No plan and 4 teens dining

[thejens]

We have always done the dining plan and have had younger children. Consequently, character meals were a priority and price not so much.

This trip (last week of May 2017) we will be dining without the plan and will be bringing 4 teens ages 13-19. We will also have a shorter stay in WDW (heading to Universal too) so our choices are more limited. I wonder what you all would recommend in terms of best value in both table and counter services as well as which dining experiences are most fun for teens. I am not looking to be overly worried about costs, but it will be nice to have options to save money by sharing big entrees, skipping unwanted desserts, etc. We might do some late breakfasts instead of lunches. Thanks for any suggestions!!!

[faline]

At Pecos Bill in the Magic Kingdom, my husband and I were able to share a fajita platter. Along with the fixins' they make available, we had a satisfactory lunch. We've also been able to share the flatbread at Pinnochio Haus (Magic Kingdom) and Pizzafarri in Animal Kingdom. In Epcot, we've shared the fish and chips from the outdoor eatery in United Kingdom. Some of the quick serve locations at the resorts have breakfast sandwiches that are quite large and could be shared. We've also ordered calamari at Restaurant Marrakesh in Epcot, shared it, and called it a meal.

You might try some of the buffets - Biergarten comes to mind.

I'm sure others will come along soon with their suggestions.

[buzznwoodysmom]

If you can all agree on the same pizza Via Napoli in Epcot would be a good deal.

It's expensive, but Ohana is a must do for my family. I have two teen boys and they can put away some food. Since Ohana is all you can eat we surely get our $ worth now days.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I second Ohana at the Polynesian, but if you want to eat in the parks,
some of our favorite are
MK: Columbia Harbor House-decent size portions-something different than just burgers also good and decent portions is Cosmic Ray's-
TS-Be Our Guest-hard to get a dinner reservation but we ate there last trip and I paid out of pocket, I thought the prices were reasonable compared to many TS and we skipped desert here

AK-CS-Flame Tree BBQ is huge portions /wouldn't really recommend TS here

HS-Prime Time is one we are going to try and I looked at their prices they are one of the cheaper TS and looks like huge portions

Epcot-Any CS is probably a winner-the nachos in Mexico are huge portions, I would also agree with Via Napoli with teens the pizza is awesome.

[thejens]

Hmmm...as I check the menu prices maybe the meal plan IS the way to go? My teens (and I!) can eat!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

We always use it now. If you are big eaters it probably will save you money.

[imprttuner88]

On our last trip in Aug with two teenage sons (13 & 15) we brought food for breakfast on the run while we left the room, did four TS meals, rest QS meals and brought simple snacks everyone kept in their backpacks. We were there for 8 nights and def bought a few park fav snacks and still managed to eat for $1000. Saved us around $800 over the DDP. Our experiment worked as I predicted and will def be paying out of pocket from now on. Best part, I didn't feel the need to overeat as I had in the past to get my monies worth.


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[VWL Mom]

Unless you're doing all dinner buffets then I don't see the "value" in the DDP. My boys are now 21 and 25 and they can eat but in all our trips never ate $70 worth of food per day every day.They do enjoy the refillable skillet and bottomless milkshakes at WCC which is a possibility for yours. I agree with the pp, have snacks for them in the room that can be thrown in their backpack or eaten for breakfast.

I just got back from a quick trip with the younger and my bill for 4 nights was $499.76 (pre discount) which is about $62.50p/p but we did what DDP would consider 8 TS each. We did 2 TS breakfasts (Kona and WCC), 4TS dinners (Tony's, O'Hana's, Artist Point, and Narcoossee's), one CS for 1 (Pizzarizzo) and 4 snacks.

:offtopic:Thinking out of the box, if you'll be traveling again before May of next year, you could price out upgrading one ticket to an AP. This year they are giving 20% off many TS meals (I can send you the list if your want). Another is buy discounted gift cards to pay for your meals. I believe this quarter Discover card holders get 5% cash back at warehouse stores so if you're a member at Sam's you save a total of 10%. BJ's was allowing non-members to buy them online, again netting a 10% savings.