Maximizing the Dining Plan

[karebear06]

I am curious where everyone gets the most value for their dining credits. What and where is the best snack? What and where is the best counter service? What and where is the best table service?

Thanks

 

[Tricia1972]

I would maximize by eating exactly what I want where I want. It may seem like fun to push value into the plan by eating the most expensive things, but from experience it got old pretty fast for us.

Go and have fun - eat where you want.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Moving the DDP board for more reviews

 

[karebear06]

Okay, so I will start.

I think the Pepper Market is a great counter service. They have lots of options to choose from. I also think the combo meal at Cosmic Rays is a great value.

 

[beroh2253]

TS- Le Cellier, Teppen Edo, Capt. Jacks & Coral Reef
CS- Flame Tree BBQ, Columbia Harbour House.


http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm

 

[belleatheart]

Eating where you want, but also somewhere you can't get where you live. We go to Marrakesh because there isn't Morrocan food around where we live so it gives us an experience we can't have. Like Mexican Food is in CO by the hundreds. We will also pick a few nice restaurants to go to that maybe we wouldn't go to on a regular basis because of cost

 

[james'mommy]

We like to use our snack credits at Goofy's Candy Co. You can get some really yummy large snacks there.

 

[Stephanie VanMeter]

We were there the 2nd week of June and I had trouble with my snack credits. Last year we were able to use them for bags of candy, like the Goofy Gummy sours and other things. This year we were told it had to be a one serving. The price didn't seem to be the thing they were looking for, it was if it was one serving. My advice would be to use up those credits in the parks or for breakfast. I had 17 left the morning we checked out. I did not try to save them, we were just never hungry because of the other meals. Also, as with a previous poster, get what you like to eat then you get the best value because you are full!!

 

[asmit4]

Cosmic Rays- ribs/chicken combo
Le Cellier- steaks
Coral Reef- higher end seafood
Booking a fantasmic dinner package at Mama Melrose's- the package allows for an appetizer too which the basic DDP doesn't allow for.
Pepper Market- higher end food costs for a CS
Not using TS credits for breakfast, and if it can be helped- not using them for lunch either.
Picking higher end/expensive buffets- if you want a buffet at all. 18.99 all you can eat buffet is not really a good DDP value cost wise.
Not using TS credits for lower end cheaper TS meals- Sci Fi, Beaches and Cream. If you do go to these, ordering pricier drinks like milk shakes instead of cokes.

 

[Portugal1000]

With regards to CS, I would definitely recommend WolfGang Puck Express at DTD. We were there last 7th to 27th Dec last year but only on the DP from 19th. We ate atleast 4 times at WGP. The food was great and the best thing was that you ordered it then it was brought to you on proper plates and proper cutlery. The waiters even came and asked if they could get us anything else and if the food had taken a while they gave us extra stuff for free (Juice, cookies) Not that we seemed to wait long but they were just very attentive. The meals were huge and this is a great place if you want to use some of your TS credits for 2 TS resturants as you could use WGP for your main meal of the day. Also unlimited drinks. Also loved just sitting outside watching the world go by. We use to use our snacks fro Breakfast items at SSR (Muffins etc) as there was no way we could have eaten a proper breakfast aswell as a CS and TS meal in one day. Also had 18 snack credits left on last day so we bought 18 candy items from the Goofy candy shop in DTD and my son took them into school to share.

 

[Stephanie VanMeter]

Check on the snacks, I was not able to use them for the candy. They said it changed the first of the year. I certainly agree that you could not eat a large breakfast and then two more meals.

 

[bytheblood]

Le Cellier
Toy Story Pizza Planet
Coral Reef
Chef de France

 

[Wendy5055]

Some people prefer to go to Signature Restaurants. Having a younger child (DD6.5) I tend to find my value at restaurants where I know we will all enjoy (ie: Princess & Character meals).

 

[justplaingoofy]

Sometimes we use our snack credit for breakfast...
bagel & cream cheese, bear claw or something like that. We also get the refillable mugs so we don't have to pay for coffee and drinks.

Quick Service-- we use this for lunch since it includes dessert. (if you use the quick service for breakfast you do not get dessert). Sometimes depending what is offered for dessert at counter service if its something that would melt we ask the cashier if we can come back for our dessert so it won't melt and they've given us a ticket to get it later. There have been times where we come back an hour or two later and get it.

Table service- we use for dinner... sometimes we split meals.

We love to go to Whispering Canyon and get the skillet (cannot share this) and for our drink we get the bottomless milkshake..for dessert sometimes we get the fruit plate to go and put it up in the room and enjoy it for breakfast the next day

 

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

For CS I'd say Pepper Market (CSR - lots of choices), Cosmic Rays (chicken & ribs), Columbia Harbour House and Flame Tree BBQ (ribs). We love the food at all of these CS and find that it is a great value.

For TS - Le Cellier, Raglan Road and Wolfgang Puck. Nacoossee's and California Grill for Signature TS. I love the food at RR (the It's Not Bleedin Chowder is wonderful!) and WP (always try something new and have never been disappointed) but haven't tried the others. However the menus look wonderful and I'll be trying them this Oct. I'm really looking forward to the Surf & Turf at Narcoossee's.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

For us, it's going where we enjoy...we use the DDP more for convenience then saving money, but the saving money is a bonus.

 

[Krmrr]

Tangerine in Epcot is great for a lunch as is the Sunshine Grill in the land. To get value from the plan, you should plan for $3/snack, $10/CS and $25/TS. But that does not mean you should go to the Marrakesh and order the seafood platter because it costs the most when you don't like seafood that much. There are over 100 places to eat on the DP, look at the menus and decide where you would like to eat, then call and see if you can get ADRs.

The Best Value is the Meal that gives you the Most Fun to go along with your meal.

 

[Bete]

you need to order the more expensive items (entree, dessert and drink) and go to the more expensive TS restaurants. Le Cellier, Coral Reef, Teppan Edo, Tony's are examples of the more expensive 1 credit places for TS. There are places where you can order a milkshake for your drink; so, this will cost more than a standard cola drink. For counter service, get combo meals (ei. chicken and ribs) where available like Cosmic Rays in MK or Tangerine in Morocco in Epcot.

Menus on various websites can help show you what's available and the costs.

With that said, I still want to order what I enjoy to eat; so, there are comprises to maximizing the dollar value of the plan. I find Narcoossee's a great 2 credit TS value if you order the surf and turf.

Some restaurants like Biergarten in Epcot I think would be a better value OOP and not using a TS credit for it. If you are doing lunch or breakfast it may be better to go OOP and use your saved credit for a 2 TS restaurant or an extra meal.

 

[bkfree]

We feel we get the most out of our dining plan this way.
We are not big breakfast eaters, so we tend to pay this OOP, usually a pastry or egg sandwich and a drink.
We use our CS for lunch. We have found that WS has the best CS meals.We also love Wolfgang Puck Express at DTD.
We use our TS for dinner. We have two kiddos(7 & 9) and they get the best meal choices and the most bang for our buck at dinner buffets like Chef Mickeys,Crystal Palace,1900 Park Fare,Hollywood and Vine and Boma. Other dinner places that we all like and feel like we are getting more than we paid for are Le Cellier, Kona, Chefs De France, Marrekesh and Coral Reef.

We also like to do brunch at Chef Mickey's around 10:30am and then use our CS for dinner at one of the countries in the World like Japan, China and Tangerine in Morroco. My kids love the Fish and Chips in Great Britian as well as good old MickeyD's next to Canada.

We tend to use our SC for stuff like popcorn and Icees, ice cream bars and pastries. You can load up on Mickey Rice Crispy Squares and other single serving stuff for the trip home at places like Goofy Candy Company.

 

[beautifultomorrow]

This spreadsheet is an EXCELLENT overview of the amount of money you can ring up at each restaurant. I love how it includes both most expensive choices and average.

Be sure to use the tabs at the bottom to see more comparisons (including counter service), an explanation of what is included in the calculations and how they are done, and the complete list of each individual menu item selected for each restaurant.

http://personalpages.tds.net/~rb/DIS/MYW Dining/DisneyDiningRanking2008.htm

Also, don't miss the sticky listing all the snacks people have reported being able to get in 2008. Last year I printed the list out and carried it in my bag, made finding a great snack easy!

P.S. my personal favorites are: Table service: Coral Reef, chefs de france
counter service: Wolfgang Puck Express, Pepper Market snack: Pastries at France, pastries at Main Street Bakery, smoothies & milkshakes mmmmmmm.....