Second-guessing my Dining Plan

[MErnst]

I'm 99 days out. It's me, DS7 and my mom, 60 at Pop with DDP. I originally had QSDP and then upgraded to Regular DDP in hopes of FD and we would pay the difference. Now I'm reconsidering because I don't want to be tied down to reservations. Most of our ADR's are for lunch so we get out of the heat and my mom can sit and relax for a bit. If I change back to QSDP, is it possible to dine without having burgers all the time? Should I just leave well enough alone? Am I over-planning and over-thinking it all? These are our current ressies:

Oct 8th-Yak & Yeti for lunch
Oct 9th-Chef Mickey's for dinner
Oct 10th-Le Cellier for lunch
Garden Grille for dinner
Oct 11th-Sci-Fi for lunch

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

I find I prefer doing the sit down meals at lunch and flexible meals for dinner. Id stick with the DDP then you do get the midday break and such.

You can avoid burgers go to Sunshine Seasons, Flame Tree BBQ, Yak n Yeti (cs), Pop has loads of variety (pasta, flatbreads, moms night out meals etc), the WS restaurants, Cosmic Rays, Columbian Harbor House etc! You can get non burgers at all those places!

Just enjoy your trip you've earned it with all your planning

 

[MErnst]

Thanks! I made the ADR's with the same thinking in mind about sit down lunches and being flexible for dinner whether we are at the resort or at a park. My mom just keeps asking if I've scheduled bathroom breaks... I'm sure it will all be just fine...now crossing my fingers for FD!

 

[catne]

Oct 8th-Yak & Yeti for lunch
Oct 9th-Chef Mickey's for dinner
Oct 10th-Le Cellier for lunch
Garden Grille for dinner
Oct 11th-Sci-Fi for lunch

If you did downsize to QSDP you would not save all that much...$22 a day I think for 2 Adults/1 Child. I'd keep the reservations, just for the opportunity to have a nice A/C meal with service.

However, if you do decide to skip the TS, you can still do a nice job of non-burger meals with A/C. Any day you're at the resort for lunch or dinner you'll find numerous non-burger choices at the counter service restaurant.

In the parks: At Animal Kingdom, I'd go for Flametree (but no indoor seating if it's hot...nice shady seats around behind the place though.) Or Pizzafari at AK...does have A/C indoor seating. On the night you have Chef Mickey, eat at POP or if you're doing Magic Kingdom that day, go to Columbia Harbor House for some nice fish choices or Cosmic Rays for the rotisserie chicken or BBQ ribs platter. If you want to ride the monorail, take it to the Polynesian for their counter service (Captain Cook's) or to The Contemporary for counter service there...both have indoor A/C seating and you can explore the resort for a bit of an indoor break. On Epcot day, go to Morocco or England counter service for interesting lunch, and Sunshine Seasons (in the Land building) for dinner. At DHS, try Pizza Planet for lunch...lots of A/C seating in there. Starring Rolls serves a couple of delish gourmet sandwiches for lunch (they're premade though) and no indoor seating but if it's a pleasant weather day it's a good non-burger choice.

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

Thanks! I made the ADR's with the same thinking in mind about sit down lunches and being flexible for dinner whether we are at the resort or at a park. My mom just keeps asking if I've scheduled bathroom breaks... I'm sure it will all be just fine...now crossing my fingers for FD!

Scheduling bathroom breaks is very important you should read jordanyosh's TR where he rates bathrooms that way your mother can pick which ones got the best ratings.
Its nice to have things plan but what I find even more useful is when those plans fail and you have back up ideas as you've researched so well.
For example for some reason concierge accidentally delted a dining reservation when we were looking for a change of time. So instead of panicking or eating CS since we were at DHS I took my family to the boats took a boat to the Beach Club and went to Beaches and Cream and it turned out to be one of our best meals! And the waitress we had used to work at 50s PT and said she preferred it at Beaches and Cream and if we're sad we missed our reservation she can offer us no ice cream til we eat our veggies haha it was so much fun.

So yay to your planning !
Im actually crazy I created a little duotang of all the CS menus for each park and the list of acceptable snacks (highlighting ones that we'd like or are well worth a credit) So we can pull it out in the parks and just pick what we want instead of walking alllll the way there and realizing heh we really want somewhere else.

Though DFi loves this about me haha

 

[crabbygal902]

Please forgive me if I'm WAY off base, but isn't free dining being offered during your trip?

 

[VikingInMouseEars]

Please forgive me if I'm WAY off base, but isn't free dining being offered during your trip?

Not yet, current general public offer ends Oct 2nd.

 

[MErnst]

Please forgive me if I'm WAY off base, but isn't free dining being offered during your trip?

Nope, not yet! I did get a monster pin code for 40% off but it was only good for 3 nights....we are there Oct 7th thru 12th. If and when FD is offered, it's a better deal for us and I will be on the phone making that change.

 

[cuddleworthy]

I bet they'll extend the free dining soon Did you call and make sure that the monster pin couldn't be applied to your whole trip? I booked and some dates that were excluded in the e-mail were fine when I called and the CM applied them to my trip!

 

[MErnst]

When I called to use it, I was only allowed for the first 3 nights of our stay. The end of our stay is during the Columbus Day weekend holiday and it wasn't offered. That's ok....something discounted was better than nothing but I'm still hopeful for FD.

 

[lovesdumbo]

If you did downsize to QSDP you would not save all that much...$22 a day I think for 2 Adults/1 Child. I'd keep the reservations, just for the opportunity to have a nice A/C meal with service.

The OP would also save the cost of the tips on the TS meals. Plus the QSDP comes with refillable mugs and 2 snacks per day.

I never eat burgers at WDW counter service-lots of other choices out there. I get a burger at Sci Fi. We love the atmosphere there but I would pay OOP there.

 

[sndral]

CS certainly has non burger options. But, you have to wait in line for your food, carry the food & find a table to eat your food. If it's hot, all the indoor cs places will be more crowded than outdoor places, if it's raining - same thing. If you are hungry @ normal meal times (especially lunch) it'll be more crowded.
Sit down restaurants are part of the disney experience for me and I look forward to enjoying some nice sit down meals during my vacation.

 

[MErnst]

CS certainly has non burger options. But, you have to wait in line for your food, carry the food & find a table to eat your food. If it's hot, all the indoor cs places will be more crowded than outdoor places, if it's raining - same thing. If you are hungry @ normal meal times (especially lunch) it'll be more crowded.
Sit down restaurants are part of the disney experience for me and I look forward to enjoying some nice sit down meals during my vacation.

You've convinced me to keep what I have. This is the first time I've done a dining plan...we've normally done CS meals with a character dinner or breakfast mixed in. I am looking forward to a few sit down meals at places I've never been.