Trying to decide on number of TS meals

[goofy4wdw2]

We're going for 10 days in October and have 10 TS reservations (one of which is Mickey's Backyard BBQ, about 7 of them are character meals) and thought we'd do the Dining Plan (so only T-Rex would be OOP). But now we're wondering if we should cut back to about 5 TS and not do the DDP to try to save money and free up some time. Before kids, DH and I would do 1-2 TS per day...we love Disney dining...and since we've had the kids, we've been doing about 1 TS per day, once in a while we'll do both a breakfast and dinner. So this would be a big change for us...but thought more CS could be a cost savings as well as a times savings...help keep our days a little more flexible...something to try...but we're not sure about it. Our DD just turned 4, DS will be just shy of 2 when we go. Any thoughts on what has worked well for your families with little ones?

 

[ehrn]

So you are not getting the free dining promo? Last trip in May, we did not have DDP and unless it is free, we don't usually get it. That being said, I generally like one sit-down a day but we ended up doing some off site in May and really enjoyed it. I need that time and I want a real knife and fork once in a while, lol. I would look at some menus on Allears.net and maybe pick a couple where you and dh would enjoy--if you can still get adr's. If not, keep what you have and cancel closer if you want, so you can see how you feel. For meals that are not buffet you could share some entrees which helps w/cost and we rarely get dessert if we pay oop so that helps too. BUT, you will have a hard time getting in if you change your mind and decide you DO want some more TS so with that in mind, you may want to keep your options open.
In Oct we only have 2 character meals planned for ds 4.5, the rest is more where dh and i want to go, we need some r&r too after a hectic day in the parks!
Have a GREAT time! We'll be there 10/3-10
PS--don't forget Food&Wine, you may want to snack around EPCOT too!

 

[ehrn]

But I see you are at BLT??? That gives you tons of flex, awesome. Esp on your pool days you can do some snacks/lunches in your villa.
You and DH might miss some of your TS but I don't know if I would enjoy almost all character meals--too manic for me. But I still like 1 TS a day--somewhere, for the downtime and relaxation and to not have food served in a paper basket.
Will you have a car?

 

[goofy4wdw2]

Thank you for your thoughts! We're staying DVC, so we aren't eligible for free dining. We won't have a car, so we will be eating on property or in our villa. I don't plan on cooking really, but we will have cereal, etc., maybe eggs for breakfast the days we don't do a character breakfast, maybe some lunches for the kids if DH and I take CS back to our room before a nap. DD doesn't each much but has celiac so we do need to plan ahead, either with Disney dining or something in our room. We like character meals, but have never done this many in one vacation, but our youngest is very fidgety at mealtime, so long meals are not very relaxing for us anyway. Character meals keep him a bit more occupied, so we thought we'd go for it since they both young and love characters, and would give us a chance to eat something other than burgers and the usual CS food. We've tried many of the restaurants on property and know we'll be back to try the rest in the future, we're just not sure if we would be disappointed to only do TS every other day or so this time--we've never done that! Hmm, we're torn. Does anyone enjoy doing mostly CS with young kids?

 

[LWatson]

We are doing one sit down meal a day. Our kids are going to be almost 2 and almost 4. We figured that one break a day would be nice for them to just sit down and chill. We do have one day where we are eating 2 sit downs, but that is our down day and we are doing a breakfast and a dinner

 

[ehrn]

The other issue I would have w/all CS for kids is the lack of selection for kids. Esp w/the dining plan, when you HAVE to order a kid a kids meal, I mean--blech. Off DDP I generally order a side of this and that... At least at Sunshine Seasons they can get a veggie and a chicken leg. My son would eat ff and chicken nuggets all the time--but he will also eat just about any meat and many veggies too. I like the variety of the food at Character Meals because they are mostly buffet--but is a 4.5 yo going to eat $18.99 worth(or whatever the steep price)--not-so-much, but I don't really eat $40 worth either, lol. But at least we don't have to wait in line for the characters! Last trip my son we nuts for the chicken from dh's chicken schawarma platter and a side of the yellow rice from Tangierine Cafe, actually I could go for that right now, lol!!
My husband would eat at Earl of Sandwich every night if I let him...but I would probably eat at Sweet Tomatoes (off site) every night if he let me! Now I'm really hungry...
Have a great day!