Disney World and the meal plan....

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I throwing this here because I'm not sure were to post it.

I was banded in July. We are planning a Disney vacation in May of 09. Is the meal plan worth the money after being banded? I will be going with my husband and 9 year old daughter. We plan to stay at Disney. We are not renting a car. I dont plan on leaving the World for 6 or 7 days. Also, I'm not sure if I could buy a meal plan for two and nibble off the plates. I was told if three go you have to buy a meal plan for three. (That was from a friend)

Any help would be greatful. Tina

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approved 6/30/08
surgery 7/21/08

Beware..the meal plan is very high priced....we did it once and never again...the hotels have pretty good food ala carte....lots of fresh choices...and fairly reasonable...we are doing a cruise at the same time....wow, l won't be eating tons of food like so many times before...

I've been to Disney World about a million times. The meal plan is not worth it unless you have a family of 12 who like to eat in restaurants for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and you have a lot of money to waste. They make it sound like a great value, but in the end, it's really not. Generally, my family always ate something small for 2 meals and went to a restaurant for the 3rd (usually either lunch or dinner)- it saves money and it's just easier.

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We went to Disney in March of this year and I can tell you now, if you ended up eating inside the park you better be rich. My hubsand and I are going back in October and what I am planning on doing is taking buying a little grocries while we are there and packing a little lunch to take to the parks with us.

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Michele

Banded on: 08/18/08
First Fill on: 09/15/08
Second fill on: 09/25/08
3rd fill on: 10/07/08

That's the best plan. We rented a timeshare last time we were there and we fixed lunches every day and saved a lot of money.

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Hi, we are going to Disney in December and we did get the meal plan. We where there in April 2007 with the regular meal plan and loved it. It includes one sit down meal a day, one quick service (fast food) and one snack (ice cream, pop corn, drink) per person per day.

We did a lot of the character dining, that counts as a sit down, and did save quite a bit of money using the meal plan (we did the math). This year they are charging the same price for the plan but tip for the sit down meal is no longer included. Even with that change it will still save us money.

They also have a deluxe meal plan with 3 sit down meals a day. Crazy expensive, and you spend all day sitting in restaurants. Not to mention being crazy full all day. I went in high school and we had this 3 full meal plan. It was way too much!

I will have my third fill about 3 weeks before we go and I'm not sure how much I will be able to eat. I'm going to try not to worry about it. Lunch and snack we can keep the leftovers, for the character dining (usually buffet) I would have to pay for a meal just to sit with my family anyway, so it's worth it.

Good luck and enjoy your trip!

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H-256/S-238.5/C-231/G-145 5'2"
Finally banded!!
Surgery date July 30!!

I'd pack lunches and snacks and do a restaurant dinner but that is just me. It gives more flexibility this way.

For restaurant dining in general, I always eat off of my husbands plate now. I never get charged extra anywhere because I usually order a small soup or some salad.

What is really funny is that ordering for one still provides leftovers to bring home after two people finish. I used to eat a whole entree myself before and I would eat all of it . . . no wonder I was carrying a few extra pounds, lol.

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just came last week and I nibbled off the kids plate, I had a meal plan at universal for one day, and I really didnt need it. i did gain 8 pounds because I was drinking sweet tea and lemonade. the only diet drinks are soda so take some crystal light packs for yourself

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The meal plan has been well worth it to us, both in money and in convenience. Having one sit down meal, one counter service meal and one snack included pretty much covered the day for us, we kept things like cereal bars in the hotel for the morning and didn't end up buying a third meal. It helped us to plan our budget to have all of that prepaid. For me vacation includes not having to cook or prepare food so the thought of packing lunches there is just too much trouble to me.
Haven't checked it for myself but I've read that they will allow you as a bariatric surgery patient to pay the child's price for your meal plan. Many of the restaurants included on the plan are buffet or served family style, and those that order from a menu will allow you to order a smaller portion as an adult on the child's plan.
To answer one of your questions, they won't allow you to buy fewer meal plans than the number in your party, it's a package deal that includes hotel and food and everybody in the party has to be on the same plan. I recommend intercot.com for any Disney World related questions, their message boards are full of answers.

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Lauralee
I'm Thick and Tired of it!

6-1-08 Highest/7-18-08 Consult/8-12-08 Band Day/Current/Goal
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fill: 6.8cc in 10cc APS band

We are going back in October for the first time since I was banded. We have opted for the dining plan (the regular, not deluxe - I can't imagine eating 3 sit down meals a day, even pre-banding!)

For us, given how we vacation, it is a good deal. We are a family of 4, with two young children, thus we are planning several character meals some of which happen to be buffet/family style. We also are planning a few double credit meals (Hoop-de-doo and Cinderella's Royal Table). For the buffets, I will get the children's price, and we will just pay for those. Those meal credits can be used on the double credit meals for both DH and me. For the other sit down meals, well, I simply want my own meal, and I do NOT want to order off the children's menu! DH will eat an entire meal, so sharing isn't really an option. I'll just have to throw food away.

Same with the counter service meals, I want my own grown-up food options, and DH will eat his whole meal.

We'll be staying in an on-property hotel, so I can't prepare my own meals, nor would I want to - it's vacation! We also aren't willing to give up valuable park time to go back and eat.

We do take cereal, bowls, a pitcher, and powdered milk so that we can do breakfast before heading out in the morning. So one counter service and one sit-down service is perfect for us. We usually end up using most of our snack points in the gift shop for stuff to take home. Any food item up to $4 is a "snack", so you can get nice stuff. Perfect for little gifts for friends & family, stocking stuffers for the kids, etc...

You just have to evaluate your own needs and decide for yourself. For us it is perfect, obviously for others it is a big waste of money.

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Banded 1/29/2008

We just got back on two weeks ago.
Two adults and a 7 year old.
It worked well for us. We did character dining, a few nice restaurants, and the quick service.

We ended up buying more food than the plan called for. Just a bit. The down side, is I wanted to eat everything provided. You get dessert and good portions. When I realized I could carry out my left overs it got better. My daughter sometimes ate the adult meal and I ate the kid meal. Nobody is watching that closely.

I'd buy the meal plan again. It was worth it.

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I am so glad you asked this question. I am not banded yet, but plan to be by the time we go back to Disney next year. We didn't buy the meal plan the last time but I wished we had. I think we will again just giving my son the adult meal and I will eat the child's meal. That sounds like a plan!

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Banded 09/25/08

FYI, I had my travel agent look into Disney's policy on the meal plan.

You cannot get a child's price dining plan that includes 1/2 size portions of adult food, as a kind person pm'ed me that they thought you could. However, they WILL allow you to be removed from the family's dining plan with a doctor's note. (i.e. the rest of your family can have the dining plan, and not you.) HOWEVER, you also won't get park tickets, and will have to purchase them seperately not as part of the plan. (Given my knowledge of ticket prices, I don't think this will cost any more. It's just a minor inconvenience.) This is a great option for those of you who want to share meals.

Don't quote me on this part, but I think he also said you can get a child's dining plan, but you would have to buy children's meals. I completely wasn't interested in that, so I didn't pay attention to the details or pursue the concept.

I opted to stick with the regular dining plan, as was my original plan that I discussed above.

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Banded 1/29/2008

Even if I could get childs plates everywhere without question or a second glance, I wouldn't. Have you noticed what is on most children's menus . . . hot dogs, cheeseburgers, chicken tenders, pizza, mac & cheese, fries, etc. I can eat some of this occassionally, but as a whole it doesn't appeal to me. I never see much for vegetables, if at all.

No wonder some people grow up with a lack of desire for healthy food when all most places offer for kids is junk food. What is up with that???

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They do offer a whopping ONE healthy childs plate- grilled chicken, cold, cubed with cheese cubes and 2 sides- I chose grapes and carrots for my son. Other than that, though, it's all cheeseburgers and chicken fingers. Yuck.

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