Taste Test: Is the Disney Dining Plan a 'Must-Have' or a 'Maybe Not'?

In this episode of Going Beyond the Castle, Fred and Lori dive into the world of Disney World dining options. They break down the different dining plans available at the parks, offering an honest comparison of the pros and cons of each. From the Quick Service plan to the Disney Dining Plan, they discuss which plans offer the best value, which are worth the extra cost, and how they fit into a variety of vacation styles and budgets. Whether you're a foodie or just looking to save on meals, this episode will help you decide if the Disney Dining Plan is the right choice for your next Disney adventure.

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Transcript

Lori Talamo (02:36.352)
you

Fred Briley (02:36.354)
What is up and welcome back to another episode of going beyond the castle. I am your host, Fred Briley and with me as always is my fabulous cohost, Lori Talamo. And I am super excited for this week because we are talking my favorite subject in the whole wide world. Food. So, super excited to dig into today's episode as we talk all things food, talk dining, for those of joining us, we appreciate you joining us and, tuning in tonight.

Lori Talamo (02:54.186)
Food.

Fred Briley (03:06.586)
I'm super excited for this episode, especially because for a while now, Lori and I have been going back and forth about, you know, whether it's a must have or must not have. and as we dive through the episode,

Lori Talamo (03:22.11)
Yes.

Fred Briley (03:25.786)
I don't know. I'm intrigued to see to see how this plays out because some opinions have changed recently.

Lori Talamo (03:34.792)
Yeah, I do. go back and forth with a dining plan. I don't know. mean, obviously, if it's free, then yeah, I'm all for it. know, so yeah, so I go back and forth. So it just depends on the trip, I guess, to whether it's worth it or not.

Fred Briley (03:42.33)
Facts.

Fred Briley (03:51.512)
Yeah, which will I think I think we'll cover that a little bit later on. got some points to hit on that. But again, yeah, welcome. Super excited for this episode. We're we're both excited for this episode today. Before we dive in, as always, I think we have a couple of minor announcements specifically for Universal.

Lori Talamo (04:10.612)
Yeah, Universal is always fun to talk about, because, you know, we're mainly Disney focused, but that's because, you know, we have more experience there and we love it. But I do love Universal. And right now they have a special promotion out right now where you buy two days and you can get two days free. So it's two park, two day tickets, and then you get an extra two days, which is great. I think Universal can be done in less days, however.

Having those extra days in kind of gives you a little bit more time where you can sleep in You know take your time and make it through the parks and then of course when you get free free days Then you're not stressed to try to do everything in one day or two days. So Definitely good to take Advantage of those deals when they're out and then also I guess this one's kind of fun for for me You know, especially being from the New Orleans area

Fred Briley (04:52.11)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (05:04.992)
Universal does Mardi Gras pretty big and they just released their Mardi Gras information, their live concerts. Some of these people, I don't really know who they are, but I'm sure a lot of people will get it. Like T-Pain, not sure if know who T-Pain is. Maybe I'm showing my age. OK, so to be fair, a lot of times, Josh will be like, you know who that is. And then they'll tell me a song and I'm like, OK, I don't pay much attention to the names.

Fred Briley (05:23.554)
Really?

Fred Briley (05:32.186)
That's fair.

Lori Talamo (05:34.302)
I do know Kool and the Gang, so that's definitely showing my age. Unless it's a different Kool and the Gang. Anyway, some fun stuff. Scotty McCrary, we always do his little country song because he was from American Idol, but fun stuff. And then they really do. We've talked about this before. Universal, the floats that they have for their Mardi Gras season is really good. And Blaine Kern, who is from the

the New Orleans area is involved a lot in making those floats. I found that out when we were there one year for cheer. So that's kind of neat. So if you want to visit Universal during Mardi Gras, hit us up and Fred and I can help you out with that.

Fred Briley (06:17.242)
Better yet, just come to New Orleans. We'll help you book a trip to NOLA.

Lori Talamo (06:21.076)
Yeah, I don't know.

Lori Talamo (06:26.014)
It's terrible. The only parades that I do for Mardi Gras is the ones that we have to march in for band and cheer.

Fred Briley (06:27.212)
It is.

Fred Briley (06:31.49)
Yeah, we didn't do any parades last year. Like I'm just.

Lori Talamo (06:34.143)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (06:36.474)
What's funny is I'm not a crowd person. I'm not a parking person. I'm not a crowd person, but you'll see me at Disney any day of week. But like, just, don't, it just doesn't look fun. And like even last year, it was our first year living in New Orleans for Mardi Gras and both Rachel and I were off work, but the girls were in school. So we were like, Hey, let's do a date day. Let's go do all this stuff. Whole city shuts down.

Lori Talamo (06:41.322)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (07:03.136)
Correct.

Fred Briley (07:06.798)
did not know that. We even went to a place. Yeah. Where was it? We went up to Lakeside Mall and found out it was closed. And instead of going to the parade that was on the street right by us, we sat at Starbucks.

Lori Talamo (07:09.933)
yeah, cuz of-

Lori Talamo (07:25.748)
Yeah, I'm just the only festivals I like are the festivals at Epcot. Like I'm not a festival person. I mean, I went to parades when I was younger, but even then I really wasn't a huge parade fan. So I don't know. My kids didn't grow up going to parades either because we didn't like it. So we deprived them.

Fred Briley (07:30.916)
Mm-mm.

Fred Briley (07:38.19)
Yeah. Maybe this year. Yeah.

I do want to hit they have they have that one parade that's over here on the West Bank. That's like all kids focus. You know what I'm talking about? Like kids are in it like it's more kid friendly.

Lori Talamo (07:57.097)
I don't know.

Fred Briley (07:57.402)
I might have to look it up. I'll tell you what it is. But there's that that parade I wouldn't mind going to that but all the other nonsense

Lori Talamo (08:04.51)
Yeah, it's too much. Anyway.

Fred Briley (08:06.892)
Anyway, alright, so let's talk dining plans. dining plans, think are fabulous and my background with dining plans.

is when I first went to Disney World in 2018, Rachel planned it all. Like she did everything. Bob and I were just there to be there. And so that was my first experience with, you know, dining plans, which of course it was different back then because it was pre-COVID. But like I'm all for the inclusive feel like of the dining plan.

Lori Talamo (08:32.202)
Mm-hmm.

Fred Briley (08:50.776)
Like just the fact, which I think I've said this before, just the fact that they can bring me my bill and I'm like, I don't need to see that. And then it's just, that's a lot of work through it.

Lori Talamo (08:59.582)
Yeah. Yeah, I do. Yeah, I do get that part of it again. And that's what I'll tell clients to when they ask me, do I think it's worth it? And I'm like, you know, if you want to have everything paid for in advance, that way you could just go there and, know, and you don't have to worry about anything because everything's paid for as far as your food. Absolutely. If you're on a tighter budget or if you have picky eaters that may not

eat as much, then maybe we'll talk about it.

Fred Briley (09:33.06)
think it all comes out like.

Which of course we'll dive into some of this stuff today, but like, it requires planning. Like you can't just be like, it saves money because like it doesn't. Like sometimes, sometimes it does, but sometimes it doesn't. But I think how do we want to start this? Just dive into the two different, the, are the dining plans?

Lori Talamo (09:42.752)
Mm-hmm.

Lori Talamo (10:02.43)
Yeah, because I think it's changed a lot because even in doing research, especially, you you can't use some of the AI stuff because it's going to pull in old information because pre-COVID there were multiple dining plans and now there's two. There's the quick service dining plan and the Disney dining plan.

Fred Briley (10:13.816)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (10:20.494)
Yeah. Or even still.

would even still like the other night like Rachel and I were sitting there talking. Cause we were talking about my upcoming trip with Jamel and I was reading through it. was like,

When we went in September, didn't we get two snacks per person? Rachel was like, yeah. I was like, well, it's now changed. It's now only one snack. mm-hmm. We had a quick serve. Yeah.

Lori Talamo (10:47.06)
Did y'all, y'all had the quick service or the Disney dining? The quick service?

Fred Briley (10:54.436)
So like it's constantly changing. So that's fine. I'm finally feeling better. So it's your turn. You can have it.

Lori Talamo (10:56.416)
It's gonna be my night to cough.

Lori Talamo (11:01.864)
Yeah, mine are just, hopefully it's the weather. Yeah.

Fred Briley (11:05.624)
Yeah, but so, yeah, so you got the two different types of dining plans nowadays, which is the quick service and the Disney dining plan.

Lori Talamo (11:13.514)
Yes, and the Disney dining plan. Yeah, and the difference with those two is the quick service is basically that you get two quick service meals a day. And we'll go into details too later about what the different meals are for folks who are new. But on the quick service dining plan, you get two quick service meals, a snack, and a drink. You get the refillable mug that you can use only at the resort.

And then the Disney dining plan is where you get one table service or a sit down meal, one quick service and a snack with a drink and the refillable mug.

Fred Briley (11:53.806)
which, veering off course for a second, I really think Disney needs to follow universals with the mug, like.

Lori Talamo (12:00.169)
What the mug?

Fred Briley (12:04.452)
So many people are so hesitant to get the refillable mug because it is only for the resorts. But like I'm telling you, if you made it, if you put freestyle machines in the parks, Disney would like bang on those cups.

Lori Talamo (12:19.806)
Yeah, I don't ever get it. I mean, I may get it just as a souvenir type thing, but I don't use it because most of the time we're going in the quick service, like if we're going for breakfast on the way out, or we may come in in the evening, but I don't feel like going to my room to get the mug to come back and fill it. So I barely ever use it for that reason.

Fred Briley (12:39.577)
Right.

Yeah. But now.

Yeah.

Lori Talamo (12:47.614)
Yeah. Go ahead. Sorry.

Fred Briley (12:52.442)
I mean, I think.

They both have their, you know, which I'm going to save my comment for later because I'm going to save. Yeah. I'm going to save my comment for later. Go ahead.

Lori Talamo (13:05.342)
Okay, I was just saying to the snack, I guess it's kind of broad too, because traditionally when you thinking of a snack, you're like a Mickey shaped ice cream, the churros, the Dole whips, those kind of things. But there are some quick service locations that you can use a snack and get like a muffin or a donut, you know, things those kind of things where you can, you know, use a snack as like your breakfast if

Fred Briley (13:27.225)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (13:35.124)
I mean, I'm going to save mine for Mickey ice cream. But yeah, or a Dole Whip, which man, I forgot about that. We didn't I didn't talk about it before. That sangria Dole Whip. I got to put that on my list to get that when we go in February. Like I'm going to Animal Kingdom just so can get that.

Fred Briley (13:38.298)
Don't whip.

Fred Briley (13:46.97)
yeah.

Yeah. But no, I think it's crazy. yeah, of course.

Lori Talamo (13:56.16)
I mean, Animal King isn't my favorite, but.

Fred Briley (13:58.2)
You would go to Animal Kingdom regardless.

Lori Talamo (14:00.754)
Yes, I would go there regardless, but we're very limited on time. but I definitely want to go get that. I don't drink a whole lot, but I do love sangria. So I'm like dying to taste that. think it would be great. But yeah, so the snack can be used for a variety of things. You can go into the Starbucks and get a coffee with the snack. Yeah, there's so many things that you can use the snack for. So that's when we say in a meal versus a snack, that's kind of what the difference in those are.

Fred Briley (14:18.382)
Giant turkey leg. Like there's so much stuff that you can get. Yeah.

Fred Briley (14:30.382)
Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, if you're like me, man, you got to plan those snacks out because they're like there's so many really good snacks all over the parks. Like you really you got to sit down. And what's crazy, too, like it like, you know, I feel like this doesn't help the dining plan. But like a lot of the really good snacks that Disney's come out with recently.

Lori Talamo (14:45.172)
Ow.

Fred Briley (15:00.098)
aren't considered snacks, like worth the snack credit.

Lori Talamo (15:03.38)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that's one of the things too, when you consider and because if you're going to want to get some of those specialty things, then you're still going to be paying. And let's be real, even if you have the dining plan, like you're going to get more snacks than probably one snack a day. mean, you know, you're on vacation. So.

Fred Briley (15:14.777)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (15:21.368)
Yeah.

and like, you can't go off of like, there's a lot of really good articles out there that are like, here's some of the best snacks in each park. But like, you really can't go off of that because I like prime example when Rachel and I went back in September, like we had a lit, we had our list of snacks and so many times we would roll up and find out it wasn't snack credit anymore. And it was like a seven, $8 snack. We're like, no, was good.

Lori Talamo (15:53.108)
Yeah. Yeah, and one of the things too, I guess since we're gonna, we kind of got quick service. I'll save that comment. That once we finish. I know. Yeah.

Fred Briley (16:01.906)
Yeah, see I keep I keep coming up with all these things and I'm like no save it save it No, and then you mentioned like a really good one too like one of the good things about Epcot which again like this just boasts how great the park Epcot is is All of the additional boosts and the festive the seasonal festivals that they have like

Lori Talamo (16:25.119)
Mhm.

Fred Briley (16:27.596)
All the the many country booths that they pop up like a lot of that stuff is worth a snack is a snack credit. So You get a lot more options when those in those smaller booths

Lori Talamo (16:31.018)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (16:39.412)
Yeah, I mean, I thought no hate on Epcot, because of course, some of my favorite rides are there, Guardians. But actually, I'm considering that Friday that we arrive for Liv's cheer trip, maybe just going and hanging out, because I've never done a festival of the arts. like, yeah, so I'm like, you know, it'd be something new to experience and go and I'll get lots of good social media pictures because all of the snacks are, you know, are

Fred Briley (16:45.786)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (17:06.56)
fabulous.

Lori Talamo (17:09.074)
artsy. I think so I mean, we might get a park offer. It's almost a maybe go hang out and have cotton and go over see phantasmag. But but anyway, yeah. So quick service meals, like we say, you get two quick service meals a day, and one snack. And this one's, this one's good for those who don't want to do a lot of planning, like, because you know, for table service meals, you know, you have to schedule in advance, you book your reservations.

Fred Briley (17:16.31)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (17:38.144)
Some people don't like being tied down to a schedule, you know, like that. So the quick service meal plan is good for those who just want to eat when they feel like eating.

Fred Briley (17:41.21)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (17:47.778)
And also those who don't eat a lot because a lot of your table service like they just, there's so much food and like, you know, I keep going back to us, but it's a prime example. Like we had the quick service plan because like, it's just, there's so much food for four people. Like all four of us can't eat all that food. So like we definitely did some diet, lot of table service dining.

Lori Talamo (17:54.24)
So much. Yeah.

Lori Talamo (18:10.645)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (18:17.178)
But just the quick service is much smaller portions, much more manageable, especially if you're not a big eater, if you have kids who don't eat a lot.

Lori Talamo (18:26.89)
Yeah, and then even sometimes like the, cause I know a lot of times when we go, and I'll do it sometimes just to share with Olivia, cause it's not going to be a big meal, but like the chicken strips, you know, like the chicken and fries, like two people can eat on that. So, or if there's things that you want to get, you can even get each, a quick service meal and then kind of share them. Cause those, you know, are fairly, if you have a picky eater or one who doesn't eat a lot. But it's, you know, just being able to, and then with the

mobile ordering now, it's very convenient because you don't have to always go stand in line. Like, you know, you feel like you're getting hungry. Like, you know what, let me throw more order in the mobile app and get it ready and then just go and pick it up. And then you sit down and eat.

Fred Briley (19:08.538)
I never stand in line to order quick service again. every time like we'd be, we went back to the resort a lot of times for staying at Pop Century to either eat at everything pop or going over to art animation to eat there for lunch. And like as soon as we hopped on transportation back to the resort, I'd order our lunch, show up, hey, it's ready, go pick it up. We'd go back to the room and eat our lunch.

Lori Talamo (19:13.022)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (19:37.796)
QuickService saves so much to our mobile ordering saves so much time with that QuickService.

Lori Talamo (19:41.226)
Mobile order, yeah.

It definitely does. You know, and it's good because you can, you if you want, like you said, take a break and order your food and go back to the resort and eat it or eat, you eat at the, you know, you could sit down in the cafe and eat it. It's good. You know, you could take it on the go and go back to your room, have a little lunch and take a nap. You know, it's just the mobile ordering is definitely a lifesaver. It's, you know, it's fast, it's flexible.

Fred Briley (19:55.16)
eat on a trash can.

Fred Briley (20:01.273)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (20:12.83)
It's perfect for those who don't want to have to plan.

Fred Briley (20:15.256)
Yeah, like I've got, I've got a family going in March.

Fred Briley (20:22.392)
And they went, I just did their dining this past week, but they only wanted one dining reservation, chef Mickey's, because they were like, my kid has to have dinner with Mickey. I was like, okay, cool. Cool. but I was like, you guys don't want like any other dining reservations. Like they're doing three days in parks. And they were like, no, like we really don't even want this one because we don't want to be tied down to a time. They're like, but.

Lori Talamo (20:48.595)
schedule. Yeah.

Fred Briley (20:51.64)
He wants to eat with Mickey so he will do a dining reservation. So everything else they're just winging it, which I mean, quick service is great for that.

Lori Talamo (21:00.724)
Yeah, one of the downsides is too though, it's good to try to eat on off times. Because of course, if you're going at a prime lunch time, then you may have a little bit longer wait. Yeah, things are packed. and what happened to counter quick service meals, I mean, you really could get up a little if you're not a road jobber. If you want to get up a little bit later and have like a breakfast, early lunch.

Fred Briley (21:10.985)
it's packed. Yeah.

Lori Talamo (21:28.288)
and then have a dinner later on and then use the snack. It's perfect for that. yeah, try to go, definitely don't go between I would say like 11 or 11.30 and one-ish maybe is probably like a busy time. But if you can hit it at an off time, then maybe not have as long as wait.

Fred Briley (21:31.503)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (21:43.096)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (21:48.302)
I will say too like Not I haven't really experienced a bad food at Disney And I know there's some people out there that are like Disney foods awful and I'm like, okay, But I will say you're not getting like I think it depends on where you go but a lot of the quick services are fast food style food like you're getting

a lot more mass produced items in a quicker time. So the food is not as great as a table service restaurant would be. But it's still good food. I don't think I've ever been disappointed in a quick service restaurant that I've eaten at.

Lori Talamo (22:25.973)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (22:32.244)
Right, yeah, and man, I wish I could think of all of the names, there's so many. I was trying to pull up a list, but there's no way we could even talk about them. And we've talked about it before too, how people are like, the food at Disney's terrible. And I'm like, man, you can get really good food. You just have to know where to go. And of course, there's gonna be some that you're like, okay, that's like park food. But that's literally what it is. So it's gonna be that way.

Fred Briley (22:39.076)
now.

Fred Briley (22:49.455)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (22:57.966)
Yeah, you have to set some expectations.

Lori Talamo (23:02.25)
Some expectations, like you're not going to get a five-star hamburger at a quick service. Although, which I know we have this, you know, is one of the things too. I like the hamburger at Cosmic Race. yeah, I'm like, maybe my expectations are low or maybe my standards are low. I don't know. But like when we go there, I'm like, I want to go get a burger at Cosmic Race. It's like a battle between Cosmic Race and then going on the other side to where Columbia Harbor House is.

Fred Briley (23:06.318)
No, no.

Fred Briley (23:14.656)
don't even get me started on cosmic rays.

Fred Briley (23:30.223)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (23:32.122)
or where are we going to go? But yeah, you definitely can get some really good quick service. And then like Animal Kingdom has, you know, like the flame tree. Wait, flame tree is quick service, right? Yes, flame tree, there's the Tully Canteen, you know, there's there's different ones. Hollywood Studios has like Backlot Express. That's really good. The commissary. Yeah. So there's definitely good quick service. You just have to.

Fred Briley (23:44.792)
Yeah, flame trees quick.

Fred Briley (23:55.13)
monastery is good.

Lori Talamo (24:01.172)
Like I said, not go in with expectation that you're getting a sit down meal and pick the right things, I guess, off the menu.

Fred Briley (24:05.358)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (24:09.838)
Yeah, absolutely.

Fred Briley (24:14.81)
We hit that named off a lot of popular Disney Springs has a lot of quick service restaurants too that are really good. They have a lot more cable service, but they do have a lot of good quick service restaurants that qualify for the meal.

Lori Talamo (24:17.877)
Yeah, we're-

Lori Talamo (24:23.188)
Yes, because...

Lori Talamo (24:30.27)
Yeah, probably my favorite quick service of all is at Disney Springs and it's Polite Pig.

Fred Briley (24:36.484)
Yes, I love the polite pig. It's a must do every time that we go.

Lori Talamo (24:41.908)
Yeah, us too. You do. That one, it is a lie.

Fred Briley (24:42.414)
You just get so much food even for a quick service like.

And it's, it is solid barbecue, like love. And what's crazy is like you mentioned, you mentioned like choosing the right time. Like I have seen that line wrap out the building and around the escalators. It gets back.

Lori Talamo (25:01.184)
Oh yeah, polite pig gets packed. When we first started going, I think the first couple of times, we ate at Blaze Pizza. And I was like, oh, that was my go-to. Which it's good, I mean, it's not like amazing pizza, but it's pretty good, it's a decent pizza. And I think I've mentioned before how Josh is kind of a pizza snob, so we don't eat it a lot, and he was okay with it. But then when we ate polite pig, we're like, no, now we have to switch. That's our favorite.

Fred Briley (25:10.222)
Mm-hmm.

Fred Briley (25:24.985)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (25:33.466)
I feel like we hit all the.

the key point. Yeah.

Lori Talamo (25:39.04)
The main point, yeah. Yeah, so you wanna tell us what your favorite quick service places are? I know.

Fred Briley (25:43.386)
See there's so many ties like I'm just alright, so Disney Springs light pick every time the barbecues fabulous the atmosphere is great, and you just get so much food for it Just you get so much bang for your buck there

If we hadn't gone to Columbia Harbor House this past trip, Cosmic Grace would have topped it for Magic Kingdom. I'm going to have to say now that I've experienced Columbia Harbor House that that's my top quick service. I've already got a plan. That's where we're going for lunch on our trip in May. The lobster roll.

Lori Talamo (26:29.984)
What do you get?

Yeah, us too.

Fred Briley (26:35.322)
Fabulous and what's what's ironic which it's not ironic. I thought I was allergic to shellfish for so long So that was actually my first time having lobster never had lobster before it's really good

Lori Talamo (26:50.453)
wow.

Fred Briley (26:57.302)
Animal Kingdom, flame tree barbecue. Really like flame tree barbecue. The barbecue mac and cheese is what I get every time. Really good.

Lori Talamo (27:08.426)
Mmm, sounds good.

Fred Briley (27:14.592)
Epcot is La Cantina St. Angel. I used to yeah, I used to love the Mexico Pavilion St. Angel and then they changed their menu and I just haven't been a big fan of the table service. But like Cantina St. Angel has never disappointed me. Love their tacos, especially their taco platter that comes with the three or four different types of tacos.

Lori Talamo (27:19.338)
Mm-hmm. Tacos.

Fred Briley (27:44.366)
Really good.

Lori Talamo (27:45.855)
Yum.

Fred Briley (27:49.444)
Hollywood Studios.

Fred Briley (27:53.81)
Don't really have a favorite at Hollywood Studios. I think if I had to pick I Would pick Woody's lunchbox. They do a really good job. That's a relatively newer one Yeah Yeah, I'm gonna go with Woody's lunchbox Plus it's kind of back there in Toy Story, which is super super cool. You get a really good vibe off that All right your turn

Lori Talamo (27:56.894)
Yeah, me either.

Lori Talamo (28:03.934)
Yeah, yeah, the loaded tots are really good.

Lori Talamo (28:14.696)
Mm-hmm. Neat.

Lori Talamo (28:20.18)
Yep. So I think I probably talked about most of mine. Play Pig for sure is on the top and Cosmic Race burger, Columbia Harbor house, which so we went during food and wine one year and at Epcot in the American Pavilion, they had a, they have a stand and I don't know if they do it every year, but they had lobster rolls at the American, like the little booth.

Fred Briley (28:46.81)
Hmm.

Lori Talamo (28:48.542)
Now, granted, it was probably a few inches long. you know, so it's like you almost got two bites of it, but it was so good. Like the lobster was warm and the bun was toasted. It was so good. So we kind of got hooked on that one. So we go to Columbia Harbor House, which that one's cold. So it's not the same, but it's still really good. But if we could get that, the one at Epcot, we'll do that first.

Fred Briley (28:55.897)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (29:10.798)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (29:16.788)
I think same thing at Hollywood Studios, we usually end up at Backlot Express and just get a burger. We don't really eat at, I mean at Hollywood Studios a lot. We usually leave. What was it? Animal Kingdom. Most of the time at Animal Kingdom, we're gonna do Yak and Yeti. If we don't, which I feel like every time we go now, we eat there, so we don't really eat lunch. We go to the Yak and Yeti walk up. Even though they don't have the same thing, they actually have a really good burger.

Fred Briley (29:22.083)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Fred Briley (29:27.0)
Yeah, we do too.

Fred Briley (29:43.034)
Yeah.

Hmm.

Lori Talamo (29:46.592)
at the walk up at Yakin Yeti. And then at Epcot, usually eat, um, via Napoli. So we don't eat a lot of quick service there either. But we'll grab something very rarely where we'll go in the Land's Pavilion and eat in there. We haven't eaten at the new, actually we might have a couple of summers ago, ate in the, um, now can't even think of what it's called, the new little area.

Fred Briley (29:58.126)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (30:15.924)
But yeah, most of the time we're just gonna get sit down restaurants there. So we'll see.

Fred Briley (30:20.288)
Paris has a really good quick service one too now that think of it their pastry shop, whatever it's called That's really good. We like to go back there and get lunch sometimes

Lori Talamo (30:28.34)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (30:33.342)
Yeah, definitely, definitely good. I'm glad I ate right before. I mean, I literally got home from the competition and hurried to eat and came in here because if not, I wouldn't be able to talk about food tonight.

Fred Briley (30:41.647)
Bye.

I'm going to go eat after this podcast.

Lori Talamo (30:46.892)
gosh, yeah, I'm gonna go to bed. And I haven't had to Tula Canteen, I don't know why, we never tried that one, but I know that one's really popular.

Fred Briley (30:50.874)
Okay.

in.

Fred Briley (30:58.712)
I may try it.

Lori Talamo (31:00.394)
Yeah, me too, one day. That's one of the things that we do is like, every time I'm like, okay, I'm gonna try new things, but then I have so many of my favorites that I just keep, I keep going back and so I know I'm missing out on some other good stuff.

Fred Briley (31:09.742)
that you just stick with.

Lori Talamo (31:18.752)
So.

Fred Briley (31:19.798)
All right, table service.

Lori Talamo (31:22.208)
table service.

Fred Briley (31:23.638)
or also known as the Disney dining plan.

Lori Talamo (31:26.656)
The Disney dining plan. Yeah, it's kind of the name I'm like, no, because of course everybody thinks Disney dining plan as like, is it just in general. So with it being the name of one of the actual plans can be a little confusing. But with the Disney dining plan, you get one table service, which is a sit down that you have to make reservations for one counter service quick service meal, and then your snack.

Fred Briley (31:29.892)
I don't like the name.

Fred Briley (31:35.106)
Not downing,

Lori Talamo (31:53.792)
This one is good for folks who definitely want to do a lot more planning, want to have the sit down meals, like your character meals, some of the more fine dining reservations, those things. But it does take planning because you have to make reservations for those. So this is something that, yes, 60 days out and especially if you're looking for one that's very popular, like you have to be on.

Fred Briley (32:11.098)
60 days out.

Lori Talamo (32:21.616)
right when the window opens or you risk not getting it.

Fred Briley (32:23.15)
Yeah, I think I got on a couple of weeks ago to get center rose royal table. And even at the 60 day mark, it was almost like there was no availability like.

Lori Talamo (32:35.934)
Yeah, and I don't know how you feel, since that one is prepay, that one stresses me out when I'm doing it for clients so bad because I'm like, because I usually tell them, you know, what time, what is your ideal time, but give me a window. And then if it's not in the window, because I'm like, gosh, I don't want them to not get it, but then I got it, they have to pay for it. So you just, it's like a gamble. It's a gamble. So.

Fred Briley (32:40.782)
Yeah, right?

Fred Briley (32:50.478)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (32:54.148)
Like, yeah.

Fred Briley (33:01.026)
I mean, I get why people gotta be advanced for it, but it's just, it's crazy.

Lori Talamo (33:05.598)
Yeah.

Yeah, so this one takes a little more thought. It's not something that you can just, you know, on the whim. Now, in saying that, there are, and I'll tell clients that too, if there's a reservation that you want and you don't get it, keep trying, even try the day of. Or sometimes on little trips like this coming week, you know, when we go for Liv's cheer trip, probably not going to make reservations, especially since we don't really know when we'll be where.

Fred Briley (33:23.234)
Mm hmm. Yeah.

Lori Talamo (33:36.222)
you can still look on the app that day and there's always plenty of things open. So you can, you don't necessarily have to, but you do for ones like Cinderella's Table or things that you definitely want to get. You know, so you have to plan those out. But it's definitely, you're to get, you know, higher quality food if you pick the right places. Unique experiences, just different, you know.

Fred Briley (33:39.706)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (33:48.068)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (33:58.478)
Yeah, absolutely. You're going to get some. Yeah. That's what I'm going say. Some of the experiences that you get with the table service, like be our guest. Like it used to be one of my before it went to a two credit meal, used to be my top place to go just cause I loved the vibe that be our guest had. Like there's some really cool experiences out there.

Lori Talamo (34:23.69)
Yeah, and now that you said that, we probably should have talked a little bit about how it works. when you, whichever plan that you get, so in order to get, like you can't just buy tickets to Disney and stay offsite. So you have to stay on site at a resort to get the dining plan. And then your credits are loaded on, so you get, each person gets that amount of credits per night in the resort. So if you have two people in, you get, you know,

two table service a night per person, per room. Each person gets their own. There are some reservations, like the table service reservations that are two credits. So when booking dining, you have to kind of keep that in mind. Because say you have a five night stay, then you get five table service credits. But if one of your reservations takes two, then one night you're going to be out. So you either can use two quick service meals that day or you'll have to pay. Because you don't have to use them

Fred Briley (34:57.177)
Yes.

Lori Talamo (35:22.538)
per night, you can use them for the entire stay.

Fred Briley (35:26.04)
Which the good news is there's not a lot of table service restaurants that are two credits. Yeah. There's only a handful total across, you know, the four parts that are not a one credit dining.

Lori Talamo (35:30.432)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (35:42.81)
but yeah, like we used to stack our, our desserts, our snacks. And then on our last day, just roll up to Starbucks at Disney Springs, buy all of their pastries and hit the road. Yep.

Lori Talamo (35:56.084)
hit the road. We did and now and I'm pretty sure you can't do this anymore. It used to be. Yes, like if you had so when we went on our first very first trip, we were there we had seven or I think I think we actually stayed for eight nights. And this was when the kids were six and nine. So we had and we had free dining back then. And so we had the morning we were leaving same thing we had all of these quick service because we didn't eat all of our quick service meals.

Fred Briley (36:00.452)
I know where you're going with this and I don't know.

Fred Briley (36:16.281)
Mm-hmm.

Lori Talamo (36:24.5)
and then they let you change it into snacks. And so we just went into the quick service restaurant and loaded up on muffins and things for the ride home. But now you can't do that anymore. No. So, you know, definitely even if it's, if you have it, use it. And I don't know.

Fred Briley (36:27.246)
Mm-hmm.

Fred Briley (36:33.944)
Yeah, you can't convert credits anymore.

Fred Briley (36:45.806)
Yeah. Like, and that's like, that's the thing. Like, you know, I'm in a lot of Facebook groups and I see all the time, which it's great. Like, don't get me wrong. Like, Hey, we're leaving today and we have like four quick service meals. Who wants it? And I'm like,

Lori Talamo (37:04.009)
Yes.

Fred Briley (37:06.382)
Like one, thank you for kind of giving away free stuff. but two, like you got it, like you've got to stay on it. Like when we went for two weeks, like every other day or so, like I was checking and being like, all right, this is what we have left. This is what we're planning to do. we need to add something or else we're not gonna like, we're going to have extra. So you really got to stay on top of it and make sure. And it's different like for snacks.

Lori Talamo (37:14.708)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (37:32.89)
But especially if you're a quick service, you're a table service, you really want to make sure you use those credits.

Lori Talamo (37:38.43)
Right. then two, it, you know, break it, you can break it out since you get to a day or essentially one, but if share meals, like get a breakfast and a lunch and that way you use in your credits and then, you know, like go get a, what's it called? The bounty breakfast or whatever way it's all, you know, you get the five Mickey waffles and bacon, you know, and split it and then use the other persons for lunch and split lunch. That way you're getting, you know,

Fred Briley (37:57.29)
Mm, yeah.

Lori Talamo (38:05.684)
meals for all day. So there's ways to use it and not waste it. But that's where I struggle with, you know, is it worth it or not?

Fred Briley (38:16.196)
Yeah, which we haven't really.

Lori Talamo (38:20.308)
We haven't given our secrets away. think we have, I think I put a section in there somewhere. Maybe. Where to come out? Who was Jane? Who was Nate?

Fred Briley (38:22.159)
No.

Fred Briley (38:28.154)
Lori Talamo (38:39.156)
Yeah, we rolling through it tonight.

Fred Briley (38:40.312)
Yeah, we are. good thing is, like when it comes to Disney dining, it's pretty simple, pretty straightforward. Like the only thing you've got to figure out, like is where you're eating. Like. The rest of it's just kind of like the rest of it's just kind of easy.

Lori Talamo (38:57.962)
Yeah, and it's, I don't know, because you used to be able to make dining 180 days. But now, I know sometimes it's like, it's 60 days, but I'm like, man, if I made, knowing myself, if I made reservations 180 days out, and then I have all of that time to think about it, I'm gonna drive myself crazy. I'm gonna change my plans, or I'm gonna doubt what I did, because I do that now, even with the 60 days or whatever.

Fred Briley (39:02.552)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (39:26.718)
I love planning other people's trips, my own trip, I drive myself nuts. Because I question everything that I do.

Fred Briley (39:32.644)
Well, I mean, it was crazy, like back in the day before, you know, before COVID hit when it was 180 day dining, 60 day fast passes. like it was crazy cause 180 days out, would make this dining. And then, you know, at 60 days, you've got to like, during that time, you've got to try your best to plan your fast passes around your dining. Because like, if you're dining at.

Lori Talamo (39:56.03)
around it,

Fred Briley (40:03.386)
If you're dining in the America pavilion at Epcot and you're trying to get a fast pass for Soren. And the only time is that those line up perfectly. Like it just, it was even more stressful because you had to try to figure out like, we want to do the fast pass. It's going to be by when we're eating. And it's just, it was chaos back in the day.

Lori Talamo (40:22.408)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (40:25.684)
Yeah, lots of planning.

Fred Briley (40:31.096)
Yeah, I love. I love table service at Disney. I do. There's so many. And like. You know, we only covered, you know, kind of going back and forth teeter in between the two. We only covered Disney Springs and the four parks, but there's 25 something other resorts that are on Disney property that each have their own quick service and table service. So like.

Lori Talamo (40:36.426)
Me too.

Lori Talamo (40:54.101)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (40:59.52)
Mm-hmm.

Fred Briley (41:00.89)
there's hundreds of options to choose from. Because I mean, like I said, after our September trip, I will have resort days. Not on our May trip, because I'm trying to power through it as much as I came with Jamel. But the next time we go as a family, there will be resort days. Because one, it's just so much fun to go visit the other resorts.

and have a chill day and then two just to get to experience some of the other food options that the resorts have like the pizza from Boardwalk absolutely fabulous never even been to Boardwalk before we just popped in to eat lunch and then we left so there's so many dining options that are available at Disney like it's just it's just it's a lot

Lori Talamo (41:48.776)
Yeah, I'm definitely, especially with this trip, because I'm not going to be able to do parks every day. Just depending on, you know, when Olivia cheers, I'm hoping that we can maybe do a little bit of a resort hop in just to go. Well, we're staying at Saratoga Springs, so that one's new for us. But, you know, definitely want to try to spend some time to go, you know, check out some of the other resorts, check in on a dime. And for the life of me, I cannot remember the name, but Coronado Springs has really good.

Fred Briley (42:06.168)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (42:12.302)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (42:18.57)
food options there. We've stayed there, I've stayed there a few times and their food options are good. Both the quick service and the

Fred Briley (42:19.47)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (42:33.226)
Table service.

It's gonna drive me nuts. I'm gonna pull up the name.

Fred Briley (42:37.562)
Google on it now.

Lori Talamo (42:44.927)
Let's see dining

Lori Talamo (42:52.48)
Three Burgess. And also Rick's Sports Bar is good too.

Fred Briley (42:53.685)
yeah

Lori Talamo (43:00.949)
So, yeah.

Fred Briley (43:03.418)
Okay, so I feel like we covered a lot of table service and dining plan Favorite I was gonna let you go first this time favorite table service

Lori Talamo (43:10.74)
Yeah. You want to give? go ahead.

Okay, I think anybody who has listened to any of our shows or has listened to me talk about Disney probably knows my favorites. And it's funny because I just listened to the Disney Crushes episode when I was at the gym this week and they talked about five things that would, I think it was like five things that would make someone mad, something like that. And Tony Ann talked about my favorite, how she said that, know, her saying she didn't like it, which is homecoming.

Fred Briley (43:23.609)
Yes.

Fred Briley (43:45.946)
Mmm.

Lori Talamo (43:48.344)
And that is like, and that's what I told Josh. I'm like, I didn't make reservations for homecoming and it's killing me. We'll probably end up at homecoming at some point, especially because we're staying right there at Saratoga Springs. But man, those church lady deviled eggs and those thigh high chicken biscuits are so good. And they have really good drinks. And again, I don't drink that often, but when I go there, I definitely have a drink.

Fred Briley (44:07.395)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (44:13.984)
So that's my favorite outside, that's at Disney Springs. And then of course, Yak and Yeti, we eat there every single time. And Vianapoli, over in Epcot. I don't have a favorite in Magic Kingdom or in Hollywood Studios.

Fred Briley (44:22.746)
Mm-hmm.

Fred Briley (44:30.125)
Interesting.

Lori Talamo (44:32.094)
Yeah, I don't know, I'm just, I'm not really a fan. Now, I do want to try Skipper Canteen. I've heard that one's really good. So do want to try that one. Because I have a feeling that that would probably be one that we like. But we just haven't tried it yet.

Fred Briley (44:39.64)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (44:48.985)
Yeah.

There's.

Lori Talamo (44:52.19)
And I haven't really done any quick, I mean, table service at resorts either.

Fred Briley (44:58.234)
There's so many good options.

Lori Talamo (45:00.416)
know. I do have one for California Grill, although I may end up canceling it. I'm not sure. Just depends on what we if we go to a park that day. What's that?

Fred Briley (45:05.978)
I've heard great things about California Grill.

I was just saying, I've heard great things about California Grill.

Lori Talamo (45:14.547)
Yeah.

But I don't know, we'll see.

Fred Briley (45:17.786)
Okay, Springs

Fred Briley (45:28.798)
I love the vibe, love the food, every time we've gone there. It's a really great, really great experience. Magic Kingdom, Liberty Tree Tavern, every time. Big fan of the family style, big fan of the food, big fan of the dessert. All you can eat dessert.

Fred Briley (45:56.25)
Hollywood Studios is always a...

Lori Talamo (45:59.37)
Don't say it.

Lori Talamo (46:03.328)
No, I'm kidding. If it's the one that I think of. I'm only saying it because I make fun because of Josh getting sick.

Fred Briley (46:10.734)
It's a it's a tie. Sci fi drive in is I really, really do love the vibe.

Lori Talamo (46:17.574)
yeah.

Fred Briley (46:21.402)
The food is okay, but it's a favorite because of the drive in experience. It's just a really cool experience. And then the other one is.

Lori Talamo (46:28.052)
Yeah, it's neat.

Fred Briley (46:37.124)
What's that one in Toy Story? I'm drawing a blank on it right now.

Lori Talamo (46:41.164)
Roundup BBQ. Rodeo Roundup.

Fred Briley (46:41.988)
Thank you. Yes.

The one where the one where you're in your toy in Andy's room while you're eating. Yeah. Yeah.

Lori Talamo (46:52.574)
Yeah, Roundup Barbecue. think it's now, yeah, Rodeo Roundup Barbecue. I haven't done that one either.

Fred Briley (46:56.612)
There you go.

And then...

The animal kingdom, Tusker house, love Tusker house. and then Epcot.

Garden Grill was really good this last time. I really enjoyed Garden Grill, but I think Beer Garden is going to do it for me as my top at Epcot, just because one, I love German food to just like the you get a dinner and a show with it. And it's again, it's one of those cool experiences that you're to do. Like the girls get to go down and dance and sing and participate in polka music. It's just a really good time.

Lori Talamo (47:42.75)
Yeah, which one? Well, when I said don't say it, I thought you were gonna say Hollywood Vine. That's why.

Fred Briley (47:48.026)
It was okay, I went like it wasn't my favorite I'd go back But it it was just wasn't my favorite

Lori Talamo (47:53.29)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (48:00.958)
Yeah. Another one that we tried in Disney Springs, Liv's freshman year was Raglan Road. That one was really good. Yeah, I had like some scallop dish and it was really good. Then I know you said, San Angel used to be a favorite. Have you done the La Hacienda San Angel?

Fred Briley (48:09.434)
I've heard really good things about Rack of Roses.

Lori Talamo (48:29.386)
So not the one with the ride, the other one.

Fred Briley (48:31.864)
You're talking the, the restaurant inside the,

Fred Briley (48:39.374)
Like the shop area, like when you go in, like when you walk in, you go right down the little ramp and then the little bar slash restaurant that's right there.

Lori Talamo (48:48.948)
No, there's one across, so there's two separate ones. There's the one that you go in where the ride is, like in that area, and then there's the, which is San Angel Inn.

Fred Briley (48:59.63)
The one that sits in front of the pyramid.

Lori Talamo (49:04.916)
And then this one is La Hacienda de San Angel. I'm sure I'm probably killing the name. That one's really good. That one has the avocado margarita, which is delicious.

Fred Briley (49:09.914)
Where's that one at?

Fred Briley (49:23.206)
Where's that?

Lori Talamo (49:26.42)
I'm bad with direction, And you can see the water when you're sitting in the restaurant. You can see the Echo Lake or whatever it's.

Fred Briley (49:33.434)
Oh, that one. No, we've never eaten there.

Lori Talamo (49:37.504)
That one's really good. And I'm saying I don't drink, but I keep mentioning all the places that I like their drinks. But the avocado margarita there is so good.

Fred Briley (49:52.824)
Yeah. No, we've, we've never eaten it. La hacienda. We've only eaten it just seeing him in jail.

Lori Talamo (49:56.936)
Yeah, it's a little more upscale than the other one. We went when I was there on an agency trip, it was a random, we were kind of tired at the end of the day and a couple of leaves like we just made a reservation. Do you want to come? And I'm like, sure. And that's when I found out they had the margarita there. So it's pretty good.

Now I'm like, cannot wait to go in three weeks because I'm dying for some Disney food.

Fred Briley (50:27.002)
28 days.

Lori Talamo (50:29.356)
Let me see what mine says. I have a countdown. So one of my mouse council friends had this cute little countdown app that she shared. And so I went and downloaded it. I have 26 days. Sweet. I'm ready.

Fred Briley (50:42.65)
I just made my number up. Now it wants me to sign in. That's a lot of work. It was 130 days the other day. So I'm going to say 128. Yes.

Lori Talamo (50:52.212)
Yeah, you're close. And it's just you and a buddy going, right?

Lori Talamo (50:58.944)
sweet.

Fred Briley (50:59.514)
Apparently Rachel is salty about, but that's this conversation for another episode.

Lori Talamo (51:02.494)
I mean, I don't blame her, I'd be salty too, because you just did a trip. Tell Rachel, her and I can go and we'll leave you and Josh home. We could do a girls trip.

Fred Briley (51:10.084)
That's fine. That's fine.

Lori Talamo (51:13.492)
I mean, I'll go with her.

Fred Briley (51:14.906)
Okay, so free dining free dining is it's coming up quick

Lori Talamo (51:18.74)
Yes!

It is coming up. And so I did look it up and it's, is, cause I was like, man, I said the wrong thing on our live, but it is for summer. It is for summer. you can, and I just close out my notes.

Fred Briley (51:28.634)
You said the right thing.

Fred Briley (51:38.778)
So you got to check in any time frame between May 27th and June 26th and then the second period. Yep. Yep.

Lori Talamo (51:39.156)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (51:44.312)
July 7th and August. Yeah, but I think I was looking at the eligibility when you can book it.

Fred Briley (51:53.117)
like when it actually opens for booking.

Lori Talamo (51:53.344)
because I don't think it's open to continue booking. I think you can book it through February, a February date, maybe like the 10th, somewhere in there. But yeah, you can get, it's, have to have a three night, three day stay and you have to have park hopper tickets. So you can't get base tickets with that. And then the way the free dining promotion works is if you stay at the Deluxe or Deluxe Villa resorts, you get the Disney dining plan. And then if you stay at

the value and moderate resorts, get the quick service plan.

Fred Briley (52:29.946)
Yeah, that's how they always get you with that. With that, free dining is. That's how we got the free Disney, which back then it wasn't the Disney dining plan. But a couple of years ago, back in 2019, when we went and got free Disney dining plan, we stayed at, we had to upgrade from, I don't know where we were booked at, but we ended up upgrading to animal kingdom.

Lori Talamo (52:33.621)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (52:53.77)
Sweet. Yeah.

Fred Briley (52:54.692)
That's how we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and it was the same price. We just got free dining, so.

Lori Talamo (53:02.526)
Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. And one of things to consider too, is that just like you doesn't automatically mean you're going to get it. So there's some like for whatever reason, Pop Century is excluded a lot on some of the promotions. Yeah. So just, you know, doesn't automatically mean that you will get it. But one one of the things to do too, is that's when you start weighing the options like, okay,

Fred Briley (53:18.235)
Mmm, that's eyeliner

Lori Talamo (53:32.178)
Unless you pick the resort specifically like POP4, the Skyliner, which you could, know, if Caribbean Beach has one, then you can do that. You know, but that's where you kind of make the decision on maybe changing resorts like you did, like if it's worth it to get the free dining. And we're saying free because you're paying a little bit more because you're upgrading resorts. But, you know, just price it out both ways and see if it's worth it. And then you might get to stay in a resort that

Fred Briley (53:49.528)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (53:58.81)
Thank

Lori Talamo (54:00.35)
you might otherwise not have picked.

Fred Briley (54:02.328)
Yeah, with these deals, you always want to get in like as soon as they drop to because each resort only has like a certain number of slots. Like so once once the animal kingdom lodge gets, you know, sells all their free dining from from most lots, like there's no more. So you definitely want to get in earlier because these deals will sell out pretty quick.

Lori Talamo (54:07.85)
So many, yeah.

Lori Talamo (54:25.012)
They do. That's one of the most stressful things too, when you're pricing something out for someone and then they're like, let me think about it through the weekend. I'm like, please no. Let's just put it on a three day whole. And then you make a decision. That's the best thing you can do is book it on a whole then give yourself a few days.

Fred Briley (54:28.068)
But yeah.

Fred Briley (54:35.246)
Yeah. Yeah. Right.

Lori Talamo (54:47.072)
But yeah, so if you want to go, and I think it's enticing to do that free promotion through the summer to kind of draw some more summer business in there. Right? I mean, we go in the summer and I'm like, surely it's going to be not so crowded because it's so hot, but no, it's still crowded.

Fred Briley (54:47.15)
Yeah, I mean.

Fred Briley (54:52.729)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (54:57.004)
as if they already don't get enough.

Fred Briley (55:06.81)
I'm curious if they're gonna breathe free dining back for the fall like they normally do Or if this year's gonna be like a summer only thing

Lori Talamo (55:13.066)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (55:16.692)
Yeah, hopefully, hopefully we start getting some of the free stuff back, the free dining. I know that was that was huge. I don't remember how long it's been since it's I know it was definitely pre COVID. But when we got free dining was we got free dining when we went in 2014. So that's how long ago it was that we got it.

Fred Briley (55:21.422)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (55:28.664)
Yeah, last year was the first year we'd seen it.

Fred Briley (55:34.778)
We had it, we had it in 2019. And then the next time that we went was 2022. The dining plan wasn't back yet. And then when we went last year, we got free dining. And the fall.

Yeah. Crazy how long it took them to bring back the dining plan and then free dining, like, which I mean, I get it. Like there was still like, which I mean, you know, still like, you know, the whole nation is struggling with, you know, employment, but like I get it. Like Disney was struggling with having enough staff to, you know, get it to capacity. So they had to keep a lot of it at lower capacity.

Lori Talamo (55:59.04)
Sweet. Yep.

I know, I know. Yeah, and.

Lori Talamo (56:24.085)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (56:27.749)
well, we have it now and that's what matters.

Lori Talamo (56:29.28)
Yep, we have it now. It's well, because I started doing the travel agency stuff during COVID. Like, I don't know, it possessed me during COVID to become a vacation planner, but I did. So it was kind of new to me, you know, as far as booking for clients and stuff when it came out. But one thing that I do, and I don't know if this is if this hurts or helps, but I just tell folks like I'm not trying to maximize your budget.

Fred Briley (56:35.599)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (56:57.94)
to benefit myself. So we're gonna sit down and talk through all of it and make the right decision for you. If you can't afford it and you need to get groceries to make your lunch, then we'll make that work too.

Fred Briley (57:09.774)
Yeah, absolutely.

Fred Briley (57:13.786)
All right, moment of truth.

Lori Talamo (57:17.118)
Moment of truth. think it's, I wish, I don't know if we had anybody on a guest, but I think it's probably kind of obvious of who is for it and who is not.

Fred Briley (57:30.18)
really say I'm for it.

Lori Talamo (57:32.308)
Yeah. Now, I think, well, I think that comment came from just because, you know, when you and I chatted and you even said it early on was that you like the all-inclusive feel. So not necessarily that you're like, yes, dining plan, but.

Fred Briley (57:38.35)
Yeah, do. But.

Fred Briley (57:46.842)
Yeah, I think like because the other night I sat down and I was trying to figure it out if we, Jumele and I should get it for a trip in May and like, you know, there's a lot of really great calculators out there that essentially you can go in and plug in. It'll ask you like, Hey, you know, do you plan on ordering an appetizer? Do you plan on, you know, getting dessert? You plan on getting alcohol? Like it'll ask you what your, you know, what your

Preferences are and then it'll allow you to like all right check out on this day I check it out on this day and then this is what we would do for breakfast lunch and dinner and it gives you the option to list out like Do a drop-down of every single restaurant? And then at the end it'll tell you like hey, you know This is how much you're gonna spend You'd be better off not getting the dining plan or you know, you would be better off getting it so, know just kind of using that like I've

You know, it just didn't seem worth it for Jamel and I to use it in May. I think it's just like, you got to do the research and figure out like, I think in order to use the dining plan to its fullest, like you really do, you got to go all out. Like you got to, you got to use all the table services. You got to use all the snacks. You got to use your resort mug every single night. You got to order alcohol.

or specialty drinks, you gotta order appetizers, you gotta order dessert, you literally have to take full advantage of it for it to be worth it. Because if you just show up, you miss out on the snacks, you never order dessert, you always get water, it's gonna be cheaper if you just pay out of pocket all day.

Lori Talamo (59:28.682)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (59:32.254)
Right. Yeah. I mean, I definitely feel like, especially, you know, like with you saying you're a foodie, like somebody who wants the food experience more than, you know, just go, go, go and eat really quick, then yeah, it's definitely worth it because you get, you know, again, everything's paid for. So then you can pick the finer things on the on the menu that you otherwise would maybe not pick if you're, you know, watching your budget. But if it's paid for in advance, then you know what?

Fred Briley (59:45.945)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (59:54.202)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (01:00:00.926)
When we went, it was great. I paid to upgrade the kids and I don't even know if you can still do that now, but then they were three and nine. And so I think Brayden, Nocus 10 is when you consider the adult. So I paid to upgrade both of them so they could both be on the adult plan. Because I knew, I was like, I'm not going to sit here and order a steak and this is how spoiled the kids are. Like they're not going to want chicken fingers if we're eating.

Fred Briley (01:00:15.418)
Mm-hmm.

Fred Briley (01:00:20.408)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (01:00:29.492)
And I tell you, we went to Rainforest Cafe in Animal Kingdom and they had a surf and turf. And Brayden's favorite thing is lobster. And so we were able to get the steak with the lobster. And the kids thought that was the best thing because they got to get it too. So I mean, it's definitely if you want to be able to pick some of the better things on the menu and just not have to worry about it when you're there, then.

Fred Briley (01:00:29.537)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (01:00:48.887)
Yeah.

Fred Briley (01:00:57.976)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (01:00:59.422)
definitely pay for it or you know get the free plan.

Fred Briley (01:01:02.862)
Yeah, I mean, if you like that all inclusive feel like that's kind of how Rachel is like, you know, she has a similar mindset to me, but you know, if we pay a little bit more money just to get the all inclusive feel, she's fine with it.

Lori Talamo (01:01:15.872)
Yeah, and it helps too because like, you know, especially if you book your vacation for an advance, you have time to pay on it. You know, you could say all you want, I'm going to save money. So that way when I get there, I have all this money. But, you know, and then then you get there and then you stress it out about, know, like how much you're going to spend on food. You know, it's paid for.

Fred Briley (01:01:23.662)
Yeah. Yeah.

Fred Briley (01:01:33.498)
Yeah. That's why I just charge it to a credit card and don't worry about it. It's kind of like wait 30 days, look at the credit card bill, then deal with

Lori Talamo (01:01:39.36)
Yeah.

Lori Talamo (01:01:43.53)
then like, gosh, what did we do? Yeah, so I mean, I know I said I was a nay, but not really, it depends. I mean, for the most part, we don't get it, but it just depends.

Fred Briley (01:01:46.35)
That was me after my November trip.

Fred Briley (01:01:51.727)
I'm in the middle.

Fred Briley (01:01:58.756)
Yeah, I think we're both in the same boat. Like it's just, it's just going to depend on every trip is different.

Lori Talamo (01:02:04.564)
Yep, definitely.

Fred Briley (01:02:06.234)
So we covered a lot And you know finally we still made it to an hour I Thought we were gonna be at like 40 minutes, but we just you and I like to talk so good So we covered it the quick service

Lori Talamo (01:02:10.314)
We did it.

Lori Talamo (01:02:16.148)
Awesome.

Lori Talamo (01:02:21.994)
I know. I know. like, I was like, okay, we've got to keep.

Good, I'm good. I was just gonna say, was like, okay, and going in, was like, I gotta keep the stories limited to make us not go over, but it's so hard when you start talking.

Fred Briley (01:02:27.492)
Go ahead.

Fred Briley (01:02:33.53)
It is it is So we cover quick service table service what the differences are all the different type of snacks We covered the difference between the quick service dining plan And the Disney dining plan. I don't know why they just didn't name it the table service dining plan Like that's as good as the quick serve whatever And then we covered free dining and then just you know

Lori Talamo (01:02:41.172)
dining plan.

Lori Talamo (01:02:54.346)
Right.

Right.

Fred Briley (01:03:02.842)
It's just every, every trip is just going to be different. You got to figure out what your priorities are. You got to figure out what your expectations are. And then you just got to figure out how much money you're willing to spend. Or how much money you, might spend. And then that's, that's really what it'll come down to. So, um, yeah, it was a good episode. I'm hungry and I'm probably going to go eat some food. I may eat some King cake after this.

Lori Talamo (01:03:29.664)
Oh man, have how many days? We're on day eight. So I have what? 11 days.

Fred Briley (01:03:36.378)
See this is why, this is why during 21 days of prayer you give up things like soda. Don't give up King K.

Lori Talamo (01:03:43.264)
But I don't drink soda. I'm like, I really, yeah, I tried. So Josh and I diet and exercise anyway. So I really normally during 21 days of prayer and fasting, I don't normally give up food. I do a soul fast and I'll usually give up like Facebook or something like that. But because of the travel business, because of this podcast, it's hard to give up social media.

Fred Briley (01:03:44.366)
Well, I don't anymore.

For eight days I have it.

Fred Briley (01:04:08.6)
Yeah, it's hard. Yeah.

Lori Talamo (01:04:13.514)
So do have some health issues and I have been snacking a little more than I wanted to. So was like, you know what, even though I should already be eating better, I'm just gonna give up junk food. I'll have healthy snacks. So I'm like, it's gonna help me health-wise and then also it's just, know, this thing for the church. So, king cake is.

Fred Briley (01:04:23.418)
There you go. Yeah.

Fred Briley (01:04:31.492)
Well, I'll eat an extra piece of king cake for you. Don't worry.

Lori Talamo (01:04:36.168)
I sent three of my TA besties, I sent them all a king cake from Randazzo's. And so, I probably just gave the spoiler alert away, because I sent one to somebody else too, if he listens. But I told them, I said, we need to do a live show, I mean, a Zoom call when y'all eat the king cake. And so was like, you know what, it'll be after the fast, I'm going to get me one too. And so that way they can, we can all eat the king cake together and see if they like it or not.

Fred Briley (01:04:55.375)
When.

Fred Briley (01:05:00.058)
There you go.

Fred Briley (01:05:04.516)
Do you love King K? Okay. Next week episode, episode 15.

Lori Talamo (01:05:05.832)
Yeah, can't wait. Anyway.

Lori Talamo (01:05:13.98)
Yes.

Fred Briley (01:05:15.386)
What are we talking about next week?

Lori Talamo (01:05:16.928)
I

Next week is your friend who's gonna come on and talk about the dining with allergies at Disney.

Fred Briley (01:05:25.614)
that's right I forgot about that I should probably reach out and be like hey good now she messaged me the she messaged me the other day so yeah she's coming on I'll get a Facebook group phone with us but no that's gonna be super exciting because I have never ever thought

Lori Talamo (01:05:32.404)
Follow up.

Yeah, if not, let me know. We got plenty of other topics we could pull from.

Fred Briley (01:05:54.81)
I don't have food allergies. At least I don't anymore. I never really did. Um, so I've never thought about what it's like to go to Disney and stress over food allergies. Um, so it'll be, it'll be an interesting episode to hear, you know, one, it'll make me a better agent to help my clients. If I ever have somebody like that too, it'll just be interesting here.

Lori Talamo (01:06:06.879)
Right.

Lori Talamo (01:06:17.652)
Right, definitely.

Fred Briley (01:06:20.538)
Okay. Are you closing us out or am I closing us out?

Lori Talamo (01:06:22.42)
Yep, so that'll be fun.

Lori Talamo (01:06:26.919)
I could do it.

Fred Briley (01:06:28.206)
All right, you got this. I know you got your notes up.

Lori Talamo (01:06:30.462)
All right, I do. That's why I'm looking to the side. See, the listeners can't see that, only the watchers. No, but this was super fun. Super excited always to talk Disney, especially when it involves our favorite things like food. So we look forward to having you guys with us next week. If you're looking for information on the show, if you want to request vacation help, Fred and I again are both travel agents.

Fred Briley (01:06:33.978)
There you go.

Lori Talamo (01:06:59.52)
We're happy to help you to get your vacation going. You can reach out to us at info at going beyond the castle.com to find out anything about our show. can go to our newly created website by Fred www.going beyond the castle.com. If you want to connect with us on social media, we have our Facebook page, our Instagram, our Tik Tok. We also have a Facebook group. But on

That you can reach us at beacons.ai forward slash going beyond the castle. Our Facebook group, I'm not sure if the link is on there, but we have going beyond the castle podcast lounge. We'd love to get some more interaction there because that's where we can kind of start having some conversations and throwing ideas out there. I Fred and I both asked some questions recently about some upcoming trips and what would you do? But yeah, that's how you can keep up to date with Fred and I.

Fred Briley (01:07:38.242)
It is. Yep.

Lori Talamo (01:07:58.302)
And as always, we thank you guys for joining us on Going Beyond the Castle. Until next time, keep dreaming, keep exploring, and keep going beyond the castle. How'd do? Bye. Sweet. Getting there.

Fred Briley (01:08:11.47)
Bye. You great.

Yeah, you're good there.