What???? No Dining Plan...Are you Crazy Mom??? - Our Dining Experiment

[tyandskyesmom]

When I stayed at the Waldorf in Chicago, Sprinkes was about one block down from the hotel.

We don't get downtown much but the next time we have some free time (maybe it 7 years...LOL) we just might have to go Sprinkling!

 

[kiramay]

There's a Sprinkles in CHICAGO?!?!?!?!

I did not know that...and apparently neither did the kids because I am sure we would have had out butts there by now!

http://sprinkles.com/locations/illinois/chicago/cupcakes

 

[Sailormoon2]

I see it kind of like hotel choice. Maybe you splurge on a deluxe venue, to me, that's a waste. Because I could sleep and shower in a room cheaper. We could splurge on Grand Floridian but to me, WHY? All I do there usually is sleep and get ready to go. I can do that at Pop. Don't get me wrong, we have stayed at AKL and Yacht Club. We have stayed at Caribbean Beach and Port Orleans. We have also (and mostly) stayed value...because the value, for me, is in the food.

I think this sentiment is exactly why every Disney vacation has so many variables that are entirely personal to each individual family! I totally see your perspective, but am at the complete other end of the spectrum, where staying Value completely "freaks me out", will only stay Deluxe, drink a decent amount of alcohol, and eat predominantly appetizers as my main course, so Tables in Wonderland vs Dinning Plan, is way better suited to me! Neither is right, just different!
Thanks for sharing your family's experience I love being a 'fly on the wall" to how others DO Disney.

 

[Shellyred8]

We only have the plan for the first 5 nights. The last 3 nights at OOP. So it's closer to $2100.00 for the plan.

And that, right there..."I honestly do not understand how one suffers from sticker shock at $60 for a counter service meal, but $440/day + tips ( likely running at least another $100/day) does not give you sticker shock?"...is exactly why each family has to judge the dining plans on their own.

Yes, $60 for a couple of mediocre pieces of pizza some chips, a small scoop of Caesar salad and a hamburger, IS A LOT OF MONEY to me. To you, maybe it isn't. I'd just assume eat at McDonalds where my family can get more food at half the cost and in a lot of cases (but not all) enjoy it more. But, a $300.00+ meal that consists of filet and lobster (or something equally as indulgent for us)and including appe and dessert while having it pre-paid will win for me every time!

At home, if we go out to eat, at most, and it would be a VERY special meal, very sparingly occasionally might hit $150.00 and that would probably have me freaking out. Trying to see where we could cut corners...it's just me. On a regular, everyday basis, we would most likely be at a chain restaurant (Chili's, Applebee's, things like that) where $100.00 is a lot. And we don't do this because we can't afford it, we do it because I just can't see spending that much money on food on a regular basis or just because I didn't feel like cooking.

So when we are on vacation eating the way the DDDP allows us to, is part of our vacation cost. I am fully aware that we could share things (and even though it is not common practice in our family, we do sometimes even on a dining plan) or not order things we weren't going to eat every last crumb of, but who wants to do that on vacation?

I see it kind of like hotel choice. Maybe you splurge on a deluxe venue, to me, that's a waste. Because I could sleep and shower in a room cheaper. We could splurge on Grand Floridian but to me, WHY? All I do there usually is sleep and get ready to go. I can do that at Pop. Don't get me wrong, we have stayed at AKL and Yacht Club. We have stayed at Caribbean Beach and Port Orleans. We have also (and mostly) stayed value...because the value, for me, is in the food.

We have had APs in the past. And never bought Tables in Wonderland. We don't drink enough to make that end of it worth it. And usually we are in on free dining (even our Christmas trip that we got our last APs on we had a free dining upgrade) so it really hasn't be something that sound that appealing to us over other options.

It's all in what you value on YOUR vacation. When all is said and done, even with the meals we may end up paying out of pocket for for Skyler, a few alcoholic drinks here and there, and tips, we will still have eaten more food cost vs DDDP cost. And if we had paid OOP for all the food we will put in our faces, we would have spent more than what we are paying for the DDDP. We would NEVER eat like that without the DDDP...not because we wouldn't want to but because I couldn't let us.

When people ask if the dining plans are "worth it", it's kind of an unanswerable question. Only you can decide what worth you want to get from it. For us, and we're done some research on this, it is worth it. Can we go without, of course. Do we want to, NOPE!

I love this explanation of why this works for your family. In today's world, many people go out to eat on a regular basis, so going out is no longer as special. We did the DDP once and I found it was very "freeing" in that I got to eat whatever I wanted and didn't worry about the price tag. I tried a lot of things that I would not have tried otherwise and we found some really good restaurants that we would've never tried had we not been on the DDP. We probably won't do the DDP again, unless it's for a short trip, as it was just too much food for us. But I love that your family sees this as part of the adventure of the vacation!

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[dnllmz]

I thoroughly enjoy your dining reviews with the receipt breakdowns. I have never sat down and figured out if the dining plan is better for us or not. We had free dining the last trip which worked great and I'm pretty sure I'm going to add the dining plan to our upcoming trip. I like not having to worry about it and basically prepaying my food. I agree with you that it's good for some and not for others. I think it's great that Disney gives us choices: no plan, quick service, regular dining, and deluxe.

 

[my2lovedisney]

We ALWAYS get deluxe dining. We enjoy not having to worry about paying oop for anything we want...with the exception of snacks and of course if we were to chose something that didn't participate in the dining plan (which we never do) but this year, we didn't chose deluxe and this has me freaking out!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Pizzafari

We came upon Pizzafari and we have not been there is a long time (because we had been on the Deluxe Dining Plan so often, we just never stopped) but Tyler remembered it as a favorite form when he was little. We love all the different rooms and the décor. The food has changed somewhat though.

SO we got in at about 11:40am and it was pretty empty when we got in line. Skye decided on...

...the kid's Mickey Pasta - with Turkey Marinara Sauce. Served with two selections of: Grapes and Fresh Steamed Broccoli and an apple juice. She must not have read it completely because she did not realize it had "meat" in it. So she ended up picking most of the pasta out of it and leaving the marinara with the turkey in it. But ate everything else and loved it. It was actually a lot of food for a kid's meal. I ate some of the turkey with the sauce and it was decent...without the turkey, she would have gobbled it down...LOL! Cary and I helped her with the broccoli too. All part of the "everyone eats as cheaply as possible" plan.

Cary and I split a...

...Baked Pasta Bolognese - campanelle pasta in a hearty tomato meat sauce, topped with mozzarella and parmesan, served with tomato and cucumber salad and a garlic knot. It was very large! Skye tried to scam on some of it too...until she found out it had meat in it! The pasta was really hot and fresh. Not like it had been sitting under a warming lamp (although it was still early), the garlic knot was garlicy and had to be split three ways...meat, no...garlic, YES! And the pasta salad, while is not the kind I would normally see/make/eat, was really good and Cary and I fought over it...until we realized we didn't have to because...

Tyler went with the...

...Meatball Sandwich (which is not on the current allears menu) ... with chips and pasta salad. The chips were chips, and we already went over the pasta salad...and since Tyler wouldn't eat it, Cary and I each got one! And he inhaled the sandwich...and asked for another! He is tall and skinny but can put it away when he likes something. We had to talk him down. This is one of the reasons the Deluxe Dining Plan works for us! He loved the sandwich and it looked good. I couldn't tell you iof it was or not because he wasn't sharing!

We also got a...

...Pepperoni Flatbread - freshley baked flatbread with tangy tomato sauce, mozzarella, and spicy pepperoni slices to share. We each got one piece. And it was a good flatbread. Fresh and hot. Enough pepperoni for every piece to get some but not over powering. And it was enough to tide my pizza lovers over.

We also shared a large Coke...well, Ty and Cary did. Skye had her apple juice and I had water we had with us.





As we were sitting a Brazillian tour group of kids came in and sat down in our same room and kinda ruined our quiet but as we watched we were very impressed with the way Pizzafari handled their large group. It looked like all orders were placed ahead of time. A cart loaded with salads came out and everyone got one. Then a cart with the chosen entrees came out (well, multiple carts) and they called out what they had and anyone who ordered that raised their hand and was brought it. Drinks were done in the same manner. They were teenagers and other than it being annoying because there was so many of them crowding around a utensil cart or blocking a walkway on your way to the bathroom, they were very well mannered inside the restaurant.

They love a table in the corner with a window.

So overall, we had a great meal in an air conditioned mostly un-crowded restaurant that we really enjoyed. On the way our they had a table set up in the entry way with a tap of iced water and cups there for people to grab. We filled up our water bottles there.
And at this point I think we were finally full!

When not on the dining plan, we would return to Pizzafari in a second!

TOTAL : $44.63
TOTAL so far ... $524.98

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Anandapur Bus

We stopped at the Anandapur Bus for 2 vanilla cones and an orange float...in the rain.

The ice creams are huge there and with the rain we had to eat kinds quickly but it worked out. Ty drank most of the float and liked that he could get the orange soda with it.

TOTAL : $13.61
TOTAL so far ... $538.59

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Smiling Crocodile

So we headed back around Asia and hit up The Smiling Crocodile.

We got a Pulled Pork Grits...

Ooohhh...the BBQ mixed with the grits was a great combo. No one else will eat grits so other than Cary picking some pork off the top, it was mine! The pickles were a little odd but in general I like dill pickles and no on my food.

And Tyler got the Chicken Leg with Potato Salad...

... and made us wipe the white stuff off the leg! He said the leg was really good. Cary and I shared the potato salad and it was good also.

And a coke.

This is a small cart but there were no lines around. They were getting ready to close up soon but nothing seemed or tasted like we were getting whatever was left.

TOTAL : $16.29
TOTAL so far ... $554.88

 

[Terra Nova guy]

She must not have read it completely because she did not realize it had "meat" in it. So she ended up picking most of the pasta out of it and leaving the marinara with the turkey in it. But ate everything else and loved it. It was actually a lot of food for a kid's meal. I ate some of the turkey with the sauce and it was decent...without the turkey, she would have gobbled it down...LOL!

It sounds like Skye is a lot like my oldest DD. She's not a vegetarian but just doesn't like meat, except pepperoni pizza and choking down some chicken breast now and then. She sometimes gets confused and I have to remind her - bolognese sauce has meat, marinara is just tomato/veggie (unless they specifically add meat like in your case).

 

[tyandskyesmom]

It sounds like Skye is a lot like my oldest DD. She's not a vegetarian but just doesn't like meat, except pepperoni pizza and choking down some chicken breast now and then. She sometimes gets confused and I have to remind her - bolognese sauce has meat, marinara is just tomato/veggie (unless they specifically add meat like in your case).

Ya, she's weird though. Because chicken, fish, steak, lunchmeats (ham, Cajun turkey, salami), bacon are all ok...but don't mix them. Like, no steak salad or chicken salads...we will pick that off and eat is separately but not together??? Loves ham and cheese bot don't put them together on a sandwich...you can have a cheese sandwich or a ham sandwich but NOT a ham and cheese sandwich??? She will eat a hamburger at home without a bun but would NEVER order one out...even at a hamburger joint!

She just realized she likes breakfast sausage. But not on an English muffin with eggs on it or cheese...all of those things separate, YES...together, NOPE!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Eight Spoon Cafe

Then right across the walk way a tiny bit further up was Eight Spoon Café.

This was Skyler's truck of choice...

She got the Baked Three Cheese Pasta...an awesome thing for a mac & cheese lover like Skye! This did have the feel on the top of having sat around a while under the heat lamps. But, I suppose a good baked mac & cheese can stand up to a little bit of heat lamps because she wished she hadn't gotten the last one so she could get another one!

We got a Mickey Pretzel to share also.

And another Coke.

This area was a great little section for food. We are looking forward to using snack credits for these items (although some of them are not longer on menus) in the future.

TOTAL = $13.50
TOTAL so far = $568.38

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Tamu Tamu

At about 9:50pm we stopped at Tamu Tamu for a Dole Whip with rum and a Mickey Sundae.

Both of which had to be eaten quickly because it was still so humid out. I am not one of those people who can't go to Disney without getting a Dole Whip. I mean they are good. I like them. But I'm not usually going to wait in that line at Magic Kingdom for one. BUT, if I were going to wait, the one over here with rum, is the way to go! It was really good...and I'm not even a drinker like that! And Skye's sundae was ice cream, mint cookies, and mickey head sprinkles...what's not to like???

TOTAL = $12.24
TOTAL so far = $580.62

 

[Sailormoon2]

Seems like quite a lot of food at AK for a really reasonable price!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Seems like quite a lot of food at AK for a really reasonable price!

Yes and no. It was a lot of different kinds of food. The evening choices were snack sized...think maybe a little bigger than a ramekin. Maybe about 1 cup of mac and cheese and grits and BBQ pork. One chicken leg and a large ice cream scoop of potato salad. So a filling meal, not really. A great snack though for sure. Each dish was about $5 each. So not horrendous but not cheap by any means. It was what I imagine is comparable to Food & Wine booth samples. So mostly, as food, you'd need multiple samples to equal a "meal". But they were good and I do have to say that I think Animal Kingdom has the best food options, maybe even better than Epcot, of all the parks. So quite worth it!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Everything Pop

Cary had a Bounty Platter...scrambled eggs, POP waffle, potato casserole, buttermilk biscuit, sausage, and bacon...and he traded Skyler for her pancakes.

He liked all of this and I got to share some of the potatoes! Everything was good. But it is hard to mess up breakfast.

Skyler had the Kid's Pancakes ... with fruit, turkey bacon, and sausage.

This was before she started eating breakfast sausage so I got that. It was sausage. I prefer links but just a personal preference. She said the Pop waffles were good but they are not Mickey Waffles. She ate all the bacon and strawberries so I assume she liked them. She also got a chocolate milk with her meal.

Tyler got 2 Cinnamon Rolls.

And inhaled them.

I got Oatmeal.

With brown sugar and raisins. I love Disney Oatmeal...even at buffets I get it. SO along with Skye's sausage and some of Cary's potatoes, I was good!

We used our mugs for drinks. It was not crowded when we arrived. We were early. and we ate quickly and headed out.

TOTAL = $28.80
TOTAL so far = $609.42

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Cool Wash

Oh and obviously we stopped at Cool Wash for a Strawberry Lemonade and a Blue Raspberry (not pictured because it was sucked back pretty quickly!) frozen beverages...total was $9.05.

TOTAL = $9.05
TOTAL so far = $618.47

 

[tyandskyesmom]

La Cantina de San Angel

We all decided what we wanted and the kids and I went to find a seat. It was starting to get crowed out there since it was prime lunch time (12:19pm).

We grabbed some salsas and napkins, etc...

And enjoyed our view while we waited. There was a bit of a line at all the windows.

The kids both got an order of the Kid's Empanadas con Queso...Empanadas con Queso - served with tortilla chips and nacho cheese with a water...

These were a lot of food! With the two empanadas and the chips and the cheese and the grapes, even Tyler was satisfied. ANd they both loved them! They have loved empanadas ever since the Hannah Montana episode that Rico starts selling EM-pan-AHHHH-duhs...if you've seen it, you probably know what I'm talking about. Chips and cheese are always good. so these were a hit.

Cary and I shared the Tacos de Barbacoa - seasoned beef, homemade corn tortilla, Mexican rice, refried black beans and red salsa.

There were three of them and they were GOOD! I got one, Cary got two because he doesn't eat beans and I do...so those were all mine. We split the rice. These were really good (but I firmly believe anything wrapped in a tortilla is better!) and if we did not have further plans for the day, we would have braved the lines for another order. We also had a large drink to share.

TOTAL = $34.52
TOTAL so far = $652.99

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe

After Frozen we naturally headed to the bakeri!

I was outvoted for a School Bread...BOO...and Skyler and Tyler couldn't decide what to share. She wanted some pretty blue snow ball thing and he, of course, wanted a Cinnamon Roll.

We ended up with a Berry Cream Puff...

And a Cinnamon Loaf...

Both were very good and that loaf was huge. But Skyler was in witch mode so she would not try either. See, her argument was that Tyler is going to turn into a Cinnamon Roll and she was just trying to keep that from happening. But his was that she would take one bite of whatever the other thinking was and not eat any more...which is probably correct! It also didn't hurt that the pretty Norwegian girl behind the counter voted for the loaf.

The way it worked out, Cary and I shared the puff, Tyler ate what he wanted and then there was a bit left for Cary and me to try. It was very soft and fresh. Tyler could have done without the nuts but he was ok with them too.

We also got a coke.

We were able to grab a small table under the shade to eat.

TOTAL = $13.82
TOTAL so far = $666.81

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Lotus Blossom Café

We have never been to the TS venue in China (one of the few we haven't been to) but I really like the Café.

We gave Cary our orders and when to find a seat and utensils.

Cary and I decided to share a Kid's Sweet-and-Sour Chicken - with steamed rice, apple sauce and a small bottled water.

It was good and basic. Nothing extraordinary but a simple, good dish. Cary also had a Tsing Tao beer. He liked it enough. I tasted it. It was a very light taste...sorry, I'm not any better with beer reviews!

Tyler decided on the Beef Noodle - Mongolian style.

This was SOOOO out of his comfort zone, he surprised me. But it is also why Cary and I decided to share the kid's meal. They did have a picture on the board so Tyler was able to see what it looked like before ordering it but the seasonings could make or break the deal. So when it came to the table it looked exactly like the picture. And he took his first tentative bite...and then ate most of the rest of the beef! We did get some though. The beef was very good! it has a little spice but not overpoweringly so. Tyler really enjoyed it. The noodles, not so much...and he's a noodle freak. I think he just did not appreciate the same seasoning/sauce from the beef on the noodles. He's not a mixing food kind of guy. Skyler tried the noodles and sais they were ok. I thought they were really good. The sauce is a light dressing almost...and it has the same bit of spice the beef does. But there were A LOT of noodles so some did go to the garbage can. But not for lack of trying!

Skyler ordered the Potstickers.

She has recently become a lover of Potstickers...see what I mean, she's weird. She knows what the filling is and she knows it's all mixed together but these she loves...turkey in her marinara, not so much! Anyway, this is a really small portion...three. That's it. But I suppose Potstickers are generally an appetizer or side dish not a meal so... Needless to say, I got one bite of one of them. That was it! The sauce was very vinegary she she does not use it anyway. My one bite was divided into two tiny morsels...one so I could taste the potsticker and one so I could taste it with the sauce. I was not a huge fan of the sauce but it was ok. Cary liked the sauce on his chicken. The potsticker was really good. The outside was noodle like (we have a few places around home that the outside is more like a bread than a noodle and we don't' like that kind as much) and there was enough filling in each of them. They held together really well too. These she would definitely get again! Too bad they are not a snack credit!

This is someplace we have frequented before so I am sure we will be back.

TOTAL = $32.65
TOTAL so far = $699.46