looking for advice for using my dining plan....

[AliVal]

We are arriving at 7:30 pm and will have the FREE dining plan (yeay) I'm sure we'll be starved and want to go eat and see SOMETHING our first night... ayone have any suggestion? Also, one thing to keep in mind that although we'll be there 7 days, we only purchased 5 day hopper passes since we figured that we wouldn't do any of the parks the first or last night (having second thoughts on this) So, we can't go into any of the parks to use our dining plan that evening. Where can we go to see fireworks and have dinner without going into a park? Second question.... we fly out at 3:45pm, therefore we'll be leaving for the airport by... um...2:30pm. Will we be able to use any of our meals on this day, or not? If not, I was thinking of heading to Downtown Disney to use our Planet Hollywood coupons (we got $15 coupons with each of our pakages) Does anyone else have any suggestions???
Thanks everybody! Your suggestios are soooo helpful!
Ali
Next Trip 9/2-9/8 yeay!

 

[DomFromPhilly]

Just to help you clarify a few basics:

To upgrade from a 5-day hopper to a 7-day hopper would cost approx. $7 per ticket. Of course it's up to you, but seems well worth it to upgrade just to expand your possibilities for meals, etc.

Your meal plan won't expire until midnight the night you check out. So, if your question is if you are allowed to use your meal credits the day you check out, the answer is yes.

We usually keep our departure day plans loose; we usually find ourselves wanting to return to a particular park to buy something we saw earlier in the trip. We go to the park, eat one last meal, pick up some last minute merch and head back to the resort to go home.

Hope this helps.

 

[danceintherain]

First of all, where are you staying?
Also, will you have a rental car, or be taking Magical Express?

My suggestion for your first night would be to plan a meal in your resort. If you would rather go somewhere else, then consider taking a bus to the Magic Kingdom, and the monorail to one of the resorts. Only a few restaurants have views of the fireworks. I think both in the Magic Kingdom area are 2 credit places - California Grill & Narcooses. If you were going to be there a little earlier then it would be possible to eat somewhere, then watch the Fireworks from the beach, but the earliest ADR possible after a 7:30 arrival without a car would probably be 9pm.

Another suggestion - though more difficult - would be to go to a restaurant on the Boardwalk. Beaches & Cream doesn't take ADRs, but it's on the Dining Plan (at least it was the last time I checked) However, you would have to take a bus to a park, then another to one of the EPCOT resorts, unless of course you're already staying in one.

 

[carmie3377]

Second question.... we fly out at 3:45pm, therefore we'll be leaving for the airport by... um...2:30pm.

Are you using Magical Express? If so, the bus will pick you up approx. 3 hours prior to flight departure.

 

[danceintherain]

Ok...changed my mind. I figured out that you're staying at French Quarter.
My new suggestion is to take the boat to Downtown Disney. There are plenty of options there for eating. We tried the Wolfgang Puck Express on our last trip, and found it a good bang for our buck (course on Free Dining that doesn't matter as much)

I also agree with the PP about the extra days. It's really not that much more expensive... however, it depends on the hours during your stay. I wouldn't go to a park unless it stayed open until at least 10pm if I couldn't get there before 7pm.
Check the extra magic hours, because you might find that you can get some good park time in when you arrive.
However, you may also be exhausted and it might be better to plan for Boatright's that night, and decide if you want to see something after you've eaten.

 

[squirrel]

If your flight lands at 7:30 then it will be at least another hour or more before you get to the resort. If that is the case I would just grab a CS meal at the resort.

If you have already taken travel time into account and want to venture off the resort area, I would go to DTD.

I wouldn't bother upgrading your tickets until you want another day. I wouldn't bother for the first night it's already late and you will probably be tired.

You have until midnight on your check out day to use up any credits that are left.

 

[aubriee]

Second question.... we fly out at 3:45pm, therefore we'll be leaving for the airport by... um...2:30pm.

As a previous poster said, if you are using DME the DME bus will be picking you up about three hours before your flight (around 12:45pm). Even if you are not using DME and have a rental car, no way would I be leaving my resort at 2:30pm for a 3:45pm flight. On at least two occasions, I've gotten to my gate with barely 30 minutes to spare, leaving even three hours from my resort. The first time, there was a family who had missed their DME bus and then caused a really big scene demanding to be put on our full bus (even demanding that some of us with later flights be put off the bus and wait for the next bus). The dad stepped up on the bus and then was going to refuse to get off, even saying that they would stand, but had to be on that bus. It took a resort manager, the bus driver, and the DME guy with the clip board to get him off the bus. Then we got caught in a wreck on the way to the airport, then my stop was the second one, and anyway by the time I finally got through security, then caught the tram out to my terminal and got to my gait I really needed that three hour cushion DME allows.

The second time I needed the three hour cushion was this past May 16th. I don't know what was going on at MCO that day, but I have never seen security lines anywhere like they were that day. The lines stretched down almost to the escalators. Then they kept coming through pulling people out that had earlier flights. We were in that security line well over an hour, maybe 1 1/2 hours. Anyway my point is that no way would I allow only an hour and 15 minutes to get from the resort to the airport, drop off the rental car, drop off luggage, get through those always long security lines, and find my gate. Sorry that's not happening at MCO.

As far as your first night, since you are staying at POFQ I'd just take the boat to DTD and maybe grab a late dinner at PH or maybe Raglan Road, then wander around DTD for awhile, before taking the boat back to POFQ and relax in the pool or hot tub.

 

[AliVal]

You guys - you are the best! I like the idea of DTD and didn't realize that the Wolfgang Puck Rest was CS - That's awesome, so maybe now I can use a double SD swipe somewhere else (if I can get in)
Thanks also for the 3 hour window info - I didn't realize I would need it.
Now, if I surprised my family and booked us a limo when we arrived would it get us to our resort faster??? I know the kids will be restless.
Finally... what is Ridemax???

 

[Luv2Roam]

We use to use a town car service. And even with that I allowed 1.5 hours between landing and getting to the room. And usually was right on target or just a little more than that.
You won't be ready to eat until 9:00pm+.