Disney honeymoon question

[Scottiesmommy08]

Hey guys! I'm new here, I've been lurking for a while and finally decided to join

So, I'm getting married in Jan and we plan to have a WDW honeymoon. With our budget we can basically afford a moderate resort. Looking at Coronado mostly. Here's my question.. did you like the dining plan and which one did you get? With a Moderate resort it's coming with the free basic dining plan but to be honest with you I have no idea how that works. I've been three times and never stayed on site. Would the basic plan be enough for two heavy eaters plus it being our honeymoon? Or would we be better off just staying at the Hilton or Holiday inn on site for less and just paying for our own meals? I'm open to any tips or suggestions because like I said, I'm pretty much clueless. I've always gone with my parents so I never had to really plan anything or pay for anything.

Thanks guys!!

 

[CA Disney Fans]

We (DH, DS16 and I) do the basic dining plan and have been more than satisified with it. I would suggest eating at restaurants that provide good portions and you'll be fine. Definitely stay on Disney property, it makes going back to the resort so much easier. Plus you could have your purchases charged to your room, also sent back to your resort.

 

[budbeerlady]

The dining plan is great!!!! You might want to check out the dining boards here for some other opions. Also here are links to the menus for a cost idea. http://allears.net/din/dining.htm

 

[beautifultomorrow]

We love to eat and love the Disney Dining plan! We usually get the regular plan (1 counter service, 1 table service, 1 snack) and its plenty of food. However, for our honeymoon we splurged and went with the Deluxe Dining plan, mostly so we could really "live it up" and dine at Signature restaurants every night (plus you can use the other credit for lunch or breakfast table service if you want). The deluxe plan also includes an appetizer at each table service meal where as the regular one does not, so it's a lot more food (too much for most people). We really liked it and will do it again for special occasions.

Free dining at a moderate resort is an excellent deal and you can't wrong with that. However if you did want to splurge and go deluxe Disney will allow you to pay the difference between deluxe and regular. -- Meaning instead of $80 something per person per night, you will pay $30-40 during free dining. I would strongly consider that option if its in the budget and you like to eat at fancy restaurants.

P.S. Some examples of Disney's signature restaurants are California Grill, Narcooses, Citricos, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Artist Point, Cinderella's Royal Table, Hollywood Brown Derby. Those would 2 days worth of table servicecredits to dine at if you used the regular dining plan. There are many standard table service restaurants in parks and resorts that just take one credit.

 

[princessK30]

A little off topic...but we're getting married in January (28th) and also staying at Coronado Springs (we're staying the first 2 nights at the Grand Floridian and then switching to CS)!
I don't think we're doing the dining plan though, mostly because neither of us eat breakfast on most days and on our last trip to Disney we calculated it out when we got back and it actually would have been more expensive for us to do the dining plan based on what and where we ate on our trip. But it all depends on what you are used to eating I think too.
Good luck! Maybe we'll be there at the same time in January?

 

[herb102211]

Congrats on your upcoming honeymoon! We're also going to Disney for our honeymoon and we're staying at the Beach Club. We have always done the regular dining plan (1 table service, 1 quick service and 1 snack per person per night), which I think is the one you're getting for free. We've always found this package useful and definitely saves a lot of money as FI and I always eat a lot of TS meals at Epcot, MK and the resorts, so you're certainly getting a great deal. You probably won't need the deluxe dining plan since you don't plan on eating 3 meals a day. Enjoy

 

[Scottiesmommy08]

A little off topic...but we're getting married in January (28th) and also staying at Coronado Springs (we're staying the first 2 nights at the Grand Floridian and then switching to CS)!
I don't think we're doing the dining plan though, mostly because neither of us eat breakfast on most days and on our last trip to Disney we calculated it out when we got back and it actually would have been more expensive for us to do the dining plan based on what and where we ate on our trip. But it all depends on what you are used to eating I think too.
Good luck! Maybe we'll be there at the same time in January?

YES!! We'll be leaving on the 4th!

 

[Scottiesmommy08]

Free dining at a moderate resort is an excellent deal and you can't wrong with that. However if you did want to splurge and go deluxe Disney will allow you to pay the difference between deluxe and regular. -- Meaning instead of $80 something per person per night, you will pay $30-40 during free dining. I would strongly consider that option if its in the budget and you like to eat at fancy restaurants.

P.S. Some examples of Disney's signature restaurants are California Grill, Narcooses, Citricos, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Artist Point, Cinderella's Royal Table, Hollywood Brown Derby. Those would 2 days worth of table servicecredits to dine at if you used the regular dining plan. There are many standard table service restaurants in parks and resorts that just take one credit.

So, this might sound dumb but I just want to double check.. We can skip a table service meal and then use two credits a the above places you listed?

 

[minniebride]

You may want to consider upgrading to the deluxe DDP, since you mentioned you are heavy eaters.

Every day you are eligible for 3 meals (Table Service, Counter Service or Signature-whichever you want). You get an appetizer, meal, & dessert.

 

[beautifultomorrow]

So, this might sound dumb but I just want to double check.. We can skip a table service meal and then use two credits a the above places you listed?

Yes, that's exactly how it works! If you do the regular plan you'd skip a table service meal so you can use 2 of the credits at a signature restaurant. In the past sometimes we've shared a counter service meal to stretch those credits a little farther to fill in the gap. Some CS's have really generous portions like Cosmic Ray's in Magic Kingdom, Flame Tree Barbecue at Animal Kingdom and Wolfgang Puck Express in downtown Disney. (WPE=best counter service EVER!)

If you do the deluxe plan, it still takes 2 credits, but since you get three credits per day it's a lot easier to make it work, especially if you want to dine at a lot signature restaurants like we did. Each of the deluxe plan credits can be used for table service or counter service -- its your choice, but obviously the more table service meals you eat the more bang for you buck you get. What we did on our honeymoon each day was have a 1 credit table service for lunch (places like Tutto Italia, Coral Reef, Kona Cafe) and then use our other 2 credits for signature dining at dinner. We actually ate at Brown Derby (two credits) for lunch one day as well. I would suggest using the two snacks per day for "breakfast."

 

[Jilian]

My H and I got the deluxe dining plan for our anniversary weekend and it was SO MUCH FOOD. Really. By the end of the weekend I was so sick of eating. We did signature restaurants and were still so stuffed. The appetizer and dessert did us in. It is a ridiculous amount of food and it felt really wasteful to us.

 

[belle aube]

Coronado Springs is such a lovely resort - when I stayed there in '09, it seemed quieter than Caribbean Beach (obviously, where I've stayed the most). I was there with a boyfriend at the time and it definitely gave us a relaxed, tranquil feeling that complimented our entire trip!

The food at Coronado Springs was great - plenty of choices and always pretty tasty. The only downfall was if we wanted to sit down and had to pay for the "luxury."

Hope you enjoy your stay there!

 

[PrincessTinker11]

Have you considered renting points to stay on the wdw property? I would take the middle of the road plan....then if you book some that take 2 table services even if you skip a meal here and there the dining plan is still so worth it!

I say rent points to stay at a deluxe resort b/c it saves SO much money and you can add on the dining plan to it! That is what we did and we will be at Old Key West...

 

[sarahe125]

Hey, for us the dining plan always seems to be worth it. My fiance and myself are accountants and we track it and with the regular dining plan we save approx 30% over buying those same meals on our own. We have also previously purchased deluxe and love it for the ability to eat at many signature restaurants. If you are trying to decide to pay at your own food and stay at a less expensive off property resort, you will have to figure out how much of a savings the "off property" lodging is. Good luck!