Hello there from another Louisiana resident! We are in North Louisiana and drive to Disney every year. Since the drive is over 800 miles, we break it up into a day and a half.
I remember 12 years ago and planning our first trip to Walt Disney World. What I wouldn't have given to know then what I know how! We now have 14 trips under our belt and our 15th trip is coming up this May.
I don't mind helping answer any questions you may have. First, I need to know a few things. Have you already decided where you will be staying? Have you booked yet?
Since this will be your first trip, I wouldn't buy the park hopper passes. It takes quite a bit of knowledge and time to go from one park to another. I would suggest save that extra money and that you plan on going to one park per day. Even with base tickets, you can leave a park at any time during the day, go back to your resort and rest (if you think you need to) and then go back to that same park later in the day.
I see that you are wondering whether or not to purchase the dining plan. We really like the dining plan. Based upon the fact that you want to do character meals and eat a sit down meal each night, it sounds like the plan may work out in your favor. However, you might want to run some numbers to find out for sure.
I would suggest that you go to
www.allearsnet.com and click on Dining. Scroll down to "current menus with prices" and click. On the next page, you'll find menus for each and every Disney restaurant. To find out whether or not the plan would be cost effective for your family, make a chart for each day of your trip.
With the regular dining plan, you would get one counter service meal, one snack and one table service meal per person for every night of your stay. For your counter service meal, you would get a non-alcoholic drink, and entree (pizza, burger, sandwich, etc.) and a dessert. For snacks,
almost everything under $4.00 is considered a snack. For your table service meal, you would get a non-alcoholic drink, entree (any entree on the menu) and dessert.
So, look at the menus and enter onto your chart the food items (with prices) that you think your family would order at each meal. Do that for every night that you are there. Then, add up each day. Don't forget to add in taxes.
Go to the Disney website and price out the vacation without the dining plan. Next, price it out with the dining plan so you can see exactly how much the dining plan would cost your family.
Then, go back to your chart and the total you had written down. Is the cost of the dining plan less or more than your chart total? If the cost of the plan comes out less or is very very close to your chart total, then I'd go ahead and purchase the plan. Don't forget that the dining plan does not include tips for table service meals. That being said, you can also decide for yourself how much you want to tip your waiter/waitress.
We find that we are more apt to try new restaurants and new foods when we are on the dining plan. I also like being able to order anything I want from the menu and not having to worry about the price. I really like knowing that all of my meals are paid for before I ever even get to Disney.
I sure hope that my description/explanation didn't confuse you. It sounds right in my head but it doesn't always read that way.
If you have more questions, feel free to post them here or send me a private message.
Lisa
