Disney Dining Pan Questions

[Rogue71371]

Disney Dining Plan Questions

Hey Everyone!

17 days to go as of today!!!!

My family (myself, wife and 4yo son) will be in Disney at the end of the month. We have the Disney Dining plan. 1 Table Service 1 Counter service and one snack per day per person) total of 27 table service 27 counter 27 snacks.

My question is this. Do you need to use every guests card everytime you dine or can we just use one card. And also can we use all the table service credits for my wife and I an not "waste" a credit on a $4.99 kids meal for my son, and save it for an adult meal later in the trip?

So more or less can anyone in our family use any number of the credits or must they all be split 3 ways equally?

Whew, sorry if I over explained the question.

Thanks, Tom

 

[HauntedPirate]

Good question. We were looking into the DDP, but found out that, as DVC members, we're screwed. (BTW, we'll be there in 14 days!!!)

I believe they have to be used equally amongst the family members, but I would defer to someone who's either done this or knows more about it.

 

[shoppingnut]

1. You can use any one of your cards for the whole family at the register, you don't have to use individual cards.

2. Your son's price for the dining plan is only $10 a day, so why are you going to pay for food when you already paid for the dining plan for him. And, if you go to any of the buffet meals, they are minimum $9.99 for a child. Sit down meals you can't get around, but counter service on the other hand is a different matter. The one thing that we did when I went with my brother's family (they were on the dining plan and I had a separate room at my AP rate) when we were down there was that in the morning at the foodcourt because the 4 yr old only ate cereal, I bought her cereal and I used her counter service for breakfast.

3. Also I would suggest that if you are going to do counter service for breakfast every morning that you and your wife considering buying a mug for coffee in the morning. This way when you get your counter service meal, you are entitled to one drink and you can get a bottle of water to take to the parks with you. You have to get the bottle of water at the time you are buying the entire meal to have it included in the counter service meal, otherwise it is considered a snack and will be taken off as snack option.

 

[Thrawn]

Is a Disney Dining Pan kind of like a Disney Frying Pan?

 

[JimboJones123]

with the kid ticket for both counter and sit down -- you CAN order ADULT meals -- we grabbed a few better meals than the mac and cheese and chicken finger re-hashes and the kids loved getting to try something different. this also allows you to have a buffet of desserts and meals for that matter. Meal plan really let us sample a large ammount of what disney had to offer. it also gave us a bit more food since our 1 year old wasn't on the plan.

 

[JimboJones123]

Good question. We were looking into the DDP, but found out that, as DVC members, we're screwed. (BTW, we'll be there in 14 days!!!)

I believe they have to be used equally amongst the family members, but I would defer to someone who's either done this or knows more about it.

we had 2 rooms and when we went to different sit down meals -- we just alternated which room paid for it and it all evened out at the end.

 

[Bravesfn1]

Is a Disney Dining Pan kind of like a Disney Frying Pan?

I thought he was going to pan the Disney Dining Plan.

 

[BeachClubVillas]

Good question. We were looking into the DDP, but found out that, as DVC members, we're screwed. (QUOTE]


Why is it bad for DVC members? We were thinking about getting it for next summer. Is it just because we get breakfast in the villa, so it's not really cheaper?

 

[JimboJones123]

do you have to get dining plan for you whole length of stay -- because with four of us eating on a 3 person plan we still had way too much food. and for value purposes -- going to character breakfasts isn't such a great idea.

 

[shoppingnut]

for value purposes -- going to character breakfasts isn't such a great idea.

I would imagine that going to a character breakfast has nothing to do with value when taking a 4 year old, but rather, has to do with having them see the characters. You would get more value for your sit down meal in doing a character dinner.

 

[palminnie]

We were in WDW in August and were on the DDP (1 snack, 1 CS and 1 TS per day per person). The way it works is that if 4 people stay for 8 nights you get 32 snacks, 32 CS meals, and 32 TS meals which are good for the length of your stay. If you have older children they can separate from you and eat on their own. You can use the 1 card to pay for all the meals too. You don't have to use 4 snacks, CS or TS meals per day. You can break it up any way you want to. The plan is very flexible and you will definitely have enough food.

 

[shoes]

Dining

We just got back (10/1) and we had the dining plan for 2 adults and 1 child (5). We used the same card every time, and yes we did pay for our sons meal seperate so we could use his meal later by us. This did work, in fact a waiter suggested it at the sci-fi drive in (love it). We actually had snacks left when we left so we loaded up on things for the trip home .
I suggest the dining package to everyone I know that is going. Once you get the hang of it.... it works great.

 

[JimboJones123]

I would imagine that going to a character breakfast has nothing to do with value when taking a 4 year old, but rather, has to do with having them see the characters. You would get more value for your sit down meal in doing a character dinner.

what i'm suggesting is that you "PAY" for the character meal and get a better "VALUE" using the sit down for lunch or dinner where you can get the app/dessert with the entre. some meals the plan covers would cost you 70-80 dollars alone -- so for "VALUE" -- paying for those meals while using the meal plan to pay for the 17.99 breakfast isn't too smart.

some of us do actually go to disney on a budget BTW!

 

[Rogue71371]

Here is my thought. We're going to be in Disney for 9 full days. Expecting to Have Breakfast Lunch and Dinner everyday. That will be a total of 54 meals between my wife and I. (3 meals each x 9 days) My son may or may not eat certain times or may just a fruit cup or the like.

The meal plan will cover 2 meals per day per person.

If it breaks down like this

Me 9 Table Service 9 Counter 9 snacks
Wife 9 Table Service 9 Counter 9 snacks
Son 9 Table Service 9 Counter 9 snacks

What I am thinking is that if my wife and I use all the Counter Service, and Table Service for ourselves, and pay for my sons meals out of pocket it will save us A LOT of money. Expecting that the average Counter Service for my wife and I will be approx. $12 each and Table service $24. Where as my sons meals would will much cheaper ie Counter Service $6 and Table Service $10.

So the question I guess is are the counter service and table service meals counted "per guest" or seperated into Adult and Child?

 

[Rogue71371]

Thanks!!! You posted the exact answer to my next question!!!!

 

[JimboJones123]

Here is my thought. We're going to be in Disney for 9 full days. Expecting to Have Breakfast Lunch and Dinner everyday. That will be a total of 54 meals between my wife and I. (3 meals each x 9 days) My son may or may not eat certain times or may just a fruit cup or the like.

The meal plan will cover 2 meals per day per person.

If it breaks down like this

Me 9 Table Service 9 Counter 9 snacks
Wife 9 Table Service 9 Counter 9 snacks
Son 9 Table Service 9 Counter 9 snacks

What I am thinking is that if my wife and I use all the Counter Service, and Table Service for ourselves, and pay for my sons meals out of pocket it will save us A LOT of money. Expecting that the average Counter Service for my wife and I will be approx. $12 each and Table service $24. Where as my sons meals would will much cheaper ie Counter Service $6 and Table Service $10.

So the question I guess is are the counter service and table service meals counted "per guest" or seperated into Adult and Child?

no-- the points aren't divided into CHILD/ADULT -- they are just group points -- so if you don't want to get hot dogs as the counter meal -- your son could get full counter meals like adults -- and same with sit down meals -- including app and tasty treat afterwards. My kids were done with chicken fingers by day 3 and we asked and the CM said as long as the points were there, adults can order kid meals and kids can get adult meals. they are interchangable. When we went to the luau -- they actually gave us a kid menu buffet mac and cheese/ hot dog/ chicken -- quite a meal.

 

[shoppingnut]

what i'm suggesting is that you "PAY" for the character meal and get a better "VALUE" using the sit down for lunch or dinner where you can get the app/dessert with the entre. some meals the plan covers would cost you 70-80 dollars alone -- so for "VALUE" -- paying for those meals while using the meal plan to pay for the 17.99 breakfast isn't too smart.

some of us do actually go to disney on a budget BTW!

BTW not everyone eats three full meals a day, so paying out of pocket for a meal doesn't make sense if you end up with extra meals at the end of the week because then disney has just made money from you on the dining plan.

BTW I used the meal plan with my brother and his family in August and they had a budget and we had no problem using it for CRT breakfast and doing a counter service for dinner that night. So maybe one day we didn't get full "VALUE," but if you are going to let "food value" dictate your entire trip that's your decision. Sometimes you just have to do what's right for your group, like having breakfast with the princesses in the castle for the 4 yr. old daughter. We had plenty of other sit down meals that were more then the value of the dining plan.

One needs to look at the full time they are there, decide how to work the plan day by day according to their groups eating habits. During our entire week's stay, we didn't pay out of pocket for one single meal and used all our sit down dining options at dinner, other than CRT. We also bought mugs for the kids so that they could have as much to drink at the foodcourt that they wanted including slurppy's.

 

[JimboJones123]

BTW not everyone eats three full meals a day, so paying out of pocket for a meal doesn't make sense if you end up with extra meals at the end of the week because then disney has just made money from you on the dining plan.

BTW I used the meal plan with my brother and his family in August and they had a budget and we had no problem using it for CRT breakfast and doing a counter service for dinner that night. So maybe one day we didn't get full "VALUE," but if you are going to let "food value" dictate your entire trip that's your decision. Sometimes you just have to do what's right for your group, like having breakfast with the princesses in the castle for the 4 yr. old daughter. We had plenty of other sit down meals that were more then the value of the dining plan.

One needs to look at the full time they are there, decide how to work the plan day by day according to their groups eating habits. During our entire week's stay, we didn't pay out of pocket for one single meal and used all our sit down dining options at dinner, other than CRT. We also bought mugs for the kids so that they could have as much to drink at the foodcourt that they wanted including slurppy's.

why are you trying to argue???

If we have 6 sit down meals on the plan and want to go to 8 sit down meals total -- it makes the most sense to pay the lowest price for the two you are paying out of pocket.

PLUS -- read your own tagline.

 

[DisneyBunny]

There's a really good discussion on the "value" of the dining plan on the UG's website. It says a lot more than what I could.

As for having 3 square meals a day, we sufficed with just having cereal for breakfast, sometimes I skipped it entirely, and had an early lunch. You don't really need much additional food on the plan. If we hadn't eaten early lunches we wouldn't have had room for dinner at all!

 

[shoppingnut]

why are you trying to argue???

If we have 6 sit down meals on the plan and want to go to 8 sit down meals total -- it makes the most sense to pay the lowest price for the two you are paying out of pocket.

PLUS -- read your own tagline.

All I am saying is that you need to plan the meals the way your group eats, we did not need 3 meals a day, two were more than enough food for our group and the plan worked fine without paying out of pocket for any meals for my brother's family.

While I agree that it makes the most sense to pay out of pocket for the lowest price meals, but be sure that you will be able to use up all the options on the plan, because it doesn't make sense to come to the end of the week with extra meals left over that you're not able to use.