Newb a tad overwhelmed with Fd

[Jenne03]

Sorry for so many questions it's just I have never ever had the dining plan before . This is super new to me.

Last time we went, we chose to take the room discount and passed on fd. With a family of 5 ..boy we made a mistake with that. We were so excited to try all the dining...we ended up spending quite a bit. So this year we are taking fd.

I understand the signatures being 2 ts credits . Basically I get the dinner part of it. I do have a concern though. I have three kids 16, 11 and 9. When we go to restaurants that have steak, my 11 and 9 will split an adult entree because ...well ..they all love steak. On the fd plan, my 11 year old is considered an adult. I am very concerned going to some of these restaurants(especially the more adventurous ones) that there won't necessarily be something that she would like. On the kids menus, there is usually some sort of staple (nuggets, mac and cheese, pizza, etc). What do you guys all do?

Also I plan on just using qs credit for lunch in the park we are going to . I don't really want to plan it. However I think I may plan a day to go have lunch in DTD(Wolfgangs) . Is it pretty simple to leave a park, go to DTD , have lunch and then head back to a park? I have only been to DTD once to go to T rex(which we are doing this year too).

Do you all mostly use your snack for breakfast if you aren't going to a big breakfast? Just grab a muffin and coffee? I keep seeing things about the resort mugs. Does that come with the fd plan?

I saw the qs snack thread up at the top, which I will be paying close attention too. I was wondering what things I could get if I had leftover snack credits to bring home with me.


My husband was thinking of upgrading the fd to deluxe because he wants to try a lot of the signatures. We wanted to go back to the Castle for my daughter. He also wanted to try some of the steak places and my daughters want to go to a couple character breakfasts. This would make it worth it I think? But I would get a ton of snack credits i probably won't use. Do you panic at the end trying to spend all of them?

 

[Cafeen]

Sorry for so many questions it's just I have never ever had the dining plan before . This is super new to me.

Last time we went, we chose to take the room discount and passed on fd. With a family of 5 ..boy we made a mistake with that. We were so excited to try all the dining...we ended up spending quite a bit. So this year we are taking fd.

I understand the signatures being 2 ts credits . Basically I get the dinner part of it. I do have a concern though. I have three kids 16, 11 and 9. When we go to restaurants that have steak, my 11 and 9 will split an adult entree because ...well ..they all love steak. On the fd plan, my 11 year old is considered an adult. I am very concerned going to some of these restaurants(especially the more adventurous ones) that there won't necessarily be something that she would like. On the kids menus, there is usually some sort of staple (nuggets, mac and cheese, pizza, etc). What do you guys all do?

There are basically 3 answers to this question...
1) Simple: If there's something on the menu, but the sauce/sides put him/her off, you can order it plain and/or with any of the other sides that come with other meals. (Note, listed side items under the side orders may not be available, and typically you cannot switch sides around when ordering a special fixed price menu at selected locations (Chefs, Kona, San Angel Inn, etc).

2) Slightly less simple: Ask the server about it, they may be able to prepare a larger version of the kids meal for the 11 year old. Typically referred to as a "Junior" meal.

3) A bit more complex: Order the 11 year old the kids meal, and pay Out of Pocket for it. Use this credit (coupled with other adult credits saved in the same manner) to potentially build an extra TS meal into the trip.

Also I plan on just using qs credit for lunch in the park we are going to . I don't really want to plan it. However I think I may plan a day to go have lunch in DTD(Wolfgangs) . Is it pretty simple to leave a park, go to DTD , have lunch and then head back to a park? I have only been to DTD once to go to T rex(which we are doing this year too).

Park > DtD > Park is a bit tricky by design (it's to combat people taking advantage of free parking at DtD to avoid the fees at the parks). You'd basically have to go Park > Resort > DtD > Resort > Park. Not really ideal in the middle of a park day. You may want to look into locations that have the same menu for lunch/dinner (or at least are a higher "worth" for lunch than others) and use your TS for lunch here rather than dinner, then go to WGP in the evening.

Do you all mostly use your snack for breakfast if you aren't going to a big breakfast? Just grab a muffin and coffee? I keep seeing things about the resort mugs. Does that come with the fd plan?

I typically don't eat breakfast anyway, so nothing that I can add here. The resort mugs do come with all levels of the dining plan, so you'll get one under FD.

I saw the qs snack thread up at the top, which I will be paying close attention too. I was wondering what things I could get if I had leftover snack credits to bring home with me.

My husband was thinking of upgrading the fd to deluxe because he wants to try a lot of the signatures. We wanted to go back to the Castle for my daughter. He also wanted to try some of the steak places and my daughters want to go to a couple character breakfasts. This would make it worth it I think? But I would get a ton of snack credits i probably won't use. Do you panic at the end trying to spend all of them?

My typical advice here is, "Do the math!" (or, since he's the one suggesting it, make HIM do the math! ).

The DxDDP is a lot of food, but more importantly, it's a lot of time spent at restaurants. Even with the 1 single-credit, 1 signature/2ts meal per day*, you can count on at least 60-90 minutes per meal, not including travel and wait-time (even with an ADR, expect to wait at least 15-20 minutes, usually it'll be less, sometimes it'll be more).

Now, with that said, when upgrading from FD to DxDDP there's a bit more leeway that you'd get if you were buying it outright, since the cost is essentially [DxDDP Total] - [Savings from Free Dining Plan] + [Room Discount Value] (Since you're giving up the room discount in favor of the free dining plan). When you do the comparison, instead of using the ~$105/night/adult cost of the DxDDP, you'd use this modified cost.

*Credit allotments are per night, but "1 single-credit, 1 signature/2ts meal per night" sounds weird

As far as snack credits, when I've gone DxDDP, I tend to use them for cheaper stuff like waters and whatnot. I'll run out, but not really get too much savings from them in general. The alternative is to stock up on packaged snacks and take them home.

 

[TDC Nala]

Is it pretty simple to leave a park, go to DTD , have lunch and then head back to a park?

If you have a car, then yes, it's reasonably easy (except at Magic Kingdom).

If you are relying on Disney transportation, then you need to budget a pretty good amount of time to go to Downtown Disney and back. The reason for this is that there are no direct buses between DTD and any of the theme parks. You will have to either go to a resort that is within walking distance of a park, or transfer at a resort. For some parks this is easier than others (if you are at MK, you can walk to the Contemporary and catch the bus, if you're at Epcot you can walk out the International Gateway to Beach Club or Boardwalk and get a bus; at DHS you could walk to the Boardwalk, but it's a longer walk, and the boat is not fast; at AK you have no choice but to bus to a resort.)

You should give yourself an hour to an hour and a half travel time each way. Remember that some bus routes are much longer than others; if you're trying to return to Beach Club from DTD Marketplace so you can get back into Epcot, the bus will likely make stops at: Pleasure Island, Typhoon Lagoon, Swan, Dolphin and Yacht Club before it gets to Beach.

 

[Jenne03]

Thanks so much for the info! Hmm maybe it would be a good idea to do WGP for dinner. That is a good idea. Maybe just do a big brunch or something. I wanted to try it since I heard it was so good. That also might be worth doing possible the day I get there and maybe pay for a lunch oop so then I can save the ts credit to try and get into CRT(which I know I probably won't be able too but will keep trying!)


I am unsure if we are flying or driving yet. The airfare is crazy around Thanksgiving. But I remember now taking a bus from the Poly to DTD to go to Trex three years ago..

Thanks for the 3 ideas Cafeen! I probably will try all three if my daughter doesn't like her options!

Thanks so much!