Hi Jean,
Welcome back to the Disney Parks Moms Panel! I am delighted that you brought this
dining plan question to us.
Clearly, you have been doing your dining plan homework! As you have indicated, some meal experiences require two table-service meal entitlements per person ages 3-years old and over on a dining plan. When we have used meal entitlements, we had to use the appropriate number of meal entitlements or, as an alternative, we paid for the entire meal separately. When dining at Cinderella's Royal Table once, for example, I chose to pay for the meal experience rather than using meal entitlements. We were on the
Disney Dining Plan and, given our other planned dining experiences, paying separately for that
signature dining experience was the most practical choice for us to maximize our dining plan entitlements.
In recent years, we have decided to use the
Disney Deluxe Dining Plan so we have more meal entitlements. With this plan, we dine at two signature restaurants using our meal entitlements and we still have enough entitlements for the length of our stay. No matter what, we map out our entitlements so that we use one on the day we arrive, one on the day we leave and the remainder on the days in between.
Jean, as you continue making plans, remember that you can check the number of dining plan entitlements required for a restaurant by going to the restaurant's home page and clicking on the link that says "Some Dining Plans Accepted." A pop-up menu should appear that indicates the plan entitlement requirements.
Magic, memories and Minnie Mouse hugs,
Donyell