Dining Plan NOT a good thing for this last trip

[madelyn]

Helped my 2 adult sisters and my 10 year old son plan a trip they just returned from last night. All have experienced the dining plan before and we have enjoyed it, but I think the key is that we usually have split reservations so are able to have a few days after the dining plan ends to "use up" any stockpiled snacks and quick service meals. We typically stay in a DVC room so using up leftover snack/quick service credits and keeping extra snacks/drinks or salads/sandwiches in the room to eat later on in the trip was not a big deal. But this trip, two women and a 10 year old boy who are not big eaters had to use 4 days of regular dining plan credits. They arrived late on a Thursday and left early on a Monday (4 days of dining credits). The sit down credits were not that big of an issue. They had a lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table so used up 6 credits there. 3 were used for Donald's breakfast at Tusker House and for meals at Le Cellier (lunch) 2 adult credits were used and my son got a kids' meal out of pocket. At a Sci-Fi dinner my sisters split a pasta entree using the remaining credit and my son got a kids' meal out of pocket. It seems that the counter service credits were the hardest to use up. Instead of paying out of pocket for kids' counter service meals for my son when he wasn't very hungry, it might have been a better plan just to use credits for those. On the last day, my sisters each ate a bountiful breakfast platter and ended up having to get sandwiches/salads to take home. I was coaching them on how to use up their remaining credits through emails and texts. But it seemed like instead of enhancing their vacation, being on the dining plan was a chore since they were worried about using all the credits. My son who usually likes the dining plan because it ensures he gets lots of snacks and desserts said this time it "made me sick"! So depending on who is going on the future trips and how the reservations are set up (not split stay), we likely will not be purchasing the dining plan. Especially with the increasing prices.

 

[cluvsdisney]

The DP is not a good thing when it becomes work like that. At certain point, the guest needs to accept the loss and move forward...using up the credits is not worth getting sick over from eating so much. It's great they were able to use up the TS meals and hopefully they enjoyed most of what they had to eat.

 

[madelyn]

Very true. I don't know that my adult sisters made themselves sick. Was probably a combination of my son being around so many treats (they also had lots of candy from trick or treating at MNSSHP) and him not having a parent there to monitor his consumption more closely. He probably overdid it on the snacks and desserts and when it came time to eating real food, he was too full to eat! Yes, they did enjoy their TS meals and I think overall had an enjoyable trip!

The DP is not a good thing when it becomes work like that. At certain point, the guest needs to accept the loss and move forward...using up the credits is not worth getting sick over from eating so much. It's great they were able to use up the TS meals and hopefully they enjoyed most of what they had to eat.

 

[DisFam11]

Sorry to hear that it was stressful for them. We always do the delux plan, but my husband and son eat a lot Sometimes, they use one of my credits and share a fourth meal. I think all the walking at the parks increases their appetite.