My thoughts on the dining plan (May 28th - June 5th)

[mommyto3]

There were 6 of us.....

Mom (me)
Dad
15yr old Daughter
15yr old Daughter's BF
11yr old Son
8yr old Daughter

$1647.52 - Cost of plan
$2628.67 - Total from our receipts
$1800.00 - This is what we WOULD have budgeted if we didn't do the dining plan. ($200 a day x 9)

PROS:

1. It was less $$ than doing it on our own.

2. Didn't have to worry about cost. If we weren't on the dining plan, kids would have ordered from the kid's menu a lot...with the plan, kids could order filet mignon.

3. Got to try a ton of new appetizers and desserts that normally we would not have. In the past we would order MAYBE one appetizer, and never dessert. The kids thought it was SOOOOO cool ordering there own dessert.

CONS:

1. Biggest gripe......we got 2 rooms so they split our cards 3 and 3. Most CMs didn't realize you could just use 1 card for all 6 of us. So some insisted we use both cards...some would use 1 card but would ring up 2 different transactions...some only wanted 1 card....and because of this we had uneven credits on the cards. Made it hard to keep track of credits. So towards the end of the trip only one of our cards had credits and one CM gave us a hard time when we wanted to order 6 meals when it only had 3 people on the card. Had to explain the 2 rooms/but same party.... blah, blah, blah, way to many times . Most people won't have this problem, but a heads up for larger families/2 rooms.

2. This is the first time (out of 6 trips) that we have eaten at that many counter services. Not a big fan of them. Wish you could swap 2 CS for 1 TS and only order a drink and entree or something similar to that.

3. Way too much food...too much waste. I know we didn't HAVE to order all of that but that was part of the fun. Unfortunatly, we were stuffed all the time. Not a good feeling leaving half of a 7oz filet mignon (which isn't that big to begin with) on your plate because if you take one more bite you will EXPLODE.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Besides #1 on the CONS, we enjoyed the Dining Plan and would do it again. We didn't feel that we were treated any different by the waitstaff. We used our snack credits for breakfast items (not big breakfast eaters) but the last 3 days we skipped breakfast because we were never hungry for our other meals so this helped some. We used our kid credits for kid's meals at TS, but at some of the CS ordered off regular menu, mostly because the kids menu was at some of the CS places. Again, the kids LOVED being able to order appetizer, an adult meal, and thier own dessert. On our last day we had 6 snack credits and 4 CS credits left (not sure how that happened)...so grabbed some stuff to bring home. Overall would give it a big and would do it again.

Thanks for listening and if you have any questions....ask away!

 

[Tidus]

Hi. Are you posting a restaurant review? I would love to read about the places that you ate!

 

[Tam1067]

I understand your comment about the CS places with lousy kids' meals selections...we face the same dilemma on our upcoming trip. So, did you ever get questioned by a CM if you tried to order more adult meals than your cards allowed, or did you just order separately? I've heard some people have tried to get 3 adult meals when their cards say they only have 2 adults, and the CMs are turning them down. Thanks.

 

[baileybelle]

Mommmyto3: We will be 5 adults when we go, my dh and I in one room and the 3 adult "kids" in the other room. From what you have said, they break up the credits by room?

So I guess it would be easier for the 3 "kids" to order on one card and my DH and I to order on the other card. Then we would have to keep track of each card's credits. Is this correct? Thanks!

 

[jjohnson]

Besides the 2 card issue I have exactly the same opinions of the dining plan. I'm still undecided whether to do it again.

 

[mommyto3]

Tidus,
Yes, I will be giving my reviews, so stay tuned .

Tam1067,
Once we ordered separately, and another time we were questioned. But I just told the CM, "oh, we have already used all of the kids meal credits" and she didn't say anything else. Very frustrating having different CMs and their different versions of how you are allowed to use your credits. According to Disney I could have used all 48 of my CS credits at one time if I wanted but most CMs don't get that.

baileybelle,
They did break up our credits by room, not sure if this is an "across the board" kind of deal. If they do break your credits up, each waitstaff will have there own version of how your check has to be rung up. Big PITA . Especially when you know they only need 1 card to ring everyone's meal up. Maybe you could ask your hotel if they could put you all on 1 card even though you have 2 rooms. Good Luck, and let us know if that is doable when you get back. It would make the dining plan SOOOOO much easier for bigger families with 2 rooms. I will say the first few days it was such a pain that my husband was asking me "WHY did you get the DP", but it got better as the week went on. I think the worst part is there is no consistancy, each waitperson has their own rules. Also the CS were worse then the TS. We always had the kids get a table and me and my husband would get the 6 meals and that is when it got hairy .

 

[baileybelle]

Mommyof3:
Breaking up the credits wouldn't be that much of a hazzle for us since we are all adults. The "kids" could order on one card and we would use the other. Then we would have 2 receipts correct? The resevations would be in my DH's name. Would he sign both receipts?

Hope I will be able to put all the credits on 1 card though. It would make things much easier. Our trip isn't until next April so maybe by then they'll Get their act together.

 

[mommyto3]

baileybelle,

CS are the biggest pain, but since you all are adults you could each order with your own card. (Not an option for us because I would have had a heart attack trying to keep up with 4 children in line (or lines) with all the crowds and trying to carry their own trays....uggg scary thought ) But then you will have 5 receipts.

TS, the most they will ask for is 2 cards (if split between rooms) so more managable. And your husband will be able to sign for both receipts. Actually, any one of you can sign, they don't seem picky about who does that.

We went to the front desk a few times and they were great about printing off how many credits we had left for each catagory (CS, TS, and snacks).

The more I think about, I think it will be fine for your party since you all are adults .

 

[LizinSTL]

I understand your comment about the CS places with lousy kids' meals selections...we face the same dilemma on our upcoming trip. So, did you ever get questioned by a CM if you tried to order more adult meals than your cards allowed, or did you just order separately? I've heard some people have tried to get 3 adult meals when their cards say they only have 2 adults, and the CMs are turning them down. Thanks.

No one looked twice when I ordered 3 adult CS meals on our card that said 2A/2C. We shared lots of meals so for the most part we ordered 2 CS meals for the 4 of us. A couple times we got 3 to share (differing opinions on what to order so mom got stuck sharing what everyone else wanted P)

The cashiers at the CS locations are BUSY. I can't imagine them making their job more complicated by being picky about this.

 

[BeckWhy]

CONS:

1. Biggest gripe......we got 2 rooms so they split our cards 3 and 3. Most CMs didn't realize you could just use 1 card for all 6 of us. So some insisted we use both cards...some would use 1 card but would ring up 2 different transactions...some only wanted 1 card....and because of this we had uneven credits on the cards. Made it hard to keep track of credits. So towards the end of the trip only one of our cards had credits and one CM gave us a hard time when we wanted to order 6 meals when it only had 3 people on the card. Had to explain the 2 rooms/but same party.... blah, blah, blah, way to many times . Most people won't have this problem, but a heads up for larger families/2 rooms.

I'm glad I'm not doing the 2 room thing (lol there are only two of us). It sounds complicated!

 

[TexasErin]

We were there a couple of weeks ago and were a party of 2 adults 2 kids. The only cs place where we were specifically told we had to order kids meals for the kids was at Columbia Harbour House. For my youngest that was fine, but DD (9) wanted to get the fish so that was a hassle.
I'm kind of glad in a way that she will be considered an adult on our next trip since she usually doesn't want a kids meal at the counter service places. Of course at the table service places, she would rather order from the kids menu so it's kind of a waste of money..........oh, well, we still really like the dining plan anyway.

 

[thelobstershanty]

2. This is the first time (out of 6 trips) that we have eaten at that many counter services. Not a big fan of them. Wish you could swap 2 CS for 1 TS and only order a drink and entree or something similar to that.

We said the same thing many times over the course of our trip. We like the CS meals well enough but many times we just were not hungry for a CS meal, but we were always ready for a TS meal. Since we ate a quite a few 2 credit TS restaurants--this would have been a nice alternative.

 

[Tam1067]

We were there a couple of weeks ago and were a party of 2 adults 2 kids. The only cs place where we were specifically told we had to order kids meals for the kids was at Columbia Harbour House. For my youngest that was fine, but DD (9) wanted to get the fish so that was a hassle.
I'm kind of glad in a way that she will be considered an adult on our next trip since she usually doesn't want a kids meal at the counter service places. Of course at the table service places, she would rather order from the kids menu so it's kind of a waste of money..........oh, well, we still really like the dining plan anyway.

This is exactly the boat we're in. DS is 9 and would certainly prefer a burger to beans and franks or cold chicken (which is what Pecos Bill's offers kids!), and all of the kids would like pizza at Pinnochio Haus instead of the PB&J that's offered as the kids' meal, and I'm wondering how to deal with that. I'm not trying to rip Disney off, but it's sort of lousy that their kids' CS choices are so limited and often unappetizing! I'm even thinking of taking the monorail over to the Contemporary or Grand Floridian during our MK days and getting lunch at the CS places there, which seem to have more choices for kids than the restaurants in parks!

 

[bblanch]

Besides the 2 card issue I have exactly the same opinions of the dining plan. I'm still undecided whether to do it again.

Same here.

Just returned from our first trip using the DP. I'll add another Con... the amount of time it takes for these Table Services. Between waiting for your table, ordering and eating an appetizer, entree, AND dessert... it really takes a long time. Lots of valuable park time.

I felt really bad not cleaning my plate, but towards the end of the trip, I just couldn't take it anymore. We were eating just to use all the credits. A couple of bites in and we were stuffed. But if you normally eat like this, then the Plan is a steal as we didn't have a dinner bill under $100 for 2 adults/2child.

I know lots of people say their snack credits go unused, but we thought those were great. If it was up to me, I would've used every last one of them at the Main Street Bakery. yumm.