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[choirfarm]

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Christine

 

[bangzoom6877]

Everyone should always do what is best for their family when it comes to the dining plan or not to do the dining plan. We personally loved it back in July. It was me, DH, DS3 and DS1 (not on dining plan). DS1 had plenty to eat from all of us, and he was free at all our TS meals since they were all-you-can-eat meals. What we did sometimes for desserts at CS meals since we didn't always want to have cake or ice cream.....one time (at Cosmic Ray's in MK), I got strawberry yogurt for my dessert and gave it to the baby. We got apple slices as dessert at Toy Story Pizza Planet in DHS, so we could eat some fruit. I felt much better not eating cake and ice cream right after every meal (even though we did enjoy those Mickey ice cream bars sometimes as snacks!!). We also felt that since we wanted to do so many character meals, the plan was a great deal for us, especially DS3 who cost $10 per day but the character dinner alone would have been $14 or $15 just for him. It made sense to do the dining plan once we did the research and saw where we wanted to make our ADRs.

DH and I decided that for our 2010 trip we will get the regular plan once again. We considered Deluxe for a little bit, but it is way too much food and too many ADRs (10-night trip!). So we will go with the regular plan again since the kids are still little, and then go from there for the next trip.

 

[MahaloPoly]

We just returned from 9 days in which we had free dining and upgraded to deluxe dining - 4 adults and a 4-year-old. Wow, deluxe dining is a LOT of food. We went to 4 signature dining locations (the Spirit of Aloha, Cinderella's, Brown Derby, and California Grill), and even with that, we really struggled to use up all those meals and snacks. We stuck around to have lunch on our departure day, and bought a bagful of candy and cookies to take home using snack credits, and we all felt victorious when the remaining credits said 0!

Next time, I would just as soon do the standard plan instead of the deluxe, because I'd rather zoom around the parks deciding what to do next instead of sitting in table service restaurants all day. However, the rest of my family seemed to love trying all the restaurants. We had some amazing meals on deluxe. I returned a few pounds heavier but I think it was worth it.

 

[Belle4mygrl]

I don't think it is too much food. There were times we didn't feel like eating because it was so hot and the heat would take away our appetite. So we shared meals at lunch and with leftover CS we ate breakfast and spaced eating times out. We did not have any credits wasted.

Maybe if you go during cooler months the dp will be much better for you.

 

[TessieA]

I agree with the OP. I thought it was too much food and the table services took too much time. We went for free dining. It was great, but we would never get our money's worth if we actually paid for it. We ended up converting more than half of our TS just so we wouldn't spend the time sitting down in a restaurant.

Of course, I was with a group of 6 kids and 5 adults. It was hard to keep the kids occupied for the two hours it took at the TS meals.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

Everyone has to decide what works best for them. We love the dining plan, it enhanced our last vacation and have it on our November trip as well. (We had it paid for an just got the money refunded with the Disney Visa free dining!) We enjoyed experiencing restaurants we never would otherwise, we like ordering milkshakes or a smoothie instead of water PLUS dessert!!! We never get to do that in our "real lives". On the occasion that we go out it is Friendly's (which we love, but it's nothing like what you get in Disney) and with kids eat free coupons. We liked trying things we'd never normally have (I tried fillet mignon for the first and only time ever at Concourse Steakhouse last trip, can't wait to have it at LeCellier this trip!!!) We too shared CS all the time, and on our last day we had some nice sandwiches and salads (from Earl of Sandwich) to pack in our cooler for the ride home. It wasn't necessary, but it was fun.
My DD6 (then 4) still talks about how we all got Mickey ice cream bars while we watched WISHES one night. Normally we would have them once, and only the kids. Again, not necessary, but it really made our vacation special.
We had gone to Disney many times eating snacks out of our bag and sharing meals till we got back to the room where we'd make sandwiches and stuff and it was fine, but this was just a little more special. If I couldn't do it, that would be fine, I'd rather eat PB&J in Disney then no Disney, but it is fun to go crazy sometimes.
This time, we are going crazy, and for FREE!!!!
Cali Grill (DH and I to celebrate 15th annivarsary a bit late)
CRT
Akerhaus
LeCellier
Chef Mickey's (Twice)
WCC
Kona
50s PT

ALL FREE!!!!!!!

 

[accountingbabe08]

I hope you enjoy your belated Happy Anniversary dinner date night!!!!!

Everyone has to decide what works best for them. We love the dining plan, it enhanced our last vacation and have it on our November trip as well. (We had it paid for an just got the money refunded with the Disney Visa free dining!) We enjoyed experiencing restaurants we never would otherwise, we like ordering milkshakes or a smoothie instead of water PLUS dessert!!! We never get to do that in our "real lives". On the occasion that we go out it is Friendly's (which we love, but it's nothing like what you get in Disney) and with kids eat free coupons. We liked trying things we'd never normally have (I tried fillet mignon for the first and only time ever at Concourse Steakhouse last trip, can't wait to have it at LeCellier this trip!!!) We too shared CS all the time, and on our last day we had some nice sandwiches and salads (from Earl of Sandwich) to pack in our cooler for the ride home. It wasn't necessary, but it was fun.
My DD6 (then 4) still talks about how we all got Mickey ice cream bars while we watched WISHES one night. Normally we would have them once, and only the kids. Again, not necessary, but it really made our vacation special.
We had gone to Disney many times eating snacks out of our bag and sharing meals till we got back to the room where we'd make sandwiches and stuff and it was fine, but this was just a little more special. If I couldn't do it, that would be fine, I'd rather eat PB&J in Disney then no Disney, but it is fun to go crazy sometimes.
This time, we are going crazy, and for FREE!!!!
Cali Grill (DH and I to celebrate 15th annivarsary a bit late)
CRT
Akerhaus
LeCellier
Chef Mickey's (Twice)
WCC
Kona
50s PT

ALL FREE!!!!!!!

 

[secretpantssam]

I enjoyed using the dining plan for free, but I'm not sure if I would pay for it either. I'm not a big dessert person but I would feel like I would have to force myself to eat it every meal if I had paid for it. Also I wasn't a fan of being tied down with reservations everyday. I usually like winging it in disney. So it's nice getting free food, but I don't think paying for the dining plan is right for me.

 

[ExtinctDino]

I agree, I would never pay for it. But it's a great deal when it's free. Once you've done it once and figured it all out, it's not such a pain next time wondering what's eligible or how many CS and snacks you might be able to use per day, etc. For young kids, the time it takes for all the TS meals can be a problem. But if you go mostly with character buffets, then the kids are entertained and you can serve yourself instead of being dependent on servers and get out faster.

 

[DanaAustinChelsea]

I do not think I would ever purchase the dining plan either. It is really a lot of food especially when you factor in two desserts & a snack. Several of our snack credits we used for cold drinks in the parks & the rest we used at Goofy's Candy Co. the night before we left. We ended up leaving 9 TS credits when we left. The heat did factor in somewhat for us. I had made an ADR for LTT that we unfortunately cancelled because we were so hot. The sound of hot stuffing, turkey, potatoes etc did not appeal to us at all! It was great to have so many options available & not worry about the $$$ though.

 

[TPCShauna]

DH and I like the pre-paid aspect of the plan. Yes, it's a lot of food but we have 7 days worth of credits and are staying for 8 full days so we were able to spread ours out more. Also, DH REFUSES to take breaks during the day so those long TS meals are the only breaks we get. We eat a granola bar in the AM in the room, an early lunch around 11:30am and dinner around 8:30pm. It works really well for us but I can see how it could not work for others. We didn't get free dining yet still chose to upgrade to DxDP this time as we both hate CS food.