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wrfd18
03-29-2007, 12:16 AM
Going in last part of July early Aug. I'm trying to figure out if the dining plan would be a good option to get. It's myself and my DD age 9 and DS age 7. I was quoted a price around 500 for the dining plan with a 8 day stay. My son is somewhat a pickey eater and I don't know if I would be wasting money with the plan. Just looking for some advice from someone that has used the plan with kids about the same age as mine. Thanks for your help.

Raye3201
03-29-2007, 12:30 AM
My son (6) and daughter (8) are picky eaters too but I would still recommend the dining plan. The snack alone is almost half the cost of the day and the plan is well worth it.

We found that it was too much food for our kids but there was a lot of flexibility at the counter service restaurants. We found the table service restaurants more limiting (they were basically stuck with pizza three nights in a row on our last trip) but most have small differences on the menus so it's not the same thing night after night for kids. Intercot lists the menus for a lot of the restaurants as well and we used this to our advantage in planning our next trip.

I think you can't go wrong with the dining plan. We found it was worth the money for the kids although it requires a lot of planning in advance for ADR's etc. The character meals are great especially the breakfasts.:mickey:

CleveSJM
03-29-2007, 08:18 AM
For an eight day stay, I would recommend it unless you really don't want Table Service meals everyday. If you are ok with counter service most of the time and maybe an occassional buffet then I think the Plan is not worth it.

I comment about the 8 days because I think you'll have the time to enjoy TS meals. TS meals seem to take about 2 hours out of your stay. Get there 15-20 minutes early, wait 15-20 minutes, eat for about 1 hr... If you were only going for 4 days, I would recommend saving the time and eating "fast."

Have a great trip!

GreenBeetle
03-29-2007, 08:29 AM
Given the ages of your children, I'm betting they would enjoy quite a few character meals. In my opinion, some of those meals alone make it worth getting the dining plan. And if relaxing at a table service meal each day is important to you, then the plan is worthwhile for you. With 8 days to spend, you have the time to take things at a slower pace.

Natazu
03-29-2007, 02:26 PM
If you're planning to feed the kids WDW food (not offsite or out of a cooler), you can't go wrong with the dining plan. Kids are $10.99 including tax and gratuity per day. Can't even do that at McDonalds.

Dakota Rose
03-29-2007, 05:02 PM
We did the Dining Plan when we were there last (had to pay for it, missed the free plan) and we will always buy it in the future. I figure that even after paying for the plan, we still saved $200+ per family. (my parents went and had the DP too)

Dakota Rose
03-29-2007, 05:05 PM
P.S. I think your answer is in your question. $500 for 8 days for 3 people. That's $13 per day per person. Could you eat 2 meals and a snack at WDW for $13/day? Nope.;) We couldn't even do that here unless it was MCD's dollar menu all day long.

wrfd18
03-29-2007, 06:40 PM
Thanks for the replys, just to let you all know I did book the DP. My only concern now is getting some of the ADRs. Since we are going late July.

Mnchknbrat1982
03-29-2007, 07:39 PM
I think you made the right call with the dining plan. What I would suggest is sit down and look at the menu's and make your ADR's ASAP! You may not be able to get into some of the popular places. And you may have to be flexible on your times. But I think it is worth the money. I would definately have a few backup places in mind for table services in case you can't get your first choices. I just made mine for the end of September and I even had to adjust one of the times I was wanting.