Hi Jean,
Thanks for visiting the Disney Parks Moms Panel with your question.
Brochures on all of the
Disney Dining Plans can be downloaded from the website. As Disney Vacation Club Members, we can add three different dining plans to our reservations: the Quick Service Dining Plan, the Dining Plan, and the Deluxe Dining Plan. All three offer one refillable mug per person in your party. The Quick Service Dining Plan offers two quick-service meals and one snack per person per night of your stay. The Dining Plan offers one table-service meal, one quick-service meal, and one snack per person per night of your vacation. The Deluxe Dining Plan offers three meals, either table-service or quick-service, and two snacks per person per night of your vacation.
It sounds like the Deluxe Dining Plan will be too much for your family since you do not want too many table-service meals and snacks. When your vacation is over, you cannot get the money back for any unused meal entitlements, so they are in essence lost. I think it's better to pay for a dining plan that you know you'll use up completely, and then pay for the rest of your meals and snacks out of pocket. As you suggested, having the
Tables in Wonderland card is a great way to help make those additional meals and snacks a little less costly. My family has a Tables in Wonderland card and we find that we eat out enough at Walt Disney World for it to quickly pay for itself by offering a 20% discount on food and beverages at many locations at Walt Disney World.
I hope that this information is helpful for you, Jean. Please do not hesitate to ask if you have any further questions!