What times do you plan your meals on the Basic?

[hthrbells]

I was wondering what time you all plan to eat with the basic dining plan? Which is the most efficient? A TS lunch small CS dinner or a CS lunch TS dinner? And the snack when do you use that? I know we can use this whenever I was just looking to see if anyone mastered the timing of everything?
Thanks!!!

 

[DizneeMommy]

I planned either a late breakfast TS (like 11:10 for Chef Mickey's) then CS for around 5:00 or vice versa. We ate breakfast bars, muffins from our room for breakfast before the parks (we do rope drop), then eat around 10:30 to 11:00, then about 4:30 or 5:00, then usually have our snacks late in the evening. We also avoided most of the CS more crowded times this way.

 

[PictureJumpr]

This is a difficult thing to answer without knowing your family, your itinerary, and your dining habits/preferences... but here is how I worked out our upcoming trip, time-wise:

Day 1 - Arrival - our flight lands at 12:30, so we won't be at the hotel until probably 2:00. Plan to head over to Epcot after checking in, but since we are not 100% certain about which hotel we are ending up with (have recently requested an upgrade from Pop but waiting to hear availability), not sure if we will grab CS lunch at the hotel before heading out or hold out until we get to Epcot. Dinner is booked in World Showcase for later this night, with Iluminations and the whole nine yards - chose big dinner and fireworks to end a long travel day and kick off the week.

Day 2 - Magic Kingdom - we have a tour this morning at 9, so won't be doing anything more than juice/granola bars from the room for breakfast on the way there. After the tour, I have booked a buffet lunch since it will be later than 'normal' lunchtime and because we won't have eaten since dinner last night. After this large lunch we'll grab CS dinner later in the evening. Not sure yet what we'll be doing (DTD? Campfire movie? Boardwalk?) so the flexibility of CS dinner is another plus in this case.

Day 3 - DHS - no plans for breakfast (we aren't big breakfast eaters in regular life), heading to DHS this morning and will wander into a CS lunch someplace while there. We really don't find much must-have food at DHS anyway, so it'll be more of a 'my stomach is growling, what CS is near here?' situation. I have booked a nice big dinner kind of early at the Yacht Club since I know we won't have eaten much all day, and then we are going to decide if we feel like heading back to DHS for Fantasmic.

Day 4 - MK - I booked a Kona breakfast because this is the best time in our plans for a Tonga Toast fix. Since we're doing breakfast, I booked a late lunch (almost 3pm) at Epcot as we plan to hop over there in the afternoon for late night EMH. We'll pick up a CS dinner later in the evening, and probably share since we'll have had a large lunch in the afternoon.

Day 5 - AK - no breakfast booked, although we may share a CS one from the resort, since we're heading to AK for the day and that is another park where we aren't completely thrilled with the food options. Lunch is slated for CS at AK. Then we are heading to the Poly for an early (515pm for us is way early) dinner at Ohana, followed by Spectromagic and Wishes at MK. Chose this night for Ohana because that is a huuuuge meal and we'll have been snacking/eating light all day at AK beforehand.

Day 6 - Epcot - Our requisite character breakfast is booked for this morning at Ohana, because we do one on each trip and the party this time around voted overwhelmingly for Ohana. It's a large meal, and we're heading over to Epcot via the monorail afterwards but we won't be eating any meals there but will probably indulge in some World Showcase snacking. We have tea booked at the GF for 4pm, which is another very filling meal, so we'll just snack at Epcot if the mood strikes during the day. After tea at GF we'll be heading over to the MK for evening EMH and staying allllllll night long since this is our last night in the World and you can't get me out of the MK on the last night until absolutely necessary. Since we'll be having such a late night, we may pick up a CS dinner to share at some point while in the MK.

Day 7 - Departure - No idea where we'll end up this day (DTD? A park? Mini golf?) but we'll have some CS credits left for lunch wherever we end up. The dreaded ME back to the airport will be picking us up at 3pm, so lunch is the only concern for this day.


As for snacks, we are impulse buyers without plans. If we see something we want, we get one. Usually share it around and keep going. Things I know we'll have to get at some point, based on party members' preferences, are ice cream cookie sandwiches during Wishes and oj swirls in adventureland (that one is mine ).

 

[Sandisw]

When we went, we used CS lunch and TS dinners. For breakfast, we used our snack credit to get a muffin, cinnamon roll, etc.. Sometimes, we ate bagels in the room that I had purchased off site for that purpose.

We always ate lunch earlier (around 11:30 am) to beat the crowds and made most of our ADR's around 4:30 - 5:30 pm. It worked out very well for my family. Sometimes, if we didn't use the snacks for breakfast, we would use them for an ice cream late at night or to buy our drinks.

Have a great time and enjoy!!!

 

[colinsdad]

As for the times I like to eat, its not about efficiency for me. I try to keep to the same schedule I do at home which is 8am Breakfast, between 12pm-1pm Lunch and 6pm Dinner. That noted, I think these times are "efficient" because they never seem to interfere with any parades or fireworks viewing.

For me, its all about getting value from the plan. And if you follow these DDP "rules" you will maximize your DDP value.

1. Always use DDP Adult TS credits on DINNER!!!
If you want to book a Character BF or 2, pay OOP because an adult CBF is 18.99 for most of them (much less than the cost of an average dinner). Note: If you want to use your Adult TS for Character BF's, you likely will not come out ahead on that day (but it should still be pretty close to breaking even - within $5 of the daily plan cost).

2. Addendum to #1: If you have kids with you at the Character BF use their Child TS credits for these meals while you PAY OOP. This is because a child CBF is usually 10.99 (while child TS dinner is usually $7.49). Of course you will have to pay OOP for 2 of their $7.49 TS dinners during the stay if you do this.

3. Never (repeat Never) use 2TS for any meal even CRT though its tempting. Think of it this way: CRT or Le Celier and Tutto Italia! p.s. I'm not saying don't eat in the Castle, just if you do you're losing value. You're better off paying OOP.

4. Always use CS credits on LUNCH.
Same principle as #1, but this time since lunch costs more on average than breakfast.

5. Use snack credits on BF items, not snacks. Most items under $4 qualify for a SC. You can get a nice coffee roll or mickey muffin at MS Bakery, Boardwalk Bakery or Starring Rolls each morning for a snack credit. Use another credit to split an OJ, pay OOP for a coffee and you'll be set. It won't cover all your BF's so the days you aren't using SC for BF items pay OOP or go to a character BF and have some fun following rules #1 and #2.

Those are the basics I have followed to get the most "value" from the DDP. My last trip I followed them to a T and figured I saved about $230+ for a family of 2 adults and 1 child for a one week trip.

DISclaimer: All "rules" have exceptions. Look over the menus, see if a restaurant appeals to your tastes, look at the prices of items you would order and go from there. Don't let the DDP dictate how you eat (or this post for that matter) .

I'm going in May for some "boys only" time with my DS4 and booked these ADR's on Sunday :
16: Tony's Town Square Dinner (TS for me, OOP for DS4)
17: 1900 Park Fare Dinner
18: Whispering Canyon Dinner
19: Crystal Palace Dinner
20: Ohana BF (OOP for me, DDP for DS4), Tutto Italia Dinner
21: Fantasmic Dinner Package at Mama Melroses
22: Sci-Fi Dine-In Lunch (TS for me, OOP for DS4). Yes I'm breaking my own rule here by using an adult TS for lunch, but like I said, don't let the DDP dictate how you eat. Star Wars Weekend today and EMH in Epcot that night so we'll do Sunshine Seasons CS that night (one of the best CS at WDW IMO).
23: 1900 Park Fare BF (OOP for me, DDP for DS4) then afternoon Magical Express home

 

[pigby]

When we went, we used CS lunch and TS dinners.
We always ate lunch earlier (around 11:30 am) to beat the crowds and made most of our ADR's around 4:30 - 5:30 pm.

We did this last year and found that even when we ate an early CS lunch at 11.30 we were never ready to eat a TS dinner early - this year we are still doing early lunch or a breakfast and booked ADR's for dinner around 6.30/7.00 pm or later in some cases. We know that the restaurants will be busier later but will suit us better - there is so much food on DDP.

 

[bytheblood]

For us:

11:00 AM Lunch
5:30 PM Dinner

I have coffee and some small kind of protein for breakfast. My daughter will have breakfast in the room around 7 AM.

 

[hthrbells]

Thanks guys!!

 

[DizneeMommy]

One thing I will add. . .we use the DDP for the convenience and to make our vacation more of an all-inclusive trip. (We will take money for tips and the occasional appetizer.) If we save lots of money, fine. . .if we break even, fine.

My advice would be to eat where you want when you want. . .don't stress over squeezing every penny out of the plan!! If we wanted a TS breakfast, we did it. We even spent 2 TS to eat lunch at CRT!! (And would not have traded it for the world.) We did save some money, but the real "deal" was not having to worry about how much a meal cost or if we had the money to eat at a specific restaurant. . .which added to the magic!!

 

[Mandychelle79]

We will eat on the plan like we do at home....

Smaller Breakfast ( most likely donuts or Poptarts paid for OOP), not big breafast eaters at all

CS for lunch between 11-1

TS for dinner- Hopefully between 6 and 7 as that is the time we eat at home.

 

[bangzoom6877]

We stuck to our children's normal eating schedule. They normally eat dinner anywhere between 5 and 6, so we did that at WDW. One ADR was for 6:15 (Crystal palace) but we got there at 5:30, and we sat down before 6.

We had 1 CS lunch everyday, between 11 and 11:30 with the exception of Epcot when we had lunch at around noon (we rode Test Track first and the kids were fine). We did that mainly to avoid the crowds later in the afternoon at the CS locations. We went to Cosmic Ray's at MK when it opened (11AM). By the time we left (a little before noon), it was PACKED and lines we super long.

We had 1 TS dinner every evening, times as stated above.

We snacked when we felt like snacking. No problem finding snacks on the DDP...they are all over the parks, in resort food courts, etc. We just had something when we felt like it and it all worked out. Never used a snack credit on a drink...we brought water and juice into the parks with no problem.

As for breakfast, we paid OOP for 2 character breakfasts, and the rest of the breakfasts we had cereal quickly in the room. We did 1 of the character breakfasts at DHS before it opened and we made it out before rope drop. We did the other one on the final morning just before hitting the road, and decided we will end every Disney trip like that so we don't go to bed completely depressed on that last night! We still get some of the Disney Magic just before leaving! This past trip it was Chef Mickey's breakfast the last morning...a nice farewell to WDW. Next time it will be Cape May since it is right across the lake from BWV where we will be staying.

 

[mommymeg]

We're gonna try to stick to the same routine that we have at home...
Early risers...Plan on bringing most breakfast items with us (we have a family suite at ASMU...kitchnette!!(... Cereal, pop tarts, breakfast bars, canned fruit...(hubby will most likely go pay OOP for a hot meal)...around 7am...

Lunch will be a CS at the park of the day...usually between 11 and 12...

Back to the resort around 2pm for a nap..

Dinner ADR's have all been booked at 5pm... at home this is the latest we eat dinner since the kids all have evening activities...

Snack credits will be used at night, probably close to park closing.. ice cream, soft pretzels, or something similar...

With that said, I would say you should do what is best for your family situation.. Ours works well for us and hopefully we'll skip some big crowds at mealtimes.

 

[SGMCO]

It's easy to plan and make ADRs in the time you think you will
be hungry but what get me is on some days you are starving
earlier than your ADR and other days you are not hungry at your
ADR time. I try to be consistant with the time of all ADRs but its
hard.

 

[RMulieri]

We eat breakfast in our villa around 630am ( we are early risers) Lunch at CS at around 1045-1100am , and dinner around 400-430pm.Snack is usually 7-8pmish

 

[summermac]

In terms of best bang for your buck, it is almost always best to use TS for dinner generally. However we are going to mix it up a bit. I think we'll do two breakfasts, two lunches and three dinners. We want LeCellier so we'll take it any time we can get it.

Also, if you wind up wanting more sit-down meals, say for a nice couple of character breakfasts, pay for the adults OOP but use the dining credit for the kids. The price of a child's character breakfast is more than the DDP for the day. However for an adult, it's only around $20. If you're doing TS later on that day for a dinner, you'll likely spend more than $20 on your meal whereas your child's meal will only be around $9.

 

[tndisneyfan]

We normally would have breakfast in the room, Pop Tarts and such. Then we would have a CS lunch around Noon. We would schedule our TS dinner around 7ish. It worked out well for us. If we started getting hungry we would get a snack, but usually we didn't. We almost always used our TS for dinner so we felt like we were "getting our moneys worth".

 

[catne]

we liked to use our snack credits in the parks at a park bakery as we were leaving for the night. Took the pastries back to the room for next morning breakfast. We're early risers & always do rope-drop (often with the early EMH...at our time of year, that's usually an 8 a.m. opening.) So we're eating breakfast in the room around 6:45 or 7:00...we'd tour from about 8-11:00 or 11:30 and would be ready for counter service lunch around 11:30 or so. Then back to room for a nap/break. Then table service dinner reservations between 5 & 6:00 p.m. Very, very rarely did we want any additional snacks after the first day...those Disney CS & TS meals kept us full, full, full. And eating at those times kept us ahead of the meal crowds so we rarely waited more than 10 minutes to be seated at table service, no more than 2-3 people ahead of us in line at counter service.

 

[ctaci]

Yay! Im happy to have stumbled upon this thread. My ADRs are mostly for 530pm and I was worried this was too early.

Great point about getting up early, then to lunch at a CS at 11 or so when they open. Makes m 530pm ADRs seem perfect!

 

[tndisneyfan]

Yay! Im happy to have stumbled upon this thread. My ADRs are mostly for 530pm and I was worried this was too early.

Great point about getting up early, then to lunch at a CS at 11 or so when they open. Makes m 530pm ADRs seem perfect!

The first time we went on the DP we scheduled all or TS's around 5:30. We found a lot of times we weren't really hungry when our ADR rolled around. I think it's because we all got a full CS meal with dessert at lunch. Just to let you know, we are big eaters so it wasn't an issue of a light eater having to much food. We found we did better with a six to six thirty ADR.

 

[Dani C]

My only advice is that you plan your dining reservations in accordance with the rest of your schedule. Basically decide what you plan to do that evening and if it is at a specific time plan accordingly for both times and locations in respect to dining. Plan for at least an hour for the meal time if TS along with any transportation time (whether just walking or utilizing Disney transportation, driving).

Wouldn't want to miss Fantasmic as a result of a 6:30 reservation at Tony's.