Sometimes more is not always better: our DxDDP experience

[princessaloha]

Aloha Fellow Dis'ers. We just returned from a wonderful 12 days in the world with 11 days on the Deluxe Dining Plan and wanted to share some of our thoughts and experience with everyone. Please understand that this is only my opinion and I am in no way stating that I think everyone should or will agree with my thoughts.

Pertinent background info: We are a family of five, me, DH, AdultDS, DD5 and DD2. Prior to this trip, we considered ourselves to be big eaters. Emphasis on "prior". Our normal eating pattern when we go out to dinner is upscale, 1-2 appetizers to share, entree, 1-2 desserts to share, and 1-2 adult beverage for DH. Our first experience with Disney's Dining Plan was on our first trip to the World approximately seven years ago for four days. . It was an unexpected bonus to our trip package we weren't aware of until we arrived. Since it was "free" we didn't really worry about using all the credits or maximizing costs etc. We ate when we wanted, how we wanted and didn't give it a second thought. As I recall, appetizers and tips were also included. I also vaguely remember we added a wine package for my DH. Our impression was a very positive one and we agreed that we would continue to use the plan for all our trips.

Recently we became DVC members and the "free" dining option wasn't an option. After extensive research here on the Disboards and running numbers and using several spreadsheets provided by some awesome fellow Dis-ers, we decided to pay out of pocket for one of the dining plans.

We decided to NOT go with the Regular Dining plan for the following reasons:
1. We like appetizers
2. We needed a few more credits to cover all the reservations we made than was available on the plan

We decided to go with the Deluxe for the following reasons:
1. We prefer Signature/Sit downs and Character Meals
2. We like appetizers
3. We wanted to use snack credits at Food & Wine
4. There were more than enough credits to cover the reservations we had made.

Our plan was to use 1 credit for an early lunch (we aren't big breakfast people) and as many Signature restaurants for late dinners as I could get reservations for 6 weeks out or character meals. We realized that we would have a few extra credits, which we would try to use up here and there. Besides, since we had, by my estimations using several spreadsheets here on the Disboard, met and surpassed the cost of the DxDDp by more than a $1000, a few extra credits wasn't a big deal. I had also decided that we would share any extra credits with someone on our last day. The thought of sharing some pixie dust made me very happy. I'll let you know how that went at the end of this post.

3 adults, 1 child, 1 infant (no charge) = $3,085. OR
132 Deluxe Meal Credits,
88 Snack Credits and
4 Re-fillable Mugs

So how did it turn out? Well...not so great for us and here's why.

1. It really was too much food. I can't believe I said that. Half way through the trip my DH became very negative when I would carefully remind him of our reservations for the following day. My DS at one point mentioned that it was quite funny that we went to the buffets (like 1900 Park Fare) to eat less. ETA: at one point, I counted 11 Styrofoam boxes and 8 black carry out boxes in our refrigerator. No joke.

2. Mostly due to the bus system (will post a link to my trip report when I finish writing it outlining in detail this issue) each meal from waiting at the bus stop to return home was over three hours. The Jiko dinner, round trip, took 5 hours and 15 minutes. Our flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles was only 4 hours and 45 minutes. PLEASE EVERYONE: seriously consider making most of your reservations IN the park you will be in. Just a suggestion. One I completely ignored but feel obligated to now pass on to fellow posters.

3. ETA: forgot to mention that DD5 refused to eat any of the children's choices. Both her and the baby only ate the appetizers we ordered. So the child's meal/credit was usually left completely untouched.

4. You can't use the re-fillable mugs in the parks. Since we didn't spend any time at our resort and we were located very far away from the re-fill station, our mugs went pretty much un-used.

5. My DD5 had a medical emergency and we were unable to make two meals, there by not being able to use those 8 credits.

6. I put on 10.8 lbs, which is funny considering the next point.

7. We ended up with 17 left over credits! That's right, not a few but 17! What a nightmare.

But the saddest part for me was standing there on the last evening in the middle of the Earl of Sandwich begging people to let me pay for their meals and NOT ONE person took me up on my offer. Even after I explained the situation. NOT ONE. Same thing happened earlier at the last restaurant we were at when I offered to pay for the table next to us. I almost started crying. All I wanted to do was give some pixie dust to someone. The funniest reply came from two guys. The one said he didn't want me to pay for his meal because he got a character discount. His friend whispered to me that he would love to use the credit but when I went to pay, the first guy told me it wasn't necessary.

So as my title says for us, "Sometimes, more is not always better". Next time we are going to try the TIW card and see how that goes.

Hopes this helps someone

 

[laceemouse]

I could never see how the deluxe dining plan would be worth it with kids, just too much time sitting around in fancy restaurants and not enough park time.
I would think that if you did a lot of signature dining though it could be worth it?
While appetizers taste good I can't see how anyone could eat them at every meal. We would all be full before the real meal even got there.
When you were making reservations did you not think about how much food this would be

 

[princessaloha]

Good questions. My replies are in red below

I could never see how the deluxe dining plan would be worth it with kids Since there was no charge for the 2 yr old, we thought the 2 yr old and 5 yr old would split the child's meal which then didn't seem like that much., just too much time sitting around in fancy restaurants We sit around in a lot of fancy restaurants at home, so this didn't seem like that big of a deal. The actual sit down time in the restaurants ranged from 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Which to us is reasonable. We thought it would provide a nice break time for everyone in the middle of the day. The time problem came from waiting around for transportation.and not enough park time since most (all) of the fancy signature reservations were for 8pm we didn't think it was going to really cut into park time. Because of the transportation issues, the reality was a bit different .
I would think that if you did a lot of signature dining though it could be worth it? We became DVC members only 2 months prior to our visit, so making ADR's was limited to what was available. Although we hit most Signature, there were a few nights when it was just regular sit down dining. If you miss one night of Signature then you're automatic 1 set of credits down. Plus the 5 year had a medical emergency. Something completely our of our control that made us miss two meals or 8 credits. Originally we would have only had approximately 8 extra credits or 2 meals left over. I mention it because sometimes illnesses come into play and you lose out on those points.
While appetizers taste good I can't see how anyone could eat them at every meal. We would all be full before the real meal even got there.
When you were making reservations did you not think about how much food this would be We had only planned two meals a day, so in theory it didn't seem like that much food. The problem for us was the actual size of the servings of food. The appetizers are the size of full meals here where we live. We're use to more "amuse bouche" size appetizers. Think 5 slices of ahi sashimi for $20. Three tablespoons of soup for $15. We weren't prepared for the shear size of the appetizers or entree's or even the desserts. Plus it was our anniversary so each and every restaurant presented us with additional desserts, champagne, gifts. Several places would give us extra servings, usually to go, of something we complimented them. Hence many of the styrofoam/black take out boxes. For example Sanaa's gave us an additional 3 servings of Chai cream just because I said it was wonderful.

 

[TheDisney411]

I could never see how the deluxe dining plan would be worth it with kids, just too much time sitting around in fancy restaurants and not enough park time.
I would think that if you did a lot of signature dining though it could be worth it?
While appetizers taste good I can't see how anyone could eat them at every meal. We would all be full before the real meal even got there.
When you were making reservations did you not think about how much food this would be

I agree.

The deluxe dining is a huge waste of time and money, especially with the big price hike coming for 2013. I mean $100 per person per night, that's simply ridiculous

 

[bigbabyblues]

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. I hate that you weren't able to use all of your credits.

 

[princessaloha]

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. I hate that you weren't able to use all of your credits.

Thank you bigbabyblues for your kindness

 

[lilouisianagal]

I wish I would have been in line with you! Never pass up some pixie dust. We're never opted to do the DDP because we would never order that much food if we were OOP, so why pay for it on plan?

If you were doing it again, would you do regular DDP and pay for extras or would you opt to go completely OOP?

I hope your DD5 is okay now?

 

[houstonmama]

Im surprised no on took you up on your offer! I would gladly let you buy me a sandwich . I'm interested in your bus experience? I'm considering renting a car but I'm still not sure :

Hope your DD is feeling better!

 

[princessaloha]

I wish I would have been in line with you! Never pass up some pixie dust. We're never opted to do the DDP because we would never order that much food if we were OOP, so why pay for it on plan?

If you were doing it again, would you do regular DDP and pay for extras or would you opt to go completely OOP?

I hope your DD5 is okay now?

Oh lilouisianagal! I would have LOVED it if you had been in line with me. I would've probably hugged you and you would have great stories about the crazy food credit lady. LOL!

At the moment, we've only been home less than a week, we're saying absolutely no to anymore dining plans and going with the TIW card next time. BUT give it a year and I'm pretty sure I'll be running the numbers and second/third/fourth guessing myself regarding the regular dining plan. LOL

Have you used any of the dining plans before? How did it work for your family?

My DD is doing much much better. Almost fully recovered. She had a severe reaction to the sunscreen and chlorine at Blizzard Beach. Her entire face, neck, arms swelled up to the point that she couldn't see out of one eye and barely could see out of the other eye. Think Elephant Man. Plus a horrible itchy raised red rash from head to toe. Even with the hydro-cortisone and Benadryl she wouldn't stop scratching and was bleeding from the constant scratching. It was so scary. Had to call the emergency room doctor. Then we had to monitor her breathing for a couple days just in case. They almost put her on steroids but thank goodness we were able to avoid that. Thank you for your concern (the heart smilie disappeared so here's a flower one for you)

 

[princessaloha]

Im surprised no on took you up on your offer! I would gladly let you buy me a sandwich . I'm interested in your bus experience? I'm considering renting a car but I'm still not sure :

Hope your DD is feeling better!

Thank you houstonmama! DD is doing much better.

I'm writing a more detailed account of our bus experience in my trip report, which I hope to post by the end of this weekend. I'll update the link here once it's done.

I'm not sure if ours was an isolated situation or not. We were staying at the Old Key West Resort. OKW has four main stops within the resort itself which can add up to 15 minutes or more to your travel time before you even head out of the resort. The way the bus system in general works is that you can't go from resort to resort or park to park. You have to go from resort to park or park to resort or some kind of combination of bus/monorail/boat/transportation center.

For the most extreme example that we encountered was a 7:55pm dinner reservation at Jiko's. To get from OKW to Animal Kingdom Lodge, you have to go to the nearest bus stop, in our case it was Miller's Road, wait for the next DTD bus, ride around OKW to all the other stops, head over to DTD, get off and wait for the AKL bus, head over to AKL, walk over to Jiko's and reverse the procedure. If you just happen to miss the first OKW bus, it could be up to 20 minutes for the next one. If you miss the second AKL bus it could be another 15-20 mins. Altogether that evening round trip was 5 hours and 15 minutes. The actual dinner portion was about 1 1/2 hours.

Several times, we waited more than 20 mins for one of buses at OKW (one was MK) and when we finally asked another bus driver when it was suppose to get there, twice, we were told there was a problem and they had to get another bus, but it would be along soon. Let's just say "Soon" is a relative term. One evening, on our way to another dinner, we passed 5 broken down buses on the side of the highway. Two had their doors open, but no one inside. One day we were on the bus to MK and stood in Que for at least 10 mins before the bus driver could pull in. The buses were seriously backed up. The driver said there was a "situation".

Another extreme example that we experience was on the morning of our 1900 Park Fare breakfast. We had a 10:15am reservation. We gave ourselves 2 hours to get there. We were late. No joke. After waiting, we took our normal bus, drove around the resort to pick up no one, to drive to DTD to catch the GF bus only to find out that there was no GF bus until 11am. After being told by the bus driver and transportation guy that they would help get us to our location, we were instead dropped off at Saratoga Springs to then wait for a MK bus (which we could have done at DTD and saved the more than 30 min ride to SS and wait for the MK bus) to get off at MK, run and miss the monorail, then told by the monorail guy to run back down the ramp to catch the boat, to ride in the wind and humidity to finally get to the boat launch at the GF to have to run carrying two small children (did I mention I just had an emergency appendectomy two weeks earlier?) across the GF to finally make it to 1900 Park Fare late, then to have to wait another 20 mins while they accommodated our tardiness.

In contrast, we hired a taxi for our Victoria & Albert QVR dinner and it took...7 mins from the front of our room to the front of the GF and cost us $15.50 plus $5 tip (he was funny and entertaining).

Sorry, this is probably more than you asked for. And these are extreme cases. Our last trip, we loved, loved the bus system and we were staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge. So I'm not sure if something was going on during the two weeks we were there. We ran into several regulars who all stated they only bring their cars and gave us some cool tips on how best to utilize a car/parking/transportation in the World. I was amazed at how generous people were with wanted to give helpful suggestions.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Oh on a side tangent: they're testing out a new bus system tracking at the GF! It's super cool. I'm including information about it in my trip report.

 

[Colleen27]

Glad to hear your DD has fully recovered!

The advice about planning meals in/near the park you'll be at is priceless regardless of how you're paying. We loved our dinner at Jiko, but getting back to CBR on the bus took almost as long as the meal. Now when we have later dinners or eat at out of the way resorts like AKL we spring for a cab afterwards.

We very much enjoyed the DxDDP for years but between the price increases and the fact that my girls have each aged up a level (one from child to adult, one from free to child) it just doesn't work for us any more. But even when it was a great deal I think the TiW was a better one... If we'd been eligible to buy one that would have been our choice every time, and since I'll have an AP for next year I will certainly take advantage.

 

[princessaloha]

Glad to hear your DD has fully recovered!

The advice about planning meals in/near the park you'll be at is priceless regardless of how you're paying. We loved our dinner at Jiko, but getting back to CBR on the bus took almost as long as the meal. Now when we have later dinners or eat at out of the way resorts like AKL we spring for a cab afterwards.

We very much enjoyed the DxDDP for years but between the price increases and the fact that my girls have each aged up a level (one from child to adult, one from free to child) it just doesn't work for us any more. But even when it was a great deal I think the TiW was a better one... If we'd been eligible to buy one that would have been our choice every time, and since I'll have an AP for next year I will certainly take advantage.

Thank you Colleen27!

I completely agree with you.

 

[angelbear425]

I agree that the Deluxe Dining Plan would be way too much food (although I would have gladly let you buy my meal if I were there lol). I was on the regular dining plan with 1TS/1QS/1S when I was down there last month and I even thought that was too much food when I was down there. We would do a buffet character breakfast in the morning and use the QS for dinner in whatever park we happened to be in that day.

One other question..... OP, When you were late for your 1900 breakfast, why didn't you take a bus to MK to begin with instead of to DTD? That would have definitely saved time because GF is right there. Eventually you tried to do that anyway, but wouldn't it have saved a ton of time?

 

[princessaloha]

I agree that the Deluxe Dining Plan would be way too much food (although I would have gladly let you buy my meal if I were there lol). I was on the regular dining plan with 1TS/1QS/1S when I was down there last month and I even thought that was too much food when I was down there. We would do a buffet character breakfast in the morning and use the QS for dinner in whatever park we happened to be in that day.

One other question..... OP, When you were late for your 1900 breakfast, why didn't you take a bus to MK to begin with instead of to DTD? That would have definitely saved time because GF is right there. Eventually you tried to do that anyway, but wouldn't it have saved a ton of time?

Yes, that would have been the intelligent thing to do Where were you when I needed you angelbear?! Actually, we asked the night before and were told to go to DTD, that was the fastest way, otherwise we'd have to deal with either the monorail or the boat too. We had never been on either the monorail or the boat so didn't have a clue as to what all was involved time wise in dealing with those and went with what we were told. In their defense, we didn't mention time or anything. Just that we wanted to get from OKW to GF. That might have made a big difference. The bus driver who said, "not to worry, he would take care of us", then dropped us off at SS reprimanded us for listening to anyone other than the bus drivers themselves! (actually, I got reprimanded alot on this trip by all sorts of people now that I'm thinking about it ) We took his advice to heart and asked/confirmed with each and every driver whether this was the best way to get to our end destination. A couple of times we were advised on a different alternative, which was cool.

 

[JLS]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I am a HUGE believer in renting a car at Disney. Usually you can get a rental car for less than $20 (plus taxes) on Priceline and you save so much time and hassle its unbelievable. Particularly when you stay at a resort that shares buses or has multiple bus stops. Its ridiculous, IMO, to spend a ton of money to go to WDW and then spend 1-2 hours per day (or more) of your precious vacation time waiting for or riding Disney transportation, just to save on a rental car. And with little kids I would so much rather have them in a car seat than worry about holding them on a bus and folding up your stroller.

I consider us to be pretty big eaters and even on the regular dining plan I have found our refrigerator at the Beach Club full of leftovers by the end of the trip. Just the desserts alone are excessive - every family member does not need their own huge dessert with every meal, and then you have snack credits for sweets! I can't even imagine the situation on the DxDP.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I appreciate your insights. I'm going down in Jan. with my two younger kids (DD9, DS5), with me the only parent. It's a gift trip, so Deluxe Dining would be "free" to us--I would be paying tips, but that's it. I still decided against it, for several reasons you mentioned. I couldn't make it be a good value. I didn't want to go hither and yon for several meals (BTDT--the kids lose interest fast on that!). My kids aren't big eaters, and aren't particularly adventurous. So, we'll do regular dining, and I'll pay OOP for a few extras if need be.

Glad to hear your DD5 is doing better. It can be so scary to have a sick child on vacation!

 

[CraigInPA]

I think the "lessons learned" here are:
1. Choose dining locations in or near parks you are planning to attend.
2. If you're staying at a bus-only resort, consider taking a taxi to your far-off dining location if there is a requirement to change buses. Alternatively, if you are going to a dining location on a monorail resort, go to the MK and take the monorail, not to DTD and take another bus. Alternatively, rent a car and drive.
3. Don't feel obligated to eat everything they put on your plate.

I hope your child is ok.

 

[Colleen27]

Sorry, this is probably more than you asked for. And these are extreme cases. Our last trip, we loved, loved the bus system and we were staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge. So I'm not sure if something was going on during the two weeks we were there.

Choice of resort makes all the difference when it comes to the bus system, and transportation is one of the most frequent complaints about OKW. Several of my DVC friends have advised against staying there without a car because of the bus situation, and that's not OKW's fault... it is just a big, sprawling resort that needs many bus stops, and that inevitably makes getting anywhere on a bus take much longer than at a smaller resort like AKL.

We had the same issue with CBR - the resort itself is very nice and they've got the best pool of any of the moderates, but with 7 bus stops it takes forever to get anywhere. I wouldn't stay there again for that reason; we don't want to rent a car when we're at WDW so I'd rather stick to resorts with better bus service. Hence my affinity for Pop and desire to stay at AKL for one of next year's trips.

 

[discookiemonsta]

First of all, let me just say that I am so sorry you had to go through the issues with one of your children being sick on vacation That is never good and I am glad that everything turned out alright and your child is better now!!!

We have used the regular DP a few times (paid for once/FD a few times) and I can say that even though I have paid to upgrade from the QSDP to the Regular Plan, I would never have considered upgrading (or even if it would have been completely free) to the DxDDP because that just seems an overload of sitdown restaurants and food.

With the regular dining plan, we use it mainly for Character meals and meals in the park we will be at that day. We only plan for meals outside of the parks if we don't have a park day scheduled on that day. We usually have a character meal breakfast/QS for lunch and sit down restaurant meal for dinner. Sometimes we only have have sit down meal per day or even 2 QS meals the whole day. We stop at Publix on the way to our resort and stock up on breakfast items and snacks. That way, if we don't have a breakfast ADR, we always have breakfast in the room, which saves our QS credits for lunches and dinners.

We also love appetizers, but I know ahead of time that I may not want to order any at some restaurants (depending on the main course I am ordering) and if I do want to order some appetizers, I'll pay OOP for them!

With the regular dining plan it gives us a nice mix of enjoying sit down restaurants and some (but not too much) down time, getting to sit down, rest our legs, etc.

Also, for any monorail resort ADR's we always take the bus to MK and then change over to the monorail. And if we are going to Cape May Cafe we take the bus to DHS and then take the Friendship Boat to the resort. (also goes for any restaurants at any of the resorts on the Friendship boat loop!)

 

[princessaloha]

Thank you everyone for your responses, concern for DD and helpful tips.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I am a HUGE believer in renting a car at Disney. Usually you can get a rental car for less than $20 (plus taxes) on Priceline and you save so much time and hassle its unbelievable. Particularly when you stay at a resort that shares buses or has multiple bus stops. Its ridiculous, IMO, to spend a ton of money to go to WDW and then spend 1-2 hours per day (or more) of your precious vacation time waiting for or riding Disney transportation, just to save on a rental car. And with little kids I would so much rather have them in a car seat than worry about holding them on a bus and folding up your stroller.

I consider us to be pretty big eaters and even on the regular dining plan I have found our refrigerator at the Beach Club full of leftovers by the end of the trip. Just the desserts alone are excessive - every family member does not need their own huge dessert with every meal, and then you have snack credits for sweets! I can't even imagine the situation on the DxDP.

ITA JLS! We've made the decision to get a car next time. We spoke we several people during our extensive bus wait times, or as I've come to call it "bonding time with random strangers", who loved using their cars and think this is probably the way to go for us. Will report back next year.

I appreciate your insights. I'm going down in Jan. with my two younger kids (DD9, DS5), with me the only parent. It's a gift trip, so Deluxe Dining would be "free" to us--I would be paying tips, but that's it. I still decided against it, for several reasons you mentioned. I couldn't make it be a good value. I didn't want to go hither and yon for several meals (BTDT--the kids lose interest fast on that!). My kids aren't big eaters, and aren't particularly adventurous. So, we'll do regular dining, and I'll pay OOP for a few extras if need be.

Glad to hear your DD5 is doing better. It can be so scary to have a sick child on vacation!

KUDOS to you for taking your younger kids solo! You're one of those amazing parents. Instead of a Disney celebration pin they should give you a super hero/mom cape! Hope your trip is amazing! Ita on your post.

I think the "lessons learned" here are:
1. Choose dining locations in or near parks you are planning to attend.
2. If you're staying at a bus-only resort, consider taking a taxi to your far-off dining location if there is a requirement to change buses. Alternatively, if you are going to a dining location on a monorail resort, go to the MK and take the monorail, not to DTD and take another bus. Alternatively, rent a car and drive.
3. Don't feel obligated to eat everything they put on your plate.

I hope your child is ok.

ITA, these are great lessons and tips. Quick story: at one point we started telling the waiter/waitress the minute we sat down that no matter how wonderful their bread service was, no matter how much we enjoy it, at no time are they allow to refill the bread basket, not even if we became weak and begged them. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to give them a 20% tip. That always got a laugh and some joking and no extra bread.

Ok, one more quick story: We also started asking for all the desserts to go. One restaurant said that usually for anniversary's they do a special dessert for the couple but since we were obvious so full we had to take our desserts to go, they decided instead to give a gift of light up ice cubes to "float in the jacuzzi, when the kiddies are in bed". That was a wonderful gift and yes, they do work in the jacuzzi lol

Choice of resort makes all the difference when it comes to the bus system, and transportation is one of the most frequent complaints about OKW. Several of my DVC friends have advised against staying there without a car because of the bus situation, and that's not OKW's fault... it is just a big, sprawling resort that needs many bus stops, and that inevitably makes getting anywhere on a bus take much longer than at a smaller resort like AKL.

We had the same issue with CBR - the resort itself is very nice and they've got the best pool of any of the moderates, but with 7 bus stops it takes forever to get anywhere. I wouldn't stay there again for that reason; we don't want to rent a car when we're at WDW so I'd rather stick to resorts with better bus service. Hence my affinity for Pop and desire to stay at AKL for one of next year's trips.

WOW, CBR has 7 bus stops?!!! Wow. Well, guess I should stop complaining about OKW's system. BTW, loved OKW! Beautiful, relaxing, AMAZING staff from the front desk to the bell hops (love these guys) to the restaurant staff.

We loved AKL. It was my son's only request on our first trip and it was amazing. I love the feeling walking into the lobby (both lobbies). It almost feels like you're actually on safari in some exotic locale. You're going to have a great time when you get there.

First of all, let me just say that I am so sorry you had to go through the issues with one of your children being sick on vacation That is never good and I am glad that everything turned out alright and your child is better now!!!

We have used the regular DP a few times (paid for once/FD a few times) and I can say that even though I have paid to upgrade from the QSDP to the Regular Plan, I would never have considered upgrading (or even if it would have been completely free) to the DxDDP because that just seems an overload of sitdown restaurants and food.

With the regular dining plan, we use it mainly for Character meals and meals in the park we will be at that day. We only plan for meals outside of the parks if we don't have a park day scheduled on that day. We usually have a character meal breakfast/QS for lunch and sit down restaurant meal for dinner. Sometimes we only have have sit down meal per day or even 2 QS meals the whole day. We stop at Publix on the way to our resort and stock up on breakfast items and snacks. That way, if we don't have a breakfast ADR, we always have breakfast in the room, which saves our QS credits for lunches and dinners.

We also love appetizers, but I know ahead of time that I may not want to order any at some restaurants (depending on the main course I am ordering) and if I do want to order some appetizers, I'll pay OOP for them!

With the regular dining plan it gives us a nice mix of enjoying sit down restaurants and some (but not too much) down time, getting to sit down, rest our legs, etc.

Also, for any monorail resort ADR's we always take the bus to MK and then change over to the monorail. And if we are going to Cape May Cafe we take the bus to DHS and then take the Friendship Boat to the resort. (also goes for any restaurants at any of the resorts on the Friendship boat loop!)

Thank you discookiemonsta! I'm thinking we're probably going to use the TIW card next time and put the amount we would have spent on a dining plan on a Disney gift card and see how that plays out. Although, this time next year I'll probably re-think the regular dining plan.

Love all the advice on maximizing the bus system! Very helpful!