Too good to be true?

[Goofyta]

I was looking into the new package deals Disney has and the dining plan. Oh man, is that a great deal or what! If I am reading it correctly, it is only an extra $35/day per adult and $10/day per child. All that food for only $35 or $10. I keep thinking there has to be a catch.

Am I reading that right?

 

[Luv4Disney]

The catch is their dining plan doesn't offer as many restaurants as it used to. On the dreammaker package everyone got two wishes and some of the great restaurants, like in the WS, were only one wish. Now, with the new dining plan if you want to eat at a restaurant like that it's considered a "signature" meal and you have to use 2 table services for 1 signature. We didn't go for it this year. They used to have over 200 restaurants participating, now it's a little over 100. However, I guess it all depends on where you plan on eating. We decided to go for the DDE this year instead. More beneficial for us personally.

 

[nanatink]

The problem with us with the meal plan is they consider a 10 year old an adult and that is $35. He always eats from the kids menu. That's no bargain. We could however pay for his meals at dinner and bank his for a signature restuarant.

 

[Goofyta]

I was looking at the restaurant list and it didn't look too bad to me. We don't eat at 'signature' type restaurants at home, so that would not be too big of a deal.

From what I can tell, it looks like most of the character meals are counted the same as table meals. That is not bad.

 

[rarrington]

I agree that for my family it will be a great deal! But we plan to eat a sit down or character meal every day. IF a family were planning to always eat on the run and do quick cheap meals all week then it wouldn't be so good for them. But I am looking forward to enjoying my meals all week! And know that they have already been paid for and I don't have to worry about the tip, etc....
And I haven't had any problems with restaurants that we wanted not being on the plan. But again - it will differ with each family. I'm excited it will work out for us and can save us several hundred dollars!

 

[Cplofdisneynutz]

Df & I mapped out our potential PS and how it would work with the new MYW meal plan (yes we are obssesive disney planners ). We do more signature meals, so i wasn't too sure it would be a good thing for us. We just figured out how we are going to try and use ours and our initial rough estimate is that we are going to save about $200, but we are primarily using ours for the signature meals and paying out of pocket for some of the cheaper & price-fixed buffets meals, so that we get more bang for our buck.
After that I feel much better about the plan and am looking forward to using it!

 

[mill4023]

It's a good deal for a lot of people.
We decided not to do it for several reasons:
Our 10 year old would be $35 even though he's considered a child for buffets and family-style dinners when paying cash.
We don't plan to do any signature restaurants.
I'm getting a substantial discount on MYW tickets by getting them through my employer. I'd have to give this up to do a package with dining.

 

[pezpam]

For some of us, it's wonderful. For others, it's not such a deal. We're going with it since I could afford it and it will let us try a lot of places we wouldn't have gone to otherwise since we'll be spending less overall than menu prices.....

It's worth doing the math and either get a great deal or avoid paying extra.

 

[Goofyta]

I just know even eating counter service food, it can add up. At Sea World last year, I think we spent about $30 on one meal for 2 adults and 2 children for counter service. That is almost the price of 2 meals and 1 snack with the dining plan.

 

[marriedmarylander]

The problem with us with the meal plan is they consider a 10 year old an adult and that is $35. He always eats from the kids menu. That's no bargain. We could however pay for his meals at dinner and bank his for a signature restuarant.

Can you just say your child is 9? Do you have to show a birth certificate or other ID to prove his age? I'm just wondering.

 

[csmommy]

Can you just say your child is 9? Do you have to show a birth certificate or other ID to prove his age? I'm just wondering.

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

Would the dining plan be worth it for just my wife and I? And ca you do two CS meals in one day and two TS meals another. Can you use the plan for buffets and breakfast???

 

[berkshire mike]

Can you just say your child is 9? Do you have to show a birth certificate or other ID to prove his age? I'm just wondering.

Thats what I'd do. Although ours is a new 11 year old he eats more than I do and never gains a pound??????
We went with the plan.

 

[csmommy]

Would the dining plan be worth it for just my wife and I? And ca you do two CS meals in one day and two TS meals another. Can you use the plan for buffets and breakfast???

It really depends on how you normally eat. For some it is too much food.

I am guessing by CS you mean Counter Service, but what does TS mean? If you are asking can you eat counter service for breakfast & dinner one day & have 2 sit down meals the next day, the answer is yes. You could spend a day just eating snacks (not that I recommend this )& save your other meals for a different day. Disney will keep track of your meals for you & will let you know how many you have left for your length of stay.

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

By TS I ment Table Service, like a sit down resturant, sorry.

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

Can you just say your child is 9? Do you have to show a birth certificate or other ID to prove his age? I'm just wondering.

If you were able to do that (which I'm not sure about) I think they would be forced from ordering off the kids menu. For some kids over 10 that might be fine, but I know when I was 10 yrs old I was already eating more than kids menu sized portions.

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

With the DDP, when you eat at resturants like Ohana or the WCC is it considered a buffet resturant when you get the family style meal? The reason I ask is, I know that with a Buffet you only get "One full buffet and one single serving non-alcholic Beverage" Opposed to at a table sevvice resturant you also get an appetizer and Dessert. For example if I went to Ohana would my dessert be included and if I got the all you can eat skillet at WCC would an appetizer and dessert be included.
Also what does, "one single serving non-alcholic beverage" mean, is there no free refills?
Also, I've heard people have gotten other snacks then "allowed" with the plan, anyone taken advantage of this, if so what snacks?

 

[Tinkerbelle32]

I don't think you could get away with saying your child is nine to save a few bucks. If you have been to DW before and stayed on site they would have each members name, age, etc. from prior ressies. When I booked for our upcoming June stay the cm said "O.K., will it be Madison who's 3, etc. etc. She also then asked for the childrens birthdate. I wonder is this is why she inquired about the birthdates? This would prevent people from getting a childs rate instead of an adults.

 

[cocodog]

Does anyone know if desserts are included for children?