Need Dining Plan explained in Blondese please

[TaraStephenson]

Hi, first time going to WDW in a few weeks and we purchased the basic dining plan with allows us one snack, one quick serve and one table service but I can't find anywhere an explanation that I can understand what all that means. I would really appreciate a really simplified explanation please.

 

[sharonabe]

I'll give it a try:

Table Service (TS) is a sit-down meal with a menu, a waiter/waitress, and you order your food at your table and they bring it to you OR it is a buffet where you go get your own food OR it is a family service with a set menu where they bring all the food to you at your table. You will need to tip accordingly at all of these. Search the dining tab up top for the menus or try allearsnet.com and decide where you want to eat. You MUST make a reservation (ADR) for all of these meals because walking up and asking for a table will mean a very long wait. With the DDP, you get your meal, a dessert, and a non-alcoholic drink.

Quick Service or Counter Service (QS or CS) is a lot like McDonalds or other fast food. You walk up to the counter and order from a menu board. Again, you get your meal, a dessert, and a drink.

Snack is just about any snack you can find from a snack cart in the parks (and most QS also have some items that can be purchased with a snack credit). Candy stores and bakeries also have some snack items. There is a sticky on this thread that gives you current snack items.

How it works: for every NIGHT you stay you get one of each of these for each person. You can use them however you want. If you want two TS in one day, go for it. If you want two QS in one day, go for it. When all your credits are gone, you can't eat anymore (just kidding), but you will have to pay for your meals if you use all your credits, so plan accordingly. And plan you will have to do so you know where you want to eat and when.

 

[Kaleigh]

Okay, here goes. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/me...alog/WaltDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2010Dining.pdf
The above link is to the brochure that explains all this and tells you what restaurants are involved.

When you check in, you get a certain number of "credits" depending on how many days you are staying and how many people are in your room. For example, if my husband and I go and are staying 5 nights, we get 10 "table service" credits, 10 "quick service" credits and 10 "snack" credits. You can use those credits however you want to until midnight of the day you check out.

Table service- a sit down restaurant. Your non-alcoholic beverage, entree and dessert are included. Tip is not. Only certain restaurants apply, and some restaurants require 2 credits per person. You usually need reservations to get into these restaurants and can book them online or by phone. The online link is http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/reservations/dining/

Quick service- walk up and order, then take your tray to your table. Your non-alcoholic beverage, entree and dessert are included. These have no reservations or servers. They include the food courts in the resorts as well.

Snack- drink, mickey bar, chips, popcorn etc. Look for the little DDP logo on all quick service places and carts for what counts as a snack. Some really great dessert snacks can be had especially in the World Showcase and Main Street Bakery in Magic Kingdom.

So, you could eat all table service on day and then all quick service the next, or save all your snacks for rice krispie treats to bring home, or stick to the one type of meal each day. It is up to you. We have even split a credit on a meal before, with one of us paying for our beverage and then splitting the entree and dessert. (Does not work at buffets for obvious reasons)
I hope that helps, and if you have anymore questions, feel free to ask. Menus for all restaurants are available at http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

 

[MHSweb79]

Welcome to the DIS!



You say you're going in a few weeks. You need to book your table-service meals NOW. Go online and see what you can get! Please please PLEASE do NOT count on "Putting your name in when you get there." It does NOT WORK.

Book one table-service meal per day. This can be a lunch or dinner, or a character breakfast. The restaurants are listed on the Disney site when you go to make reservations. Unless they ask for a credit card to make the reservation, you can cancel it at any time or simply miss it without penalty. But you'll have the safety of knowing you have a reservation for somewhere that day.

BTW- don't double book reservations for different parks at the same time. That is, don't book Tony's in MK at 6pm and then also book Teppan Edo in Epcot for 5pm that same day, just so you'll have some choices. The reservation system is set up to cancel both reservations if they see that. Sorry.

 

[TaraStephenson]

Wow, thanks so much for explaining it...now another question I completely forgot to ask...with our dining plan, I belive it's the basic one, I know this sounds stupid but we are limited by the prices on the menu right? Like if we have 27.99 for that night, we have to order something that is lower than that?

Btw, I already made reservations (which was a chore due to the fact I have no idea where we are going to be on any given day but we did make up a schedule per say to help with dining locations)...

 

[TaraStephenson]

okay, that brought up another question...How do I know if the restaurant is a two credit one? I have booked Coral Reef, Teppan Edo, Brown Derby, The Crystal Palace, Prime Time Diner, Boatrights, Sci-Fi, San Angel, Bergarten and Wolfgand Puck Cafe...yes, we are going to be there for 10 days...lol

 

[vicki_c]

Wow, thanks so much for explaining it...now another question I completely forgot to ask...with our dining plan, I belive it's the basic one, I know this sounds stupid but we are limited by the prices on the menu right? Like if we have 27.99 for that night, we have to order something that is lower than that?

Btw, I already made reservations (which was a chore due to the fact I have no idea where we are going to be on any given day but we did make up a schedule per say to help with dining locations)...

No you are not limited to something(s) that are the price for the dining plan (which is $41.99/night for an adult).

 

[vicki_c]

okay, that brought up another question...How do I know if the restaurant is a two credit one? I have booked Coral Reef, Teppan Edo, Brown Derby, The Crystal Palace, Prime Time Diner, Boatrights, Sci-Fi, San Angel, Bergarten and Wolfgand Puck Cafe...yes, we are going to be there for 10 days...lol

I believe only Brown Derby is 2 credits from your list -all the rest are 1.

 

[Kaleigh]

Wow, thanks so much for explaining it...now another question I completely forgot to ask...with our dining plan, I belive it's the basic one, I know this sounds stupid but we are limited by the prices on the menu right? Like if we have 27.99 for that night, we have to order something that is lower than that?

Btw, I already made reservations (which was a chore due to the fact I have no idea where we are going to be on any given day but we did make up a schedule per say to help with dining locations)...

No, you can order anything you want. The price you paid for the plan covers it. And, of your reservations, Brown Derby is the only 2 credit place. That link to the brochure I posted has all the info.

 

[saintstickets]

We went to WDW in May and had the same DP mentioned in the OP. Here is a copy of a TS & CS receipt that might help understand...

The TS receipt is the one on the left at Le Cellier. The CS receipt is the one on the right at Flame Tree BBQ. The handwritten numbers are the actual cash prices. I took my receipts and compared the DP price vs cash prices to see the difference. The totals are detailed in the Trip Report link below and btw, it saved us $$$'s!

Something else to point out on the receipt is that WDW keeps track of the credits used and remaining for you. As you can see on the TS receipt, there were 10 credits remaining after this meal. On the CS receipt, there were 17 credits remaining after this meal.

Also, you do not have to eat together or even order together on the DP. On the TS receipt at Le Cellier, all 5 of us were together so we used just one card for all of us. On the CS receipt, DS was in a separate line at Flame Tree than others in our party so he used his card alone.

Hope this helps. This was our 1st time to use the DP and it really was easy and painless. Any more questions, just ask away. Folks on the DISboards are great to answer any and all "blonde" questions.

 

[catne]

As PP mentioned -- you have listed 10 restaurants, but one of them takes 2 credits per person so you either need to drop one restaurant or plan to pay cash there. (BRown Derby is a "signature" restaurant so will take 2 credits.)

Also, are your there 10 days or 10 nights? I ask because your credits are allowed for the number of NIGHTS you are staying, not days. So you could be there for 10 days, but only 9 nights. If that is the case, you will have 9 table service credits, not 10.

 

[DISNEY1975]

We went to WDW in May and had the same DP mentioned in the OP. Here is a copy of a TS & CS receipt that might help understand...

:

Wow..do they not suggest the tips on the bill/check anymore?

In 2008, there were 2 "suggested tip" amounts on the bottom of our checks. One for 18% and another for 20%...made it a lot easier than thinking and doing math in my head, while my head was on vacation!!

 

[catne]

The suggested tips amount was on all the receipts when were were there a couple of days before the date of that receipt pictured. That may be a copy of the final receipt, since it shows all the amounts zeroed out...I believe the first one they bring shows all the amounts (before they ring through you KTTW card...then the final receipt shows what has been covered by the dining plan...thus zeroes instead of $$ amounts on the food & drinks covered.)

 

[plutolovr]

Wow..do they not suggest the tips on the bill/check anymore?

In 2008, there were 2 "suggested tip" amounts on the bottom of our checks. One for 18% and another for 20%...made it a lot easier than thinking and doing math in my head, while my head was on vacation!!

Yes, they still do that. It's just on a different receipt, the one that shows the real pricing.