FW & the DDP

[dato63]

I posted this question on the dining plan board - but no one knew the answer. I know it's not really camping oriented, but is FW related - so hoped someone here might know.

I purchased the deluxe dining plan - and then we decided to change resorts. We are now planning on staying in a cabin at FW instead of a family suite.

I was thinking of what we should do for dinner our first night and wondered about the options we have at FW.

The chuckwagon lists hot dogs/nachos - are there any meals that we could use the dining plan credits for?

Trail Ends to go - is the pizza two credits like other resorts, even though you are not having it delivered? Do they have "meals" that you can use a credit for like a regular CS?

Thanks in advance to anyone that can shed light for me. I was thinking f a light meal, then trying to hit the campfire/movie our first night. . .instead of shooting for a TS that we could be late for (as we are driving) or a theme park. Last year I sweated the drive as I had made Backyard BBQ ADRs for our first night - and we really cut it close (we stayed at WL).

 

[BradyBz12]

The only DDP option at FW besides snacks, is TS at Trails End (buffet). Sadly, there is no counter service at FW... much to all our chagrin and despite all letter writing and screaming about it here.

2 years ago we asked if we could use DDP on a take out pizza. We were told "no" but the CM did give us the 20% TiW (then DDE) discount on it. Not sure this is standard though, so I wouldn't count on it.

On the up side, you can generally use your snack credits on any food item under $4 at either of the trading posts. Down side is that it seems not all CMs know how to ring them in properly, so be sure to ask beforehand.

 

[auntie]

The on site dining options at the Fort..are rather unappealing. You are better off heading to the other resorts. Be it the Roaring Forks at the Wilderness Lodge..or the food courts of moderate resorts close by. That's what we did.
Frankly..I don't know that I'd choose a deluxe dining plan while staying in the cabins. Since you have a fully equipped kitchen. It seems to me that you may want to have coffee and breakfast type items at your cabin. You may even want to BBQ one night. While I'm a fan of the dining plan..my kids loved it. I don't know that I'd go with the Deluxe plan if I were staying in FW..just because you will likely be leaving the Fort almost everytime you want to eat.
You can use dining credits for the Hoop Dee Doo Revue. The dinner show offered at the Fort. I believe it's two table service credits per person. Of course that's a one time deal..and you wouldn't be doing that each night.

 

[BradyBz12]

The last time we had the DDP while staying at FW was in '07 and while we made quite a few ADRs in the parks, we found ourselves popping over to the Contemporary and WL quite a bit. Nice boat ride, but it does eat up a bunch of time (no pun intended).

At WL, Roaring Forks is a good CS option and we really enjoyed Artist Point. Cal. Grille at the Contemporary is one of our all-time faves and I've heard some good things about The Wave there too.

If you're going to travel to eat, I'd really recommend hopping over to AKL just to see/experience the resort. It's GORGEOUS and the animal viewing areas feel like a mini-AK. They also have a decent CS and 2 TS locations that get good reviews.

 

[dato63]

Thanks ya'll!

Our moving from another resort to FW wasn't really for the kitchen - as I am not wanting to cook while on vacation. We just wanted a little more room & more of a vacation enviroment. This is only our 2nd time at WDW and we are planning to try to get a lot of character meals while there - those really made our DDs trip last time around. I just didn't want to venture far the first night, to keep it more relaxing, and shoot for the campfire, movie, etc.

Maybe I'll just put some hot dogs in the ice chest for the first night. That way we can just roast our own dinner on the campfire.

Thank you again for your help.