New to Camping and alot of questions please bare with me

[skw251520]

Good Morning everyone,
So I have himed and hawed about whether to sat at Movies or endever into the world of renting a rv and stayng at the Fort, We are going in 2023 as mentioned in other posts and we are going at Christmas time (no budging on time, my mother cant handle the Florida Heat and my daughter wants to do Chrsitmas at Disney). Most of my questions is about park time and Dinning. I have always taken advantage of free dinning when its offered but have done a vacaiton with out but always used the dinning plan. I got spoiled by knowing that my meals were taken care of. So my biggest question is what does your days look like without the dinning plan (such as park days and other) and how many times does everyone eat at dinning places around the parks and the rest of the world trying to figure this all out. I am a big planner and we are having a family meeting soon to figure this all out and would like to take some advice to our meeting. Also any tips for new campers or the direction of a thread would be greatly appreciated

 

[StageTek]

So my biggest question is what does your days look like without the dinning plan (such as park days and other)

Your days (such as park days) without the dining plan doesn't look any different than with the dining plan. You still make reservations at the restaurants you want to at. But you pay for each meal as you go rather than ahead of time. Park time wont change. Without the Dining Plan you won't spend less time in the parks.

 

[skw251520]

Thank you for your quick reply, do you leave the park to go back and eat or when you do park days do you stay in the park?

 

[StageTek]

Once when we were at MK we took the boat back to the Fort for some pool time and lunch. But we stay in the park to eat.

We only did the Dining Plan one trip and found we spent less money without it.

Do you like to head back to the resort during a Park day when you have the Dining Plan?

BTW: The Fort is wonderful at Christmas time!

 

[Bishoparc]

It varies per trip for us just depending on what we're in the mood for. We've never used the dining plan for any trip. If we're staying on property in our camper or at a resort that we have a full kitchen, we will cook at least some meals there. For us a mid-day break is critical to recharge so no matter what park we're at, we typically will go back and rest around lunch time as that's also usually when the parks are the busiest and then we will go back later in the evening when some have already left.

 

[loves to dive]

We don't use the dining plan but do eat in the parks most of the time. When we camped in our RV at least two meals a day were in the RV. You have a full kitchen so it's easier to just fix your food there, plus my hubby is a picky eater and it was easier for him to grill his own food then try to find something he would eat. It does take a little longer to get around the Fort, especially if you don't have a golf cart, we rented one from Disney but even then you have to take a bus to all the parks except MK. We it's just me or just me and my son and no RV, we might eat breakfast at the resort and maybe one or two suppers but most of our meals are at the parks.

 

[bama_ed]

Our kids are grown so we eat one Table Service meal on park days and maybe one Table Service meal at Disney Springs during our stay.

For the other meals we always eat a breakfast at the campground and have either packed a picnic lunch to the parks (rent a locker) or eat the counter service lunch (YMMV).

There is no financial savings to the dining plan (when paid for at regular rates) because it's too much food/meals/snacks to be worth it. The fact that it's pre-paid and a losing deal doesn't make it a winner in my book.

As for other advice, a Christmas 2023 trip means booking 500 days out in mid-2022 which is over a year out. But you need to book that right at 7am on the 500 day window date or use a TA because the Christmas-New Years week is still much in demand. Get a golf cart (book it a year in advance) to go looping and looking at camper decorations nightly and your praises will be sung by members of your family.

Christmas time is one of those times where it's important to set proper expectations.

1. You're not going to see everything
2. You're not going to ride everything
3. Schedule some non-park days to rest and recover and enjoy the Fort and other resorts
4. It will be ridiculously crowded in the parks and frustrating
5. The Fort will be an oasis of calm and joy

That's why I stay there. I can afford anyplace in the Kingdom but when I consider the quality and relaxation quotient of a stay (even at holiday time), the Fort is the winner hands down.

Bama Ed

 

[Stratman50th]

What he said ☝

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

One thing I will tell you is that we went once Christmas time without any dining reservations beforehand and we could not get any literally. Usually being just my husband and myself we wing it and may book a ressie that day but it did not work out like that bc it was so crowded and hard to get a reservation anywhere. So make a few at least before you go and then you can always eat counter meals at the parks or plan a lot at your campsite. Try to plan your park and day around your dining reservation bc it can be super crowded at Christmas time.

 

[Sjm9911]

We we went, and go again this year its what they said. Breakfast at the campground, bring luch to the parks ( i had no idea they had lockers ed) and dinner back at the campground. We did do a few dinners in the park. For me the cost, time and money wasn't worth the lunches, as my daughter wanted to ride all the rides. Depending on your camper and what you have avalable when you go, making dinners can be easy or hard. But if you plan it out aheid of time its easy. We froze stuff, and reheated in the microwave when we had late nights at the parks planned. This year will feature quick and easy in the crock pot. Grilling is also easy. Eating your own stuff will save you money. Its also a plus as my daughter has food allergies. So its easier for us.

 

[ElizabethG]

We stopped getting the dining plan when my kids turned 10. Usually, I try to find gift cards at a slight discount and start collecting them before a trip. Then, I use the gift cards to pay for meals. We always come out ahead of what a dining plan would cost.

The dining plan will only save you money if that is the way you would eat without it. For example, we are not soda drinkers. When walking all day, I just want to drink water with my meal. I don't want dessert. Maybe I just want an appetizer for my meal. If I'm not that hungry, maybe I'll split a meal with someone. This is a lot less out of pocket than the DDP.

I generally plan one sit down meal per day. I like to have it at lunch where it becomes a mid-day break. We eat breakfast in our room everyday. Other than that, we eat at the WDW restaurants.

 

[Jimsig]

We stopped getting the dining plan when my kids turned 10. Usually, I try to find gift cards at a slight discount and start collecting them before a trip. Then, I use the gift cards to pay for meals. We always come out ahead of what a dining plan would cost.

Basically the same here. We went to DL a couple years ago and used Dis GC's to pay for everything including meals. It was nice to know we were saving 5% with the Dis GC's we got at Target.

The dining plan will only save you money if that is the way you would eat without it. For example, we are not soda drinkers. When walking all day, I just want to drink water with my meal. I don't want dessert. Maybe I just want an appetizer for my meal. If I'm not that hungry, maybe I'll split a meal with someone. This is a lot less out of pocket than the DDP.

Exactly. You almost need to buy the most expensive things on the menu and get the desert and now even alcohol to make it work in your advantage. We used it 3 times when DD was under 10 and when we figured it out two times we saved between $200-$250 if we had paid OOP and the other time I think we saved $75. But it was also more food then what we would normally eat if going out.

On our next two trips (April and June) we will be using GC's to pay (that we get from Target) and had planned it that way before Dis stopped it for now.

 

[rideswithchrist]

To all of the above! That said, this last trip, my kids saw some places they wanted to eat at but we did not want to wait 40 minutes because we had no reservations.
We eat in the camper (or hotel) then bring lunch in just like when we hike. I don't use the lockers because I don't want to traverse the park together lunch- but maybe we will try this next time so we don't have to carry it with us.

My kids are 13 and under and we needed food on hand the last two times we went.
We also like being able to eat half a sandwich and then save it for later, that is much harder with sit down meals....ohhh Morocco, why did we order so much?!

While I say we will stay in the parks all day, my guess is that we will head back mid-day on any days we get up early to rope drop.

This planned 22/23 trip, I will have 3 reservations and we eat in park once a day, and get snacks because they are fun, but I feel better when I don't eat a bunch of sweets all day so we don't pay for desserts.

You CAN enjoy The Fort and do a dining plan if that is your jam though

Movies can't top Fort Wilderness at Christmas☃

 

[North of Mouse]

The only time the DDP was 'worth' it IMO was when it first started. It included appetizers, dessert, drink, taxes and tips!! You really could not beat it getting one TS, one CS and one snack per day. That didn't last long though!
For us now, OOP is the only way we go. We save so much doing that as the dining plan is way too much food and too expensive. We eat whatever and whenever, and never come close to dining plan costs.

We've always camped at FW but have never cooked any meals. We love to try new things and snack while on vacation. We never come back to the campground during the day. Everyone has their own eating styles, and whatever suits their families is the way to go.