Dining plan and reservations ?

[feener]

we are going in may with our 20 month old and I am wondering how the meals work ? we are planning on staying at the poly and the offer the dining plan - is it worth it to get that ??? i also don't understand the reservation process, i have heard you should reserve all your meals ???? i want to reserve bfast with character events, but do you also reserve your dinner for every night ??? any help would be great !!!

 

[Bob P]

Welcome to the DIS!

I'm not sure what you mean by how the meals work..there are "table service" and "counter service" restaurants, just like there are everywhere else. And there are food carts as well where you can buy snacks like ice cream, popcorn, french fries, etc.

Have a look here for lots of information:

http://allearsnet.com/din/dining.htm

Bob

 

[kcashner]

As far as "is the plan worth it," it depends on how your family likes to eat. You get one table service credit, one counter service, and one snack for each night of your stay for $38 per adult, $11 per kid over 2. Under 2 eat free at buffets/all you can eat and can eat off adult plates for free at other places.

If you like to go to at least one "sit down" per day and eat a counter service, it is a good deal. For us, it works. For my sis...who likes a character breakfast each day and a sit down dinner and almost never eats counter service, it does not meet the needs of her family.

ADRs are just like the old "priority seating" except that you can make them 180 days in advance of your trip. It is a good idea to schedule your meals--that way you know that you will be seated at the restaurant of your choice somewhere close to your preferred time. You can always try "walk up and wait." SOmetimes they can get you in, sometimes not. Sometimes you will wait 5 minutes, sometimes 2 hours. You can't reserve counter service.

 

[D'Family]

I strongly recommend making reservations for ALL character meals and in park sit down meals, call 1-407-wdw-dine asap. Those usually fill up fast, especially character meals. The resorts can vary, sometimes you have no problem getting a seat at a decent hour. On many occassions we've been told "no seating until 9pm" though. Which can be a nice treat if you've fed your little one and they zonk out in the stroller. It is best to make the reservations before you every get to WDW, once there you can always cancel reservations as needed.

As far as the dining plan, we've never done it. But on our next big vacation we plan to give it a whirl. You get 1 snack, 1 counter service, and 1 table service(includes most character meals) per day per person and this includes taxes and gratuity. However, you can mix them up,example: using 2 table service one day and 2 counter service another day. It is $38 per adult per day; table service is usually around $25-$35 per person at most restuarants(that includes non-alchoholic drinks and dessert). So I believe the plan will be well worth it.