What meal plan to get for my family?

[MommyofTwinks]

I called Disney last night to get some info about my upcoming trip in Feb.

There are 2 different meal plans, correct?
I am not sure what to do as far as my family needs go.
I have twin 21 month olds and it's my husband and myself. My twins will be eating free off of our plan but I am not sure what the difference in the meal plans are.

 

[Faldred]

Three plans, actually:

Quick Service Dining Plan (QSDP): Offers 2 counter service (CS) credits and 2 snack credits per person, per night (adult price: $31.99/night). Comes with the resort refillable mug.

(Basic) Disney Dining Plan (DDP): Offers 1 CS credit, 1 table service (TS) credit, and 1 snack credit per person per night (adult price: $41.99/night, $47.99/night for "peak" season). Does not include the resort mug.

Deluxe Dining Plan (DxDP or DxDDP): Offers three meal credits and 2 snack credits per person, per night (adult price: $71.99/night). A meal credit can be used as either a CS or TS credit. Comes with the resort refillable mug.

A snack typically includes a single-serving, non-entree item worth roughly $4 or less.

A CS meal includes: A non-alcoholic beverage, entree or combo meal, and a dessert. (Replace dessert with juice for breakfast.)

A TS meal includes: A non-alcoholic beverage, entree, and a dessert; or one buffet/AYCE admission. (Replace dessert with juice for breakfast.) DxDP adds an appetizer for menu service locations.

Some meals ("signature" restaurants and dinner shows) require 2 TS or DxDP meal credits; you get the same entitlements with your meal regardless of whether or not it is 1 credit or 2.

Edited to add: It's difficult to provide good advice over the type of plan to get without knowing a lot more about your family's habits and desires. Individual DIS'ers will chime in with their own experiences, but remember that every family is different and will see things differently.

 

[MommyofTwinks]

excellent - this helped me out a lot!

i can't wait to hear what others say. i really have no clue; i've never traveled with my twins before and am not sure what children are 'like' at that age, lol. we do go out to eat often with the kids but the last time i was at disney (pre-children) it was a lot different!!

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

It is difficult to say if a dining plan will be right for your family. You need to know how much you would eat, whether you prefer to go quick service or if you will schedule at least one table service meal everyday, etc.

So in general, my opinion is that the dining plan becomes worth it when you have 2 or more kids since that is really where you see a savings. You will have no children on the meal plan and you don't get EXTRA FOOD so don't think they are 'free'!!!! If your family of 4 will eat off of a family of 2's food, then it is fine (or if you go to buffets). But if your kids will need a meal (even to share), keep that in mind and you will have to pay for it.

Also, with children that young, you may want more flexibility and only get counter service with possibly a couple of ADRs for sit down or character meals.

So at first glance, I would say not to go with a dining plan. But definitely provide more information and people can give more information!

 

[Faldred]

Now that I've put out my words of caution, I'll share with you my own experience.

We went last year with our three children, who were at the time DS 3 (just shy of four) and the DS 2 / DD 2 twins (appx. 26 months old). Well after we booked everything, just before we went down, we found out that both twins were autistic.

Fortunately for us, we had decided to splurge on DxDP, because we could get away with it more easily financially before the twins turned three. Being able to work off a schedule that was not very dissimilar to their normal routine made the trip work much, much better for us.

A lot of folks look at doing 3 meals a day on DxDP as crazy (many people suggest doing two meals a day, including a signature dinner), but it worked well for us -- the loss of "park time" was offset by being able to recuperate during meals and not needing to leave the park in the afternoon for a break, character breakfasts minimized the need to stand in lines for meet-and-greets, and the strictness of the schedule led us to be much more efficient about touring plans.

One thing a previous poster pointed out -- you won't get extra food for the kids -- is only partially true. Kids under 3 eat free at any buffet/AYCE or dinner show; you can get them whatever they want. Plus, you can share food from your own plate everywhere else or use your snacks to get the kids some food. In our experience, most non-buffet TS places gave milk to the kids without charging us for it, but then we also had a paying child.

 

[MommyofTwinks]

how does character dining work?
do i book that NOW? would i be able to use my meal points for that?

 

[Faldred]

how does character dining work?
do i book that NOW? would i be able to use my meal points for that?

Just like any other meal, really. They're typically buffets, but in addition to the food, various characters will come around to the tables for meet-and-greet, photos, autographs, etc. (Check out my linked dining review for some pictures.)

The majority of them are breakfast, but there are some lunch and dinner options. They are all 1 TS credit meals, except for Cinderella's Royal Table (2 TS credits) and there's one over at the Swan/Dolphin that's not on the dining plan.

And yes, book them ASAP, but that's true for most TS meals.

Edit: AllEars.net has a list of character meals.

 

[MissJanice]

In our experience we really like the QS dining plan for a lot of reasons:
1. We don't want to eat TS once or twice per day. My kids like to out doing things, not sitting in a restaurant two times a day.
2. We like the flexibility. We can go where ever we want whenever we want. We can make changes to our park plans based on what our kids want to do (or how good their mood is and how they are behaving.)
3. It includes the refillable mugs! What a money/snack saver. We would make trips to get them filled in the morning, coming back from parks and in the evening when we were settling down and any time we went to the pool!
4. TWO snack credits. (Often the snack credit went toward DD2s meal. Like fruit bowls.)
5. As much as people love TS restaurants, we really like most QS places. Cosmic Rays, Flame Tree, Epcot World Showcase countries, Sunshin Seasons, all are delicious! And you get a ton of food and the dessert (which we usually take to go.) The resorts (especially Moderate) have fantastic food courts!

We will usually schedule 2-3 TS or character meals per visit and pay out of pocket. But we are saving $10 per person per day from DDP to QSDP, so that makes up for it.

But, like the PPs said. It is what your family wants and will work best for you! Either way, enjoy your trip!

 

[MommyofTwinks]

my kids can EAT. even at 14 months now, they both eat a grilled cheese, tons of fruit and yogurt just for lunch.
LOL

my husband is definitely a foodie; we LOVE going out to eat (diners, friendlys, etc. lol) with our kids.

thank you for that character breakfast website!!!!
this forum has been amazing and i just found it today.