Offshoot of the "feed 9 people for $30" thread...

[starrzone]

What are your Disney Dining habits? I got curious after reading the post mentioned in the title. Growing up, on our trips to Disney, we VERY rarely ate at Disney restaurants. I think I've eaten at 4 since 1990; the American Pavilion, Biergarten, Columbia Harbor House and the Electric Umbrella. This wasn't due to lack of funds; it was simply a choice my parents made. I guess peoples' habits may also depend on whether or not they stay on/off site, whether or not they have a car, the age of kids, etc...I can't wait to read the answers!

 

[tonilea]

The last several times we have enjoyed the DDP. Did it save us money? Not really, but we were able to experience many foods we would not have otherwise tried. (I am too cheap. lol)

 

[raysnkaysmom]

I've never done the dining plan... we generally just spend a lot on meals both in and out of the parks...

 

[Sparx]

I stay on site and almost always have the regular dining plan. Its just so much easier to keep track of the meal credits.

On my upcoming trip in December I'm doing the QSDP and paying out of pocket for a few sit down meals.

 

[Planogirl]

We have favorites onsite but we stay offsite nowadays and save a lot of money eating some of our meals offsite too. I priced out the dining plan the last time we stayed onsite and it wasn't worth the money for us.

 

[Normangirls]

Normally we make a trip to the grocery store our first day so we can do: breakfast in our room, pack snacks/water/pop, pack a lunch, OOP for CS dinner, then one or two special TS dinners (OOP).

But with "free" dining, well we've enjoyed getting into that habit, I'll tell you. Last year we got a PIN for DDP (even though we were at a Value) so we tried lots of TS places we never would have tried if it was OOP (and many of those we'll never try again).

Overall, we'd never pay for the DDP (not with two of our three girls at the adult rate/cost). But as long as we got it "free" it beats the heck out of any room-only discount we may find (especially at the Values).

Now, growing up, we ate most meals back at the camper at Fort Wilderness!

 

[cglaura]

We've never done the dining plan.

Breakfast is usually in the room, granola bars, oatmeal, fruit, etc. This is mostly a time saving thing, though budgets well also.

We mainly eat CS meals. We will either split a combo w/ and extra side or salad. Or 1 adult with fires and 1 child with fruit. Then we split the fries and fruit. We usually get large cups of ice water, but occassionally we just want some soda.

DD usually gets 2 snacks...an ice cream type and a bread type. We usually split the bread type (popcorn, funnel cake...). My snack is usually grapes left over from lunch.

In general I spend $35 per day total on food. Of course there are days we just see something fun and get it, I budget "overage" for stuff and keep a few extra $20s in my wallet for such. And we usually have 2 TS meals for the trip, not included in the $35/day budget.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

Our first trip to WDW was in '93 and we did a dining plan back then that included TS breakfast, lunch, and dinner with appetizer, entree, and dessert at each meal (and tip). I can probably count on one hand the amount of times we went out to eat before that. My parents were extremely frugal and saved for 2 1/2 years to take us on a 5 day trip to WDW at the Polynesian. All of our vacations were always camping and eating in the camper. The following two trips to WDW we did the dining plan again. After that (our 10 trips since '99) we eat at two TS meals a day and pay OOP. We don't do breakfast (or snacks either) and we're not appetizer/dessert kind of people so this actually works out cheaper than paying for the dining plan and we get two TS meals a day instead of one (we also take advantage of the room only discounts and buying our tickets at a discount separately).

 

[pyrxtc]

when we drove down, I went grocery shopping and cooked quite a few meals in the room and cereal for breakfast but most of the meals were in the park since we go after breakfast and don't get back until after parks are closed.

If we fly, that means no car and not the whole family, then we do the dining plan (if 4 or more) or pay OOP for all meals. We tend to do a sit down meal every day but don't always eat 3 meals daily.

 

[Handbag Lady]

We can't get the dining plan, so we do a combo of OOP meals and I ship a box of candy/munchies/snacks and breakfast items (cereal and pop-tarts, etc.) to our room. We never rent a car, so we never eat off-site.

We plan about one sit-down meal every day or every other day and we graze the rest of the time.

 

[robinb]

I said "other". My next trip is half free dining and half OOP with the Tables in Wonderland card.

 

[Totally Tink]

We always stay on site and have never used the dining plan. We always pay OOP for our meals and snacks. We do a mix of TS and CS for all meals and pretty much eat whatever we want...LOL! The only thing I do is send a case of water to the resort ahead of time. I drink tons of water and didn't want to pay 2.50 multiple times a day.

We are debating the DDP for our next family trip in June 2011. I just don't know how much of a hassle it will be to keep track of what you've used.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I voted Dining plan, but for this trip I over-booked my TS so some will be OOP. We usually have more than enough to cover all our meals plus we take home treats.

Not sure this time, I really made sure I got all the meals I wanted.

 

[NMAmy]

For the last couple of years, we've stayed at BWV's and we've taken advantage of the kitchen by having groceries delivered. It's not really a cost saving thing--eating restaurant food 3 meals a day x 7 days really does a number on my stomach. It's nice to be able to just have a grilled cheese or an egg salad sandwich for lunch occasionally.

For the rest of the time, we pay OOP and eat a mix of CS and TS meals. Because we'll sometimes skip meals if we're not feeling hungry or because dd and I might split an appetizer and a dessert as a meal, the dining plan doesn't work well for us. I budget plenty of money for everyone to be able to eat anything they want on vacation.

 

[PattnFmly]

Although we have done free dining twice, we usually do OOP. We've stayed offsite at both places with a kitchen (where we do some cooking) as well as places with free breakfast (which is a great deal!). When onsite, we often have cereal and fruit in the room for breakfast, then buy the rest of the days meals. DDP was difficult for us to work, because we had an "almost" adult son who preferred adult meals and wasn't happy with the children's selections. I usually ended up switching with him and eating the kids meal. No sharing in my family, and we never have leftovers! I guess we are big eaters, no way could my DS's share a meal - I'd be buying snacks within the hour! Next time we go both DS's will be considered adults, I'll reassess what's happening with the DDP at that time and we'll see ....

 

[NHdisneylover]

I voted other. We have done the dining plan several times in recent years (both "free" and paid for) and do enjoy it. When not on the dining plan we bring snacks and breakfast things to the hotel (or stop for groceries on the way--or get a taxi to a store once there: we always stay onsight these days) and do the following:

Breakfast with our own food in the food courts (so we can use our refillable mugs). Generally a piece of fruit and either a bowl of instant oatmeal or a bagel with peanutbutter per person.

Lunch in the park/at a resort at a sit down place. This is our big meal of the day.

Most snacks throughout the day are little things (like granola bars) brought in in our pockets and free ice water. If it is really hot we will also buy ice cream or frozen drinks though.

Dinner is usually splitting a couple of counter service meals among the four of us as we tend to not be THAT hungry. If we are hungry though we buy more.

 

[luvsJack]

We use the dining plan. We like it for the convenience and like the idea that everything is paid for in advance.

I have made a budget showing all OOP CS meals with a few TS meals and everyone sharing meals so that we can take dd's bff with us next trip but we will see what the final verdict is.

The fact is we like having a TS meal every day and we LOVE character meals; all of that is just a part of being in Disney for us.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

Breakfast- granola bars/etc in room or grab something at the Shades of Green quick counter
Lunch (usually late)- counter service at WDW
snacks- bring (other than ice creams
Supper- usually pizza/etc back at Shades of Green, occassionally WDW CS or offsite (my dad's a Golden Corral addict!)

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

We've always done OOP meals - typically one meal throughout the day and snacks here and there were enough to fill us. My mother and I did the dining plan last fall for the first time, and although it was a good deal because it was free dining, it was just not for us. We were stuffed beyond comfort eating two meals a day. I have no idea how people do the deluxe plan.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

We do OOP & use our Disney Rewards. Pretty much every meal is eaten at the resort restaurant/food court or at a Disney restaurant. We laugh about how a lot of people plan their day around what parks/rides they are going to do, but our days are planned around WHERE we're going to eat that day!