When not on the dining plan...

[dvcdisney]

We just got back on Saturday from an 8 night stay. We stay at Shades of Green so we can't get the dining plan even if we wanted to.

For the 24 total meals, we had 10 ADRs and I was ready to scream with that many but DH likes at least one sit down meal/day. I did manage to talk him out of a couple. It seems we end up canceling more towards the end of our vacation just from exhaustion.

I hear a lot that some people end up cancelling some, but it's funny, for us is just the opposite. I booked 19 TS restaurants for our 14 night trip and ended up adding more during the trip - so we ended up with 26 TS reservations. I find that 2 TS meals a day and a snack or two was great for us.

I don't know why it took us this long to figure this out.

 

[cluvsdisney]

We don't purchase the dining plan. On our last trip we were at Disney for 5 days. We had 5 (3 lunch, 2 dinner) table service meals on sight and 1 dinner off sight.

 

[maxnhenrymama]

Hmmm free child care? Tell me all about it! DH and I would love a night out, and were thinking about going to Jiko, and letting the kids stay at Simba's Clubhouse since DD will be 3 then. I hadn't heard about the free childcare at Dolphin....

Edit- nevermind- it says you have to be 4 for Camp Dolphin. Jiko it is

I believe you have to be 4 for all of the club babysitting. I know we just missed the cut off last year.

 

[GeorgeG]

The only plan of any kind we ever did was a total package vacation plan they had back in the 80s and early 90s (World Adventure Vacation Plan a.k.a. "Gold Key" plan). The only resorts at the time were the CR and Poly & then the GF. It was not a savings as much as a convenience and you got 3 complete (appetizer, main course, dessert & non-alcoholic beverages) meals a day and 2 meals on day of arrival and departure. All meals had to be TS and included dinner shows. The last time we did this was for 14 days and it was just too much. We ended up skipping some meals and actually lost a lot of money (I used to keep track).

Since then, we always payed OOP as we went and still ate at a lot of our favorite TS restaurants, but were able to skip meals when we weren't hungry or just snack or get CS. Our vacations became much more relaxed. We still made some ADRs, but didn't fret over them to where they controlled our vacation. While we still stay onsite several times a year, most our trips are day trips and we just wing it. We have 3 nights/4 days booked in June and only made 2 ADRs for special occasions.

I think (hope) that the current dining situation will ease up and getting seated at many of the restaurants will be easier without ADRs, not to mention the food getting better once the Free Dining and DDP frenzy has run its course.

 

[shann0521]

We did the QSDP last year and vowed to never go without DP again. This next trip I am booking I am doing DDDP bc when we went last year I was unaware it was a per night package and that left us with nothing for our last day... This way even though we only eat 2 meals a day we will have the extra meals for Cinderellas Royal Castle on my Birthday and extra meals for our final day which dont expire until Midnight on the day you check out. I also learned that snack credits can be used in some shops for Candy and Such to take home.. Wont stay on property without a DP again! Hope that helps a bit?

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Its so funny how each trip changes your prespective a bit. We also never dreamed of staying Deluxe, and then when our Aunt gifted us with a 2 bedroom villa for 10 nights (literally 9 days before we were set to leave for our trip at Pop- moved to OKW instead) our minds quickly changed, and we can't wait to buy into DVC (I am happy renting points until then).

Kids Clubs- On the Disney site they updated it, and now they take 3 yr olds if potty trained- all expect at the Dolphin it seems- BOO

 

[Kim1964]

We'll be at the World for 9 days this year and we are staying offsite, so obviously no DDP; however, we wouldn't do the DDP anyway. We did it once and being tied to all those reservations wasn't how we like to vacation. We have two ADRs booked, Chef Mickey dinner and Boma dinner. Chef Mickey is a tradition and DH really likes Boma and isn't the Disney fanatic I am, so I book a meal that he likes to say thank you.

 

[nancycg56]

Forgot to mention that we used TiW for all the meals at restaurants that took it and felt it was a good deal.

 

[photobob]

Never done the DDP. i make a reservation for lunch at a TS for everyday. If we decide to change our mind while there we change our reservation. We are DVC members so we do have a kitchen at our disposal. We generally have a light snack bfast in the room and a TS lunch. Dinner sometimes is a sandwich or pasta salad in the room or grab a cs meal at a park.

 

[GaPaige]

We've done DP and no DP. It seems to work best to not do the DP on shorter trips b/c we tend to not want to take up too much time with TS restaurants (or being tied down to reservations). We do enjoy having the DP when we're eating at the more expensive restaurants (easier to just order and not worry about prices, you know?).
We do have TIW and feel like we get more value using that than we do with the DP, since we can order what we want and it gives the discount off alcohol and some counter service, too.

 

[lshaw]

We will be at Disney World in two weeks staying at Old Key West- No dining plan for us this time! We ALWAYS do dining plan and have decided that the dessert issue is RIDICULOUS! We are never hungry after a big table service meal or counter service for that matter and they shove that dessert almost down your throat in order to up the tip, I'm sure. They never should have removed the appetizer and tip, that was a big mistake and now the regular dining plan is $46.00 per person?! I remember when it was $36.99 or something and it wasnt that long ago. We will just eat out of pocket like the old days- I think more and more people are going back to this style of eating. Can't wait to go to House of Blue's to have happy hour between the hours of 3 and 5! Half off all appetizers and $2.00 for a beer!