Eating on the Dining Plan

[JEL394]

We are doing the free dining in September, and I'm just curious how people usually use the dining plan. We are staying at Wilderness Lodge for 4 nights, and it is me, DH, DS4, DS2, and our infant. So if I understand correctly, we get 1 CS, 1 TS, and 1 snack per night of stay (so 4 of each in our case)? We will not have park-hopper tickets.

So far I have made 4 TS reservations, and planned out 1 or 2 options for each of 4+ CS options (figure we will need to pay OOP for a few meals since the dining plan only provides two meals a day, correct?). This is my tentative schedule:

(Arrival) day 1: Crystal Palace for early dinner, then see parade/fireworks in MK

Day 2 (MK day): Chef Mickey breakfast, CS for lunch (Cosmic Ray's or Earl of Sandwich), then Whispering Canyon Cafe dinner

Day 3 (AK day): Donald's Tusker House breakfast, CS for lunch (Flametree BBQ or Pizzafari), CS for dinner (or could we even find a McDonald's somewhere??)...we are going to MNSSHP that evening.

Day 4 (HS day): CS for breakfast (Starring Rolls), CS for lunch (Pizza Planet), then T-Rex in Downtown Disney for DS2's 3rd birthday dinner.

So I guess right now we are only looking at having to pay OOP for one CS meal on the night of MNSSHP, and then of course dinner at T-Rex. It feels like I am missing something though, since the dining plan only really provides 2 meals a day??

And my 2 year old will not be able to get his own meal on the dining plan, correct? Is one kid's meal enough for two to share? And for something like a buffet, can you get as much food as you want (ie can I get enough pancakes to feed him too?).

Thanks for any insight, hoping my plan will work for us!

 

[Greta]

we always end up splitting a counter service here or there because the meals are so big. then we have plenty of CS meals that we dont really need to pay oop.
For example, the sandwiches at Columbia Harbour House are big (and yummy) and then with the dessert on top of that! my mom + I split one and my daughter and nephew split one. Now all 7 of us have eaten and are full, and have only used 5 CS

 

[aceys_h0ney]

Unless you told them your 2 year old was 3 you won't have them on your dining plan. So you will only have 3 people on the dining plan. Kids under three are free as far as theme park admission and buffets. They will be able to eat for free from buffet restaurants. They can share your meals at a TS & CS restuarant or you can order off the menu for your 2year old. We shared when ours was that little. We just ordered her a drink, some places didn't charge us for the drink some did.

 

[aceys_h0ney]

But yes you get 1 TS, 1 CS and 1 snack a day per person. How it actually works though is all the credits are loaded onto your key to the world card with your theme park tickets and room key. You can use them in any order you like. So if you want to use two TS credits in 1 day you can. Just make sure you use all your credits before you leave. If you are paying out of pocket for any TS meals make sure to do so at the least expensive meals.

When maximizing the dining plan for my family, we either use a snack credit and get a pastry from one of the many bakeries or we eat in the room. We drive so I bring breakfast foods. We eat breakfast in the room, have a CS lunch and a TS dinner most days. Whether or not your 4 year old can share with your 2 year old just depends on appetite. I found some adult meals were plenty big to share with our 2 year old. Most of the time though we would all just give her something from each of our plates and she had a full meal. We didn't buy her any meals out of pocket.

We used our snack credits wisely on filling items not just drinks and slushies. We brought our own drinks and some snacks into the parks. 1 day of our trip we always do a TS breakfast and then skip a formal lunch, we just use our snack credit to get something like egg rolls and then snack on what we bring, then have a TS meal for dinner. We have found that we really don't need to buy anything extra even with only having 2 meals on the dining plan a day. We just supplimented with our snack credits and dining in the room.

You get the credits for each night of your stay. I just re-read and that's what you meant by 4 credits. sorry in my above response I thought you meant your 2 year old would also have credits. So yes in your case you will have 4 TS meals, 4 CS meals and 4 snack credits on your card per person. It also does not seperate them by person, it will just load 8 adult TS credits 4 childs TS credits and so on.

 

[sharonabe]

Earl of Sandwich is at DTD...please don't go all the way over there just for lunch.

As for your party night, I suggest Casey's Corner...yummy hot dogs and not too expensive.

 

[JEL394]

Earl of Sandwich is at DTD...please don't go all the way over there just for lunch.

As for your party night, I suggest Casey's Corner...yummy hot dogs and not too expensive.

Thanks so much, for some reason I thought there was one in MK as well...we definitely won't go to DTD just for lunch Casey's Corner sounds perfect for a quick meal that we are paying for OOP, thanks!