So my BiL and SiL are taking their girls (7 & 3) to WDW at the end of November. They know they want to do the Spirit of Aloha show, CRT and possibly Hoop-dee-doo. They also want to do character breakfasts most mornings. I’m thinking that if they want that many table service meals, it may be a good idea for them to take a look at the Deluxe Dining plan. If they do a sit down breakfast and dinner, they could use their snack credits for a bridge between the two instead of having 3 big meals. They are not Pre-Park open kind of people. If I can convince them to do RD, they could have a late seating for breakfast and then knock out their FPPs after the breakfast and before nap time in the hotel. Then, they come back to the park and have a later seating for dinner.
They are looking at the following 1 credit meals:
Akershus (B or L)
O’hana (D)
Sci-Fi Dine-in (D)
Tratoria al Forno (B)
Hollywood & Vine (B)
Chef Mickey’s (B)
Be Our Guest (D)
Tusker House (B)
Garden Grill (D)
Crystal Palace (B)
My question for you is: Are there any of the meals above that you would/could switch for a 2 table service meal and still get a similar “feeling”. Something the girls would like as well as the adults.
You/they need to take a hard look at the expense of DP vs not. Sounds to me like this family would not benefit from DP.
On my family’s last visit, we ate everywhere we wanted (at last one TS per day, including character meals, some really nice/expensive places in Epcot), snacks and ordered whatever we wanted including alcohol. After the trip was over, I added up all our meal expenses (including tips) and compared it to what the DP would have cost us. We saved hundreds by NOT getting the DP! Remember DP does not include tips!
That would be way too much time away from the park attractions especially with littles that age. They are going to want to ride not spend so much time sitting in a restaurant. I agree with @RotR I bet they are better off out of pocket just booking exactly what ADRs they want.
When we went, we did Akershus, Mickey’s Backyard BBQ, CRT, H&V, Tusker House, and BOG. For my daughters, their favorite was the Backyard BBQ. It was more interactive for them and not just eating. They got to get up and dance with the characters, etc. For reference, they are 6.
Thanks all. I’m trying to convince them that they don’t need two dinner shows, plus MVMCP, plus EVERY character dining experience, plus every ride imaginable. They don’t understand that yes, my DH and I did all we wanted last year because 1) we don’t have kids 2) we didn’t take breaks 3) it wasn’t our first (or last) visit. I think they are afraid that they won’t be back for a while and things will change and they won’t get to do something. I’m trying to let them know that the BIG things (like MVMCP and the really popular dinners) will not just disappear in the coming years (hopefully). There are always bigger and better things around the corner and if they try to stuff everything into one visit, they will never want to come back because they suffer from burnout.
We cancelled our last TS meal because we were burnt out, had eaten enough TS meals, and decided to just relax at the resort and grab a QS dinner. One of our fave meals was Beaches and Cream because the meal was simple and there weren’t characters distracting us.
I am going to raise a counter opinion. I don’t know why meals with kids automatically equates to character meals. Yeah we have done character meals with our kids - but they have always been able to sit down and have a meal. We don’t have characters running around our house at home - so out on vacation is no different.
For my family the DP doesn’t make sense - the numbers just don’t work. The ONLY time it worked was when we did do more (but not exclusively) Characters meals as they are crazy expensive. We usually do a sit down each day of any vacation. I might suggest a good compromise between CS and TS is Plaza Restaurant. Good solid quality and good solid service but less overall time “away from the park”
Run the numbers a bit and see what works for you and BTW “FREE DINNING” is not FREE!!!
Of course it doesn’t have to. But if your kids like that kind of thing, it can be wroth it. Of course if they don’t know they’re missing it, it’s like it doesn’t exist.
We loved Tiffins, but I’m not sure it has the quality you are after. Of the two signature dining experiences we had this last time, Tiffins was much more, well, comfortable and pleasing to us.
That’s exactly the types of reviews I’ve heard. This is the same BiL who thought that POFQ had boat transportation to ALL the parks so his opinion isn’t exactly what I would call sound.
