What do you reccomend? Dining plan or no?

[sprouse0625]

We are going in October with three kids under 6. I was all gung-ho about the regular dining plan and even have all our ADRs booked and our days laid out. Park in the morning till 2, nap/break till 5, dinner, then show of the night.

Now, I'm wondering if it would be better to just "go with the flow". I want a really laid back trip. No rushing to get place to place, but want to make sure we see the fireworks at each park and the parades and such (my FAVORITE part!) Plus, I LOVE the parks at night and having an ADR EVERY night at 5 takes up a huge chunk of the night to where we won't have time to "explore" the park before the shows.

I also want to be able to eat at some of the restaurants in Disney because of all the trips I made as a kid (and at age 22) I never once have gotten the chance to eat at ANY of them. I did a character breakfast once when I was 10 and remember LOVING it. I want to have "fun" dinners (something we can't get/do back home).

What do you think??

 

[quadsthen1]

We have always done the dining plan and we have 5 children who were all 7 and under on the last trip. We usually do 1 or 2 character breakfasts and then an early dinner. I like having the whole thing paid for in advance and not having to tote a calculator to keep us on budget while we are there. The first time we went we kept every food receipt and added it all up comparing it to what we had paid for the dining plan and we saved over $300 by being on the ddp. I say...do it! Its totally worth it!!

 

[sprouse0625]

I think I will love having it all paid for and not having to look at prices when we sit down to eat (which I'm reallllly bad about!)

We don't have an ADRs for breakfast because I figured we'd enjoy having that down time in the evening after going 6 hours at the park each day. The only breakfast we have is the day we leave at Chef Mickey's.

 

[MomtoEmIs&Ow]

I think that you can go about it 2 ways.
You could be very relaxed, and still have ADR... it really depends on your personality. Does just the thought of having to get to your ADR stress you out.... Y

If I were you I would go through all the menus and see if price wise it is worth it.... Are you getting the free dining? Depends on what your kids like to eat. If they like more 'adult' food you could always do your trip OOP and order them adult meals to share or order each an appie, and share desserts. What ADR do you have? Are they in the park or out of the park? WHere are you staying?

If your ADR are @ 5:00 every day then you will not miss any of the night activities, and you can hit up parades before dinner. Our ADR usually take about 1.5 hrs.....

Really you can eat at table service in disney with out the DDP. You could alway just do a few ADR that you really want to try if this is your first trip. I can guarentee you will be back

Good Luck deciding!

 

[ciera321]

I can see where the dining plan is wonderful for some, but it just didn't work for us. We aren't big eaters and there was just too much food. We don't each need an entree and a dessert, especially at lunch and dinner both. If you want to have a laid back trip with no rushing like you stated, I think meals on your own might work better for you. And when figuring up how much money you would save, think about what you would normally order vs. what comes with the DDP. I made this mistake when we used the plan and I really would have saved money not getting it. Just my opinion and experience. I hope you have a great trip!!!

 

[sprouse0625]

Oh, girls! We ARE big eaters. My boys alone eat me out of house and home and they are still LITTLE!

All of our ADRs are at buffets, or all you can eat type places. If that shows you how much we like food! And I made them based on where we'd be that day to make it more time efficient.

I quickly added up how much we'd spend at just the dinners and it would be the cost of the dining plan alone (still hoping for them to extend the free dining plan discount to my dates!) so we'll get our lunches and snacks (which we're pretty set on a Mickey icecream each day...my FAVORITE food as a child at Disney) practically free.

I think I'll stick with the dining plan. I just need to stop overthinking EVERY DETAIL!

Thanks ladies!

 

[ciera321]

Then it sounds like it's a good move for you - Enjoy!!!

 

[MystikaFaith]

I had the disney dining plan when I went and I absolutely loved it... Mind you I LOVE to eat and I especially LOVE to eat at themed restaurants

I think however, if you want it to be worthwhile financially you have to be the type of people who eat alot, because the portions tend to be HUGE! My partner and I are usually big eaters and I must say we were STUFFED!!! Never had we eaten so much in our lives (not complaining though!) and my 8 year old son enjoyed it as well, especially the all you can eat diy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the Tusker House. I'd also say that my 4 year old who generally eats very little really liked disney food and ate her share...

If you live to eat and are a family of big eaters like you say you are I think your plan to keep the dining plan is definilty a good one! If eat to live and your little ones aren't big eaters and could likely just share one meal because they want to get back to the parks I'd say skip it.

 

[tinacaplan]

I'm not sure you can go wrong with the DDP, especially when you have young kids and are planning a lot of character meals and/or buffets. That alone basically pays for itself. And you're absolutely right...you are then getting a snack and your lunch for virtually nothing. You can also cancel/change ADR's whenever you want, too. A lot of people on these boards complain about how the DDP has you constantly running to make ADRs. We did not find that to be a problem.

I think we'll always used the DDP, until my husband and I make our next "adult's-only" trip and I want to go crazy and do places like Victoria and Alberts!

Personally, I so enjoy having EVERYTHING paid for in advance that I keep considering doing the DxDP for our next trip, but it would probably only benefit us in terms of breakfast for our son (DH and I aren't big breakfast eaters).

More than almost any other part of Disney planning, the DDP is a personal decision based not so much on financials but on your own personal preferences around having things paid in advance, etc.

 

[texasteacher35]

We ALWAYS do the dining plan! It's fantastic! We get all our ADR's based on crowd levels and park hours!!! I can't wait!! We leave for the first 2010 trip in about a week...and we go again in late November!!! Fun times!!!

 

[bleeps]

The other thing is that with young children it is, IMHO, SO much easier to have a sit-down meal planned each evening. It can be challenging to 'go with the flow' with kids if you find yourself having to go place-to-place to find somewhere that you can get in AND that has menu items that appeal to everyone.

Enjoy your trip and the DDP!!

 

[lilosurf11]

I really like the dining plan. That way, we don't have to worry about the prices. We usually never bought snacks until the DP came along. Now, we stock up for the drive/flight home.

 

[Beauty & the Best]

I would go through each day of your trip & work out the costs of dining at the TS restaurants you REALLY want to do + the counter services that you would do if you don't do TS.

I did this yesterday for a 5 day trip in Oct. and though we'd only be dining at 3 TS restaraunts, it made financial sense to do the dining plan based on where we'd probably do our CS meals (and what we eat there).

So do the math, it will make the decision easier!

 

[saintstickets]

We were at OKW the last week of May, 2010 and did the DP for the first time. I saved all our receipts and compared the OOP cost vs DP and also the TIW cost for the TS meals vs the DP TS meals. Needless to say, you definately save money using the DP or TIW vs OOP if you would eat the same items on either plan. (More details on TR link below) One comment though about DP...you need to want a dessert with every CS and TS meal. Appetizers and adult beverages are not covered under the DP so if you want those, it will be extra. One exception on the appetizer is the Fantasmic Dinner package. If you make reservations for this dinner package, then appetizers are included at no extra cost even on the DP.