Disney Dining Plan, Annual Passport Food Discounts, or Cook Our Own Food?

If you don't plan on using all the dining plan has to offer, then you might actually be losing money. But you will know what you are eating, and it will make scheduling your trip easier. However, if you forgo the dining plan but still use the amount of money you would have for the dining plan that would about $200 per person for food. Giving you a little bit more flexibility and spontaneity. How much time are you spending in the parks? If you plan on having down time and hanging out in your room, making meals might be nice way for everyone to spend time together without the hustle and bustle of the parks and restaurants. Mouseplanet.com has list of the restaurants and prices, so you can plan out and compare.. However being that you would have to take taxi or bus to gather food, and given my experience with the taxi drivers down there, the best option for your group might be the dinning plan. My husband and I were stranded at a Walgreen's on our vacations.. miles from our hotel. I would suggest looking up the restaurant guide checking prices and comparing buy your food with the passes or dining plan. Good luck and have fun!!!!!

Cooking your own food while on vacation can be a bigger logistical hassle than it's worth, especially you don't have or haven't rented a car. But if that's what you really want to do, you wouldn't need one big enough to transport your entire group, just one for an eligible driver and a helper to go off and do whatever external shopping you need. Much much cheaper than using a taxi and way less time intensive than using buses.

You might find the annual pass worth the expense, if you divide the additional cost over the daily admission charge, and can visit the resort for at least that many days during its validity on some future occasion(s).

Even so, you're on vacation, right? The point is to relax and have fun. I think the 7-day pass with the dining plan might be the way to go, and I've heard a lot of nice things about it. You could still stock the kitchen with coffee, juices, and baked goods for a pre-breakfast, and keep beverages there for the evening.

The First thing you need to do is for a moment assume you are going to do the Dining Plan, with that in mind identify the restaurants you would like to go to and then call Disney Dining and see if they are available for the dates you will be there. If the restaurants you really want to try are not available you would not be maximizing the Dining Plan, and there are plenty of ways to mess up a good thing. I can tell you that I just returned from a trip where 4 of us over 8 days spent $1800 on the Dining Plan, my situation was different because we had free dining so for you assume you will get $50 a day in value out of your meals against the cost of the plan assuming you can maximize the value of where you eat, it really comes down to what you want to spend time doing on your vacation, experiencing different Disney restaurants or cooking your own meals..bottom line if the restaurants you want to try are not available I would not recommend the plan.

You should defiantly use the dining plan. A family of four just usually spends like $ 100 and over for one meal. It is soooo worth it. We stayed at a villa too because we're DVC members and its a waste of money not to. We only did things like toast and late night snacks. You can also print a form and send it to the hotel and the food you choose will be ready when you get there. You can get the same form from the concierge, and they will deliver it to you're room, or you could just go to the store yourself. Most Villa resorts have like mini marts where you can get this food from.

The villas are wonderful, I would love to get a group together and stay there, but you can not beat the dinning plan. The time you will miss in the parks while you shop and cook will be sorely missed. Plus think of all you would have to buy, can you imagine carring that from where the Taxi drops you off to your room.

Syrup and yogurt is a good mix especially if you make your own yogurt. We like smoothies in the summer. I never use a recipe. I just pull out the blender and pour in a cup of yogurt. I start tossing in whatever fruit I have on hand. I sweeten with a little honey and thin it with a little milk if necessary. If you like icy smoothies, freeze some milk in an ice cube tray and drop in a few cubes. I fried chicken with a crushed Ritz cracker coating when I realized I was out of flour. Now I use that coating deliberately on occasion. It's pretty good on breaded pork chops too. After I'd done this a couple of times, I found a recipe in an old cookbook. So, I guess it wasn't all that original. Way back when I was in junior high school, my best friend and I fried up some breaded dill pickle slices and pickled beets. They were pretty terrible as I remember but neither of us would admit it at the time.

buy the disney dining plan, it does save a lot and it's your vacation so enjoy it! Disney food is soooo great, i wouldnt pass up the chance to dine at as many places as possible. Plus going to the store, cooking, cleaning up, sounds like home. Enjoy and treat yourself! You will use a lot of Disney time going to the store and cooking, plus it'll put you back into reality (being at the store) and that's not magical. :)

i would say disney dining plan. when i went a few months ago, it was our first time on the plan, and we really loved it. i never realized how much food you get to eat on it. we didnt even eat most of the food they give you. but then again, if you're staying at a villa with its own kitchen, id say it might be cheaper, yet less fun, to make your own food. it's really for what you're up to. for me personally, i'd say the dining plan because you can go to a lot of fun restaurants. but that's just me