How do you Disney Dine? $ or $$$$

[1st*toright]

I'm a newbie - planning our first family trip, so this is based on what I think will happen - it may be totally off base, but its the best I've got now.

We are staying at the Poly- seemed like the best fit for us. We will be there for 5 nights- me, DH and our 2 kids, ages 4 and 14.

I am planning rope drop or PPO ADRs for 3 days of our 6 day trip. The other non-travel days we will hang at the resort for the day and go to a park or Disney springs in the evening. We tend to be up early in general, and I think the afternoon crowds won't be popular with some of the family, so we will tour in the AM, then head back to the hotel for the afternoon, going back in the evening if we feel like it. My little one is sweet all day and a terror after 7pm, so we will likely split up and each take a kid if the teen wants to stay in the parks later on some of the nights.

I am planning to do DDXDP for this trip. We are more likely to do TS than QS in general. I'm planning 2 ADRs most days - lots of character meals! If we have a PPO breakfast, dinner is planned fairly early, otherwise we are doing a late breakfast or early lunch, then dinner at a "normal" dinner time. So we will be eating 2 meals a day and filling in with snacks where we need to. Pretty much every non-character meal we will be splitting meals - an app and an entree will feed two of us for sure and I'm ok with just not getting dessert or trying to pick something we could bring along with us to snack on later, at least at lunch. The way I have it planned, we can do a couple of signature meals and eat for 6 days on 5 days worth of credits. I ran the numbers, and while we could definitely make different choices and eat for much less, the DDXDP will save us at least a couple of hundred dollars over paying out of pocket for the same meal itinerary, even after I consider tips and drinks. Not sure I would do the same on a return trip, but I think my LO will love the characters, and I would rather be eating and staying cool while waiting to meet them than standing in lines! Also, having one Disney child in the mix changes the economics of the DDXDP a lot - if we were all adults I don't think it would work out as well.

My kids don't know about the trip yet, but my older one said something about how cool it would be to eat inside the castle (she is going on a school trip to WDW this summer a few weeks after our family trip - very helpful so that I can sound her out about my planning ideas without tipping my hand about the family trip!) So I'm glad I scored a CRT reservation. I think Garden Grill will be popular with the little one - a big fan of Chip & Dale.

 

[pigletto]

How many in your family? and ages? Family of four. DH and I, dd20, ds13
How many days? typically -10
Are you a commando or wanderer or laid back.... rope drop or last one out of the parks or some where in between type of family? We are often a rope drop family, but now that the kids are older, we do more sleep in days

Resort? Value to Deluxe or DVC where do you fit in. Do you choose value resort then spend on eating or vise versa stay Deluxe and eat on the cheaper side. Mod, Deluxe (renting DVC) or offsite. As kids got older, more offsite in condos for space

Disney Dinning Plan? which one? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family. Only if free. We have purchased in the past, but mostly stayed at moderates when it was free. We don't find it worth it for us to pay for the dining plan. As the kids got older and we moved offsite we LOVED having a full kitchen for sandwiches, breakfasts etc and we ate way less onsite. Our exchange rate is terrible, and we can stretch our dollar a lot further eating offsite which allows us to go back more often. I'd rather 2 trips in a year than spending $3000 after exchange on food.

If you prefer Out of Pocket? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family. See above. A few TS meals, a few counter service, and the rest in condo or offsite. We also don't have the same restaurants in Canada that we go to offsite in Orlando so it's still fun for us.

Some where in between on dinning plans and paying oop? Let us know how you make it work for your family.

What kind of snacks and drinks for the room? taking snacks into the park? If we take anything to the park it's water.. trail mix, maybe a granola bar. Typically we eat when we leave on break. We also let the kids pick a snack every day when paying OOP, and it's usually used on something sweet.

Pool Side eats? Nope, we've never been a spend all day at the pool family. Mind you, the idea is more appealing now that I'm older and been to Disney so many times. I like more down time on trips these days. DH might have a beer at the pool. We don't typically snack.

What is your big splurge? That one place your family just has to eat. Dh and ds LOVE Ohana. So if we get the DDP we definitely go. If OOP I can't justify the $250-$300 it would cost us for one meal after we figure in exchange and tip. Again, being more careful when we are paying OOP allows us to visit more often. And generally where we stay is more important to us than the food. Though we are going to attempt to get free dining and stay in a mod this upcoming trip.

Is dinning a part of the vacation experience to you? Again, being more careful when we are paying OOP allows us to visit more often, and take longer trips. Generally where we stay is more important to us than the food. Though we are going to attempt to get free dining and stay in a mod this upcoming trip.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We are a family of 3. We are DVC Members so we usually stay at our home resort (VWL). We never do a dining plan. My husband has no interest in it so I never look into it. I really don't have a must do place, I like trying new places but my husband really enjoys the Cape May Café. Our last trip to WDW was 2014 over Spring Break and we were there 10 days. I like the treats. I'd skip a meal so I can have more treats. I don't carry any snacks into the park, maybe just the occasional water. Pool side treat...ice cream, always ice cream.

 

[petrola]

There are so many ways to save or over spend on food at Disney. I thought it would nice to see how everyone does their budget what they choose to spend on and where they try to save when eating at WDW.
I just had a long lengthy conversation with a friend who is planning a large family trip during the holidays.
In the discussion she was like how do you know all this stuff ? Which got me thinking it would be interesting to see how others make out with dinning.

How many in your family? and ages? we are a family of 4 - me, DH, DD (7) and DS (2)
How many days? typically 5-7
Are you a commando or wanderer or laid back.... rope drop or last one out of the parks or some where in between type of family? we try to be at rope drop but ONLY because my children are up at 6 am every morning and we need to keep them busy! we typically leave the parks at around 2 for my son's nap while my DH and DD head to the pool. (which she so greatly looks forward to!) We may go back to the parks in the evening if we have a dinner reservation there but if the dinner is at a hotel (Chef Mickey's whatever) we don't go back. I don't feel the need to be in the parks 12 hours a day - especially since my kids get tired at around 2. Don't see the value in dragging a tired 2 year old around a park when he could be napping in a comfortable room. I'm sure as the kids get older, our routine will change and we will be able to go back at night for a parade or fireworks or whatever. But not for now.

Resort? Value to Deluxe or DVC where do you fit in. Do you choose value resort then spend on eating or vise versa stay Deluxe and eat on the cheaper side. We typically rent DVC one bedrooms (we have done BWV, Wilderness, AKL) as it gives us the option of having breakfast in the room (which we need because my kids want to eat IMMEDIATELY upon waking and there's no way they'd make it to a restaurant, then order then wait for their food!) Also the DVC one bedrooms allow my kids to fall asleep in the bedroom - they typically go to sleep around 8-8:30 while my husband and I enjoy a glass of wine either in the other room or on the balcony where we usually sit and watch fireworks at night!

Disney Dinning Plan? which one? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family. yes always. reason is we do a lot of character meals and it pays to have the dining plan for character meals. The character meals are wonderful for keeping the attention of my kids while we actually get to eat - especially my 2 year old. If we try to eat in a restaurant without characters, we have all of about 20 minutes to sit, order our food and shovel it down before he completely loses interest in the whole experience! lol

If you prefer Out of Pocket? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family. No

Some where in between on dinning plans and paying oop? Let us know how you make it work for your family. My husband and I go out to dinner one night alone and pay OOP for that.

What kind of snacks and drinks for the room? taking snacks into the park? we order through Garden Grocer - usually goldfish, fruit, etc..

Pool Side eats? my kids LOVE Mickey ice cream bars at the pool!

What is your big splurge? That one place your family just has to eat. my husband and I typically have one date night and pick a new restaurant each time - nothing over the top though ex: Flying Fish, California Grill, Citricos, Yachtsman Steak house etc.

Is dinning a part of the vacation experience to you? yes of course. As much as some of the character meals can be a bit crazy at times, there is nothing better than watching my little guy get so excited as "Chef Mickey" makes his way over to our table..

I think knowing the make-up of your family, how you tour, where your stay are important factors so that other families can relate it better to their family.

 

[bjscheel]

4 of us, DH, Me, DD18, DD15. We have stayed at all levels of resort, probably in the future will be mostly mod or deluxe. We have done dining plans, particularly when it is free or when the kids were under 10, but don't anymore (well we would take free dining if available). We are all kind of picky/plain eaters and DD15 especially. She will frequently still get the kids meals. So counter service fits our needs the best and we like not having a lot of reservations to get to. We usually stay a week and have 1-2 TS. Rainforest is a tradition every time, and then we may pick one other TS each trip.

We used to bring Disney gift cards so that it felt as easy as the dining plans, now we just charge everything to our Magic Bands.

We are rope droppers, and once or twice I brought breakfast for the room to help get out the door sooner, but DH prefers a big hot breakfast so we've been eating that at the resort food court now.

 

[crisi]

How many in your family? and ages?

• We have four of us - but my son is 18 and didn't travel with us last time. My daughter is 17 and brought a friend.

How many days? typically.

• Four or five nights

Are you a commando or wanderer or laid back.... rope drop or last one out of the parks or some where in between type of family?

• Middle of the pack - I do like to be at the park at opening, but we usually are out by mid day - and might head back into Epcot for the evening

Resort? Value to Deluxe or DVC where do you fit in. Do you choose value resort then spend on eating or vise versa stay Deluxe and eat on the cheaper side.

• DVC - usually a two bedroom - although we've done a Grand Villa a few times - last time with just six of us.

Disney Dinning Plan? which one? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family.

• Once, years ago

If you prefer Out of Pocket? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family.

• Put it on the Magic Bands, goes on the AmEx, pay it off when bills arrive

What kind of snacks and drinks for the room? taking snacks into the park?

• We have Garden Grocer deliver water. We freeze that and take it into the parks. Usually we bring in some granola bars or something as well - maybe fruit. It isn't really a cost saving thing for us, its a time, convenience and selection thing. In the room we usually have a little soda, and breakfast stuff.

Pool Side eats?

• Nope

What is your big splurge? That one place your family just has to eat.

• The only places we end up consistently are SciFi and Cosmic Rays - not that the food is good, but the ambiance is Disney at it cheesy best.

Is dinning a part of the vacation experience to you?

• Yes. Dinner is usually only signature places. We like Jiko, Artists Point, Flying Fish (I haven't been there since the change) and BlueZoo. Our food bills include alcohol, and are not cheap.

For us, Disney is a vacation where we have a room to ourselves, we eat well, and we do a low impact park experience. It isn't a cheap vacation for us, but at this point in our lives and our budget, we are past the point of needing to keep to a small budget - and enjoy good food.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

How many in your family? and ages?
Three; 37, 39, and 4. We often travel in a larger group, though. We'll be a party of 6 next trip.

How many days? typically
Probably 10 days on average.

Are you a commando or wanderer or laid back.... rope drop or last one out of the parks or some where in between type of family?
Usually more laid back.

Resort? Value to Deluxe or DVC where do you fit in. Do you choose value resort then spend on eating or vise versa stay Deluxe and eat on the cheaper side.
We're DVC owners now, but we've stayed at all levels in the past.

Disney Dinning Plan? which one? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family.
We don't do the Dining Plan anymore. It used to be a much better deal.

If you prefer Out of Pocket? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family.
We pay OOP, but we take full advantage of discounts. We get the DVC discounts, and often get Tables in Wonderland as well. This coming trip we'll be AP holders, and the math seems to work out that there's no benefit to getting TIW on top of both AP and DVC discounts.

What kind of snacks and drinks for the room? taking snacks into the park?
I usually bring some simple breakfast foods for the room (cereal, Pop Tarts, real coffee). We don't always breakfast in our room, but we do some mornings. I'm not big on bringing snacks to the parks, but I'll probably pack an emergency goldfish stash or something.

Pool Side eats?
Okay, this is going to sound really weird, but in the last 7 trips I've taken to WDW I've gone to the pool all of ONCE. And that was at night when the pool bar was closed. Maybe we'll do more pool time this next trip and will feel the need for snacks, but I never have before.

What is your big splurge? That one place your family just has to eat.
Victoria and Alberts. That's kind of a cheat because our 'family' can't all eat there. DD is too young. Also we don't HAVE to eat there every time (we can't always justify that kind of splurge), but we try.

We almost always eat at Whispering Canyon Cafe for breakfast. We love that place.

Is dinning a part of the vacation experience to you?
Yes. Definitely.

 

[DawnM]

5 of us. We eat one meal per day in the park, OOP. We stay off-site for more space.

If I eat out more than that, I feel sick.

We usually do a CS restaurant and we may buy snacks too.

It just depends.

 

[goodeats]

I like flexibility. I might want to have buffet breakfast at 9:00, ice cream for lunch, and then a signature dining experience for dinner. Or I might want to snack around World Showcase. Or I might want to share some plates at a lounge. Now that the dining plans don't include gratuity they are way less tempting for me. We stay on-site in a non DVC room so we basically eat out every meal. I don't want to do sit-down for every meal because it takes so much time, but at the same time I enjoy the break.

Years ago my sister and traveled to WDW on the Silver Plan - it might have been called something else. But basically it included credits for meals with gratuity. The waiters loved us - they kept suggesting more and more things. At Alfredos the guy gave us sparkling water to go and upgraded our entrees because it upped his tip. It was fun for one trip, but in general way too much food.

 

[MimiOfTwo]

I take my daughter & grands (3 & 7). We typically stay 8 days, 7 nights. Poly is our preferred resort. I get the dining plan. We like to have a character meal everyday and I find the dining plan saves you money if you have little ones and lots of character meals. We do bring home lots of snacks. The kids love picking them out and it's always fun to have a snack from WDW after you've been home a couple days. I guess if there is a big splurge it's EMM. But that really isn't about the food as much as it is being able to ride SDMT multiple times! For me it's all about my grands & making memories with them.
Years ago DH & I took an anniversary trip. We got the deluxe dining plan and had signature dinners every night. Fun but too much food and I wouldn't do it again.

 

[kadrachb]

How many in your family? and ages? Two, it's just my boyfriend and I, and we are both in our 20s.
How many days? typically Next year we're doing 10 days / 9 nights.
Are you a commando or wanderer or laid back.... rope drop or last one out of the parks or some where in between type of family? We're semi-laid back. We will go to rope drop, but then take a midday break, and will return then may stay until closing.

Resort? Value to Deluxe or DVC where do you fit in. Do you choose value resort then spend on eating or vise versa stay Deluxe and eat on the cheaper side. We've always stayed at deluxes.

Disney Dinning Plan? which one? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family. Our first two years we did dinning plans, and I can say we didn't really make it work. The second year, we originally planned to stay at BC but then changed over to AKL club level, so the club level didn't give us a chance to use the dining plan fully.

If you prefer Out of Pocket? Please go into detail on how you make it work for your family. Definitely prefer this now. I tend to make a list of all the places we want to eat, and we always have more sit downs than QS, so dinning plan we'd always PPO for at least one meal. We tend to keep sit downs for lunches or breakfast, and I look at what we may each get at each place to give us a food budget.


What kind of snacks and drinks for the room? taking snacks into the park? Since the past two stays we stayed at club level, we didn't really keep snacks in our room. For snacks into the park, we tend to take at least a granola bar and a bottle of water (we both have refillable water bottles).

Pool Side eats? Nope. Sometimes from club level I'd bring a coffee down with me in the morning during one of our break days, but we never bought food at the pool bars.

What is your big splurge? That one place your family just has to eat. California Grill!

Is dinning a part of the vacation experience to you? Definitely. That's why we don't limit ourselves to x amount of sit-downs or the dinning plan. We kind of just realized if we were going to use the dining plan, it was being too restrictive for us. Or it was too much food. We really only ever get one dessert to share between the two of us, so why pay for two desserts and only get one?

 

[tj4ua]

We have 2 Disney Adults, 1 Disney Kid, and 2 Disney infants (twins).

We have went both ways.. Disney dining plan and "fly by the seat of your pants"

What we found in multiple trips if you want to do character meals DDP is the best way to go, meals paid for up front and planned out. However, we do feel like we lose some of the best park time chasing tables and meals usually last over an hour waiting on all the characters to come by.

FLY by the seat of your pants method works great for quick service only trips, or grabbing last min reservations at table service places at non-prime times. This was best when we were trying to maximize park time and catch prime rides with shorter lines. In the end you spend about the same amount of money (unless you go all quick service). Its really about paying up front or at the end.

 

[LadyD]

Right now we're two adults. When we take a trip to WDW, we generally go for about a week or so and for us, dining is part of the WDW experience. We're big foodies.

We don't do the dining plan and pay out of pocket instead. Since we're both vegetarian, it is nearly impossible for us to break even with any level of dining plan. We'd basically have to eat non-stop buffets which is just way too much food for us. We typically end up splitting our meals anyway so we have room to eat more food items throught the day. Right now we're AP holders, so we have the Tables in Wonderland card which makes a lot more sense for us financially too than a dining plan, especially since you get a discount on alcohol with it.

When we're at WDW, we tend to do at least one TS per day, often two TS meals per day. We usually do a TS breakfast and dinner, with the breakfast TS being in park and dinner is usually a signature dining. Lunch is usually QS. For a TS lunch or dinner, we will generally split an appetizer or two, an entree, and a dessert and we'll each get a glass of wine, a beer, or a cocktail. We split TS breakfast entrees too when we can. If we do a QS meal, we generally each get our own meal. We don't bring snacks or drinks to the park. Instead, we have a refillable brita water bottle we pack in our park bag to help us stay hydrated. Friendly for the environment, cheaper, and light to carry when empty. If we do want a snack, we'll indulge in the parks.

In terms of where we stay, we usually rent DVC points. It works out for us because I don't like daily housekeeping services and it saves us some money for more food while allowing us to stay at the resorts with some of our favorite dining. Our must do dinings each time we go at this point in time are Boma (breakfast), Jiko, Kona Cafe (breakfast), Tiffins, and California Grill. The list changes as menus change, we have repeatedly bad experiences, new places open up, etc. We also splurge and do Victoria & Alberts when we can (if you like food and a dining experience, so worth it).

We tend to get to the parks at rope drop (if not earlier for an in park breakfast ADR), and stay in the park until either I'm burnt out for the day or to go to a dinner ADR.

To support (enable) our dining addiction, I do what I can to make our credit cards work for us and use the points to cash out gift cards I can exchange for Disney ones, use various apps to put money back in my pocket with online shopping (Ebates, ibotta, etc), and use swagbucks/shopkick to collect an extra gift card here and there. Anything that doesn't require too much effort, I'm happy to use because it means I get to eat more at Disney.

 

[calypso726]

We are 2 adults, late 40's and no kids.

DVC with 1300 points across 4 home resorts.

Weekends are when we visit for the most part. We live in Florida so we drive up after work on a Friday night and drive back home Sunday. We will do a longer weekend maybe a couple of times per year.

Laid back if it is just the two of us. A little more planned when we are with family that doesn't go as often as we do. Rope drop and planned to the gills if bringing people for their first visit.

Tables in Wonderland for us. It offers the most flexibility and we can dine the way we want. Sometimes that is splitting a meal, sometimes that is ordering every appetizer on the menu and drinks, sometimes it is just drinks and dessert. We prefer to use the TIW discount and pay OOP with a credit card that earns 3 point per dollar on dining and travel to help with the travel hacking hobby.

No snacks for the room or park. Dining on property is part of the experience.

If staying at Beach Club Villas and enjoying Stormalong Bay we will order from Hurricane Hanna's and eat pool side.

Yes! Yes! Yes! Dining is definitely part of the vacation experience even on no WDW trips.

 

[wendow]

If staying at Beach Club Villas and enjoying Stormalong Bay we will order from Hurricane Hanna's and eat pool side.

Oh yeah, this is my fav pool side eating

 

[mdelano4]

Great question. We are a family of 5, all over the age of 15. When one or two of the kids were still children (by WDW standards) we did the DDP. Worked out well for us. When all became "adults" it was a waste because they couldn't eat all that food. Almost every trip I sit down and do a comparison spread sheet. It has developed into 3 columns, TIW, DDP and OOP (with DVC discount). If we are going to have a TS every night, then TIW is the way to go. We find DDP a pretty good deal in that it would cost more to go OOP for the same food, but it's way too much for us (and we are big eaters), so a waste of money.

This trip we are going OOP and plan on 4 TS dinners for the week. The rest we will do decent QS. We almost do QS for lunch, but DW and I often share one meal. Breakfast is going to be in the room this trip. This will save us a fair amount of money.