Table Sercive Breakfasts Are they a waste of a TS meal?

[mapstangelo]

We currently have two breakfast table services booked Little Einsteins at Hollywood and Vine and Donald Dynosaurus (can't remember exact name) at Animal Kingdom, both are buffett breakfasts and I am just wondering is this a "waste" of a "dinner" we could be using this table service at?

It would seem if I am paying $38.99 a day for an adult meal plan, to use my table service for a buffet breakfast that is more than half the cost of my plan for the day doesn't add up?

I'd rather eat at breakfast in my Villa at Old Key West and spend the TS for a nice dinner somewhere???

Does that make sense?

 

[soontobewed07]

I am not sure how many are in your party, but for us breakfast was cheap enough to pay OOP we went to BOMA and RFC and paid OOP for those 2 meals. We used CS credits for other breakfasts especially when we had an early dinner.

 

[n2mm]

We don't use our TS credits for breakfast.

 

[auntsue]

I don't know if I'd call it a 'waste', it's just not as cost effective as using it for dinner. With the cost of the buffet being in the $20 area, and the cost of dinner being in the $30 area, it just seems like a better value to use it for dinner. As it is, we never have enough TS with the plan, because we eat at a couple of Signature restaurants each time, so we are always paying OOP for a couple of dinners. If you make your ADR's and don't need all your TS's for dinner, then it is of good value for you. If you're going to be short TS credits and have to pay, then obviously you will want to pay for a breakfast as opposed to a dinner. We never eat in the villa, just grab something from the BW Bakery for breakfast, then do a TS dinner every night except one, where we go to the Yakitori House for a CS meal to try to save a TS. When you eat a big breakfast, you usually will not need lunch. I found we were unable to use all of our CS credits both times we had the plan, but the DDP was still worth it to us because of the $30 dinner. By the time you added tax and tip, and the snack we used every day, we pretty much broke even, even though we never used a lot (8) of the CS credits.

On the other hand, my niece is going in September with two little ones and does not plan on eating every meal out, so she feels it is a good value for her to use the TS for character breakfasts.

 

[knovak]

We are only going to 1 TS Breakfast at Ohana as DD loves Stitch. We are paying out of pocket for this meal as it is the cheapest of them all and will use the all of our TS credits for our dinners.

 

[k-team]

We did two breakfast TS on our last trip. Donald's Breakfast and Boatwrights. We enjoyed both of them and we still definitely got our money's worth on the plan.

To me, it's more enjoyable to not put the dollar amount on the meals and just try the ones that strike your interest........unless you were in need of having to pay for some OOP.

 

[TxRabbit]

We have the Donald breakfast planned too. I think some of it boils down to having some flexibility in your touring. I look at the day where I have just the breakfast ADR scheduled and I think, wow, what a free day. We'll tank up in the morning (8:00 am!) and then just eat when we feel like it throughout the rest of the day and just do what we feel like and don't really have any other commitments. I look at the dinner days the same way, freedom in the morning and afternoon and then we have to be here by _____ for dinner. It adds variety to the trip, which I believe, adds it's own qualitative value.

I agree with the other posters, in that, if you need to pay OOP for a TS, breakfast would probably be the one to pick, depending on your plan. But I wouldn't let the notion of trying to maximize the monetary value of the plan influence your decision to schedule TS breakfast. As you already stated, you will get your money's worth for your plan for your trip when it is all said and done.

 

[aubriee]

We don't use our TS credits for breakfast.

Us either. If we schedule a TS breakfast, we just pay OOP for it and save the DDP credit for dinner.

 

[brymolmom]

We really prefer breakfast buffets over lunch - so one way we get the best of both worlds is to schedule the last breakfast seating - we have Little Einsteins and Donald's Breakfastosarus scheduled this way in August. That way we have our big meal close to the middle of the day - takes care of breakfast and lunch (we eat a muffin or piece of fruit in the room to hold us over until then).

WOW - I can't believe the people who pay OOP for meals. I can only see doing that if we had more than one signature restaurant - we always end up with way too many CS credits as it is - if we paid OOP for some additional TS meals - we'd only end up using half our CS credits. Of course - we have 2 little ones, so two TS meals in one day is tough (although we are doing it twice in August) - so that might be part of the reason for our preference. We also aren't huge 'foodies' so we look at the DP as our food for the vacation - and we like to come up with creative ways to try to use it all, keeping us happy and full - without having to pay OOP for anything. Last year, dd was under 3 so we didn't even have credits for her - and we still only spent about $20 total OOP on food/drinks for the week.

ANyway - I guess to sum it up - yes you will be getting about $10 - $15 'more' for using your credit on dinner - But - does it fit into your schedule? Would your enjoyment factor for breakfast offset this difference? Would you really want to pay OOP in the morning and do another TS meal later that same day? There is PLENTY of food on the DP - so even without paying OOP, even for breakfasts - you should be fine if you want to keep costs down.

 

[dspads]

We are going to the H&V breakfast on our MGM day. Our ADR is around 11am so it will be more of a lunch. We'll grab something quiick at our villa (OKW too) and then do Pizza Planet for dinner (this is a must, kids are HUGE Toy Story fans). I actually like this idea a lot becasue it frees up the main part of the day and evening - not spending a long time at TS. Great since parks close earlier when we are going and our kids peeter out early too.

I don't think its a waste. I am more worried we will have trouble making all of our dinner ADRs. That being said I wouldn't want to do it more then 2x (we are going for 6 nights). We are also doing Chef Mickeys, but for dinner.

On another note, I really don't like buffet dinners - I prefer them for breakfast type foods. We decided on CM for dinner as something fun to do on arrival day since we aren't going to the parks. I would love to do the Poly breakfast again but didnt want to chew too much into park time......hmmm maybe I should make an ADR just in case.......

 

[ZekeKelso]

Last time on the DDP, we used TS credits for breakfast at Boma's. If you go by "how much money you didn't spend on a meal," that might be the absolute worst possible use of TS credits.

But, in the long run, who cares how much you *don't* spend on a meal. Breakfast at Boma's fit perfectly into our schedule, so we ate there. What would have been a waste would be rearranging our whole schedule to "maximize" the dining plan.

To me, the only times it matters are (1) If you are eating more TS than you have credit, know which one is the cheapest to pay OOP, or (2) If you are using all your TS on "inexpensive" breakfasts, it might no longer make financial sense to get the plan.

 

[**tinkerbell**]

i have an adr for breakfast at concourse steakhouse....now im wondering if this may be a waste of TS credits? Has anybody ever had breakfast here using the dining plan, how many courses do you get? thanks

 

[beattyfamily]

I don't worry so much about if I'm getting the value out of a TS meal. I book all the meals I enjoy and that are convenient to where I'll be that day. That's it.

So I've used a TS credit for breakfast at CP in MK and I didn't think twice about it and I'd do it again!

I try not to over analyze the plan and just eat where and when we want to. If If I have to pay OOP for a meal, then I might think about which one is the best deal to pay OOP for but that's it.

 

[tazleiten12]

I will use a credit for some of the buffets, especially at holiday time, since most prices are going up! Chef Mickey's Breakfast at Christmas time with tax and 18% tip will cost me around $34 for each adult!
The normal price will be around $29, with tax and tip!

 

[tinkerbell60]

We were there for free dining last year and paid OOP for breakfast at Kona - there were 3 "adults" and 1 child. Our bill came to $70.00 - it would have been niced to use our credits for that. Even breakfast can be expensive!!

Choose your restaurants based on where you WANT to eat!!!

 

[cinderella_mom]

We still made out using 5 of our 7 TS for character breakfast buffets. Though breakfast is cheaper than TS dinners, they still come to more than 50% of the daily cost. A $20 breakfast buffet is really $25 with tax and tip. Our 2 TS dinners were 1900 Park Faire and Capn' Jacks. Trust me, we still spent less on food than we would have out of pocket eating at the same places.

Though you can have $50 TS dinners every night, you have to decide if that will be the most enjoyable use of your vacation time.

 

[mickeysaver]

For me, in figuring out where to dine this time as well as what would be the best use of out DDP credits, it was a fine balance of daily flow, sanity, and necessity that all out weighed best bang for the dollar, even though it too was a factor in the final choices. We have three breakfast meals and three dinner meals planned for use of our 6 TS credits.

To me, looking to get the most for your money at the table is such a waste because it could be costing you priceless memories in the parks. Maggie