Character Meals with or without Dining plan

[Magical2017]

Yes just a few. I have planned 1CS AND 1TS a day.

If you think it would be more convenient to have the dining plan and not have to worry about it, then go for it. It works for many people.

If it is stressing you out, you can opt for purchasing a gift card for the same amount as the dining plan would cost you and apply it to your room--this might give you peace of mind. That way, if you have money left over, you can use it at check out for other incidentals or use it for souvenirs. Then you can order what you want, and not worry that you are not getting your money's worth by ordering the most expensive item on the menu.

For our family, we have found that Disney food portions at most TS restaurants are too large for us. Sometimes we are just looking for appetizers because we just are not that hungry after all the Disney food.

 

[ashleyr409]

If you think it would be more convenient to have the dining plan and not have to worry about it, then go for it. It works for many people.

If it is stressing you out, you can opt for purchasing a gift card for the same amount as the dining plan would cost you and apply it to your room--this might give you peace of mind. That way, if you have money left over, you can use it at check out for other incidentals or use it for souvenirs. Then you can order what you want, and not worry that you are not getting your money's worth by ordering the most expensive item on the menu.

For our family, we have found that Disney food portions at most TS restaurants are too large for us. Sometimes we are just looking for appetizers because we just are not that hungry after all the Disney food.

I think that this is an excellent idea. This will make me feel so much better. I def will be getting a gift card. How do I figure out exactly how much the dining plan will be for us?

 

[YesterDark]

I'm going off the ages and people in your signature, 4 Adults, 1 Child.

Disney Dining Plan (1 TS, 1 QS, 2 SN) $327.71 per day
Deluxe Dining Plan (3 TS, 2 SN) $504.99 per day

Source: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-dining-plan.htm

If you've got 1 table service and 1 character meal per day you might want to look at the deluxe plan depending on what you do for breakfast as a family.

Also, some table service/character meals require 2 credits per visit. The deluxe plan will allow you to do a single credit reservation and a double credit reservation per day.

You can also easily snag menus and pricing and run a mock tab for each restaurant and see what the costs are.

 

[Magical2017]

I think that this is an excellent idea. This will make me feel so much better. I def will be getting a gift card. How do I figure out exactly how much the dining plan will be for us?[/QUOTE

You can call and ask how much it would cost to add it, or you can go the Disney site and price out the room with the dining plan and without. D

 

[ashleyr409]

I'm going off the ages and people in your signature, 4 Adults, 1 Child.

Disney Dining Plan (1 TS, 1 QS, 2 SN) $327.71 per day
Deluxe Dining Plan (3 TS, 2 SN) $504.99 per day

Source: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-dining-plan.htm

It looks like it will be $2621.68 for 8 nights for our party of 5. That seems like so much money. Omg.

 

[YesterDark]

It looks like it will be $2621.68 for 8 nights for our party of 5. That seems like so much money. Omg.

It's definitely costly. However, you'll be surprised how much your credit card gets pinged for the week. For 8 nights what are you realistically doing every day for food? You mentioned table service and character meals every day. For a family of 5 that's easily $80-$150 per meal with tax, not including tip. For character meals that's even more. A character meal is roughly $50 per adult and $30-40 per kid (If I remember right).

You also mentioned alcohol. If your husband is grabbing a beer, that's $6-8 right there. The dining plan actually allows alcohol now for 2018.

Since this is your first time, don't get overwhelmed. It's easy to work through. Start here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm

Pick a handful of restaurants and run a mock of what you think your family would order. Add it up and add 7% sales tax and that's your total.

 

[Magical2017]

It looks like it will be $2621.68 for 8 nights for our party of 5. That seems like so much money. Omg.[/QUOT

It depends on what you are doing during your stay, and how much time you want to spend sitting in restaurants.

Also remember that when you order the most expensive item on the menu at every meal, you are also tipping on the most expensive item on the menu. That is fine if you are hungry, but after a big breakfast and snacks, will you want the $52 NY strip steak at La Cellier? If so, the dining plan might be for you.

 

[YesterDark]

Magical, you're replying inside the quote box! Hard to read.

But the best thing about the dining plan is the menu price doesn't matter which is nice. If you're budgeting you don't have to worry about your party ordering something expensive.

 

[ashleyr409]

It's definitely costly. However, you'll be surprised how much your credit card gets pinged for the week. For 8 nights what are you realistically doing every day for food? You mentioned table service and character meals every day. For a family of 5 that's easily $80-$150 per meal with tax, not including tip. For character meals that's even more. A character meal is roughly $50 per adult and $30-40 per kid (If I remember right).

You also mentioned alcohol. If your husband is grabbing a beer, that's $6-8 right there. The dining plan actually allows alcohol now for 2018.

Since this is your first time, don't get overwhelmed. It's easy to work through. Start here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm

Pick a handful of restaurants and run a mock of what you think your family would order. Add it up and add 7% sales tax and that's your total.

Yes very costly. I feel like our CS meals would be really cheaper, because my kids are simple. Maybe even our TS meal. I just think most of the money will be because of the character dining.

 

[Magical2017]

I was just trying to help Ashley 409, actually, lol. I have used the dining plan and it does not work for us at this time. I do agree about not worrying about price. It works the opposite for us, though, as the nice thing for our family about NOT getting the dining plan is that price does not matter--we just order the foods and drinks we think we will eat, even if it is jus a bowl of soup.

 

[ashleyr409]

I will go through each restaurant and choose what I think my family will eat and drink. Add 7%tax and 20%gratuity and then I will add all together. If this is cheaper than the dining plan we will pay OOP. Thank you all for your help.

 

[YesterDark]

Yes very costly. I feel like our CS meals would be really cheaper, because my kids are simple. Maybe even our TS meal. I just think most of the money will be because of the character dining.

Depends on your eating habits! If you're doing character meals most days, the dining plan probably wins out because that's a $205.55 for lunch/dinner at Crystal Palace. Are you spending that much normally on a table service meal? If you're doing mostly regular table service restaurants, it would probably end up being a bit cheaper if your ordering simple stuff.

 

[YesterDark]

I will go through each restaurant and choose what I think my family will eat and drink. Add 7%tax and 20%gratuity and then I will add all together. If this is cheaper than the dining plan we will pay OOP. Thank you all for your help.

Just remember the Dining Plan doesn't include gratuity.

Have fun!

 

[TwinkleKS]

We always get the DxDP, but for convenience, not because it is a great deal. I know how much I've paid ... I don't have to worry about DH staring at the menu every meal trying to figure out the cheapest way to eat (he is notorious for doing this ... it's like a hobby for him).

I never reserve more than two TS meals a day ... three per day on the dining plan means you spend all day eating and are stuffed. We eat a lot of signature meals and character meals. My kids are old enough / have been enough that they don't like to stand in line to see the characters but they still want to see a few of them, so the character meals are a great option for us.

 

[Nancyg56]

Just remember the Dining Plan doesn't include gratuity.


Have fun!

But it does include the tax. Nothing included on the plan will have meals tax added. If you are at any TS meal, you will be adding a gratuity. If the OP is going to mostly character meals, there is no "extra" tip....it is the same with or without the plan.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Use www.distripplanner.com

It was pretty accurate for our last trip.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I would outright pay for the DDP. If we get it for "free" at a moderate we will take it since we are 4 Disney adults. We had it "free" twice and it was an awesome deal with two kids and doing tons of character meals. Now it doesn't make sense for us anymore.

 

[NYCgrrl]

We always get the DxDP, but for convenience, not because it is a great deal. I know how much I've paid ... I don't have to worry about DH staring at the menu every meal trying to figure out the cheapest way to eat (he is notorious for doing this ... it's like a hobby for him).

I never reserve more than two TS meals a day ... three per day on the dining plan means you spend all day eating and are stuffed. We eat a lot of signature meals and character meals. My kids are old enough / have been enough that they don't like to stand in line to see the characters but they still want to see a few of them, so the character meals are a great option for us.

When we purchase a dining plan we opt for the DxDP also but with the exception of our first trip, we've always at least broke even. Once a member of the group was sick so we wound up with some snack credits and an an odd # of TS credits leftover. Had I not been the one who was sick I'd have used room service to make up for the cancelled ADRs.

We get the DxDP to allow us more signature meals as opposed to same cost character meals since our traveling juveniles are past the age of caring. Our breakfasts are generally Continental style and snack credits can be used for that thus one signature (2 credits) and one table service (1 credit) per day. Should we have leftovers from dinner, into the room fridge it goes for midnight snacking or in addition to breakfast.

 

[MomOTwins]

It also depends on which character meals you are getting. Breakfast at garden grill is less than half the cost of dinner at Akershus. Our kids have expensive taste in character meals, and we save hundreds of dollars on the dining plan. Just price it out -- there is a sticky post in the restaurant forum on the Dis that lists the price of all character meals and buffets.

 

[pixarfan79]

We are paying for the DDP for this trip. We tend to go every other trip for the Dining plan. On our dining plan trips, we really splurge. So this year, we have Ohana, Tusker House ROL package, BOG breakfast (that thing is expensive but it's a QS credit) before the park opens, Garden Grill, Tokyo Dining, and Jungle Nav skipper (probably the least worth using credits but we want to try it). Anyway, part of the reason we like it is because i cannot STAND signing that bill for $55 per person to eat at a character meal, for my 10yo who hardly eats. So at least this way I just feel like he can eat however, i won't stress, the snacks basically become free, and we are using our resort mugs occasionally too. However you can definitely go either way. It's pretty close to a wash. The crappy thing is if your family were to get sick or just be tired and miss just ONE table service meal, it becomes a loss (assuming you aren't able to make it up). That's never happened to us before, though. Just the relief on my husbands face when we all bought a QS lunch at Sunshine Seasons last time and it came to EIGHTY dollars, and we scanned our bands and used our credits, was priceless. So for this longer trip we are just doing the DDP. The tips do stink but that's life. I wish you could pre pay gratuities like a cruise! Other good uses of the plan if you get it besides character meals are, Teppan Edo, Wolfgang Puck cafe quick service at Disney Springs, Be Our Guest breakfast and lunch (QS), etc. We are doing Hollywood Brown Derby and Sci Fi diner before we check into our hotel that has the DDP the next day, as those are not great uses of the plan, so we are doing our HS day first. (DVC so not buying a ticket package). If you don't drink at all, or have extremely picky teens, and won't be doing many fixed price meals, it may not be worth it. Disney really seems to be doing a ton of fixed price meals though!