New to WDW - taking 5yo DD need dining advice

[TrySomethingNew]

I'm taking 5yo DD to WDW for 5 days in February 2012. I do not have any experience here - my trip to WDW in the 70's as a young child does help much. I have a package booked to stay at WDW for a reduced room rate rather than free dining. Now, I have to decide which dining plan, or to go without a dining plan.

I understand what comes with the deluxe vs regular plan - all sit down meals + 2 snacks vs 1 counter serv + 1 sit down + 1 snack for the regular plan. I've planned some character meals (CRT requires 2 sit down credits), but am not coming to a conclusion on which dining plan to add (or to add at all, but it does sound like a decent deal). DD will be happy with the kids menu, and she eats glacially slow- at home - at school - at fast food restaurants - at sit down restaurants. She will probably do fine in sit down restaurants, but 3 a day?? not sure about that, but her little legs may need some rest here and there.

Based on your experience, and knowing I am just travelling with one young child.... should I get a dining plan? Which, if any, should I choose? How easy would it be for her and I to get a seat in a restaurant without a reservation? And what other advice do you have for me relating to dining at WDW?

Thanks!

 

[kirrrby]

Now, I have to decide which dining plan, or to go without a dining plan. Based on your experience, and knowing I am just travelling with one young child.... should I get a dining plan

• Are you going to eat that much?
• Is it worth the price?

Consider the pros and cons to the Dining Plan. Are you willing to fork out the money per day? Are you going to eat Breakfast? Are you going to eat just Quick service?

We pay OOP because it's the best deal for us. We split meals because no one in our party eats that much. And I cannot fathom eating a dessert at every meal. The only ones we don't split at of course are buffets.

Which, if any, should I choose?
Personally for a better princess interaction I would do Akershus. They have more princess encounters and it's much cheaper than CRT.

How easy would it be for her and I to get a seat in a restaurant without a reservation?
Fairly hard. I would book ADRs.




Thanks!

Hopefully this helps.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

I'm taking 5yo DD to WDW for 5 days in February 2012. I do not have any experience here - my trip to WDW in the 70's as a young child does help much. I have a package booked to stay at WDW for a reduced room rate rather than free dining. Now, I have to decide which dining plan, or to go without a dining plan.

I understand what comes with the deluxe vs regular plan - all sit down meals + 2 snacks vs 1 counter serv + 1 sit down + 1 snack for the regular plan. I've planned some character meals (CRT requires 2 sit down credits), but am not coming to a conclusion on which dining plan to add (or to add at all, but it does sound like a decent deal). DD will be happy with the kids menu, and she eats glacially slow- at home - at school - at fast food restaurants - at sit down restaurants. She will probably do fine in sit down restaurants, but 3 a day?? not sure about that, but her little legs may need some rest here and there.

Based on your experience, and knowing I am just travelling with one young child.... should I get a dining plan? Which, if any, should I choose? How easy would it be for her and I to get a seat in a restaurant without a reservation? And what other advice do you have for me relating to dining at WDW?

Thanks!

I think it'll depend what you guys like to do at home as far as food. Are you grab and go people? Do you like to go out? Can you see yourself taking a lot of time out of doing rides and shows to eat?

I just planned a trip for my friend who had started planning before I got to her, and she had the Deluxe dining and had no idea how much food she was getting herself into. It was also her first time to Disney, with her 6 year old and her parents. I think the adults enjoyed it but were sick of food by the end, and the kid didn't care either way. She also WANTED to do 3 meals a day, so they did a combination of sit down and counter service, but every day there was breakfast lunch and dinner. If you want to go Deluxe, what you COULD do is do several signature meals (which count as 2 credits) and use snacks for your 3rd meal. So for instance, you could have breakfast at Cape May Cafe (1 credit) which is a buffet, have something small for a snack midday, then eat at Flying Fish (2 credit) for dinner. If I ever get Deluxe, this is how I'd do it. That being said, signature restaurants tend to have a little bit more of a lingering service style, so don't expect the meal to fly by.

The past 3 times I've gone, I've used the Basic plan (1 TS, 1 CS, 1 Snack) and found that to be plenty of food. Usually used a counter service for breakfast, snack for lunch, and table service for dinner. I've paid out of pocket for less expensive meals so that I could do 2 credit places, or creatively arranged things to do them.

Some people find even the Basic to be too much food, and will opt for the quick service plan. I've never used it and don't know much about it, and granted there IS more to get than just burgers and whatnot, but I wouldn't ever opt for this plan just because I like to sit down to eat a lot. You could, however, do this and pay out of pocket for some TS meals if you weren't into eating a TS every day.

I know that will probably be confusing and overwhelming. I think what you should do is really think about what you want out of your vacation and how you want to eat. Being that it's your "first time" for all intents and purposes, you may not want to take a ton of time to sit down in restaurants. I could be completely off but I'd bet that I'm not. Go through the menus and see what really attracts you and go from there. You may find that a good gauge on what you should go with plan wise. As for your little one needing a break, you could just as easily find a quiet corner to sit, share a pretzel and people watch for a little bit as sit for an hour in a restaurant. Walk ups to restaurants can be hit or miss. It'll depend on what restaurant, what time of day, what time of year and how long you're willing to wait. Some people have luck with it, but personally I'd never NOT make reservations. If there's a place you REALLY want to eat, don't leave it to chance.

 

[kirrrby]

Also adding. If your DD is a chicken nuggets, pizza type person on the kids menus. Most of the CS options have those items. Especially the Resort food courts. If you think you can bring yourself to eat CS most of the time maybe the QSDP is best for you. If you want a character meal but dont want to do Dining plan for that (like I said Akershus is cheapest princess buffet) CRT is 55 for adults, 34 for kids, or 2 TS. Akershus is 47 for adults, 26 for kids and I think just 1 credit. These are dinner prices. You can pay OOP for those and have QSDP for the rest of your meals.

 

[h2odivers]

The regular dining plan, 1 TS, 1 CS, and , 1 snack is more food than our family can eat in one day. You can rest her little legs at a CS restaurant also. My DD7 favorite restaurant is Akershus at Epcot. You can meet about 4 princesses at one time and location.
Have fun!

 

[septbaby]

I've taken my nephew to WDW twice at age 5 and then at 7 and at 10 he's asking when are we going back! We've done the regular dining plan each time, first time grandma was with us. However, here are some places he really liked:

1. Boma breakfast "Boma is awesome" to quote my picky 7yo, we went twice on that trip. I paid cash the second time, it is that good.

2. Crystal Palace, he's asked to return, we did his 8th bday celebration there.

3. Chef Mickey's, had so much fun he forgot to eat. Lists it as one of the top 3 things we did on the trip.

4. Narccossee's loved the food, water parade, Wishes fireworks. The grown ups loved the food, service and atmosphere.

5. Hollywood and Vine, had the best kids' activity sheet, hey sometimes that is as important as the food. It was one of the lowest quality meals, but it was still good and we ate plenty.

6. Coral Reef, we all cleaned our plates here, he and I had a great time with the activity sheet picking the sea life in the Aquarium tank. He loved seeing the sea life too!

I am a huge fan of the dining plan. I book through Disney so the trip is paid for more than a month before going and to have food done too has been great. It is also stress free allowing him to have treats w/o feeling like we're being nickled and dimed because the credits allow us to eat pretty liberally.

I haven't done CRT, he's all boy and I have some great photos of him being just agitated that I took him to meet Cinderella, so he not up for a princess meal! My opinion is it is a unique experience and worth doing, she's the perfect age, go for it.

 

[TrySomethingNew]

You guys are great! Thanks for sharing your experience and advice. It really helps since I really don't know what I'm in for at WDW...but I have good expectations.

I was making reservations but had hit a wall - it seemed like I was having to way over-structure our day trying to plan every meal. Since it is our first mom-daughter trip with this child, I really wanted DD to have some freedom to choose where to go/ park to see/ thing to try/ ride to experience, etc. And she is at a very good age for all the magic - still in a very imaginative stage, and has been getting more and more interested in the princesses recently. And, interestingly, just asked me yesterday if we could got to WDW! this trip is a suprise, so only DH knows.

Good reminder on how much food the Deluxe includes...I keep forgetting they are complete sit-down meals (apps and dessert)...probably too much. I think I will investigate the regular dining plan more (1 sit down, 1CS, 1 snack) and look at some of the restaurants suggested. I have Askershus and CRT scheduled, along with 1900 Park - I figure I should load up on the princess experience since we are without the 13yo big sis (who is, and never ever was, into princesses).

Thanks again, and any more advice will be appreciated!

 

[sarmat1]

I have Askershus and CRT scheduled, along with 1900 Park - I figure I should load up on the princess experience since we are without the 13yo big sis (who is, and never ever was, into princesses).

Excellent choices. We did all 3 in August with DD6 and she loved all of the princess interraction. Not sure how many MK days you are doing, but you might want to also look into Crystal Palace if you'd like to add some non-face characters for her (in this case Pooh and the gang - Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet). With all of your character meals, you will probably find that the regular DDP will provide you some savings over just paying OOP.