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Mom and Daughter at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort Room
  • On Jan 15, 2010
    Chris from PA Asked Note: This answer was provided prior to the change to planDisney and may still contain references to Disney Parks Moms Panel.

    Experiences, policies, pricing and other offerings are subject to change and may have changed since the date of this answer.

    We will be in Disney in May with our 11yo twin boys. We were last there 5 years ago. 2 questions, is the meal plan worth it?  And is it worth upgrading to a moderate hotel from a value hotel?

    Hi Chris!

    Some families save a great deal on the Disney Dining Plan; others not so much or none at all.  However, you can easily do the math yourself since you know how your family likes to dine and what selections your family members might make in various restaurants around property.  I suggest going to the independent site AllEars.Net.  Their address is www.allears.net.  There you can look at the menus for various Table Service and Quick Service restaurants.  Pick out items for a couple of "example days" and see how much money you would save.

    If you decide to stay on the Disney Dining Plan, be sure to have reservations for your Table Service meals.  Unfortunately I've seen a few guests over the years visit with the Dining Plan, but without any reservations.  In those cases, they did not think they got the best value for their dollars because they couldn't get into the restaurants they wanted to.

    With regards to whether it makes sense to upgrade the hotel room, the answer again is family dependent.  If you are going to be spending very little time in your hotel, because you will be spending all of your time in the theme parks or somewhere else, then I think there's no benefit.  However, if you are going to spend some time in your resort, such as for afternoon breaks or  maybe a day off from the parks, then absolutely!  The pools are very important to my children.  None of the Value resorts have a water slide with their pools; thus upgrading to a Moderate is important for us. 

    For the record, my favorite Value Resort is Pop Century and my favorite Moderate Resort is Port Orleans Riverside.  Port Orleans Riverside has a Table Service restaurant, something you won't find at any of the Value resorts.  There pool is also very nice with a relatively long water slide.

    Have a magical vacation!
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Meet the Panelist: Bernie, Maryland

I am an engineer with NASA with prior Air Force service. My wife and I have two boys, ages 13 and 8. At home, I'm known as the "Disney Guy" and I've enjoyed helping guests plan their Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, and Disneyland vacations. Learn More About Bernie

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