1st time using the Dining Plan.. HELP!

[wdwgoer12]

when we travel to WDW, we typically stay off site. This time we have decided to try a resort hotel and the Dining Plan. However, there are certain parts that seem complicated...
1. We are staying 7 days/6 nights. With the 7 table service meals that we are credited, can we only use one for character dining?
2. Can we eat more that one table service/counter service meal a day until the credits are depleted, or are we limited to one of each a day? (we will only have a partial day at one of the parks and may not necessarily use all our allotted daily credits)
3. I am under the impression that snacks are accumulated within your party, but quick service and table service meals are individualized to your card. Is that correct?

Any other tips and tricks for dining plan rookies are welcome!!

 

[stevehousse]

when we travel to WDW, we typically stay off site. This time we have decided to try a resort hotel and the Dining Plan. However, there are certain parts that seem complicated...
1. We are staying 7 days/6 nights. With the 7 table service meals that we are credited, can we only use one for character dining?
2. Can we eat more that one table service/counter service meal a day until the credits are depleted, or are we limited to one of each a day? (we will only have a partial day at one of the parks and may not necessarily use all our allotted daily credits)
3. I am under the impression that snacks are accumulated within your party, but quick service and table service meals are individualized to your card. Is that correct?

Any other tips and tricks for dining plan rookies are welcome!!

For the dining plan, it goes by nights not days. So you will have 6 TS credits, 6 QS credits, and 6 snacks per person in total for the week u r there. You can go to as many character meals as you want! You can also use as many TS credits in a day as you want. If you want a TS breakfast and a TS dinner, you can Definately do that! There is no daily limit, plus some restaurants are 2 credit for a meal!

I am assuming you probably have 7 TS meals planned out? If that's the case, browse the menus and get a sense of what you and your family might order, and choose the cheapest restaurant to pay for out of pocket. Or you can drop one?

 

[Nero the dog]

Book some ADR's as soon as possible or you may struggle to get into the better restaurants.

 

[Lucky]

Nothing is "individualized." E.g. Instead of you and your spouse having 7 QS meals each one of you could have 14 and the other 0.

 

[sgtmgd]

Nothing is "individualized." E.g. Instead of you and your spouse having 7 QS meals each one of you could have 14 and the other 0.

Everything is given to you in one chunk..when you check in to the hote they will give tyou your KTTWC or Magic Band along with a dining plan beakdown it will give you a grand total of everything you have and each time you use a credit snack/QS/TS it will be deducted and you will be given a reciept that shows the remaining balance of your entitlements

 

[boilerpicc]

when we travel to WDW, we typically stay off site. This time we have decided to try a resort hotel and the Dining Plan. However, there are certain parts that seem complicated...
1. We are staying 7 days/6 nights. With the 7 table service meals that we are credited, can we only use one for character dining?
2. Can we eat more that one table service/counter service meal a day until the credits are depleted, or are we limited to one of each a day? (we will only have a partial day at one of the parks and may not necessarily use all our allotted daily credits)
3. I am under the impression that snacks are accumulated within your party, but quick service and table service meals are individualized to your card. Is that correct?

Any other tips and tricks for dining plan rookies are welcome!!

I hope you enjoy your first on-site stay! As much as people complain about the transportation on this website, I think it is outstanding and is the best part of staying on property. Yes you might have to wait a little bit for a bus, but you won't have to wait for the parking shuttle, and then climb into a hot car to drive yourself home. We normally fly down and don't even bother with renting a car.

Don't worry about the dining plan. It's really not that complicated once you get into it. Also, the waiters and CS staff will help you navigate through it if you have any questions.

1. You can use as few or as many as you want for character dining. Cinderella's Royal Table requires 2 table service credits. I am pretty positive that all other character meals only require 1.
2. You can use as many or as few in a day as you want. This summer when we went, we arrived very late on Friday night and didn't use any of the meal credits on that day. Instead, we used the extra table service to go to the Hollywood Brown Derby and the extra counter service for breakfast on the day we left.
3. All credits (table service, counter service, and snacks) are accumulated for your whole party. At the bottom of each receipt, there will be a tally of your party's remaining credits. We always have snack credits left over at the end of the week.

Here's a few of tips -
The dining plan gives you a ton of food to eat! You will get a dessert with every meal, which is crazy. I don't recommend booking 2 table service meals in the same day. You might explode.

If you are picky about when you eat or want to go to the more popular restaurants (Be Our Guest, Le Cellier, Cinderella's Royal Table, Chef Mickey's, O'hana), make sure to make reservations as early as possible. If you are less picky about locations and times, then you can be more flexible with the reservations. Even when I went over New Year's, there were still table service restaurants openings for lunch in mid-December. There are always more table service openings at lunchtime, even when free dining plans are being offered.

My family always has snack credits left over at the end of the week. All of the single serving packages available in the gift shops count as snacks. We use all of our remaining snacks for those on the day we leave and then take them on the airplane with us.

 

[harryk]

Remember ' TIPS ' are not included in the dining plans.
If you believe that you do not have enough points - consider upgrading to the delux dining plan - it gives a little more flex to your choices. Upgrades must be done prior to check-in. Once at the counter - too late.
Should you not eat much and do a lot of counter service what you have selected appears fine. My family found it not satisfactory and we have ended up upgrading to the Delux Dining Plan ever since. (We do table service over counter service when ever possible.)

 

[NYwdwfan]

Another tip:

Counter service meals count as 1 counter service - whether it be a child meal or an adult meal. We often order one adult chicken nugget meal with a bottle of water as the dessert and my 2 kids split it, giving us an extra counter service meal to use for a breakfast (we get the giant platter that we take back to the room and share). And the adult chicken nuggets are so much more tasty than the kid ones.

 

[Sparkle81]

Actually, I wondered something. We're staying for 10 nights, and will be checking out on the Friday morning. However, we'll be heading to MK for most of the day, as our flight home isn't until the evening. So if we have any credits left over, will we be able to use them that day, or would they be automatically wiped out on check out day?

 

[stevehousse]

Actually, I wondered something. We're staying for 10 nights, and will be checking out on the Friday morning. However, we'll be heading to MK for most of the day, as our flight home isn't until the evening. So if we have any credits left over, will we be able to use them that day, or would they be automatically wiped out on check out day?

You can use whatever is left over, you just don't get " new credits " for that day so to speak...

 

[harryk]

They expire at midnight of check-out day

 

[Sparkle81]

You can use whatever is left over, you just don't get " new credits " for that day so to speak...

They expire at midnight of check-out day

Great, thank you both

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

It doesn't happen often but check your receipt to make sure your balance is correct. Some how we were charged for two extra TS meals but talked server before we left the resturant and it was straightened out.

 

[Gabe1]

Always check your bill. It is almost always correct, don't want to freak ya but there are ooops'.

I was at the Inn in Mexico, gave her our room key for dining plan and my debit card for the two adult beverages and appetizer that were not covered by dining plan along with the tip.

She put the whole thing on my debit card. Then when I brought it to her attention she said it would be fine I could use the TS credit another time. I was dumbfounded, enter manager. It was my last night there and really who was the server to tell me that was the solution? The manager put the meals on my dining plan and credited my debit card, which took 6 days to go back onto my debit card.

This was the one and only issue I've had with the DP, but shows you, keep an eye on what you are signing.

 

[wdwgoer12]

For the dining plan, it goes by nights not days. So you will have 6 TS credits, 6 QS credits, and 6 snacks per person in total for the week u r there. You can go to as many character meals as you want! You can also use as many TS credits in a day as you want. If you want a TS breakfast and a TS dinner, you can Definately do that! There is no daily limit, plus some restaurants are 2 credit for a meal!

I am assuming you probably have 7 TS meals planned out? If that's the case, browse the menus and get a sense of what you and your family might order, and choose the cheapest restaurant to pay for out of pocket. Or you can drop one?

Thanks for the help!!

 

[wdwgoer12]

all this info is very helpful - thanks everyone! i cant wait to get there in January!!!

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

Always check your bill. It is almost always correct, don't want to freak ya but there are ooops'.

I was at the Inn in Mexico, gave her our room key for dining plan and my debit card for the two adult beverages and appetizer that were not covered by dining plan along with the tip.

She put the whole thing on my debit card. Then when I brought it to her attention she said it would be fine I could use the TS credit another time. I was dumbfounded, enter manager. It was my last night there and really who was the server to tell me that was the solution? The manager put the meals on my dining plan and credited my debit card, which took 6 days to go back onto my debit card.

This was the one and only issue I've had with the DP, but shows you, keep an eye on what you are signing.

Agreed, when I was there a few weeks ago, we had issues with that. Apparently the system doesn't allow CMs to use the dining plan and other methods of payment in one transaction. So they have to do each separately. We had two instances where our room cards were charged after we had already checked out...

 

[Weather_Lady]

We (me, DH, kids 4 and 6) used the DDP last time and it was very convenient -- perhaps not the best value for us, but the convenience was wonderful. We also found that the amount of food was PLENTY for us all -- more than we wanted, in fact -- and we are all big eaters!

We ate breakfast in the room most mornings (Pop tarts or cereal from home, with milk purchased from the resort shop). Lunch was CS in whatever park we were touring. (Check out the disney food blog or the restaurant reviews elsewhere on this site to find out the best CS restaurants in each park, and the best TS values for a dining plan credit.) For dinner, we had a 1-credit TS meal -- it was a way to maximize value, since dinners typically cost more out of pocket than breakfast or lunch, and by the evening, we were feeling more relaxed and wanted to linger over our meal. (The 2-credit meals, with the possible exceptions of Cinderella's Royal Table and Hoop-de-Doo Revue, are almost never worth it -- by which I mean, their out of pocket cost isn't 2x what two 1-credit TS meals would cost. If you want to do one, do it out of pocket or just be resigned to the fact that you're not getting the best value for those 2 credits and will still likely to pay for an additional meal out-of-pocket to replace the extra TS credit you "spent" on that 2-credit meal.)

Some terrific 1-credit TS values my family has enjoyed in the past (or are dying to try) are 'Ohana (Polynesian Resort), Crystal Palace character buffet (Magic Kingdom), Be Our Guest (Magic Kingdom), Tutto Italia (Epcot), Le Chefs de France (Epcot), Biergarten (Epcot), the Coral Reef - food is meh but the view amazing (Epcot), Sanaa and/or Boma (Animal Kingdom Lodge), and Raglan Road (Downtown Disney a/k/a Disney Springs).

You can absolutely book as many character meals as you want. Just be aware that they often take longer than a typical meal because you're waiting for each character to come around, and the buffets served at many of them tend to be the same food over and over again. Avoid the Hollywood & Vine character meal at HS at all costs. In our experience, it's the only Disney restaurant with a terrible reputation that deserves it beyond cavil!

 

[harryk]

Never have had a bad meal at Hollywood & Vine

 

[SteveW]

I've done the DDP on my 3 previous visits and like Weather_Lady stated, found it to be very convenient to having it all paid up front. I seem to pick weeks to visit when the free DDP isn't being offered, so to try and break even on it I would order the more expensive TS meals. Often times there other items on the menu I would rather have including appetizers vs deserts, but I felt locked into higher priced ones. So I decided to try pre-paying for my meals for my upcoming trip in December with a Disney gift card. I have all my ADRs booked because I really like having a relaxing sit down meal each day. I'll probably spend close to what I would have on the DDP, but looking forward to the greater flexibility.