Here is my MYW free dining plan...comments please?

[mommykds]

Ok I got the free dining & want to sample some "nicer" TS restaurants for "free". Let me start with we are a party of 5 (2 A, 3 C all under 9). Staying for 9 nights will give us 45 total TS credits..correct? I would like to dine at Le Cellier because everyone raves about it & we have never been there but now it may possibly be 2 credits..(calling WDW dine today to clarify) anyway this is my plan...

Sat 10/1 Chef Mickey dinner 5 credits
Sun 10/2 Ohana dinner 5 credits
Mon 10/3 PSB Norway 5 credits
Tues 10/4 Mama Melrose 5 credits
Wed 10/5 Crystal Palace B 5 credits
Thurs 10/6 POR boatwright-b 1 credit - pay for 4 breakfasts (1 A & 3 C)
LTT dinner 5 credits
Fri 10/7 Boma dinner 5 credits
Sat 10/8 Biergarten dinner 5 credits
Sun 10/9 Le Cellier dinner 4 credits (if it's 2 per person use 2 credits each for 2 adult meals & pay out of pocket for 3 kids meals)

Question, when I got to Boatwright's can I use just 1 credit for breakfast & pay the other 4 meals? At Le Cellier can I use only 4 credits paying for the kids out of pocket? Does any of this make sense? I have changed my p.s/adr around so much & now the free dining plan turned it upside down. I have until 7/3 to start calling & would love some imput from those who have/ or are planning on maximizing the dining plan. Thanks!!

=

 

[PoohHappens]

Great questions. We will be at POR OCT 2-8 I think this will overlap your time. I have not heard anything about LeCelliar being 2 credits, the dinning plan info from disney state 1. And from what I understand from others and have asked wdwdine you can use your credits however you want. You can get adult meals and pay cash for kid ones. I do not know if this will eventually change or not, but for now you can. I hope you have a great time, we are using the free dinning plan too. We are really excited about it because we do not normally eat at many of the sit down restaurants. Also it seems to me like a lot of food and so we plan on doing some sharing sometimes and getting to go more places, this won't work at buffets and character meals though.

 

[n2mm]

It's nice to know there are others thinking as hard as I am. We too have been crunching the numbers and the bottom line is you should use your TS for no less than $25 per meal to get the full value. We decided to stay away from buffets for that reason only. We get more bang for the buck by avoiding buffets. Yes, pay out of pocket for the kids when using TS--we plan to do just that ourselves, plus we have a lifetime dieter so will pay out of pocket for her too--maybe just let her have our appetizers (soup and salads). Our choices for the more bang for the buck list is:

LeCellier/dinner
Cinderalla Table/dinner
Kona Cafe/dinner
Concourse Steakhouse/dinner
Teppanyaki/dinner
Mexico/dinner

We figured each adult (6) could rack up at least $50 per person easy at each of these restraurants, making our dining for just the TS (36 credits) equal $1800. I only paid an extra $300 more than my existing reservation to get the dining added. So I come out a head, no matter how you slice it.

Keep crunching those numbers and check out those menus. Maybe you could go to a few of the signature restraurants with the TS and continue to buy the kids children meals. Just my suggestion.

 

[mommykds]

It's nice to know there are others thinking as hard as I am. We too have been crunching the numbers and the bottom line is you should use your TS for no less than $25 per meal to get the full value.

LeCellier/dinner
Cinderalla Table/dinner
Kona Cafe/dinner
Concourse Steakhouse/dinner
Teppanyaki/dinner
Mexico/dinner

Keep crunching those numbers and check out those menus. Maybe you could go to a few of the signature restraurants with the TS and continue to buy the kids children meals. Just my suggestion.

I am crunching so hard my head hurts! Ok good point on the buffets. Going to look at the menu's for Kona & Concourse...

 

[Odie]

We have been doing the same hair pulling planning. We too will be POR, but 8/28 to 9/3. I disagree with staying away from the buffets. Yes, you may technically get more bang for the now free dinning plan, but you'll miss places like Ohana, Boma and Chef Mickey's. We took this route:

8/28 - Le Cellier
8/29 - Ohana
8/30 - Boma
8/31 - Boatwrights
9/1 - San Angel
9/2 - Chef Mickey's

We're also buying a few kids meals so as to use the table services for Duckasaurous (sp?) at AK, and CRT at MK (for my daugther and nieces of course!). While it's great to maximize your dollars, remeber the plan is now free so make sure you enjoy where you're going and that the kids will too.

 

[gopack]

I would consider sticking with some of the buffets if kids are involved. We love the buffets because the kids have many more choices. They tend to eat more fruits and vegetables at buffets. Also, they are usually much faster and therefore the kids are less likely to get cranky. I would worry more about what will make the family happy than squeezing out maximum dollar from the food plan. Also, how many nights can you eat an appetizer, entree, and dessert? That is a lot of food! I think some of the people who say they will not do the food plan again tried to get the most expensive food that the plan allows and ended up not enjoying meals after a few days!

 

[Hockeychic]

This is what I have planned.

The only confirmed date is Spirit of Aloha...2 credits
but our other dinner choices

DD and myself....Cindys Breaky or Lunch.... DS and DH Cape May after golfing
Family
Boma's
Chief Mickey's
Concorse Steak
1900 Park Fare
Whispering Canyon
Crystal Palace
Capt Jack's

I can't wait to start booking.....

 

[mommykds]

Ok, I added Kona Cafe to my list but am keeping several yummy buffets...this is my final itinerary darn it!!

Sat 10/1 Chef Mickey dinner 5 credits
Sun 10/2 Crystal Palace breakfast 4 credits (pay for 1 kids meal)
Ohana dinner 5 credits
Mon 10/3 PSB Norway 5 credits
Tues 10/4 Mama Melrose 2 credits (pay for 3 kids meals)
Wed 10/5 Kona Cafe dinner 5 credits
Thurs 10/6 POR boatwright-pay out of pocket
LTT dinner 5 credits
Fri 10/7 Boma dinner 5 credits
Sat 10/8 Biergarten dinner 5 credits
Sun 10/9 Le Cellier dinner 4 credits (if it's 2 per person use 2 credits each for 2 adult meals & pay out of pocket for 3 kids meals)

That's 45 credits, got my buffets in, got a few places we never tried, & some we must do every trip. Sounds good..now that's my final answer on adr's!

 

[bizeemom4]

There are 6 of us and we're going 10/3-10/10. So that's 42 TS points. Here's our 'spending plan.'

10/04 - Chef Mickey's Dinner - 6 points
10/05 - Chefs de France - 3 points (and paying for 3 kids meals with cash - about $25)
10/06 - Concourse Steakhouse - 6 points (the kids menu has appetizer, entree and dessert too so this is a super deal - can't believe this is only a 1 point restaurant!)
10/07 - Spirit of Aloha Luau - 12 points - already booked
10/08 - 50s Prime Time - 3 points & paying cash for 3 kids meals (using points saved from Chefs de France on Wed.)
10/09 - Hoop de Doo Review - 12 points - already booked too!

The dinner shows were out of our price range before with such a big family - over $250! We wanted to try them now because they are FREE! We were equally split on which one we wanted so we chose them both.

We're splitting our counter service meals (sharing 3 for breakfast & 3 for lunch). We aren't big breakfast eaters. I don't think we'll need the snacks at all and will probably come home with 42 bags of chips or bottles of water. LOL.

Total cost for 8 day/7 nights of food at WDW - about $50 for six kids meals. I'm in heaven!

 

[mommykds]

We're splitting our counter service meals (sharing 3 for breakfast & 3 for lunch). We aren't big breakfast eaters.
cloud9:

We are doing the same thing with the cs..splitting 2 breakfasts, & 3 lunches daily...

I don't think we'll need the snacks at all and will probably come home with 42 bags of chips or bottles of water. LOL.
cloud9:

I was thinking that too!!!

 

[n2mm]

Wow, everyone is working so hard. I agree, buffets are OK if you don't go to WDW often. We go Many times a year and so we visit them often. We also only have one kid in our group (11) and we are taking him with us to WDW in July. We may add a buffet, but mostly we are looking at the places we never eat at. Since my hubby is a CM, we get an EXCELLENT discount at HDD this year, so that is also already booked and paid for out of pocket, so no credits needed there. I'm off to check out some more menus and still have my fingers crossed that LeCellier stays at 1 not 2 credits.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

A few months back, Disney added many World Showcase restaurants to the dining plan and changed LeCellier's from 2 TS to 1 TS credit. I was thrilled as we can't wait to try that place and now we got the dining FREE

We have a party of 4 (3 "adults" and 1 child) and staying for 8 nights, so we have 32 TS credits, which we will use as follows:

Concourse Steakhouse (using 2 - 3 adults sharing 2 meals and pay out of pocket for child)

Crystal Palace (using 3 credits, paying for child out of pocket)

50's Prime Time (using 2 credits - same as Concourse)

Sci Fi (using 2 credits)

HDDR (using 8 credits)

Princess Storybook Breakfast (using 3 credits, paying for child out of pocket)

CRT for dinner (using 2 credits)

Whispering Canyon Cafe (using 2 credits)

LeCellier's (using 2 credits)

Beaches & Cream (using 2 credits)

Boma (using 4)

We know from eating at Disney before how large the portions are and know we will not overstuff ourselves if the 3 adults share 2 meals. It is still A LOT of food.

We didn't choose restaurants based on cost savings - we chose based on where we really want to eat.

 

[HaleyB]

I think your picks sound yummy. I am going to waddle out of WDW this trip, lol. I am not going to try to maximize our value at all, just enjoy it and pick the places that we want to try regardless of value. It is costing is $18 a day for the free plan. We could spend that in 5 minutes. I am interested to see how it comes out if we don't think about $$ so I will know if the plan is a IRL (as in if we had to pay for it) value for us. I think it will be

 

[MomofKatie]

Your plan sounds good- I don't have the attitude of "wring every dollar out of the plan" either. We plan on going to restaurants that sound fun and we like- not necessarily ones that will maximize the $ value of the plan. After all, we aren't paying for it- any way you look at it, it is a good deal.

Our Dining choices for 10/1-10/8. Diners are me, DH, and DD7:

10/1- Marrakesh, dinner- 2 TS cedits
10/2- Teppenyaki, dinner- 3 TS credits
10/3- Liberty Tree Tavern, dinner- 3 TS credits
10/4- San Angel or Nine Dragons, dinner- 2 TS credits
10/5- no TS meals scheduled
10/6- Sci Fi, dinner- 2 TS credits
10/7- CRT, lunch- 3 TS credits 'Ohana, dinner- 3 TS credits
10/8- Chef Mickey, breakfast- 3 TS credits

We plan on sharing dinner with DD at the places that we use 2 TS credits. 2 adult appetizers, entrees, and desserts should definitely fill us all up.

 

[thumbellina1]

We just booked our restaurants and Le Cellier is only 1 "ticket". There are quite a few that are 2 tho... when we booked, Disney sent us a booklet with all the choices.

 

[jjohnson]

Do you have time to use the extra 2 credits on your last day if LeCellier is still a (1) TS?

It's your last night so I wanted to make sure.

 

[jeast]

Does Disney send everyone who books a package with the free dining a brochure/plan? We booked it a couple of weeks ago and have paid it off a week ago. Should we expect info? We already received our confirmation (but not one showing it paid off).

 

[mommykds]

Do you have time to use the extra 2 credits on your last day if LeCellier is still a (1) TS?

It's your last night so I wanted to make sure.

Now le Cellier is 1 credit.(it was on Mousesavers for about 3 days that it was 2 but I guess that was wrong). Being that it's 1 credit now, I am just going to plan 5 credits towards 9 TS meals. I am not going to bank the kids credits cause I know we won't be able to eat all that food anyway so I am not going to add "more" meals than we already have.

 

[MOMOFMNM]

I think your picks sound yummy. I am going to waddle out of WDW this trip, lol. I am not going to try to maximize our value at all, just enjoy it and pick the places that we want to try regardless of value. It is costing is $18 a day for the free plan. We could spend that in 5 minutes. I am interested to see how it comes out if we don't think about $$ so I will know if the plan is a IRL (as in if we had to pay for it) value for us. I think it will be

I was going to ask if anyone was like me, just picking cause that is where they want to eat...not trying to maximize any credits...here are mine:

CM 5 credits
CRT Lunch 5 credits
Kona bkfst for Tonga Toast!! 4 credits
Mama Melroses or Sci Fi 3 credits (+2) use for breakfast sharing at Kona
Le Cellier 3 credits (+2) use for breakfast sharing at Kona
Ohana 5 credits

I can tell you righ now this is going to be a HUGE amnt of food...snacks will be waters or diet pepsi for me and probably a evening snack on a mickey bar or two!!!

 

[jjohnson]

Now le Cellier is 1 credit.(it was on Mousesavers for about 3 days that it was 2 but I guess that was wrong). Being that it's 1 credit now, I am just going to plan 5 credits towards 9 TS meals. I am not going to bank the kids credits cause I know we won't be able to eat all that food anyway so I am not going to add "more" meals than we already have.

I got it now (brain freeze).