Dining options for Beginners....help me please...

[Sillyminny40]

We are staying at Boardwalk for 7 days with Dining Plan for 5 of us. Only WDW food. I have no clue how to go about this other than my TA said "Book now"!

Tell me what you have done based on a 7 day plan. Thanks!

 

[PictureJumpr]

I find it easiest to take a sheet of paper (or excel spreadsheet if you're into that sort of thing) and draw a row of seven squares on it.

Get on the dining page on this site, or on allears.net, or someplace and look through menus. Decide whether you want to spend each night's TS credit on breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and which ones you want to try.

Write one in each square, keeping in mind that one of your squares will have to be left blank since a 7-day-six-night stay will only have 6 nights of credits.

If your trip is April or sooner, you can get on the disney site and gather up the park hours for each of your days, kind of figure out where you want to spend each day. This can help you decide which 'square' belongs to which day.

Then make a list of your squares, with dates and time ranges (i.e., April 22 - Crystal Palace - 1:30pm to 2pm) and send that to your Travel Agent who, if she is worth her stuff, is going to handle the actual booking for you and return to you a list of your confirmation numbers.

 

[Sillyminny40]

Wow! Thanks. Very, very useful information. I am going to do that tonight.

This explains it well!
http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-dining-plan.htm

 

[PictureJumpr]

Each person in your party who is over the age of three will have the same credits - one TS, one CS, and one snack if you're on the basic - for each night of your stay. The credits do not have to be used in any particular order, that is, you don't have to use one of each, per person, every day.

When you're eating dinner at a TS restaurant, for example, the server will simply take one of your room/ricket cards (Key to the Kingdom, KTTK, you'll see that on the boards here) and run the transaction just like a credit card transaction in the 'real world.' He'll bring you your card, some slips of paper, and a pen. You can either tip on the card (if you have charging privileges) or leave cash, the details of this are the subject of a rather large sticky thread on the top of this board.

It seems like a big huge deal to people who've never tried it before, but with a little planning and a little common sense it really couldn't be easier to use.

 

[Luvamouse]

PictureJumpr-- you have explained this beautifully and simply to the OP IMHO. All the info they need right now...and really later on too. It isn't rocket science, but does seem daunting to newbies.

 

[Sillyminny40]

PictureJumpr-- you have explained this beautifully and simply to the OP IMHO. All the info they need right now...and really later on too. It isn't rocket science, but does seem daunting to newbies.

Yes, Picturejumpr has put it quite nicely. Much appreciated.
My dh wants to know for clarity:
Say if I did not use a snack one day, would I be able to have two the next day?

 

[PictureJumpr]

Yes.

And, sometimes, it is better to share them anyways. For example, with the ice-cream-cookie sandwiches at MK, there is no way any single one of us can eat it alone.

 

[Sillyminny40]

Yes.

And, sometimes, it is better to share them anyways. For example, with the ice-cream-cookie sandwiches at MK, there is no way any single one of us can eat it alone.

I have two 6' tall 16 yr olds (twins) and a 5'6 13 year old. Not one drop of food will be wasted. In fact I am wondering if this is enough food for them> should I take a suitcase of stuff? they are big into sports and can eat 5,000 calories a day at time (healthy foods too!). I am not kidding.

 

[PictureJumpr]

Sounds like buffets/all-you-can-eat stuff for y'all, then.

For one TS credit per person you (they) can eat as much as desired at:
Crystal Palace in MK
Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner only) at MK
Ohana at the Polynesian
1900 Park Faire at the Grand Floridian
Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary
Biergarten at Epcot
Garden Grill at Epcot
Hollywood & Vine at DHS
Tusker House at AK
Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge
Cape May at Beach Club

And as someone kind of pooh-sized who travels with a friend who does eat like a linebacker, it isn't 'not enough' food. Just have to plan accodingly.

 

[PictureJumpr]

Also, for CS, the 'big meal' CS:
(one credit meal - including dessert and drink)
Half a Chicken and ribs with mashed potatoes/green beans - Cosmic Ray's at MK
Half a Chicken, Salmon, or Pork Chop with two sides - Sunshine Seasons at Epcot
Half BBQ Chicken or Half-slab of Ribs with beans and cornbread - Flame Tree Barbecue at AK
Various plates including steak/tuna/mexican food with two sides - Pepper Market at Coronado Springs Resort
Pastas and other plates - Wolfgang Puck Express at DTD

I also forgot one of the buffet options earlier - the Trail's End, which is actually one of our favorites. All-you-can-eat fried chicken with cornbread and sweet tea have my travelmate in heaven.

 

[Sillyminny40]

I am copying and pasting this all into my Word doc on "dining" thanks so much!!!!

 

[Suellen]

I think you should upgrade to Deluxe Dining!!

Here is a link to my spreadsheet I use for dining.

Among other things:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p2xzT6ZtAjksSVKEniALBaA&hl=en