disney dining plan any good?

[allenclan]

Hello we are going back to WDW in aug 07 and we were given the free dining plan in our deal with travel city direct,could anbody give us any ideas or recomendations on restaurants and character/show dining.We are also doing discovery cove this time and any feedback would be great! also(sorry to waffle on)has anybody got any reviews on flying with travelcity direct from manchester to sanford,we are staying at disney pop century.
many thanks david:

 

[Madjock]

Discovery Cove is fantastic, you'll love it I'm sure It's a nice relaxing break away from the parks and swimming with dolphins (assuming you're doing this) is just the most amazing experience.

Have a look at allearsnet.com for a list of restaurants and menus to get an idea of what you fancy.

The ones we loved were California Grill and Jiko for the food, the Wilderness Canyon for the fun, the breakfast at O'Hana was very good and featured Stitch, Lilo, Mickey and Pluto. Donald's Breakfastaurus at AK was very good with Donald, Mickey, Pluto and Goofy and Chef Mickey's is usually very enjoyable with Mickey, Minnie and some others.

Le Cellier and the French restaurant in Epcot were also good as Boma at AKL.

Don't know at TCD or Pop but have stayed at All Star Movies which is the same category as Pop and that was fine.

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

We found the DDP excellent. As you're going in August on the free DDP I'd be on the phone NOW to book up your ADRs. The best go very quickly and even more so when they offer it free.

By the way, you'll have FAR too much to eat!

Enjoy.

 

[natalielongstaff]

i agree with richard choose where you want to eat and book some places before they fill up

im a huge fan of the dining plan especially when its free

 

[MrsJobba1]

Yes We love the DDP too

 

[mkingdon]

TCD manchester to sanford has been fine for us on about 4 or 5 occassions.

Nothing special in terms of fancy stuff, but absolutely adequate to get you from A to B.

We've never had any issues in many many trips.

Enjoy!

 

[crabbie1]

Hello we are going back to WDW in aug 07 and we were given the free dining plan in our deal with travel city direct,could anbody give us any ideas or recomendations on restaurants and character/show dining.We are also doing discovery cove this time and any feedback would be great! also(sorry to waffle on)has anybody got any reviews on flying with travelcity direct from manchester to sanford,we are staying at disney pop century.
many thanks david:

Hi
cannot comment on TCD as always go with virgin.Stayed at pop last november for our wedding and it was great.Lovely large shop there and the icons are great(even for the big kids ).The food court was good ,plenty of choice.It was our first time doing the dining plan last time so we were a bit confused as to what you can have for what(counter service ,snack and table service )
The staff were very good though some were more generous than others.I put a stone on whilst away and did loads of walking-the year before didn't do the plan and lost half a stone! The dining plan is excellent and like the others I would do a list now of what you want to book.Try and book your table service ones up as the counter ones you can use in the hotel/parks.
We did the following.Remember for 14 nights you will get 14 TS,14 CS and 14 snacks.Some table service take up 2 of your credits(eg calafornia grill,hoop dee dee,le cellier).
We did Boma-went to animal kingdom for the day and booked the table for 18.00 hrs as the park closed at 17.00(nice place)
We also did calofornia grill(2 credits)garden grill at epcot(1 credit) ohana(1 credit),spoodles(1 credit) wolfgang puks(1 credit) mexico at epcot(1 credit) marrakesh at epcot(1 credit) mama melrose at mgm(1 credit) and the plaza at magic kingdom (1 credit)
Character dining we liked garden grill at epcot and also resturantasaurus at animal kingdom(forgot to mention that one earlier).We have booked chef mickey this time as I have heard good reviews about this.I would strongly recommend you book some asap so you will have some great meals lined up and not have to worry about findind places to eat.
I would love to do discovery cove but DD is only 4 and they cannot swim with dolphins till 5.Understand it is an excellent day out (again loads of food!!woohoo:

You will have a great time and we are going late July/August as well and didn't get the free DDP -cost us £854 for 2 adults and a child so enjoy the free food

 

[JohnnySharp2]

posted in error

 

[jonkatony]

The dining plan was great for us last year.

 

[DisneyJo]

We've got free dining too in August and like others have said phone now and book your ADR's! Try looking at the dining boards as they have a DDP area where people post questions etc also there is a list at the top of all snacks available on the plan you'll be amazed what you can get especially all the goodies at Goofys candy shop in DTD

 

[allenclan]

Thankyou to all of you for your helpful info,going to start looking for places to book.
best regards david

 

[natalielongstaff]

let us know what you book david

 

[allenclan]

Hi Nataile we still havent decided and we are going to have a think this weekend, we will let you know soon as.
Bye
David n Helen

 

[allenclan]

The dining plan was great for us last year.

Hi could you tell us if the dining plan covers the full price of a meal in places like Planet Hollywood or do you just get a percentage off?
Sorry for being a bit clueless on the dining plan but this is our first time using it.
Thanks
David

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I know I keep saying this, don't get me wrong, DDP is great for many people and good luck to anyone who takes advantage of it.
However, personally we found it a real pain last year, mainly because the last 2 weeks in August are normally fairly quiet crowd wise - however the DDP changed all that and the parks were much busier than they normally would be.

For us we depended on the light crowds as a counter balance against the intense heat.

Just my opinion of course.

Discovery Cove is good if you can make the most of it and stay as long as possible, get there very early 8am or so if you want an early slot with the Dolphins.

 

[jonkatony]

I have been to wdw in August for the last two years, I never noticed it being any more crowded because of the dining plan. We paid for the plan last year and it was worth every penny, yes there is to much food but no one forces you to eat and yes you have to plan you days around your evening meal, but at wdw you have to plan your days anyway to get things done.
This year we are getting it free and very much looking forward to it
Allenclan the plan covers 1 table service meal- three courses drinks(soft) and tip
1 counter service meal and a snack belive me this is enough food for a day.

 

[allenclan]

Just finished booking some adrs
dinner at cinderellas castle mk
mama melrose phantasmic pkg mgm
spirit of aloha dinner show polynesian resort
le cellier epcot
goofy character dinner at liberty tree mk
california grill contempory resort
planet hollywood downtown disney
has anybody been to any of these??
cheers david

 

[jonkatony]

dw favourite was the castle and sons fav was le celler, liberty tree was good.

 

[Donaldduck66]

The dining plan we think is fantastic. You really need to book your restaurants in advance so a little forward planning is needed. Travellling with TCD is ok. We've travelled with them a few times and only once had a problem last December it was. We arrived at the airport to return home and there wasn't a plane for us to go home on. They put us up in a nice hotel and provided food etc. They did their best under the circumstances. We are travelling with them again in July. Crystal Palace is a good one for character dining with pooh, tigger, piglet and eeyore.

 

[stevechase]

Hi All

We are getting very excited here about 3 and a bit months till we head out for 3 weeks to POR.

We are still talking about the dining plan. But we are going for 21 nights and I am still struggling to get how it is worth it. I know we all have our different ideas of expensive and so on, but for us 5, 2 adults 3 kids although Beth is 10 so an adult in Walts eyes. It would cost us a tad over £1600.00 for the dining plan for 3 weeks, roughly £80.00 per day.

Now is it just me, or does 3 weeks food for us 5 costing that much seem a bit high. We could live at Marks and Specer food hall for way less than that.

Maybe its just me and obvioulsy you spend money on hols that you would not normally, but I just cant see that it is worth it. But a lot of you seem to think it is real good value.

Just rambling now, have a good Easter Sunday!

Steve