Meal plan worth it?

[sharonabe]

It used to be that's kid meals were lots of fries and nuggets. A few years back they started more healthy options.

The first menu I look at, Sci-Fi has grilled chicken, grilled salmon w/ancient grains, and whole wheat penne w/chicken. All are served with green beans, carrots, apples.

Second menu- Tokyo Dining says: All kids' meals include (steamed mixed) vegetables, Sukiyaki beef rice, two pieces of crab roll and fruit cup.

Third menu, Gasparilla Grill (QS at GF) has a vegetable wrap with carrots, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and ranch with grapes and carrot sticks.

Sannaa has fish of the day, grilled chicken, and pan seared shrimp all served with veggies.

AoA lets kids do a make-your-own salad (w/grilled checken, or shrimp, or not). They also can get tandoori grilled fish w/multigrain rice and a veggie of their choice (baked acorn squash is one)

The new norm is that every place offers healthy kids' meal options.

I know that TS locations have many healthy and non-nugget choices, but the only QS you list above is AoA and it was QS I was referring to for the OP.

 

[mmb]

In my opinion, it is worth it with younger children as long as you book a lot of character meals. Since they are the most expensive you are getting more value for your money. If you don't think your boys want to experience any character meals, I think it isn't as great a deal. My family of 5 can eat OOP for much less because we aren't big eaters. Often I will get an appetizer for a meal or even share something with my husband.
However with costs of character meals (or great dinners like Ohana) the meal plan makes much more sense.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

I added ours up for this trip and the DDP saves us about $76 based on what we would normally eat. Not to mention we got free dining this trip and while I know it means you can't get room discounts it actually comes out to a total cheaper for us than room discounts we can get. We like the all inclusive feel, so for us, it is worth it

 

[Jenn55]

You also have 8 TS credits for an 8 night stay and you will need 9 credits to cover everything (the Candlelight package is 2 credits) so you'd need to pay out of pocket for one of those TS meals. Of course the only restaurant where you would have to worry about menu prices is BOG because every other TS you booked is fixed price and would cost the same no matter what you ordered or ate. However, most fixed price meals are worthwhile on DDP especially if you have children under 10.

I know I've planned for 9 TS, that's basically my fall back plan if I can't get one of the other days/times booked that I want I already have an alternate to pick from. My son will be 9 when we go back and he'll be 3 months away from turning 10 so this would be our last chance to use the DDP before he has to pay adult price. It also works for us cause a lot of ours are character meals and it allows him to pick and choose what he wants. He's very picky so I've had to look at menus ahead of time and I can on,y sleet from certain ones to make sure they will have something he'll eat. So when the 180 days come around I don't want to spend precious time trying to locate another place to eat if one of our choices isn't accommodated.

 

[Jenn55]

Sure don't understand this. But Okay. As others have said if you are close and 41$ over all those meals is VERY close. One change in plans or one Wow I feel like just a salad meal, and your savings goes poof. Just a thought. that is why most poeple feel you have to "win" by atleast 10-15% before it's a win.

I've never been a 'wow I feel like just a salad meal' kind of person. So I don't really worry about that. I'm also looking at it as piece of mind that it's already paid for and I don't have to worry about keeping a certain amount of money free for each meal. My goal is to book in January 2015 and pay if off bit by bit every month so it's easier financially for me and being on the DDP makes that easier. I know it's all paid for before I even get on the plane. And after looking through the menus, not all are buffet style and if one entree is 20$ and one is 30$, just an example, I would normally pick the 20$ one just to save money (I'm a single parent on a very tight budget), while on the DDP I can then choose the higher priced one f I fancy eating that instead and not have to worry too much about it

 

[Jenn55]

I think you need to consider what your goal is with the holiday. If it's saving money, then no, it isn't going to do that. Saving money means having free breakfast at the hotel (well... probably not free at a Disney hotel) bringing packed lunches and either eating dinner in your hotel room. If you're looking at spending a little extra to make that stuff easier, but only enough that you're not having to eat suppers in the hotel room, you'll want to eat off property. If you're considering eating all meals in a restaurant, the dining plan will probably break even for you and save you hassle. Just my opinion when I worked it all out. Overall, the cheapest way to visit Disney is to stay off-site and eat off-site and bringing packed lunches (whether at a restaurant or in your room--I personally got a condo with a kitchen, as it's cheaper than renting a hotel room, and significantly cheaper than any Disney property). From others who make regular trips there, they also find this is the cheapest method if you're pinching pennies.

In my case, I rely on staying on site because I don't drive, don't even have a license, and don't need one where I live so I don't stay off site or dine off site. Last time we went I took a suitcase full of bread and jam and snacks and made sandwhiches to take into the park but it wasn't enough for my son and we ended up doing a lot of counter service meals, in addition to the 3 TS ones I had budgeted for. My son doesn't eat that much normally, but during this trip it was like u couldn't get it into him fast enough and in light of that I'm thinking the DDP just makes it less of a hassle for me in the long run. On our non character breakfast days we eat cereal (brought from home) in the hotel before starting our day and I'll continue that tradition next time we go as well.

 

[lipejeff]

Can you use the meals in DDP at Downtown Disney or do they have to be used in the parks? We plan one day midweek as a day of rest or seeing another site.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I know that TS locations have many healthy and non-nugget choices, but the only QS you list above is AoA and it was QS I was referring to for the OP.

Okay. Let's see, pulling up some random QS spots:

Restaurantaurus has a Turkey Wrap.
Studio Catering has a veggie sandwich
Pizza Planet has a mini chicken sub, and a power pack lunch: yogurt, apples, carrots, goldfish crackers, apple snack bar. ( We usually get the pizza/salad adult combos, which is plenty of salad to share.)

Mara at AKL has: Carved turkey, and green salad w/chicken.
CBR has: pasta w/turkey marinara, Salad w/turkey. At dinner add: Roast turkey, salmon w/broccoli rice black beans , and Mojo pork. (not quite sure what that is, but it's not nuggets)
Contempo Café has Mahi mahi sandwich, pasta w/turkey marinara, Tuna salad platter, and a turkey sandwich.

BOG has: turkey meatloaf w/broccoli, carved turkey w/sweet potato wedges, Mahi mahi w/veggies and peach applesauce, slow cooked pork w/green beans, whole grain macaroni w/marinara and veggies. The least healthy lunch they offer is a grilled cheese w/tomato soup and green beans! Really, those are the kids' meals!

The WS has a ton of great choices!

not sure where you are dining. All the menus I pulled up (above) have at least one healthy choice.

I have actually been jealous of the kids' meals at times because they get a much bigger portion of steamed veggies than the adult meals. Now if you want to tell me the adult meals don't come with enough veggies, I'll totally agree there!

To top it off, if you do order a $6 side veggie, it often comes drowning in grease, salt and pepper. I mean caked with salt. I can't imagine who would want to eat them that way.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Can you use the meals in DDP at Downtown Disney or do they have to be used in the parks? We plan one day midweek as a day of rest or seeing another site.

Yes, some do. Do look up the DDP brochure to see which places take it. There's some that don't like Ghirardelli Ice Cream, HoB, and I think Wolfgang Puck Café. Many take other discounts though, like AP's or TiW, or D23.

Also don't forget the resorts. Many have great lunches, and they are quiet mid day.

But if you are going off property, then it makes much more sense to consider eating offsite. Orlando has tons of nearby choices! It is considered to be one of the best places in the USA to try new restaurant concepts. The best ones stick around. Then there's City walk at Universal, another mecca of choices! I-Drive and Route 192 have tons of choices, too! Oh, and every major hotel chain has at least one hotel in the area, with dining. Some are overpriced, but many are excellent.

By far the best meal we had the last trip was McCoy's at the Hyatt at MCO. I could not get over how much better the food was than anything we've had at WDW in a long time - including signature dining. Everything about it was just super. Kids can get almost anything imaginable- including half-portions of all adult meals and organic foods!
Are all Hyatts that good?!?!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I've never been a 'wow I feel like just a salad meal' kind of person. So I don't really worry about that. I'm also looking at it as piece of mind that it's already paid for and I don't have to worry about keeping a certain amount of money free for each meal. My goal is to book in January 2015 and pay if off bit by bit every month so it's easier financially for me and being on the DDP makes that easier. I know it's all paid for before I even get on the plane. And after looking through the menus, not all are buffet style and if one entree is 20$ and one is 30$, just an example, I would normally pick the 20$ one just to save money (I'm a single parent on a very tight budget), while on the DDP I can then choose the higher priced one f I fancy eating that instead and not have to worry too much about it

I get this. And if you are one adult with two kids in the 3-9 range, it shifts things as much as possible to favoring DDP.

Even with DDP, you still need to factor tips. I don't say that to suggest you wouldn't think of it, I say that because it's quite a bit- more than eating out at home costs.

Part of why we did DDP for several years was to keep one relative from complaining about food costs. They got it all out of their system before they arrived, and their company was much more enjoyable.

It's probably also worth noting in this thread- since it's about dining- WDW now has a $10 per person cancelation fee for no shows/same day cancelations for all ADR's. We rarely cancelled, but still....I'm less inclined to book ADR's with that hanging over my head. Getting my group to agree is like herding cats. That fee is the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm not going to pay for any extended family member that backs out of meal same day! no way! I don't even want to think about that happening. I suppose that's part of my thinking about DDP too - it's not just me- it's having prepaid meals for our whole group. For our trips to be successful, I have to gamble- 180 days out that nobody in our group is going to say, they just feel like a salad. did I mention we've got a vegetarian in the family?

Oh, one more thing....for those of you talking about saving $....There's one kind of easy-peasy thing you can do. If you have a Target cc, you can go to Target and buy Disney gift cards, and get the 5% savings. Mark them with a sharpie as soon as they get used. It's kind of pain using tons of them AT WDW, because if you lose one, or neglect to mark it- too bad.

BUT- I call WDW as soon as I buy them, before the trip (mostly)- and use them to pay for our WDW package/hotel right away. Not huge, but it is pretty foolproof, and 5% of a WDW trip adds up. It's nearly free money, as long as you pay off the Target CC. It also could make sense to give your kids a gift card. Incidentally....you are allowed to pay your Target cc balance right in the store, before you leave.

 

[jmulvaney]

The DDP doesn't work for us for lots of the reasons already posted, but I like the idea of pre-paying. To make it work for us, I have started buying WDW gift cards at my grocery store every week. Not only will I have money to spend on food, drinks, and souvenirs, but I get fuel perks. To me, this is definitely the way to go!

 

[Jenn55]

I get this. And if you are one adult with two kids in the 3-9 range, it shifts things as much as possible to favoring DDP. Even with DDP, you still need to factor tips. I don't say that to suggest you wouldn't think of it, I say that because it's quite a bit- more than eating out at home costs. Part of why we did DDP for several years was to keep one relative from complaining about food costs. They got it all out of their system before they arrived, and their company was much more enjoyable. It's probably also worth noting in this thread- since it's about dining- WDW now has a $10 per person cancelation fee for no shows/same day cancelations for all ADR's. We rarely cancelled, but still....I'm less inclined to book ADR's with that hanging over my head. Getting my group to agree is like herding cats. That fee is the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm not going to pay for any extended family member that backs out of meal same day! no way! I don't even want to think about that happening. I suppose that's part of my thinking about DDP too - it's not just me- it's having prepaid meals for our whole group. For our trips to be successful, I have to gamble- 180 days out that nobody in our group is going to say, they just feel like a salad. did I mention we've got a vegetarian in the family? Oh, one more thing....for those of you talking about saving $....There's one kind of easy-peasy thing you can do. If you have a Target cc, you can go to Target and buy gift cards, and get the 5% savings. Mark them with a sharpie. It's kind of pain using tons of them AT WDW, and if you lose one- too bad. BUT- if you call WDW before you arrive- and use them to pay for your WDW package/hotel right after you buy them, you save 5%off anything prepaid. Not huge, but it is pretty foolproof, and 5% of a WDw can add up. It's nearly free money, as long as you pay off the Target CC. It also could make sense to give your kids a giftcard.

I know fully about the cancellation policy.. Which is why I pick and choose the locations very carefully.. Already paying a crap load without adding for un cancelled reservations lol! But with a 9 year old, or will be 9 when we go back.. It's basically my way or no way for food locations! If it were up to him it would be chocolate and chips all day lol. I have asked what he wants to go back and retry, we both agree crystal palace isn't for us, didn't have enough selection for him, but he loved chef Mickey and we found the food better then when we ate at cafe may - both for breakfast. He'll get some say but otherwise I'll be picking and choosing our food choices. I'm mainly picking character meals cause he loved those and meeting the characters. I'm also hoping, and yes it's a fools hope, but I'm hoping all Elsa and Anna love die down significantly by the time we go and it's easy to get FP's for them. When we went in January we arrived at 10.30 and they were already lining ppl up for the 1pm time slot.. And I told him no way in hell I was waiting that long when it was his first time at disney!

 

[jco_direwolf]

Oh, one more thing....for those of you talking about saving $....There's one kind of easy-peasy thing you can do. If you have a Target cc, you can go to Target and buy gift cards, and get the 5% savings. Mark them with a sharpie. It's kind of pain using tons of them AT WDW, and if you lose one- too bad. BUT- if you call WDW before you arrive- and use them to pay for your WDW package/hotel right after you buy them, you save 5%off anything prepaid. Not huge, but it is pretty foolproof, and 5% of a WDw can add up. It's nearly free money, as long as you pay off the Target CC. It also could make sense to give your kids a giftcard.

And while I'm generally against Giftcards, because you are locking up your money with a retailer in a non-interest bearing account. Since most of the US gets 5% off (doesn't work at least in NY I'm told.) this isn't a bad plan, because it's like making 5% off your money over a year.

PLUS if you get scripts filled there, you can use your additional 5% off from getting 3 scripts filled at the pharmacy.

 

[Jenn55]

The DDP doesn't work for us for lots of the reasons already posted, but I like the idea of pre-paying. To make it work for us, I have started buying WDW gift cards at my grocery store every week. Not only will I have money to spend on food, drinks, and souvenirs, but I get fuel perks. To me, this is definitely the way to go!

Not sold in canada... It's irritating and sad cause I would go that route and buy them every month... Did it for our first trip but had to make a special detour down to the states a few. On the before we went to get them

 

[mickeyluv'r]

And while I'm generally against Giftcards, because you are locking up your money with a retailer in a non-interest bearing account. Since most of the US gets 5% off (doesn't work at least in NY I'm told.) this isn't a bad plan, because it's like making 5% off your money over a year.

PLUS if you get scripts filled there, you can use your additional 5% off from getting 3 scripts filled at the pharmacy.

Agreed!

You also lose all the $ if you lose a gift card. that's why I'm so careful to use them/mark them right away.

Also when considering a WDW package w/dining versus a room only booking: Room only reservation don't have to be prepaid 45 days before arrival. With room only, I can cancel full refund up until five days before I go. Offsite I can usually get even better cancel terms. Like you say, I'm not tying up money in advance, and generous cancel terms are like free trip insurance. You do lock up prepaid tickets, but they never expire, and talk about keeping value! ticket prices just go up and up.

I usually buy the Target gift cards right before we go.

I'm almost thinking buying years of WDW tickets are also a good investment! they seem to go up more than 5% each year!

 

[StitchBuddy]

I think it depends on the age of your children. We used the dining plan until ours became a "Disney Adult". LOL! Then, we decided it was too expensive and it tied us down with ADR's.

 

[jco_direwolf]

I think it depends on the age of your children. We used the dining plan until ours became a "Disney Adult". LOL! Then, we decided it was too expensive and it tied us down with ADR's.

The term is "Juniors". Disney has 4 age classifications-

Infant < 3 years -- Basically Free
Child 3 to <10 years -- Gets the Child rate for everything (even an AP which costs the same as an adult.)
Junior 10 to <18 years -- Gets the Adult rate for everything EXCEPT they don't count as an adult for the room. Disney charges extra for Adults beyond 2.
Adult 18+

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

We didn't do the dining plan because it would have been too much food. My DS never came ro breakfast. I brought him up a chocolate croissant- yummy every morning, We only ordered desert once and that was because DD and DS wanted a Kileau Torte. In the summer it is too hot to eat dessert every meal. One day DS and I shared a grab and go wrap for lunch and DD got a kids meal. I think she and I split an entree for dinner too.
If they had a refillable popcorn plan I would buy it but heat and lots of food don't mix. Love Disney popcorn

 

[lipejeff]

We've decided that we'll skip the meal plan this trip. Even though our youngest eats all the time, it didn't add up for us. I like the idea of gift cards so thanks for that idea!

 

[dmband]

If you are going to be doing a lot of character, buffet, and table service dining, I think it's worth it.

That's the only way it ever makes sense for my family
Otherwise we are lucky to break even