Is it too late for Dining Plan at this late date?

[lboysmom]

I am planning my family's first trip to Disney for October 10-15. We have a 5 year old and a will be 7 month old. I haven't booked the trip yet, but will this week. Is it too late to include the Dining Plan? From my research, it seems we'll need to make reservations at every sit down restaurant in advance. Will we still be able to book reservations at many good places or is it too late to gain value out of the dining plan? I also hear it's a lot of food, but thought the convenience factor might be nice for us. I also wanted to try and do a character lunch or two, but am worried they will already be booked. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for your time.

 

[abdgeek]

A lot will depend on what time you like to eat and where you like to eat as to whether it is too late. I suggest going to the Disneyworld website and putting in the dates and times you want to eat and see what restaurants come up. You can also call 407-WDW-DINE and have them do all the leg work for you.

Which dining plan are you thinking of getting? If you get the deluxe plan, eat at signature restaurants for dinner and that will use up 2 table service meals per day. Then you have one left over to do either breakfast or lunch. You also get two snacks per day.

If you get the regular dining plan, you have one quick service, one snack and one table service meal per day. It's a lot less food, but I much perfer the increase in choice that I get with the DDP.

 

[lboysmom]

Thanks for your help. I had not realized that I could check for availability online as you suggested. Thanks.

 

[lightmoonstone]

It shouldn't be. I just added the dining option to my res. and I am going on Oct. 31, no problem! :]

 

[jenlov]

You could always do a value resort and get free QSDP instead. That way, you're not tied down to reservations. If there's a character meal you just really want to do, pay for it OOP.

 

[purple figment]

Definitely check online to see what reservations are still available. A lot of character meals and popular places are probably booked up, but you can keep checking online multiple times a day for cancellations. You can also subscribe to the October cancellation thread linked here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2883871

If you're undecided about a dining plan, you can add the dining plan to your resort reservation up to 3 days before your arrival day as long as you book a package (room + tickets.) It doesn't look like free dining is available on your check in date, but you can keep hoping that a room rate discount will be offered.