Meal Plan Question

[LoveRafiki]

We stay in the VWL each year --

We have two girls 5 and 2. Usually eat breakfast/lunch in the room -- but do eat out most nights -- sometimes lunch is main meal etc. We usually do major grocery shopping trip to cover week.

Has anyone done the meal plan in conjunction with DVC? (well I know the answer is yes...) but my question is -- if we are checking in on Saturday with c/o following Saturday - do we have to do 7 days of meal plan?

Also -- the Grandparents are coming --- info. says that it has to be your entire party for the entire length of stay -- what if they are only staying for part of the time? How does that work?

It would be almost $90/day for us to do it (+ $76 more for Grandparents).

I would love it if I could do like 4 or 5 days worth! But don't know that I would need the 7 days.....

Thoughts? Opinions? Info. about whether all of us need to get it?

How bad would it be to change reservation and state that the grandparents are not coming -- I don't usually like to bend the rules --- I'm just asking the question....

THANKS

 

[JimMIA]

The dining plan IS for everyone in your party, for the entire length of your stay. If those terms don't work for you -- and I suspect they may not -- don't get the meal plan.

I assume you are in a two-bedroom. You might have more flexibility if you switch to a one bedroom for you and a studio for the grandparents. That way, they could get the meal plan only for the days they are there -- or not at all, if they chose.

Depending on when you are going, that may be easy or impossible to do. It would also be much easier if you are a DVC owner. If you are renting, everybody needs to make up their mind and see what you can work out.

 

[dianeschlicht]

The dining plan isn't the best value for everyone. I know it certainly isn't for us, and it sounds like it might not be the best for you either. If you have an AP, you might get better value from the DDE card.

 

[Marc_L]

The meal plan does apply to everyone on you reservation. BUT...If you do not declare them in the room then you do not need to buy a meal plan for them. DVC only needs one member name to keep a reservation regardless of the room size. So, if the grandparents do not want the meal plan you can just take their names off the reservation with member services

 

[JimMIA]

The meal plan does apply to everyone on you reservation. BUT...If you do not declare them in the room then you do not need to buy a meal plan for them. DVC only needs one member name to keep a reservation regardless of the room size. So, if the grandparents do not want the meal plan you can just take their names off the reservation with member services

Note to Marc...don the Nomex, bubba!

 

[Dean]

The meal plan does apply to everyone on you reservation. BUT...If you do not declare them in the room then you do not need to buy a meal plan for them. DVC only needs one member name to keep a reservation regardless of the room size. So, if the grandparents do not want the meal plan you can just take their names off the reservation with member services

Regrettably, some people are dishonest in that way.

 

[JimMIA]

We have two girls 5 and 2. Usually eat breakfast/lunch in the room -- but do eat out most nights -- sometimes lunch is main meal etc. We usually do major grocery shopping trip to cover week.

Your calculus may also change when your two-year old gets a little older. She is currently possibly a little too young to enjoy character meals, but pretty soon she'll be ready. When that time comes, the dining plan takes on a whole new perspective because you can do almost all of the character meals (including dinners) as one TS.

On our upcoming trip, we're doing three nice dinners (Teppenyaki, Coral Reef, and Le Cellier) and two character dinners (1900 Park Fare and Liberty Square). I'm sure we would have done that differently without the dining plan.

You have to also remember that tax and tip are included in the dining plan price, so you're really only paying about $30 for food for an adult.

 

[CarolMN]

If the grandparents are not on the reservation, they don't get room keys/Resort IDs.


Best wishes -

 

[JimMIA]

Regrettably, some people are dishonest in that way.

Also regrettably, that kind of stuff is what causes nice benefits to go away.

 

[Dean]

Also regrettably, that kind of stuff is what causes nice benefits to go away.

No question and it's a lot more than just these type programs. This is largely the reason DVC doesn't really consider requests anymore and why Pool Hopping continues to slowly fade into the sunset.

 

[LoveRafiki]

Thanks for all the responses ....

Please understand that I have never "cheated" -- nor do I intend to.... I just wanted to get the full scoop.

I knew that it included the tax/tip -- but you're right -- backwards math takes it to "only" paying about $30.

 

[Doug7856]

We just tried the meal plan for a three night stay. It is "worth it" if you can eat all of the food. We found that there is just too much food for us. Also, since we had a dining reservation for each night, it made our vacation more structured than we usually like. We had to set aside so much time for eating that we just did not enjoy it. I don't think we will do the meal plan again.

Overall, we are growing disappointed with Disney dining. The costs are so high for the modest quality of food. The best meal of our visit was at Wolfgang Puck's. It was far superior to the Coral Reef and Chef Mickey's (now if we could just get Mickey to visit Wolfgang . . .).

I'm glad we tried the meal plan, but probably would not use it for any trip longer than 3 days.