[markarja]

on our next trip, wondering if buying the meal plan is a worthwhile thing and can you buy for a certain number of days or must it be for entire stay?

[Erin]

I personally think it's worth it - but, it honestly depends on you and your family.

Yes, it must be for the entire stay, unless you book back to back reservations seperatly.

How many people in your trip? Is everyone going to the parks everyday? How many days will you be there?

[mickey]

The dining plan is based on the number of nights of your stay. I think it is a great deal, unless you are very frugal at WDW, and normally don't eat in the parks much. For my family, we always do one sit down meal a day, either a character meal or a nice dinner, and for us, we would save a ton of money.

[Andrea]

I actually went to AllEarsNet and did the math for my own personal situation. I factored in things like the fact that we usually split an appetizer and only rarely order a dessert (and split it). I didn't forget drinks, and I also figured in the tip that we wouldn't have to add in under the meal plan. (That extra 20% adds up quickly!) I tried really hard to be honest and realistic, and had to factor in that DH can eat astonishing amounts of food (and doesn't even have the decency to get fat)!

We're planning to be a little frugal but not excessively so. I'm considering 8 table service meals, but not some of the pricier options.

The dining plan turned out to be more expensive for us, but not by all that much, and so it's still a possibility. For a little more money, with the dining plan we could eat really well. My biggest problem would be *not* eating everything in front of me, and getting over all the wasted food.

A huge drawback for me is that the Fantasmic Dinner packages aren't covered under the Plan. That tacks an extra $50 (for H&V) on top of the plan for the 2 of us.

So if you're obsessive like me, go to AllEarsNet, think about where you're likely to eat and what you're likely to order, and start an Excel spreadsheet. Did I mention obsessive?

[BuzzLightyear]

It's very well worth it as longs as you do take advantage of the table service meals every day.

What the plan cost us paid for our "tables" every day, all of our lunches and snacks were a bonus.

[ddoll]

Originally Posted by Andrea

A huge drawback for me is that the Fantasmic Dinner packages aren't covered under the Plan. That tacks an extra $50 (for H&V) on top of the plan for the 2 of us.

Andrea, my understanding is the FDP is being covered by the meal plan. The other restaurants (MM and BD) have had mixed results, but H&V is definitely covered seeing as the price of the meal remains the same with the pkg or without it.

[Andrea]

Originally Posted by ddoll

Andrea, my understanding is the FDP is being covered by the meal plan. The other restaurants (MM and BD) have had mixed results, but H&V is definitely covered seeing as the price of the meal remains the same with the pkg or without it.

Hmmm.... thanks! One more thing to think about....

[BESUNNYSIDEUP]

I also went to Allearsnet and priced out what I thought we could get away with. I didn't price desserts or appetizers or any extras. We ate mostly CS and only 2 TS meals. It ended up only being aprox $40 less. The next day I added the dining plan. Now we will have 5 TS's at really nice places and I don't have to look at the prices - just order what I want. Plus we wouldn't have gotten desserts or appetizers if we were just paying for it. Now I can really look forward to our trips. I already have all my PS scheduled - Ohana, LeCellier, CRT, Sci-Fi and Chef Mickeys.

[kizzmitt]

If you share some meals you can strech the plan and not have leftover food to worry about. Or you can go to a 2 cr rest. for a nicer meal.

[jo-jo]

Two years ago, my husband and I spent 50 a day and ate mostly counter meals. (We charged everything and added up the meals) We had three sit down over the course of 9 days. We are the type of people who get take out maybe once a month and go out to dinner a few times a year. So if I had the choice of spending a bit more than out last trip and got to eat so much better, I'd jump at it. And that's not even thinking "how to get the most for the money" plan. It would just be a real treat to order stuff IF I felt like it. About 20 yrs. ago we had a plan that paid for three sit down meals a day and that was overkill. After three days we didn't want to eat anymore, so I think the dining plan has it right.

[gingles]

We're doing the plan in a few days so I'll let you know how it went. We've never eaten more than two or three table services meals on a trip, so we're really looking forward to trying a bunch of restaurants! We usually get pretty tired of burgers, hot dogs, and chicken sandwiches after a few days, so this is going to be fun. I think my girls are looking forward to two desserts a day!