Do you find it too much?

[excited4dis]

Still debating on doing the standard dining plan. If we do it, we will do 1900 Park, BOG, WCC, Chef Mickey's, Cape May Cafe, Sci-Fi, T-Rex, Garden Grill, and Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package. Do any of you find it too much in food to do one TS meal a day? I plan on going for 9 nights with my DS17 and DS14.

Also, I was checking out all the QS menus. So many of them seem repetitive. How do you keep yourself from getting bored of eating the same thing all the time? Also, are there any snacks you would recommend that we can eat for breakfast or lunch instead? TIA

 

[Shanti]

Still debating on doing the standard dining plan. If we do it, we will do 1900 Park, BOG, WCC, Chef Mickey's, Cape May Cafe, Sci-Fi, T-Rex, Garden Grill, and Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package. Do any of you find it too much in food to do one TS meal a day? I plan on going for 9 nights with my DS17 and DS14.

Also, I was checking out all the QS menus. So many of them seem repetitive. How do you keep yourself from getting bored of eating the same thing all the time? Also, are there any snacks you would recommend that we can eat for breakfast or lunch instead? TIA

No, one TS meal per day, even two, is not excessive, unless you're the type to stuff yourself silly at a buffet. They're normal restaurant meals. I definitely recommend at least one TS meal per day, to avoid getting sick of QS. WDW's TS restaurants are very nice, and a not-to-be-missed part of a Disney vacation, in our opinion.

 

[excited4dis]

No, one TS meal per day, even two, is not excessive, unless you're the type to stuff yourself silly at a buffet. They're normal restaurant meals. I definitely recommend at least one TS meal per day, to avoid getting sick of QS. WDW's TS restaurants are very nice, and a not-to-be-missed part of a Disney vacation, in our opinion.

Ok, thank you! I'm also thinking it will be nice to sit down for an hour or two in the air conditioning. The restaurants I picked are mostly for the experience anyway. I just want to make sure that eating out that much on a 9 night vacation doesn't get tiring.

 

[Shanti]

I'm also thinking it will be nice to sit down for an hour or two in the air conditioning.

Yes, definitely. One thing I do on many park days is book an early breakfast before park opening, skip lunch, then book an early dinner (3 or 4pm) so that our longest meal of the day takes place in the air conditioning, and also gives us a break from touring during a very busy time of the day. Two meals per day seems right to us, ensures we don't overeat, and also ensures that we're hungry enough to really enjoy that table service dinner, and maybe a Mickey bar mid-day.

 

[KTwiegs]

Knowing you have a set time to relax and have a nice meal actually served to you is great. It rejuvenates you after a long day.

Also I actually think you have more variety in QS then TS sometimes

Yes there are burgers and pizza everywhere but there is so much more to QS in Disney
Wolfgang puck @ DS is practically TS quality food. Delicious!
Flame tree BBQ @ AK gets you your BBQ fix
Columbia harbor house @ MK has everything from a lobster roll to fresh fish to an amazing tuna sandwich with fresh cut house made chips
And Epcot practically has a QS for every country. Lots to choose from.

I love have the DP. Not worrying about money and always getting what you want on the menu instead of what makes sense money wise.

Have an amazing trip!

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

Still debating on doing the standard dining plan. If we do it, we will do 1900 Park, BOG, WCC, Chef Mickey's, Cape May Cafe, Sci-Fi, T-Rex, Garden Grill, and Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package. Do any of you find it too much in food to do one TS meal a day? I plan on going for 9 nights with my DS17 and DS14.

Also, I was checking out all the QS menus. So many of them seem repetitive. How do you keep yourself from getting bored of eating the same thing all the time? Also, are there any snacks you would recommend that we can eat for breakfast or lunch instead? TIA

Just so you know, a Fantasmic dining package might be two credits at Mama Melrose. I would make sure since I think any restaurant with a show added is now two credits. For those two credits, I would go to Hollywood Brown Derby. Also, if that is the case, you would have to drop one of your "planned" table service/buffet locations if you choose to do that. I personally didn't have a great experience at Mama Melrose

Also, you need to ask yourself if you like dessert or not? Go through each of the menus and plan out what you "might" order, and make sure you price out everything + tax. It's also important to know that tip is not included with the dining plan, so tip will be an added cost on top of the dining plan. Also, will you use the refillable mug a lot at the resort? I have only gotten the dining plan once for this reason. I have found it that we would pay more for the dining plan than out of pocket based on what my family likes and would do with it.

I would only say it's a lot of food if you don't like dessert at QS meals. I normally don't get dessert at those, but I enjoy getting it at TS meals.

 

[KTwiegs]

Just so you know, a Fantasmic dining package might be two credits at Mama Melrose. I would make sure since I think any restaurant with a show added is now two credits. For those two credits, I would go to Hollywood Brown Derby. Also, if that is the case, you would have to drop one of your "planned" table service/buffet locations if you choose to do that. I personally didn't have a great experience at Mama Melrose

Also, you need to ask yourself if you like dessert or not? Go through each of the menus and plan out what you "might" order, and make sure you price out everything + tax. It's also important to know that tip is not included with the dining plan, so tip will be an added cost on top of the dining plan. Also, will you use the refillable mug a lot at the resort? I have only gotten the dining plan once for this reason. I have found it that we would pay more for the dining plan than out of pocket based on what my family likes and would do with it.

I would only say it's a lot of food if you don't like dessert at QS meals. I normally don't get dessert at those, but I enjoy getting it at TS meals.

You no longer get a dessert with you QS. Now they give you 2 snack credits a day

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

You no longer get a dessert with you QS. Now they give you 2 snack credits a day

I did not know this. Thanks for the update. I would much prefer an extra snack than the dessert that used to be included!

 

[excited4dis]

Just so you know, a Fantasmic dining package might be two credits at Mama Melrose. I would make sure since I think any restaurant with a show added is now two credits. For those two credits, I would go to Hollywood Brown Derby. Also, if that is the case, you would have to drop one of your "planned" table service/buffet locations if you choose to do that. I personally didn't have a great experience at Mama Melrose

Also, you need to ask yourself if you like dessert or not? Go through each of the menus and plan out what you "might" order, and make sure you price out everything + tax. It's also important to know that tip is not included with the dining plan, so tip will be an added cost on top of the dining plan. Also, will you use the refillable mug a lot at the resort? I have only gotten the dining plan once for this reason. I have found it that we would pay more for the dining plan than out of pocket based on what my family likes and would do with it.

I would only say it's a lot of food if you don't like dessert at QS meals. I normally don't get dessert at those, but I enjoy getting it at TS meals.

Only the HOllywood Brown Derby Fanstasmic Package is 2 TS credits, Hollywood and Vine and Mama Melrose are 1 TS credit each. I already looked through all the menus, and figured out what it would cost us OOP. It's actually cheaper to go with the Dining Plan if I do all these restaurants. If I don't, I will cut out Garden Grill, Mama Melrose, and Cape May Cafe. The last time we went to WDW, we did use our refillable mug a lot. For the standard dining plan, only the TS meal comes with dessert, not the QS meal.

 

[excited4dis]

Knowing you have a set time to relax and have a nice meal actually served to you is great. It rejuvenates you after a long day.

Also I actually think you have more variety in QS then TS sometimes

Yes there are burgers and pizza everywhere but there is so much more to QS in Disney
Wolfgang puck @ DS is practically TS quality food. Delicious!
Flame tree BBQ @ AK gets you your BBQ fix
Columbia harbor house @ MK has everything from a lobster roll to fresh fish to an amazing tuna sandwich with fresh cut house made chips
And Epcot practically has a QS for every country. Lots to choose from.

I love have the DP. Not worrying about money and always getting what you want on the menu instead of what makes sense money wise.

Have an amazing trip!

Thank you for your recommendations, they are greatly appreciated! Flame Tree BBQ and Columbia Harbor House are already on my list to go to. I didn't realize Epcot had a QS meal for ever country. That is great to know. I mainly plan on using our QS meals for lunch, but might use some of those credits for breakfast and just do a small snack for lunch. I have to try and save up our appetites for dinner. I think I'll go with the dining plan, but if I feel like money is getting too tight when my vacation is getting closer, I'll go without and save some money.

 

[North of Mouse]

Still debating on doing the standard dining plan. If we do it, we will do 1900 Park, BOG, WCC, Chef Mickey's, Cape May Cafe, Sci-Fi, T-Rex, Garden Grill, and Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package. Do any of you find it too much in food to do one TS meal a day? I plan on going for 9 nights with my DS17 and DS14.

Also, I was checking out all the QS menus. So many of them seem repetitive. How do you keep yourself from getting bored of eating the same thing all the time? Also, are there any snacks you would recommend that we can eat for breakfast or lunch instead? TIA

CS repetitive?? We don't find it so at all. Sunshine Seasons in Epcot has lots of variety (great plate meals), Flame Tree in AK has some great rib dinners, Cosmic Ray's and other places have baked chicken meals, hamburgers, etc. etc. Just there and ate at all these places - didn't have to eat the same things everytime at all!

There are several places that have b'fast sandwiches, cinnamon rolls, bagels, etc. for breakfast.

 

[excited4dis]

Yes, definitely. One thing I do on many park days is book an early breakfast before park opening, skip lunch, then book an early dinner (3 or 4pm) so that our longest meal of the day takes place in the air conditioning, and also gives us a break from touring during a very busy time of the day. Two meals per day seems right to us, ensures we don't overeat, and also ensures that we're hungry enough to really enjoy that table service dinner, and maybe a Mickey bar mid-day.

We did a lot of breakfast TS meals on our last WDW trip, but my kids are horrible breakfast eaters, so most of the food went to waste. I'm going to use all of our TS meals for dinner and a couple of lunches.

 

[KTwiegs]

Thank you for your recommendations, they are greatly appreciated! Flame Tree BBQ and Columbia Harbor House are already on my list to go to. I didn't realize Epcot had a QS meal for ever country. That is great to know. I mainly plan on using our QS meals for lunch, but might use some of those credits for breakfast and just do a small snack for lunch. I have to try and save up our appetites for dinner. I think I'll go with the dining plan, but if I feel like money is getting too tight when my vacation is getting closer, I'll go without and save some money.

What I have found works great for the DP is a quick breakfast in the room (granola bars we packed or a quick out of pocket breakfast treat and coffee or juice in our refillable mugs)

Then lunch early, around 11, beat the crowds too

Then a snack credit sometime before dinner

I like to do our dinner ressie around 5 so you beat the crazy dinner time and leave plenty of time to get to any firework or night time show.

Then maybe use the 2nd snack credit at night if you want another treat!

 

[Deb & Bill]

We have a trip coming up, six nights, seven days. We only have three table service dining reservations. The other days we'll eat counter service, maybe pick up one more table service. But we seldom eat a table service every day. That's just too much for us.

We did the standard dining plan once, many years ago, and found it was just too much food.

 

[excited4dis]

What I have found works great for the DP is a quick breakfast in the room (granola bars we packed or a quick out of pocket breakfast treat and coffee or juice in our refillable mugs)

Then lunch early, around 11, beat the crowds too

Then a snack credit sometime before dinner

I like to do our dinner ressie around 5 so you beat the crazy dinner time and leave plenty of time to get to any firework or night time show.

Then maybe use the 2nd snack credit at night if you want another treat!

I pretty much plan on doing the same thing. Except this time I'm going to let us sleep in for a bit. Last WDW vacation we took, I had my kids up at 7am, and we didn't get back to the resort until midnight. This time I won't make it so torturous on us, lol. So we will sleep until about 9am, have a quick breakfast (granola or bagel), eat lunch about 1pm, and dinner about 6pm/6:30pm.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I pretty much plan on doing the same thing. Except this time I'm going to let us sleep in for a bit. Last WDW vacation we took, I had my kids up at 7am, and we didn't get back to the resort until midnight. This time I won't make it so torturous on us, lol. So we will sleep until about 9am, have a quick breakfast (granola or bagel), eat lunch about 1pm, and dinner about 6pm/6:30pm.

You could always get up early and do as much as possible in the park. Then head back to the resort for swimming and naps. Head back out for dinner and the evening.

 

[excited4dis]

You could always get up early and do as much as possible in the park. Then head back to the resort for swimming and naps. Head back out for dinner and the evening.

We might do that too on some days. That's how I used to do Disney pre-kids.

 

[Nancyg56]

I have never understood why one TS meal or even two is too much food. At home we eat three meals a day, so why would we skip meals on vacation? We do manage our meals so we are not having buffet at two meals in any given day.

WE look forward to a dinner that is relaxing, and we just make sure that we do not overeat just because. In Summer months we will often book a TS lunch in EPcot because that park is so darn hot. Having a scheduled air conditioned break makes sense for us.

 

[chris benton]

Food for thought:
I'm pretty much a pig.
Flame tree qs meal - no chance in hell I could finish one by myself. Wife and I couldn't even finish one. We shared some with our 7 yr old who got a kid's meal, and we still had leftovers.

Pecos Bill's qs fajita platter. The wife and I came pretty close to finishing it all. I thought it was horrible, but still, it was a LOT of food.

Mama Melrose F! Dinner. I ordered the steak, assuming it would be a smaller portion. I was thanksgiving full, and couldn't even touch the dessert. I actually almost didn't even want them to put my dessert on the table.

Now, listen - I'm a total pig, and I always tend to over order food when planning parties or gatherings. For my family, the DDP is way too much food. Maybe I think I'm a pig, but I'm really not? That wouldn't explain my waist size, tho. I wonder if some of the ppl who are proponents of the ddp are throwing a lot of the food away? I have no idea at all. I could "make" the ddp work for us monetarily, but I know we'd be throwing food away so, really, we're not saving money. We'd be paying for the food that is not eaten. Some of those QS meals are huge - especially for possible high temps and lots of walking.

Just food for thought for the OP. I'd never say that the dining plans are not good for everyone. I'm just offering a data point. I was VERY surprised at how much food some of the meals are. I was kind of expecting overpriced theme park portions for most places. The kid's meals are also pretty generous for the price.

 

[Farro]

One counter service and one table service. Not too much food for us! Eat our quick service earlier in the day, then a later sit down dinner. If you have enough time between meals, you should be fine.

I always find we are hungry for dinner. The year we didn't do very many sit downs, we found we missed it a lot. I need that bit of relaxation, to be served food, have some wine, just be calm for a bit.

Do we finish everything? Not all the time, but we never do at home either. I eat until I'm full and I don't feel guilty if I don't finish. Sometimes I clean my plate.

Snacks - we will use for food/wine, breakfast, maybe Starbucks, late night treats, who knows!