Welcome back to Disney 101!! This week we are going to be learning all about Disney Dining and the different ways that you can dine at Disney. Good news is that both Jenn and myself do Disney Dining very differently. Today is just a preview into the dynamics of how our families dine at Disney. Please keep in mind these are two very different perspectives and it is our hope that we can educate you to pick the option that works best for you. So the theme this week is Disney Dining Plan vs. No Disney Dining Plan….you pick.
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First Up….
Kelly~My family is made of up of 5 people 2 adults and 3 children ages 14, 7 and 4. I have stayed at every resort category on property but typically my family opts to stay at a value resort. This is because we often travel with a party of 8 or more and can evenly spread out among 3-4 rooms while keeping with everyone’s budget. When we travel to Disney we ALWAYS do the Disney Dining Plan. We like to look at Disney as an all-inclusive vacation experience and we feel that the only way to do this is to have everything prepaid in advance. In addition, we like to be able to sit down every single night for a relaxing dinner with our family…and I do NOT want to be the one cooking that meal…lol. Another option that is very nice for our family is the fact that we get a snack included on our plan for each person daily. We use our extensive snack list to help us decide the best way to use our snack credit daily. For us the Disney Dining Plan is part of the attraction of visiting Walt Disney World.
Secondly:
Jenn’s family: aka Dis Savvy
Sam and Jenn with 8 year old Katybug and 4 year old Allygator.
When we travel to Disney, we add Sam’s parents to the travel party. We are all members of the Disney Vacation Club. The Club allows us to share points between us so we are able to stay in deluxe level resorts in a two bedroom villa when we visit. Because point values increase dramatically on Friday and Saturday nights, you might find us staying off property, visiting Vero Beach or even taking a cruise to cover those expensive weekend nights.
In terms of dining, we have never used the dining plan. When the dining plan was introduced, it wasn’t available to DVC members. (It is available now). Every now and then we look at the plans but somehow it doesn’t seem to fit for us. My kids are really picky eaters so I think we would be wasting food and money when paying for their plans. We don’t eat at a table service every day, nor do we do quick service every day. In terms of saving money, we do two things: pay with reward points from our Disney VISA card and split meals with Sam’s parents (I stay out of that battle for the bill) LOL!!
I have mastered the ability to look at any menu and mix and match items to make sure everyone gets the foods they will eat. The DVC villas have a full kitchen included. While I don’t spend my vacation cooking, it is convenient to have amenities for quick breakfasts before we hit the parks! For us, the Dining plan isn’t perfect for us so we continue to pay as we go!
So as you can see both Jenn and I approaching Dining at Disney in a very different way. That is the beauty of Disney…there is something for everyone. Stay-tuned this week as we discuss in depth the way each of us dine at Disney. Thursday you will see how Jenn and her family dine and save…while Friday I do the receipt breakdown challenge. Hope you will join us! How do you dine at Disney?
See ya real soon!!
Kelly
