Dining Strategy

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Can I get some helpful hints/advice on my plan? Also, I was not sure if this belonged here or in the dining reservations (my questions are kind of thirds strategy/pricing/reservations)

I am a part of a grand gathering of 10 people, and we will be arriving Sunday December 11 and leaving Monday December 19. We do have the regular dining plan, so we have 8 credits.

11 Sunday: we will be arriving early in the day (by car) and are having the special grand gathering Tusker House Safari Dinner (2 credits/approx. $70 per person OOP)

12 Monday: tDHS day. We have a late lunch reservation at Sci Fi for 1:55 (1, but I'm thinking we will pay OOP for this meal since most of my family will probably go with some of the cheaper options under $15). I kind of wanted this reservation to be late so we can see both the Indiana Jones show at 11:30 and the LMA at 1:20 before we eat. I was thinking maybe just have a late breakfast at Starring Rolls with CS credits. Also with such a late lunch we can probably get by on snacks for dinner.

13: Tuesday: AK Day. Breakfast reservation at Boma (1) at 7:30 am, then over to AK for opening at 9. Closing is at 5, then we will be headed to the MK area to monorail hop to all the monorail resorts to see the Christmas decorations (maybe Wilderness Lodge as well since we will have a car). We'll end the loop at the Polynesian for dinner at 8:20 Ohana (1). Then hopefully we will be able to watch the Christmas Wishes from the beach.

14: Wednesday: MK Day. We have dinner reservations at LTT (1) at 4pm for an early dinner.

15 Thursday: Islands of Adventure (Harry Potter) Day. We will be over there from about 9 am to closing, 7 pm. Lunch at 3 Broomsticks (OOP) and then hopefully we can make it to DD for dinner at 7:45. I believe we will be splitting up and half of us will be going to T-Rex (OOP) and the other half to Raglan Road (OOP).

16 Friday: Epcot Day. We will sleep in this day and head to Kona for a late breakfast at Kona 10:20 (1). Then we have a 4:30 dinner at Biergarten (1).

17 Saturday: MK Day. Crystal Palace breakfast at 8:10 am (1). I'm not going to lie...I kind of just wanted this reservation for the early entry to the MK. For dinner we are all splitting up, some of us are eating at Tony's, Narcoossee's and CS.

18 Sunday: Epcot Day. Via Napoli for lunch at 12:45 (1). Then Candlelight Processional package 5:35 at Coral Reef (2 or $65 OOP per adult).

Yeah...right now we all have 11 credits (not counting the family members who are going to Tony's and Narcoossee's). Plus 2 TS meals at Disney we will be paying OOP for.

Anyone have any advice on trimming a restaurant or 2? Or some advice on restaurants that we could maybe get by on eating cheaper at than others? In that vein, are my choices of Sci Fi/Ragland Road/T Rex good choices for OOP? I really kind of want to keep the Tusker House and Coral Reef dinners as meal plan credits, since they are special events and pretty expensive to pay OOP for.

I'm not going to lie, a few of these restaurants were picked for the atmosphere. I am also thinking that towards the end of the week as people get food overload they may just order an appetizer or share a meal with someone else and can pay OOP for that.

All right that was super long, but I am pretty excited about my trip and my plans

 

[basketlacey]

Just giving you my 2 cents in how to reduce your credits -

I'd pay OOP for Kona breakfast. You might be able to split meals at Via Napoli too which would make paying OOP cheaper.

Personally, I'd probably eliminate one of the 2 credit special shows since you can eat at both of those restaurants for only one credit but that is just me. Those might be the highlights of your trip in which case, you would plan around them.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Just giving you my 2 cents in how to reduce your credits -

I'd pay OOP for Kona breakfast. You might be able to split meals at Via Napoli too which would make paying OOP cheaper.

Personally, I'd probably eliminate one of the 2 credit special shows since you can eat at both of those restaurants for only one credit but that is just me. Those might be the highlights of your trip in which case, you would plan around them.

Thank you! I'll have to check the Kona menus and see what the prices look like, but that sounds like a good suggestion.

Yeah, the trouble with the 2 credits meals are that they both are for special reasons. I really wanted to book the Safari Grand Gathering because my dad has been to Africa twice and my two sisters and I were able to go once with him, so its kind of like a relive the memories kinda thing since we get a special ride on the KS as well as the dinner. And I can't really see any of us spending more than $75 on 2 meals, so I'd rather do the credits.

The CP I made the reservation because i just know it is going to be my mom's favorite part of the trip, and we have a couple little kids who will be with us and I'm worried about making them stand in line to get a seat, also my dad won't be good at standing for long periods of time either (don't even ask about renting a scooter for him, he would just never use one). I was almost going to do one of the cheaper meals for lunch like Biergarten, but even that it was going to be about $30 a meal so I decided to just book one of the more expensive options.

 

[TDC Nala]

You have to pay OOP at T-Rex so that should remain on your pay OOP choice list.

I would agree, see if you can split meals at Via Napoli. You can split if you pay OOP but you can't if you are using the dining plan. Just so you realize if the whole group goes you will have 10 people and if you use DDP there each of them will be required to order their own meal.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

You have to pay OOP at T-Rex so that should remain on your pay OOP choice list.

I would agree, see if you can split meals at Via Napoli. You can split if you pay OOP but you can't if you are using the dining plan. Just so you realize if the whole group goes you will have 10 people and if you use DDP there each of them will be required to order their own meal.

This makes sense. I heard the pizzas are pretty big so we could just order 3 or so for the whole group depending on how hungry we are. Do you know if 5 of us can order on the DDP and 5 off...or do they not like you to do that because they wouldn't be sure if people are splitting meals or cheating the system? Which we will not be doing...I was just thinking maybe whoever wants to eat pizza can pay OOP and share, and if anyone wants pasta they can use the DDP. If that makes sense...sorry if it was confusing.

 

[TDC Nala]

I don't know about the regular meals. but on the dining plan, it's apparently been the recent policy there that if DDP guests want pizza, they must order an individual pizza, and they can't split one amongst party members. Each party member wanting to order pizza on DDP would need to order their own individual pizza, and unless you're really big eaters one individual pizza is big enough to split between two persons. Especially if you have a big early dinner at Coral Reef coming up on the same day.