If you get the dining plan, do you pay out of pocket for one meal?

[3littlecuties]

So if you get the dining package that includes one quick service, one table service, and one snack per day, do you pay for an additional meal? For example, if you use the quick service for lunch and the table service for dinner, what do you do for breakfast?

We are debating on whether the dining plan would be worth it for us this time. We have never used it before but we would like to do more table service meals this time (we did almost all QS and just one character meal last trip). If we have to pay for breakfast OOP, then I need to factor that in.

 

[househunter]

Most people find that the plan offers too much food vs not enough. The portions are huge and most people do not eat 3 giant meals each day.

Using a snack credit for breakfast or lunch will probably work just fine.

 

[aprescher]

We took some small stuff with us like pop tarts, granola bars, and single serving cereals. Honestly, we barely ate those. Disney provides so much food with their meals that we didn't need extra meals. When we used TS for breakfast like at Chef mickeys it was enough to last till dinner to use QS or vise versa.when we had breakfast at the resort we weren't hungry till dinner. The only thing we bought OOP was drinks during the day or snacks we really wanted to try. We had several snacks and QS left at the end of a week long trip. Also, we are 5 adults and no kids.

 

[3littlecuties]

Most people find that the plan offers too much food vs not enough. The portions are huge and most people do not eat 3 giant meals each day.

Using a snack credit for breakfast or lunch will probably work just fine.

OK. Thanks for the info. I'm going to plan out our reservations and then try to calculate whether it will be a good deal or not. We do not generally have soda and dessert with meals so I've read that may make it not worth the money. But we do have three little kids and we want to do some character meals. So I guess I'll just have to price it all out and see.

Thanks!

 

[hmmerr02]

WE either pack a box of cereal or buy a box of cereal in the resort store for the mornings we don't want to use a snack credit. Just another idea!

 

[Rosy Robin]

We have had a small snack in our room, then had late breakfast or early lunch with one credit and ate dinner 5/6 pm. Then if needed use a snack credit later. We like to bring granola bars, jerky, water in park and have in line at times. We have never had to buy any meal out of pocket.

 

[TDC Nala]

It's usually suggested that if you are going to choose one meal a day to pay for on the DDP, that you pay for breakfast (unless you are planning on all you can eat/buffet or character breakfasts).

Not only are breakfasts usually cheaper than lunch or dinner, but if you spend a credit for breakfast, you lose the dessert component entirely - since breakfasts don't come with dessert, and WDW is no longer offering anything (like an additional beverage) to replace the lost dessert. (even if you do not normally order dessert, if you are paying for a dining plan, you're prepaying for dessert.)

Some also have perfected a method of using snack credits for breakfast.

 

[Tiggs14]

We always get a rental car so we stop for cereal, milk and juice for the week on our way to the resort. We then eat that each morning before leaving for the parks it's much quicker and satisfies us until snack or dessert.

 

[disneymom443]

We generally buy some donuts from the resort store and some milk and that is out of pocket, Also if we have a TS for breakfast we will pay out of pocket for our QS lunch.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

If you eat 3 meals a day the dining plan is not enough food and yes you will need to pay for breakfast OOP. Breakfast is cheaper than lunch or dinner in most places.

We only did the dining plan when it was free. If it weren't free we would pay OOP because you can eat cheaper paying OOP.

 

[ReneeA]

We bring oatmeal packets, granola bars & portable foods for breakfasts. We also frequently share CS lunches as they are often too large for one person (normally DD10 & I share a meal & the boys get their own), so we have a few meal credits left for extra snacky type meals along the way (nachos, fish from Yorkshire, flatbreads) or a couple breakfast platters. We always have more than enough to eat without spending anything OOP. In fact, with the regular DDP, I am forgoing my dessert at TS meals by the end of our trip for a coffee to go because I'm full to the gills after eating such large meals for a week or more.

 

[4xmom]

I have 4 kids and it is always enough food for us. My kids love character meals (even being older). We do one a day. Most of the time, the kids cookies from their meals went in my bag for later in the day. Same with grapes and carrots sometimes too. My father who is usually a big eater, actually said several times that I was trying to kill him with food! Oh and we had snack credits and a few QS meals left at the end. We just got stuff that would travel.

 

[Lyndsey]

It depends if you are a big eater or not. I could not imagine eating 3 actual meals a day at disney. So much food is always given with each meal. However, I do bring cereal or breakfast bars for the kids if they want some but typically with a snack a quick service lunch that comes with a dessert and a sit down dinner its way to much for us. My husband and I normally split a lunch if we are doing a sit down dinner that day.

 

[smiths02]

It depends on how much everyone likes to eat. We brought some breakfast bars, pop tarts, cereal, milk, bottled waters and snacks (beef jerky, fruit) with us.

So a day could look like: breakfast bar while waiting for bus, EMH at AK, brunch at Tusker House around 10, snack credit-frozen coke, QS meal for dinner at resort could be burger combo and get drink in your refillable mug then get a bottled milk and a danish as your drink/dessert...use milk and danish for your breakfast the next morning

OR

Breakfast: coffee in your mug and snack credit pastry at resort, lunch-BOG QS, snack-Dole Whip, dinner Ohana

OR you can split QS at any location and you can split TS at places that aren't fixed price.

Honestly, we used our bottled waters, a couple of breakfast bars and fruit-but that was mostly just because it was healthier...we ended up taking some QS and snacks for the road trip home (meaning we could have used them for breakfasts along the way).