I've got the whole World in my hands, and it's heavy! - weigh in on dining options!

[hfdoyle]

Our last trip to WDW was 7 years and two children ago. We stayed at POR (it had just changed from being "Dixie Landings") for 5 nights. There was the three in my family, plus FIL, MIL and BIL. It was great, but exhausting as I was newly pregnant at the time.

In November, for my birthday, FIL gave us the wonderful gift of treating the family once again to a WDW vacation. He saw the 4/3 deal in the paper and said go for it! This time there are 7 of us traveling; Myself, DH, 14yo DS, 7yo DS, 5yo DD, and MIL and FIL who are in their early 70s. I have us booked at the CSR for 4/20-4/27, and have our flights booked on Southwest, but that's the extent of my planning so far.

My FIL has left it all up to me Oh the responsibility! I feel completely responsible for the happiness of seven people. Oy.

Anyway, I brought up the possibility of character meals. I think my DD would flip to have breakfast with the princesses. So I'm considering the Norway character breakfast. When I brought it up to FIL, and mentioned it's a bit expensive, he said "it's about the experience not the money"/ But still, I feel bad just throwing his money around.

Another consideration is whether or not to book the dining plan. We aren't really big eaters, especially the ILs, so I'm not certain it would save us money in the long run. Plus, I like the option to eat where we are, when we are hungry. Is the QS plan flexible enough that you can easily find items to eat? Are we going to have to spend a ton over and above that plan or does it provide enough food each day?

I'll need some hand holding as I plan our trip, and any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated! I promise I'll come back with pictures and reports post-trip.

 

[hfdoyle]

Furthermore... if I do book the princess breakfast, I'm considering doing this for just DH, DD and myself. The ILs would be more than willing to take the boys for the morning. But, will they feel left out? Perhaps we should also do the breakfast at the Poly since all the kids like Lilo and Stitch.

Then, there's another part to our story. I found out after I'd booked that my sister and her family (herself, DH, 20yo DS, 14yo DS, 11yo DD) will be at their timeshare at Orange Lakes at the same time! Our trips will overlap for most of the time. This is thrilling for us, our families enjoy spending time together. They will have a car and are going to try and come visit us at CSR. It's my niece's 12th birthday one of the days, and I'd love it if we could do something special for her. Any ideas??

 

[lifeafterkids]

I had a hard time believing that the Dinning Plan was worth it for my family too... I loved being able to eat where I wanted and when I wanted... My financee and I tried it out on a vacation by ourselves and realized how much money it saved us.... We pre-bought our meals before we got there... We did the middle of the road plan where you got a counter service, a sit down meal and a snack and that was enough for us... Plus it forced us to make reservations at places we thought we could not eat at for the price... The Epcot breakfast is one of the places you could eat at and not feel guilty about it...

I hope this helps a little

 

[Mommarella]

HI, I'm here and "along for the trip" I would have to say that the dining plan is GREAT !! I don't leave the house without it !!

As far as your nieces bday, you could have dinner at 1900 PF, Chef Mickey's or OHana's or even Whispering Canyon. All of those are located in resorts so they wouldn't have to purchase tickets. Your family could use dining credits and the others pay OOP.

And how nice of your IL's to treat you guys to this trip, what sweethearts !!

 

[hfdoyle]

Thanks for the comments! Trip planning is interesting, isn't it? I'm happy to know that I have some time before I must decide whether to add the dining plan or not. Here's a snapshot of how our family eats. You might see why I'm on the fence.

I should preface this by saying that while I love my ILs dearly, they are definitely..... odd.

FILs daily food intake: bowl of fiber one/total cereal for breakfast, lunch is a slice of honey wheat bread with hummus and a banana, afternoon snack is healthy choice fudgesicle, dinner is often half a sandwich/wrap and some salad (sometimes the 'entree' varies but it's always small). This is it, every day.

MILs daily food intake: breakfast, lunch and snack she makes this whipped 'ice milk' concoction which is ice, non fat milk powder, splenda, and flavorings like coffee syrup or strawberry sauce. She has this several times a day until dinner which is mostly salad, with soup, some times chicken etc or some of my dinner that I make for my family (we live downstairs for them). She's nearly vegetarian.

My family also eats very little. My little kids have a bowl of cereal/oatmeal/cream of wheat for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, sometimes they snack on some goldfish or a clementine or crackers too. Dinner is usually small for them too, spaghetti and meatballs, breaded chicken, chili. DD is the most adventurous eater of the bunch. Teen DS eats a bigger volume but smaller variety. He'd be happy on the kids plan because really he'd be thrilled with chicken fingers or a hamburger all week! Too bad he's too old. DH and I eat a normal variety but I'd guess a smaller volume than is offered by the plan, to I'm sure we'd find a way to take advantage


Anyway, you can see why I'm thinking that $1174 (the cost of the QS plan for us all) is probably a much higher budget for food than we need.

 

[hfdoyle]

Since I can't stop obsessing, er uh, planning our vacation, how about I introduce the cast of characters?

Here's three of the crew. That's me on the right. I'm 38, an assistant teacher in a 7th and 8th grade math class, and I have three kids (well, four if you count the DH!). So clearly, I could use a vacation! My grandparents moved to Florida when I was around 8 or so, and we used to go down to visit them every year for February vacation. We did used to do more than just Disney - we loved, loved, loved Busch Gardens and Boardwalk and baseball, but for now having everything for us on property is the way to go.

On the left is DH. He's 43, and working on a start-up internet business. I think he could use a vacation too He's not an over obsessive travel planner like me, so I'm glad to have the DiS to go on and on about it! Oh! We both used to work for a travel company - a group tour operator for seniors - and we met while on a company trip in Palm Springs, CA even though the office was in Boston.

In the middle is my eldest. He'll be 14 by the time we travel in April. We took him on his first and only trip to WDW when he was 6 and I was pg with my second child. He doesn't have many memories of it though, so we're hoping to make some more this trip.

Here are my other two. Owen is 7 and just the sweetest boy. I absolutely can't WAIT to take him to WDW! He's most thrilled about the Star Wars and Indiana Jones attractions, but really, he wants to do and see everything there. Good think we are planning 2 days at MK. Between Owen and my DD, we're going to need it.!

Leah is five, and she looooves the princesses, especially Ariel. DH and I are going to take her to the princess lunch while the ILs are hanging out with the boys. When you ask leah what she most wants to do at WDW, she says "everything!" She's very, uh, fiesty so this could be an adventure just traveling with her. We're bringing our stroller because even now at age 5, one of the things most often heard from her is "pick me up!".

Also traveling are MIL Holly and FIL Bob. They are in their early 70s, but still really active. Still, I do worry about wearing them out. SO, I'm trying to temper my go go go instincts for them. Bob and Holly are entrepeneurs and have been 'retired' since the early 80s, though they've had other start ups/ventures over the years. Bob is a workaholic, and writing a philosophy book, so getting him to take a week vacation is pretty amazing!

That's it for this time... next up, more obsessive planning!

 

[hfdoyle]

Yesterday I booked some ADRs!

Most important was to get Leah to see the princesses, so we booked the Akershus. I was on the fence between breakfast and lunch. My DD is the best eater of the crew, and since lunch was only a few $ more, we opted for that. So we'll get to Epcot early for the EMH, and then have an early lunch with the princesses. My boys can have lunch with the grandparents, and we'll all meet up later for a relaxing afternoon at our resort.

I also booked breakfast at Chef Mickey's and breakfast at Crystal Palace. I'm really not sure if I'll keep them though. There are 7 in our party, and one of my kids counts as an adult. That means $136 for breakfast. Hm... I'm not sure about that one. Same thing for Crystal Palace. Since I have a Disney Visa we'll get to go to the meet n' greet for cardholders. That might be enough.

I'm at the point now where I think I'm going to add the QSDP to one of my room reservations, for those of us who actually eat. My ILs will be fine paying OOP since they will likely get once thing and share it, and they don't snack. My kids will love the snack credits, and then I don't feel like I have to say no to everything they want. I truly am looking for this to be a magical trip! Since my ILs are paying for the room and flights, I'm going to either let them use my Disney Visa Points for their food, or load up a Disney gift card or something. I just really think not having to think about cash will be great when we are actually there.

Which way will the wind blow tomorrow? Who knows!

 

[hfdoyle]

Am I the only nut who makes 15,000,000 changes to their air reservations? Because I did it again! I just switched us flying out of Manchester, and now have about $300 in credits on Southwest. Of course, because I'm foolish, I managed to mess up the way I was juggling credits and managed to pay for a refundable fare with credits and the non-refundable fare with my CC. Ugh, so there goes my theory of being able to whittle down the price. Oh well, I guess that means DH will have to take me on a little trip for my birthday. Maybe we'll get a sweet bounceback offer?