Update: We ended up getting the Quick Service plan because we got an amazing deal, but I am leaving this post up.
We did 7 character meals on our trip in 2009. We got to meet Mickey, Donald, Pluto, Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Mickey, Chip and Dale, Mickey, The 5 princesses, Mickey, Donald, Lilo , Stitch, Pooh, Tigger, and Prince Charming (Yeah, Mickey is almost at every meal!).
We enjoyed it, but the food wasn’t that great. The kids loved seeing the characters but waiting for them to get around to our table wore on their patience (which in turn wore on ours). I would have to rush to the buffet to fix their plates to get back in time to take their pictures with the characters.
We spent 2-3 hours of our day trying to get to and from the meals. That put a damper on the fun we were having in the parks.
We ate more than we would of ate without the plan. We had more sit down meals then we would of chosen. We felt miserable after we ate because we always tried to ‘get our money’s worth’ at the buffets.
But don’t get me wrong, we had a lot of fun too.
Disney requires you to get the dining plan for every night of your reservation. The only way around this is to do what they call a split stay. You either book 2 reservations for the same hotel (and risk having to change rooms in the middle of your stay) or you stay half of the time at one resort and half of the time at the other.
With 2 young kids, that isn’t something we want to do. So we would be stuck paying for the dining plan for 11 nights. 11 nights @ $107.96 is $1188! Plus you need to factor in tips and that brings it up to more like $1350. FOR FOOD! I can not justify spending that much on food!
We always eat breakfast in our rooms and we take a snack with us. My kids aren’t big eaters and can share a meal. My husband and I don’t eat as much in the hot times of the year and wouldn’t choose the bigger, heavier, more expensive entrees off the menu as we might if we were doing the dining plan (we would be trying to ‘get our money’s worth’).
So we talked and decided to pay out of pocket for this trip. I think we can come in way under that number. We are only interested in doing Chef Mickey’s for breakfast.
I will be posting some tips on how to save on food at Disney, so be sure to look at that!
Remember I am not telling you to get or not get the dining plan. It might work for your family. I just really want to make sure that you do your research and you make the best choice for your family. Don’t just say “oh yeah we are getting the dining plan” and never research it. Be a smart shopper even at Disney!
Krista says
Love all these answers! So many ways to do Disney! I made reservations for our upcoming trip & then ran a spreadsheet estimating costs vs. the dining plan. It gets tricky since we would probably save $90 buying park tickets via undercover tourist so I have to figure that into the equation as well. I agree, there are lots of ways to save money on dining – especially if the kids portions are as big as they sound. But, we want to travel light in the park (not pack in too much food) & we want to do Hoop de doo review, Boma, CRT & Cape May character breakfast. Those are all super overpriced esp for kid & esp given how little my kids eat. I’ll be saving my receipts to see in the long run whether it was a good plan for my family – whatever the result for this trip, I would redo the analysis before each trip. Plan how you want to eat each day & then decide if the prepurchased plan makes sense.
Samantha says
We just got back from our trip to WDW and we stayed at POP Century with the meal plan. We LOVE the meal plan but agree that we ate more than needed, BUT that being said we alwasy feel we get our moneys worth since just a couple of character meals and/or sit down meals in side the parks add up quickly. I can’t imagine not using the meal plan unless it goes up significantly in the future for $40 a day per adult and $11 for children you can’t go wrong considering we only spent $10 more on food the entire trip plus some tips. I agree the food at the buffets aren’t the best, but we did a lot more sit down meals like Akershus, Whispering Canyon (YUMMY), Liberty Tree Tavern, Le Cellier, Teppan Edo, and Prime Time Cafe. The only buffet we did was 1900 Park Fare for dinner and it was delicious….Granted we wouldn’t typically order dessert with every meal but when on vacation it is nice to treat yourself and know that it is all part of the trip. We just wish they still would include the tip it would make it that much more worth it, but we are still bug fans of the meal plans.
Kacy says
We went in April of 2009 for our first Disney trip with 4 kids 11-2. We did not do the dining plan. We packed snacks and water bottles with add in flavor packs(which my kids loved)! Freezing the water bottles about 1 hour ahead of the time you leave in the morning works great and if you are putting your bottles in a backpack stick them down in a kids crew sock(clean of course) and this will keep them from melting all over your items in your backpack. We found that our kids could share light meals for lunch and then we ate a good dinner every night. I think this saved us a TON of money! :)
raeme says
Is hoop dee doo the one you take the boat to in frontier land? It was great & comes with adult livations! I see a real mix of reviews as to dining plan value. You don’t have to get all componets of walk up service at once. We always save desert for later. Get refillable cup to use with meals then chocolate milk or orange juice for the room. Use your sit down service for lunch. Less crowded and SAME food. Chef Mickey’s & Crystal Palace are the only one’s we still go to. I think Chef Mickey’s takes 2 sit down portions, but it’s fab. I never tip 20% for a buffet. 5-10% is more than generous.
Kristin says
Chef Mickey’s is just one credit. :)
Katti says
We did the meal plan last Sept, but it was free. We were more impressed with the food court at Pop then any sit down restaurant we ate at the whole trip. So if we do it again we will do the counter service plan. Only having the Hoop Dee Doo review covered by the meal plan was great! That is such a great show, I would def see it again.
Deirdre says
We have done the dining plan and loved it, but with the price increase feel it is not worth it anymore. The food at the Character meals does stink. Last time we went we just ordered kids meals and did not get the dining plan. Half the price and it comes with a drink and dessert. Disney also lets you bring in a small cooler with food so we always pack a lunch too. There is a wal mart nearby to buy food if needed. Also if you have a car, there are many restaurants on 192 nearby.
Julie says
I would say to just drive out of the World and eat at non Disney restaurants or fast food for meals. That’s what we did this past trip. We also had a kitchen, so we went grocery shopping and saved money that way. DH and I also split meals (the turkey bacon wrap at Cosmic Rays in MK is HUGE!) so that cut our food cost too. I’d rather spend my money on souvenirs than food!
Traci says
We used the meal plan the second time we went and felt it was a better deal for us than the first time we went. We didn’t take in any bags and really felt less weighed down and were able to share snacks and counter service for my family of 4 with 2 boys 3-6 years. Next time we will get the meal plan but will use 2 of the table meals to see the Hoop-de doo instead of too many characters.
Jaime says
One of the best moneysavers we found for the hubs and myself was the cantina in Mexico in Epcot. We would share a chips and guacomole and if he was really hungry, would get him a kid’s meal as well. The guac can really fill you up and is delicious. Also the Cool Spot is awesome for a little soda to cool you off without having to pay $3 for an overly iced glass!
Jennifer A. says
We did the counter service plan when we went last June. My ds3 wasn’t interested in seeing princesses while dining, and my dd10 didn’t particularly care either, so being able to eat when we felt like it and not tied to a schedule really worked well. I agree, the refillable mugs were great! I didn’t keep great records, but even if we didn’t save lots, we definitely didn’t spend any more than we would have out of pocket. My biggest concern was that my dd10 couldn’t eat off the kids menu, but she actually really liked getting to order “grown up” meals; besides there was always pizza!
Kim S. says
For people who don’t like unexpected expenses it is so worth it but for people like us we get 100 gift cards and put one in our walet each day. 100 a day for us is what we budget to spend and we do really well if not have lots left over. Some days we sit down twice and some days we sit down never.
Valerie says
Even with factoring in the out-of-pocket cost of a character meal or two, our family still saves WAY more by skipping the meal plan. Last year, we went twice. The first time, our family of 4 spent under $500 on food for a week (including our meals on the way down and back–we drove from TN–and a character meal and afternoon tea in the Grand Floridian). The second trip, we spent under $300! We pack everything from cheese & crackers to tuna pouches. We always eat breakfast in our rooms, and we order water and add drink mixes to take out the sulfer taste. But we also make little splurges like Mickey ice cream bars. We never feel as if we’re skimping, and no one goes hungry.
http://www.affordingthemouse.com
Elizabeth S. says
Dole Whip is the stuff dreams are made of….LOL! OK, it is pineapple soft serve ice cream and they also have vanilla, so if you get a twist cosn you have a fabulous combo that’s sweet and creamy. I enjoy the pineapple float, which is soft serve in a cup and topped with pineapple juice.
If anyone is looking for good place for character dining, I’d recommend the Garden Grill in the Land Pavilion at EPCOT. The food is really good and its the same menu if you go for lunch or dinner (try late afternoon for a early dinner at the lunch price). Its an all-you-care-to-eat place but the food is brought to your table so there’s no hassle of walking up to a buffet. Also, the restaurant isn’t huge and chaotic like some others, so you get a lot of interaction with the characters. The last time I went there Micky, Pluto, Chip and Dale stopped by out table at least 4 different times. Its one of my faves!
Monica says
Ok, I keep hearing about the Dole Whip….can you buy this at Aloha Isle in Magic Kingdom?? What exactly is it?
Shelley says
We went in 2008 and it was our first visit. I did the dining plan because I didn’t really want any unexpected expenses to pop up . Since we flew I did mail a box of snacks to the resort prior to our arrival (I sent way too much) .
I ended up finding a code on Disboards for free meal plan during our stay and that saved a ton. I think if I had it to do over again I would do the quick service meal plan. Scheduling our days around reservations was a pain and the quick service meals are much more than adequate.
Oh, thanks for mentioning the Dole Whip…now I will be thinking about that all day!
If you do a meal plan be sure and eat at Lecellier (sp) in Canada, it was the best meal of the whole trip!
Babs says
Shelley, I have been trying to get a reservation at Lecellier in Canada for 2 years, any suggestions?? Did u just walk in,because we were thinking of that.
Dole Whip and Aloha Isle r 2 different places. Dole Whip is across from the swiss family tree house na d aloha isle is behind tiki room near jasmines magic carpet ride.
rebecca says
actually, the place by tiki room and aladdins flying carpets is the sunshine terrace and aloha isle is where the dole whip is! but its easy to confuse it all! i was just there for a very mery christmas party and i was shocked one of the hot chocolate locations was at the sunshine terrace. i noticed a lot of the online boards have it incorrectly listed, so here is the info presented on the site
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/magic-kingdom/dining/
Anne- Mommy has to Work says
thanks – i thought it would be a good idea, but we don’t eat much and we like to pack our own. It’s nice to hear differnt opinions
Brittany says
Since we live in Florida, I can’t even begin to count how many times we gone to Disney and we have never purchased the plan. It is just too expensive. We also would never get our money’s worth out of it. We always bring some food, mostly snacks and some water bottles. We eat a light breakfast at the hotel, eat the snacks we bring during the day and have a light (counter service) lunch at the park. If we feel up to it, we go to a sit down at night.
As far as the character meals, I’ve found that my kids know there will be a wait so they don’t get as antsy now and I’d rather wait sitting with air conditioning and food than outside in some line. Another suggestion is to pick some of the less popular character meals like the spinning restaurant, The Garden Grill, at Epcot. It is usually less crowded than say The Crystal Palace
Emily says
We can’t eat enough to make the meal plan worth it either! I also don’t want to deal with making reservations to all the sit-down places. A good way to save money for lunch is to order a kid’s meal to eat.
Amy Rainey says
We did the counter service dining plan this summer. We found it to be just the right amount of food for us. I kept track of the value of the food that we purchased and that added up to over $740. We paid @ $600 for the meal plan for our entire stay. So, we did save money. The counter service food is fab…we particularly liked the cantina outside the Aztec Temple in Mexico, and parked hopped there a 2nd day just to eat. We ate a big breakfast at the resort and then a late lunch in one of the parks each day. We will definitely do the meal plan again. Oh, and the resort refillable mugs were a huge bonus. When we went to eat breakfast at the resort we took them with us. Then, I would get bottled drinks and juice boxes that came along with our meals and pack them in the bag I was carrying into the park that day. It was like adding an additional snack item to everyone’s meal plan for the day.
Julie says
We have done the dining plans multiple times when it was a couple of years ago before they made the changes to the dining plans. Go to websites like allearsnet.com and they have the cost of the meals at Disney and see what you may be interested in and how much it cost. On the disney dining plan it gives you dessert as part of your meal and we just dson’t eat dessets but felt like we had to get them to make up the cost of the Dining plan. Then our 11 year old is considered an adult on the meal plan and she just doesn’t eat much at all and would just be wasting her meals. It works out great for alot of families but for us we come out cheaper with out the plan and it doesn’t tie us down waiting to be seated and eating a sit down meal …it is almost you having to plan out your Disney day around your eating times. If you pay out of pocket then you can get what you want… and how much you want …when you want it.
Jennifer C says
Mmmmmmmm……Dole Whip! Now I’m going to think about Dole Whip all day Babs!
I’d say that if you are frugal (probably if you are on this site you are) that you won’t find the dining plan cost effective. Even when they “give”you a free dining plan you are still paying the top rate for the room. I’d rather have a discounted room and tailor the food around my family’s needs.
Babs says
We go to Disney 4 times a year and stay at fort wilderness because we have a motorhome. We are Florida residents and have an annual pass. If u stay at fort wilderness you don’t get any plans. We only eat lunch in the park and not at sit down restaurants. Its just my hubby and I now so its easy to do what we want. My daughter and son in law and grand daughter join us 2 times a year but they stay at the pop. They like it there because there is a food court. They can eat on the fly depending on what the feel like that day. Even if u r organized nothing falls into place at disney. You have to roll with the punches. Write down what u think u want to do and cut that in 1/2. Pool days r essential in the hot weather. Its ok not to go in the park everyday. When my grand is with us we only see the characters that we happen upon. The times we plan to see characters the lines are too long so we see who we see. Last time we saw my grands fav character Snow White. She was thrilled. These are some things not to miss written by an expert in no particular order. Lion King show, finding nemo show, animal safari ride, train ride,haunted mansion, carausel ride,small world,mickeys phiharmagic,pirates of carribean,action stunt show,backlot tour little mermaid show, beauty and the beast(my fav),and DOLE WHIP. Thats all I can think of right now.In magic kingdom good places for a cheap meal(well not cheap but disney cheap) Caseys hotdogs on main street, pecos Bills near splash mountain,DOLE WHIP near magic carpet ride. I’ll probably think of more later. We take food into disney all the time. you can bring a stroller and load it up with soft coolers filled with drinks and snacks. Its hot and u need lots of cool drinks. Omg Ive babbled on and on. To be continued!
Cindy Anderson says
I agree, we have gotten the meal plan twice now, but it was free both times. I really find myself more rushed when I have the meal plan because you are tied to a schedule. I’m always worried that we won’t get there on time, and in turn end up getting there too early. So we have lost time in the park. I’ve thought about the Counter Service meal plan, and we might go that route in the future. I think it seems more flexible. But in the end, I really think you end up with too much food with the meal plans. And we like our food.
Ashley says
The meal plan can definitely add up. We used our cast member discount when my parents came Fall 2008(making it $17.99/night at the time) so it was an absolute STEAL! If it wasn’t free or highly discounted, I’d say skip it. We are going back next week and are going sans meal plan.