We went last month and did NOT use the plan. It seemed too complicated, and we just prefer to pay as we go. We wanted more flexibility. Sometimes our kids eat traditional "kids meals" but sometimes our 10 year old eats an appetizer or a little something from the adult menu, sometimes we share things, share beverages, have a bigger snack and a lighter meal by the pool, DH is vegetarian, etc. I'm thinking we might have often paid for food we didn't eat if we used the plan. We have 2 girls, ages 8 and 10. Character meals are not our thing. We go for the attractions at the parks and pool/hotel recreation, food is not the focus. We ate every breakfast in our room (cereal, muffins, etc), did a quick fast-lunch at the parks (actually the fast-service food was quite good, except Pizzafari at Animal Kingdom, which was awful), and a sit-down restaurant only for most of our dinners. Even with older kids, you never know when the family can't do another table-service meal, especially at the pace of a WDW vacation. I do highly recommend using the WDW web site and making advanced dining reservations. It was so slick, we hardly waited at all during the peak season, week before Easter. And there is no penalty for not showing on most of the places if you find yourself otherwise occupied on that day and time. Good luck, I so love WDW, you will have a great time!!!