Some people aren’t too shy to announce that one of their favorite parts of vacation is eating out. Those are the people I like to stand beside. And eat out with.
One of the major reasons we decided to go to Disney World last month, was because they were offering the free dining plan when you stayed at one of their resorts. Aside from the fact that free food is nice, it’s just SO convenient to not have to lug around your wallet or keep track of how much you’re spending each day! I highly recommend it!
The first time we went to Disney World, we got the table service dining plan. It was nice and I loved being able to do some of the character meals, but, honestly, I prefer the quick service plan.
When we had the table service plan, I felt like we spent SO much time trying to get to specific reservations on time when we weren’t always close to where we needed to be, waiting for a table once wegot there (apparently a reservation doesn’t always mean that your table is ready), waiting for your meal, etc. It just seemed like every meal turned into a 2 hour affair.
I love the ease of counter service! You never have to worry about reservations -making them ahead of time or keeping track of them while you’re there, you can pick from a ton of options closest to wherever you happen to be once you’re hungry, and the food is still excellent!!
The sandwich above was from the new Be Our Guest restaurant in Magic Kingdom and was so much more than just your typical sandwich at your typical cafeteria-style restaurant. You felt like you were getting a table service meal while the waiters delivered your food straight to your table. We loved it there – food and decor- and would definitely go back again!
Our favorite, though, was Wolfgang Puck Express in Downtown Disney! Seriously, you feel like you’re at a restaurant being served and the food is amazing! We went for breakfast and got an omelet and the breakfast platter and enjoyed every bite. So much so, that we went back for dinner later in the week…
See, not everything with quick service meals is about sandwiches and chicken fingers! My son got he bacon-wrapped meatloaf over garlic mashed potatoes with crispy onion straws. I think he groaned with every bite! They bring the food straight to your table and come back often for drink refills and to check on you. Please don’t think cafeteria meals when you think of the quick service dining plan! Yes, you can absolutely find places that service hamburgers, chicken nuggets and hot dogs. But you know what? You can find sit-down restaurants that serve those same things too!
Here’s another key part of the dining plan… each person on the quick service plan gets 2 meals and 1 snack per day. But PLEASE don’t think that means you still have to shell out money for the 3rd meal of the day!! There is SO much food with each meal, that you can easily share meals and still have plenty! There are 4 of us in my family and we ate 3 meals every single day and never paid for our 3rd meal. I kept track of how many credits we had left, the 4 of us would split 3 meals and sometimes we split 2 meals and it worked out that we ate every single meal without ever going over our credits! In fact, on our last morning, we still had 3 meal credits and 11 snack credits that we were trying to use up! It’s just SO much food!
Example #1: This is one meal! You get the entree, a fountain drink, a bottle drink and a dessert. All of that for just 1 credit! There is no way I need to eat 4 tacos! My husband and I split this and were both full afterwards!
This was 2 meals, but you can’t even see everything that came with the meals. Three of us shared these 2 meals.
Honestly, at nearly every single meal, we exclaimed over how much food there was! For breakfast, we normally just got two meals and used a snack credit for a giant muffin for my daughter’s breakfast. After our one meal at Wolfgang Puck Express, this was our leftovers! So 4 people ate 3 meals and still had this much leftover!
And we’re pretty hearty eaters! Well, my daughter eats like a bird, but the rest of us can put it away!
And because I can’t leave you thinking that I went the whole way to Disney World and didn’t try their cupcakes, I present you with…
Yes, they were delicious and I don’t even like cupcakes very much! ; )
