Is the added dining option worth it?

[pmtaylor]

thanks so much...i'll be curious to see how you like it. This is our first trip and we can not wait!

 

[PavelB]

I read about the tax on the dining plan over at mousesavers. I'm glad they're wrong. Looking at the plan, it seems like a great deal, especially for children.
(unfortunately mine are too old.)
Someone mentioned using the counter service for breakfast. Any ideas on the best value counter service breakfasts?
Thanks

 

[sbkz]

I am trying to calculate whether the dining option is worth it for us. We are a family of 5 (mom,dad,3 kids all under 10). At WDW we normally eat 2 meals & a snack so it might be for us.
It would be $100 per day for us (2 A x $35 + 3 K x $10)..right? Not sure if that would be cost effective.
We like to go to crystal palace, chef mickey's, LTT, Biergarten, Sci Fi, Boma's, maybe even the cinderella character meal at 1900? (Ok not all on the same day!)

Anyone who has a family of 5 done the dining package & have suggestions?

THX!

I also am a family of 5 and we bought the dining plan for our upcoming trip (mom, dad, 10, 8, 5). I had to buy the adult for my 10 yo daughter. I'm getting so much conflicting info from disney. Are all the ts meals grouped together? I know that if my 8 and 5 yo are dining, they have to order from the kids menu, but my 10 yo sometimes may want to order from kids menu and I'd like to pay out of pocket for her and save her adult tickets for when we take my inlaws out to dinner, or if I pay for my kids meals another couple of nights, I'd have extra tickets for say "Hoop Dee Doo" or another signature meal? Disney told me the kids and adults are different.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Tinseltown Trauma]

I read about the tax on the dining plan over at mousesavers. I'm glad they're wrong. Looking at the plan, it seems like a great deal, especially for children.
(unfortunately mine are too old.)
Someone mentioned using the counter service for breakfast. Any ideas on the best value counter service breakfasts?
Thanks

Hi, Pavel,

And there is even another site that is telling the world that there is resort tax on the meal plan!! I'm sure that scared a lot of people off from taking advantage of this deal. (The various "tax errors" for a family of 5 over 5 nights could amt to $75-$115, and that could certainly make the psychological and/or practical difference in someone purchasing the plan). All of these sites have a wealth of helpful and valuable info, but in this case, IMO they are really confusing folks, and that's a shame. So, you are not alone. There have been a LOT of posts about the tax issue. And a LOT of people just don't want to embrace the fact that the plan is simply $35/day (adult)! It's almost as if they don't want to believe that WDW could offer something too good to be true (yeah, let's see how long it lasts!!). That said, if a guest doesn't PLAN with a mind to maximize their allotment, they could certainly come away feeling it wasn't worth it in the end.

Yes, the child's $ is really cheap, but the adult cost is nothing to sneeze at (and I say that as a solo who will have even fewer ways to maximize). Could I eat for less than $35/day? You bet. But the opportunites the plan affords me is worth the cost differential. For the extra $, I'd rather be eating the filet mignon w/Bearnaise than the hot dog. And like the poster who mentioned the $8 desserts, I'd much rather have the $12 cobbler at Artist Point than the ice cream from the pushcart (which, by the way, is also included in the Snack allotment). Etc., etc. But, to each their own....With regard to your kids, even tho' you'll be paying adult $ for them, you might still be able to do some "horse-trading" with the "chits" (as I call them)--e.g., a DD13 is likely to eat way smaller portions than a DS17, so perhaps a sharing scenario here and there is possible whereby some of DD's chits are saved in the pool. However, if you have 3 strapping teenage sons, this may just not be an option!!

Areas you're not going to get the most bang (in caliber of food as well as in actual menu item cost) are buffets and....counter service breakfast (that you asked about). In both those cases, I think the best you will do is break even...well, maybe a little better with buffets. In the case of cs breakfast, it's simply a result of the nature of the food items. Other posters have mentioned they felt a little short-changed using cs for breakfast; and you'd need to remember to get an appropriate substitute for the dessert allowance (e.g., a danish). The consensus seems to be to save your cs for lunch or dinner and pay for any breakfasts oopocket. That's what I'll be doing, and in fact am pushing a couple of my cs to dinner so I can use all (but 1) of my ts toward signatures. However, if you still want to use your cs for a breakfast, judging from the menus (on allearsnet), I'd stick with the resort food courts rather than cs venues in the parks--probably wider selection, bigger portions, etc.

Hope this helps a bit....Happy eating!

TT

P.S. You can see the official MYW Meal Plan brochure on the WDW website, here's the link to the webpage:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/tickets/packageDetail?id=PackageDetailMYWDiningPkg05Page

For the full ("unabridged") version, use the link a few paragraphs down that says, "View and print...." This is a .pdf file, so depending on your system could take a few minutes to download.

BTW, Pepper Market (cs) and Maya Grill (ts) at Coronado have recently been officially added to the program.

 

[Tinseltown Trauma]

I also am a family of 5 and we bought the dining plan for our upcoming trip (mom, dad, 10, 8, 5). I had to buy the adult for my 10 yo daughter. I'm getting so much conflicting info from disney. Are all the ts meals grouped together? I know that if my 8 and 5 yo are dining, they have to order from the kids menu, but my 10 yo sometimes may want to order from kids menu and I'd like to pay out of pocket for her and save her adult tickets for when we take my inlaws out to dinner, or if I pay for my kids meals another couple of nights, I'd have extra tickets for say "Hoop Dee Doo" or another signature meal? Disney told me the kids and adults are different.

Any help is appreciated.

Yes, all the ts are grouped together (see my earlier post).

Yes, you could pay oopocket for your 10yo--AND, perhaps more signifcantly, ALSO pay oopocket for your 8 & 5 yo's. You could accomplish a lot of hoarding. (I doubt it would be an issue to order from the kid's menu for your 10yo, unless she looks a whole lot older--then the restaurant might balk; even if there's some kind of issue, just order an appetizer for her and/or share some of your meal or your other kids' meals with her.)

I don't know what context you mean: "Disney told me the kids and adults are different.

TT

 

[Billysears]

Does anyone know if sharing is allowed when trading two tickets for the upgrade to the nicer places? Many times we have shared appetizers, meal and dessert, and are perfectly happy. Thanks for the insight from all.

 

[PavelB]

The more I look at it the more I think that the plan is perfect for my family.
When they were young I would never have done so many sit down meals. Now I have 3 teenage sons and they are hungry all the time. I am the one who cannot, or should not, eat all that food. I was thinking that I would just give them some of my counter service for their snacks. (to a DS 16 a burger and fries is just a snack) Even at dinner I could not eat an entree and dessert, but believe me one of them will gladly take mine. I think I agree with you about the breakfast. Hey, they're teenagers now and I can't get them up early anymore anyway!
I can't wait to go. It's snowing again!

 

[sdevir]

where can I get the info on the meal plans?

 

[Tinseltown Trauma]

... Now I have 3 teenage sons and they are hungry all the time.... (to a DS 16 a burger and fries is just a snack) Even at dinner I could not eat an entree and dessert, but believe me one of them will gladly take mine. I think I agree with you about the breakfast. Hey, they're teenagers now and I can't get them up early anymore anyway!
I can't wait to go. It's snowing again!

(LOL)...ohmigod, when I used what I thought was the most extreme "3 strapping teenage boys" example, little did I imagine!!...Yep, I don't think breakfast is gonna be an issue for you! (Some of the "higher end," more expensive buffets could also work for you, e.g., posters are generally positive on Boma @ AK--those young men could really tank up there.)

Snowing? Where are you? I thought from Nebraska....Seems to be such unseasonal weather all over the U.S....hope that means early May weather in Fla will lean on the cooler side! I'm excited, too!

TT

 

[Tinseltown Trauma]

Does anyone know if sharing is allowed when trading two tickets for the upgrade to the nicer places? Many times we have shared appetizers, meal and dessert, and are perfectly happy. Thanks for the insight from all.

I'm sure I read someone's post that they had done this without issue. That said, if it were me, I'd call PS (maybe even a couple of times, just to see if the answer is consistent) and inquire about this being an acceptable scenario in the signature restaurants.

TT

 

[Tinseltown Trauma]

where can I get the info on the meal plans?

see the link at the bottom of my earlier post above to PavelB (12:25pm)

TT

 

[sbkz]

Yes, all the ts are grouped together (see my earlier post).

Yes, you could pay oopocket for your 10yo--AND, perhaps more signifcantly, ALSO pay oopocket for your 8 & 5 yo's. You could accomplish a lot of hoarding. (I doubt it would be an issue to order from the kid's menu for your 10yo, unless she looks a whole lot older--then the restaurant might balk; even if there's some kind of issue, just order an appetizer for her and/or share some of your meal or your other kids' meals with her.)

I don't know what context you mean: "Disney told me the kids and adults are different.

TT

Thanks for the info.
Well, Disney said the kids and adults would be separated as to amount of meals. They said I'd have 18 adult ts credits and 12 kid ts credits. It seems that this is not true according to all these post which is great for me.

We are taking my inlaws(not on dining plan) out to dinner one night. Does anyone know if I can use 2 of my credits for them? Has anyone tried this?

Thanks.

 

[dominia_1979]

According to this Disney website, you can only have the single serving box.

http://adisneyworld.disney.go.com/m...gespecific/eng/nontheme/tickets/MYWDining.pdf