F&W Festival and Dining Plan

[kpk89]

I'm torn, torn, torn and need some input.

during F&W Festival, to get the dining plan (I hear that it can be used for many of the F&W offerings)

or....

to just nibble and pick and choose?

I really was excited to get the dining plan, since I'm sure money wise it would be a great deal.

But since it's just me and dh for this trip, I'm thinking that we'll likely just snack and nibble and sample and will be too full to "get our money's worth" from the DDP. We're doing at least one table service meal, but can use DDE card to get a break on those.


Anyone want to share their experiences? How have you enjoyed the F&W Festival?

And, what tasty little treats do we have to look forward to??

 

[vascubaguy]

I'm torn, torn, torn and need some input.

during F&W Festival, to get the dining plan (I hear that it can be used for many of the F&W offerings)

or....

to just nibble and pick and choose?

I really was excited to get the dining plan, since I'm sure money wise it would be a great deal.

But since it's just me and dh for this trip, I'm thinking that we'll likely just snack and nibble and sample and will be too full to "get our money's worth" from the DDP. We're doing at least one table service meal, but can use DDE card to get a break on those.


Anyone want to share their experiences? How have you enjoyed the F&W Festival?

And, what tasty little treats do we have to look forward to??

I'm not sure what you mean about using the DDP for F&W offerings. To my knowledge the only thing you can use with the DDP are the snack credits on some of the items at the booths. I'd imagine that you could probably spend one day and burn up most all of your snack credits and snack around the world at the booths, but you could then do some signature places another night and use 2 TS credits.

However, I fairly certain that you can't use the DDP for the F&W dining events.

 

[kpk89]

That's just what I meant -- we could get the DDP and use the snack credits for our playing at the F&W. So that seemed like a waste, since we probably will only do one table service, maybe 2. I had not thought of using 2 credits for a signature. oooh.

California Grill? Artist's Palette? Jiko? Any suggestions? We've never been. To those. And it IS our getawaywithoutthekidsweekend so, perfect opportunity. I say.

Thanks, vascubaguy!!

Anybody else want to chime in? Tell me about your favorite signature dining experience?

I have some friends who are partial to enjoying Wishes from the Cali Grill whilst sipping a Lemon Drop. That might be good ...

 

[vascubaguy]

Well, I loved Citricos and are going to go back there and to CA Grill in October.

People also give rave reviews for AP, Jiko, and Flying Fish.

Oh, and you could burn up your CS credits for breakfast, or use them for lunch. Maybe even get 1 CS meal to split between the 2 of you for breakfast then lunch. Then you are getting a more than just snacks but not over doing is such that you wouldn't want to snack more around the world.

You can definately take advantage of the DDP... just use some creative planning to experience places you might not normally go.

 

[nasmith]

Kim - We go to the F & W fest often, are also DDE card holders - and I've tried the DDP a couple times now....Here's my opinion (You asked for it!)...

I am NOT going to do the DDP for the F&W fest because
1- If I'm snacking around the world - I can easily try several snacks (each, my DH and myself) during an evening - and call that dinner.
2- If I'm using my DDE when I go to Jiko, Citricos, or CA Grill - then I think I get a better deal than by using 2 TS credits....But then, my DH and myself would NEVER order 2 apps, 2 entrees and 2 desserts when dining out if it wasn't already included - because we just can't eat that much food (and we are BIG eaters - we usually can do 1 app, 2 entrees and 1 dessert between the 2 of us). The times I have been on the DDP, I've wasted entirely too much food.
3- We often do some of the "ticketed" events at the F & W fest (food and wine pairings, Party for the senses, sign. dinners) - and these have never been included in the DDP. As they sell out each year, I doubt that Disney is going to include them in the DDP this year (But time will tell if I'm right).
4- I like to have more flexibility in my schedule than using the DDP allows - for instance --- assume I have the DDP , and an ADR for Le Cellier at 6:30 (Hah- like that's available at this point!) - what if I see a wine seminar that I want to attend at 7:00pm - would I cancel my ADR and possibly lose a TS credit (what if its the last night of my vacation?) or would I miss the Wine seminar - a choice I would rather not have to make. If I wasn't on the DDP - I could easily cancel my ADR (and not be out $ )and catch the wine seminar - then grab a snackie or two after the seminar if I wanted. Besides - there is always more than one snackie that I want to go back and get another day because it was so good!
5- Trying to maximize using my meal credits adds another level of pain to planning a Disney trip- and as I've gone a good 35 times or so, I'm pretty good at planning these things.

That's my take on it - so, unless I've got free DDP - I probably won't ever purchase the plan again - the few dollars I may save isn't worth the aggravation. Jill

 

[Hopefully]

Last October we, DH DAdultS and I, were on the DDP while enjoying the Food & Wine Festival. We used all of our snack credits at the festival.
What we did was plan 2 days at Epcot for the festival (altough we ended nearly every evening in WS, we love it there and ate at several of the TS restaurants). One day we had lunch TS at Morrocco for that days TS and we snacked around the world for our dinner. On the second day we had no TS reservation, we just "Noshed Around the World" all day and evening. We used that days TS to experience the 2 TS Yachtsman Steakhouse on another night. It was a great way to use the credit. I would also highly recommend Jiko's, which I experienced in April and I loved.
We do not do any of the ticketed F&W events. This would change my plans. But we loved to just experience wandering around the world and tasting. Based on our wonderful trip, I highly recommend using the DDP while experiencing the F & W fest and experiencing a Signature Restaurant.
JMHO!

 

[kpk89]

Hmmm. hopefully and nasmith, you both add good food for thought. (ha ha!)

I will have to look at our itinerary for this 3 day whirlwind trip, and figure out where/when we are likely to be eating.

Thanks for the input!

 

[vascubaguy]

Kim - We go to the F & W fest often, are also DDE card holders - and I've tried the DDP a couple times now....Here's my opinion (You asked for it!)...

I am NOT going to do the DDP for the F&W fest because
1- If I'm snacking around the world - I can easily try several snacks (each, my DH and myself) during an evening - and call that dinner.
2- If I'm using my DDE when I go to Jiko, Citricos, or CA Grill - then I think I get a better deal than by using 2 TS credits....But then, my DH and myself would NEVER order 2 apps, 2 entrees and 2 desserts when dining out if it wasn't already included - because we just can't eat that much food (and we are BIG eaters - we usually can do 1 app, 2 entrees and 1 dessert between the 2 of us). The times I have been on the DDP, I've wasted entirely too much food.
3- We often do some of the "ticketed" events at the F & W fest (food and wine pairings, Party for the senses, sign. dinners) - and these have never been included in the DDP. As they sell out each year, I doubt that Disney is going to include them in the DDP this year (But time will tell if I'm right).
4- I like to have more flexibility in my schedule than using the DDP allows - for instance --- assume I have the DDP , and an ADR for Le Cellier at 6:30 (Hah- like that's available at this point!) - what if I see a wine seminar that I want to attend at 7:00pm - would I cancel my ADR and possibly lose a TS credit (what if its the last night of my vacation?) or would I miss the Wine seminar - a choice I would rather not have to make. If I wasn't on the DDP - I could easily cancel my ADR (and not be out $ )and catch the wine seminar - then grab a snackie or two after the seminar if I wanted. Besides - there is always more than one snackie that I want to go back and get another day because it was so good!
5- Trying to maximize using my meal credits adds another level of pain to planning a Disney trip- and as I've gone a good 35 times or so, I'm pretty good at planning these things.

That's my take on it - so, unless I've got free DDP - I probably won't ever purchase the plan again - the few dollars I may save isn't worth the aggravation. Jill

I just wanted to agree and disagree with some of your statements. First, I do agree that if you have dining habits like us, we only order 1 appetizer (and sometimes none), 2 entrees, and then 1-2 desserts (depending on where we go). Also, I normally have water and DP either gets a soda or alcoholic beverage. If this is what you compare by, then you are correct, the DDP doesn't make sense if you have DDE (which is one reason we are doing DDE only - our waistlines just can't handle the DDP... we'll our jeans can't)...

However the DDP can still save some money. My suggestion to use 2 credits for signature places isn't maximizing the dollar value, but it is maximizing use because you can experience finer dining (IMO). If you put dollar values to it, you will still come out with a savings over the DDE...

Example: The DDP costs $37.99 per adult for DVC members. If you get the most expensive items on the menu at CA Grill, it will come to 15+40+10=$65 plus add in a drink, taxes, and tip and you are somewhere in the neighborhood of $80-85 per person. With the DDE that makes it $65-70 per person. You use 2 credits, so that's $75.98 BUT you still have the 2 CS and 2 snacks left for those 2 credits, which could amount to be $25-30 more. Knock off an appetizer and 1 dessert and you are still about break even with the DDP, but I like the idea of being able to try different appetizers and desserts (even if I don't like them and don't eat it all).

Ok, back to agreeing with you... it can be a pain to plan all of your meals, but there are quite a few places to dine and experience.

In the end though, it's really up to you kpk89. Think about your dining habits and what you want to get out of your experience. I think you'd be fine with or without the DDP, but either way I still think you'll need some ADRs if you want to do any TS.

Good luck with the planning!

 

[kpk89]

Thanks for hanging in here, vascubaguy! I totally agree and understand that nobody can make this decision for me. It is fun to hear what other people do, but what it comes down to is figuring out, essentially, how much we want to Plan our Meals. On the one hand, going without the kids will make it easier to plan, and stick to, ADRs. On the other hand, there is an appeal to just noshing our way around and having maybe one nice table service meal with an ADR.

We do have some ADR's made, for Le Cellier, Coral Reef, and Portobello Yacht Club. As the time gets closer we'll adjust as necessary.

I just love to hear what other people have done, just to gather ideas and see what might work for us.

 

[vascubaguy]

Best of luck with the planning!

We'll be noshing around the world about a week after you get back! (I'm already trying to drop a few lbs so I can put them back on when I get there).