Dining at disney WITHOUT plan???

[loumanchoe]

We will be staying at pop--but we have decided that the dining plans are not for us -- we plan on eating at dinner at a couple of places Wispering Canyon, and also Ohanas -- does anyone know of any discounts or discount cards that I should be aware of. Thanks

 

[PrincessBetsy]

Hiya! If you are an annual passholder, you might want to check out the Tables in Wonderland discound card: http://allears.net/din/dde.htm

If not, my family has found that the best way to save money is to share meals and eat at table service restaurants for lunch instead of dinner. Most places offer similar menus at a much lower cost. Also, at counter service restaurants, you can order a kids meal even if you are an adult - they are a pretty good deal b/c they come with an entree, 2 sides, and a drink. Another good tip is to get cups of water, instead of drinking bottled water or soda. It will help keep you hydrated and it won't cost you a thing! We do like to purchase the resort mugs, so when we go back to our room, we can drink soda or other beverages. Hope this helps and have a magical trip!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

If you are an Annual Passholder or a Florida Resient you can purchase a "Tables in Wonderland" card from Disney which will give a 20% discount on food and beverages (including alcoholic beverages) for up to ten people at almost all tables service restaurants in hte Parks and Resorts, as well as at Quick Service locations where there is no table service (such as the value resorts).

 

[2Tiggies]

I don't know of any discounts for Disney Dining. If I am wrong, hopefully someone will come and correct me. The Dining Plans are the options to save for those whose needs it suits. If it makes you feel and better, without the Dining Plan you are likely to eat less. DDP includes a lot of food and if 2 desserts and 2 snacks a day are not your way of doing things you may well be saving anyway.

We like the new QSDP as it suits us better, but we still do a few TS and pay OOP for them. They aren't THAT expensive, unless you are doing signature dining experiences, which will cost a bit more.

I still think that the Disney buffets and family style buffets offer good value and good food. Others see it differently. It is a matter of personal preference I guess.

If you are wanting to do some off property dining then there are discount cards around. You could have a look at Mousesavers which is usually quite good for that kind of info. Don't forget you still need to make your ADR's for your TS restaurants, even if you pay OOP. Enjoy your planning!

 

[jennipooh]

The only discount card is TIW. You need to be a Fl resident or AP holder. I do not know what Fl residents pay for TIW, but the AP rate (which is cheaper) is $75. The break even on that is about $375. I do not think you would spend that at Ohana and Whispering Canyon. The TIW is only accepted at TS meals with the exception of the QS at certain resorts, POP being one of them. You need to decide how much you would spend during the week to see if it would be worth it. Again, you would have to be either a Fl resident or AP holder. There are restaurants that offer an AP discount which is 10% off (rather than the TIW 20%). We have used an AP discount at Whispering Canyon, Chefs de France, T-Rex, to name a few.

In our case I feel it is worth it in my opinion to be an AP, but we traveled to WDW twice in the past 12 months. We ate at a few sit downs each trip(though not once a day) and paid OOP for food. We spent about $600 on
QS and TS, 1A and 1 10 year old and we shared some. We spent about half of that on TS and about half on QS (and used our AP discount a few times).

If you want to eat at any TS during your trip, you will need to plan to a certain degree. You should have an ADR for each of your sit down meals, at least.

 

[TDC Nala]

As mentioned, if you are an annual passholder or a Florida resident you can purchase a membership to TIW. If you are an annual passholder, there are some limited discounts at a few restaurants, usually for lunch, on weekdays only, or for entrees only. There are a few discounts for DVC members, usually at the non-Disney restaurants at DTD or the Swan/Dolphin. You will be unable to share meals at Ohana - it's a fixed price family style meal and everyone will be charged. You would also not be permitted to share the all you can eat skillet at Whispering Canyon.

The decision to purchase an AP is best made based on how many days of park admission you want - not to get restaurant discounts as the discounts are far too limited to make up for not using the park admission.

 

[Pirate's Princess]

I'd also say if you are big eaters to hit up the buffets, because you can get a lot of food, especially for a big lunch or breakfast and then do a QS for dinner. If you are light eaters, probably not so much. You can even share QS as well. The Tangerine Cafe in Epcot (in Morocco) gives a LOT of food and can definitely share. Also sometimes it's cheaper to order an app and a dessert or a soup instead of an entire entree. I'd say that the apps I've had have always been a decent size.

Also for cheaper eats hit up places like Wolfgang Puck's Express because it's a TS quality at CS prices!

 

[Missytara]

I took my mom a few years ago, and she is a very light eater. We shared a great deal of meals and it was spotty whether they charged you an extra plate charge.