Dining Plan Question

[snipsnsnails]

Can I make sure I'm understanding this correctly? When I purchase the dining plan, it just gives me the total amount of credits at the start of the stay, right? I can spend more than 3 meal credits in one day if I have the deluxe plan? I don't have to allot 3 and only 3 a day?


We are going for 5 days in April and doing a ton of character meals. I just worked out that I will have 4 meals paying out of pocket with the regular plan. The difference between the regular and deluxe for our days is $499, but when I work it out, the character meals are more than $125/meal, so I need to upgrade to deluxe, don't I?


Hopefully, this question makes sense. Ha.

[ssmjlm]

You get all of the credits at the beginning of your trip. You could use them all up at the beginning of the trip if you wanted.

There's a post just a few down about deluxe dining plan and how they used it: pandce.proboards.com/thread/566003/jan-trip-report-ddp-breakdown

[rxbeth]

Feb 3, 2017 11:31:38 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

You get all of the credits at the beginning of your trip. You could use them all up at the beginning of the trip if you wanted.

There's a post just a few down about deluxe dining plan and how they used it: pandce.proboards.com/thread/566003/jan-trip-report-ddp-breakdown

I thought she upgraded from the quick service plan to the Disney dining plan, not the deluxe plan, but I could be reading wrong.

[curbsideprophet]

Are all your meals character meals? I would pay OOP for the non character meals.

[snipsnsnails]

Feb 3, 2017 11:44:31 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

Are all your meals character meals? I would pay OOP for the non character meals.

We have 9 character meals in 5 days, plus one almost 2 year old who is a voracious eater who we have to feed off of our plate, too, or buy OOP. So, if I get the regular plan with 1 meal a day, there's still 4 character meals to pay OOP, right? I'm so new! Ha!

[was5]

Feb 3, 2017 11:50:42 GMT -5 snipsnsnails said:

Feb 3, 2017 11:44:31 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

Are all your meals character meals? I would pay OOP for the non character meals.

We have 9 character meals in 5 days, plus one almost 2 year old who is a voracious eater who we have to feed off of our plate, too, or buy OOP. So, if I get the regular plan with 1 meal a day, there's still 4 character meals to pay OOP, right? I'm so new! Ha!

9 character meals in 5 days is a lot! I understand trying to fit it all in, but that is a lot of time. My only trip with the kids (so far) was 3 days. We did a character meal each day and that was plenty.

ETA: that is a lot of time spent on sit down meals, waiting for characters, etc. There is a character app finder (discussed in another post) if your goal is to see as many as possible.  

[snipsnsnails]

Feb 3, 2017 11:52:27 GMT -5 was5 said:

Feb 3, 2017 11:50:42 GMT -5 snipsnsnails said:

We have 9 character meals in 5 days, plus one almost 2 year old who is a voracious eater who we have to feed off of our plate, too, or buy OOP. So, if I get the regular plan with 1 meal a day, there's still 4 character meals to pay OOP, right? I'm so new! Ha!

9 character meals in 5 days is a lot! I understand trying to fit it all in, but that is a lot of time. My only trip with the kids (so far) was 3 days. We did a character meal each day and that was plenty.

ETA: that is a lot of time spent on sit down meals, waiting for characters, etc. There is a character app finder (discussed in another post) if your goal is to see as many as possible.  

Ooh, good thoughts! I looked and I think that there are 7 (Is Ohana Dinner considered character dining since there's not characters but a show/games?), not 9. These are our ADRs right now:

Sat: Crystal Palace Breakfast, Cinderella's Royal Table Dinner
Sun: Chef Mickey's Breakfast, Teppan Edo Dinner
Mon: Hollywood + Vine Fantasmic Package
Tue: Tusker House Brunch
Wed: Supercalifragilistic... Breakfast, Ohana Dinner

What would you cut? There is 4 adults and a 1.5, 3, 4, 5 and 6 year old, first trip!

[snipsnsnails]

Oh, and our goals are see characters, of course, but also with super littles, they don't LOVE rides (they don't even know what they are-ha) so we'll want time to sit and chill and we all love eating! Ha! But maybe we should cut one or two? I tried to do one a day except for our first day and our lastday in the parks.

[was5]

Feb 3, 2017 11:58:05 GMT -5 snipsnsnails said:

Feb 3, 2017 11:52:27 GMT -5 was5 said:

9 character meals in 5 days is a lot! I understand trying to fit it all in, but that is a lot of time. My only trip with the kids (so far) was 3 days. We did a character meal each day and that was plenty.

ETA: that is a lot of time spent on sit down meals, waiting for characters, etc. There is a character app finder (discussed in another post) if your goal is to see as many as possible.  

Ooh, good thoughts! I looked and I think that there are 7 (Is Ohana Dinner considered character dining since there's not characters but a show/games?), not 9. These are our ADRs right now:

Sat: Crystal Palace Breakfast, Cinderella's Royal Table Dinner
Sun: Chef Mickey's Breakfast, Teppan Edo Dinner
Mon: Hollywood + Vine Fantasmic Package
Tue: Tusker House Brunch
Wed: Supercalifragilistic... Breakfast, Ohana Dinner

What would you cut? There is 4 adults and a 1.5, 3, 4, 5 and 6 year old, first trip!

I have only done Cinderella (CRT), Ohana Breakfast and the Disney Jr. lunch so I can't say which of the ones you have selected is better or worse.

I do recommend CRT as a one time experience, especially if the 5 or 6 yo's are into princesses.

I would focus on the characters the kids really want to see and maybe skip the others. I might be wrong, but don't you have 3 with Mickey and Minnie (Chef Mickey, H&V and Tusker House)?

ETA: some people hate character meals and others love them. I thought they were great for us, since we had a short trip. We could use our FP's for rides and know we would see many of the characters. Having one sit down meal a day was also a nice break from the heat (we went in August). Are you doing your breakfasts pre-park opening (PPO) so you get a jump on the crowds? Are you staying at a monorail resort or driving so you can get to Chef Mickey and Ohana easily? Many things to consider when picking your ADR's.

[ilikedonuts]

You definitely don't need 3 Mickey character meals. Are you going to have to go back for naps? Plan 90 minutes at least for every character meal. 2 sit downs a day is a lot of time spent in restaurants.

[snipsnsnails]

Yep, CRT is a for sure. My 4 year old will flip for dinner at the castle. She pretty much considers herself a royal, so she'll be right at home. Ha.

H&V is for the Fantasmic package that comes with it, so we get seating for the show. I wonder if we can get a good view of the show without doing the meal. Anyone know? And Tusker House, I think was to fill up our day at AK (wasn't sure if there would be enough for an entire day for our crew there. Chef Mickey's might be one to put on the chopping block!

Thanks again for your help! Like I said, this is all brand new to me!

[snipsnsnails]

Feb 3, 2017 12:09:33 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

You definitely don't need 3 Mickey character meals. Are you going to have to go back for naps? Plan 90 minutes at least for every character meal. 2 sit downs a day is a lot of time spent in restaurants.

Which would you cut? See above for initial ADR reasonings. Chef Mickey's then?

And probably a no on the naps. My almost 2 year old is a terrible sleeper anyway, so she will definitely snooze on the go.

[was5]

Feb 3, 2017 12:13:47 GMT -5 snipsnsnails said:

Feb 3, 2017 12:09:33 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

You definitely don't need 3 Mickey character meals. Are you going to have to go back for naps? Plan 90 minutes at least for every character meal. 2 sit downs a day is a lot of time spent in restaurants.

Which would you cut? See above for initial ADR reasonings. Chef Mickey's then?

And probably a no on the naps. My almost 2 year old is a terrible sleeper anyway, so she will definitely snooze on the go.

I would probably not do Chef Mickey's given your reasons for the other 2. I've also heard good things about the QS restaurants at AK but also good reviews for Tusker  House.

[curbsideprophet]

Where are you staying? I would consider dropping chef mickey's and Tusker House. If you are looking for good food in AK try Yak and Yeti!

[snipsnsnails]

Feb 3, 2017 12:39:59 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

Where are you staying? I would consider dropping chef mickey's and Tusker House. If you are looking for good food in AK try Yak and Yeti!

AofA, so not on the monorail. I think our thought with Chef Mickey's was similar to Tusker House in that we could spend time doing quintessential Disney meal via Chef Mickey's and not necessarily have an entire day at Epcot where I'm not sure the super littles would have enough to do. But maybe we really can fill an entire day at Epcot?

I will definitely look at Yak and Yeti and maybe cut Tusker House! Thanks!!!!

[curbsideprophet]

You have a lot of breakfast meals. I feel like there would be a lot of overlap in the food.

I would also write out all the characters at each meal and see how much overlap you have.

I feel like EP has so many good dining options. I would potentially try to find another EP restaurant instead of chef Mickey's. I think there is enough at EP to spend a full day there. Having extra time is your schedule is good too.

[was5]

If you don't have a car onsite, getting to other resorts for meals is either time consuming (taking a bus to the transportation center then taking the monorail to the resort) or you have to pay for an uber/taxi. I don't think I'd want the hassle in the morning.

We stayed at AoA and did the Ohana breakfast, but we had our car so it only took us a couple minutes to drive to the Poly. So, if you have a car, doing a breakfast at a monorail resort is not necessarily a bad idea. That way, you park at the resort, eat breakfast, take the monorail to WDW, then monorail back to the resort at the end of the day and drive back to AoA. For us, it was a nice change from waiting for the bus to get back to AoA, especially with a double stroller (you have to break it down for the bus, but we were able to keep the kids in it on the monorail).

[ilikedonuts]

Feb 3, 2017 13:35:01 GMT -5 was5 said:

If you don't have a car onsite, getting to other resorts for meals is either time consuming (taking a bus to the transportation center then taking the monorail to the resort) or you have to pay for an uber/taxi. I don't think I'd want the hassle in the morning.

We stayed at AoA and did the Ohana breakfast, but we had our car so it only took us a couple minutes to drive to the Poly. So, if you have a car, doing a breakfast at a monorail resort is not necessarily a bad idea. That way, you park at the resort, eat breakfast, take the monorail to WDW, then monorail back to the resort at the end of the day and drive back to AoA. For us, it was a nice change from waiting for the bus to get back to AoA, especially with a double stroller (you have to break it down for the bus, but we were able to keep the kids in it on the monorail).

Unless you pay for valet you aren't allowed to park at a resort all day unless it's thecresort you are staying at. They can and have towed people for doing that.

[was5]

Feb 3, 2017 14:06:31 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

Feb 3, 2017 13:35:01 GMT -5 was5 said:

If you don't have a car onsite, getting to other resorts for meals is either time consuming (taking a bus to the transportation center then taking the monorail to the resort) or you have to pay for an uber/taxi. I don't think I'd want the hassle in the morning.

We stayed at AoA and did the Ohana breakfast, but we had our car so it only took us a couple minutes to drive to the Poly. So, if you have a car, doing a breakfast at a monorail resort is not necessarily a bad idea. That way, you park at the resort, eat breakfast, take the monorail to WDW, then monorail back to the resort at the end of the day and drive back to AoA. For us, it was a nice change from waiting for the bus to get back to AoA, especially with a double stroller (you have to break it down for the bus, but we were able to keep the kids in it on the monorail).

Unless you pay for valet you aren't allowed to park at a resort all day unless it's thecresort you are staying at. They can and have towed people for doing that.

Hmm, I know we had to check in with security at the entrance to the parking lot. They let us in when they confirmed we had a dining reservation. I don't remember being told one way or another if we were allowed to park there all day. I know we didn't knowingly break the rules. Maybe things have changed. That was a couple years ago.

I don't plan on driving down again, but it's a good warning to others.

[Mrs. ChanandlerBong]

Feb 3, 2017 12:10:43 GMT -5 snipsnsnails said:

Yep, CRT is a for sure. My 4 year old will flip for dinner at the castle. She pretty much considers herself a royal, so she'll be right at home. Ha.

H&V is for the Fantasmic package that comes with it, so we get seating for the show. I wonder if we can get a good view of the show without doing the meal. Anyone know? And Tusker House, I think was to fill up our day at AK (wasn't sure if there would be enough for an entire day for our crew there. Chef Mickey's might be one to put on the chopping block!

Thanks again for your help! Like I said, this is all brand new to me!

Check and see if they still offer fast pass+ for Fantasmic.

[mslhb]

Yes you can use the credits whenever. I would drop chef mickeys and either add Ohana or 1900 park Fare breakfast. Now that my DD is older I am happy to do non-character meals. Some that I love that I think are good for young kids are San Angel inn, whispering canyon cafe, sci-fi and biergarten. My DD and I tend to share meals do we aren't fans of the dining plan but I enjoy sit down meals and am not fond of quick service so the deluxe dining plan does sound like fun!