Need help from Disney experts on how to budget dining!!

[weesignlanguage]

OK guys! Here' s my story and I would greatly appreciate any advice you may can offer to help me figure this out!

We have ALWAYS done Free Dining....love love love it!! But this year, we are going in January b/c my hubby has a conference at Coronado Springs. His work is paying for 5 of our 9 nights b/c those will be "conference days" and he will be there for "work." They are writing a check to hubby for the discounted room rate the Coronado is offering. He was told to use it however he wanted for his room. So, we are using it and staying at a value to stretch our $$! That is going to help us pay for our room the extra days. He will then just bus over to CS for his meetings and bus back to our hotel afterwards!

Hubby's work is also paying for his dinner each night on a work credit card (bfast/lunch are already paid w/ conference fee) for the 5 days he is at the conference.

We are hoping for a great January deal....I've heard of the 5/2 for values but that is not a great deal in my book! I have also heard that there was a room only discount last January too....and not sure what % it was for values though!

So....we can do a couple of things:

1.Book a package and do the 5/2 if it comes out....so we can get the dining plan.

2. Book a room only and do the room only discount if it comes out....BUT no dining plan. If we do this, I am looking into the YES program for our Tixs b/c I have a kindergartner that would LOVE this.

I have no clue what to do about our food! We have always had the best experience w/ the dining plan and reallllllly enjoy our one sit down (often character) meal per day!!! But....my hubby's work is paying for some meals for him and such. How do I decide whether or not to do the dining plan?? Looks like if we do the dining plan, we will lose $$ on discounts.

How much would I generally spend if I paid out of pocket for a counter service, snack and sit down meal each day for me, my 6 year old and my hubby?? What would we miss if we didn't do the dining plan? I am lost!!

You girls who know this please share!! I am a budget freak and love the whole "paid for in advance" part of the dining plan! I go to the extreme w/ $$ at disney....putting it all in envelopes so we don't over spend! I guess I like the "control" the dining plan puts on our spending but....bottomline....I want to spend the least amount possible in the end!

Thanks for any advice!!!
Leigh

 

[ashleyasiegel]

Well if your Hubby's Meals are bascially paid for 5 nights I believe then I think you would wasting money to do the Dining Plan. As you will have his credits for to use up also for the days he is at the conference.

I would figure out where you might like to do your TS meals and your CS meals and then look at the menus on line. From here you can find out the price if it is a buffet or figure out what you might like to eat and then make a spreadsheet to add it all up. Include some snacks and see what your grand total might be. You can also share meals also to save some money.

Once you have your grand total of what you might possibly spend on dining out of pocket then price out the dining plan to see what is lower.

I really think paying OOP is going to be cheaper than the Dining plan since your hubby has some of his meals paid for when he is at his conference.

Good luck!
Ashley

 

[missenmickey]

I suggest you look on allears.net at the menus. It will give you a pretty good idea how much you will spend oop for meals and snacks. You should be able to share some things with your Kindergartner.

I don't know if you are aware of this but there are no buses directly between resorts. In order for your husband to get to Coronado from the values he will have to take a bus to a park, or DTD, and then switch to the Coronado bus. This could be quite time consuming.

 

[SDSorority]

DH and I generally pack a TON of snacks and split meals. It saves a bundle

 

[Justsyd2]

I suggest you look on allears.net at the menus. It will give you a pretty good idea how much you will spend oop for meals and snacks. You should be able to share some things with your Kindergartner.

I don't know if you are aware of this but there are no buses directly between resorts. In order for your husband to get to Coronado from the values he will have to take a bus to a park, or DTD, and then switch to the Coronado bus. This could be quite time consuming.

Good ideas. Just want to add that the DTD buses don't start running until 10am, I think. You'll need to check on the time.

 

[weesignlanguage]

Thanks for all the great info! I am going to do exactly what you said and figure out what we'd probably order and plan our meals and see if the cost is a big difference.

Thanks for the info on the buses too. I forgot they don't run resort to resort! Luckily, we will have our van since it's only an 8 hour drive! He will have to take the van and I and the kid will take the bus to the parks while he works!

Anyone else that has advice....advise on!
Leigh

 

[Marionnette]

Your better off paying for your meals out of your pocket if your DHs meals are paid for by his company. You will have alot of leftover credits if you get the dining plan. The cheapest way to go would be with a room discount and then discount tickets. There were alot of room only discounts last Jan but dont expect to see the 2011 discounts to come out before Oct of this year. I dont know if the yes program has stuff for kindergarteners or if they have anything for Jan.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

We did this a few years ago when my DH had a meeting down there. We were staying at Hotel Royal Plaza at DTD though so we couldn't use the Disney bus and all and no DP and we still had a great time. We at CS most of the time and off site some for dinner. We did book one meal at Chef Mickeys, because it's hard to go to Disney and not do the fun meals.

 

[mickeymaker2003]

If you want to do the DDP, you could do a split stay. Make one reservation for the time your husband is in the conference (no DDP) and a second one for the time he is having fun with you (get DDP for this part). Then you could schedule your character meals the days he is with you and you have the DDP.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

I just read this a little while ago, may not happen but maybe you may be in luck. Remember if a better deal comes out you can always adjust your reservation.

http://networkedblogs.com/6QqOu

 

[eyor44]

Typically room discount for values is 15-20%. Just don't qoute me on it.

Now, think about this.

I agree with checking the menus on Allears and figure out where you would like to eat and the approximate cost. This is what I do to figure out which would be better DDP or OOP. Now, if you do the regular dining that would be 1 CS, 1TS and 1 snack for each of you each day. But that is only two meals a day. You will still end up paying for one meal each day. Do you eat breakfast? I know some do two big meals a day, but that doesn't work for my family, we have to have three meals. Being you have done the DDP before you know how the credits work. Figure that out and it might actually come out better to do the DDP if you work it right.

Is it possible for DH to use his own money for his evening meals and get reimbursed? or is he required to use the company card for those meals?

 

[hambirg]

Hmmm. . .these are just my thoughts. Since you are driving, you can bring a cooler and have things on hand for most breakfasts (cereal, milk, muffins, etc). Your other meals I would plan according to how you were going to tour that park. Just for examples sake. . .

Epcot. . .I would pick one of the character breakfasts. . Princess or even Cape May. . .fill up. We like to snack are way around World Showcase, so whenever you feel hungry just stop in a CS and pick up something to snack on. . .a pretzel, a pastry, split a fish and chips, etc. If you are staying for Illuminations, and still feeling hungry split a hefty CS meal (if your husband is coming to meet you. . that would be his dinner on the company). All you would really need to get is the kids meal and maybe an extra side if you feel you needed that. If DH isn't with you. . still get CS.

Animal Kingdom. . .If you want to do the character meal at Tusker House I would do breakfast and then a light snacky meal later. . .egg rolls, fries,etc. If you don't want to do TH, then I would have breakfast in the room and a good CS lunch. If you are at AK while DH is at his conference, I would take the bus to CSR after the park closes and meet DH for dinner at Pepper Market. Their meals are large. . you could split a dinner and just pay for an extra side or a salad and the kids meal. OR he could drive over and meet you for dinner at Rainforest Cafe.

Hollywood Studios. . .I'm a big fan of Starring Rolls Cafe, so I would get breakfast there. I'm not a huge fan of any other places there. . .so I would just plan on eating at whatever CS is going to be close to where you plan to be around lunch time. Remember that you can get a kids meal too. I would have dinner back at the hotel that night. . .DH could order a pizza for his meal.

Magic Kingdom. . .We love Crystal Palace, so a light breakfast in the room and the latest breakfast ADR you can get at Crystal Palace. Eat eat eat. Have a snack later (I vote Dole Whip!) If you stay late, we like to get something from Casey's on the way out. If you don't stay late. . .pizza back at the hotel again If you don't want to do Crystal Palace I would have breakfast in the room and split a large CS meal, depending on where you're going to be. . .Cosmic Rays. . .Columbia Harbor House. . .Pecos Bills?

Anyhoo. . that's just how I would do it. I would definitely try to utilize DH's covered dinners for those 5 nights you can. . .pizza. . splitting a meal and just paying OOP for some extra sides or a salad or two kids meals instead of just the one. HTH

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Check the conference web site as there may be a discounted ticket option with the conference registration. Also sometimes (not always) the conference badge acts as a ticket for the attendees during certain times. There may also be an after hours event you can attend with DH if you pay in advance when he registers for the conference.

As far as the dinning plan I never use it if DH is working at Disney. Often by the time he is out of meetings for the day he either wants to go back to the room to catch up on work or wants a quick bite and then get out to play as he has been sitting all day in meetings. So he wouldn't want the table service meal. I and the kids don't care one way or the other that much for a sit down meal the counter service if fine for us so we just go OOP.