Dining plan or not?

[Indianamom2]

Skip the mug. Like you, I'm a coke drinker, because that's my caffeine in the morning, but after Dh and I lugged those mugs around years ago, it just isn't worth it for the hassle.

[KrisM]

I'd hate to lug a mug around. Is that what you'd have to do?

It's just at the resort, not in the parks. So, room to food court and back.

[egoldber]

Except that we usually stopped at the food court on the way out to catch the bus to the parks. So if we had the mugs, we had to either bring them with us and lug them around all day or make a special trip back to the room. And in some larger resorts, that is really inconvenient.

[KrisM]

Except that we usually stopped at the food court on the way out to catch the bus to the parks. So if we had the mugs, we had to either bring them with us and lug them around all day or make a special trip back to the room. And in some larger resorts, that is really inconvenient.

Oh, had not thought about that. Easier to take a bottle from the room for sure.

[mariza]

We have been lucky with scheduling our only 2 family trips during free dining, I would not pay for the dining plan OOP. I wouldn't buy the mugs either unless you just want them for the souvenirs, because you can only use at your resort. We got them with the Dining Plan and used them for morning coffee (DH and DD always get up early so they go get the coffee while DS and I wake up/get ready)

If your planning on lots if character meals than it might be worth it, but I would skip it if not. DH and I found that a lot if the QS meals were huge and actually split a lot of meals to stretch things out. Also, the kids never finished theirs either so we just ate what they left and I didn't feel guilty about throwing food away! We used 2 credits on Mickey's Backyard BBQ and really wish we hadn't. 2 other TS meals would have been much better (but that's probably a story for a different post)
Here's how we do doing plan:
For "dessert" at the resort we would get yogurt or fruit cup and bring it back to the room to use for breakfast/snack. I'm a water and coffee drinker so the drinks that came with my meal I would get a kid friendly drink and save it for them to have in our room. I had 2 cases of water shipped to the resort ahead of time so as not to waste snack credits on water. For a few QS meals we split an entree because we were running low on meal credits (due to using 2 TS credits and also DH's mom came to spend the day at the park so we gave her one of our QS meals) I always end up with extra snack credits at the end so I buy Mickey Rice Krispie treats to bring back for teachers and others. I love the dining plan but the reality is we really don't need all that food and if I paid for it OOP I'd be bummed. I think you can get by paying for your meals for much less money as long as you aren't wanting to do 3 or more character meals. I know I rambled, hope at least some of this makes sense!


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[KrisM]

We have been lucky with scheduling our only 2 family trips during free dining, I would not pay for the dining plan OOP. I wouldn't buy the mugs either unless you just want them for the souvenirs, because you can only use at your resort. We got them with the Dining Plan and used them for morning coffee (DH and DD always get up early so they go get the coffee while DS and I wake up/get ready)

If your planning on lots if character meals than it might be worth it, but I would skip it if not. DH and I found that a lot if the QS meals were huge and actually split a lot of meals to stretch things out. Also, the kids never finished theirs either so we just ate what they left and I didn't feel guilty about throwing food away! We used 2 credits on Mickey's Backyard BBQ and really wish we hadn't. 2 other TS meals would have been much better (but that's probably a story for a different post)
Here's how we do doing plan:
For "dessert" at the resort we would get yogurt or fruit cup and bring it back to the room to use for breakfast/snack. I'm a water and coffee drinker so the drinks that came with my meal I would get a kid friendly drink and save it for them to have in our room. I had 2 cases of water shipped to the resort ahead of time so as not to waste snack credits on water. For a few QS meals we split an entree because we were running low on meal credits (due to using 2 TS credits and also DH's mom came to spend the day at the park so we gave her one of our QS meals) I always end up with extra snack credits at the end so I buy Mickey Rice Krispie treats to bring back for teachers and others. I love the dining plan but the reality is we really don't need all that food and if I paid for it OOP I'd be bummed. I think you can get by paying for your meals for much less money as long as you aren't wanting to do 3 or more character meals. I know I rambled, hope at least some of this makes sense!


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We've got a few character meals scheduled: Akershus and Tusker House. We are also doing the Hoop De Doo Revue and the Spirit of Aloha show. We have 2 'regular' table service meals: Biergarten and Sci Fi.

My DH is generally not a big eater, which I think is making me think we'll share a lot. He's only 5'5" and 140 lbs, so not a big guy .

[mariza]

We've got a few character meals scheduled: Akershus and Tusker House. We are also doing the Hoop De Doo Revue and the Spirit of Aloha show. We have 2 'regular' table service meals: Biergarten and Sci Fi.

My DH is generally not a big eater, which I think is making me think we'll share a lot. He's only 5'5" and 140 lbs, so not a big guy .

With all those reservations than you will probably make out better with the dining plan. Our Tusker House breakfast would have been $89.42 and the BBQ was something like $180 (can't find the receipt for that one) HAVE FUN


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[KrisM]

With all those reservations than you will probably make out better with the dining plan. Our Tusker House breakfast would have been $89.42 and the BBQ was something like $180 (can't find the receipt for that one) HAVE FUN


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That's what I thought, but when I did the math, I came up with:
Tusker House - $116
Askerhaus - $182
HDDR - $216
Aloha - $230
Sci Fi - $60
Biergarten - $96
Making our TS total $900.

Average for CS is about $37 for the 5 of us, including tax. Snacks are $21 for 5 of us at $4 each. Eight of each of those makes $464. Grand total is only $1364. So, if we split anything or cancel an ADR, we'll be short.

[westwoodmom04]

I agree that it totally depends on how you eat. We like to go to table service and eat there at least twice a day (some didn't actually require ADR, it was easy to slip into the resort restaurant for breakfast or lunch without one). We also went to two character meals, including Cinderella's castle. We saved close to a $1000 on the deluxe plan. However, if you like to grab a quick meal and have some flexibility, definitely better off without the meal plan

[lovemydeals]

We just got back and had free dining. If you plan to eat the most expensive item, do a lot character meals or buffets, then I saw the dining plan is worth it. Otherwise, not quite sure if it is worthwhile to pay OOP because with the CS and TS, non-buffet, you get an entree, dessert and drink. I personally think its too much to have dessert with each meal. I wish you had the option of subbing an appetizer instead. Also, we had some credits to burn because after having a buffet at lunch, none of us really wanted to eat dinner, so some night we skipped it or had a snack instead.