Calling all Disney Dining Plan Experts!!!

[Disneylandfanatic]

So my boyfriend and I will be visiting WDW in January for 4 night... We just booked our vacation package and got the standard dining plan of one quick service and one table service plus one snack per day. Problem now is figuring out how to use them! I already have my dining reservations and the places we want to eat at most (booked those 6 mo in advance). If anyone would like to tackle this and help me that would be AMAZING. I just want to use the credits smartly and not waste them and end up paying for things we didn't need to. My biggest problem is that we are eating at two signature restaurants. But i dont think the deluxe meal plan is for us. Ok so below I will list out days and restaurants:

Day 1: (post cruise get in around lunch time)
Go to Hollywood Studios:
Quick service lunch (suggestions??)
Sci Fi drive in for dinner
Maybe a cookie as a snack?

Day 2: Epcot
Quick grab and go breakfast, or a snack credit?
Probably Mexican food and a margarita for lunch
Le Cellier for dinner

Day 3: Magic Kingdom
Kona cafe
Quick service lunch (need suggestions)
Be our Guest for dinner

Day 4:
Boma for beakfast
Flame tree for lunch
Jiko for dinner

Day 5:
Downtown Disney before we grab our flight.

When I write it all out it seems like SO much food... But I know how I get when I am in DL and I look forward to the meals (it's part of he experience).

Thank you to anyone who can help me out with this! How would you use the dining plan and what would you pay for oop. It seems a couple day we can get away with a snack credit for bkfst.

I love all this planning!!

 

[Donna in NJ]

If you are staying 4 nights you get 4 TS credits each. Le Cellier is 2 credits each. I would think your 4 most expensive credits would be Le cellier , Jiko, and Be Our Guest.I could be wrong. I would think Sci Fi out of pocket would be the cheapest. All Ears.com has menus with prices. I would look at what food interests you and I would choose the least expensive meal for out of pocket.

 

[rachellm]

So you have 8 TS credits booked - and you get 4.

Definately pay OOP for Sci Fi. Probably Kona as well. Than from there I'm not sure. I agree with checking out the menus. You may be better off paying one of your Signatures OOP.

For MK quick service lunch I like Columbia Harbor House - that would be my pick.
You have alot of food on your AK day! That would probably be too much for me

Personally, I like to bring my own granola bars for breakfast. That way we can eat in the room while we get ready and not bother with a stop for breakfast. I prefer to use snack credits on things like Dole Whip - Treats from the Karamel shop or bakery, mickey pretzels, etc. Not cereal and fruit

 

[Cafeen]

Day 1: (post cruise get in around lunch time)
Go to Hollywood Studios:
Quick service lunch (suggestions??)
Sci Fi drive in for dinner
Maybe a cookie as a snack?

Day 2: Epcot
Quick grab and go breakfast, or a snack credit?
Probably Mexican food and a margarita for lunch
Le Cellier for dinner

Day 3: Magic Kingdom
Kona cafe
Quick service lunch (need suggestions)
Be our Guest for dinner

Day 4:
Boma for beakfast
Flame tree for lunch
Jiko for dinner

Day 5:
Downtown Disney before we grab our flight.

DHS Lunch - I'm not a big fan of CS in general, but I've heard good things about Starring Rolls (over near SciFi - Has sandwiches and stuff) and Fairfax Fare down on Sunset (has mixed locations inside).

As far as credit usage, it's a tough one. Most definitely pay OOP for Kona breakfast. This will likely be roughly the cost of a CS meal, so certainly not worth a credit. Boma Breakfast may likely be next on the list to pay OOP for. The other items are a bit difficult, as 2 credit restaurants are typically a loss on the DDP, but the Sci-Fi is also not that pricey.

One thing that may help is that you CAN split the use of credits. For example, if you think you'll want steak at both Jiko and Le Cellier, but your other half will want something cheaper, you can use credits at both, and pay for the cheaper meal OOP. This can confuse things and is a bit more complicated, but it does work. If keeping things easy:
1) Use credits at either Le Cellier or Jiko - Whichever looks like it will cost more (when looking at covered items only)

2) Compare the combined cost of Sci-Fi and BoG to the remaining signature, use credits for the option that is pricier (again, looking at covered items only).

(As a note, you are right on the cusp of where DxDDP makes sense, if you had 2 more TS restaurants planned, I'd say that it would probably make more sense, but with your current plans, I agree that it will not.)

 

[sharonabe]

I'm thinking you would do better to drop the DDP and see if you can get a room discount.

Here's why:

A TS credit is roughly "worth" about $37.50. That means at your 2TS places, you need to spend $75.00 each. You're going to have a hard time "spending" that much on just entrée, dessert, and drink at any of your selections.

Why not go to allearsnet.com and check out the menus where you want to eat and "order" your entrée, dessert and drink. Tally it up (add 6.5% for tax) and see where you end up.

 

[Disneylandfanatic]

Thanks for the tips so far! Keep em coming


We booked the package discounted considering it included our room, tickets and dining plan. I looked into booking the hotel seperate but having the dining plan seems to only cost a little more an we get some of those meals payed for so it does seem to help. I prices out our meals, without drinks, tax, and tips and having the plan seemed like it was a break even however we get more (like soft drinks and dessert).

Keep the suggestions coming!

 

[POOHsie]

I'm thinking you would do better to drop the DDP and see if you can get a room discount.

Here's why:

A TS credit is roughly "worth" about $37.50. That means at your 2TS places, you need to spend $75.00 each. You're going to have a hard time "spending" that much on just entrée, dessert, and drink at any of your selections.

Why not go to allearsnet.com and check out the menus where you want to eat and "order" your entrée, dessert and drink. Tally it up (add 6.5% for tax) and see where you end up.

Since menus don't list food items with tax included, keep that in mind when comparing OOP to DDP, which already includes 6.5% tax. The 1TS $37.50 figure without tax is $35.06, and the 2TS $75.00 figure without tax is $70.13. Those are the numbers you have to meet or beat (on average) for DDP to be worthwhile.

 

[Spudnicy]

So my boyfriend and I will be visiting WDW in January for 4 night... We just booked our vacation package and got the standard dining plan of one quick service and one table service plus one snack per day. Problem now is figuring out how to use them! I already have my dining reservations and the places we want to eat at most (booked those 6 mo in advance). If anyone would like to tackle this and help me that would be AMAZING. I just want to use the credits smartly and not waste them and end up paying for things we didn't need to. My biggest problem is that we are eating at two signature restaurants. But i dont think the deluxe meal plan is for us. Ok so below I will list out days and restaurants:

Day 1: (post cruise get in around lunch time)
Go to Hollywood Studios:
Quick service lunch (suggestions??)
Sci Fi drive in for dinner
Maybe a cookie as a snack?

Day 2: Epcot
Quick grab and go breakfast, or a snack credit?
Probably Mexican food and a margarita for lunch
Le Cellier for dinner

Day 3: Magic Kingdom
Kona cafe
Quick service lunch (need suggestions)
Be our Guest for dinner

Day 4:
Boma for beakfast
Flame tree for lunch
Jiko for dinner

Day 5:
Downtown Disney before we grab our flight.

When I write it all out it seems like SO much food... But I know how I get when I am in DL and I look forward to the meals (it's part of he experience).

Thank you to anyone who can help me out with this! How would you use the dining plan and what would you pay for oop. It seems a couple day we can get away with a snack credit for bkfst.

I love all this planning!!

Casey's in MK is our favorite for lunch. A favorite of ours every trip.

 

[melissafox18]

If you are booked on stay/play/dine which is what it sounds like, each TS credit is about $18-$20, so booking at Le Cellier or Jiko are both decent uses of a credit.

Boma for breakfast is a good OOP option. There are a TON of great snack options in Epcot in WS - Germany, France, Norway all have yummy snacks (not necessarily the best breakfasts, but all great snacks!)

What level resort are you staying at? You may be better served with the room only discount and paying for your meals OOP. Then you aren't in the confines of DDP. It works for some people and not for others - For example, DH and I are staying at a deluxe resort and the 35% discount during that time far exceeds what we would save with s/p/d. For our 4 night trip, I expect to spend about $550 on food and drink give or take a bit depending on how hungry we are (most of our meals are TS meals and it allows me to get any drink I want and we can share a dessert instead of each getting one). I'm saving more than that with the room only discount so it works out better for us!

 

[MandyMo427]

Maybe this is personal preference, but on the Magic Kingdom day when it looks like you are having breakfast at Kona and quick service lunch and dinner at Be Our Guest, I would skip the lunch and just have a snack. I would be too full from breakfast to have a meal at lunch... but I suppose it depends on your preferences, time of reservations, etc.

An idea for a more substantive snack in the Magic Kingdom (not on the dining plan) is a Belgian waffle sandwich at Sleepy Hollow Refreshments. I had one at a meal time when I was not hungry enough for a full meal. They are around $6-$7, and there are both sweet and savory options. I think that the savory one has ham, prosciutto, and cheese. I had one with nutella, bananas, and strawberries. AMAZING!

 

[MandyMo427]

Quick service at Hollywood Studios: I recently had a macaroni and cheese truffle oil hot dog with a banana parfait as a dessert at Fairfax Fare. I liked it!

 

[MandyMo427]

Starring Rolls cafe in Hollywood Studios... quick service options -- my boyfriend and I were hungry but not that hungry, so we shared a plate of fruit, cheese, bread, and chocolate covered strawberries. That and a drink was one quick service credit. It was really good!

 

[MandyMo427]

I agree about the comment about Casey's in the Magic Kingdom for a quick service lunch. YUM! I had a hot dog with pulled pork on it!! Delish! I mostly ate the pulled pork, not so much of the hot dog, but I liked it! And they have a pretty extensive condiments bar for the hot dogs. The fries were good, too. There is a tiny air conditioned section for eating inside and plenty of seating with good views outside.

 

[SheenaXena21]

If it were me... I would not use 2 TS credits for one dinner. Since you only have 4, there are so many wonderful restaurants on property!

Kona Cafe for dinner, Yak & Yeti lunch or dinner, Coral Reef for dinner and I'm not very fond of DHS for a good meal.

These are just a few...

But like OP have said, definitely pay OOP for breakfast. And definitely look at the menus to help narrow down the choices.

 

[Disneylandfanatic]

Wow these tips are great!!! How do I find a "room only" discount? Silly question right... I did price then out seperatley for the room cost no package and the package.. Almost the same price we just got more with the package. (I factored in around 600 for food then applied credits to the package side and no credits to the non package). It looks like we will be canceling our Kona reservation, it was for 7:30 and we would probably have had to get a can to make it there on time. We are staying at port Orleans riverside if that helps any. I want to do a ton more research tonight, this weekend I worked 24/48 hours so I've been busy!!! Any more tips would be wonderful!

Ps the waffle sandwich sounds d-lish and right up my bf's ally! Definitely on the list!!!!

 

[Haygar2]

Personally, I think having 3 big meals in one day is too much. Like someone else said, if you do a big breakfast, do a snack lunch and then a big dinner. Or flip it around another way. We paid OOP for Boma breakfast, when we went. Much cheaper (and it was still expensive) but it's Disney what do you expect. Via Napoli, in Epcot, has fantastic pizza (and desserts) and it's one TS credit.

 

[ses1230]

Wow these tips are great!!! How do I find a "room only" discount?

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/winter-room-discount/

 

[Disneylandfanatic]

Ok so this is what I priced out, I think room only might be a better deal unless tere are other fees they dot show you until the end:

Port Orleans riverside plus 4 day base ticket is 1293.16 king bed

Port orleans riverside Same room with same ticket and dining plan is 1794.40

That's a 500 dollar difference.

I'm also considering wilderness lodge which is 1568.20 with base ticket

I'm a total wdw newbie! Help!!! (Ps: this is for two adults)

 

[mom2grace]

Are you 'foodies' or do you just like to eat? I mean this seriously, not snarky!

If you are foodies, I would NOT do the dining plan. You will have so much more flexibility pay OOP if you want to try 4 apps & split an entree & have 1 dessert, etc. Plus, the CS meals are not foodie worthy at all, lol!

If you like to eat & like to try to get a 'bargain', then do the dining plan! If you would never eat steak every night at home but that's the fun of vacation, you won't feel any guilt!!

 

[Disneylandfanatic]

I would say we are somewhere in the middle, one thing I am not big on is dessert, we are both appetizer people rather than dessert people. But I don't think we would min trying the desserts on the dp. While we like fine dining and good food we are by no means snooty, we can eat fast food and counter service food anyday.