Dining Plan Questions

[figment's bud]

OK so I am kinda a new member on here.:wave: I have just registered but have been checking in on this forum for over 2 years now. I love it and you guys know your stuff when it comes to Disney World. So here I go. My family and I will be going on a trip to DW in January for 7 days. There will be 8 adults and 4 kids(ages8,6,3,&2). My parents signed us up for the dining plan. And none of us have done it before. We are all obsessed with Disney, but I am looked at to be the Disney guru of the family. Now I am asking for your help as how to work with the Dining plan the best. We hve ressies for Cinderella's table for dinner, Character Breakfast at Chef Mickey's, and dinner at Hollywood and Vine for Fantasmic. I know this seem like a very vague question, but any help would be appreciated. Just tips or how you did it, anything! Thanks!

 

[Monty]

Going in January you've left little room for changes.

My approach has always been to book TS reservations as early as possible for one meal per day, usually including at least one 2-credit meal. I try to avoid buffets because they provide the least value for your credit [though you can eat more quantity]. I usually end up paying OOP for what would be the cheapest meal I've booked.

The reason I book more than the plan provides is the scheduling issue. If we can't make it to a particular meal because something else we want to do conflicts [you can't plan 100% six months in advance - things come up], then we don't lose the opportunity to still use all our TS credits. Once you're there, getting TS seating can be difficult, if not impossible.

I make sure to book Le Cellier 180 days ahead, other restaurants can wait, but Le Cellier seems to book solid right away [CRT can too, but we don't eat there every trip].

Based on cost, I take the approach that if my TS meals cost as much or more than what I paid for DDP for the day, I'm well ahead. We often can't eat all our CS credits [though snacks are easily expended just on Dole Floats], we mostly use CS for breakfast and TS for dinner and don't bother with lunches, it's just too much food.

I don't know how much help I've been, but hope you have a great trip!

 

[JvlBorn]

Hello,

I'm new here - loving all the information, tips and tricks from you Disney pro's! :wave:

My family and I will be at WDW Jan 21-25, our first trip to FL after a few visits to DisneyLand. After stressing too much about reservations and the 'right' places to eat, I just sat down and made all our ADRs last night. And I had no trouble getting in to all of the restaurants I wanted!! Only a couple are character meals because we have older kids (8 & 15) but again, we had our pick on times for most every dinner. So don't worry, just go for it! To me, it is not about the food but the parks and the overall experience. I picked based on which park will be open late for EMH. We will do few or no resort meals because there seem to be plenty of options right in the parks. I can't imagine a meal being worth an hour or more of travel time on the buses. We don't have that kind of time in January. As long as it sounds good and at least a few people have recommended it, I'm sure it's a pretty safe bet. There are SO many good reviews out there, I don't see how we can go wrong!

Just my 2 cents. Have a great trip!

Chris

 

[DisneyMarg]

Regarding Counter Service restaurants... some are much better values than others. One of the best we discovered on our recent trip was the Krigla Og something something Bakery in Norway. For our Counter Service lunch we got:
Cup of soup (clam chowder or vegetable)
Sandwich (smoked salmon or shrimp salad or another choice I've forgotten)
Dessert from ANY pastry in the shop
Drink

I chose the almond pretzel for dessert which would have been enough for all four of us to share! It was wonderful!

Other good choices:
Wolfgang Puck Express at Downtown Disney (2 locations) - ate there twice and on the last night used up our leftover credits on late night pizzas.
Earl of Sandwich had great sandwiches (surprise surprise)
Columbia Harbor House in Magic Kingdom - good fish and chips and good tuna salad sandwich

Don't settle for burger and fries. There are many great options out there!