Dining plan ???s

[SYDNCLAIRESMOM]

I apologize if this has been asked/established already on the boards but I'm off to work so I dont have much time to search and this could make or break my descision about the plan.

There are 4 of us, 2 adults and 2 DDs (5&6) going for 9 days total. Could we pay for ALL the kids meals separately (they dont eat much-usually splitting a kids meal between them--non buffet obviously) with cash and use the kids alloted counter services and table services for ourselves (adults) another day? I guess what my question is is this--Are there adult credits and child credits and do they need to be used respectively or are they all the same?

I hope this makes sense...

 

[MomofKatie]

As of right now, Disney is still pooling all credits together, so it IS possible to pay OOP for kids' meals and use the credits for adult meals.

How long Disney will continue to pool the credits is anybody's guess. There have been quite a few rumors that this will be discontinued, but these rumors have not yet come to pass.

Remember, Disney can change the Plan rules at any time, so I'd make plans accordingly. Worst case scenario? You will need to pay for some of your adult meals OOP. Best case? You will be able to use ALL your credits for your meals, and save $$ by paying for the inexpensive kids' meals.

Now, as for the moral implications, I'm SURE you'll get lots of opinions on those , so I will leave that whole can of worms unopened. Do what you feel is best- for now, there is no rule against it.

 

[bopper]

I just got back and think you get way too much food on the Disney Dining Plan.
We did the free version that Disney had as a promotion, but man, too much food.
If you are paying for this, then I would not reccommend it. Do you need a dessert for lunch, a snack, an appetizer and dessert for each person for lunch and dinner?

 

[WDWBetsy]

If you are paying for this, then I would not reccommend it. Do you need a dessert for lunch, a snack, an appetizer and dessert for each person for lunch and dinner?

Do I need it? Probably not. But I think it's a great deal for what you get, plus it's great to have most of your meals taken care of in advance. As for the snack credits, we'll probably use those for bottled water - and I usually choose soup for an appetizer (DH chooses a salad) - so it's not like I'm going to eat a big appetizer platter. We'll probably take dinner desserts back to the room with us. You can still eat healthy on the dining plan, if you choose to.

 

[MomofKatie]

Do I need it? Probably not. But I think it's a great deal for what you get, plus it's great to have most of your meals taken care of in advance.

My thoughts exactly!! We got the Free Dining offer, but we were prepared to pay for the plan. Our main consideration? Being able to order (or not order) what we wanted, without worrying about every penny. We were excited about the Dining plan just for the "peace of mind" of knowing our meals were paid for. We didn't feel like we HAD to order the most expensive items, or order appys and desserts if we didn't feel like it- but knowing we COULD was wonderful!!

 

[SYDNCLAIRESMOM]

Now, as for the moral implications, I'm SURE you'll get lots of opinions on those , so I will leave that whole can of worms unopened. Do what you feel is best- for now, there is no rule against it.

I feel no guilt about using my dining credits, that I bought and paid for, as I please as long as I am not breaking any rules laid down by the company. I think some people are just jealous that they are not as clever as we are!!

As far as the amount of food you get, since sharing is allowed, that is what we plan on doing as we are not huge eaters either. This will free up more tables to use for "The Hoop" or signature restaurants. Not to mention the counters we can use for breakfast.

I did the math and we usually end up paying more ala carte on previous trips so this is a good deal for us.

 

[DisneyMom5]

Instead of paying out of pocket, I would just share meals. Even the kids meals are too much for my kids. we wasted a ton of food. When we left, we hadn't even used 9 counter service credits and 8 snacks. Good thing it was free.
That being said, we plan on buying the plan in the future. With our size family it is just too good of a convenience (and would save us some money).
And we ate places we normally wouldn't due to price (Le Cellier, for example).

 

[RamseyTrio]

We're doing the MYW w/free dining next month and plan on sharing the CS meals so that we can do b'fast and lunch. There are going to be 4 adults/2 kids so we plan on using 2 credits for b'fast, 2 for lunch since we've heard how much food you get on the plan. I am using 2 of the kids credits towards an extra sit-down meal one day because there's one evening they won't be dining with us and the credits will be wasted otherwise.

We booked only part of our trip as a package so I was told that the unused credits expire the last day of our package - not too bad since we'll only need to pay out-of-pocket for one day of b'fast & lunch.

Have fun & happy eating!

 

[MomofKatie]

Instead of paying out of pocket, I would just share meals.

We plan on sharing, too (for non buffet or All-you-can-eat restaurants). We are a small family- just me, DH, and DD, who will be a new 7 year old on our trip. We plan on using 2 credits each for Marrakesh, Teppenyaki, and Tony's. Between the 3 of us, we probably won't be able to finish even 2 appys, entrees, and desserts. That will leave us 3 extra credits for b'fast at Chef Mickey's on our departure day.

 

[SYDNCLAIRESMOM]

The reason I wanted to pay out of pocket for some kids meals is so that we could carry them over and use those tables towards more pricey restaurants like a dinner show or a signature restaurant or a character meal. Does that make sense?

 

[jann1033]

I apologize if this has been asked/established already on the boards but I'm off to work so I dont have much time to search and this could make or break my descision about the plan.

There are 4 of us, 2 adults and 2 DDs (5&6) going for 9 days total. Could we pay for ALL the kids meals separately (they dont eat much-usually splitting a kids meal between them--non buffet obviously) with cash and use the kids alloted counter services and table services for ourselves (adults) another day? I guess what my question is is this--Are there adult credits and child credits and do they need to be used respectively or are they all the same?

I hope this makes sense...

i am just wondering why you want to do this...you could still only get one cs and split for the kids, one ts and split for the kids? why do you wan to pay out of pocket for it????? there is plenty of food (imo) for kids and sometimes even adults to split so it seems llike you'll have more points than you need

 

[SYDNCLAIRESMOM]

i am just wondering why you want to do this...you could still only get one cs and split for the kids, one ts and split for the kids? why do you wan to pay out of pocket for it????? there is plenty of food (imo) for kids and sometimes even adults to split so it seems llike you'll have more points than you need

The way I'm calculating it, I actually wont have enough credits.
There are 4 of us (2 adults 2 kids) going for 8 nights (9 days). We will receive 32 credits for TS, CS & snacks.
Tables are where I'm having the most difficulty:

If we go to 1 dinner show 2 character meals & 1 buffet (Boma) that will eat up 20 tables over 4 days--12 left to be split over the remaining 5 days.
We would use 2 table credits towards 2 adult meals (seems more cost effective) for 4 of those remaining 5 days at SCI FI, Rainforest Cafe, Rose and Crown (our favs) and 1 undecided needing to pay for at least 1 kids meal OOP (kids sharing) per day for 4 days.
That leaves us with 4 tables to use for the 5th day at Le Cellier where I've been DYING to go, but too expensive (a signature- so 4 credits=2 meals) again needing to pay for another kids meal OOP(kids sharing again).

I think paying OOP for kids meals is a better deal than paying OOP for a dinner show/charc meal or buffet. Does this make sense or is there an easier way? Taking into consideration that we each, for different reasons, have out heart set on these particular restaurants.

Counters are a different story. I think we can get by with sharing and eating breakfast bars and such. Snacks-no sweat.

 

[MomofKatie]

SYDNCLAIRESMOM- Le Cellier is a 1 TS credit restaurant. It supposedly is changing to a Signature Restaurant, but not until 2006. So, you might not need to pay OOP for as many kids' meals as you thought.

 

[SYDNCLAIRESMOM]

Cool!! Thanks momofkate!! That gives me a little more wiggle room.

 

[tessieg]

Another thing to note, I am almost certain that Rainforest Cafe does NOT participate in the dining plan!

 

[jrogers345]

Another thing to note, I am almost certain that Rainforest Cafe does NOT participate in the dining plan!

They're not listed on the listings I've looked at.

 

[DisneyMom5]

SYDNCLAIRESMOM- Le Cellier is a 1 TS credit restaurant. It supposedly is changing to a Signature Restaurant, but not until 2006. So, you might not need to pay OOP for as many kids' meals as you thought.

That's correct, we only used 1 TS each at Le Cellier last week. I think it WAS a signature restaurant at the begining of the plan, and is not now. Have a good time!

 

[SYDNCLAIRESMOM]

Another thing to note, I am almost certain that Rainforest Cafe does NOT participate in the dining plan!

Hmmm, since I just gained 2 back from Le Cellier and RFC doesnt participate maybe I'll pick a signature. Any suggestions? Jiko?