Disney deals on Hotel & Food (military)

[thriftynotcheap]

Hello!! My family and my sister's family (4 adults & 3 kids) are all going to Disney World in May. We are going to be staying for one week. We are lucky enough that my sis & hubby are both military and are going to use the current promotion Disney is having for military ppl. There is so much information out there that I am unsure about which is the best route (for an SD'er of course) in respect to hotel and food. :confused:

Anybody have any opinions???

Would it be better to stay at a disney resort (military gets 40% off of hotel) & get one of the dining plans for food

or...

Get a condo from VRBO or wherever and buy our own groceries and maybe a couple of gift certificates from restaurant.com??

Anyone else done any of this or trying to decide themselves??

[mama2myboys]

I don't believe we can get the Disney dining plan since we aren't paying for the tickets. On their website it says you must buy a package which includes the Magic Your Way pass in order to buy the dining plan. If you find out that I am wrong, will you please send me a message?

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/benefits/disney-dining-plan/

[Killendino]

If you haven't already, you should check out the military only Shades of Green resort at Disney. It has the largest average room size of most (all?) of the Disney resorts. Obviously, as military, you could find the stay very reasonably priced.

[AggieMom]

I am not military, but have a friend who took a Disney trip this summer and said the dining plan was not something she'd do again. In the future she'd pack a cooler and go offsite for lunch meat and snacks and would bring that. The food wasn't worth the hassle.

[Killendino]

I got the the dining plan for free last year (early September - it was hot as hell!). I thought it was terrific, but that could be because it was free. I actually got sick of desserts, I had so many on the plan.

The dining plan is a good deal if it is your intention to eat all/most of your meals at the Disney parks and resorts. If you're going to mix it up and eat off property, I don't think I would buy the plan.

As far as hassle, I'd be curious to know what the hassles were. For us, the plan was hassle-free. Just order, present the card, and eat.

Bear in mind that Table Service meals at Disney can be booked 6 months in advance. It is best to schedule them out, as early as possible as there are plenty of people who schedule out that far. This is essential if you are going during a busy time of year.

I recommend "burning" a Table Service at Wolfgang Puck's Express at Downtown Disney. It was marvelous!