Have you heard that Walt Disney World offers dining plans? They are a great way to ensure that everyone has fun and has enough to eat without having to worry about how much money you are spending throughout your vacation. Because the dining plans are paid for in advance, you know how much to budget for and, by the time you travel, it's all taken care of. No need to bring money, credit cards, or even use your hotel room card at the park - no new bills waiting for you when you get home from your trip. Now THAT is magical!
• Plan ahead.
This is especially important when it comes to table-service restaurants and character dinings. There is nothing worse than spending your time at Disney World going from restaurant to restaurant, looking for someplace that's available when you're hungry. You or your travel agent can make dining reservations up to 180 days prior to the first day of your stay at Disney.
• Save your desserts.
Quick-Service meals come with desserts like grapes or yogurt for kids and cookies for adults. Often, by the time that you're gone eating your meal, you're full and ready to move on. Don't just throw out that dessert. Take it with you! It will make a perfect pick-me-up snack later in the day while you're waiting on line for a ride or character or waiting for a parade to start. Thinking ahead, you could even bring an insulated bag to the parks with you so those grapes or that yogurt will last absolutely as long as you need them to.
All of the dining plans come with mugs that you can refill at your resort hotel. They're perfect for when your lounging around by the pool and would like a quick drink or on your way back to your room from the parks. But they can provide for even more value if you're going to be eating a meal at your hotel's Quick-Service location. Since your meal allotment already comes with a drink, grab yourself a bottle of juice or milk or something. But wait - Don't drink it! Fill up your mug and drink that with your meal, and you can go ahead and take that bottle of juice to the parks with you.
• Choose wisely.
Almost all of the snacks available at your resort hotel's Quick-Service location can be used as the dessert portion of your meal. So, grab one of the snacks in a bag or container and take that along with you for the day or save it for tomorrow.
• Create your own meal.
Combine the previous two tips to add even more value to your trip. Check out this scenario: A family of 4 heads to their Quick-Service dining location at their hotel, equipped with their refillable mugs, of course. Each family member picks up a bottle of juice that they are going to save for a later time. Each family member also grabs a Mickey shaped Rice Krispie Treat as their dessert. The meals themselves are typically big enough that the family isn't really planning on eating the desserts at the moment. Now that they have a drink and a fairly large Rice Krispie Treat, they realize that they totally have breakfast for the next day at absolutely no cost!
• Take advantage of the free water.
While you can use a snack allotment for a drink in the parks... don't! Not unless it's a super tasty one, anyway. If you are just looking for something to quench your thirst on those really hot days, consider a water fountain. You can find one nearby to wherever you are in Disney World. Looking for something to take with you for when you're thirsty again in just a little bit? Head to the counter at a Quick-Service location and they would be happy to give you some ice. Throw that into your refillable mug from the hotel and use that for your water.
• But wait... there's more!
As long as your heading to a Quick-Service counter, just go ahead and ask them for a cup of water in the first place. Not only will they be happy to fulfill your request, but they already have cups of ice water ready and waiting. No need to stand on a line for this one, just head right up to the counter and politely ask one of the great Cast Members working behind it. Nice, cool, refreshing, available, and free.
• A little goes a long way.
Snacks tend to be pretty big at Disney World. Let's face it - Disney does everything big! So before you go and order a snack for every member of your family, ask the Cast Member to show you the size of the snacks, or at least let you know about how many people each snack can usually serve. The Main Street Ice Cream Parlor, for example, gives 2-scoop ice cream cones as a snack option. The last time that my family was there, we ordered two, 2-scoop cones and asked for extra bowls and spoons. So in the end, two of us had a scoop of ice cream in a cone and two of us had a scoop in a bowl. 4 people, but only 2 snack allotments used.
• When necessary, make a change.
If you're reaching the end of your trip and you're realizing that you have the wrong combination of Snacks, Quick-Service Meals, and Table-Service meals left over, you can always ask to change your meal type so that you are eligible for something that would be more beneficial at the moment. You can't turn a snack into a meal, but you can often turn a Table-Service Meal into a Quick-Service Meal, a Quick-Service Meal into a Snack, or an Adult Meal into a Child Meal.
• Leftovers?
Use meals and snacks left over at the end of your vacation for your trip home. Thinking about that last tip, you can change your meals into snacks and then get a whole bunch of great snacks for the plane or car ride home. You can also get some snacks to save for a few days or even weeks after you get home, as a special surprise reminder of your Disney vacation. Just make sure you pick the right kind of a snack for this - gummies work fine, ice cream not as much.
 |
-----------------------------------------
Mike Cohen is a Disney Travel Agent and owner of Travel With Magic, an Academy Travel affiliate, specializing in Disney Destinations. Discover the magic Mike can work for you by getting in touch at TravelWithMagic.com, by emailing at mike@travelwithmagic.com, or by calling him at (315) 450-2869.
No comments:
Post a Comment