Eating on the cheap(er)

Well that's a bummer you can't get Keebler E.L.Fudge cookies. I agree they are the best but I also love the Pecan Sandies.

I highly recommend the Dining plan. My boyfriend and I have done the math, for us its worth it. We really like the plus dining that has 1 quick service, 1 table service and a snack. Often times the table service would come out to be around $150 or so for us and that's around what we spent on the dining plan. We did the deluxe dining once, that was worth the money but a lot of food since you get 3 meals and at ts you get app, entree, dessert and a drink. I made the rookie mistake of making the ts reservations to close together. Plus you get the refillable mug on the plans as well. That saves money as well.

I usually go look at menus and try to tally up what we would order without the dining plan. Even if you take out the dessert at the end of the meal for dinner, it is still close to $40...just for dinner. Not to mention drinks and dessert which is another $10-$15. Then, you also get lunch which is about $12-$20, plus a snack that is from $3-$5. It just makes sense for us! We don't really eat breakfast at home so we would just take our refillable mugs and get coffee in the morning, then toss them in the book bag later in the day.

You can also get FREE water in the park. You just go to a quick service location and ask for iced water. They have to give it to you without charging and you can even ask for a large cup. That will save several $$$ since bottled water is so freakin' expensive.

If I was a picky eater, only drank water, and never had sweets, I would not do the plan. Even though I don't drink soda, I still use my beverage at dinner for coffee or hot tea.

We have always gone with the Deluxe plan , but by day 10 we were rolling around the park, we were so full. This time we went we had no plan at all. Our lunch at Le Cellier was 130.00, Cape May ( all you can eat seafood) was 108.00 with tip , BOG quick service 40 something dollars and is naming just a few. The real stickler for me was the snacks. We use to get 2 free snacks a day , but with plus you get 1 snack a day. This trip we would go to the ice cream cart and the Mickey bars are 3.75. I had to question if I really wanted to have that ice cream bar. Cupcakes were anywhere from 3.50 to 4.50 needless to say I did not do my cupcake crawl this trip. We felt that free Dining plus would be enough for us in the future and would be a great bargain.

The dining plans are a waste of money for me as none of them fit the way I eat. I eat qs & end up spending an average of $35 per day on food which is less than what the qs dining plan costs. Even with the price increases that figure will probably stay the same as I've recently switched to drinking water only with the exception of the occasional glass of soy milk so I wont be buying a drink with my meals but getting ice water for free instead. What I do is load $50 on to a gift card & have one gift card per day & use the gift cards to pay for food. I load $50 just to give myself a bit of a cushion for those days where I seem to spend the entire day starving. That leaves me with $150 give or take at the end of a 10 day trip that I can either put towards another trip or use to buy souvenirs. What I love about using the gift cards is that it gives me all the prepaid convenience & freedom from budgeting as the dining plan but still lets me eat how I want, when I want & where I want. I do bring breakfast with me to eat in the room either a hot pot/electric kettle & instant oatmeal or cold cereal & then buy milk at the resort.

We don't do dining plans anymore. Not worth it based on how we eat.

I find it too limiting as it doesn't cover all menu items. I think in order for dining plan to be worth it, you must eat everything that's included. As soon as you start skipping desserts or paying extra for appetizers or entrees not covered, it's lost it's value.

If they threw in an alcoholic drink or two with the sit down meals or covered appetizers, it might tip the scale for me. But I don't eat dessert nor most snacks so it just doesn't work out in the end. The room discount offers are a better deal for us.

I agree! I don't know if I would go without it! I wouldn't want to eat at QS locations the entire time while there. Plus, some of the QS options are basically junk food. They offer a *few* salads and such, but I couldn't eat that everyday for a week. I enjoy having variety. I love the snacks too! I try to get something fun like mickey bar or popcorn on main street!