Dining Plan, cash and how you know which is which?

[Disneypal]

I am a newbie with the Dining Plan. I have been on this forum several times trying to plan our meals and I think I have it:

Day 1
Le Cellier for sit down lunch= order 1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 dessert and 1 drink to share with 2 people on dining plan
Cantina de San Angel for dinner= order 2 combo meals on dining plan
Boulangerie Patisserie for snack= 2 drinks, 2 desserts 2 entrees on dining plan

Day 2
Riverside Mill for breakfast= 2 combo meals on dining plan
Beaches & Cream for lunch= order 1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 dessert and 1 drink to share with 2 people on dining plan
50's Prime Time Cafe for dinner= order 1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 dessert and 1 drink to share with 2 people on dining plan
Wolfgang Puck for snack= $$$ unless we can use just 1 counter at Boulangerie Patisserie and get 2 desserts and 1 drink.

Day 3
Chef Mickey for breakfast= 1 buffet on dining plan & pay for 1
Garden View Tea Room for afternoon tea/lunch= pay for 2
Ohana for dinner= 2 family style off dining plan

My questions are:
1. Does this look like it is doable?
2. How do we keep track of what is on the plan and what is $$$?
3. Can you substitute a dessert for an entree if so we would only use 1 at Boulangerie Patisserie?
4. Confused about snacks, are they just a drink or ice cream?
5. If you don't use your snack, counter and table all in one day does it carry over to the next day?

Sorry I am so stupid with this!

 

[janets]

I can answer a few of your questions.

Your dining plan is for your whole stay. So if you're staying 3 nights with 2 people, you get 6 counter service, 6 table service and 6 snacks for use from CHECK IN UNTIL MIDNIGHT OF CHECK OUT day. You can use those credits any time you want throughout your stay.

Snacks have been expanded to include most snack type items under $4.00. You'll see the dining plan logo on the menus at most snack stands or places like the Main Street Bakery or other eateries.

As for the pastry shop in France, when we were there in April, a counter service credit purchased us 2 pastries and 1 drink. I have no idea if they have expanded their snack offerings to allow you to use a snack credit for a pastry. Since we didn't want any sandwich type food, we only focused on the desserts. But I believe that you can get a croissant type sandwich as a counter service selection as well.

When I looked at your plan, I wasn't sure why you were planning on sharing the table service meals unless you are planning a signature meal and didn't put that down, or if I miscounted the number of table service meals you had listed.

Wait, I looked again and now I see that you have a couple of sit downs on the same day so you're looking to conserve to allow for additional meals. It looks like you've chosen to pay for 1 buffet breakfast which is probably a reasonable choice. I don't know how much the garden room tea is so I can't help there.

As for keeping track, at the bottom of your receipt, it will tell you how many remaining credits you have (whether it's CS, TS or snack). You know that you start w/ 6 of each (if there are 2 in your party for a 3 night stay) so just keep checking that.

Hope this helps you out.

 

[Disneypal]

Thanks for the info. It was very helpful! I see that you said you were able to get 1 drink and 2 pastries and I was wanting to do 1 drink and 2 chocolate mousse. Do you think they would allow that?

 

[Redwitch]

I'm trying to follow you...

Day One
LC - 1TS
CdSA - 2CS
BP - 2CS 0r 8SC (if they allow SC)

Day Two
RM - 2CS
B&C - 1TS
50 PT - 1TS
WP - 3SC (I don't think you can get anything but a drink or a cookie/brownie for SC)

Day Three
CM - 1TS (1 OOP)
GVTR - (OOP)
O's - 2TS

How may nights are you staying? I'm counting 6 TS, 6 CS, and 3SC. If you stay six nights you get 6 TS, 6 CS and 6 SC. You can use tham any way you want from check-in until midnight of the day you check out.

What you have planned is do-able, you have three more snack credits to use up if I followed your plan.
Tell the waiter you are paying for one dinner with the DDP and one cash, room card, etc. up front at the beginning of the meal. Then check your receipts for accuracy before leaving. The DDP receipt will tell you how many credits you have remaining.
AT BP you can get either two sweets or a savory and a sweet along with your drink for a CS. (At least you could in January.)
Snacks have been expanded. Just about anytihng under $4.00 is a snack. There are several threads on this board about this topic.
You can use your credits anyway you want. They are "per stay" not "per day."

Hope this helps!

 

[Disneypal]

We are staying 3 nights. That is why I was trying to do all of the sharing so we got the most out of the plan. Thanks for the info on BP. We wanted just a dessert and a drink there so if we share the CS that leaves us plenty to do our plan. As for the other snack I was just going to use them as needed in the parks for drinks or whatever. I am taking my Mom for her birthday and she has no idea about any of this and I just wanted to make sure she didn't try to pay, had an experience of a lifetime and felt full after her meals. Thanks again