Dining plan with kids??

[square pond]

Hi, We are booked for the dining plan for next year. We have two boys who are not big eaters. When we went to Disney in April there were many occassions when we stoped to eat the they only wanted a drink or fries or sometimes nothing at all. We are wondering if on the plan we will all have to eat at the same time at the same place. For example could my husband and I just order meals and not the kids??? And than later get the boys something??I am also wondering if at a counter service we could just order two kids meals?? I realize at a buffet or character meal we will all have two eat no matter what but I am mostly thinking about are the counter service meals. Thanks for any info you can shed on this.

 

[can'twait]

I don't believe you have to eat at the same time. You probably could share a counter service meal between them and then have an extra for another meal later for you or your spouse.

 

[CapeCodFam]

I'm not sure what dining plan your talking about but, My dh and me bought the disney dining experience cards. saves 20% at tons of places. TWo of my boys are very picky eaters. My three year old only ate a box of fruitloops at a breakfast buffet. The waitress was awsome and never charged us for him. We are going again in nov. and after one more meal the card has paid for itself.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

I am goind to assume you are booked with the magic your way plus dining package. The way the package works is # of nights in hotel x 1 counter service (cs), 1 table service (TS). and 1 snack per person. So if you are staying 5 nights for 4 people you would get 20 TS, 20 CS, and 20 snacks. As long as you are at a participating restaurant/snack cart which almost all are but consult disneys website for exact list then you can spend them as you see fit. If you are at a CS and the kids aren't hungry you can order 2 meals for you and your wife to eat and let me pick. We are planning on getting 4 different CS meals at Epcot from different countries so we can have a variety of different foods to try. Sharing is allowed!!! Even at TS - the only place that sharing is not allowed would be buffets - 4 credits would be used. But if even you and your wife are not too hungry you could split a meal at TS and character meals are included with the plan. With the dining plan you get at TS - 1 appetizer, entree, dessert, and beverage per person ordering. This also counts for children - they must order off of kids menu if available and are able to order off adult menus whatever is not available in kids sizes. Ie: if there is no kids appetizer listed they can pick an adult one. So splitting may help you and also leave you a couple extra credits to cover maybe breakfast or another meal. Remember that if you are splitting you may want to add tip accordingly as tip is included but based on what you order - example if you only order 2 meals and split - the server is still waiting on a table of 4. If you split meals you may want to pay out of pocket for a 2nd beverage so each of you have a drink. Lots of ways to work the plan to your best advantage. Good luck!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Hi, We are booked for the dining plan for next year. We have two boys who are not big eaters. When we went to Disney in April there were many occassions when we stoped to eat the they only wanted a drink or fries or sometimes nothing at all. We are wondering if on the plan we will all have to eat at the same time at the same place. For example could my husband and I just order meals and not the kids??? And than later get the boys something??I am also wondering if at a counter service we could just order two kids meals?? I realize at a buffet or character meal we will all have two eat no matter what but I am mostly thinking about are the counter service meals. Thanks for any info you can shed on this.

We did the plan last Jan. with DD 5. Yes, you can order less meals than you have people (Table Service). Of course with counter service you can order whatever you want. The secret to sharing, as explained by Aunt Elaine at Prime Time, is the number of drinks ordered. Make sure to take full advantage of Table Service and order appetizzers and desserts for each entree ordered. Also desssert is inc. at counter service too!

We plan on splitting our meals this Sept. when we go back.
52 days and counting!

 

[can'twait]

But why would you need to split meals if you have enough meals for everyone for each day you are there? Unless maybe you want to reserve some extra CS meals??? Or maybe use them for breakfast? We are planning to eat breakfast at the hotel with items bought from the grocery store - cereal, muffins, bagels, etc. and then sprint to the parks to get on rides and not have to worry about eating as soon as we get through the door. I think that two additional meals and a Mickey ice cream would fill me up, especially if the TS portions are large. I've heard that the CS portions are large too. I understand you don't want to order more than you can eat, but you've paid for it already. It's not like you will save $10 by not ordering another meal. You will just have an extra meal that you might not use before you leave. I can't decide which is worse - having meals leftover at the end of the trip or ordering more than you can eat. And then you have to factor in the dinner shows that count as 2 TS meals... Crikey! This whole thing is sounding like too much work for a vacation. I wonder if the plan is really worth it, especially if they make the rumoured changes to it.