Meal Plan : YES or NO ?

[Crazy4Disney06]

I'm planning a trip to WDW in June of 2006. I'm looking at getting the meal plan but I have read mixed reviews.
Do you have to make reservations for each meal or can you just hop in when your hungry?

 

[need2go2disney]

You should do the dinning plan. My family, 3 adults and 2 children (ages 3 and 7), visited Disney from June 8 to June 18, 10 nights, and purchased the dining plan for $1250.00. We had 50 counters, 50 sit-downs, and 50 snacks. We used our counters for breakfast, usually around 9:30am. We used all of our sit-downs for dinners, since they are more expensive, usually between 6pm and 7pm. We had ARs for each dinner. We only used 20 snack credits. So on our check out day, we used the other 30 snacks - chips, water, rice crispy treats, grapes - to have on our ride back home. I tried to keep track of the receipts and the totals we would have paid. To the best that I can figure, we would have paid $2057.22 for all the food that we ate during our 10 days. That's a savings of $807.22. We did have a lot of food and we ate at places that we would not have, had we not been on the dining plan. It was an excellent experience. We are planning a trip again in about 2 years and will purchase the dining plan again.

 

[unixadm]

Considering you are going in June, you would be very smart in making ADR wheather you have the Dining Plan or not. That is for any TS meals you want. There are times you can walk up and get a seat, but during their peak seasons, there are a lot of restaurants that turn away walk ins and are booked for the night.

As far as the dining plan, it depends on how you eat. I've seen numbers that a family of 2 adults and 1 child for a week will spend about $1000 or so on meals on a week vacation. A $600 or $700 add on for the dining plan will save about $300-$400. Of course, it again depends on how you eat. If you like the TS restaurants and like eating the more expensive entrees, than the savings is good. If you usually grab food on the go, and eat cheaply, than the dining plan won't save you much, if any.

 

[clombardi]

I would definitely do the dining plan if you are not staying concierge. It is a big money saver!

 

[DISUNC]

It all depends on how many in your family, and the childrens ages, and their eating habits.

For families with 10 & 11 year old's (adults is the disney dining executive eyes) who eat 'like birds" the 38.00 a day is way too much. Also, for senior's who don't eat much, the price is a bit hefty.

But for all other parties, its a very good deal.

If you do have the meal plan, and going in June...I would definately make ADR's!

 

[It's A Happy Day]

I think the best way to answer that question for your own families needs is to check out menus at Allearsnet.com and put some pricing information together for what you would eat. Originally we planned on not doing the dining plan and looking at prices for 2 adults and 2 children we figured we would wing it and be eating alot of burgers and chicken nuggets and fries... alot of counter service meals. Depending on how many of you and length of stay = cost of dining plan. We are now booked with the dining plan and after alot of math work figured out that the money we would have spent on junk food is about the same we would have paid to get the dining plan in the 1st place. Much better food options - sit down meals, character meals, buffets and more! If we were to pay out of pocket for what I have now reserved the food would total around added counter service approximates, snacks, and table service estimates to = $2200.00 !!!
Purchasing the dining plan was approx 910.00 - thats a big savings!!!

Decide how you want to eat, where you want to eat, check into pricing and see if it's feasible. You are alloted so many TS, CS meals and snacks. From what I have seen on here those meals don't have to be kids meals at TS - order a adult meal and split it with 2 kids if light eaters. TS can be split too.
The nice thing for me is that I know going into the parks that 90% of the food is covered. We may pick extra snacks or snakcs outside the plan or breakfast or whatnot but will not have to bring extra cash just for food.

Either way - with dining plan or without you are traveling in a busy time so would definitely make any ADR's that you absolutely must get ahead of time. Hate to disappoint a kid if they thought they could eat at the castle only to be told no. Also wait time for a walkup at table service could be 75 minutes or longer!!

 

[tndisneyfan]

With so many people getting the dining plan, I think you need to make ADR's if you want to have a table service meal. Unless you are a very light eaters, I would go with the plan. You save money and get to eat at places you may not normally be able to afford.

 

[kufan98]

Yes, we are using the meal plan and making plenty of ADR's. When we (Me, DH, DS12, DD 8) went for a quick trip in March we spent $300 on three meal (CRT Dinner, CRT Breakfast and RFC) alone, and with the meal plan we can try some new restaurants while keeping the cost down.

 

[we3disneygo]

we are still trying to decide, we usually don't do to many table service meals, not sure if it would be to much food.

 

[DisneyJen0504]

YES!

 

[Mis4Mouse]

I think it the meal plan is a good deal for people who are used to eating three traditional size meals a day.


For us the meal plan is a waste of time and money. We are a family of grazers, and the meal plan gives us way more food then we could possibly consume in one day.

Meals for us consist of a healthy breakfast (fruit, yogurt, granola bar, bagel, etc...)

And then we have a nice meal late in the day(we make one ps for lunch every day), and then we nibble and share snacks until bedtime.

I think it's a good deal for some, and not so great for others. Just like just about any option at WDW, it all depends on what works for you!

Susan

 

[jimmalru80]

Yes. Thank you.