park time and disney dining

[NEEN09]

Park days? We have booked our initial reservation,and now I'm thinking that we will plan for 5 park days even though we were initially thinking of doing 4 with a break/ pool day in the middle. Can you do a half day park pass or is it all or nothing?

Also, we will probably "hop around" somewhat between mornings and evenings. I know that we will want to spend at least one full day if not two at the MK and one day at Epcot, which leaves 2-3 days to play around with. Do HS and AK have enough for small kids (2 and 4) to warrant full days of planning? Or could we mix them up with some partial Epcot days?

Finally, now that we've figured out the whole are we going/ where are we staying question, I'm reconsidering not doing a dining plan. My initial concern was that we wouldn't eat enough to make it worth it-- we will do breakfast in our room most days (with 1-2 breakfast res), and lunches will likely be a little fast dining (minimal- maybe 1 day) and mostly packed food, but we will plan on doing a nicer dinner most or every night. We will be there for 5 dinners. Our son will eat free. Is there any good resource to punch in the numbers and to compare self-pay versus dining plan, or does anyone know just by looking at this info?

Thanks. Just trying to get our budget in check so that I can start making regular payments toward our vacation.

 

[kmb584]

Park days? We have booked our initial reservation,and now I'm thinking that we will plan for 5 park days even though we were initially thinking of doing 4 with a break/ pool day in the middle. Can you do a half day park pass or is it all or nothing?

Disney does not sell half-day passes so it's all or nothing.

Also, we will probably "hop around" somewhat between mornings and evenings. I know that we will want to spend at least one full day if not two at the MK and one day at Epcot, which leaves 2-3 days to play around with. Do HS and AK have enough for small kids (2 and 4) to warrant full days of planning? Or could we mix them up with some partial Epcot days?

It varies from family to family. A lot of people consider DHS and AK to be half day parks, but we've almost always spent full days there, especially so at AK where most of the experience is seeing the animals. Take a look at what each has to offer, check off what you'll definitely do or see, and go from there. If it doesn't look like you'll spend a day's worth of time in each park definitely mix them up with EP or MK.

Finally, now that we've figured out the whole are we going/ where are we staying question, I'm reconsidering not doing a dining plan. My initial concern was that we wouldn't eat enough to make it worth it-- we will do breakfast in our room most days (with 1-2 breakfast res), and lunches will likely be a little fast dining (minimal- maybe 1 day) and mostly packed food, but we will plan on doing a nicer dinner most or every night. We will be there for 5 dinners. Our son will eat free. Is there any good resource to punch in the numbers and to compare self-pay versus dining plan, or does anyone know just by looking at this info?

Based solely on the information you gave, do not get the dining plan. You'll be eating breakfast in your room and plan for only 1 QS lunch, and you'll lose a lot of money if going to DDP route. DD and I visit twice each year, have 1-2 TS meals per day as well as 1 QS, and I save about $600 by paying OOP for our meals. http://www.distripplanner.com/ is a handy tool where you can plug in your meal information and see if DDP is worth it for you.

 

[NEEN09]

Based solely on the information you gave, do not get the dining plan. You'll be eating breakfast in your room and plan for only 1 QS lunch, and you'll lose a lot of money if going to DDP route. DD and I visit twice each year, have 1-2 TS meals per day as well as 1 QS, and I save about $600 by paying OOP for our meals. [Link removed since I'm new] is a handy tool where you can plug in your meal information and see if DDP is worth it for you.

Thanks- that tool is amazing and yes, it looks like we'll save a few hundred dollars at least by not doing the dining plan. Woohoo!

 

[mjkacmom]

Also, we will probably "hop around" somewhat between mornings and evenings.

You will need parkhopper tickets if you plan to hop to a different park on the same day.