New and overwhelmed...

[janiejake]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! Helpful tips. I just need to find a place to start and get work from there.

I like the idea of the dinning plan because I do NOT want to have to worry about meals, HOWEVER, it looks costly. BUT--we want to enjoy ourselves and not have to worry about food.

I scope out the dinning forum of this board and get some more tips

There is really nothing to worry about with meals. IF you decide to rent the fridge, you'd be able to keep perishables in there. We like to 'do' breakfast in our room most mornings. We stock our room with a breakfast cereal we all enjoy, milk, juice, yogurt, etc. I pack plastic bowls and silverware in our luggage. Fresh fruit. We'd also bring poptarts, which the kids would enjoy right out of the package...no toaster necessary, lol. BUT, if you decide the cost of the rental is too high, the resorts have food courts, and you can certainly purchase your breakfast there. You can eat there, or one adult can pick up breakfast items, and bring it back to your room. Our other meals were counter service for the most part. There are PLENTY of counter service options for you to select from in the parks. Look over the menu options for them. My guys are more the cheeseburger type, I'm a grilled chicken on a bun gal...Some of the CS restaurants have really good condiment bars to dress your sandwich up. And, the kids meals come with a drink and a side. Adult CS meals, we'd always ask for a glass of ice water (free), instead of paying for pricey pop/soda. If you are wanting to do a character meal with your son, book that early, as some of them tend to fill up really fast. Especially Chef Mickey's dinner. That one is good, high energy fun--buffet dining. I always packed snacks to tide little ones over (snack size baggies of fish, graham teddies, fruit snacks, etc). There are yummy snacks to be had in the parks, as well. In the MK, be sure to stop at Aloha Isle(Adventureland--look for a line) and get a Dole Whip...my mouth is watering, just thinking about it. When you're at EPCOT, the Electric Umbrella is our favorite counterservice. But, at World Showcase, don't miss the bakery in France. Absolutely yummy pastries. Norway has good pastries and sandwiches in their shop, as well. There is absolutely no shortage of food options in the World. You've found a great place to get info. Have fun with the planning!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Thanks. We did decided not to do the park hoppers. We can only handle one park a day. Our DS fatigues easily. We also aren't doing the park everyday, that again is way too much for us. We are planning 7 days and 6 nights.

If you don't do the dinning plan, do you allot yourself enough money for meals? We were thinking about getting grocceries delievered to our hotel and eating breakfast in our rooms and taking a snack for lunch with us and then doing a nice dinner.

I highly recommend the Disney Dining Plan, the basic plan - 1 Table Service, 1 Counter Service and 1 Snack per person per day. It is the BEST think Disney has come up with in years. Plus, they usually run a Free Dining promo for dates in October - if they do, the code will probably come out in early summer. Also, if you have the DDP, you don't really need to worry about having a frig and a means to cook meals.

 

[melissapealo]

We are also planning a trip in October. While we've been before it will be our first time staying onsite. I just wanted to add that with the qsdp you also get the refillable mugs. I'm hoping that they release a free dining plan for October as it will be myself and 3 children, all adults by Disney standards. The free dining would save us a huge amount of money. Based on the prior 2 years they have offered the free dining so would be great to see it for this year.

Have a great trip