gold plan dinning- please help :)

[Misty89]

i know we have alot of time to decide if we want to add it....but i have some questions.
i am still considering the gold plan because it seems like a good idea not to have to worry about having to pick and choose restuarants that are cheap ( read- on vacation we ALWAYS go for the cheap stuff- and i dont want to at disney) i would like to experiance good food - some fine dining and great sandwichs, and exceptional desserts - but i have some questions concerns-

1) the gold plan can you eat anywhere you want?? ( we wont eat a V& A's) - does it includes drinks?

2) how many times can you eat? - can we eat breakfast, late morning snack, lunch , late afternoon snack and dinner? ( can you tell me we eat alot???)
(our family does best when it takes frequent breaks with drinks and light snacks when touring)

3) opinions on the gold plan?

we are a family of 4 , DH, myself, DD's ages 14 & 6 when we go.
good eaters,
and like i said, i dont want to spend 2 years planning and saving to eat at food courts and McDonalds.....

also wondering, we would be arriving on a monday AM, first meal would be lunch, adn plan on the MVMCP the first night, with dinner before we go to the party.

.....staying until the following friday and hoping to stay for breakfast, lunch and dinner that last night ( hoping for 7pm flight home) -
do you think we will get our value / moneys worth from the gold plan for 5 lunches, 5 dinners and 4 breakfasts? - mostly plan on character breakfasts, decents luches ( but not heavy), like earl of sadwich, CRT and sit down dinners like fultons, and nacoussees etc.


thanks

cant wait for some thoughts on our plans from the great Diser's




Tina

 

[StaceyA]

Hi there!
I don't know too much about the Gold Plan but did just post a thread yesterday asking questions and already got some great answers, here is a link to the thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=587574

I do know that it doesn't include Snacks, just three meals a day...the Platinum Plan includes one snack a day, and I know even less about that plan...LOL

Hope the link helps you!

 

[diswedwish]

We did the Gold Plan this past Jan. and loved it. It was just DH and myself; we saved over $1000 by booking a plan rather than buying everything separately. It is a *lot* of food (I gained 8 lbs., DH lost 6 - go figure ), we like the sit-down meals as breaks from the parks. We were running around all the time, we saw Cirque, did 2 tours, rented boats, went parasailing, etc. That's what we like and I loved planning everything, but it's definitely not for everyone. We also are cheap when we go out to eat, so for us it was a real treat to order anything on the menu and not worry about the cost. Plus, it was all paid for up-front which was very nice. I don't know how worth it would be with children - really take the time to price everything, you might do better with the Silver Plan than the Gold since you can use your children's wishes for yourselves and pay for their meals, etc.

To answer your questions:
1) The Gold Plan includes everywhere but chef's tables and V&A's. It includes 1 cold and 1 hot N/A drink. The cold drink can be a smoothie, the hot drink may or may not be capp. based on where you're at. Your tax and tip are also included in the plan.

2) You get 3 coupons per person per night at check-in. Each meal "costs" a coupon, but you can split them up however you want. For example, say you wanted to eat 6 meals - lol - a day; you can do that until you run out of coupons. Does that make sense?

Go to Disney's site and look under the plans, they have a Gold Plan brochure you can down-load to see exactly what's included. Also allears.net is good for looking at the menus so you can get an idea of what that would cost.

HTH and have fun deciding

 

[ninahbear]

We used the gold plan for our honeymoon in Sept. 2002 and it saved us money. You have to really take advantage of everything it offers. We went on 2 guided fishing excursions together and DH went twice without me, horseback riding, rented bikes one day, went to DisneyQuest, Hoop-dee-Doo, Polynesian Luau, and Cirque. We ate all three meals basically everyday. They include appetizer, drink (non alchoholic), an entree and dessert. So if you were just planning on using it for meals I wouldn't use this plan. Maybe the Silver would be better.

 

[Misty89]

thank you for the replys......when i add everything up we are guessing about 1000$ for food ( all fancy, no conunter service), adding the gold plan gives us actually $2,000 more ( cause i UPH which we dont need, or want LOL we are from WI, the waterpark state LMAO )

so back to the drawing board...just might pocket the $1,000 we are guessing at, because i know even if we save it and bring it along..we wont use it ( again, back to " do we really want to pay $150 for dinner?" thing)


choices choices choices......



thanks again!



Tina

 

[BCV23]

We used to do the Gold Plan and always came out ahead BUT we also played golf, rented boats, did some tours. As just a meal plan, it would be hard to make it cost effective I think.

But we don't do counter service either now that we no longer do "the plan." There are just way too many wonderful restaurants at WDW to visit and dining is half the fun of a WDW trip for us.

Have you considered the Silver Plan?

 

[Bethshaya]

Does anyone know if the Gold Plan can be added to a DVC stay? I am a DVC member, I have a heafty hunch that I am not allowed to add any packages add ons to my stay.

I used to like the food plan they used to have where you could prepay for meals. I think it used to be for every 50 dollars you prepaid they gave you a 5 dollar credit.

It was nice to not have to worry about your budget for meals while away.

 

[BCV23]

Sorry to say that there are no dining plans to use with your DVC stays unless you're a FL resident.

The Gold Plan includes a lodging, 3 meals, park admission and unlimited recreation.

As a fellow DVCer, I'd love to see a dining plan of some sort.