Dining Plan 101--questions

[Tigger&Belle]

I'm trying to go through these different threads. While I'm learning a lot I'm also confusing myself.

OK, so each person gets 1 TS, 1 CS, and 1 snack per night that they are in the plan.

What we normally do is to eat a light breakfast in the room. In this case we'd probably get a counter serve lunch and a sit down dinner most days (or visa versa). But, if we wanted to eat at Boma's for breakfast we can do that, right? It will just count as one of the TS meals. Same with breakfast at Crystal Palace or any of the character meals, right?

For a non-buffet sit down meal, are there appetizers? I suppose there are--fruit, etc?

How does a person decide if they should do the plan? The January trip will be my DD and myself. Two adults. I'm thinking that I should look at the TS restaurants that I know we'd want to go to (Boma dinner, Boma breakfast, Spoodles dinner, Prime Time Cafe come to mind) and then add in the CS restaurants. Am I missing something that I should be doing to figure it out.

Is Fresh (in the Swan or Dolphin) in the plan?

It's been less than a year since I've been to WDW, but I feel like I have so much to learn! Help!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Well, to start off with the easiest question - Fresh is not a participating restaurant.

You can use your credits any way you want - If you want a buffet breakfast one day with a late counter service lunch and then a snack in the evening and then reverse it the next day -or you can use 2 sit down restaurants one day and 2 counter service meals the next.

What I did to determine if the dining plan was good for my family was take a look at the sit down restaurants we were thinking about eating at - looked at what I thought we would order and added up the costs. It actually came out to roughly the same price as the dining plan (remember to include tax and tip when doing calculations - 15% tip and 6.5% tax).

So for my group it was a no brainer - but for you look at where (and what) you want to eat and go from there.

I am sure it will be a great trip no matter what you decide.

 

[SeaSpray]

That's right. Take a look at the menus and prices, and add up what you think you'd order.

I first added up all of the table-service meals that I know DH and I will be doing in a few weeks. Then I looked at the counter-service menus and guessed at what we'll probably order (We've never done counter-service before, so this will be a new experience for us! lol), and then finally I added in a few $$ for the snack credits. We'll be there during the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot, so I averaged the prices of the snacks at the booths, that I've seen pictures of recently.

Add in tax (6.5%) for everything, and add in tip for the table-service meals. Subtract what you paid for the plan, and that is what your "savings" should be. Or, close enough, anyway, because you can't be 100% sure of what you might feel like ordering when you are there.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Bummer about Fresh--there breakfast buffet is SO good.

I'm also a bit confused about who is eligible for the dining plan. If I pay rack rate for the room I can get the dining plan, but not if I get a discount rate? If so, that needs to be factored into the actual cost of the dining plan.

What if I wanted to split my stay between 2 WDW resorts? How would tht work with the dining plan?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Kaycee]

You might want to take a look at the "FAQ's about the Dining Plan" sticky thread at the top of this page. I think they address just about any topic related to the dining plan you could ask. And if your question hasn't been addressed, if you ask a question on that thread it's likely to be seen by those who know a lot about the plan. It's a very long thread, but if you have a specific question you can search the thread for that topic. And you can read the more recent pages of the thread to get the latest information since the plan seems to change a lot.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

You might want to take a look at the "FAQ's about the Dining Plan" sticky thread at the top of this page. I think they address just about any topic related to the dining plan you could ask.

I was reading through the sticky thread, which answered some question and confused me on other things. Sometimes too much details (everything being discussed on one thread) actually makes it harder. Or maybe it's just the migraine that I'm dealing with.

 

[imaaagination]

I'm also a bit confused about who is eligible for the dining plan. If I pay rack rate for the room I can get the dining plan, but not if I get a discount rate? If so, that needs to be factored into the actual cost of the dining plan.

You're on the right track there. If you have a discounted room-only rate, you cannot add the dining package. But, if you have a discounted package rate, then you can add the dining package. At least, that's what the CM told me this morning on the phone when I tried to add the dining package and tickets to my discounted room-only reservation. HTH!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

You're on the right track there. If you have a discounted room-only rate, you cannot add the dining package. But, if you have a discounted package rate, then you can add the dining package. At least, that's what the CM told me this morning on the phone when I tried to add the dining package and tickets to my discounted room-only reservation. HTH!

I've never had anything but a room only rate. This is like planning my first trip!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Actually - if you book through AAA you can get their discount and the dining plan.

And the discount offer through disney for a package right now also gives you the option of adding the dining plan.

So occasionally discounts are available in conjunction with the dining plan.

 

[riaesq]

I called AAA yesterday and their quote was exactly the same as the YQE code....

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I called AAA yesterday and their quote was exactly the same as the YQE code....

Is the YQE code a discount code that still allows a person to buy the dining plan?

 

[riaesq]

YQE is the whole package- room, tickets, meals.
I did the math and it seemed to me to be somewhere around a 20% discount off the reg price of each.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

YQE is the whole package- room, tickets, meals.
I did the math and it seemed to me to be somewhere around a 20% discount off the reg price of each.

Thanks! We're not going until January, but there might be another code by then.