Dining Without Disney Dinning Plan Questions

[kwdw]

Thanks everyone, I had a bit of a health scare and was MIA for a while. I am just catching up! I don't have a "budget" that I have to work with but I do want to keep it under about $25 per person per meal if possible. We do have one Reservation for Be our Guest. I doubt I could get another now... But it is a favorite and well worth the $$ to me.

Oh my - $25 per person per meal is not bargain, IMO. With the exception of the signatures and the character meals - you can eat at MOST TS restaurants for that price - especially if you order water as a drink and don't plan on dessert. You have LOTS of choices with that budget - just browse menus.

 

[Stubbzilla]

We went without the dining plan for the first time during our last trip and I found it to be so much less stressful! It didn't matter if we didn't feel like eating, didn't have to worry about using up credits, didn't matter if I canceled an ADR (as long as it was a day before, of course). I LOVE planning but coordinating a crowd calendar, maximized use of dining plan credits, and FP+ was way too difficult. I feel like I never want the dining plan again.

From a financial perspective, this time with renting points from a DVC member we paid less to stay at Poly and eat than what we paid for our last trip when we stayed at POR and got "free" dining. Also we just really like breakfast, and breakfast in general is not a great use of the dining plan. It was nice to eat breakfast and not feel like I was wasting money, then skip dinner or just eat a granola bar if we weren't that hungry.

 

[amjrsj]

Oh my - $25 per person per meal is not bargain, IMO. With the exception of the signatures and the character meals - you can eat at MOST TS restaurants for that price - especially if you order water as a drink and don't plan on dessert. You have LOTS of choices with that budget - just browse menus.

Well I just remember Chef Mickey being much more than that and honestly while it was cute and fun, the food was just "meh" to me. I looked at the Plaza, I think we will for sure put that one on our list. I do love breakfast and that is honestly the only meal I like buffet style with. You guys have me all excited now about not using the dinning plan. Thanks!!!!

 

[crabbygal902]

My favorite places to eat when off dining plan (please pardon the repeats, but then you know that they must be popular choices for a reason if lots of people are mentioning them!)

MK:
Cosmic Ray's for the chicken/ribs combo that can easily be split between 2 people
The Plaza
Epcot:
Tangierine Cafe for the shawarma platter (again, huge portions that can be split)
La Hacienda for the Parillada del Mar or Hacienda (a huge platter of food that could feed all 3 of you)
Via Napoli's pizza
DHS:
Sci-Fi's burgers, fries, and shakes. Yes, a burger is expensive here compared to the "real world" but the atmosphere is unique and fun.
AK:
Yak & Yeti counter service for the chicken fried rice and egg rolls. A good bargain!
Resorts:
The Wave's breakfast buffet
Trails End dinner buffet

 

[ReluctantDisaholic]

We liked lunch at Chefs de France, and if I'm remembering right was about $75 for the 4 of us.

 

[ncc1701]

We do lunch at Mama Melrose sharing a flatbread and a salad. That should get you under $25 each including tax and tip even if you have sodas. You could also do Chef's de France( at lunch) and 50s Primetime depending on what you order.If you go to Disney Springs you can easily share a entree and salad at Wolfgang Puck Express in the Marketplace , not to mention Cooke's of Dublin and Earl of Sandwich.

 

[philharmagic fan]

Not sure how much your 10 year old would be eating, but to me the half chicken meal at Cosmic Rays would not feed two adults (or near adult). It's a 'very' small half chicken and I can easily eat it, and I am not a large person, or big eater. It might be enough for an adult and small child. There are very few shareable meals at Disney for two older people with healthy appetites IMO unless you do lots of snacking in between meals and aren't very hungry.

We often share between 2 adults, but if we're hungry we supplement with an extra side (soup, breadsticks, fruit cup) that only costs a few dollars more (much less than a second meal).

 

[NjMamaMouse]

I am a family of 6 and we always eat TS meals, while looking for ways to save. One big suggestion is that if you want dinner.... make it a late lunch. Some of the restaurants have slightly cheaper pricing at the 3:20 seating in comparison to the 4:00! Not all though, so check out the pricing!
Next would be something that you already mentioned, sharing meals! My 2 girls share 1 kids meal, and my teenager, husband, and I share 2 adult meals. Then we just order an extra side. My 6th is 17 months and he was just picking small amounts from everyone!
Our favorite TS are Kona Café for breakfast, BOG, Via Napoli, and SciFi Diner.
Of course by doing more QS you can all order kids meals too!!

 

[That Mom]

My dd(27) and I are not big eaters. We are just leaving today and most days we split an entree and had an appetizer each. We aren't big eaters and this was perfect.

 

[amjrsj]

So far I have the following:

• Day one, arrival day: Lunch at The Plaza, Dinner open (I have an event and assume my mom and daughter will hang at MK and do QS)
  
• Day 2: NO park day, so Breakfast at The Wave, leaving lunch open, and then for Dinner I have my mom and daughter going to the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue. (I have an event that night).
  
• Day 3: Breakfast open (probably do snacks as I want to see MK open) Lunch at BOG, Dinner is open so likely a QS meal there at MK.
• Day 4: Breakfast open (probably do QS at hotel), lunch at Via Napoli.

I am excited about The Plaza, The Wave and Via Napoli as I have never eaten at any of these. I am SUPER excited about BOG but we did eat lunch there last trip.

Thank you everyone for your ideas.