Hello, there! Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel, Jennifer!
I have to start off by saying that
California Grill at
Disney's Contemporary Resort is my husband's all-time favorite restaurant at the Walt Disney World Resort. If you are a sushi fan, the options at California Grill are delicious!
You bring up a great question about how to make the best use of your
Disney Dining Plan. I also have two kids and when my family has the Disney Dining Plan, I want to make sure each and every entitlement is used! As California Grill is considered a Signature Dining experience, you are correct that it requires two "credits." Since the kids' would be ordering from a kids' menu and the entitlements are not equal, you are
not able to combine yours with theirs, but I do have some recommendations that I hope will help!
My family and I have been in the exact same situation where we have needed to use two Table Service entitlements for one meal and to work around this, I like to plan a day before or after where we only use Quick-Service entitlements. Did you know you are able to convert a Table Service entitlement to use for a Quick-Service meal? (
Note: you are not able to do the reverse.) Since your kids won't be joining you at California Grill, this might help in your planning.
Another recommendation that I can offer is to be creative with your snack credits. We often will use snack credits for breakfast items instead of a Quick-Service entitlement which helps in our overall meal planning. Yet another option, if it makes sense for your family, would be to not use your Disney Dining Plan entitlements at California Grill (paying as you would at any other restaurant not at the Walt Disney World Resort) and save up those entitlements to use at another location with your kids.
I hope that however you choose to use your Disney Dining Plan, you have a delectable vacation down to the last bite!
Happy planning,
Lauren