Meal plan worth it?

[berkshire mike]

It's our first trip to disney for me, my wife and two children 7&11. We have made three reservations, Cinderella's (brunch), Chief Mickeys (dinner) and Hoop dee do (dinner). We are now thinking about the meal plan. We were told the meal plan for 7 days would cost $800. Can we use the Meal plan for those places? From what I understand we get 7 sit downs, 7 counters and 7 snack. Can the sit down be for lunch and breakfast? Can the counter be used at dinner?

I guest a lot of the resturants honor the meal plan. Having never been to Dis I don't want to be walking around all day looking for places to eat. And we don't want to be limited to are choices of meals. If the meal plan is not worth it what would be a good budget number per day for us?
Thanks!

learning more everyday.

 

[Minerva]

It's our first trip to disney for me, my wife and two children 7&11. We have made three reservations, Cinderella's (brunch), Chief Mickeys (dinner) and Hoop dee do (dinner). We are now thinking about the meal plan. We were told the meal plan for 7 days would cost $800. Can we use the Meal plan for those places? From what I understand we get 7 sit downs, 7 counters and 7 snack. Can the sit down be for lunch and breakfast? Can the counter be used at dinner?

I guest a lot of the resturants honor the meal plan. Having never been to Dis I don't want to be walking around all day looking for places to eat. And we don't want to be limited to are choices of meals. If the meal plan is not worth it what would be a good budget number per day for us?
Thanks!

learning more everyday.

Yes, you can use the meal plan at the places you've chosen, just be aware that it will take two of your sit down credits per person at HDDR. Nobody but you can determine if it will be the best deal for your family. My suggestion would be to go here http://www.allearsnet.com/ and check out the menus and prices at the places you think you might want to eat and compare the prices along with taxes and tips for sit down to what you'd be paying for the meal plan. When I did that just going by what myself and my kids would typically eat the meal plan came out saving me a couple of hundred dollars on meals, tax and tips. Some people will say but you don't get discounts on your room then but I doubt I'd save more on the room with a general code than I am on the meal plan. At best it would probably come out even and it's worth it to me to pay a little more for the meals even if it didn't because it's one less thing I have to worry about when I'm there.

 

[berkshire mike]

What discount on rooms? We are really rookies here. We booked through a travel agent who said there were no discounts available to me.
We are staying at the CBR and I see that the two places to eat are on the meal plan list, i think.
To be honest we are not really sure where to eat other than a few places. Chances are when we get hungry we'll look for a place.
Sounds like we wouldn't regret getting the plan???????
Thanks
Disney must love newbies like us.

 

[BettyCv]

Hi,

The first thing you will want to do is to check out the menus and prices at:

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

Then, compare where you want to eat against the list of participating restaurants, here:

http://allearsnet.com/pl/packages05a.htm

So far, the choices you listed are all covered under the plan, but be aware that the Hoop de do review costs 2 sit-down points per person. Some people share sit-down dinners at times to "bank" extra sit-down points so that they can do these dinner shows.

Yes, the sit-down can be used for lunch and breakfast, but many people say you don't get as much "bang for your buck" doing that b/c breakfast and lunch are generally less expensive. The counter can certainly be used for dinner. From everything I have read, at sit down meals you can order ANY meal off the menu - no limit on the higher priced items. You can order the most expensive appetizer, entree AND dessert, and that is still okay. Your 7 year old must order off the kids menu, if available. OR, you could pay for the 7 y/o's meal with cash, and save his/her sit-down points for the Hoop de do... Currently there is no distinction between adult's and children's points - they are all banked together. At counter service meals, just have the adult go up and order - that way you can have all adult meals if your 7 y/o doesn't like the child's menu...

Hope this helps...

Betty

 

[berkshire mike]

The plan is $804 for the 4 of us 7 days. That $114 per day or 28.57 each per day. Not counting snacks thats about $14 each per meal.
Sounds like a good deal to me especially if you go out a have nice dinners, which we like to do.


My head is still spinning but learning a little more even day.

 

[daisy112878]

One of my good friends took her family to WDW over President's Day weekend. It was her, her DH, and 3 kids (9, 7, 5). She said it saved them so much money and was well worth it for their family. She said they got so much food at each restaurant and the servers encourage getting all you can.

 

[estnh]

We are booked for 7 nights with the plan in April (family of 4 with two teenagers), and we figure that the MYW dining plan will save us somewhere between $200 and $300 depending on where we end up.

If you like to eat well, it really is a good deal.

 

[DisOrBust]

To look at room disounts try www.mousesavers.com. Pending on your dates an AP may be worth it to you. Remmeber with an AP you are also able to get DDE.


Also, AAA can give you a room discount.