Which would you do?

[misssullyinc]

So for our next trip, we'll be going during Food and Wine. We definitely plan on attending. We're getting the Dining Plan that gives you one TS, one QS and one snack per person per day. On our EPCOT day, we won't have a TS meal because of all the goodies from the F&W booths. If that's not enough, we can always get a QS from there or our resort.


But that'll leave us with 2 TS credits each and we have come up with two solutions:

1) One day, we can do a TS breakfast somewhere (maybe 1900 Parkfare) and then a TS dinner later that night. Normally we only do one sit down a day, but if we did this, we'd do it on the night when we're hoping to have late dinner reservations, so we won't lose too much park time.

2) Go to a place that takes 2 TS credits. Like Cinderella's Royal Table, Hollywood Brown Derby, Narcoose's, you get the idea.

Which would you do? We have a lot of time left, but I'm a planner and want to make our ADRs as soon as I can (even though that's not gonna be until April )!

Thanks in advance.

 

[supersnoop]

Why are you getting the dining plan if you don't have a plan for all the credits? Are you travelling with children aged 3-9? Do you have a "free" dining promotion? Generally speaking, the dining plan isn't worth the price for adults, and it an even worse value if credits are left on the table. Check out www.distripplanner.com to see how much you'd save; either on the dining plan or without it.

 

[misssullyinc]

We are not traveling with children and it is not free with our resort. It ends up working out for us every other time, we always use the credits and this time, we'd still be able to use all of them and have a plan to. We're just not sure which one would be better. I have two options and I just want to know which would be a better use of them.

 

[LinderInWonderland]

That's a tough one. Personally, I like to have a TS breakfast once in a while (especially at Ohana). However, if you have never done (or always wanted to do) a 2 TS restaurant, that would certainly be a great use of the extra credit.

 

[sharonabe]

Those adult TS credits are roughly worth $38, so choose the option that makes the most sense with that "value" in mind.

 

[Pkltm]

We are going next you too in the general same time frame. I also have been planning our meals I would go for the 2 credits, it frees up more time and gives you a different dining experience

 

[Hopefully]

I am not totally focused on the dollar value of each credit. I also consider convenience factor and what we enjoy. That said I agree that a Signature 2 TS is never good use of credits financially. But we do choose to do this, as it works for us

 

[misssullyinc]

One of the few things I'd find "worth it" would be Cinderella's Royal Table but I've heard very mixed reviews on that one.

 

[Nancyg56]

I would definitely go to a signature restaurant. We like Narcoosses, Flying Fish, and Yachtsman Steakhouse, with Narcoosses our new favorite. If you have never had dinner in the Castle, consider it this time. I would choose dinner because it is my personal favorite meal there, but I woudl book a little later than normal dinne hour. It is a character meal, but I have gone as a party of adults and enjoyed it. THis meal gets mixed reviews, but I like it and it is a decent value on the plan because it incluse an appetizer and the tip.

If you like to have a breakfast and still want to have a signature dining experience, you could consider going to Narcoosses, ordering the steak and lobster entree and splitting it. Add in an OOP appetizer and share the desserts, and you save 2 TS credits that can be used for a nice TS breakfast. We time this one so we can enjoy WIshes after our entree and then come back in from the veranda and have coffee and dessert.

 

[misssullyinc]

I would definitely go to a signature restaurant. We like Narcoosses, Flying Fish, and Yachtsman Steakhouse, with Narcoosses our new favorite. If you have never had dinner in the Castle, consider it this time. I would choose dinner because it is my personal favorite meal there, but I woudl book a little later than normal dinne hour. It is a character meal, but I have gone as a party of adults and enjoyed it. THis meal gets mixed reviews, but I like it and it is a decent value on the plan because it incluse an appetizer and the tip.

If you like to have a breakfast and still want to have a signature dining experience, you could consider going to Narcoosses, ordering the steak and lobster entree and splitting it. Add in an OOP appetizer and share the desserts, and you save 2 TS credits that can be used for a nice TS breakfast. We time this one so we can enjoy WIshes after our entree and then come back in from the veranda and have coffee and dessert.

So does it include an app and dessert with the plan? Or do you just get an app instead of getting a dessert? Getting both wouldn't be a big deal if we couldn't, because that's a lot of food, but it'd be interesting to consider.

 

[sharonabe]

So does it include an app and dessert with the plan? Or do you just get an app instead of getting a dessert? Getting both wouldn't be a big deal if we couldn't, because that's a lot of food, but it'd be interesting to consider.

With the regular DDP, you do NOT get an app; you DO get a dessert. If you want an app, you pay OOP.

However, some of the prepaid places do have apps as part of their package. So, if you choose CRT, even though you are on the regular DDP, you will get an app, because the meal includes it. Other ways to get an app are the F! dinner package, the Candlelight Processional dining package, or the few restaurants that have a prix fix meal.

 

[LJSquishy]

Well, you'd probably come out way ahead if you skip the dining plan altogether and just order exactly what you want when you want it since most people don't really want to eat dessert twice per day with their meals along with a sugary beverage (water is free for everyone so there is no value in getting bottled water with your meals) and a snack. Most people (you'd think) would like to eat three meals per day, drink lots of water, and enjoy as many snacks as they want with an occasional alcoholic beverage...you can do all of that and still come out ahead over buying a dining plan. But, that's not what you asked.

I would rather have extra meals over a signature restaurant personally. It's a better value for your credits, and the dining plan is only paying for two meals per day which just wouldn't work for us. We want less sweets and more real food.

Just as a thought...we spent $1,000 for 10 days (9 nights) of food this trip for two adults. This also included about $45 worth of Starbucks park mugs. We had three meals per day which was a CS breakfast, CS lunch, and TS dinner (a couple of nights we cancelled our TS meal so we'd have more relaxation time and would have a CS dinner), about 8 alcoholic beverages which ranged between $8 - $12 each, a few stops in France for ice cream (omg the lemon w/ meringue crisps is to die for, as is the coconut white chocolate), a couple of other snacky treats, and 7 or 8 items from Food & Wine (seafood fisherman's pie, irish coffee liqueur, Germany, south korea, mexico, etc). This was all after tax and tip. Some of the restaurants we ate at were Boma, BOG dinner, San Angel Inn, Sci-Fi, Via Napoli, etc. I have the receipts from everything if you want complete details of everything we ate and everywhere we ate. LOL We would have lost money on the dining plan but would have also been forced to eat two meals per day and have tons of premade desserts (and no alcohol).

 

[misssullyinc]

I appreciate the thoughts on the dining plan but this is not my first rodeo. The dining plan has always worked for us, it's never too much food and it doesn't restrict us. We normally only eat 2 meals a day anyway. We can still buy more snacks and we both love deserts, so no one is forcing us, you make it sound like a chore, not to us! Plus we don't want alcohol with every single meal. It's just not us. We bring tons of water with us as well (that's where those mugs come in handy, put ice in there with some water and you're good to go).

I say this as someone who has done Disney without a dining plan every time. I worked for Disney so I got in for free and would spend all day in the parks on my off days, so I've paid OOP. But we prefer to do it with it for our vacations. We have never lost money using it.

I appreciate the feedback and I get its not for everyone but it works for us. So I think it depends on the group.

 

[misssullyinc]

With the regular DDP, you do NOT get an app; you DO get a dessert. If you want an app, you pay OOP.

However, some of the prepaid places do have apps as part of their package. So, if you choose CRT, even though you are on the regular DDP, you will get an app, because the meal includes it. Other ways to get an app are the F! dinner package, the Candlelight Processional dining package, or the few restaurants that have a prix fix meal.

Thank you for clearing that up!