Dining Plan - worth EVERY PENNY!! Saved $$, ate better

[Nora94]

yes, they will be available as soon as you check in. Not sure if you can do early check in, but if you can, the meal plan will be on your room key and you will be good to go.

Nora

 

[marcyinPA]

That's what I think will be so great about this plan. We very seldom order appetizers and even more rarely order dessert. Even though, we are essentially paying for it, it will be nice to try new things and really eat out like you're on vacation!!! I can't wait!!!

This is exactly how I feel about the plan! We NEVER eat like this at home but on vacation, it's nice to REALLY be on vacation and not worry about paying for food and having to eat thrifty. We've BTDT in the past, rationing food on vacation because we couldn't afford to give everyone their own meal. But honestly, that's not vacation when you have to worry.

I can't wait to try the meal plan out!

 

[eddieras]

This is exactly how I feel about the plan! We NEVER eat like this at home but on vacation, it's nice to REALLY be on vacation and not worry about paying for food and having to eat thrifty. We've BTDT in the past, rationing food on vacation because we couldn't afford to give everyone their own meal. But honestly, that's not vacation when you have to worry.

I can't wait to try the meal plan out!

count me in-- we just got back tues and saved a ton and got to really sample and indulge ourselves-- for example-- ordered two shrimp cocktail at coral reef-- never would have done that before!

it's like i say-- there are two kinds of money-- money you have, and money you have on vacation! same thing can be said for eating!!

 

[HotMama]

Wow..great info...I heard the dining plan was a rip off... I will have to look into it better now!!!

 

[eddieras]

Wow..great info...I heard the dining plan was a rip off... I will have to look into it better now!!!

well, i definately would not dismiss it right away-- we spent $450 for the plan and our food total would have been $765! so even if you toss out some of the excess apps or desserts we still saved a ton!

 

[4forDis]

Thank you for the report!

Are the dining plan credits attached to your room key? Does the receipt at each meal show a running total of TS, CS and Snack credits so you can keep track of what you've used? Also, at what age do they consider your child an adult? I know it is 10 for park tickets, but seems to be 11 at restaurants...at what age does the MYW dining plan bump you to adult?

Thanks for your help!

I have a 10 year old son and I am struggling with whether or not this would be a good deal for us. The cut off at restaraunts is age 11. We are planning to go to several character meals and to places like Ohona where he will only be charged the kids rate (usually around $9.99). If I pay for the meal plan for him it will be $35 per day. I am not sure what to do. This seems to be a loophole in the system for those 10-11 year old kids.

Does anyone else have this situation?

 

[mlwear]

I have a 10 year old son and I am struggling with whether or not this would be a good deal for us. The cut off at restaraunts is age 11. We are planning to go to several character meals and to places like Ohona where he will only be charged the kids rate (usually around $9.99). If I pay for the meal plan for him it will be $35 per day. I am not sure what to do. This seems to be a loophole in the system for those 10-11 year old kids.

Does anyone else have this situation?

I have that EXACT situation. My son is 10. It seems strange to me that the child's meal cut off age is 11 and under, but we had to pay the adult price on the meal plan for a 10 year old. But, he isn't forced to eat off the kids menu. He is THRILLED about that. How in the world a 10 year old can eat an appetizer, entree and dessert at one meal is beyond me. (At least my 7 yo DS can must eat from the kids menu can share big bro's.) I've tried to plan my credits out. If we go to a buffet, I will often pay out of pocket for his "kids meal" and save his credit to use for another meal. If we do three buffets (or if he will eat of the kids menu) then we can go to an extra sit down (paying for 7 year old). Buffets are around $10, so a $100+ meal could cost us only $30. Is it a savings? I don't know. I am sure a lot of food will be wasted. As I wrote earlier though, he is very excited about the idea of ordering grown-up food. A nice vacation treat, but I hope he doesn't get used to it.

 

[4forDis]

I've tried to plan my credits out. If we go to a buffet, I will often pay out of pocket for his "kids meal" and save his credit to use for another meal. If we do three buffets (or if he will eat of the kids menu) then we can go to an extra sit down (paying for 7 year old). Buffets are around $10, so a $100+ meal could cost us only $30. Is it a savings? I don't know. I am sure a lot of food will be wasted. As I wrote earlier though, he is very excited about the idea of ordering grown-up food. A nice vacation treat, but I hope he doesn't get used to it.

Paying the kid's price for some character meals, etc. is a good idea and then saving the sit down meal credit for another day. My only concern is that it's vacation and this seems like it is going to be a big hassle to keep track of all this. I'm getting stressed out already.

 

[missmissy]

Thanks to those of you who said to go ahead a try to make PS's we are leaving in 14 days and still got some good restaurants with whatever time we wanted. We have added the dining plan. We were hoping we still could get a couple character meals and did. Thanks
1. 50's primetime 2. Le Cellier 3. Liberty Tree 4. SCFI 5. Garden Grill 6. Crystal Place

 

[Goofy_Rocks]

We're planning on going to Disney 12/12-12/18, so obviously this could all change, as it's too early for AR's. But what do you think of our "tentative" dining plans. We're a family of 5 - Myself, DW, DD5, DS3, & DD1. My DS will actually be 2 at the time, he'll turn 3, the week after our trip, so we won't have to pay for his dining plan or tix. We're thinking about buying a few kids meals to have an extra TS. Do you think this would allow us to get the most out of the dining plan?

Day 1 - CS @ somewhere in Epcot (this is our travel day)
Day 2 - CS @ Pecos Bills (we love it there!) and TS @ Crystal Palace (celebrating DD1's birthday)
Day 3 - TS @ Akershus - PSB and TS @ Le Cellier
Day 4 - TS @ Donald's Breakfastasaurus (celebrating DS' birthday) and TS @ Liberty Inn (MVMCP)
Day 5 - CS @ Pizza Planet or Rosie's and TS @ SciFi
Day 6 - CS @ somewhere in MK and TS @ CRT (my actual birthday!)
Day 7 - CS @ ? (travel day after lunch)

We still have extra CS too and of course the snacks... By using the dining plan it looks like we will be saving lots of $$$$!

Any opinions would be helpful! Thanks!

 

[mlwear]

Paying the kid's price for some character meals, etc. is a good idea and then saving the sit down meal credit for another day. My only concern is that it's vacation and this seems like it is going to be a big hassle to keep track of all this. I'm getting stressed out already.

I agree completely. A lot of extra planning to squeeze every cent out of that dining plan. Checking menus and figuring out which ones to pay for the kids...a lot of time. Maybe we should just be happy with what we have and not try to get more. It is just so tempting.

 

[clombardi]

We got them at the hotel food courts (POP Century and Carribean Beach) and also saw them at Main Street Bakery in Magic Kingdom. They are on the plan as a snack item.

Nora

I don;t see them listed as a snack on the dining plan. Is there a new list that I'm not aware of? We love them too!

 

[Nora94]

in almost every resort food court type place the snack list is a suggestion more than an actual list... lol... as I have said we got zucchinni bread, banana bread, the rice crispie treats, danishes, oj, etc. all at the resorts. No questions asked, they rang up that way w/o a problem.

 

[tigertam]

Hi, just found your thread. I haven't had a chance to read them all, but wanted to mark the thread so I don't loose it. I have enjoyed reading your posts on other threads, you are most informative.

I started a thread, Tough question: If you could only pick one sit down restaurant in each theme park? If you could respond I would be most grateful(I don't think you have?) I am supposed to be making some decisions by next week for free dining reservations, I am trying to get ideas.

 

[buzzmom3]

This is a great thread! We have the meal plan for our September trip and I am so excited. Now we can try TS that I would normally not take my 3.5 Ds to. And book extra Character meals and not feel guilty. Thanks for all the info!

 

[Nora94]

you guys are too nice! I was a Disney Virgin back in January. It's like a foreign language until you actually go. The dining plan made our trip so memorable. Nothing like eating like royalty! I will try to find that thread and respond...

Nora

 

[bishop1989]

Wouldn't it save you money, staying 9 plus nights, by using AP discount rate for hotel and your ticket and then buying the meals that you want? It just works out for us that the room discount is considerably more than any savings we may get from the dining plan.

 

[Anewman]

Wouldn't it save you money, staying 9 plus nights, by using AP discount rate for hotel and your ticket and then buying the meals that you want? It just works out for us that the room discount is considerably more than any savings we may get from the dining plan.

Not exactly sure who you are asking, but from my point of view there are many variables.

EXAMPLE 1.
Family of four(two kids 13,15) staying TEN nights in September at a VALUE resort.

Option A. AP rate is only $18 less than rack room rate for a savings of $180, but DO NOT forget that AP costs $400 And that they must now PAY out of POCKET for 10 days worth of food and snacks.

Option B. Forget the AP discount(pay rack) and get the Free dining plan which is regularly priced at $35 per day per persons over the age of 10. For a savings of $1400.


Example 2.
Single Mom with 1 8 year old child staying at AKL for the same ten nights.

Option A. Pay rack room rate and get free dining plan for a savings of $450 off of the regular price and not have to worry about food.

Option B. Get AP rate $70 off for total savings of $700. Now the question would be how well can they EAT with the $250 differance in price.


The above examples really dont get into having to buy myw tickets or AP. But just showing how it is not that clear cut, one must do the math. The Plan may not be for everyone but neither is the AP rate.

 

[tigertam]

This is a great thread! We have the meal plan for our September trip and I am so excited. Now we can try TS that I would normally not take my 3.5 Ds to. And book extra Character meals and not feel guilty. Thanks for all the info!

We are going Sept 12-22. When are you Sept people going?

 

[tigertam]

You are right it depends on the situation. Where you stay, how long and what you are looking for. But I would think, it would still be cheaper even if by a little or almost break even to get the free dining. Even if you are not saving much, you get to add all the bonuses of eating good, trying new things, in my case we have six kids the two oldest are 17 & 15 year old boys. This is most likely our last "big family trip" Nothing like going out in style and having them and my husband remember the trip we didn't have to be frugal or couldn't eat what we wanted because of money. There are so many pluses, but that one alone is worth it all! There is no other way we would ever be able to feel like we could eat whatever we wanted. My husband said the last time we were in Disney(Oct. 1996!) When we come next time we are staying in Disney and I'm not being frugal, where going to do what we want. Everytime I did the math before this offer even if you thought you could afford the rooms you couldn't afford the lifestyle of food to go with it. You were saying well if we do this many nights to be in Disney we can pack some food to off set some food costs. We can eat some snacks to save on some meals and well we are going to be busy anyway- who will know the differance?!? We so far have ended up with: 10 nights/ll full days at WL with 10 day premium plus tickets with my parents going with us. The 10 nights free food! We will be using the remaining plus days at the waterparks from my husbands parents florida house 45 min. away. We were able to drastically cut down on the trips back and forth because of this offer. We will be gone a total of 3 weeks! I am looking forward to it, I hope the kids love this and have great family memories from this trip!!! I did when I was a kid. My grandparents brought our family(and my fathers other five siblings!-at differant times!) when I was in 5th grade and then my cousin and I begged my grandparents to bring us when we were in highschool. The tradition looks like it will continue on. We will be the first of my five siblings to go! Anyways we travelled not a whole lot, but I would say more than the norm when we were kids. My mom did a good job with family memories and traditions, I am hoping this will be one that the kids will cherish!

Sorry I go off. You have to run the figures, you'd be surprised what you might find going from differant angles. The last AP discounts it was only $5 more to use WL or AKL than using a moderate! We could save alot of $, if we stayed at a budget or moderate. But I wanted this to be special and a bit more convenient then what I would normally plan to "be able to go". We ended up going only one resort for the stay, because we could get free dining the whole trip, it was the most cost effective and the kids were excited to be on the dining plan!!! Mom not saying, "no you can't have that its too expensive", "no, you don't need anymore soda, it's too expensive and it's not good for you!!!!!!!!!!", "girls do you think you could eat off what we are buying, it looks more than enough?". The list could go on! This is a whole new way for us. Yes I think I will feel like we spending a lot of time eating and I am full, but I am excited to finally be able to give my husband and kids the opportunity for this once in a lifetime chance! And to think we have been trying to go on this trip for about three years! And then we said this is the year, we have to, next fall our oldest could be in college! And it ends up we get free dining and going for 10 nights! We hit the jack pot!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry I am getting to excited and am going on!