Dining Plan Not Worth the Money!

[thelionqueen]

as a 1st timer w/kids I'll welcome all the suggestions and food for thought! Bring them on

Our agent planned our meals at restaurants at which where we'll be spending the day. So Hollywood & Vine we'll start off our day at HS, Akershsus Royal Banquet, we'll start off at epcot, so on and so forth. A few dinners like when we're at the tusker house for breakfast, aka, animal kingdom in the am and still dont know if we'll leave or go elsewhere that day but that night we have dinner at 1900 Park Fare, Grand Floridian. SUre all of this could be a great idea but if we want any good character/meals, obviously ADR's must be made. People weren't joking when your day revolves around the resevations, LOL.

what do you think?

YES! We are NOT kidding when we say you need to plan your day..and honestly your entire vacatin...around ADR's! Very smart to have meals at the parks you will be attending anyway, that will be very convenient.

Yes, ADR's definitely need to be made and once those are done, then you can begin your planning around them. Are you renting a car? If not, that will definitely have an affect on how you get to "non park" reservations. Keep in mind too, as a first timer..the "World" is much bigger than you can ever possibly imagine! So many people think, well I'll just get here, this way by this time..it truly isn't that easy! There is walking, finding parking, walking from parking, getting to the restaurant, waiting, eating, and then the walking and transportation back to wherever it is you are going.

A reservation at Disney isn't like a reservation anywhere else. It takes an incredible amount of time and planning. Being your first trip and not knowing the layout of WDW, it is even going to be more time consuming.

Character meals are AWESOME and I LOVE LOVE LOVE many of the restaurants @ WDW..but having a lot of reservations, especially for a 1st timer, can be pretty overwhelming. I'd say stick to the meals at the parks you'll be visiting and plan well in advance transportation to other locales.

Most first timers are completely overwhelmed by the sheer size and number of things to see at the World. Trying to pack as much in as possible..and that doesn't include dining of any kind. IMO...do a few character meals that are convenient, and leave a lot of time for you to explore the world without being tied down daily to reservations. Honestly...once you've done a few character meals, you don't need to overdo it. Then the ones you do have become less special...that's my opinion. Hope something here helped

 

[mommycal]

it's not our 1st time there but it is our 1st time as a family. DH & I went just before we had kids and came and went as we wanted, didn't make reservations, got into almost everything we wanted to do/see/eat. I'm looking forward to it. sure it's all 'planned' out in my head of where we'll go each day, where we'll eat according to our ADR's. Now to find out and see if we'll actually DO ANY of it, LOL!!! I'd like to think I'm being realistic about it but at the same time scared of what will really happen, LOL. ETA: no we're not renting a car.

 

[thelionqueen]

it's not our 1st time there but it is our 1st time as a family. DH & I went just before we had kids and came and went as we wanted, didn't make reservations, got into almost everything we wanted to do/see/eat. I'm looking forward to it. sure it's all 'planned' out in my head of where we'll go each day, where we'll eat according to our ADR's. Now to find out and see if we'll actually DO ANY of it, LOL!!! I'd like to think I'm being realistic about it but at the same time scared of what will really happen, LOL. ETA: no we're not renting a car.

Well, having been there already is a huge plus to start with Something to consider since you're not renting a car. There are no buses that go from resort to resort, i.e., you will need to take a bus to either a park or DTD then take another bus to the resort..and vice versa on the way back. That is incredibly time consuming, so something to consider.

Planning your dining is exciting and I enjoy it thoroughly, I just hope you can get a good understanding of what it entails to get somewhere. Once you get that figured out, then you're good. Took me several trips and always renting a car to do it well..even so..had our problems

 

[crostorfer]

Does anyone else feel that Disney has prices themselves out of people getting the dining plan? On one hand it is very convienent to pay with the KTTW card but it's also, at this price, difficult to get your money back unless you do a lot of research and order the most expensive thing. Just wondering what everyone else thinks. I would also rather have an appetizer than a dessert, or at least the choice.

I disagree. Strongly.

We do signatures and character meals every trip, and we use snack credits on drinks and Dole Whips. We always come out ahead with the dining plan, and we always do the DxDP. I like not having to worry about money while I'm there.