First time staying on site and trying to get my head around dining plan. My 12 year old daughter is an extremely fussy eater and I know in most places she will not eat of the adult menu. I have read that they may allow her to order from the kids menu which is great however would they allow me to pay for that meal so that I could keep that TS credit for somewhere else?? Or do you have to pay full bill in credits or full bill in cash? Help!
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Splitting bill with credits and cash?
- Thread starter Alana Rea Jago
- Start date
Hmm, have you looked maybe just paying cash for your meals, instead of using the dining plan? About the only benefit to the plan is pre-paying for meals, but it usually ends of costing you more than if you just paid cash. It takes a lot of planning nowadays to just break even, and if you have a picky eater, it may end up costing you a lot more.
Disnee4Me
Well-Known Member
Except in cases where they have the free dining, which is what I've got ... however, I did have to change resorts and pay $400 additional for the resort, but my family of four will definitely eat more than $400 worth of food in 8 days, so worth paying the extra for free dining, right????
DisneyFans4Life
Well-Known Member
Yes...they will split it, just tell the waiter/waitress when you order how you want it split.
Yes, free dining is worth it to you and really anybody that gets it since you do save money. Sorry, but I detest any and all of the dining plans and wish they would go away, though I know that Disney makes a ton of money on the paid plans, so not going away anytime soon. They make the prices at the restaurant artificially high for customers like us that use the TiW, and it has caused many restaurants to offer substandard food in order to cover the cost. In some cases, Disney has made them "signature" restaurants to help cover the cost, since those are 2 credits each. LeCellier is one of them. Disney has to make the dining plan look like a good deal, so we end up paying more. We are DVC members, so don't pay cash for our rooms, and are not eligible for free dining. We can purchase the dining plans, but the TiW saves us a ton more for our eating habits.
Disnee4Me
Well-Known Member
I like to do a sit down midday (2 p.m.) to get off my feet and get on a lot of rides when everyone else is eating lunch, usually between 12-2!!
Dwarful
Well-Known Member
That is when most of our reservations are this trip...although some are late dinners. It's just how it worked with a last minute trip. I figure we will do some shows to get off our feet around lunch time. Plus late lunches = later dinners without crowds at the quick service.
jenos0524
Active Member
LOL at you still calling it FREE Dining... Sorry I just see so many people say "it's FREE" after they pay X amount of money... I am going to disney in August, and my TA told me that the Dining Plan is "GREAT" and I should do it. I did a ton of research and for 2 adults and child under 3 it would cost us $1100 for the 10 days (9 nights) which works out to $61/62 a day per person. I then researched some of the places i wanted to eat and meals were in the range of $20-$35 Quick Meals per person at most were $20 and then a snack maybe $5 (Which at all the high end prices) it would be $60 a day.
In the end I find it is not worth it for my situation, I did like the fact i could pre-pay my food but... you still need to pay the tip, which to me defeats that purpose.
To make the meal plan worth the price. You need to order the high end steaks, seafood etc... at EVERY place you eat, You have to eat a desert everywhere. and you must order drinks every time. If you don't do these things then you "wasted money" Right now I have over $800 rewards $ on my cc. Once i go to disney I am just going to charge all my meals on my CC. when i get the bill at the end of my trip, i am just going to pay my CC with all of my reward $$'s. Same thing is pre-paying but it will cost me less, and I am not restricted to ordering specific items. (I like to eat chicken or pasta or even a pizza once in awhile and not eat fancy high end meals 10 days in a row.)
My wife and I drink water (which saves us $3 pr person, we want the freedom of ordering an appetizer and then skipping desert if we are stuffed, without feeling like we are wasting our money (or skip both and save 10-20 total). Then a lot of the places i want to eat take up 2 table credits.. which would make me go through it in half the time, if i want to do Hoop-de-doo review, aloha dinner, Cinderella's Royal Table, etc...
Although for you it may be worth it, Other than when you go to a Buffet, they will charge you a meal for her even if she doesn't eat much. but when eating at a regular restauraunt you can save a meal every so often and use them to do the 2 table service credit places...
Exactly!! Too many people simply like the fact that their dining is "paid" for without realizing or some even caring that it will cost them more money than paying OOP. Being DVC members, we get APs and the TiW card, saving us 20% (including alcohol). A much better deal for those that can do that. We also like to choose what we eat, and don't always get the steak every meal. Like you said, unless you eat the highest price meal at every restaurant, you are losing money on the DDP.
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
We just go with a room discount, since even "free" dining costs us more. None of the dining plans fit our preferences, so OOP is the way to go. As for OP...paying cash for her is really no different than having a party where half a table is on the plan and half is not. They'll just split out the check.
Thanks for your responses. Seems like you all know so much about this. No research was completed by myself before booking and when "free" dining plan option was included I just took it. Seems like I will be needing to order all the expensive things of the menu then to get value. Only there for 5 days so shouldn't be a problem but knowing I can pay for my daughters meal is great to know!