Originally Posted By sherrytodd This is the first trip that we are using the dining plan. So with one snack, one counter service and one table service how do you get the most out of it? *Use the snack for breakfast, counter service for lunch and then big ol table service dinner? *Counter service for a bigger breakfast, snack to get through the day and then table service at dinner. *Table Service at lunch? *Do you buy an extra meal or snack? Trying to figure out how to use this without buying any additional food.
Originally Posted By seafairy1622 we did the dinning plan the last 3 years and love it. We did counter service for breakfast the snack for lunch, we also brought snacks with us and then table service for dinner. We did do table service for breakfast one day and used our counter service for dinner on that day. Toy Story Pizza Planet is counter service and we did that for dinner. My 8 year old loves it.It was plenty of food for us. We got 2 drinks with our counter service breakfast, so we got water bottles and took them to the park with us, which saved us money.The resteraunts for the table service were really good. And it's nice ordering what ever you want and it's already paid for. We found it to be a very good deal.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP For us, ElderP doesn't like breakfast, but I wasn't about to skip it. So, I packed bagels and b'fast bars in my suitcase. We purchased mugs, and I had a morning soda or hot choclate w/my bagel from home. In the all stars gift shop you can use a snack credit for any food item under $4. (The all star's gift shop food selection looks alot like what you would find at a gas station convenice store: milk, sandwich bread, hostess donuts, and similar type stuff) That includes a 6 pack of bagels, so if you are used to a light b'fast you can use one snack credit to get 6 breakfasts for one person. Butter is out on the utensil island at the food court, as is a toaster. However, if you want cream cheese you'll have to pay 50 cents a pop. Milk is NOT on the beverage bar. (i.e., you can NOT get milk w/your re-fillable mug) so, if you bring cold cereal your choices are eating it dry, paying for an individual milk every day or paying for a gallon in the Gift Shop and paying to refrigerate it too. We then used our counter for lunch and the sit down for dinner. Have fun!
Originally Posted By danyoung My one use of the dining plan was pretty screwed up, as I really like the signature restaurants that need 2 table service credits. Also I visited during the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, so I saved up all my snacks to use for one big eating and drinking around the world meal. It all worked out pretty well, and I'm sure I save a few bucks. But I've decided that it's too much effort for me to keep up with. And especially with the changes (no tip included), the value is reduced for me even further. I hope it works great for you, though!
Originally Posted By sherrytodd Doing some reading it sounds like they are limiting what you are able to buy with your snack credits. Looks like there is a list of specific items that you can buy now with the snack credit. * 1 Snack choice of a frozen ice cream novelty or fruit bar, or single serve popcorn or single piece of whole fruit or single serve Grab Bag of Frito Lay's Chips, or 20 oz. bottle of Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite or 24 oz. bottle of Dasani water or medium size fountain drink or apple juice Looks like I will be packing bagels in the luggage.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb During your counter service meals I recommend getting the water instead of a soda. It comes in the bottles so you can carry it around the parks. This is also a good snack option.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb Oh, at places with large servings (50s Prime Time) we split meals leaving us with extra sit-down credits. Even splitting we sometimes left food on the table (dessert).
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP I would also say that when we went in 2007, the counter service meals included a large soda, however when ordering, if you just asked for "a coke" they give you a medium. So, ask for a LARGE, specifically, (unless of course they've changed the plan). Also at counter service places, I looked for deserts that could be carried arround w/me (specifically rice crispy treats). I usually didn't want a desert right then after my burger, or what ever, but liked streching out my meal. If you really want to squeeze every last penny out of the mouse, when ordering soda order it w/out ice and then ask for an additional cup of ice, which is alway free. Now, you have an extra 4oz or so of soda, the space previously occupied by the ice. What can I say, we had it down to a fine science! (And were a little obsessed!)
Originally Posted By nquinn We (2 adults, 1 child) are going to Disney In October, 2008 for 8 days and have purchased the dining plan. My sister (who is not staying on-site and therefore cannot purchase the dining plan)will be joining us midway thru the trip, going to the parks and eating dinner with us. We were thinking of saving our table service meals to use for the nights she will be having dinner with us. Will they allow us to use our meals for her on those nights or do we just pay out of pochet for her dinner? Thanks.
Originally Posted By grammy954 Been a while since I have used the dining plan, but last time I used it, you could use it however you wanted - all in one day if that was how you wanted to do it. And along these lines, I know they have had a promotion with the dining plan free for the past few years - sometime in the fall. We have never been able to do that since my daughter was in school. Now she is in an online school and has a bit of flexibility, so we would like to take advantage of that. Can anyone tell me when that typically is, and when they start booking for it?
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains Disney Visa sent me one for now <a href="http://us.f802.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=5555_9488521_18212_1870_5148_0_96891_18829_2143642154&Idx=0&YY=67074&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&inc=25&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b&box=Inbox" target="_blank">http://us.f802.mail.yahoo.com/...ox=Inbox</a>
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains Mixed up posting - sent me one for booking now. Travel for 8/24-9/20
Originally Posted By Liberty Belle When we used the Dining Plan in November, we would typically do a counter service breakfast at the hotel food court, a snack for lunch (or sometimes another counter service meal for lunch since we worked out we had a couple spare) and a table service dinner. We did 2 breakfast buffets though, so those days we had a counter service dinner (the buffet was more than enough to keep us full till dinner time!) At the end of the trip we had 2 snack credits each leftover which we used for chips for the plane. We really didn't have to buy any food, I think we bought a few pieces of fruit each and some drinks - not even many of them, since we'd get bottles of water with our breakfast.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb At the counter service places we always got at least one bottle of water for our drink, most times two. I found that to be a better choice for us than a fountain drink.
Originally Posted By LacyBelle Most of our strategy has been covered, but I wanted to add something about getting your best value for snacks. My data may be a little dated since we used the dining plan in November 2006 and things may have changed a bit, but for snacks you will see little purple "DP" symbols next to the qualifying items on the menu boards. Sometimes those items may be a small $1.50 item, whereas a different $3.50 item is also on the plan. If we wanted one of those $1.50 items, we would just pay cash and save the snack credit for a pricier item. We wanted to make sure we got all the bang for our buck! Yes, we ended up bringing about a half dozen snacks home with us (stocked up on our last night at the store at our resort), but they made great airplane nibbles and treats to extend the magic when we got home!
Originally Posted By cheshireqt When we stayed at POFQ we used a snack credit for breakfast. They have yummy beignets that count as a snack credit and will feed two hungry adults or a family of four if you supplement with fruit and breakfast bars brought from home. With the refillable mug for coffee for me and purchasing milk we were all set each day. We sometimes used table service for lunch and sometimes for dinner. It all depended on when we could get reservations for the places we wanted. We actually liked it that way and would do it on purpose again.
Originally Posted By fan-o-fun We always get the dining plan just because I like everything pre-paid. We usually eat breakfast in our room. I bring cereal and fruit and buy milk and juice. We also like to bring bagels and breakfast bars. We make an exception when we can get into the castle for breakfast and on our last day when we have a big Chef Mickey breakfast. We sometimes use our snack credit in the bakery on main street to get one of their giant cinnamon rolls, which are more like a cinnamon LOAF. We have our snack and munchies from home to tide us over for a late lunch/early dinner. When it is hot, this works well, because we don't eat 3 meals. In cooler weather, we walk around salivating all day and we eat couter service for a mid day meal, have a snack, and eat table service/buffet for dinner.
Originally Posted By dlgirler When I did the plan in 2006, yes you could share the plan - a couple times I used 2 of my plan's dinners to "pay" for my visiting friends (we had 2 plans and 4 guests). (I assume you are asking if you can use an adult meal on your sister.) And you could pay a bill with both dining plan and $$. I would say just make sure the server understands how you want to "pay" - and make sure afterwards that they processed it "correctly".
