DVC kitchen vs Dining Plan

[tink03]

Hey all! Just trying to decide what to do here. We are staying at OKW in a 1 bedroom for our first time ever!!! Super excited but not sure what to do? Do we food shop and utilize the kitchen or purchase the dining plan? We have always done the dining plan before but never had a full kitchen before. Anybody else do that? Any and every suggestion helps! Thanks!

[VWL Mom]

What we normally do is get breakfast items, snacks, drinks, etc from the grocer and then pay out of pocket for one TS meal a day. If you have little ones you may find it easier to make a few dinners at the villa too. If you're a DVC member you could also consider getting a TIW card or even just using the discounts available to members.

BTW, we stayed at OKW in a one bedroom last year for the first time. IMO the patio is the best anywhere. I enjoyed my coffee out there each morning and some wine at night playing cards with my boys. Really felt comfortable.

[CanadianWDWFan]

It really depends on you and how much cooking you want to do on vacation. We always stay in one bedroom suites and will make meals like breakfast and either lunch or dinner since we will usually buy one meal out per day. It sure is nice having the kitchen

We don't use the dining plan unless it is free since we have the Table in Wonderland card. If you are a DVC member you can buy the card. It is good for 13 months.

Oh and you will LOVE the one bedrooms at OKW, they are huge! Here are my pictures (https://www.flickr.com/photos/10566431@N04/sets/72157634419002534) from one of our stays a few of years back. We last stayed at OKW in December 2014

[tink03]

Thank you the pics are awesome!!! But what is this TIW card? I really never heard of it?

[faline]

Thank you the pics are awesome!!! But what is this TIW card? I really never heard of it?

Tables in Wonderland is a discount card that can be purchased by annual passholders and vacation club members. It provides 20% discount on food and drinks at a number of restaurants in Disney World.

[AndrewJackson]

It really depends on what you want to do. It would be cheaper to cook, but that can be a drag on vacation. My wife's rule is that she doesn't cook on vacation. We will have some various breakfast foods in the room, and maybe some snacks. We go out for dinner.

Enjoy your 1 bedroom at OKW. They are quite large and spacious.

[faline]

Typically, we will have a simple breakfast (muffins, bagels - that sort of thing) and coffee in our room rather than eat breakfast out. We might also have an evening snack in our room. Lunches and dinners are usually eaten out. The only time we've "cooked" at home is when someone isn't feeling well and doesn't want to eat out at a restaurant. These days, though, once you've made that dining reservation you are pretty much committed to it due to the cancellation fees now imposed.

[TheDuckRocks]

Here is the official Tables in Wonderland info:

http://tablesinwonderland.com/

We also go with the breakfast items, smacks and beverages route. We like the flexibility of TIW. We usually spend 10 nights and go out to breakfast 3 times (Kona Café, Grand Floridian Café, Olivia's or Wolfgang Puck Express Marketplace). We keep milk, cereal, bananas and orange juice on hand. Some evenings we pick up pastries from the park bakeries as we are leaving for breakfast the next morning. We do use the various DDPs at times but we still have things on hand in the villa.

[tjstrike]

We've always gotten a 1 BDR or bigger w/kithchen, we cook breakfast in the room and get the dining plan for our other 2 meals.

[DisneyGiant]

It really depends on you and how much cooking you want to do on vacation. We always stay in one bedroom suites and will make meals like breakfast and either lunch or dinner since we will usually buy one meal out per day. It sure is nice having the kitchen

We don't use the dining plan unless it is free since we have the Table in Wonderland card. If you are a DVC member you can buy the card. It is good for 13 months.

Oh and you will LOVE the one bedrooms at OKW, they are huge! Here are my pictures (https://www.flickr.com/photos/10566431@N04/sets/72157634419002534) from one of our stays a few of years back. We last stayed at OKW in December 2014

:goodbad:

Wow!! That Old Key one bedroom looks larger than a Boardwalk\Beach Club two bedroom!!!

Not sure I'd want to give up walking into Epcot though - but those photos may make me consider it!!!

[CanadianWDWFan]

:goodbad:

Wow!! That Old Key one bedroom looks larger than a Boardwalk\Beach Club two bedroom!!!

Not sure I'd want to give up walking into Epcot though - but those photos may make me consider it!!!
Our home resort is BWV where we love being close to Epcot, but OKW is a favorite of ours. I would say that OKW one bed rooms are at least a quarter larger if not more than the BWV.

[Priority Four]

We are big breakfast eaters and used to do all out breakfasts in our villa. My wife loves to cook. Biscuits and gravy, waffles, casseroles. While we enjoyed the meals, and she truly does love to cook, the rest of us wanted her to sleep later and get to the parks early so now we mostly do QS breakfast.

[PETE FROM NYC]

We own DVC at BLT. We get a 1 BR. Before check in we go shopping at Publix on 192. We buy breakfast items and eat in. We also buy stuff to brown bag lunches. Then we do CS and TS for supper depending on which ADRs we get.

[BigRedDad]

We are usually very thrifty when going to WDW. We find ways to save more so we can go more. This is our 3rd trip in 7 months this coming Friday. We found it best to have breakfast things in the room: bagels, waffles (Mickey waffle maker if you have one is great), fruit. We will buy lunch meat to make sandwiches. We plan to be in the parks until about 1PM and back to the resort. We won't do too many dinners, but something in the oven or a crockpot makes life easier.

When we were at Boardwalk, there was a large extended family visiting. 2-3 dads would hit the grill at Happy Hour time, have a drink, and cook a bunch of chicken, burgers, and hot dogs for dinners. They had steak one night too. Watched and talked to them from my balcony.

[Simba 1]

We travel with 10 people (from toddlers to grandparents) in our party, so sometimes getting around can be a little slow. Although I LOVE the restaurant experience at Disney, we find it can take too much time out of our day to eat out every meal, even counter service. We try to eat one table service meal a day, usually lunch. Breakfast we grab in the room (we order groceries from an online grocery store that are delivered right to OKW). Sometimes for dinner we grab frozen pizzas at the resort gift shop and make those up with some salad in our room while the kids enjoy the pool and resort. Then we go back into the parks in the evening. It makes dinner quick and easy. We also do a pasta and salad night too. So our meals are not very elaborate. But it gives us fuel after the mid day break, and that gives us time to enjoy the evening in the parks.