Just Back: Free Dining Plan With Kids and More!

[frayedend]

Just editing to say that I started this with intention of talking about dining only, but as more questions come I will talk about the entire trip here. So read on down the thread for more. FYI we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside.


I am putting this here because I don't want to cause any controversy over on the dining board

What I am about to write is my experience on the free dining plan over the last week. I am not writing whether what I did was right, wrong, against Disney policy or anything. This is just the facts of what I experienced in my situation and does not mean that you will experience the same thing.

We were a family of 4. Me, DW, DS5 and DS3. We had free dining from Monday the 21st until yesterday. 6 nights.

Here is a list of where we went. If you want specifics or reviews of any of these places just ask.
Chef Mickeys Breakfast (character)
Grand Floridian (1900 Park Fair of something) Breakfast (character)
Cosmic Rays
Main Street Bakery
Alfredos in Italy
Sci Fi Dine In
Liberty Tree Tavern

I think that's about it...

We did not share ( I am a big eater) but we could have because there is plenty of food for the adult TS meals.

We used our snack credits for mostly water. I know you can get more expensive stuff, but we decided to use it for whatever we wanted at the time rather than trying to nickel and dime it and end up with extra credits to waste at the end. And honestly, since the meals included dessert, we didn’t feel like having snacks that often (I didn’t even want popcorn which is my favorite, I was always full).

Counter Service and kids meals: Okay for breakfast we always got the kids meals from the child menu. They don’t eat much breakfast anyhow. But it was funny because it didn’t matter what you put on your tray. They kind of included everything. We could have a kids waffle breakfast platter, cereal, milk, toast, OJ, and Chocolate milk and they would just charge 1 CS credit. I assumed they were going to charge CS plus a snack for the big Nesquick Chocolate milk. They didn’t. Same thing when we got breakfast at the Main Street Bakery. We had lots of stuff that I assumed I would be paying for OOP in addition to the CS meals but they just put it all in the register and then gave it all to us on the CS credits. My thought is that it is all a dollar amount more than what you actually get.

Note that some places may not even show CS meals on the DDP but if you want it you can ask and they will tell you what you can get. What I mean is the Main Street Bakery had things listed as snacks but we had lots of CS to use. I asked and he was like “Oh with a CS credit you can get a breakfast sandwich, one pastry item, and one drink.” So I got a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich, a muffin, and a cappacino. Again, at the register I had extra drinks (OJ) and was not charged for it even though I already had enough to fill my CS meal.

Now for the kicker! Cosmic Rays for lunch. We went on two separate days. My kids were sure not gonna be full on the 4 chicken nugget meals. So I said the heck with it and decided to order what I wanted and give them my card. I assumed they would charge me for what was not covered. I had 2 Adults and 2 Child listed on the card. Each time at Cosmic Rays I ordered 4 adult meals. Each time they smiled, swiped my card, charged me 4 CS credits and that was it. No questions, no bad looks, no telling me I couldn’t do that. Nothing. My kids got the chicken strips instead of nuggets. I got ribs and chicken combo (best CS deal going because it’s like $14). They always give you the 32 oz soda which is great to have for a little while as you walk around the hot park.

TS we had to get kids meals if they had them. That was only the case for Alfredo’s and Sci Fi for us and it wasn’t a problem because the kids ate some of our food and appetizers. My little one ate just about all of my Proscuitto and Melon appetizer at Alfredos and the kids both had pasta which was perfect. I think they got chicken nuggets at Sci Fi but they were okay because they ate some of my onion rings and had a milk shake (they can trade their dessert for a milk shake or the adult can get a milk shake for the drink. What you can do is order milk shake for the adult and kids soda for the kid and then just trade, if you don’t want a milkshake for your own. Then everyone gets dessert.).

That's about it. Let me know if you have specific questions or want reviews.

 

[GeorgiaAristocat]

Thanks for the reviews.

And.

No flames from me!

Hope you otherwise had a good trip!!!

Forgot to say - I would love a review of Alfredo's. I know that some people love it, others hate it. Into which category do you fall? (I would also like to know how big the kids meal there was. I'll be taking a 2 yr old and 4 yr old in a Month. They can generally share a "Kid Cuisine" meal without either of them being full, so I think I am safe everywhere, but still . . .)

 

[pumba]

thanks for the reviews on your TS and CS meals and snacks....alot of questions always on this cause each place is different ALL the time.....I think you did good and your kids sounds like they enjoyed everything....thanks again I love popcorn too......especially the smell thru the parks.....YUMMY

 

[Shell0616]

No flames from me either. I'm glad you didn't get hasseled over anything and it sounds like you had a great time.
thanks for the review.

 

[frayedend]

Thanks for the reviews.

And.

No flames from me!

Hope you otherwise had a good trip!!!

Forgot to say - I would love a review of Alfredo's. I know that some people love it, others hate it. Into which category do you fall? (I would also like to know how big the kids meal there was. I'll be taking a 2 yr old and 4 yr old in a Month. They can generally share a "Kid Cuisine" meal without either of them being full, so I think I am safe everywhere, but still . . .)

I thought Alfredo's was quite good. Not the best, but still really good. I started with the melon wrapped with proscuito (sp?). The app was not on the menu in allearsnet. The kids meals have no appetizer and we were told they could not get one. As I said above, my son ate most of my appetizer (he loves ham and melon). I had the Bistecca di Manzo Alla Pizzaiola (which I simply call Steak Pizzaiola). I expected something like my family makes, where the steak is cooked and mixed up with tomatoes and potatoes in one pan. This was a bit different and was really just a nice steak with a really thick tomato "sauce" on top (it was really too thick to call a sauce and could be taken off of the steak if you didn't like it, but it was quite good) and side of roasted potatoes. The steak was cooked a perfect medium though I was lucky because the waiter did not ask how I wished it cooked and I forgot to specify. It was tender and juicy but if I was paying I would have been upset to pay $29 for it since I can buy a huge porterhouse at Outback for $22.

My wife had a Caesar salad for an appetizer (at these prices a salad should be included IMO). It was very good but she didn't care for the bacon on it and would have been much happier with regular croutons rather than their thin wafer thing they are so proud of. She then had lasagna. She just said it was "okay". She is Italian and we are both a bit picky about red sauce so the fact that it was "okay" is pretty darn good really. She really wanted Chicken Parmagiana which was offered on the lunch menu (they mistakenly gave us one lunch menu with our menus) but a request for it was denied.

The kids both had penne with butter (meat sauce was given on the side at our request because you never know if they will want sauce or not). It was plenty for them. We didn't try to give them the chicken nuggets parmagiana. If your kids eat penne or spaghetti then you won't have a problem.

For dessert, we had cannoli. It was okay (we are snobs about cannoli because we get them from Mike's in the North End of Boston). It was a classic ricotta filling but was a bit thin and had too much lemon in it. The kids both got the chocolate mousse but would have been happier with plain ice cream. They had some strawberry gelato thing on the dessert tray, but we saw another kid make a nasty face after she tried it and gave it to her mom, so we didn't get them that. They took a few bites but were probably full, so I had to finish it for them. I liked it a lot and would recommend it. It was thick and chocolatey. Not all air like some mousse I've had.

The waiter was nice but not around as much as we would have liked. He seemed very very busy, which we found strange. He seemed to be running around a lot, but not really doing anything. The waiter takes orders but doesn't bring anything to you. He is a middle man of sorts, passing your orders along to the servers. The atmosphere was nice but really it's just a big open restaurant and it is Disney so it is loud. No problem bringing loud kids along.

Overall it was well worth it if you have the Dining Plan (free or paid) but I would have been a bit disappointed if I had to pay the $105.00 that our bill showed at the end of the meal. Don't misunderstand though, because if I lived in Disney then I would be used to paying that much for a meal of that quality. It is just the knowledge that I can do so much better outside of Disney for that money that would bother me a bit. I would check the menu first and decide based on that.

Hope that helps...

 

[momoftriplets]

What were the crowds like? Was it very humid? We are considering going this time next year. (Starting to re-think taking kiddos out of school now that they are getting into higher grades.) Thanks for the great report.

 

[sorul82?]

OP,

We "broke" some of the rules as well! My BIL ordered his daughter an adult breakfast. We shared at Sci-Fi. I loved, loved, loved Sci-Fi! The only place we were told we couldn't do something was the CS place in Mexico.

We got those jumbo chocolate milks as either a drink or dessert credit. We substituted bottled water for desserts. And that $14 rib/chicken combo at Cosmic Ray's is definitely the best use of a CS credit!

 

[frayedend]

What were the crowds like? Was it very humid? We are considering going this time next year. (Starting to re-think taking kiddos out of school now that they are getting into higher grades.) Thanks for the great report.

It was very very humid. Very Hot but not in the upper 90s. Probably 90 every day. The humidity bothers me a lot, I sweat a ton and just feel uncomfortable. That being the case, I did find ample chances to cool down. Though I didn't find the Air Conditioning to be an arctic blast in any ride lines, it was cool in most lines that go inside so you can cool off. It is very cool in the gift shops (they want to keep you in there ) All in all it wasn't unbearable.

Crowds: I know you've read posts saying it wasn't and saying it was. The reason probably has to do with experience and perspective. It was crowded but not unbearable. I did not wait for longer than 30 minutes in any Stand By line. The crowds seem to shift. It's funny because you will look and see 10 minutes for Buzz Lightyear and 50 minutes for Stitch. Then 2 hours later you will see 10 minutes for Stitch and 50 for Buzz. You could certainly find rides to go on without long lines. We would get a fast pass for something with a long wait then go wait in a 20 minute line. Soon enough it was time for the FP ride.

All in all we waited in some lines but not much. If you go this time of year I would say if a ride has a long line, wait a while or try again if you go a different day. For instance, we waited about 30 minutes for the speedway race car thing at MK. But then on Saturday morning at about 11:30 it had practically no line at all.

Our plan was simply avoiding any EMH park at all costs. We only did MGM one day, Epcot one day and MK for 3 days. We skipped AK because we were there in Jan and didn't care to go back. It was nice having 3 days at MK because we could take our time, skip long lines until later, head to the resort pool in the afternoon, stuff like that.

My final thought on crowds and heat was that I would not choose to go back in August but if the deal was good enough I wouldn't rule it out. I loved January because it was slow, cheap, and cool. But the school thing will be an issue in a few years.

 

[arizonacolbys]

Thanks for the expanded review on Alfredo's - we'll be eating there for the first time in just a couple weeks. It will be our first time on the Dining Plan & we're also planning to check out Cosmic Ray's! Great reviews!

 

[sjms71]

Thank you Frayedend

I posted a while ago about this same thing. Last year we went on dinning plan and (at the suggestion of a cm)ordered some cs off the adult menu instead of kids. Only because they didn't have anything that my kids liked. I was wondering if they were still allowing this and it caused some flames. Anyway, thanks for posting.

 

[bamabelle]

Reading this makes me want a cheese danish from Main Street Bakery or Capt. Cooks at the Poly SO BAD!!!!!! My absolute favorite breakfast item at WDW!

I am glad you had a great vacation and maximized your DDP. I think that until Disney chooses to buckle down on how the credits are used then people on this board should not criticize or "flame" based on how families use them!

 

[S.Poppins]

What did you think of Liberty Tree? Did you do lunch or dinner? We have an ADR for lunch in Jan.

 

[frayedend]

Reading this makes me want a cheese danish from Main Street Bakery or Capt. Cooks at the Poly SO BAD!!!!!! My absolute favorite breakfast item at WDW!

I am glad you had a great vacation and maximized your DDP. I think that until Disney chooses to buckle down on how the credits are used then people on this board should not criticize or "flame" based on how families use them!

Darn, I almost tried the cheese danish. I got the chocolate chip muffin instead, it was great also.

As for maximizing the plan, I didn't even try. I got what I wanted and gave them my card. If they wanted to charge me OOP for some thing I would not have complained, but they didn't so it obviously isn't a big deal.

 

[frayedend]

What did you think of Liberty Tree? Did you do lunch or dinner? We have an ADR for lunch in Jan.

We did dinner. I thought it was quite good for what it was. It was kind of like a thanksgiving dinner but with the slices of flank steak and ham added. It was all put on a platter "family style" and they would bring more of anything you wanted. I'm not sure what they do for lunch, but I'm sure it will be good. The characters were the usual but no Mickey. I seem to remember Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale and Goofy.

 

[OhMari]

Thanks for the Dining Trip Report, we don't get to many on here and it was appreciated-by me, lol.

Can't wait to try it out next April.

 

[tinkwannabe2]

WHAT?!?!?! I just can't believe that you would order a milk shake as an adult FULLY knowing that you were going to give it to a child to drink!

Hahaha I am soooooo kidding! Thanks for the trip report. Are you suffereing post-Disney depression?

 

[frayedend]

WHAT?!?!?! I just can't believe that you would order a milk shake as an adult FULLY knowing that you were going to give it to a child to drink!

Hahaha I am soooooo kidding! Thanks for the trip report. Are you suffereing post-Disney depression?

Well not really depressed mostly because at least at work I can finally get some rest

 

[Gillian]

They had some strawberry gelato thing on the dessert tray, but we saw another kid make a nasty face after she tried it and gave it to her mom, so we didn't get them that.

It seems like a good policy to just get what you want and to be prepared to pay for it out of pocket if it isn't covered. Also, the plan includes so much food, and is a good deal if you normally eat table service meals anyway, that there's no need to squeeze every penny out of it. I get frustrated reading about people trying to do that, because it's a vacation & it's better to have fun than to worry about every little (food) thing.

Thank you for sharing your experiences!

 

[taximomfor4]

Wanted to add that my experience varied greatly. Only 1 day out of 7 was our card swiped without question. The other 6 days, we were questioned for getting more adult meals than were on the card. (For us, we were not feeding the kids with them, we had 6 people, thus 2 rooms so we just split the order and had each card docked for the amount of adult meals on it).

Beth

 

[frayedend]

Wanted to add that my experience varied greatly. Only 1 day out of 7 was our card swiped without question. The other 6 days, we were questioned for getting more adult meals than were on the card. (For us, we were not feeding the kids with them, we had 6 people, thus 2 rooms so we just split the order and had each card docked for the amount of adult meals on it).

Beth

Interesting, what restaraunts were you questioned at?