meal a breakfast, like Crystal Palace, good food and can put you in MK early, no issue with having to stop because you haven't started your park fun just yet.

Make one a sit down lunch in the park. CP would work for this as would the Plaza in MK.

ESPN Club and Beaches and Cream don't take ADRs, so you may have to wait to be seated, but you can go when you're ready to eat.

Pick one special meal that everyone (or just Mom) really wants to do. Whispering Canyon holds no appeal for me, but might be the perfect fun meal for your family; the humor an antics are probably the silly humor fittinga 9 and 11yo.

Again getting the DP is a very personal decision. It isn't for everyone or for every trip so you'll need to weigh your options and manage your own budget (both money and time).