Disney Dining plan worth it for little kids?

[tchan03]

Hi i have a 6 yrs old and 3 yrs old. Total a family of 4 people.

I will visit 4 Disney parks in 4 days. i think it's not worthwhile to join dining plan for every single member of my family when 3 yrs old doesn't eat much.

Question is... . can i buy dining plan for just 2 adults and my 6 yrs old and then "share" ?

Like to know how it worked out for you..


tks
TC

 

[rtilner]

The dinning plan is for every member in you room. So in other words you just don't buy the plan for the adults and not the children.

What you should probably do is go for lesser plan. And for what the members of you party that don't eat that much what ever is left over you can use for the other members.

This is good for counter service.

 

[MiceFan]

My understanding is that you would have to buy the plan for the 3 year old as well. We did lots of character meals when my kids were that age, so the dining plan was worth it to us. Have fun with whatever you decide!

 

[sharonabe]

Before you decide on a dining plan, you need to decide how you want to eat while at Disney. allearsnet.com has a great listing of menus and does wdwinfo.com

Go to one of the sites above and determine where you want to eat and what you might eat and then look at the dining plans to see if they fit the way your family wants to eat.

With two kids, if you decide to do two or more buffets in your four days, the dining plan will save you money.

And, yes, you do have to purchase it for everyone in your party. If you go to a buffet, your three year old will be charged no matter how much they eat or don't eat.

 

[GWhitten98]

As PP said consider what/where you are going to eat. We have 2 that age and did a character meal every day so the dining plan was worth it b/c character meals are mostly buffet and not exactly cheap. You are paying for the experience more so then the food in those cases. Price it out and then decide.

 

[ElizabethG]

I only found the dining plan worth it when my kids were under 10. I can't think of any character meals that aren't fixed price, so you would have to pay for both kids anyway. If you are planning on less expensive restaurants, then the DDP isn't worth it and just pay OOP.

 

[purple figment]

If you are going to do at least 2 or 3 character meals then the regular dining plan will be worth considering because fixed price meals are a good use of the dining plan, especially for children. However, since you're going in less than a month, before committing to a dining plan you need to see if reservations are available at character meals and any other table service restaurants that you want to eat at.

If you are planning mainly counter service meals and sharing because your 3 year old doesn't eat much, then it would probably be better not to buy a dining plan.

Here's a link to the prices for buffets, family style and all fixed price meals:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3108466

Here are links to 2 sites with menus if you're not doing character meals and want to figure out approx how much an OOP meal will cost you:
http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm

 

[mermaids1960]

We have costed it and as we will be lots of character dining and eating in CRT decided to go with it

 

[lpanderson]

I am trying to decide this as well. The character dining makes a lot of sense so now it's time to see if the one's my daughter would like and availability and then possibly go with the dining plan!

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

You have to have the dining plan for every person on your reservation over the age of 2.

Given the problems you are having with your 6 y.o. eating dinner I think you would be wasting your money.

 

[MatoMany]

We choose to go with the dining plan because we are planning a lot of character dining and our children are huge eaters. My 15 mo can easily finish a child size meal, my 7yo eats her meal and then part of mine. So, for us it works well. If I had children that would be fill sharing and didn't plan so many character meals (like our next trip which is more family reunion than Disney) then I most likely wouldn't have..

With us, also, we do it more for convenience than for savings. I like not having to think about meal costs and all while on vacation.

 

[chinarider]

For those of you that have used the dining calculators tools ( seeyareelsoon and
distripplanner)- what of the two have you found to be more accurate? I run the same scenario on each one and get totally different figures. THanks

 

[sharonabe]

For those of you that have used the dining calculators tools ( seeyareelsoon and
distripplanner)- what of the two have you found to be more accurate? I run the same scenario on each one and get totally different figures. THanks

I haven't used either (prefer to go through menus and do the math). You will probably get more help from those who have used them if you start your own thread with the same question.

 

[chinarider]

I haven't used either (prefer to go through menus and do the math). You will probably get more help from those who have used them if you start your own thread with the same question.

Thanks,I did try that as well and didnt get any responses.

 

[sharonabe]

Thanks,I did try that as well and didnt get any responses.

Sorry about that. If you want to give me your party makeup and restaurant choices, I'll help if I can.