Just back from a fabulous week in the World so I thought I'd post info on how the dining plan worked for us.
Cast included: DH, DS15, DS6 and myself. We debated long and hard about whether or not to do the DDP and are so glad that we did it.
We tried to get our money's worth, of course, but we did not try to max it out. We didn't study menus and cost it all out in advance. We simply chose places we wanted to try that came highly recommended from folks on DIS and other sources where we knew both boys would eat.
Also, it's important to note that we only list 4 TS meals in our totals because we decided to go to the Hoop de Doo Revue (which requires two TS per person). We paid OOP for a character breakfast earlier in the week in order to save those credits. We did get drinks and dessert with each CS and TS meals as it was allowed.
Here's how the plan worked for us (3A, 1C) for 5 nights, based on the total we signed off on at each meal:
TS meals (our 'tab' if paying oop)
Hollywood & Vine @ MGM: $104.53
Biergarten @ Epcot: $126.89
Hoop De Doo Revue: $176.06
Le Cellier Steakhouse: $185.84
Total Table Service: $593.32
Counter service:
Flame Tree Barbecue (4): $49.45
Cantina de San Angel (4): $47.06
Pecos Bills (4): $48.20
Tangerine Cafe (2A, 1C): $30.15
Sommerfest (1A): $9.21
ABC Commissary (2A, 1C): $29.97
Backlot (1A): $9.44
Total Counter Service: 223.48
Total TS and CS: $816.80
for a savings of: $129.88 without counting snacks
Snacks (usually water or mickey bars or frozen lemonade)
(Note: I didn't keep these receipts so I'm estimating)
Bottled water (6): $12
Cokes/soft drinks (6): $12
Ice cream (4 @ 2.50): $10
Frozen treats (4@3): $12
Total snacks: approximately $46
Total from DDP: $862.80
Total cost of DDP: $686.92
Total savings: $175.88
We were camping at FW and would grab a piece of fruit or cereal in the a.m. and had more than enough food to eat the entire week. In fact, when we go back, we'll probably put more time between meals. We did combos with desserts at CS and did, as you might have noticed, two buffets for dinner plus our one splurge at Le Cellier (which I would highly recommend).
We'll definitely do it again when we go back. And, for the record, we did use one child credit as an adult credit when we ate at Pecos Bills and it didn't appear to mess anything up later in the week. Before you flame me, it wasn't really intentional. DH and DS15 went up and ordered four combos while DS6 and I found a table. When they brought the food to the table, all four were adult combos.
We had absolutely no problems with the plan during the week and our servers were always very helpful in telling us what we could and couldn't get. It was great not to have to worry about the $$ during the week and have everything (including the tip) taken care of before we even sat down for our meal. We did tip extra on occasion for excellent service.
Hope this helps!
Cast included: DH, DS15, DS6 and myself. We debated long and hard about whether or not to do the DDP and are so glad that we did it.
We tried to get our money's worth, of course, but we did not try to max it out. We didn't study menus and cost it all out in advance. We simply chose places we wanted to try that came highly recommended from folks on DIS and other sources where we knew both boys would eat.
Also, it's important to note that we only list 4 TS meals in our totals because we decided to go to the Hoop de Doo Revue (which requires two TS per person). We paid OOP for a character breakfast earlier in the week in order to save those credits. We did get drinks and dessert with each CS and TS meals as it was allowed.
Here's how the plan worked for us (3A, 1C) for 5 nights, based on the total we signed off on at each meal:
TS meals (our 'tab' if paying oop)
Hollywood & Vine @ MGM: $104.53
Biergarten @ Epcot: $126.89
Hoop De Doo Revue: $176.06
Le Cellier Steakhouse: $185.84
Total Table Service: $593.32
Counter service:
Flame Tree Barbecue (4): $49.45
Cantina de San Angel (4): $47.06
Pecos Bills (4): $48.20
Tangerine Cafe (2A, 1C): $30.15
Sommerfest (1A): $9.21
ABC Commissary (2A, 1C): $29.97
Backlot (1A): $9.44
Total Counter Service: 223.48
Total TS and CS: $816.80
for a savings of: $129.88 without counting snacks
Snacks (usually water or mickey bars or frozen lemonade)
(Note: I didn't keep these receipts so I'm estimating)
Bottled water (6): $12
Cokes/soft drinks (6): $12
Ice cream (4 @ 2.50): $10
Frozen treats (4@3): $12
Total snacks: approximately $46
Total from DDP: $862.80
Total cost of DDP: $686.92
Total savings: $175.88
We were camping at FW and would grab a piece of fruit or cereal in the a.m. and had more than enough food to eat the entire week. In fact, when we go back, we'll probably put more time between meals. We did combos with desserts at CS and did, as you might have noticed, two buffets for dinner plus our one splurge at Le Cellier (which I would highly recommend).
We'll definitely do it again when we go back. And, for the record, we did use one child credit as an adult credit when we ate at Pecos Bills and it didn't appear to mess anything up later in the week. Before you flame me, it wasn't really intentional. DH and DS15 went up and ordered four combos while DS6 and I found a table. When they brought the food to the table, all four were adult combos.
We had absolutely no problems with the plan during the week and our servers were always very helpful in telling us what we could and couldn't get. It was great not to have to worry about the $$ during the week and have everything (including the tip) taken care of before we even sat down for our meal. We did tip extra on occasion for excellent service.
Hope this helps!
