How do you Disney Dine? $ or $$$$

[LovesTimone]

There are so many ways to save or over spend on food at Disney. I thought it would nice to see how everyone does their budget what they choose to spend on and where they try to save when eating at WDW.
I just had a long lengthy conversation with a friend who is planning a large family trip during the holidays.
In the discussion she was like how do you know all this stuff ? Which got me thinking it would be interesting to see how others make out with dinning.

How many in your family? and ages?
How many days? typically
Are you a commando or wanderer or laid back.... rope drop or last one out of the parks or some where in between type of family?

Resort? Value to Deluxe or DVC where do you fit in. Do you choose value resort then spend on eating or vise versa stay Deluxe and eat on the cheaper side.

Disney Dinning Plan? which one? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family.

If you prefer Out of Pocket? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family.

Some where in between on dinning plans and paying oop? Let us know how you make it work for your family.

What kind of snacks and drinks for the room? taking snacks into the park?

Pool Side eats?

What is your big splurge? That one place your family just has to eat.

Is dinning a part of the vacation experience to you?

I think knowing the make-up of your family, how you tour, where your stay are important factors so that other families can relate it better to their family.

 

[hsmamato2]

We are a family of 4 disney adults- we dine oop- mostly qs (but good qs,not junky food) so for a weeks vacation we might eat TS 3 times,at special places our family loves (Boma,Biergarten,Trails End) otherwise we save money as much as possible while at Disney,since it's a ton of money for park tickets. They have some really good qs places all over WDW,and we search and find what we want. We stay on property (wherever the best deal is) and my DH eats more junk food, I eat mostly healthy foods.... average amount spent onsite for our dining on a weeklong trip is approx. $100-$125 per day for us all. (Averages out over the week) we eat breakfast in our room due to sheer laziness so that saves money too. We don't drink soda,or coffee,just water and the occasional tea (hot or cold) so 7 nights for the four of us will cost about 7-800 for food overall. (unless we visit during food and wine lol, then we spend too much on food)

 

[Nancyg56]

We generally use a Dining Plan, and which one depends on who is with us, how many are on the trip and when we go. Dining is a big part of our vacation, so I budget enough to be sure we can comfortably have a nice combination of signature and TS meals, along with some CS and of course wine pairings or cocktails.

Given a choice we choose Deluxe resort, but we are not locked into them, so I will also book moderates to accommodate the budget. We do use the amenities so I do not book a value.

Some of us snack our way through the parks, my DH looks for hot dogs, lemonade and popcorn, my DS knows every ice cream shack there is, and my DD and DSIL are coffee drinks freaks. I tend to share a little of everyone else's snacks.


We will likely have lunch at the pool on at least one day and always enjoy a poolside cocktail. We are laid back touring folks, so the parks are simply part of our vacation.

 

[DisneyMandC]

2 Disney adults here. Our last big trip to Disney was our honeymoon so we went all out. Deluxe Dining Plan because we knew we would want to eat at a lot of the signature restaurants and enjoy some really nice meals. We ate like kings for a week! I know a lot of people say that the dining plans are overpriced, but they're not when you eat filet mignon three times in one week

We do order an Amazon Prime Pantry box to be delivered to our room. We had waters, goldfish, granola bars, cereal, etc. in that so we could use that for snacks and drinks while saving our snack credits for snacks we really wanted to try.

Dining is absolutely a part of the vacation experience for us no matter where we go. DH is a big foodie and we enjoy eating out when on vacation. While I know packing lunches and taking them into the parks works great for some families, and more power to them, it's not something we would ever be interested in doing. We would rather cut elsewhere. Same goes for anywhere else we would vacation.

In terms of a big splurge, I would say we will probably always visit California Grill and Le Cellier on our future visits. They were the best meals we had on our honeymoon, without a doubt.


We are planning on taking a big family vacation with in-laws in the future and will probably do things differently for that though. Still eating at restaurants in the parks, but probably no dining plan or just a regular dining plan, not deluxe. MIL has had gastric bypass and could hardly eat a whole appetizer on her own, so it would be a waste of money to buy a huge meal plan for her. We will still budget a healthy amount to enjoy some great meals though.

 

[lifepaused]

I looked at dinning plans and worked out that it was too much for me and my partner. It worked out to be over $70US per person ($100+ Australian) per day. We do not eat that much. What we are doing is doing a dine out on most days at the parks and disney Springs. The other Breakfast/lunches/dinner we are going to Walmart and buying food and making stuff in the room. This will save us a lot of money. We have chosen to eat at places which are "different" than what we can get at home to make it more of an experience.
Booked Places are: house of blues, boma, Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, crystal palace, coral reef, Biergarten Restaurant

 

[Alesia]

How many in your family? and ages?
3. Me, my husband, and our teenage daughter.

How many days?
Usually 9 or 10

Are you a commando or wanderer or laid back.... rope drop or last one out of the parks or some where in between type of family?
We're action vacationers.

Resort? Value to Deluxe or DVC where do you fit in. Do you choose value resort then spend on eating or vise versa stay Deluxe and eat on the cheaper side.
Value or offsite.

Disney Dinning Plan? which one? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family.
Nope. The dining plan ends up costing about $75 per day more than what we actually spend.

If you prefer Out of Pocket? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family.
I cannot eat huge meals and I need to eat every 3 or 4 hours, so the dining plan does not work for us. We typically eat counter service for lunch and dinner plus several snacks and often share things.

What kind of snacks and drinks for the room? taking snacks into the park?
We bring some fruit and some granola bars or something.

Pool Side eats?
Not generally.

What is your big splurge? That one place your family just has to eat.
We like to try new places each time. Every trip is pretty different.

Is dinning a part of the vacation experience to you?
Everything we do is part of the experience no matter where we are.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Most of my trips are between 4 and 7 days.

I stay onsite at the values with the free dining plan (QS DP and have upgraded to regular DP). Or I stay in an offsite condo and pay OOP with Disney gift cards purchased at Kroger with 4x fuel points. This gives me a 20% discount on my dining dollars.

We usually eat a mix of table service and counter service for lunch and dinner with breakfast in the room. We don't split meals or share drinks to save money. My two kids are both 18+ now. We want to enjoy the restaurant experience when we are on vacation, so I always make sure I have enough discounted Disney gift cards to eat the way we want.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

We are 2 Disney adults and have been experimenting with our dining over our last two trips, to figure out what works for us.

When DH and I went in 2014, it was his first trip and I wanted it to be special, so I got us the Deluxe Dining Plan. We went for just 4 nights because of DH's work schedule. We ate TS for lunch and dinner every single day. He loved it and I loved it, but we found it to be too much food overall. I like sitting down for a more leisurely meal in the middle of the day, but appetizer, entree and dessert at every single meal is overkill for us. We did like using our snack credits at Starbucks though, but we ended up taking home a bunch of candy we bought at Epcot on the last day to use up a ton of snack credits. I calculated that we broke even with the dining plan, but that was because we felt compelled to order the more expensive meals from the menu in order to maximize value, even if it wasn't what we really wanted. During that trip we also ate breakfast at the CS at Port Orleans (our resort that trip). DH had a great time, but really wanted to stay at a monorail hotel on the next trip.

We bought into DVC, using wedding gift money and returned to Disney last year. We stayed at our home resort, Polynesian for 6 nights and DH loved it so, so much. We decided to forego the dining plan and instead I budgeted money based on what the Deluxe Dining plan would have cost us. We ordered an Amazon Pantry box with breakfast items and some snacks, eating breakfast out only once that trip at Kona Cafe (tonga toast!). We still ate at TS for lunch and dinners and had 4 signature dinners (the previous trip we only had 1 signature meal). We ended up splitting appetizers and desserts or skipping such things (usually during lunch) more, just because it would have been too much food. We splurged when we wanted and never felt compelled to order any specific item off the menu because it was too expensive or not expensive enough. DH got more alcohol too this trip because it wasn't an added cost like when on the DDP. We also had saved up some Starbucks gift cards and used those for our beloved Starbucks drinks. Overall, we spent almost $400 less than if we were on the DDP. We have decided that we will forego dining plans in the future.

Next time we go to Disney, we will have a 15 month old, so I am thinking we may do CS for lunches rather than TS. But we really love the dining aspect of our trips, so who knows. I think it may also depend on if my parents join us for that trip. I am trying to convince my mom to come along, since I think it would be a great chance to spend time with their grandbaby and make some special memories.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

2 adults, 2 children. We don't use the dining plan. We typically stay in a value resort and use Garden Grocer to bring in water, some snacks, and breakfast food.

We are rope drop people every day, and typically hop to at least one other park each day. We usually do one TS a day. Our must do meal each time is CP breakfast. We like trying new restaurants every trip. We really enjoyed Yak and Yeti this past time.

We don't watch our money for food at Disney. We order what we want and let the boys get what they want. We spend a lot on food and drinks in Epcot at the Food and Wine Festival. We typically spend about $200 a day on food and drinks each day.

 

[PrncessA]

We are a family of 4, and our kids are picky eaters. Our family trips get longer each time we go, last time it was 10 nights, but our adult only trip and my upcoming solo trip are only 4 nights. We are early risers and late nighters, but we take a break in the middle of the day. We usually stay Deluxe, but we have also stayed in two moderates and liked them as well. On my upcoming solo trip I am staying at POP, which will probably be a one time thing.

We have used the deluxe dining plan, the regular dining plan and paid OOP at least once on all of our trips. Food is always an important part of our vacations anywhere and at Disney it is a main part of the trip. We have done the deluxe dining twice, and it is sooo much food. The second time we did it in conjunction with Club Level and felt like we were drowning in food. We like the freedom that the dining plan gives us, not having to budget for food, but it probably doesn't save us that much money. We did order Garden Grocer for breakfast items and snacks.

We paid OOP for our adults only trip and my husband missed the DDP. I tend to want appetizers instead of entrees so I will not be getting the dining plan for my solo trip. My husband and I tend to splurge on drinks at WDW, so we are always paying extra even if we are on the dining plan.

 

[Eastern]

We mix it up. Usually just grab something small for breakfast, but one day we might do something like CP. Lunch and dinner might be TS, or CS, or one big meal instead of two.

I only usually book a few lunch/dinner TS ADRs. I like not having too many bookings and we like to mix it up between small and larger meals. We are all adults so it's easier. I wouldn't do this with small children.

 

[monorailsilver]

How many in your family? and ages?

There are 5 of us. Currently ages are 49, 46, 15, 13 & 11. We last went in 2013 so we all younger by 4 yrs except DH and oldest dd who have May birthdays and we went in August...so 46, 42, 12, 9 & 7 I think.

How many days? typically

Last time was 10, time before that was 10 I believe. We are going in August 2018 and it will be between 10-12 days.

Are you a commando or wanderer or laid back.... rope drop or last one out of the parks or some where in between type of family?

Rope drop for sure, I am up at 6 starting to shower, DH gets out of bed as soon as I turn the water on and the kids are up by about 6:30, brush their teeth, get dressed and start in breakfast. We do come back just after we ate lunch and take a mid day break aka a nap and return for about 5.

Resort? Value to Deluxe or DVC where do you fit in. Do you choose value resort then spend on eating or vise versa stay Deluxe and eat on the cheaper side.

My DH won't stay anywhere but the Poly. There was no DVC when we went last. He cringed the first time I took him and didn't want to spend the money (I was paying) but the second time I just made the reservations, again I paid, and we got engaged and now he won't stay anywhere else...phew!

I would like to try one of their DVCs for the 2 showers! We stay there because out main parks are MK and Epcot and assuming the monorail is running its fabulous. We don't splurge on the resort and then eat PB sandwiches for lunch and dinner, but we do bring breakfast food because it's cheaper, my kids will eat cereal and I don't want to pay $5 for a small box/single serve when I can spend that on a big box and they eat as do DH and I while we are getting ready. It saves so much time and money!

Disney Dinning Plan? which one? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family.

Never did dining, have no plans to

If you prefer Out of Pocket? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family.

Let's see, I know we spent less the last trip then if we did dining. I limit myself to 2 sit downs, one on arrival day and one on a non park day. I do not like to spend my time waiting in line for a ride, waiting to be seated.

We do breakfast as above. In 2008 we did ohana but it was a waste of money for us. DH and I ate, our oldest was 7 and she ate, our son with food allergies who was 4 only ate the sausage and probably one piece and our youngest was 2 and I am sure she ate more then the other 2!

DH and I will sometimes split a meal, or we will get a salad and either a sandwich or something similar and split it. My kid said then all pretty much ate the children's meals, occasionally my oldest would get an adult meal, now she is in the "I'm full stage".

We are not tied down at being at an ADR at a certain time (this is going to kill me for via Napoli now that my DS can eat baked cheese).

We do probably get at least 2 snacks a day each.

We don't buy soda and I made a rule that trip in 2013 that there was no soda buying and they could drink all they wanted on pool days...I even got a grumble from DH. But with arrival and departure day we had 5 pool days. We drank water, have the thermos containers that keep our water cold even in the heat of summer. I even lost 5 lbs that trip.

My older 2 on 2 of the pool days had the mac and cheese microwaveable cups. I think that cost me $1 per lunch for them. They like it and didn't care plus they still got ice cream after. They are willing to eat that next year since they both still love Mac and cheese.

I also do various rewards sites so have free Disney money. Currently I have $500 on my Disney visa and at least another $500-800 in gift cards so that is our food budget and souvineers.

I also looked at all ears and priced out various meals, since 2 of my kids were eating kids meals, one sometimes got a special allergy pizza which cost more I budgeted $40/meal. We went over once to $50 because I let my girls get some frozen drink at cosmic rays. Otherwise all meals were about $40-$44 for all 5 of us, remember no drinks and we asked for water bottles with the kids meals. I know I have to go up in 2018 and I am thinking $50/meal but as time gets closer I will look at the prices.

And we don't eat burgers every time. DH and I must have a salad from the lands food court at least twice. My son likes chicken and will eat a leg, my youngest now loves salads and my oldest is "not hungry". But we will eat a burger, I have no problem with that. And we ate at caseys twice last time. I don't think I had ever eaten there before that so we tried it and liked it and it was cheap.

So even with 2 sit downs we spent less then with a dining plan.

Some where in between on dinning plans and paying oop? Let us know how you make it work for your family.

N/A

What kind of snacks and drinks for the room? taking snacks into the park?

When my kids were younger I would get the little snack bags of cookies, etc.. to bring with me to the park. In 2013, I didn't bring anything except some slim jims for my son who gets a headache if he doesn't eat and I'd make him a dairy free Rice Krispie treat if I knew we were going to roam Epcot bakery's.

I have brought chips and salsa but for the pool, stuff to make s'mores...again the pool area at night. But we aren't in the room except for breakfast in park days and I am not one to say no to a dole whip, Mickey bar or sandwich.

Pool days it is sun up to sun down at the pool, aka opening to closing. So any snacks they get at captain cooks. Park days we find something in the park if we are hungry.

Pool Side eats?

I for one am not a fan of the pork nachos at the Poly! I liked the flat bread, can't remember what else I got besides a burger. Maybe a sandwich of some kind. Kids get a dole whip or ice cream and soda galore....

What is your big splurge? That one place your family just has to eat.

It was chef mickeys but we are going to skip that in 2018 because it's too much $$$...so instead I want to spend more and go to the hoop Dee doo on arrival day...see the logic? Yeah I know there isn't any!

We will go to WCC as well, my kids had fun and my DH loved the skillet.

I did tell my DH if he wanted we can go eat at the 50s prime time again but he isn't interested.

We will do via Napoli as we have been unable due to my severely allergic child to dairy but he can now eat baked cheese, aka a pizza and anything with milk that has been baked.

Is dinning a part of the vacation experience to you?

Yes and no, there are certain things we have to eat. One year, it may have been pre kids/the time we got engaged or it may of been when we only had one kid, we picked the evening park by what we wanted for dinner. I don't go out of my way to eat somewhere. We do know where we want to eat at each park and make our way to those areas.

 

[Beer Me]

Family of four with 2 teens. I have done the math on our last two trips and the DDP would have been about $300 more than what we spent oop.

At first glance DDP should work for us. We do about one TS and one QS per day. But we don't always order pricey entrees, we rarely eat dessert, we sometimes split QS meals because someone isn't very hungry.

Dining is important. We eat and drink anything we want but the dining plans would not save any money.

Also, I do it for convenience but it also saves money, we keep snacks, soda and beer in the room.

 

[aprincessatlast]

How many in your family? and ages? 2 adults 3 kids (2 disney adults)

How many days? typically 9-10 every few years. too many other places to see!

Are you a commando or wanderer or laid back.... rope drop or last one out of the parks or some where in between type of family? A bit of all.

Resort? Value to Deluxe or DVC where do you fit in. Do you choose value resort then spend on eating or vise versa stay Deluxe and eat on the cheaper side.
Moderate to Deluxe

Disney Dinning Plan? which one? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family. No way to dining plan not worth it for us! Years ago it was fantastic now it more of a headache than it is worth.

If you prefer Out of Pocket? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family. We eat what we want when we want and come out ahead of dining plan. Usually have 1 sit down every day with maybe 2 days free of no commitments. Breakfast out only a couple of times a trip and have it late in morning so we have only a snack for lunch. We try to only eat out 2x in a day.

What kind of snacks and drinks for the room? taking snacks into the park? Smart waters to parks and chips in room with donuts or something for quick breakfast when not eating out, although kids eat those all hours. Its vacay so ok by me!

Pool Side eats? Yes and drinks too.

What is your big splurge? That one place your family just has to eat.Family- Crystal Palace Breakfast. The splurge is -California Grill, always been worth it for us.

Is dinning a part of the vacation experience to you? Somewhat yes, tried once going with no sit downs and trip was not as fun or as memorable.

 

[Hikergirl]

We are family of 5, all Disney adults. Our typical stay is 7 nights/8 days in Deluxe. We aren't rope droppers, we get to the park when we feel like it, but do usually stay till close.
We do not do the DDP, I take advantage of resort discounts which come out better than any savings on the DDP.
Our last family trip we stayed club level so we used that for snacks some days and our daily breakfast, except for Ohana, which is always a must do for us. ON non-CL trips (which is most of them) I order breakfast items for the room so we just eat there before heading out for the day.
I only schedule 2 or 3 ADRs for our entire trip, and just play it be ear where to eat besides those. We don't have a food budget, we eat what we want. Sometimes that means a TS, sometimes that means grabbing a pizza on the BW.
Dh and I do enjoy cocktails by the pool while kids are enjoying the pool itself. We don't really do food there, except for ice-cream from Beaches & Cream.
We don't bring snacks to the park, just get what we want when we are there.
Food at WDW isn't really part of our vacation.

The last trip was just dh and I and we went to F&W so food and drink was definitely part of the trip. I did budget for that trip and it worked out well because I was able to enjoy alot of the higher priced cocktails without paying alot
Ate at the booths mostly, did a couple ADRs and a food and wine pairing.
From here on out I think it will just be dh and I for F&W, so dining will be the focus for us.

 

[tasha99]

We have been a family of 3 for trips in the past . This summer we have a group of 8, as all 3 of my adult kids, my boyfriend, and a friend for each kid is coming. Whether 3 or 8, we always stay in a 2BR DVC villa. For this year's crew I wish we had a 3BR, but it's just too many points.

I cook most breakfasts, snacks, and about a third of meals in our kitchen. Easy stuff--spaghetti and salad, rotisserie chicken, or a cheese and fruit plate, etc. Snacks are usually premade (frozen pizza, veggie tray, chips--I'm not doing heavy cooking, just convenience grocery store food on snacks).

We do book ADRs for some meals. Boma is a favorite. We also eat some counter service meals. The dining plan is not for us, as it doesn't cover the kind of food we eat. We order too much booze and a lot of apps for the dining plan, but the TiW card has been helpful in the past.

Our splurge is V&A, though we just started doing that. We were lucky enough to get the Chef's Table on our last trip, and it was wonderful, but maybe a once in a lifetime treat.

This year we are going to DL, and we are much more open to winging it on food. I'm planning a big Vons delivery, and will make maybe 1 or 2 reservations (Blue Bayou and either Carthay Circle or Napa Rose). Everything is so close-by at DL, I think we may eat in our room over half the time. Sandwiches and chips sound easier than dealing with the lines to eat.

 

[Southernmiss]

Family of 6 Disney adults. Stay at Fort Wilderness Cabins for the full kitchen and because we love to stay on property-works out cheaper for us. Grocery shop on arriving in Orlando on the way based on a pre planned menu. Have breakfast in the cabin. Put something in the crock pot. Come back mid day to a delicious meal. Head out early evening until close of the latest EMH park and buy a snack while out. Usually stay at least 7 days/nights. Saves a ton. Drink what we want at the cabin and water in the parks. The only way we like to do Disney--just is too expensive for our family. We do one TS splurge and maybe a couple of counter service meals. Last trip last summer it was Yak and Yeti and Cosmic Rays. DH and I are 40 something, DS 22, DS 20, DS 18, DD 15. The kids can put some food away.

 

[kydisneyfans]

2 adults, 2 teens
We stay DVC, We have ordered groceries for deliver via wegoshop, we have rented a car for a grocery run, and we have used Amazon pantry for short stays.
We have done free dining in the past prior to becoming DVC members, but would never pay for it out of pocket. It's only a benefit if there are 3-4 people in a value room IMO, definitely not worth just under $50 a day for 2 meals.

We budget $30 a day per person for a quick serve meal and a snack in the park, along with drinks. We normally don't use that much. Breakfast is in the room, lunch or dinner is usually in the room, the other in a park.

Our stays are 5-7 days.
We have no absolutely must eat places, Disney food is just food to us, nothing special.

 

[wendow]

How many in your family? and ages?
There are six of us...dh & I (both 42), dd16, dd14, ds8, ds6

How many days?
Our average stay is 10 days

Are you a commando or wanderer or laid back.... rope drop or last one out of the parks or some where in between type of family?
We always hit rope drop, usually leave midday, go back for dinner and stay until park closes or at least until after fireworks.

Resort? Value to Deluxe or DVC where do you fit in.
We have stayed at every resort level. We do not care for the values because of the beds. They are just awful for people who don't sleep well. Every other accommodation has been fine and we will stay mod, deluxe or DVC...whatever is the best deal. We have not stayed offsite yet (I did as a kid) but may be heading that direction in the future.

Disney Dinning Plan? which one?
Nope.

If you prefer Out of Pocket? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family.
We spend about $100-125 a day for all of us. That is an average. We eat breakfast in our room, take snacks in the park, eat small meals more frequently so we don't mind sharing or ordering off the kid's menu, bring in our own water, don't drink soda or eat much dessert, etc. The dining plan just isn't a good fit for us.

What kind of snacks and drinks for the room? taking snacks into the park?
Water, granola bars, chips, trail mix, popcorn, dry cereal, pudding cups, oreos...Not all super healthy but much of it is a treat for my kids so they are excited We also hit the store at the resort and pick up a few things like cheese, lunch meat, yogurt, etc. Just to have a few protein snacks and yogurt for breakfast for me. I throw bagels and bread in our suitcases as well as packets of mustard and mayo so someone can make a quick sandwich.

Pool Side eats?
Maybe an occasional Dole Whip if staying at the Poly but we don't typically.

What is your big splurge? That one place your family just has to eat.
We always do a character breakfast on our last day. And we change it up so never the same place each trip. We do two other TS dinners while there but they are not super pricey places. Usually something like Whispering Canyon, Captain Grille's or Kona.

Is dinning a part of the vacation experience to you?
Not to the extent it is for others. We like to snack and try new foods or foods we do not get often but we are not big on eating out in our normal life. I cook at home 99% of the time so we are not picky about our meals when we do eat out on vacation and just view it more as something we want to do quickly so we can get back to the parks.

 

[LovesTimone]

OP here,

Super interesting to read how everyone " Disney Dines". Please keep them coming.

So here's my take on how we do the Disney Dine. DH and I were talking about how we do "Disney" has changed over the years.

As for resort we have stayed at all 3 levels, but for the value trip we stay in a family suite at AOA so for me not really a value room. We tend to stay at the mod's and have tried all 4, POR is our go to. We are going to try a 1 bedroom DVC this Fall for F&W and my Birthday, hopefully renting from David's.

Never ever rope drop... a couple of time we saw it on accident not planned. But we have been known to close the parks.... Definitely laidback and wandering style of touring.

When the girls were in elementary school we did DDP with breakfast in the room. Then switch out lunch and dinner TS or QS during the day. We never did breakfast out just to much hassle with our little girls...

Once the girls got into middle school, high school, college... we up graded to DDXDP... Teenage girls will eat you out of house... Character breakfast, Lunch like at SCI-FI, the Plaza, Rainforest style for us, then a late grown-up meal.

Now we are empty nester, We go back and forth on the DDXDP, DDP and out of pocket... depending on how long we are staying and the purpose of our trip, lots of "math". But it sorta goes like this, We go the route of DDXDP if we are celebrating something special and want to try a couple of 2TS meals and must have breakfast with the characters. DDP for events like F&W, works out for us. Out of Pocket for last minute trips.. that goes like this, DH calling me... Hi honey lets go to Disney this weekend see what you can find, meaning resorts and ADR's and its Thursday morning... I will say lately we have been going to appetizer route with some adult beverages, and then dessert...

When we travel with the DD's, DD's spouses and Grandkids all under 3, we go the DDXDP route, this way we don't worry about who orders what and so forth... Lots and lots of Character meals... Once they get older I am sure this will change...

Chef Mickeys is our go to as a family... so many memories here... DH and I is Flying Fish.. again lots of memories.