What is the better deal for us?

[lisalonglash]

The different dining options are confusing me, frankly

This is our group:
7 x adults
1 x 9yo that eats like an adult
3 x children 7yo and under that eat like children (most of the time lol)

We are all staying at ASMovies (in 4 rooms) and will all have park passes. The only thing that is booked with a deposit at this point is the rooms.

As I understand it, these are our options:
(1) Disney Dining Plan - basic
(2) Disney Dining card (just saw this in a post, have no idea what it is)
(3) Buying food as we go

In your opinion, what is the best deal for our situation?

Thanks all!

 

[disneyfan55]

It really depends on where you want to eat. We are going to be on the free dining plan next week. It is a great deal=free. I don't know if we would purchase it though since we really do not eat at a table service every day usually. It does cause for a lot of structure since the reservations must be booked way in advance. Your 9 year old may be on a child menu and items must be ordered from that menu. I've heard some complaints on the lack of variety in the menus. You will receive 1 TS, 1 CS and 1 Snack per night of stay not per day. You can use them any way or any meal you wish. I think the card you are referring to is something available to annual pass holders and FL residents. I don't know mucha about its cost, but I think it's 20% off your order including alcohol. I'm sure many others will help out. YOu can check out the descriptions of the dining plans on these boards, too. Have fun. There is also a deluxe dining plan that gives 3 TS and 2 snacks per night per person.

 

[LizinSTL]

The different dining options are confusing me, frankly

This is our group:
7 x adults
1 x 9yo that eats like an adult
3 x children 7yo and under that eat like children (most of the time lol)

We are all staying at ASMovies (in 4 rooms) and will all have park passes. The only thing that is booked with a deposit at this point is the rooms.

As I understand it, these are our options:
(1) Disney Dining Plan - basic
(2) Disney Dining card (just saw this in a post, have no idea what it is)
(3) Buying food as we go

In your opinion, what is the best deal for our situation?

Thanks all!

When are you visiting? In 2007, the DDP includes the gratuity- it makes it a much better deal than in 2008 when it doesn't include the gratuity (or an appetizer either.)

But, from a budgeting standpoint, if you all are going to be dining together a lot and planning to do table service meals, then you may want to consider changing your rooms to a Magic Your Way package and doing the DDP. It'll add about $300/night to the cost of your stay (for all of you) but will include a 11 counter service meals, 11 snacks and 11 TS meals per night.

If you had lunch at about $12/adult and $5/child while touring the parks and then had dinner at Ohana (for example) along with your snacks (assume a $3 value), you'd be spending over $380 out of pocket (and that's without tip so if you are visiting in 2007 there's a bigger savings.)

You can only get the Disney Dining Experience card if you meet certain conditions (FL resident or annual pass holder) It entitles you to 20% off at most TS locations and some CS locations. You purchase it for $65-85 depending on your conditions of purchase and it's only good for 10 people.

Can you eat cheaper than $300/night for your party? Probably. But if your group plans to do TS meals, then you are going to want to look at the costs of them before deciding to pay as you go rather than going with the package/dining plan.