What is more cost effective?

[Realgrumpy]

We are not doing the dining plan this trip... does breakfast and lunch usually cost less than dinner?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Breakfast does.

There are more and more restaurants at WDW that have the exact same menu (and prices) for lunch and dinner. All restaurants at DHS have all-day menus. So do some at Epcot (Le Cellier, Via Napoli). the new Skippers Canteen is another.

 

[soniam]

Breakfast is definitely cheaper. Lunch is sometimes cheaper. The breakfast buffets are the cheapest. I thought lunch and dinner were the same price for the buffets, but I could be wrong.

 

[Realgrumpy]

Thank you!

 

[Dis703]

It depends on the location. Like pp said some places have all day menus that are exactly the same for lunch and dinner. But there are many that do not. We tend to not do breakfasts at buffets because the difference is minimal and for what you get I don't think it's worth the price. But we do lunch at places like Crystal Palace or Biergarten because it's cheaper than dinner but almost all the same offerings.

 

[EdmondD]

Getting away from the dining plan was like having shackles removed! We're not overly concerned with a sit-down every single day, so it worked much better for us - hope you feel the same. I could snack when I wanted (which was often) and just felt free to eat when and what I wanted.

 

[DizDaD7]

TIW has always ( or both times we bought ) been better for us than the DDP... 20% off all meals, including alcohol....

 

[HopperFan]

We usually eat breakfast snacks in room or just grab a snack at a park.

We try to always eat our big meal at lunch, much better value at TS than dinner.

Big lunch gives us a nice midday break and the ability to walk it off.

Dinner time, we can be flexible, eat light, not eat, whatever we feel like. No forced meal or schedule.

This keeps us on a good food budget.

 

[ZoZo]

TIW has always ( or both times we bought ) been better for us than the DDP... 20% off all meals, including alcohol....

One thing to be aware of with the Tables in Wonderland card is that many QS restaurants aren't part of the TIW program - it's mostly TS restaurants. So for someone like me, who mainly eats QS (with a few TS restaurants, usually one TS every other day), it's not as big of a benefit as it is with someone who eats mostly TS. Since it costs $150 to $175 to purchase the car, it would be. Good idea to run the numbers before purchasing.

And I think TIW is only open to DVC members, Florida residents, and annual pass holders, right? I wouldn't be eligible. Darn!

 

[aretha30]

Breakfast character buffets are the least expensive. We tend to do 1-2 of these on our trips, we find they fill us up (we end up skipping lunch) and the kids love the character interaction. We have done OOP for the last several trips; most of the TS restaurants we want to try or like have moved to an all day menu so I'm not sure how much you'll save eating lunch vs dinner. You have compare prices for the meals. A good way to save money is get Disney gift cards at Target with your red card and save 5% or for certain restaurants use your Disney visa (if you have one and if the restaurant is eligible) and save 10%. This is what we do. This way we still have our meals and food paid for but have the freedom to eat what we want, when we want.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

We never do the Dining plan..........just to much food!

As the general rule we have a light Breakfast in our DVC unit, then a lunch/dinner meal mid afternoon. During the rest of the day we may have a snack here or there or back in the unit.

AKK

 

[DizDaD7]

One thing to be aware of with the Tables in Wonderland card is that many QS restaurants aren't part of the TIW program - it's mostly TS restaurants. So for someone like me, who mainly eats QS (with a few TS restaurants, usually one TS every other day), it's not as big of a benefit as it is with someone who eats mostly TS. Since it costs $150 to $175 to purchase the car, it would be. Good idea to run the numbers before purchasing.

And I think TIW is only open to DVC members, Florida residents, and annual pass holders, right? I wouldn't be eligible. Darn!

You are correct. Just those 3....We tend to do at least 1 TS per day... That's our sit down family/ friend time for everyone to gather and recount the day..
Before the TIW used to be $75 for DVC, then $100 for both DVC & AP holders... At those prices it was a steal....We'd get 2 trips outta our AP's so all in all somewhere between 17 - 20 nights of usage..... But now unless I'm doing 2 trips in a year, I'm not so sure that we're going to be purchasing it at $150.

My DVC card has its on lil perks w/ 10% discounts at a lot of places & also 20% at a few as well.

If I had neither, Then we'd probably do TS every other night maybe, or skip a night here n there....Breakfasts buffets are a good way to gorge yourselves ( therefore leaving lunch--out of the question) but it's never fun rolling around the park very full.

 

[suse66]

We did our last trip OOP and will be in March as well. We loved having our bigger meal at lunch and then a lighter dinner. Last year we stayed CL but we found we didn't really love it. This year we are doing a Garden Grocer order of breakfast foods, snacks, water and beer/wine. Paying OOP is definitely the way to go for us, we saved $1100 over using the DDP and ate exactly how we wanted. Hope you enjoy your trip!

 

[unrequited23]

My 4 yr old is a pretty picky eater (shocking). But I can always rely on the fact that he loves breakfast food. Our plan is to RD and get a very late breakfast buffet ADR and treat it as lunch. Then tour or take a break depending on how the the group is doing. We also have an under 3 chowhound, so it makes sense to mix TS with QS.

 

[HopperFan]

One thing to be aware of with the Tables in Wonderland card is that many QS restaurants aren't part of the TIW program - it's mostly TS restaurants. So for someone like me, who mainly eats QS (with a few TS restaurants, usually one TS every other day), it's not as big of a benefit as it is with someone who eats mostly TS. Since it costs $150 to $175 to purchase the car, it would be. Good idea to run the numbers before purchasing.

And I think TIW is only open to DVC members, Florida residents, and annual pass holders, right? I wouldn't be eligible. Darn!

Yes restricted as to who can get the card.

It is good at QS at all Value Resorts, POFQ, some AK restaurants and some DS restaurants that are QS.

We find that by using TiW we can eat at quite a few TS for not much more than QS and have a better meal/experience.

 

[hookedonears]

We are not doing the dining plan this trip... does breakfast and lunch usually cost less than dinner?

We usually eat snacks in the room before leaving each morning, granola bars etc., and then eat an early lunch at around 11:00 am, at a counter/quick service restaurant in whatever park we're in (We've found that the quality of the food at most table service restaurants at WDW is inconsistent at best) and then all of our dinners are at signature restaurants at the resorts. Works out well for us.