MYW with Dining...Worth it?

[cdrn1]

I'm trying to decide whether to add dining to our package. It would add about $650 to our 6 day/5 night trip. The cast: Myself (adventurous foodie), hubby (meat and potatoes guy), DD (picky, picky), DSIL (meat and potatoes and boy can he pack it away), and DGD age 2 who will eat anything. DH tends to be a bit of a party pooper and his main goal is always to get back to the hotel and watch TV so he may miss a meal or two. This is DSIL's first trip and I want to make it memorable (so he will want to go back!). We will be at WL. Anyone have any thoughts on this? How does DGD get fed? Does she eat free at buffets? I realize anything we order her will cost $$ and she will probably just eat off mom's plate.

 

[DanaHesson]

having just gotten back, even though NORMALLY you would not order dessert and appetizers at every meal, I just have a hard time imagining not saving money or at LEAST breaking even if you like to eat a TS meal daily. I would do the plan again in a heartbeat.

 

[grannydcd]

just got back from disney last nite...1/12/05...we had the dining plan, which we thought was great!! it gave us one counter service (a fast food type service) one sit down meal, and one snack per person per day. there were many restuarants to choose from, which our fav's were planet hollywood and captain jacks in downtown disney. both gave us excellent service and so much food we could not force ourselves to eat!! it allowed us to get a soda, box of popcorn, chips, bottle of water, etc. we suggest it to everyone!!

 

[4greatboys]

I suggest you go to Debs site and look at the menus. See what you would most likely order and add up the prices. That should give you a pretty good idea if its going to be a good deal for you.

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

 

[dbenlee]

We had the dining option with our package in June and really liked it and will do it again. We figured we actually saved about $250 on our week long trip. Most of the time we ate a small snack for breakfast (paid for out of pocket) then ate an early CS lunch and then an early TS dinner. The dinner with the appetizers and the desserts left us full enough that we didn't feel like eating for the rest of the day. We then used the snack credits for bottled waters and Mickey bars in the parks.

 

[cocodog]

You sound like a 'good candidate' for it! We purchased it, and really enjoyed having it. It is ALOT of food, and a money saver. It just requires advanced planning on your part. Good luck!

 

[LoriZH]

We are doing it, we are a family of 5 (8, 8 & 12) and since my daughter eats off the adult menu anyway, this is going to save us a lot. We usually do what's on the plan with the exception of apps and dessert at every meal, we mostly do one or the other, too much food, but hey since it's included we will partake. I believe it's costing us $880 for the five of us for 7 days, we would spend that in probably 5 days, we like to do character meals and sit downs so this is right up our alley.

Sounds like a good deal to me.

 

[Tigger714]

We just returned this week from a 10 day stay and we used the same dining plan you are considering. It was Myself, Dh and DS8 & DS 11 months. We thought the plan was fabulous and actually had trouble using all the meals up! My thoughts are this.....Make sure you make ADR's for your table service, even if it is the day of and when dining with the 2 year old be certain that the server puts anything you order for her on a seperate ticket. If the server does not, and places that childs order as another "seat position" it will use one of your meals! We got caught on this twice and then became very proficient at requesting the seperate tab when we ordered. (the 2 restraunts were Mama Melrose's and Raglan Road, both had some difficulty clearing this up but finally did). We found that even with just three of us we still saved a considerable amount of money and ate like pigs! I am dreading going to the OB tomorrow to be weighed! Hope the walking helped offset the food! Good Luck!

 

[Honeybehr1]

Even if we broke even we would do it again because at least we know that meals are pail for and its one less thing to worry about. But we definatly saved money and it gave us options for dinner that we defiantely wouldnt have done. But the only down fall is that it did take time away having a sit down meal. On the other hand-we needed that time to wind down.

Definately do it again.

 

[Piglet99645]

We just returned from a 4 day trip with the dining plan for 3 adults and one child.

All three adults agreed that it was worth it for the following reasons:

1. Paid for in advance, so no "budgeting" while you are there. (And I have to say...... if I had budgeted each meal and only ordered cheaper items without appetizers or desserts..... I probably still would have approached $35 per day per adult, and definitely the $10 for my child, considering that snacks in the park are around $3 each).

2. Having paid for it, you are less likely to skip meals in favor of rides or shows, which can lead to blood sugar crashes and crabby kids (and crabby adults, for that matter). We found we were happy to be "forced" to sit down for a meal once a day while we were there. (I personally found breakfast or lunch were better for sit-down, rather than dinner, b/c you tend to push yourself all day, and then you are exhausted when you get to a late meal. Better to eat during the day, doing parks before and after, giving yourselves a little break from all the fun).

3. You don't hesitate to get the kid that cute mickey ice cream thing that you would HATE to shell out $3.50 for without the dining plan.

4. We ate at more expensive restaurants that we otherwise would have skipped, because it was no more expensive than eating at a cheaper restaurant which might also be on the dining plan. (Boma, for example)

5. Although it was a ton of food and we left much on our plates, it was fun to have an appetizer and dessert with every meal, which is something we don't normally do.......... and a Disney vacation is all about treating yourself.

6. On the last night, while we were packing, we realized we had a bunch of snack credits left, so we took home a pile of mickey-shaped rice krispie treats to give as gifts when we got home. viola - souvinier shopping!

7. We also had the extra bonus of being able to use snack credits at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, which was fun.

I say get it - I actually don't understand how anybody would pass it up, unless you are the types to live off of granola bars and tap water all week. Those types of people won't get their money's worth out of it, but I did.

Piglet