To Meal Plan or Not and if not, what then?

[domesticking]

We have done both the dining plan and also paid out of pocket as well. The dining plan is great if you are big eaters. I am not such a big eater and so for our family of 2 and a half (a 2 year old included) we were able to eat for 7 days out of pocket for $380. That included breakfast each day at our resort (often a pastry or fruit and beverages in our refillable mug), 1 counter service meal each day which we sometimes shared, a snack each day which we shared, and a sit down dinner each night. We had a gift card for $500 which we used for our meals and had enough at the end of our trip to buy some soveniers. I also budgeted out the costs of meals and beverages with tip before we left by looking at the menus on disboards and so we often ordered less expensive entrees such as the ravioli at Le Cellier instead of the Filet Mignon, etc. On a side note, I actually lost 5 pounds on the trip where we paid out of pocket whereas I gained 5 lbs the week we had the dining plan. Both trips were fabulous. We had exceptional food, service, and were never hungry. It is up to you and what you are looking to get as far as your meals are concerned. No matter what you choose, I hope you have a wonderful vacation.

Am I reading this right? $380 for 2 adults for 7 days, with a table service meal each night?

 

[robinb]

Am I reading this right? $380 for 2 adults for 7 days, with a table service meal each night?

I think that's what she said. But if you notice they did a lot of sharing, which is fine if you're both light eaters like the OP and her DH. Personally, I *like* to eat so sharing meals is not for me .

 

[MHSweb79]

The dining plan does include a lot of food, and dessert with every meal which really is too much by the end of the week.
I am seriously considering the Quick Service plan for our future trips - you can get some very good meals and there's a lot more flexibility into creating your "combo" as has been stated above.
As for ordering from restaurants outside of Disney, there's absolutely no need, especially since you won't have a car. There are tons of places to eat at Disney- whether you're at your resort, in a park or at Downtown Disney or the Boardwalk.
There's really no wrong choice in deciding which meal plan or whether or not to even have a plan. There are benefits and drawbacks to all of them. The trick is to know what each choice entails, how to work the plan for best value or even how to pay out of pocket for best value. On our last trip, with the regular dining plan, we shared several meals like breakfast platters (tons of food) or the rotisserie chicken at Cosmic Ray's. These meals fed two adults adequately and allowed us to use our credits on the day of arrival AND the day of departure (stretched it to an extra day).

 

[redrosesix]

IMO, the easiest way to make the decision to DDP or not DDP is to look at the menus of the places you think you would eat. When my DD was 9, I nearly signed up for one of the dining plans until I really thought about our eating habits and what was on the menus. She doesn't like fries or chicken nuggets -- would rather have part of an adult meal than most of the kids' meals unless it's pizza or mac and cheese (which aren't available everywhere). DH and I almost always find the meals too big at CS restaurants, would rather share sometimes or skip dessert completely -- in fact, I'd rather get an ice cream cone or something really delectable later on (most CS restaurants in the parks have the same 2 offerings for dessert for every meal, neither of which would be my first choice) Then there are the drinks -- we are not pop drinkers, but sometimes would like an alcoholic beverage with our meals.

So, after doing a hypothetical menu order for some of the days we would be at WDW, it was very clear to us that neither dining plan would work for our family. We'd either be throwing food or credits away, or ordering additional items.

You should only do a dining plan if you can at least come close to breaking even -- otherwise you're better off paying out of pocket.

 

[blanq]

I am trying to decide on whether or not to do the meal plan. We have me, DH, DS -10, DD -8, DS -3. I am thinking we are only going to want reservations for dinner twice in 7 days, because my 3yo is not the best in restaurants yet. So if I do the Snack plan (can't remember what its called) and then make ressies for 2 nights, what else could we do for dinner. Can we order in from local restaurants (as we will not have a car)? What other options are there? I welcome all opinioins on whether or not we even do the plan.

Thanks for your feedback.

I think you answered your own question about the meal plan. You only want TS 2x in 7 days, and your three year old isn't yet at the stage where sit down restaurants work that well. So, no the DDP is not for you, since you would get many more TS meal credits with the DDP. The CS dining plan might be an option, but keep in mind you get a dessert with every meal. I personally would just go OOP, and stop to eat when your clan is hungry, making the couple of TS ressies for the two sit down restaurants you really want to try.

 

[leith]

Wow! Thank you for all of the feedback!!!
I have a restriction that I can't do buffets because DS10 has a food allergy so that does restrict us. So If I do ressies for 2 days and do the smaller food plan, what are options for dinners? The boardwalk, which is just regular restaurants, and then what else can you do for dinnner. I understand that outside restuarants can't deliver to our room. So I am unsure what other things I can plan for the family to eat. My DH is a big eater, and then me and the kids are average. Kids eat mostly kid food but all are starting to try more stuff.
I can't thank you all enough for your opinions...this is waaaayyyy tough!

 

[lissiesmum]

Hi Leith!

I just wanted to post that the first time I brought my DD to WDW, she was 3 and she was also not the best sit-down restaurant type of kiddo, but at WDW, she was so well-behaved and loved every restaurant we ate at...characters or no characters! If you decide to give it a try, book some good character spots and you will be surprised at how patiently your little one sits to wait for her turn to give the characters a hug

 

[brergnat]

Leigh, you seem completely confused about Dining at WDW IN GENERAL.

The Disney Dining Plan (DDP) is relatively new, compared to how long WDW has been around (since 1971). Prior to its creation, dining at WDW was just like dining anywhere else in the world. There are restaurants. You made reservations. You pay with a credit card, cash, or charge to your room account. Same as you would do in your home town. Since the DDP has been created, you are given the OPTION to purchase it as part of a package including hotel room and tickets, pay IN ADVANCE, and recieve "credits" for meals, counter service meals, and snacks. These credits are on your hotel room key and you present that as "payment", where credits are deducted for the meal you have eaten. You are given a receipt that shows you how many of each type of CREDIT you have left. You are also free to pay for meals and snacks out of pocket, if you want to do so. By having the DDP, you are not restricted to ONLY eating what it provides. You are able to buy things at WDW with cash and credit cards same as before. Many, many people do NOT purchase the DDP, and still are able to dine in all the same establishments as those who do.

First of all, a meal plan is NOT required to dine in any of the couple HUNDRED restaurants within the WDW property. ALL the DDP is is a PREPAID meal plan. It offers a SLIGHT discount, when compared to ordering individual items a la carte. However, it is a LOT of food.

I think it is WAY too confusing for most people, especially those who are visiting WDW for the first time. There's a lot to "know" about how to use it properly, and get the most bang for your buck. Best for WDW vets, in my opinion. Also, it takes some knowledge of the WDW transportation system to avoid spending HOURS every day travelling to/from your restaurant reservations.

You also should know that WDW chefs are EXCEPTIONAL about allergies. There is a special number you can call prior to your trip to discuss your concerns for the restaurants you have made ADR for. When you arrive, they will have the chef come out and talk to you to be sure the food for your child is "safe". EVEN at buffets! They can even make special dishes that are otherwise not on the menu, in order to accommodate an allergy, so the whole family does not have to avoid a place.

My advice to you is NOT get the dining plan. Make a couple ADR's for restaurants that seem appealing to your family. Otherwise, there is a PLETHORA of places to eat "on the fly" in all the parks, resorts, and Downtown Disney. MANY of them, even if they are "counter service" provide excellent food, suitable for dinner. Trust me, everyone at WDW does not go to a sit down restaurant at dinner time! I would actually be inclined to suggest you do your sit downs at LUNCH time. Usually a lot cheaper with many of the same menus as dinner. Your 3 year old will likely be better behaved earlier in the day too! Then, for dinner, you can just eat wherever you happen to be at the time, no stress.

 

[Morganpics]

We just left WDW, this is the first time we utilized the DDP. We did not have the deluxe, thank heavens. We still had a hard time using up all of our meals. Now that we have done it, we think the next time we would use the QS as opposed to the TS. I definitely have gained weight, which is NOT a good thing! We did a split stay, with the longer stay the second part of the trip. At least by then we had come to understand it better, but even so, we lost 2 QS meals (1 each). We do think it worked out ok in general, but there really was more food than we normally eat.

 

[tlenzendorf]

The only thing I have to add to this I guess would have to do with the kids that are 10 and 8. We just went with with DDs 10, 9 and 5. There was a lot of animosity towards DD10 from DD9 because she got to pick the "good" foods and "good" desserts even though DD9 is really picky and wouldn't have eaten any of the adult stuff anyhow!

 

[ajpa]

I would actually be inclined to suggest you do your sit downs at LUNCH time. Usually a lot cheaper with many of the same menus as dinner.

I agree. When we were paying out of pocket for character meals, I tried to schedule late breakfast character meals and that would be our brunch. A lot cheaper than dinner but with the same characters, usually. And we would be able to use the precious morning time for rides. We'd have a quick breakfast in our room of cereal or bread that we had gotten from the grocery.

 

[Tiger926]

Leigh, you seem completely confused about Dining at WDW IN GENERAL.

The Disney Dining Plan (DDP) is relatively new, compared to how long WDW has been around (since 1971). Prior to its creation, dining at WDW was just like dining anywhere else in the world. There are restaurants. You made reservations. You pay with a credit card, cash, or charge to your room account. Same as you would do in your home town. Since the DDP has been created, you are given the OPTION to purchase it as part of a package including hotel room and tickets, pay IN ADVANCE, and recieve "credits" for meals, counter service meals, and snacks. These credits are on your hotel room key and you present that as "payment", where credits are deducted for the meal you have eaten. You are given a receipt that shows you how many of each type of CREDIT you have left. You are also free to pay for meals and snacks out of pocket, if you want to do so. By having the DDP, you are not restricted to ONLY eating what it provides. You are able to buy things at WDW with cash and credit cards same as before. Many, many people do NOT purchase the DDP, and still are able to dine in all the same establishments as those who do.

First of all, a meal plan is NOT required to dine in any of the couple HUNDRED restaurants within the WDW property. ALL the DDP is is a PREPAID meal plan. It offers a SLIGHT discount, when compared to ordering individual items a la carte. However, it is a LOT of food.

I think it is WAY too confusing for most people, especially those who are visiting WDW for the first time. There's a lot to "know" about how to use it properly, and get the most bang for your buck. Best for WDW vets, in my opinion. Also, it takes some knowledge of the WDW transportation system to avoid spending HOURS every day travelling to/from your restaurant reservations.

You also should know that WDW chefs are EXCEPTIONAL about allergies. There is a special number you can call prior to your trip to discuss your concerns for the restaurants you have made ADR for. When you arrive, they will have the chef come out and talk to you to be sure the food for your child is "safe". EVEN at buffets! They can even make special dishes that are otherwise not on the menu, in order to accommodate an allergy, so the whole family does not have to avoid a place.

My advice to you is NOT get the dining plan. Make a couple ADR's for restaurants that seem appealing to your family. Otherwise, there is a PLETHORA of places to eat "on the fly" in all the parks, resorts, and Downtown Disney. MANY of them, even if they are "counter service" provide excellent food, suitable for dinner. Trust me, everyone at WDW does not go to a sit down restaurant at dinner time! I would actually be inclined to suggest you do your sit downs at LUNCH time. Usually a lot cheaper with many of the same menus as dinner. Your 3 year old will likely be better behaved earlier in the day too! Then, for dinner, you can just eat wherever you happen to be at the time, no stress.

As a Disney veteran, here are my thoughts based on your reply:

1. DP is a lot of food - I would disagree as the regular DP is only 1 TS meal, 1 CS and 1 snack. We eat 3 meals a day over here! There is no longer an appetizer included, so the TS meal is an entree, drink and dessert. If you don't want the dessert, don't order it! For us, the regular DP is usually not enough food. We do not eat fast food, drink coffee/pop or junk food, so we don't fill up on garbage all day. The regular DP usually finds us supplementing at some point throughout the day.

2. Slight Savings - If you have children under 10, the DP is a great savings. It is not slight at all - consider a character buffet for a child is $18.99 plus tax. The cost of the child DP is $9.99 and it still includes a CS meal and snack. Of course it depends upon what restaurants you eat at, and whether you have 'adult' children as to whether the discount is slight or not. You cannot generalize the entire plan to being a slight discount as there are many variables.

3. Confusion - I don't agree that the DP is too confusing for a newbie. It's set up pretty well, and with a bit of explanation, people should be able to follow it just fine. I think for a newbie it is a great idea - sticker shock might set in for newbies, but with the dining plan, they'd be more inclined to actually enjoy the whole dining experience as opposed to paying cash.

There are many good points in your response, but I just wanted to comment on the above-mentioned points. You provided a lot of good info, so I'm sure the OP is grateful for that! I do agree though that based on the OP's comments, that the DP might not be a good fit as she only wants a few TS meals. With the DP, she will get more than that and if the baby has problems with going to a restaurant, then she has paid for a plan that she might not be able to fully use.

Tiger

 

[TDC Nala]

If you don't want the dessert, don't order it!

Not ordering the included dessert further diminishes the value of the plan for those who are considering purchasing it as a money-saving device (not to the same effect that using your TS credits for CS meals would, but for those who are looking to save money on their meals, every credit and allotment you leave behind means Mickey gets to keep your cash, because once you've bought those meal credits, that's it - you need to use them or lose them.)

If you have children under 10 and you like TS meals, the DDP can be a fantastic money saver whether the kids eat the dessert or not - it's really down to how many "adults" you have and how much they will eat. Buffets cost the same no matter how much gets eaten, so that's a different consideration. Adults who leave behind their a la carte TS desserts or substitute appetizers for their entrees should take that into consideration when one is trying to decide on the basic dining plan for moneysaving purposes.

If your main reason for buying the plan is because it's convenient to prepay your meals, you will have a different perspective.

 

[lizzyb]

We make ADR's because I don't want to eat the same ol' food everyday.

 

[itchin2go]

Not ordering the included dessert further diminishes the value of the plan for those who are considering purchasing it as a money-saving device (not to the same effect that using your TS credits for CS meals would, but for those who are looking to save money on their meals, every credit and allotment you leave behind means Mickey gets to keep your cash, because once you've bought those meal credits, that's it - you need to use them or lose them.)

If you have children under 10 and you like TS meals, the DDP can be a fantastic money saver whether the kids eat the dessert or not - it's really down to how many "adults" you have and how much they will eat. Buffets cost the same no matter how much gets eaten, so that's a different consideration. Adults who leave behind their a la carte TS desserts or substitute appetizers for their entrees should take that into consideration when one is trying to decide on the basic dining plan for moneysaving purposes.

If your main reason for buying the plan is because it's convenient to prepay your meals, you will have a different perspective.

Thank you. I was just getting ready to say that about the dessert. When deciding whether to go with the DDP, I think it's best to map out what you actually want to eat and then calculate the cost. Then compare that to the cost of the DDP. We rarely eat dessert. Not because we don't want to pay for it -- we just don't want it most of the time. So, there's no value to us in the DDP's inclusion of dessert.

We also don't order the "cookie cutter" meal all the time. I may just want a salad or an appetizer, rather than an entree. The DDP doesn't fit that way of eating.

We have done DDP, DxDDP and paid strictly OOP. OOP works best for us. We don't have the hassle of having to worry about what we can get for a credit or whether something's allowed on the DDP. We don't have to feel like we're losing $$$ when we don't order a dessert. We order what we want, where we want, pay for it and eat it. DDP is not a good value for the way we eat, so we come out ahead money-wise too.

Everybody is different. DDP is very good for some families. It just didn't work for ours.

 

[itchin2go]

I am trying to decide on whether or not to do the meal plan. We have me, DH, DS -10, DD -8, DS -3. I am thinking we are only going to want reservations for dinner twice in 7 days, because my 3yo is not the best in restaurants yet. So if I do the Snack plan (can't remember what its called) and then make ressies for 2 nights, what else could we do for dinner. Can we order in from local restaurants (as we will not have a car)? What other options are there? I welcome all opinioins on whether or not we even do the plan.

Thanks for your feedback.

When are you going and where are you staying?

 

[leith]

We are going June 5 - 12th and are staying at the Port Orleans - Riverside. I am leaning toward not doing the meal plan, but making more reservations for dinners than originally thought. Based on all the feedback, which I can't thank everyone enough for, that if I do 4 dinners with ressies (or something like that) I could wing the rest of the dinners at CS or something. I did not mention that DS 10 has food allergies, so I will look on that board too, to see if there are some suggestions as well.

Christy

ps....very stressful to plan this vacation....hopefully it will just be fun when we get there!

 

[itchin2go]

It WILL be fun. Try not to stress out too much.

There are places to eat at your resort, so you won't go hungry.

Have you checked out menus here? http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm#res

On our first trip, we did the DDP, but only booked 3 ADRS.

Luckily, we were able to make same day ADRs at some less popular places.

As others have said, there are some really great counter service options - not just hotdogs and hamburgers. We love Columbia Harbor House in MK, Sunshine Seasons and Tangierine Cafe in Epcot, and Wolfgang Puck Express in DTD.

 

[Tiger926]

Not ordering the included dessert further diminishes the value of the plan for those who are considering purchasing it as a money-saving device (not to the same effect that using your TS credits for CS meals would, but for those who are looking to save money on their meals, every credit and allotment you leave behind means Mickey gets to keep your cash, because once you've bought those meal credits, that's it - you need to use them or lose them.)

If you have children under 10 and you like TS meals, the DDP can be a fantastic money saver whether the kids eat the dessert or not - it's really down to how many "adults" you have and how much they will eat. Buffets cost the same no matter how much gets eaten, so that's a different consideration. Adults who leave behind their a la carte TS desserts or substitute appetizers for their entrees should take that into consideration when one is trying to decide on the basic dining plan for moneysaving purposes.

If your main reason for buying the plan is because it's convenient to prepay your meals, you will have a different perspective.

We agree that with respect to child DP ages 3-9, there is already a big savings, especially if you do character meals, so in that respect, you have a bit of leeway, so not ordering dessert or a beverage would be just fine.

We have always saved money with the DP and even more with Dx. We don't go out to get the most bang for our buck either - we just order what we like and share stuff at times. Sure it means that Mickey gets to keep a bit more, but Mickey already gave us a savings, so we are all good! Honestly, it's not that hard to save some money on the DP - your mileage will vary, but we always find a savings with it. It's hard not to with Disney's inflated meal prices.

It kills us to pay OOP for character meals as they are grossly overpriced, so the DP works well here. I just priced out Chef Mickey's for our next trip, and with the holiday surcharge it was a ridiculous price. More than the entire DP will cost us for the whole day, plus we still have CS and snack! TIW is the same for us as well - the discount gets eaten up with holiday surcharges and then the mandatory tip on top of that. The DP works so much better in these cases as here is a big cost savings.

Tiger

 

[ajpa]

I did not mention that DS 10 has food allergies, so I will look on that board too, to see if there are some suggestions as well.

I have heard that all the TS places are VERY helpful about special diets & food allergies. Inform the CM when you make the adr.
This might be a factor towards picking the dining plan, actually ...