Well, after weeks of planning our dining options, we were thwarted at every turn once we got there! A little by the weather, but more by my DH who just couldn't get with the program. He always insisted on eating too much lunch too late, causing us to not be hungry for our TS reservations.
I was very excited when I learned that snack credits could be used at the F&W festival. Our first day at Epcot, when I had planned to take advantage of these for dinner, it was raining and DH insisted we go instead of heading over for the concert and to eat around the World. Our second Epcot day, he insisted on a burger for lunch, which made us not very hungry for our early Le Cellier reservation. I forced myself to use one snack credit right before we left at the F&W, but I would have loved to sample more items.
We had eaten so late in the morning that we weren't hungry when we went to the Garden Grill for lunch either. I was quite disappointed in the character interaction at the Garden Grill. I couldn't get a dinner reservation, but got the last one for lunch. I was afraid the characters would leave and ask about that before making the reservation. I was assured they would still be around. Then, when we were nearly 30 minutes late getting seated, I ask the hostess again if we would see the characters a lot. She also assured me that we would. NOT. Chip and Dale practically RAN by the table once. Pluto made one very quick stop. Mickey made a couple of brief passes, and that was it. Not at all what I expected. The waiter was a gem and the food was plentiful and pretty good, but I had hoped for more for DS6, who barely eats anything.
The Hoop Dee Doo Review was fun, but the waiter scolded us for not requesting kid friendly foods in advance. He finally came up with an order of french fries for DS6. DS11 ate a chicken leg and that was it. The ribs were terrible, but the rest of the food was pretty good. The shortcake was quite good.
On checkout day, we had 14 snacks, 10 counter service, and one TS left. We went to Kona for carryout for the one TS. We went to the Pepper Market and got 10 carryout meals! What a haul! We got mostly muffins for the desserts, so had breakfast the whole next week (in our new resort off-site). We got juices for the drinks. We actually cut down our food budget for the next week dramatically. We used the snack credits for a pile of Mickey ice cream bars and the rice crispie treats. We brought a couple of the rice crispies home for my daughter who couldn't go along.
In spite of our disappointments, the meal plan was tremendous since it was free. I doubt I would pay for it for the whole family, because it's just too much food for my picky eaters.
Sheila
I was very excited when I learned that snack credits could be used at the F&W festival. Our first day at Epcot, when I had planned to take advantage of these for dinner, it was raining and DH insisted we go instead of heading over for the concert and to eat around the World. Our second Epcot day, he insisted on a burger for lunch, which made us not very hungry for our early Le Cellier reservation. I forced myself to use one snack credit right before we left at the F&W, but I would have loved to sample more items.
We had eaten so late in the morning that we weren't hungry when we went to the Garden Grill for lunch either. I was quite disappointed in the character interaction at the Garden Grill. I couldn't get a dinner reservation, but got the last one for lunch. I was afraid the characters would leave and ask about that before making the reservation. I was assured they would still be around. Then, when we were nearly 30 minutes late getting seated, I ask the hostess again if we would see the characters a lot. She also assured me that we would. NOT. Chip and Dale practically RAN by the table once. Pluto made one very quick stop. Mickey made a couple of brief passes, and that was it. Not at all what I expected. The waiter was a gem and the food was plentiful and pretty good, but I had hoped for more for DS6, who barely eats anything.
The Hoop Dee Doo Review was fun, but the waiter scolded us for not requesting kid friendly foods in advance. He finally came up with an order of french fries for DS6. DS11 ate a chicken leg and that was it. The ribs were terrible, but the rest of the food was pretty good. The shortcake was quite good.
On checkout day, we had 14 snacks, 10 counter service, and one TS left. We went to Kona for carryout for the one TS. We went to the Pepper Market and got 10 carryout meals! What a haul! We got mostly muffins for the desserts, so had breakfast the whole next week (in our new resort off-site). We got juices for the drinks. We actually cut down our food budget for the next week dramatically. We used the snack credits for a pile of Mickey ice cream bars and the rice crispie treats. We brought a couple of the rice crispies home for my daughter who couldn't go along.
In spite of our disappointments, the meal plan was tremendous since it was free. I doubt I would pay for it for the whole family, because it's just too much food for my picky eaters.
Sheila
Actually a family of 10 in two rooms on a 8 night stay. My dad had 32 snack credits to use for his room . 
I used one credit for a drink on the night of the 
