Magic your Way Dining Plan

[Twende]

Can you camp and get the dining plan?

I could easily get the tent and air matresses on the plane but the idea of cooking meals and clean up while I am on a Disney vacation just sours my tummy!

So I was wondering if I could get the best of two worlds by tenting and getting the meal plan?

 

[Carrie Ellis]

Yes!

We did this last October. The only thing we ate at the camp was breakfast.

 

[pammypooh]

We will be on the plan when we vist next month. Can't deal with dishes while on vacation. Too many good restaurants.

Pam

 

[Twende]

Thanks! This gives us a real money saving option to look at for this trip!

 

[Gillian]

We also have the dining plan for our April trip. I don't plan to cook a lot of meals, but we'll do a few. We are doing the hoop dee doo review one night, which uses up two table service credits, using another for breakfast one day. I figure we'll cook one night and do trails end (paying cash) another.

We like to cook breakfast because it's cheaper and better for us.

 

[marypopfan]

So you can camp at the campground in a camper and still get the dining plan? I didn't think that you could.

 

[rwenzel2]

I am planning on using the dining plan on our trip for next December. It was a big plus for me in making the decision to stay at the campground.

My question is - I see by Disney's list that the Trails End is considered a sit down meal, but I thought I saw somewhere that if you took it as carry out, it was considered counter service on the plan. Anybody have the answer to this one?

 

[Carrie Ellis]

Yes the campsite can get the dining plan. The only thing they would not allow was the free dining promotion that was offered last summer and fall. We still had to pay for the dining plan during that time if we wished to have it. I assume it was because a campsite can have up to 10 people on it and that would have been alot of free meals for Disney!

 

[musicmama]

I am planning on using the dining plan on our trip for next December. It was a big plus for me in making the decision to stay at the campground.

My question is - I see by Disney's list that the Trails End is considered a sit down meal, but I thought I saw somewhere that if you took it as carry out, it was considered counter service on the plan. Anybody have the answer to this one?

We just came back and were not allowed to use Trail's End as other than TS. Staff told us that even carry out was not on the plan - which was tough because we wanted to use up the last of our CS credits.

To the other posters interested - we camped in an RV and used the Dining Plan over Christmas. It was a lot of food and really took a lot of planning to take advantage of (me, DH, DD-12) and we still left 8 CS credits, even after cleaning out the Magic Kingdom bakery. While it meant not worrying about the cost of food for our stay, we missed out on the campground experience because of needing to be somewhere to eat. If you're thinking about the plan, take a good look at the allears menus and go over them with your older kids - some of the "fancier" places may not appeal to them although they give you the best value.

 

[jonimce]

We camped in a tent, August 2001 and 2004, both times on the dinning plan. The plan they had then was 2 TS each day that we were able to strech to three by sharing

 

[salmoneous]

So, I'm thinking if I wanted to stay offsite, but still get the dining plan, I could book a partial hookup and......

 

[LadyJanel]

Too funny!

 

[donac]

We camped with friends last summer and they had the plan and we did not. I think they missed out on the camping experience. We would come back to the site to relax after lunch they would be at a water park or planning dinner. They never really had a chance to relax by the pool. She was always planning where they would eat next.

 

[Gillian]

We are doing the dining plan in april and I now see that we don't have a lot of times when we can cook dinner at the campsite. We do have some down time planned, and I'm sure we will relax a little.

We are using 2 TS for HDD, and 1 TS for lunch at Norway. Perhaps not the best use of TS credits, but I think it will work out for us. We are not using any TS at Trails end, although we do plan to have breakfast there at least one day.

We will probably use our CS at the parks for lunches or to split for snacks.

 

[jonimce]

We do a lot o 2TS's for dinner. Using them in some of the better resort's well worth it. As far a planning, I always had all our reservations made well in advance. Always know where we are going. Just waiting for August park hours to plan this summer.

 

[markb]

We've been literally dozens of times b-4, but never used the "meal plan" you guys discuss. Could I get a small explanation?

 

[Gillian]

I don't know if you can post a link, but I think mousesavers has easy to understand info about the meal plan. http://www.mousesavers.com/mywplusdining2006.html

Basically, you have to buy a package with site, tickets (can be just one day), and the meal plan (has to be for the same # of nights as your room).

The cost is ~38 per adult per night for 1 table service credit, 1 counter service credit and 1 snack. Some premium restaurants (jiko, cali grill, dinner shows) count as 2 TS credits. Kids are ~$11 per day.

Mousesavers also has info on how to maximize your savings.

 

[markb]

I remember that.
Does connections 123 still offer the discound meal vouchers?
Are they still a good deal?

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

Looks like we will be at the park the same month! We opted for the dining plan as well. Last year was our first time using it and now I don't think my husband would go without it.
Did you know that you can make reservations 180 days in advance now? last year it was 60. That puts us planners in a real quandry!

P.S you've camped in August before, what were the nights like in a tent, that's what we are doing.

We do a lot o 2TS's for dinner. Using them in some of the better resort's well worth it. As far a planning, I always had all our reservations made well in advance. Always know where we are going. Just waiting for August park hours to plan this summer.

 

[jonimce]

We camped in our tent 14 nights Aug. 2001 and 11 nights 2004. We had a great time. Always booked 1500. All we took was a large screen house, fridge,toaster, coffee pot and hot pot.(DH drinks tea) One of those cheep box fans in the tent at night really cooled everything off. Make sure you use extra water profing. It rains alot.