Having second thoughts about the dining plan...

[Nini]

It is a wonderful feeling to be able to go on vacation without worrying about buying food or making ressies while there.

We did make ADR's for every sit-down (TS) meal. They are CHARACTER meals ...yes EVERY SINGLE ONE (that we could get anyway!)!!!!!

We are just going to play the counter service (CS)meals by ear. See where we feel like eating basically.

Since we are a Grand Gathering of SIXTEEN (7 are children ages 4-9), it was only appropriate to make ressies ahead of time!!!

We are doing:

CRT - Yeah got our ADR and NO I don't care about that darn slipper!!!!
50's PTC - Love the atmosphere and can't wait!!!
PSB - The girls totally LOVE anything Princess!
CGF - Again, with the princesses!!!!

I am paying OOP for one breakfast (dh,me & dd) at CP w/Pooh & Friends...simply cannot miss POOH!!!!!

Other than that, we will either eat breakfast in our rooms or go to the food court...it is that simple.

See ya all there in FIVE days!!!!!

 

[henrylovespooh]

We have used the plan once and will use it again in a few weeks. Because DH tends to suggest a trip to WDW just after a discount has expired and before a new one starts, we are paying rack rate so getting the dining plan doesn't affect our room rate.

I have two children - one on the plan and one still 2, so they share most kids' meals and I don't have to pay out of pocket. Sometimes I take Crustables peanut butter sandwiches with me so we save CS credits and use them for the kids for breakfast instead.

I also often pick an appetizer that my daughter can have for dinner and share my dessert with her. Again, it saves me money.

DH likes to prepay so we have it all taken care of before we go.

I never felt stress to have ADRs or to use up all my credits. We always eat lunch and dinner out, so we used up most of our credits without thinking about it. The extra CS credits left over from sharing were used for breakfast, which was a nice treat, and again saved us money. I never felt too full because I stopped eating when I was full. I didn't gorge on everything put in front of me - I hate a little bit of this and a little bit of that. It was fun to try new things and always end a meal with a little something sweet.

I think deciding to use the plan becomes dicey when your kids are charged at the adult price and are not big eaters. Then I agree it becomes a budgeting decision. But for now with my little ones, it's a good deal.

 

[afcgirl]

Maybe I am missing something, but why are people complaining that there is too much food (esp. when they get it free)?

To me, 2 meals plus a snack a day doesn't seem like an outrageous amount of food. And if you do not want the dessert or appetizer, can't you just not order it?

I understand that some people are very frugal with food when vacationing and the dining plan is clearly not for them (unless free). But for many people, at least one decent, sit down meal a day is essential when on vacation. In that case, that meal alone would cost close to $35 (with gratuity and a soft drink) for each adult even if you would not normally order an appetizer or dessert.

I also don't understand why you have to plan in advance, other than making a PS for the ts meals.

Am I missing something?

 

[jann1033]

nope, you got it

 

[disneyjunkie]

Maybe I am missing something, but why are people complaining that there is too much food (esp. when they get it free)?

To me, 2 meals plus a snack a day doesn't seem like an outrageous amount of food. And if you do not want the dessert or appetizer, can't you just not order it?

I understand that some people are very frugal with food when vacationing and the dining plan is clearly not for them (unless free). But for many people, at least one decent, sit down meal a day is essential when on vacation. In that case, that meal alone would cost close to $35 (with gratuity and a soft drink) for each adult even if you would not normally order an appetizer or dessert.

I also don't understand why you have to plan in advance, other than making a PS for the ts meals.

Am I missing something?

Some people feel that they HAVE to order everything that's included in the plan. I have to admit I had the same feeling the first two of our trip last April.

As soon as I stopped thinking I HAD to get my monies worth out of the plan we were fine. We only ordered what we knew we would eat and that worked out great for us. Our CM at Sci-Fi was upset with me for not ordering a dessert, but I was just too fully to eat it.

Until you've had a change to actually use the plan, it's very easy to over think it.

 

[DawnM]

Well, that is what I figured and I wouldn't imagine kids drinks are that much more anyway (or I can drink water, not a big deal.)

Dawn

You cannot share drinks where there are free refills--just the same as eating at an all-you-can-eat buffet--you can't share one person's meal that is unlimited.