After spending thousands upon thousands of dollars of our hard-earned money on Disney Dining the last 9 years, we have decided to re-evaluate our dining choices. We have been eating 2-3 TS meals (regular and Signature) each day for years now, but this is about to change. I know so many people here struggle with this same question: out of pocket, TIW/DDD, DP, eat in room or off site, so here is where we stand:
1. More CS - We used to be very anti-CS meals. We don't eat fast food or drink pop, so many of the old CS meals were yucky, but as of late, we have discovered some hidden gems: Tangerine Cafe, Earl of Sandwich, Wolfgang Puck and Cosmic Ray's. We have had some great soup, salad, wraps and other delightful food. We still don't like how CS places are set up, and we hate eating outside where it's hot and sweaty (we always go for 2 weeks in summer), so we are going to supplement our TS and in room food with CS choices as mentioned above. We will do a combination of sorts. It will save lots of money and time!
2. No more DP - We really like the Deluxe Plan, but it's too costly (we did Deluxe for 9 days in May and regular for 4 days) and takes up a huge amount of time. Our kids are great restaurant kids, and we don't waste time, but we can't control the kitchen or servers, so this is a big problem when eating 3 TS meals per day. Again, it will save us money, allow us to make changes if someone is sick (we won't lose credits) and give us more choices - best part is that we don't have to order yucky kids' meals for our kids! Yeah!
3. TIW/DDE & AP/DVC discounts - We have done this several times before, but our last 2 trips, we used DP as hubby wanted to try it out. We are excited to get the TIW card again as we can order adult meals for our 6 and 2 year old, as well as order extra appetizers if we like. We don't drink alcohol, but we do like milkshakes and bottled water, so now, we will get a discount on these as well! We will also utilize our AP & DVC discounts if necessary as well.
4. DVC villa kitchen - We are actually looking forward to eating in our room and at the pool. We always have a car, so grocery shopping is no problem for us at all. We will eat breakfast in our room most mornings (we have a few breakfasts scheduled: 1900 Park Fare, Donald's, Cape May and Kona Cafe). We are looking forward to using the beautiful kitchen in our villa for more than just snacks and beverages! Again, it will save us money!
5. Less character meals - We used to be huge character meal people. We always go for at least 12 days each July as I'm a teacher, so we used them to cool off and to get awesome character interaction. Most buffets are slipping big time though, and so we have phased out many of them as they just aren't worth it anymore. This will again save us money and time!
6. Bring more snacks into parks & try new snacks in parks - We struggle with allergies/sensitivities around here, as well as low blood sugar (3x of us), so we have made do with eating several meals each day, and snacking on fruit, frozen lemonade, popsicles or ice cream. Now, we have decided to bring more snacks into the parks with us (we will always still buy our bottled water as we can't drink Orlando water), and we are looking forward to trying cool World Showcase snack foods that we have usually bypassed.
At this point, we are really excited for our next trip. As DVC members, our vacations are always evolving, and this time, will be no exception. We've eaten almost everywhere on property, so now, we are being more selective in our choices, and combining lots of different options together, instead of only utilizing one option.
I hope this info proves helpful to some of you who may be struggling with the same thing.
Happy eating to all, Tiger
1. More CS - We used to be very anti-CS meals. We don't eat fast food or drink pop, so many of the old CS meals were yucky, but as of late, we have discovered some hidden gems: Tangerine Cafe, Earl of Sandwich, Wolfgang Puck and Cosmic Ray's. We have had some great soup, salad, wraps and other delightful food. We still don't like how CS places are set up, and we hate eating outside where it's hot and sweaty (we always go for 2 weeks in summer), so we are going to supplement our TS and in room food with CS choices as mentioned above. We will do a combination of sorts. It will save lots of money and time!
2. No more DP - We really like the Deluxe Plan, but it's too costly (we did Deluxe for 9 days in May and regular for 4 days) and takes up a huge amount of time. Our kids are great restaurant kids, and we don't waste time, but we can't control the kitchen or servers, so this is a big problem when eating 3 TS meals per day. Again, it will save us money, allow us to make changes if someone is sick (we won't lose credits) and give us more choices - best part is that we don't have to order yucky kids' meals for our kids! Yeah!
3. TIW/DDE & AP/DVC discounts - We have done this several times before, but our last 2 trips, we used DP as hubby wanted to try it out. We are excited to get the TIW card again as we can order adult meals for our 6 and 2 year old, as well as order extra appetizers if we like. We don't drink alcohol, but we do like milkshakes and bottled water, so now, we will get a discount on these as well! We will also utilize our AP & DVC discounts if necessary as well.
4. DVC villa kitchen - We are actually looking forward to eating in our room and at the pool. We always have a car, so grocery shopping is no problem for us at all. We will eat breakfast in our room most mornings (we have a few breakfasts scheduled: 1900 Park Fare, Donald's, Cape May and Kona Cafe). We are looking forward to using the beautiful kitchen in our villa for more than just snacks and beverages! Again, it will save us money!
5. Less character meals - We used to be huge character meal people. We always go for at least 12 days each July as I'm a teacher, so we used them to cool off and to get awesome character interaction. Most buffets are slipping big time though, and so we have phased out many of them as they just aren't worth it anymore. This will again save us money and time!
6. Bring more snacks into parks & try new snacks in parks - We struggle with allergies/sensitivities around here, as well as low blood sugar (3x of us), so we have made do with eating several meals each day, and snacking on fruit, frozen lemonade, popsicles or ice cream. Now, we have decided to bring more snacks into the parks with us (we will always still buy our bottled water as we can't drink Orlando water), and we are looking forward to trying cool World Showcase snack foods that we have usually bypassed.
At this point, we are really excited for our next trip. As DVC members, our vacations are always evolving, and this time, will be no exception. We've eaten almost everywhere on property, so now, we are being more selective in our choices, and combining lots of different options together, instead of only utilizing one option.
I hope this info proves helpful to some of you who may be struggling with the same thing.
Happy eating to all, Tiger
