A question for those who have used a Disney Dining Plan?

[Disuser]

It is almost time to make my ADR's. popcorn::
Iwould like the opinions of those who used a Disney Dining Plan. Were you pleased with it? Would you use one again?
We are paying for 8 and the advantage for us seems to be having less money to carry and worry about, and a way for people to eat if we are not doing the same things.
Thanks:earsboy:

[dalt01]

we have used it ever since it started and would not consider going without it.

[quadsthen1]

We used the regular DDP in January with our family of 7 (2 adults and 5 kids) and loved the convenience of it. We could order whatever we wanted, to dessert at every meal, milk shakes for drinks and never had to worry about the total. We did however keep track of what our bill would have totalled and in the end we saved somewhere between $300-$400 on a six night trip.

[huskies90]

the advantage for us seems to be having less money to carry and worry about, and a way for people to eat if we are not doing the same things.
Thanks
The convenience of having it pre-paid and not having to worry about paying for food is the best aspect. For most people, though, it will cost more to buy the plan or at best be a wash. If you try hard to utilize it to the fullest using every credit and eating every dessert, it may save you some $$.

Many people don't mind spending a bit more for the convenience of not having to worry about it. I think when the DDP came out, Disney was giving something up to keep you in their restaurants all the time (like charging less for extended stays on MYW tix) but now with the recent changes, I think they are making a killing on the DDP...

[taliategan]

The only disadvantage I had with the dining plan is that it makes planning your park days more difficult by havings to make ADRs for the TS restaurants well in advance. You need to pay attention to what park you want to go to on what day and not to schedule the ADR during the time of a parade or other show/performance you may want to see at the park. Its great having the meals pre-paid; ordering what you want on the menu without regard to cost; and, eating a great restuarants and savings some money as opposed to paying OOP.

[kaybird]

We think of the ADR's as more of a fastpass for dining, and enjoy the relaxation the sit-down meals give us. With that break in the day, we rarely if ever need to go back to the room for a break.

We have used the DDP since it started (used the old food and fun plan before that) and cannot say enough good things about it!

[cathie1327]

We went to WDW for our first time in September and used the DDP. We LOVED it! It was really convenient to not have to carry any cash around with us, plus it makes it really easy to budget for your trip. Instead of taking x amount of dollars and saying "okay this much is for food, we can't touch it for souvies, whatever" with the DDP you just need to pay your tips and you can use whatever money you bring for that stuff since your meals are essentially paid for. We decided that no matter what, when we go back, we are using it just for this reason alone.

Another thing that really pops out to us too is that you can eat at some REALLY nice restaraunts without paying the "nice" price. When we saw our bill at Akershus and Coral Reef we were like yeah...thanks Disney Dining Plan haha. Just out of our own pocket, we'd never pay that much for a meal.

[jblrn2b]

The only disadvantage I had with the dining plan is that it makes planning your park days more difficult by havings to make ADRs for the TS restaurants well in advance. You need to pay attention to what park you want to go to on what day and not to schedule the ADR during the time of a parade or other show/performance you may want to see at the park. Its great having the meals pre-paid; ordering what you want on the menu without regard to cost; and, eating a great restuarants and savings some money as opposed to paying OOP.


We have used the DDP and have saved about $400 each time. We like to eat at TS and not so much CS so for us it saves. We also have two GROWING BOYS! Who can eat!!!! so for us it works. We tend to do the Deluxe DP d/t wanting to eat mainly TS - but we have used the regular and it has worked as well. Plus DH doesn't get as much sticker shock while eating out - so we can all enjoy.

Many people say that they don't like to be tied down to a "schedule of meals and it is a lot of planning. For me - I love the planning- I love making ADRs. Its half the fun for me. It also helps us to see as much as we can when we visit by having a structure. My family likes it that way- even my DH says its the way to go. We also schedule down time and go with the flow if Magical Moments happen.

It's an individual thing - you have to think about your family and how you like to vacation.

[dvcdisney]

We've used it many times. The main disadvantage for us is the fact that neither of my children like anything on the kid's menu. However, I did notice that they have added more things. For instance, they now have pizza in the kid's menu at the Pizzafari. I thought that should have been an obvious choice,:confused3 but they just added it.

We will not be using it on our next vacation since we will not be at Disney all the time.

[huskies90]

Another thing that really pops out to us too is that you can eat at some REALLY nice restaraunts without paying the "nice" price. When we saw our bill at Akershus and Coral Reef we were like yeah...thanks Disney Dining Plan haha. Just out of our own pocket, we'd never pay that much for a meal.
Just want to make sure the OP understands that you are paying for it...just in advance instead of at the time of the bill. And Disney loves to have your $$ in advance...it is guaranteed income for them.

Of course if every meal is dinner at Akershsus and/or Coral Reef and you maximize what you order, the DDP will definitely save big bucks but when you mix in Akershsus and/or Coral Reef with a few TS breakfasts and/or order some more reasonable entrees at less expensive places, you end up coming out pretty even. And if you skip some meals, and come home with unused credits which alot of people do, the plan will cost more...

[DISNEY1975]

we have used it ever since it started and would not consider going without it.


I completely agree. Pre paying meals was the best thing I ever did. I never thought twice about what I was ordering or how much it was going to cost or if I budgeted enough for it etc...etc...etc... We were a party of 11, broken up into 3 rooms. 6 were with me almost always, the other 5 joined in for a few meals. For 9 days (8 nights) our party of 6 spent about $700 for tips at 20 TS restaurants, also including a few alcohol beverages. We also ate at about 3 CS restaurants and brought home a gazillion rice crispy treats, seven layer bars and a huge box of Goofys Candy Co fudge from our snack credits! We did leave behind a bunch of snack credits (we had 96 for the week!)

I think I would have cringed at the $450 bill at California Grill! I didnt even blink..just signed my name!

I did, however, mostly pay cash for the tips, so I had control of the money being spent.

[PJAY]

We used it for the first time on our last visit and intend to use it again on our next visit. Not only did we feel it was worth the money--especially for the kids-- we also ate at places we otherwise probably wouldnt have if we had been paying out of pocket. Some TS entrees ranged from $16 to $37 so we felt were getting great value:thumbsup2 .

[choirfarm]

I guess I will be the lone dissenter. How do you eat? The DDP was really too much food for us and as someone mentioned tips are not included and we ate at a lot more expensive places than we would have and so paid more in tips. We also payed more in tips because when we go out to eat we have water and don't eat dessert and often split meals. We often split 3 or 4 meals among the 5 of us for Cs and it was more than enough. The meals are much bigger at Disney than we eat at home. Example I have a bowl of cereal for breakfast, water with a wrap for lunch, a handful of animal cookies or a banana for a snack, and then dinner consists well tonight we had homeade rolls and jalepeno sweet potato soup again with water ( sometimes I have tea but most of the time water) Kids get one glass of juice and then water the rest of the day. At Disney you get a snack (big muffin from the bar) a CS meal: burger, fries, drink and cookie and then a TS meal: Prime Time Cafe shake, Pot Roast with all the trimmins and then smores dessert. WAY WAY too much food compared to what I regularly eat!!!!!!!

Christine
Christine

[Elmo888]

Here are some things to consider for DDP...

First, if you are considering the MYW plus dining, which includes a TS, CS, and snack per person per night, you have to ask yourself if you would do a TS meal per night if you weren't doing DDP. I think that is really the first question. Of course, with 2009, there is the quick service plan, but then you have to consider if you would typically do no TS restaurants on your trip. (Why isn't there a compromise??? With one TS restaurant for every two nights or something? But that's another thread.)

Convenience is one aspect. If that it is important to you, I would definitely factor it heavily.

Cost-wise, I would pick your restaruants and make a spreadsheet. This really helped me. I could see how the DDP would be cost effective (or not). For us, the big difference was with the kids. Most buffets/family style meals are at least $10.99 for kids (I think that the cheapest one that we did was $11.99), and the DDP for kids 2008 was $9.99. So, you came out ahead. It depends on the number of buffets/family style meals and number of kids 3-9. Also, I'm a vegetarian, so my menu choice is usually the cheapest. These are all factors that you can put into a spreadsheet (check http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm and pick your most likely menu selection).

Here's what I didn't like about DDP...for TS menus (I'm excluding buffet or family style), it really limited your choices. If you just wanted to have an appetizer, you would lose money. It would be great if the DDP were a bit more flexible (ie, appetizer or dessert), but it isn't. Just another factor (you might be selecting all buffet/family style TS, so this might not matter).

[Elmo888]

We've used it many times. The main disadvantage for us is the fact that neither of my children like anything on the kid's menu. However, I did notice that they have added more things. For instance, they now have pizza in the kid's menu at the Pizzafari. I thought that should have been an obvious choice,:confused3 but they just added it.

We will not be using it on our next vacation since we will not be at Disney all the time.

I think that they took pizza of the kids' menu at Pizzafari because adults would just order off of the kids' menu (and why not if it is less $$). I think that it was the same pizza. Maybe they created a smaller pizza for the kids. And, yes, it certainly seems like an obvious kids' menu choice!

[tr-ray]

My first experience with the DDP was in 2007, when you got an appetizer each, and tips were included.


THAT was fabulous. Certainly there were many nights where DH and I brought our deserts back to the resort, or didn't even eat them at all.

But, now that the DDP does not include apps or the tips, we're opting for the QS Dining. We have made only one ADR for Le Cellier that we will pay for out of pocket.

That was our big must-do for this trip as we could not get ressies for our last trip.

If we decide we want to do another TS meal, we will likely go to a resort and pay OOP.

[bluslag]

We have used the DDP for the last 2 years. We were a party of 6 with 2 of us being 17 year old boys. The first year we loved it because apps and the tip were included. Because we got apps we often did not get the dessert. The second year we felt we always had to get the dessert because we felt we actually paid for it. Desserts at WDW are not that different at most of the restaurants. Needless to say we ordered and ate a lot of desserts that we normally would have never ordered. Also because we stay close to 2 weeks we feel that is just to much food for that time period. Because we had already prepaid for it we felt we needed to eat it. I think if we were paying as we go we would skip a lot of those meals because we just don't need that much food. its not a bad plan its just I think we would only use it for short trips.

[WallE]

We did it the last trip and we are planning it again. With two kids and the grandparents going, we feel that eating a good meal together in the evening is imperative. We maximized it with evening meals and character meals whenever possible. It's vacation, EAT, drink, and be merry.

[*NikkiBell*]

I have used the Dining Plan in its various forms for the past few years. We did the Silver Plan before the Dining Plan was born and loved it. We then did the Premium Plan twice and later the Deluxe Dining Plan. My parents have always used the regular Dining Plan and I will be using it in March/April. The plans are fantastic and I would not even consider taking a trip without one unless it was for Food & Wine or less than three days long. Go for it, you'll love it! :) Don't worry about ordering the most expensive thing on the menu or trying to make a deal out of it. You will either way. I've tracked every plan we have used and have always come out dead even or ahead.

[Disuser]

:hug: Thanks Everyone! You helped me make a decision. I called and put a Deluxe Dining Plan on my package. (We have 4 grandchildren going that are in or near their teens. They are all thin but they can put away the food!) I appreciate your posts:wave2:

[Wendi2000]

If it wasn't free, I would no longer be using the dining plan. Since the changes in the past year it just isn't a good deal for us anymore. I wouldn't normally order dessert and when I crunched the numbers I found that we could eat BETTER and in a way that suited us for about the same or even a little less than the dining plan would cost. But, since we are going on free dining and a package discount, I decided to upgrade to deluxe dining for our next trip and I'm very much looking forward to that!!!

[huskies90]

If it wasn't free, I would no longer be using the dining plan. Since the changes in the past year it just isn't a good deal for us anymore. I wouldn't normally order dessert and when I crunched the numbers I found that we could eat BETTER and in a way that suited us for about the same or even a little less than the dining plan would cost. But, since we are going on free dining and a package discount, I decided to upgrade to deluxe dining for our next trip and I'm very much looking forward to that!!!I am with you Wendi. We did the DDP in '05 when it included appetizers/tips and it was worth it but now, we'll eat BETTER not on the plan. I like to have everything prepaid, but after that, it just doesn't make financial sense. We plan to go to Coral Reef and order 'whatever we want' and yes it will be VERY expensive, but you can't look at one expensive meal that way. You have to look at the whole week. We have TS ADRs for every day we are there but since some are breakfasts and one night that we want to eat at the ESPN Club and one at the SciFi, at the end of the week, I am going to save $$ not on the plan. And I agree with you, on the plan we would eat every single dessert but now, we'll probably order two apps and two desserts and share them all. Just a much better way to eat dinner, for us, anyway. And of course, heaven forbid, we decide we just aren't that hungry and want to skip one, we have the flexibility.

Like I posted earlier, unless you max every meal and get every dessert, the DDP probably won't save you $$ and most likely will be a wash. The best aspect IMO is having the meals prepaid.

[PirateDad]

I think the two biggest question for us to consider was not really financial:
Do you have the time and inclination to do a table service meal every day or enough 2 TS credit meals to make it worthwhile? On our last trip we did the castle, Hoop De Doo, and a "night out" at Jiko (all 2 TS) in a week, and we still did not feel a lack of TS credits. If we did not have a free dining PIN code for our 2009 trip it would be a tough call. I do like the freedom of having meals prepaid and not worrying about prices on the menus though.

[SpanishForker]

I think it depends on what you are really doing and what type of group you have. We will have a party of 7 going in Jan (4adults and 2 kids, 1 infant). We are doing CRT Bfast, Crystal Palace Dinner, Coral Reef Lunch, Hollywood and Vine Lunch, Ohana Dinner and the Norway Princess Dinner. Doing the math and not including a dessert at Coral Reef since all the others come with dessert we are saving about 60$ before and of the snack credits are used. Now if you break it down by my parents, and then my family...they would lose about 30$ before snack credits and we would save about 90$. So for us the ease, the little bit of savings, and then the snack credits on top of it make it a pretty good deal, but if my parents went by themselves the deal would essentially be a wash after the snack credits. We are all in a villa so we all have to be on the plan.

[itchin2go]

Do the math before you decide! I made my ADRs and mapped out my days as far as dining. Then I looked up the likely cost of dining at each place. I added all of these figures up and then compared them to the cost of the DDP (the regular one). For my family, we would spend more on the DDP than we would spend out of pocket. I chalk this up to several factors: (1) we almost never want/order dessert, so the desserts we get with the DDP are unnecessary (and sometimes don't get eaten or even ordered!); (2) I am vegetarian so my meal is always at the low end of the cost spectrum; and (3) We are so full from meals that we never use our snack credits. We have done DDP and DxDDP. There are pros and cons to each. For us, we're better off without a meal plan. Plus, I am tired of a meal plan telling me how and what to eat. Some people love the dining plans, and some people net a tremendous savings with a plan. To each his own!

[MickeyMomOfThree]

Once my DH got a taste of the dining plan he will never go back. Our trip 2 weeks ago was even better as the dining was free. I am the type that will eat peanut butter crackers out of my bag, share meals or order a kids meal and that is fine with me, but he hates when I do that. So, whiile on vacation, I try to splurge for his sake.;) I love food, don't get me wrong, but money is tight for us so I skimp where I can (I'm just happy to be there). It was amazing this trip to eat steak several times (something we normally eat once a year). We rarely go out to dinner and never order drinks or desserts so it was fun to be able to. A meal for me at LeCellier would only be a dream without the dining plan and it was so good I can't tell you. I still shared meals at CS places a ew times (nervous we'd run out of credits, and this was not our first time using it-- I should have known better), but we were pleanty full and our last day had 7 or 8 CS meals that we filled our cooler with for the ride home.

I have been to Disney with and without the plan and could and would go eitheer way (as long as I can be there!) But in my opinion, the dining plan truly enhanced our vacations.