Yes... another dining plan question

[bettyann29]

Im in the midst of planning our upcoming trip.. For us to do the dining plan vs buying all our own food the difference is $999.68 for 4 of us.. Me, DD14, DS12 and DD8.. My question is.. Is it really worth doing the dining plan?? I went thru various scenarios and trying to figure out if its going to be worth it vs not being worth it.. If I pay for the food then Im budgeting 2 character meals vs the dining plan we will do 6 of them.. I know this will take time from the parks but we will be there 9 days so Im not concerned about the time it will take for all these meals.. One thing I keep thinking about is with the dining plan we will only get 2 meals vs if I pay then we will get 3.. I obviously dont want to pay for the dining then have to pay for another meal every day otherwise that takes away from the value.. The food is not what we go for but if we do the dining plan than I will want to get a good bang for my buck.. I have already figured where we would go for each meal and when I go thru allearsnet site to look at the menu we will definitely be ahead of the 999.68 but then Im looking at buying another meal..

Any thoughts??

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

For us, the dining plan was perfect. We were there in July and stayed for 10 days with the plan. I worried about the same thing, buying another meal and all. But we honestly never did. The only time we payed for another meal is when we booked an extra character breakfast on top of all of the other credits we had. I can tell you we were stuffed by the end of the day!! the kids loved the fact that they could order their own apps and even have desert! Trying all of the different food was fantastic, and because we are on vacation and the rules are different, no one had to finish their meals to eat their deserts! I was a bit concerned that when we got home we would have gained a gazzillion pounds, but on the contrary, we LOST weight because of all of the activities and walking. The dining plan lets you relax and not have to worry about the bill. An absolute perk for my husband. We also had a blast as a familly picking out all of the restaurants we wanted to go to before our trip and making the reservations... preplanning is key. We usually made our dinner reservations around 7 pm... then off to the fireworks, etc. We brought granola bars with us, and so in the room in the morning the kids would each have one or take it on the bus. then we would have lunch around 11 or 12... it worked out perfectly for us. We wouldn't go without it....

 

[indigoxtreme]

Much the same for us. We had milk and cereal, danish and granola bars in the room for Breakfast, but we also shared a few counter service meals as they were large and had credits for a couple of shared breakfast. Also used some of the snack credits for fruit etc for breakfast. We took our own water into the part in a soft side cooler as we had a stroller. With just DH and I this time we will use the snack credits for drinks as we had many left over. With the meals all paid, including tax and tip and being able to try many places that we really never could before due to cost, it was wonderful for the six of us in Sept. I did leave extra tip for TS's as our waiters were all great. If you plan characters meals and at least 1 cs, out o pocket will cost you more than the plan.

 

[Mcbruns]

We used the Dining Plan in September and saved a TON. We had 2 families and went to many wonderful restaurants. I KNOW we saved. We are going to the World in June and plan to get it again. If you are planning on decent restaurants and character meals -- I would get it.
Plus - the snacks were great!

 

[bettyann29]

Thanks guys for the tips.. I believe I will stick with the dining plan.. Heres my choices that I think Im sticking with ...

Crystal Palace- Character lunch
Pecos Bill- dinner
Cosmic Ray- Lunch
Liberty Tree Tavern- Character dinner
San Angel Inn- Lunch (still not sure on this one)
Electric Umbrella-dinner
Backlot Express-lunch
50's primetime- dinner
Toy Story Pizza Planet- lunch
Sci Fi- dinner
Electric Umbrella (not sure if we will do a second time or if we will do something else)- lunch
Garden Grill- Character dinner
Breakfastaurus- character breakfast
Flame Tree- lunch
Restaurantasaurus- dinner
Ohana Breakfast- character breakfast
Chef Mickey- Character lunch
Liberty Inn-dinner

With choosing to do a few breakfasts as our TS meal I'll have to buy a few extra meals perhaps, but we can always share ..

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

May I suggest the Land at Epcot instead of the Electric Umbrella twice... you have alot of different choices there. Also you could do fish n chips in England.

 

[bettyann29]

May I suggest the Land at Epcot instead of the Electric Umbrella twice... you have alot of different choices there. Also you could do fish n chips in England.

What is at the Land of Epcot? Is it seafood? If so that wont work because my kiddos dont like seafood.. some of the choices I made was because they are pretty picky.. I went on allearsnet at the menus and I had a problem with Epcot.. because there just didnt seem to be much that I think they would like.. I was even thinking of going outside Epcot to eat maybe at 1900 Park Fare and make it another character meal.. If it was just me and boyfriend going and no kids Id have no problems figuring out where to go.. & is alot of character meals, but I wouldnt mind at all and the kids would love it..

Any suggestions for Epcot would be greatly appreciated..

 

[pedro2112]

What is at the Land of Epcot? Is it seafood?

No, I believe it is land food. Veggies, farm animals (cow, chicken, pig, etc.). For the seafood, you'd have to go to the Living Seas.

 

[bettyann29]

Oh ok.. Is this the place that is downstairs from Garden Grill?? I was thinking it was but was unsure

 

[indigoxtreme]

For CS in Epcot we found the Liberty Inn to be very good for the normal American Fare. Good BBQ sandwich, below is the link to allears for the menu here. http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/men_li.htm. Also the Garden Grill offers Chip and Dale Character Meal for a TS. http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menu_gg.htm

This is where Soarin is. As well as the Sunshine Season Food Court for CS. http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/men_ssff.htm

We loved LeCellier for TS (steak etc).

Hope these help