Is it worth to get dining option? WE have 2 adults in our family and 2 toddlers - a 2 yr old and a 4 yr old. We won't have a car so I'm not sure if it's even worth it to get teh dining option.

ALso, where can I get info on dining wwith the Princesses and such?

Thanks.

assuming you mean the dining plan, i can't help you. that's something you'll have to figure out on your own by looking online at current menus and prices, figuring out how much you'll spend, how often you'll dine and figure it out. not having a car is not prohibitive in any way on disney property.

as far as dining with princesses go, your options are somewhat limited:

Princess Storybook at Akershus in Norway in Epcot has princess meals for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. highlights are that if Belle is greeting, she's in her yellow gown (which otherwise you can only find her in at the Toontown Hall of Fame) and it's the only place to see Ariel with legs. Contrary to some belief, Cinderella also makes appearances here. However, none of this is guaranteed as there are more princesses available than there are room for them. Breakfast starts serving at 8:30 am, so it's possible to get into the park before opening time on non-EMH days with an ADR.

Cinderella's Royal Table at MK has princess meals for Breakfast and Lunch. Dinner is much more subdued with only occasional appearances by the Fairy Godmother and Suzy & Perla (who circulate for photos, but don't sign). For all 3 meals, Cinderella is downstairs to greet guests. Breakfast starts serving at 8:05 am, so it's possible to get into the park before opening time on non-EMH days with an ADR. Other ways to get into the park at that time are to dine at Crystal Palace or have an appointment at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, both starting at that same time.

Cinderella also appears at the Happily Ever After dinner at 1900 Pare Fare at the Grand Floridian along with Prince Charming (normally the only way to see him) and the Tremaines.

Is it worth to get dining option? WE have 2 adults in our family and 2 toddlers - a 2 yr old and a 4 yr old. We won't have a car so I'm not sure if it's even worth it to get teh dining option.

ALso, where can I get info on dining wwith the Princesses and such?

Thanks.

The fact that you are depending on Disney transportation should not be a factor as to whether or not you choose the Dining plan, but your dining habits is a big factor. If you want to do a table service meal every day, and will make reservations well ahead, then you may want to do the plan. If you don't want to plan your meals, and, generally just want to do counter service places, then don't bother with the plan. I suggest that you review the menus at www.allearsnet.com, and decide what places appeal to you. You are not required to add the plan to your package when you book it. You can make your reservations, and then decide, based on your actual expected costs, whether it is a good deal for your family, and then add it on. If you do get the plan, do not wait to make your reservation-there is no point in pre-paying for meals without being able to get into the restaurants. Don't even think about doing walk-ups with hungry little ones (as in, it's 5 PM, the kids are ready to eat, lets just walk up to a few sit down restaurants, and see if they can seat us). Note that some places are 2 credits, but most of those restaurants are "too fancy" to take toddlers. The changes to the plan in 2008 reduce the value to some extent, because the plan will no longer include the gratuity, which was a discount to the meals. In any event, make your reservations, as early as 180 days ahead. Many desirable places fill up fast. In fact, in order to get into breakfast or lunch (the princesses do not appear at dinner) at Cinderella Royal Table, you should call at the 180 mark, and be on the phone at 7AM that day. Many people (myself included) start dialing a few minutes before 7 and keep hitting redial to be on the line when they open.

the plan doesn't include appetizers or tips, but the price of the plan has gone down while the cost of dining has gone up, even more so with 'holiday pricing'

You can find a wealth of previous discussion here, just search on "dining plan." Here's one recent thread as an example (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=79432&highlight=dining+plan).

There's also a lot of discussion of princess meals. The two main ones are Cinderella's Royal Table in the MK and the princess character meals at Akershus in the Norway pavilion at Epcot. You can find descriptions and reviews of character dining in our park guide pages as well as this page (http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/find.cgi?product-category=Walt%20Disney%20World%20Resort%20%2F%20Re staurants%20%2F%20Character%20dining) on our User Review section.

as far as dining with princesses go, your options are somewhat limited:

Princess Storybook at Akershus in Norway in Epcot has princess meals for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Thanks for the detailed information. Do you know of any dining opportunities with Sleeping Beauty -- she's my daughter's favorite.

Thanks for the detailed information. Do you know of any dining opportunities with Sleeping Beauty -- she's my daughter's favorite.She sometimes appears at the Akershus princess meal. The characters rotate there though, so you should be prepared that Aurora might not appear.

i wouldn't personally bank any character meal for a particular character. aurora does make daily appearances in france in epcot though. i believe she should also be in the toontown hall of fame.

there's also a relatively expensive experience that features her called 'my perfectly princess tea party' or something to that effect. for one adult and one child it used to be $200 but i think the price went up slightly recently. includes a special edition of a my disney princess doll.

I've used the dining plan once, and don't expect to use it again. I have two major problems with it that may or may not apply to you. First, I tend to enjoy the restaurants that require 2 credits, like the California Grill. So this means that I won't have enough points to cover some meals, meaning I'll have to pay out of pocket for some meals anyway. Also, with all the planning and scheduling stuff that you have to do for a successful Disney vacation, I found that having to keep up with my points and where I ate and did I use all my snack options, etc., was simply more hassle than I wanted to deal with.

I think I probably saved a few bucks with the plan, but not enough to make it worth it to me.