I am totally lost when it comes to Disney and dining plans - please help!

[kristens]

Hello!

My mother, father, and I will be going to WDW in May (of 2013) the week before Memorial day. And I'm currently in the process of searching everything I can about food at Disney--specifically budgeting a food schedule that fits our needs. But the more I read, the more I just get lost and confused (I actually had a panic attack about it, because we haven't made any reservations yet and we're going in May...and just, yeah, a perfectionist that panics that's me.) I could really use some help in at least getting on the right path to go on, so it doesn't feel like I'm running like Snow White in the woods!

So I guess what I would like to know is how exactly these DDPs operate (and apparently there's free dining?? I thought you either had to be on some sort of meal plan, or you had to pay OOP?) and if there is a plan - or not - that would suit our needs better.

Here is some information about us and our trip:

• 3 adults are going for 8 days and 7 nights.
• We like to eat (and I personally like to eat well...and considering WDW isn't a place we go to often - this is only the second time in a REALLY long time we're going - I'm pretty sure my parents will want to treat themselves more often than back home.)
• We generally have 2 meals a day, usually a lunch and dinner. If we're hungry, we just tend to find a snack here or there to tide us over.
• We will want to go to a few TS/restaurants during our stay. Probably at least once a day/night.

My mother and I were thinking getting the regular Disney Dining Plan that's 2 meals and a snack, because I had read somewhere that the Deluxe was TOO much food/not worth it...but now I'm seeing that the regular one isn't enough? And that there's restrictions? I just want everything on my trip to be as close to perfect as possible and I know I will feel so terribly guilty if we either overpayed/underpayed for the right way to go about food, and therefore ruin [that part of] the trip.

I'm just sort of freaking out right now that I have no idea what I'm doing. O_O Please help?

Thank you

 

[FiggieFan]

It can be very overwhelming. We usually get the regular dining plan which is 1 quick service (counter), 1 table service and 1 snack a day. It is a lot of food and we were never starving. We ate breakfast at the hotel most days which used 1 quick service. Then we had an early dinner to beat the crowds around 4:30 or 5pm which was usually our table service credit. We used our snacks in the parks in the early afternoons for coffees or smoothies to tide us over til dinner.
Of note, some table service meals are 2 credits such as Cinderella's Royal Table, the shows (luau and hoop de doo review), Fulton's Crab House, etc.
Some of our favorites are Biergarten in Epcot, 50's Prime Time Cafe in Hollywood Studios, and Raglan Road in Downtown Disney (for the bread pudding dessert).
We are doing more resort dining this year such as Trails End at Fort Wilderness (boat from Magic Kingdom) and 1900 Park Faire at the Grand Floridian (monorail from MK).
'Ohana is very popular which is at the Polynesian, also monorail or boat from MK.
We are also trying breakfast two times this year in the parks. We are going to the Magic Kingdom on 2 days for 8:05 reservations on days when the park opens at 9. I have read a lot about this and you get to take some nice pics before the park is too crowded. Haven't done it before but they just changed the menu for Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast which looks great and the Crystal Palace is said to have a nice breakfast buffet. Those days we will just do a quick/counter service dinner instead.
Hope that helps some.

 

[FiggieFan]

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about restrictions. Restaurants have until the end of the year to sign their contracts for the upcoming year so a lot more restaurants are expected to be added by end of December - especially in Downtown Disney and Epcot should have a few more added based on prior years.
Free Dining and other offers are only available at certain times. I believe it is typically when crowds are lower, so end of May not be when they offer it. This year we did not get free dining as in 2011 and 2012, but we got a discount that was on their website which covered a good amount of the Dining Plan costs. The offer wasn't made until about 2 months after I booked and I called and they took the difference off.

 

[sharonabe]

It sounds like the regular DDP will work for you. You can use the QS or TS for either lunch or dinner and still get good value out of the plan. PP said they used their QS for breakfast, but that is not the best way to use the DDP as you don't get a dessert and lose that portion of the credit.

Right now, there are no free dining offers out there. In fact, there are no special offers that extend beyond March, so I would go ahead a make the reservation as a package now, and if/when special offers come out for that time period, you can probably change it.

 

[kristens]

Thank you guys so much for your input, it eased my nerves a little bit

I have one more question - is it okay/not the end of the world if we're going the week before Memorial day and we still haven't made any dinner reservations yet? The 180 day mark I discovered had already passed and my 120 mark will be coming up in about a month. I mean, we've been looking at the sort of restaurants we'd like to check out, but we haven't made any sort of concrete reservations yet...is that okay?

Also, regarding 2 credit dinners - if you're on a regular dining plan can you still have a 2 credit dinner, or is that just for deluxe plans? Can you combine QS and TS points for the credits?

 

[mcraige]

You need to do the math and see if it makes sense. Here's what I did. I looked at each park we were visiting each day, selected restaurants (TS and QS) that sounded good, looked at their menus to see what we would order, and added it all up. Then, I compared that to the cost per day of the DP. To me, it was cheaper to pay OOP than to use the DP. YMMV (your math may vary).

 

[aaarcher86]

Thank you guys so much for your input, it eased my nerves a little bit

I have one more question - is it okay/not the end of the world if we're going the week before Memorial day and we still haven't made any dinner reservations yet? The 180 day mark I discovered had already passed and my 120 mark will be coming up in about a month. I mean, we've been looking at the sort of restaurants we'd like to check out, but we haven't made any sort of concrete reservations yet...is that okay?

Also, regarding 2 credit dinners - if you're on a regular dining plan can you still have a 2 credit dinner, or is that just for deluxe plans? Can you combine QS and TS points for the credits?

You'll want to try and schedule your ADRs as soon as you can, to get the times and places you want.

For 2 credit dinners, you still can on the regular DDP. You'll get all of your credits at once at check in, and you'll be able to use them however you want.

You can not combine your credits to use. You'll get 7 TS credits and 7 QS credits and that's how they'll have to be used. You can use TS credits for QS - but not the other way around.

 

[sharonabe]

Actually, you get 7 TS CREDITS and 7 QS CREDITS. If you go to a 2TS CREDIT meal, you'll only get 6 TS MEALS. It can be confusing, but once you sit down and start doing ADRs, it should fall into place.

 

[OHIOVACATIONER]

I to am lost with these plans. We are going in January staying at the DVC was wondering if any codes or discounts for January. What is bounceback?

 

[TDC Nala]

Bounceback means you are offered a discount of some type to book your next trip while you are at WDW. You must actually be staying in a WDW resort at the time you book the next trip.

If you are staying at DVC there is no need for codes or discounts. There are no known discounts on the dining plan offered with DVC reservations, except for the fact that DVC reservations do not pay peak dining plan prices on the regular or deluxe plan - they pay the same price as non-peak packages, all year round.

 

[bdklein]

Hello!

My mother, father, and I will be going to WDW in May (of 2013) the week before Memorial day. And I'm currently in the process of searching everything I can about food at Disney--specifically budgeting a food schedule that fits our needs. But the more I read, the more I just get lost and confused (I actually had a panic attack about it, because we haven't made any reservations yet and we're going in May...and just, yeah, a perfectionist that panics that's me.) I could really use some help in at least getting on the right path to go on, so it doesn't feel like I'm running like Snow White in the woods!

So I guess what I would like to know is how exactly these DDPs operate (and apparently there's free dining?? I thought you either had to be on some sort of meal plan, or you had to pay OOP?) and if there is a plan - or not - that would suit our needs better.

Here is some information about us and our trip:

• 3 adults are going for 8 days and 7 nights.
• We like to eat (and I personally like to eat well...and considering WDW isn't a place we go to often - this is only the second time in a REALLY long time we're going - I'm pretty sure my parents will want to treat themselves more often than back home.)
• We generally have 2 meals a day, usually a lunch and dinner. If we're hungry, we just tend to find a snack here or there to tide us over.
• We will want to go to a few TS/restaurants during our stay. Probably at least once a day/night.

My mother and I were thinking getting the regular Disney Dining Plan that's 2 meals and a snack, because I had read somewhere that the Deluxe was TOO much food/not worth it...but now I'm seeing that the regular one isn't enough? And that there's restrictions? I just want everything on my trip to be as close to perfect as possible and I know I will feel so terribly guilty if we either overpayed/underpayed for the right way to go about food, and therefore ruin [that part of] the trip.

I'm just sort of freaking out right now that I have no idea what I'm doing. O_O Please help?

Thank you

Here's my suggestion

1. Breathe. None of this stuff is life and death. Worst case you paid too much or too little for some food, or didn't eat at a certain restaurant. All small stuff-not worth sweating.

2. Don't worry about the Dining Plan now. Can always add it later, Just get an idea on the resaturants you may want to visit and make some reservations. That's important. And you can always cancel them. Allears.net and wdwiinfo are good websites to assist.

2. And maybe just skip the dining plan. It makes one basically overanalyze every menu and every food choice, and can be restrictive. One less thing to worry about.

And focus on the fun!!!

 

[jmcghee2024]

We are going the same week as you. Be Our Guest (the new one in Beast's castle) is the only restaurant that was an issue with getting an ADR. If you want it, I would suggest making an ADR ASAP. You can do it before you book your trip. As for most of the other restaurant, take a week or two, sort out what you want and you should be fine.