New Counter Service Dining Plan

[momofdisneyprincess]

I have searched but can't find any posts on this subject. I was wondering if anyone has purchased the new counter service dining plan and what they thought of it. Where it is only $30 for adults and $9 for a child; includes 2 CS meals, 2 snacks and refillable mug per night of stay I was just wondering if there were any disadvantages to this? It seems to me unless you were on the other dining plan or planned on eating lunch in your room this would be a great thing to buy. However, where I haven't heard any opinions on this I was just wondering if I am way off base or not. Thanks!

[Rekenna]

We have purchased this for our upcoming trip-we have 3 boys with us-2 of which are 3 and under so I thought this would be a great option for us b/c we could eat when they are ready to eat.

I also would like to hear others thoughts on this. We have always purchased the dining plan and have enjoyed it and found it to be a great value. I have to admit as much as I like the Table Service meals we have experienced I do not miss the anxiety of planning/making ADR's. It is pretty liberating!

We think the counter service option sounds like a great deal-we all get our own cup (except for the baby) 2 snacks-lot of ice cream (Dole Floats!) and we can eat pretty much whatever/whenever we want-and best of all it's all paid for before we leave. Great budget control!

[Rekenna]

Well, I have been waiting (im)patiently for a response from anyone, anyone, Bueller, Bueller, Bueller?

Has no one tried out this plan yet? I know you guys aren't shy....

I'm hoping for my sake and momofdisneyprincess that someone has some detailed feedback!

[PetefromRI]

I've written a few things on this plan so I know that they are floating around somewhere in cyberspace.My wife and I went alone and tried this plan in May and we are thinking about doing it everytime.We know that the regular meal plan is only 10.00 more per person but when you add in the tip at dinner it comes to alot more so we like this plan plus the fact that you don't have to be at a certain restaurant at a certain time every night.We found many great QS places:In DTD:Cookes of Dublin,Earl of Sandwich and Wolfgang Puck Express were all very good.In Epcot:Cantina De San Angel in Mexico,The Yakatori House in Japan and the Yorkshire Fish House in England were good.AK:Pizzafari had a good Italian Sandwich and The Flametree Barbecue is always very good.MK:The rib and chicken platter at Cosmic Rays was enough for the two of us and the entertainment is a real hoot.Pecos Bills is always good for burgers with their famous fixin's bar.DHS:Always tough for us.The sandwiches at the Backlot Express were O.K.,nothing great,but O.K.The ABC Commisary used to be better when they had Cuban Sandwiches but they weren't on the menu this time so we skipped it.We only had burgers once in 9 nights and only because we wanted them.The two snacks a day were alot and we ended up bringing alot of cookies home with us.We thought that the plan was awesome and as I said before we will probably do it all the time.The refillable mug is also a great bonus.As far as kids meals go,I've heard that there isn't too much variety but we don't have children at home so it doesn't effect us.Good Luck!

[Rekenna]

Thanks PetefromRI! Sound like you two had a great time-glad to hear that the "new" dining plan was quick, easy and flexible. Just what we are looking for.

[edhunter28]

I went last month on this plan. It isnt bad and the meals are filling.the snacks are huge too I got an ice cream sandwich on main street & it was really big

[Disney Doll]

I've never tried any of the dining plans because after looking at all the options I just don't see a benefit for my family. My #1 concern would be the kids. The kids menus at the CS locations don't offer a lot of variety. DS is not the usual kid. He likes healthy foods and could eat his weight in fresh fruits and veggies if we let him. I usually try to order something we can share and we get fruit from the snack carts in the parks. That means we use more than the 2 per day snack allotment and we wouldn't use all the kid's credits. So for us the ddp is not the answer. However, with all the menu info available online it's very easy to do the figuring and see what you think your family might typically eat. That way you know going in if the ddp would work for you or not.

[threeh]

We are trying it for our november trip. We have always done the sit down dining plan before (once we did deluxe and I never ate so much in my entire life). I really am looking forward to this plan because I won't have to make any ADR's, this will be the fly by the seat of our pants trip. I have read things here and there about the CS plan and have never read anything negative.
Happy planning