Tips for Making the Most out of the Disney Dining Plan

I am often asked questions by family and friends about the Disney Dining Plans. My family has used the Disney Dining Plan (DDP) for a couple of trips. We enjoy it, but have learned several tips and tricks along the way. I thought I would share them with you all as the fun summer vacation season is almost upon us!

Meals: Basics on how they work, and how to make it work for your budget

-          First and foremost gratuities are NOT included except as noted in the dining plan brochure. These generally include In-room dining, pizza delivery, the dinner shows and Cinderella’s Royal Table.  Make sure to budget for the anticipated gratuities. We forgot about this point the first time we used the dining plan in 2012 and did not budget for it. So now that you all know, you don’t have to ask the uncomfortable question to your fabulous server.

-          It sounds silly but make sure to check the listing of participating restaurants, as sometimes restaurants are added or dropped from the list. Use this link, which takes you directly to the Disney Dining Plan page for the most up to date information.

-          Some special menus (like prix fixe) and menu add-ons (like adding on a lobster tail) will not be included in the dining plans. The menu will note an up charge and you will be required to pay that additional fee.

-          Each of the meals includes a non-alcoholic beverage. If you don’t want your drink, order a bottle of water and take it to go!

-          Looking for quick service but want something more “exotic” than the frequently menued chicken fingers and burgers? Several resort food courts – Landscape of Flavors (Art of Animation), Everything Pop (Pop Century), Pepper Market (Coronado Springs), Mara (Animal Kingdom Lodge), Contempo Café (Contemporary Resort) – offer ethnic or more exotic food options.  I LOVE the tie dyed cheesecake at Pop Century and the Beignets at French Quarter. (Desserts – I know, but still – so delicious!)

Snacks: Mickey Ice Cream? Dole Whip? Food & Wine Festival? Oh Boy!

-          Leftover snack credits? Don’t let them go to waste! Disney offers several opportunities for you to spend those unused snack credits to bring some of the Parks home with you. Most of the resort food courts offer “packable food” for any quick service credits that are left over. These meals make for great meals on the go when you have to travel home. I like to think of it as my last little piece of Disney meal magic. Also – did you forget to buy your best friend or sibling a souvenir? Use your unused snack credits to get them a Mickey themed snack like a rice krispy treat or coconut ears.  

-          If you are vacation during either the Epcot Food & Wine Festival or the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, your snack credits can be used for most “tasting portions” offered in the kiosks around the World Showcase. You can get the most bang for your credits doing this. For example, during the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, in previous years the Maine Lobster Roll could be redeemed using a snack credit, saving you $9.75! That is like having a meal but only using a snack credit – SCORE!

Other Tips & Tricks to get the most out of your plan

-          You can use the meal credits whenever you want during your Walt Disney vacation. For example, if you’re on the regular dining plan and you want to eat two table service meals one day and three quick service meals the next day, no problem. Or if you want to use up all of your snack credits in one day, that is okay too.

-          The dining plan includes dessert with both lunch and dinner. Keep in mind this level of heavy eating could make it difficult to walk around the parks. An alternative to heavy desserts like cake, pie and other Disney delicacies is to order fresh fruit instead. Most restaurants and quick service will offer fresh fruit that you can take to go as your dessert. Then you can snack on an apple or banana later in the day when you may get hungry.  Meal and snack all in one! You guys know me and how I love deals.

-          If you are on the regular meal plan, you may want to consider sharing a quick service meal. Last trip Christopher and I split a half chicken dinner at Cosmic Ray’s and it was more than enough food for the two of us. The chicken was generous and it came with a potato and vegetable sides. Other places that offer larger meals are Flame Tree Barbecue in Animal Kingdom (1/2 chicken & ribs combo – for the meat lovers) and Sunshine Seasons at Epcot (Asian combo that allows you to pick two entrees and two sides – oh boy!)

Dining with kids? Here is the scoop to maximize your credits

-          Most quick service locations have a set kids menu and options are pretty limited. A few restaurants do not have a separate kid’s menu, which means they can order any combo or entrée on the menu with a child credit. These include: Casey’s Corner (Magic Kingdom), Catalina Eddies and Toluca Legs Turkey Company (Hollywood Studios), Sommerfest and Yorkshire County Fish Shop (Epcot). BAAAM – getting more for your buck never felt so good!

-          Kids’ selections at some sit-down restaurants can be limited. A couple things to keep in mind:

o   Ask for alternatives. If your kids don’t like anything on the kids menu, ask the server if they can have a child-sized portion of something from the adult menu. Not every time, but often this can be accommodated.

o   Ask to see the chef if your child has allergies or a dietary issue where eating off the regular menu might be tricky. A better option is to contact Disney before your trip to alert them of the dietary issue (407-939-3463). Disney is very good at accommodating these issues.  You may have also heard some buzz about Disney’s special allergy menus. Remember – it never hurts to ask!

o   You may find that buffet locations, where the selection is broader, can accommodate the pickiest of eaters and everyone in your party can be satisfied. And some buffet locations also offer character dining! BONUS. Our favorite? Tusker House in Magic Kingdom. This is one of the few locations guests can meet Daisy Duck!

But I saved the best tip for last…the #1 tip I have for using the Disney Dining Plan is to prepare your dining game plan BEFORE you arrive at Disney. Seriously, if you don’t want to be disappointed at the end of your trip or upset because you did not use all of your credits for dining and snacks, put together a plan ahead of time to make sure you will use all of your credits. To help you with my #1 tip, use the Ellegant Décor Disney Collection Dining Planner. This way, you can get an idea of how many meal and snack credits your family will have and where you can use them prior to your trip. At the end of our first trip using the dining plan, we did not use 2 of our dining credits – doh! We were disappointed in ourselves for wasting the meals and the money! So learn from our mistakes.

And since Disney vacation season is upon us and many of you are day dreaming and planning your next trip, Ellegant Décor is offering 10% off ALL of their Disney Planners (from the VALUE to WALT and the Dining Planner) now through April 30^th! Just use the code “APRILSHOWERS” at checkout! And for a limited time, the WALT planner will include the Dining Planner for FREE. Gosh I LOVE deals.

Now I am hungry thinking about all of the delicious Disney food! Happy Planning!

My Birthday

I had such as fabulous birthday! It is tough getting older and especially this birthday as this is my last birthday in my 20's. Yikes - where did the time go??? Christopher and the boys spoiled me when I woke up and gave me their presents. I received two gorgeous Pandora Disney charms for my bracelet AND a gold Alex & Ani DVC bangle!

Then I met my mom for pizza at Romeo & Juliets. It was so great to see her on my birthday. I do owe it to her for bringing me into this world. Without her - there would be no birthday.

When I got back to my desk at work, I had this plaque and leather notepad on my desk. I had been recognized for contributing to Praxair's safety program!!! I was totally surprised and added to my wonderful day.

Also related to work, that morning I had to move offices! So I got to spend the morning sorting and organizing my new office. Yep - I have TWO windows! I am loving the natural light very much.

Then Christopher spoiled me some more and make reservations for my favorite restaurant - Left Bank. Dinner was absolutely perfect and delicious. Christopher ordered the steak and lobster (and shared both) and I ordered the Pork Tenderloin in the Grand Mariner sauce. My mouth is watering as I am typing this!

We then celebrated with both of my parents on Friday night. We went to Schnitzel's for dinner (also fabulous and highly recommend) and then went back to the house for some homemade dessert.

We then celebrated with the Musialowski's at Chef's for some spaghetti parmesan. And I finished my WHOLE parm that night. No leftovers for the birthday girl. We had a wonderful time laughing and catching up at dinner.

Also one of my best friends, Christine, took me out to lunch this past week too! I am one lucky lady! It is always so much fun catching up with each other. 

Rockin' my new kick ass heels at work today :) Huge thanks to all of my family and friends for wishing me a happy birthday. You all sure know how to make a girl feel special!

Easter Sunday

Christopher and I had a fun Easter Sunday. We continued our tradition of having Easter breakfast at home with the little boys. The pups got a wet breakfast and we had our traditional smoked polish sausage with homemade hash browns. Delicious. 

The Easter bunny also came to our house. He hid Christopher's basket but he left me a scavenger hunt with lots of fun riddles. We must have been good this year ;) After finding our baskets, we went to Easter Sunday mass at St. Mark's and braved the SNOW! Go figure we would have a white Easter and not Christmas!

 We then met the Leutze clan for Easter Brunch at Rizzo's Banchetti's. The food was scrumptious but the company was even better.

We then had dinner with the Musialowski's. Dinner was absolutely fantastic. We had an Easter ham, turkey breast, cheesy potatoes, veggies, dinner rolls, etc. We were so full after both delicious meals. Jonathan was home and my mom and the Kolesnick's joined us this year too. It was an excellent day!

Balsamic Glazed Beef Rolls

Over Easter weekend, Christopher and I hosted some of his cousins for dinner. We were not sure what to serve but wanted to try something different. So we pulled up Pinterest on our tablets and searched for some new recipes. We found this one for Balsamic Glazed Beef Rolls and tried it out. Well not only are they colorful and eye catching, but delicious too. Our guests were pretty impressed with the rolls. We served them with au gratin potatoes and dinner rolls. This recipe worked out well too because I was able to prep and marinate the steaks over night and put them together in the morning. We had a busy day, so I didn't have a lot of prep time right before dinner. All turned out great. Enjoy!

Balsamic Glazed Beef Rolls
Makes 8-10 rolls

2 lb sirloin steak (you can use flank steak or skirt steak too)
Salt & Pepper
3 tbsp Worchestershire Sauce
Any steak seasoning you like (my favorite is Montreal)
1 carrot
1 bell pepper (I used 1/2 of a yellow and red pepper to add some additional color)
1/2 zucchini
6 green onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp italian seasoning
2 tbsp butter
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup beef broth

Start by prepping the steak. Since I used a larger sirloin steak, I cut the steak into longer strips and then pounded the steak to make it flatter. Trim as much of the fat off as you can. Then cut the steak into 3" strips. I managed to get 10 strips. Season the steak pieces on both sides with salt, pepper, steak seasoning and the Worcestershire sauce. Let the steak pieces marinate for at least a couple of hours.

While the steak is marinating, prep the vegetable filing. Slice the carrots, bell pepper and zucchini into matchstick size pieces, a little longer than the width of the steak strips. I hand cut all the veggies, but if you have a mandolin slicer, that would speed up the process. Then slice the green onions in half lengthwise. Peel and crush the 2 cloves of garlic. In a small frying pan, add a touch of olive oil and toss in the smashed garlic. Turn the heat up to high and toss in the carrots, bell pepper and zucchini and stir fry the veggies for about 2-3 minutes. Season them with the italian seasoning and transfer the cooked veggies to a bowl.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a small sauce pan on medium heat. Finely chop the 1 clove of garlic and saute it for a couple of minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and beef stock and stir to mix everything. Allow the sauce to come to a boil and reduce to almost half its volume. You'll notice it starts becoming thicker and should coat the back of a spoon easily. Once it hits this consistency, remove for the heat and transfer the glaze to a bowl.

To assemble the steak rolls, take a strip of he marinated steak and lay it with the short side towards you. Place the veggies and sliced green onion in the middle and roll the beef up over the filing, securing it with a toothpick. Repeat the same with the other rolls.

Heat a large skillet or grill pan (I used a grill pan to get the nice seared grill lines) over medium-high heat. Add a touch of oil swirling to coat the bottom. When hot, add the beef rolls, seam side down, not touching and cook for a couple of minutes each side. Remove from heat and also remove the toothpick. Drizzle the balsamic glaze over the top of each of the rolls and serve warm.

Friday Lenten Meal Idea

Alright so I know that Lent is official over and I am behind on updating my blog, but I thought I would still share a good meal idea for a meat-less Friday lunch/dinner. It is sometimes hard for us to think outside the fish box when it comes to Friday meals during Lent. This past Good Friday, we cooked up some Buffalo "Chicken" zucchini boats and they turned out fantastic!

Buffalo "Chicken" Zucchini Boats
Makes 2 servings (4 "boats)

2 medium zucchini's, halved lengthwise with the middles scooped out
salt & pepper
Olive Oil
Blend of mozzarella & cheddar cheeses (about 1 cup total)
2 Morningstar Buffalo Chik Patties (these are veggie patties sold in the Frozen goods section)
Extra hot sauce of choice, I used Wegman's Buffalo Hot Sauce

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. On a foil lined baking sheet, place the halves of zucchini with the scooped out section facing up. Brush each of the halves with a little bit of olive oil and season with salt & pepper to taste. Bake just the zucchini for about 30 minutes. When the zucchini is almost done, cook the Morningstar patties for about 1 minute. Dice up the patties into bite sized pieces. When the zucchini is finished cooking, sprinkle a little bit of the cheese into the scooped out middle. Then top with the cut up patties, a little more hot sauce (if you choose) and then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Place the stuffed zucchini bake into the oven for about 5-7 more minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Then enjoy! As you can see I almost did not get a picture because we ate these pretty quickly after coming out of the oven. They were delicious. I gather you could do this for "chicken" parm (using any veggie style patty), "taco" boats, etc.

Wyatt's 3rd Birthday

Our little Godson, Wyatt, turned three this April. We were so excited to attend his third birthday party, red themed - his favorite color!

He received lots of fun presents and clothing. His favorite was a Marvel bowling set! He was very excited to try it out and even got a strike within a couple minutes of playing.

Carly and her family put together a lovely spread for us to enjoy of an Easter ham, fruit and potato salads and yummy cupcakes and cookies.

He was pretty pooped when we were leaving, which means it must have been an excited party :) And probably the 30 or so laps he run around the dining room table ;)

Annual Broadway Market Trip

Each Easter season we have a traditional, similar to so many other WNY families, to head to the Broadway Market to get our Easter sausage, flowers and other treats.

We had a nice trip this year and got our smoked polish sausage for Easter morning breakfast. Our favorite stand is Camelia's to get our meats. We must have it at the right time because we had only a short wait to be served!

It is always fun to walk around, people watch and take in all of the delicious smells.