Dining Plan for Arrival Day - Epcot/Resort Area

[ccrosner]

We land at MCO at 11 a.m. the Sunday before Christmas. Somehow Touringplans says it's a "1" crowd day at the parks. We are strongly leaning toward doing Epcot that afternoon and evening. I have scheduled a 7:45 ADR at Hacienda so that we can catch Illuminations (which we've never really seen) at the end of dinner.

So here's my dilemma. Where to plan lunch? I am strongly leaning toward adding DxDP to our package given that I have ADRS at Citricos, Flying Fish and Jiko on other nights. So I think we should try for TS lunch but wondering if that's wasting too much time.

Could get TS at Rose and Crown, Akershus, and some others. None availabe at Coral Reef or Sunsine Seasons.

So what would you do? Seems like we should try to get over to FW to pull a FP for Soarin or Test Track before eating. But maybe we should just eat at BC after we check in?

These are problems many people would like to have so thanks for humoring me with some answers

 

[SPBendersky]

The only thing I dislike with the plans is that you have to buy it for each day you are at Disney world. So the day you land you pay for the plan but don't get to maximize the use of it. Also the day you leave you also pay for this day and most of us catch early planes back to our home airports. Check into it and reaserch all angles, especially if you are to visit eateries that are not on the list.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

The only thing I dislike with the plans is that you have to buy it for each day you are at Disney world. So the day you land you pay for the plan but don't get to maximize the use of it. Also the day you leave you also pay for this day and most of us catch early planes back to our home airports. Check into it and reaserch all angles, especially if you are to visit eateries that are not on the list.

You actually pay by "night" so if you use a half day on arrival and the other half on departure you get the full use of it. Now if you arrive late and leave early, you have a full nights worth of credit to fit into elsewhere in your trip.

 

[jodywgirl]

Sunshine seasons is a counter service

 

[ccrosner]

Anyone have any thoughts on which restaurants to consider for that first lunch?

And thanks for the clarification on Sunshine Seasons.

 

[happymommy]

To me that would be too much to do a TS lunch then TS dinner the day you arrive. Getting to your resort takes time (especially if you use ME, less if you have a rental car or towncar), then checking in, then getting over to Epcot. I'd rather get CS lunch and have a more laid back afternoon, then nice dinner. Plus, I couldn't ever do more than one TS a day, personally. Too much food! There are so many good snacks in Epcot, and we like Sunshine Seasons, since if you're really hungry you can get a large meal, but if you're not there are lots of lighter choices.

 

[ccrosner]

Thanks, HappyMommy....I pretty much agree with you that we will not want to stop and have a TS lunch just after arriving at WDW.


I am now beginning to think that DxDP really won't work for us. I didn't realize until this morning that I won't be able to us TS credits for QS and I'm finding it hard to believe that we will want TS for lunch each day.

And the DDP only gives you entree and dessert at TS and my crew is more of an appetizer/entree crew than entree/dessert. So OOP may be what we should do...

So confusing

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

We've used a TS credit for a QS meal before. When we do DxDP we tend to book a breakfast and a dinner. We then will grab quick service or use snack credits for lunch. It's well worth it for us. I like getting an appetizer, especially since DD is almost 2 and always wants real food.

 

[ccrosner]

Just got off the phone with a CM who said that I can definitely us TS credits for CS. I figure I'd better ask that question again before I book DxDP as I know different CMs give different answers.

 

[mmtska]

On the DxDp you can use the credits for TS or CS. But the regular DDP the TS credits are pretty much TS credits.

 

[Disneyfreak616]

I'd say if you did do a CS, do Sunshine Seasons, it's great! Or, Beaches & Cream right at the BC is really fun too. If you do a TS, then Rose & Crown or the character lunch at Akershus would be good.

 

[stitchaholic]

2 TS on arrival day my be to much, after the traveling you will want some freedom, I also suggest one of the many CS places in epcot, so many choices there that you can't go wrong

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Thanks, HappyMommy....I pretty much agree with you that we will not want to stop and have a TS lunch just after arriving at WDW.


I am now beginning to think that DxDP really won't work for us. I didn't realize until this morning that I won't be able to us TS credits for QS and I'm finding it hard to believe that we will want TS for lunch each day.

And the DDP only gives you entree and dessert at TS and my crew is more of an appetizer/entree crew than entree/dessert. So OOP may be what we should do...

So confusing

The DxDP gives you 3 meal credits per night. You can use them for CS or TS (though TS is a better use). If you are doing a TS for breakfast and dinner you should still be ahead of the game by doing a CS for lunch.

 

[Googelibear]

Anyone have any thoughts on which restaurants to consider for that first lunch?

And thanks for the clarification on Sunshine Seasons.

We love Chefs de France for lunch - wonderful

 

[PoohsFan1]

When we go in May our plane lands at 1:53pm (if everything goes to plan), so since we will be there after lunch, we are planning on having ice cream sundaes at Beaches and Cream (staying at BCV) and then for dinner we have ADRs for Teppan Edo. I know you will be arriving much earlier, but I think for your first day you shouldn't rush it too much and just do a CS for lunch and then your ADR for dinner. Have a great trip.

 

[pixarmom]

We love Chefs de France for lunch - wonderful

Same here! We usually land between 10:30am and 11am. We take ME to BC and we're ready to sit and have a relaxing lunch. We make an ADR for lunch at Chef's between 1pm and 1:20pm. It doesn't take a ton of time, it's close to BC and the IG entrance, we can eat light if we want and we don't have to worry about dealing with crowds, lines or juggling trays at a CS location after our flight. For us, it's a great way to start the trip, and our three boys enjoy seeing Remy!

We don't use the dining plan anymore, but we use TIW and usually book two TS restaurants per day. One thing we love about Disney is that the TS restaurants can get you in and out quite quickly with kids if you want that. That's part of the reason we've moved away from CS locations and booked more TS.

Good luck with your decision - have a great trip!!