Yet another Disney thread/question

We are looking to go and have read some of the other threads. We will be going with a six year old, a two year old, and an infant. I see a dining plan mentioned, but I have some questions about that. It looks like the dining plan can only be purchased with a Magic Your Way package. However, the package that offers the quick service dining plan (not even the sit down one) says that it is $3,423. If I purchase rooms (value resort seven nights = $760) and tickets (two adults and one child seven days $1049.) separately it comes to $1,809. That is a difference of $1,614. And that is just the quick service meal plan (two quick service meals and one snack per person per day).

Is it really worth getting?

If it IS worth getting, how do we get it because I can't find any links on the Disney site to actually buy a package.

Finally, what kind of package do I have to buy to get the Regular dining plan (1 table meal, 1 quick serve meal, 1 snack) since I see it mentioned but don't see where to get it, even in the packages.

Your best bet is @conandrob240 for this. She knows a lot about Disney and package. I think she can help you.

Hi Spontaneous,

How good are your kids at going out to eat, especially sit down restaurants? I have found with mine (5/2) that they are much happier at "fun fast dinners" rather than "slow boring dinners," especially if they can hit the pool after dinner. Do you want to do any of the character meals? Can you bring snacks with you for breakfast in the room to cut down on costs? You may save money in a dining plan but you could also end up locked into something you don't necessarily want. For flexibility, especially if you haven't done the Disney thing before, it may be worth playing it by ear the first time around.

Just a thought.

Also did you buy a park hopper ticket? I love the flexibility that it gives us, even if we don't end up using the option.

Have a great time! It is one of my family's favorite places in the whole world.

The five year old is good in restaurants, the two year old is still a bit feral, so I'm guessing the nicer ones would be out.

You may be happier with quick service restaurants rather than table service, or only a few table service restaurants. Chef mickey is great with kids. Mine also like the rainforest cafe. Basically somewhere that they have something to look at.

As for the meal plan where it was sit down dinners, we did it the first time we went. We would not do it again as we wanted flexibility with the menu choices and did not want to have dessert every night. We had to do alot of arm twisting to substitute a dessert for an appetizer, for example. Bottom line, there's less flexibility to choose what you want off the menu and while some restaurants accommodated our requests for substitutions, others did not. By the way, this is Disney and they are not going to slow down the service if you have young kids at the table (although we did not do the real fancy restaurants-not even sure if there are any) because they know that's an unspoken rule.

spontaneous said:

We are looking to go and have read some of the other threads. We will be going with a six year old, a two year old, and an infant. I see a dining plan mentioned, but I have some questions about that. It looks like the dining plan can only be purchased with a Magic Your Way package. However, the package that offers the quick service dining plan (not even the sit down one) says that it is $3,423. If I purchase rooms (value resort seven nights = $760) and tickets (two adults and one child seven days $1049.) separately it comes to $1,809. That is a difference of $1,614. And that is just the quick service meal plan (two quick service meals and one snack per person per day).

Is it really worth getting?

If it IS worth getting, how do we get it because I can't find any links on the Disney site to actually buy a package.

Finally, what kind of package do I have to buy to get the Regular dining plan (1 table meal, 1 quick serve meal, 1 snack) since I see it mentioned but don't see where to get it, even in the packages.

Sometimes, the package isn't discounted even though a room only reservation is. For example, if it is free dining promo, the room rate jumps to rack/full rate to allow for the promo. What are your dates? I ask because the pricing you see may have deep room only discounts, free fining or some other promo. You have to manually click on regular dining to get it to price it, if you are looking at a value resort and free dining is at play, it will not let you get anything but quick dining for free. I am happy to check for you so you understand the promos- completely no obligation.

If paying for the dining plan, I think it is now at a price where it isn't a value. You can probably do better or equal paying as you go.

There are three plans: quick ( counter service only), regular ( one table, one counter per day) and deluxe ( 3 meals of any type each day). I think the only value now lies in the deluxe if you are a foodie, not traveling with babies/toddlers and plan to do a lot of signature or high-end meals. Now, if a plan is "free" on your dates, you have to weigh the price vs the price of the room only discount youd lose.

A few other points- I don't think we've ever had a boring dinner in WDW. They are geared towards families and even a fancy restaurant is fun for kids. Also, character meals are very expensive and count as table service so you have to factor in how many of those you want to do. Finally, I love park hopper but when traveling with little ones, it may not be valuable. It works best if you are going to do a day then different night park. With two babies, that might never happen. Sometimes, it's cheaper ( usually less than $10 a day more) to add another day to the tickets and just use two days worth on the one day you want to hop.

spontaneous said:

the two year old is still a bit feral

) amazing

We are planning on going in November, arriving Wednesday November 4th and leaving Wednesday November 11th.

conandrob240 said:

There are three plans: quick ( counter service only), regular ( one table, one counter per day) and deluxe ( 3 meals of any type each day). I think the only value now lies in the deluxe if you are a foodie, not traveling with babies/toddlers and plan to do a lot of signature or high-end meals. Now, if a plan is "free" on your dates, you have to weigh the price vs the price of the room only discount youd lose.

If we had the choice we would go for the regular plan, not the quick or the deluxe. We are not foodies and our youngest will be nine months old, so three sit down meals a day would just be wasted on us.

conandrob240 said:

Finally, I love park hopper but when traveling with little ones, it may not be valuable. It works best if you are going to do a day then different night park. With two babies, that might never happen. Sometimes, it's cheaper ( usually less than $10 a day more) to add another day to the tickets and just use two days worth on the one day you want to hop.

We weren't going to do the park hopper, mainly due to cost, but also because with small kids just staying at one park per day seemed easier. However this would be something to keep in mind for the future.

What resort are you interested in?

Also we find that buying one meal per person is too much food. We usually get 3 meals and split four ways. I also found one meal per day at park was enough.

Which is tough to do on the dining plan nowadays because you have to add everyone to the room/plan in order to book FP+. I agree on too much food. We often split a few apps and one entree.

If you can do evenings, November 8 and 10 are possibly the best time of the whole year to go! That's the beginning of Mickey's Very Merry Christmas, with Christmas decor up, but before the crowds start to kick in. It's a separate park ticket, from 6PM to closing, but they start admitting people at 4PM. There is almost no wait for any ride, (except, oddly Pooh), plus free sugar cookies and hot chocolate (apple slices if you're feeling virtuous!)

The other thing with the dining plan is it's by days of your reservation, so if you're arriving late on your first night, for example, you might not be eating but you're paying for meals that day anyway.

I did the math on this- in a really obsessive, "where will we eat and what might we order" spreadsheet and found it wasn't worth it for us. That's especially true because I don't eat meat so I'm often ordering a less expensive meal or even an appetizer, depending on the offerings.

conandrob240 said:

What resort are you interested in?

I'm not picky, I just want to stay at a Disney property so that we don't have to worry about transportation. I'm told there is a shuttle to and from the airport, and all the Disney resorts have transportation to the parks, either by monorail or shuttle bus. So long as it is a Disney resort that has the above the only other factor I am interested in is price. I figure the kids will have enough of a blast at the park all day long that it doesn't matter too much if the hotel itself has extras or not.

One good thing about the timing is that they charge admission for children ages three and over. Our middle child will turn three DAYS after our vacation, so he will have a blast but not cost us an additional $300+ dollars to get in.

Of course, in another four or five years when we go back and have to pay admission for two adults and three kids THAT is gonna hurt $$$$$

We hopped every day on our WDW trip when our kids were elementary school aged. One park in the AM, back to the hotel for rest/pool in the afternoon, a different park in the PM.

We do plan on doing lunch/rest back in the room in the middle of the day (another reason we want to stay at Disney and not elsewhere), but I have no issue with returning to the same park afterward. Next time, when the youngest is five and the oldest ten it might be a different story, but for now I think saving a few bucks and not park hopping will be fine.

With a 2 yr old and a baby, I'll bet hopping will be limited. Under 3 is a great free treat. The fancy resorts don't have much for tiny kids. As they get a little older, things like pool with slide, fancier restaurants and kids camp-type activities might be more important.

Yes, magical express yo/from airport is simple & free. Buses between resorts and parts are generally fine. Exception is busing to water parks and downtown disney which can be slow but, I doubt you'll do waterparks and if you go to Downtown disney once ( for the TRex cafe and/or lego sculptures for your older son), you'll just plan ahead knowing it takes a bit of travel time.

I'll check a few things for you.

Wow, thanks!

Sure!

Okay, I think the room rate alone was pre-tax. The lowest room rate I see is for All Star Sports which comes to a total of $2896. Costs are $983.57 for basic dining package and $1049 for 7 nt park tickets for three then add room with tax. I'd recommend Pop Century in the Value category- much newer, better food court and much better pool. Pop would bring it to grand total of $3057 or so. Pop is loud and big and busy but a really fun, vibrant resort- newer with a great pool and bright fun colors. Buses to all parks and areas. An upgrade would be to a moderate resort- Port Orleans at around $3652 total. That is a less hectic, more quiet resort, it will have an upgraded dining option (a sit down restaurant on site) and a waterslide at the pool. Boat to Downtown Disney and bus to rest. A deluxe monorail resort would be almost double the value rate in the $6000 range.

Adding one more night (8 day ticket) would come to a total of $30 more- so you see what I mean by if you want to "hop" even once, buy the 8 nt and when you hop, you use 2 days worth of ticket credits, if that makes sense. But you do it for a total of $30 rather than adding hoppers at $50 pp.

While I agree that the night parties are fun, I feel that for a first visit, stick with the regular theme park ticket/days. There is a significant extra cost involved in those parties, you'll be there for a pretty slow period to begin with and if you want to see the castle all lit up or snow on Main st, just stay until the time the party starts and you can "experience" it all on the way out of the park for free.

Disney is a strict non-discounter so you wont find any variance on packages whether you book direct or through an agent. I am happy to book for you and help you plan, if you want. Feel free to PM me.

One thing to look out for (and you can change a package pretty easily so no worries- you or your TA just have to pay attention) is Free Dining. It was offered starting Nov 1 two years ago then Nov 2 starting last year. I think you will see it again. If you do, the package could be adjusted and the value of the quick service dining plan will come off- around $700.

conandrob240 said:

One thing to look out for (and you can change a package pretty easily so no worries- you or your TA just have to pay attention) is Free Dining. It was offered starting Nov 1 two years ago then Nov 2 starting last year. I think you will see it again. If you do, the package could be adjusted and the value of the quick service dining plan will come off- around $700.

This is good to know. Would it only effect the quick service option, or would it also effect the price of a regular dining option too since that is the one we will likely go for? And are you saying that if this option becomes available after the package is booked it can be adjusted? I'd rather book now so I don't have to worry about prices rising or rooms filling up.

And thank you so much for clarifying the dining plan pricing. The website didn't make it that clear how the packages worked, but I finally found the link. Now that I know the actual price for how many days we would be there instead of a generic "package prices start at" price, I think we may end up taking it after all, even if only for the convenience of having a portion of our meals pre-paid for, though I do know we pay tips separately.

On one of the other 257 Disney threads someone mentioned using a pea-pod type service to stock up on snacks and bottled water at the hotel. Does anyone remember which store or service they used? Since we won't be renting a car having that option would be really useful, especially with little kids in tow.

A Value room only gets Quick service plan free but you can upgrade to the regular plan, you'd just pay the difference. When I said $700 off, that's the quick service amount that would come off the regular dining plan priced here. Said another way, the regular dining plan quoted above is around $983.57 total and you'd get $700 of it back, paying only the $283.57 difference for the upgrade to the regular plan, if free dining is offered.

If you went with a moderate resort like Port Orleans- you'd get the regular dining plan free so the whole $983.57 would come off of the totals above in my previous email if they offered free dining.

Generally, yes, you can book now and adjust if free dining or another promo is offered as long as the resort isn't sold out. Sometimes some resorts are blocked and then you'd decide if you wanted to switch resorts to take advantage. Typically, Pop and Port Orleans aren't blacked out from the offer, so , yes, it would just be adjusted to the new promo and go down in price. You can switch without penalty up until 60 days before. Generally, resort prices don't rise once posted but they do sell out of resorts and categories.Ticket prices rise every year in June or August so you'd be locked into previous rates if you book before an increase. We should see info about free dining in April or May for the fall.

Also, look into applying for the Disney Visa card- they typically do a $100 or $200 gift card with new activation and ten you also get 6 mths 0% financing. Figure around 10% due at booking.

There are many that deliver. We have never found it to be a good deal- usually a $15-25 service fee on top of sky-high supermarket prices. We pack a carry on suitcase with a box of cereal, oatmeal packets, snacks. If you do the dining plan, you'll find you don't need much. On the dining plan, you get the meals which come with a drink and dessert. We often save the bottled water, juice or milk from the meal and also bring back the dessert (fruit or baked items). Then you get a snack per day per person which usually goes a long way- a large pastry or baked good that a few people can share, a fruit salad, a soup- can almost make a meal out of snacks. You'' also get a refillable mug pp and be able to get soft drinks, coffee, lemonade, iced tea anytime you want on resort. We fill them up in the am before heading to a park and then save the packaged drink that we get with the meal for later.

I think food and wine should still be going on at the beginning of your trip. It is worth hopping to Epcot for that alone, just not during the half marathon time. Your 6 year old may discover s/he loves something and wants to do It over and if we while your younger kids may need to just get away. Our 2 year old was almost 2 the last time we went and she really didn't like the noise of the parades so we spent a lot of time with her in unexpected places. Her cousin thrived on energy. My 5 year old ended up in Hollywood studios 3 times last year and barely wanted to do anything else (star tours) besides the water parks.

We have never stayed at the all star properties but you may find that your kids will really appreciate a nice pool. Something to think about. Also the waterparks are always a hit with my family and it is a separate admission, so it would save a park day. Check our how much it would add to the cost of a ticket to add the option as I think it can be much cheaper.

Slow and boring is what my kids' term, not mine, and kids have a different perception of time than adults do.

Food and Wine expo was the best food I ever had at Disney. Personally I even find the food at the dining restaurants pretty terrible (and very overpriced for what you get). But if you have young kids the experience of being with characters may be important.

As a suggestion from this board we stayed at the Dolphin and Swan. Way cheaper than the Disney resorts. Still got transportation and Magic Hours (but I don't think you get bus from airport). You can walk to Epcot and HS. Not much of characters in hotel but my kids weren't into that (they were 7 and 5).

We brought our own cereal and got milk at hotel store too. I used coffee maker to make water hot for oatmeal. Honestly it made things way faster in morning as it was hard enough to get to park when it opened. I can't imagine trying to do a big breakfast.