Disney Dining Plan - Is it worth it?

[outstandinfarmer]

So, I've been to Disney many times, but never did the dining plan. For those who have used it, do you think it is worth the money? It seems like a big upgrade to the vacation package price and I am not sure if it would be a wise decision to add it or not.

Thanks everybody!

[millerjmls]

We have never used it either, but this time we decided to get it. We looked at all of the menus on allears.net then figured out about how much it would cost to eat where we preferred and compared that to how much the dining plan cost. We found that the dining plan will save us money. We have made reservations at places like LeCellier, The Crysal Palace and The Boma. Each of these would cost over $100 for a family of four. After you add in your counter service meals and a snack each night, it really adds up. We are going to give it try this year and see how it goes. I also like the fact that I won't have to carry around so much money and our meals will be paid for before we get there. Hope we made the right decision.

[Aimeedyan]

Now that they removed the tip and appetizer, it's not worth it for us. There was a time when I thought it was a good deal.

[Gitts2008]

Before our trip in Oct 2008, I fretted long and hard if the DDP would be worth it. I even tried to figure out how much we could spend in meal vs. the cost of the plan.

We took the DDP. When each character meal cost about $100.00 it was worth it for us. I also liked the idea of knowing how much our vacation would cost and not worrying about putting aside x amount for food.

Only you can determine if it will be cost effective for your family. We are not big eaters and planned on using the TS for all of our Character meals.

Just like most things here, there will be differing opinions.

Best Wishes and have a great vacation. pixiedust:

[Silver Queen]

Hello again. I think it depends on your family's eating habits. We tried the DDP last April and felt that we got our money's worth but in some cases it was more food that we would normally eat. (For example dessert at lunch.) We ended up using some of our snack coupons for items that we could use for a light breakfast.
We were also conscious of trying to get our money's worth from the plan and ordered higher end entrees such as filet a couple of times.
When we went back in December we bought annual passes and tried the Tables in Wonderland discount card and liked it very much because we usually have a cocktail or bottle of wine with dinner and we also like to order an appetizer and dessert and share them. For us the 20% discount fits our dining style but if we don't get annual passes in the future ( and therefore can't get Tables in Wonderland) we'd consider the DDP.

[britterbell]

Oh Yes It IS! Character Meals are usually around $300.00 but with the DDP you get as many TS as nights you are staying plus CS and snacks! I would sooo use it! =)

[jblrn2b]

If you eat a lot of TS it is worth it.

I can not feed my 14yo DS for less than $70 a day at Disney. I also get my moneys worth for the 9 yo since he lives on popsicles at $4 a piece plus the price of meals for him it is worth it to us.

[Tricia1972]

Hello again. I think it depends on your family's eating habits. We tried the DDP last April and felt that we got our money's worth but in some cases it was more food that we would normally eat. (For example dessert at lunch.) We ended up using some of our snack coupons for items that we could use for a light breakfast.
We were also conscious of trying to get our money's worth from the plan and ordered higher end entrees such as filet a couple of times.
When we went back in December we bought annual passes and tried the Tables in Wonderland discount card and liked it very much because we usually have a cocktail or bottle of wine with dinner and we also like to order an appetizer and dessert and share them. For us the 20% discount fits our dining style but if we don't get annual passes in the future ( and therefore can't get Tables in Wonderland) we'd consider the DDP.

You summed up how we feel, and what works for us very well. Personally we do better without a plan for the same reasons you do.

Oh Yes It IS! Character Meals are usually around $300.00 but with the DDP you get as many TS as nights you are staying plus CS and snacks! I would sooo use it! =)

I think you may have a typo here, the character meals run about $30/adult for dinner, $25 for lunch and $20 for breakfast.

NOT saying that the plan doesn't work for you, I am sure it works very well. Just to clear up for anyone else that character meals tend to not be $300 per event.

(CRT is a bit more at $43/adult for dinner, $38 for lunch and $35 for breakfast, but that will cost a person 2 credits)

[tamclan]

So, I've been to Disney many times, but never did the dining plan. For those who have used it, do you think it is worth the money? It seems like a big upgrade to the vacation package price and I am not sure if it would be a wise decision to add it or not.

Thanks everybody!

In general when you use all of your credits because the children's plans are inexpensive you will save money.

However, the Dining Plan and potential savings is based on how you truly want to eat. For example I am not a big dessert eater, nor is my wife. At home when dining out I would let my children order dessert once in awhile not every day. So when I compare the total bills and what DDP costs it may seem like I saved however ordering stuff because it is an entitlement when not desired provides the illusion of savings.

What I didn't enjoy about the DDP last year was I needed to be at a specific place at a specific time. Not being able to wing it really put more stress into my vacation than I wanted. Rushing from HS to EPCOT in the rain is an example of this. Without an ADR I would have hung out at HS. Getting to ADR drenched is not fun and then your freezing because of the AC.

I will be trying the quick counter service this year to see how that goes. I figure the few TS I want I will pay OOP.

Good luck.

[ROEDISNEY]

In my opinion I think it's Absoutely worth it. No ? about it here.

[LAWalz23]

It really does depend on your eating habits. In general if you enjoy planning and having a sit down meal every day, you will probably like and get your money's worth. However if you like to wing it it could be more trouble than it is worth. For my familty it pays because we enjoy sitting down to dinner everyday and don't spend 12 hour days in the parks. Also just my opinion but now that ADRs are back to 90 days, I think planning and getting ADRs are easier, doing it 6 months in advance the last two trips took some of the fun out of it!

[SnwflkCts]

I used it the two times were were at WDW but did not book it for this one. The change - no appie/no tip did it in for us. Not so much the tip but I do not eat desserts (well ... try not to). It was not as cost effective for us this time around.

Anyway - would I still recommend it? YES - at least try it out!

pros: paying for everything all up front was great; it did save money if you select restaurants wisely.

cons: you do seem to spend so much time making and keeping ADRs, too much food & sometimes we ate more than we SHOULD have!

I really don't think it is wrong to go with the dining plan. We just decided to do some TS lunches and share CS and snacks this time around. It would not make the best use of the credits to do that.

HAVE FUN AND HAPPY EATING!!!!

[BarbieWannabe]

We went last year after an absence of several years. I read for months, all the complaints about tips and appetizer changes. If you never experienced the previous plan it was hard to relate. We used the deluxe plan and absolutely LOVED it. Worth depends on how you look at it. If you strictly want to approach it by dollars, then no, I'm sure you can do it more cheaply OOP. A late dinner at California Grill watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks is PRICELESS. An experience. I'm sure if we were paying out of pocket, we automatically would decide it was too expensive. To pay ahead of time and have the freedom to eat wherever and whatever you wanted was truly "vacation" to us. This year we are going back in December to see the holiday magic and without a doubt will use it again. pixiedust:

[kkyle60]

My family just returned from 7 nights (buy four get three rocks!) with the dining plan and for us the DDP is more than just a cost saving tool. We view eating at WDW as an attraction just like any ride or show, and the DDP takes a lot of stress out of dining. With the plan we can order anything we want and not worry about the price. For us it makes the dining experience more enjoyable and even relaxing.

In planning for our trip I did an extensive cost comparison (I basically planned every meal we would eat with and without the plan). Long story short, we could save about $70 by not using the plan, but with the plan we would get a lot more food. We loved having the plan and we used every single credit.

My conclusion about the plan, you have to like eating at a TS every night, and you have to like planning out all of your ADR's in advance and sticking to that schedule. For us it is great, but it is definitely not for everyone.

One tip for extra value - if you have kids(3-9), the plan does not distinguish between adult and child counter service meals. For example, we had 2 adults and 1 child. We could get an adult breakfast CS meal and two adult CS lunch meals every day. This helped spread out the food some, and gave us a good meal for breakfast. The only restriction on CS is that you can't order more adult meals than adults in your group, i.e. we couldn't order 3 Adult CS meals at one time.

[buckirj1]

The dining plans aren't a good match for me and the way I eat. The dining plans don't save solo folks much money anyway. Besides, I'd go nuts doing all the planning involved to mazimize its value. Some don't mind planning and think pre-payment is a big convenience. I think it's a PITA. YMMV.

[Tricialiv]

We liked the dining plan. We eat TS once a day with three of those being character during 7-8 days . The TS seems more relaxing and gives the kids a little break. I also love the planning of the ADR's. I am already planning for December. I wish tip was still included. That really made it great!

[indigoxtreme]

The best thing you can do is go to Allearsnet.com and review the menu and prices. Do 1 day of what your family would normally eat, no extras etc, be sure to include tax for all meals and tip (for TS meals) and snacks each day. Compare this to one day cost of the meal plan and see if it will save you money. For the meal plan include tip to the cost for TS meals.

We have found it is absolutely worht it as we do eat a TS each day, either breakfast or dinner etc. Even with the appetizer taken out and the tip it is still worth it. Have a good time.:)

[B-Ride]

When they changed the Dining Plan last year to not include appetizers I figured it was no longer worth it and did not include the plan when I booked our trip. But when I sat down and did the math I realized it was still worth it and decided to add it to our package. Even better, I ended up getting it for free which is definitely worth it.:cool1:

Even without getting it free, though, it is definitely worth it if you plan to eat a TS meal for dinner each day.

[Tikitoi]

Not worth it for me and DD11 this time. She still eats very much like a little kid, so it's not worth it pay the adult DP price for her, which I would have to do, due to her age. Besides, with the 2 of us, if we get an appetizer it would only be one. And probably the same with desert. That's even if we get that. We usually are happy with a chocolate covered strawberry or a cupcake or something like that. :upsidedow

[CruznLexi]

We just got back from WDW and had the Deluxe plan. We normally would not have gotten that but we had our nephews and did not want to shell out extra money for food. This also enabled us to go to HDDR and CRT. I will get the dinning plan and maybe the next time just get the basic or CS and pay out of pocekt if we want to do a TS. We felt most days that 3 meals was too much as well as the snack credits when you are there for 8 days but for a few days it is worth it.
Lexi

[maggieb9975]

My adult DD and I did 5 days deluxe dining in October and found it to be too much food and time....we lost money on it because we had some meals left......

One of my triplets age 16 and I are going again in March and she is paying her own way:cool1:

She likes nice meals and especially dessert! So we are doing the basic dining plan.

As many Dis'ers haver said ,I figured out what we would order at each TS meal plus added $15 per day for a CS meal and $3 a day for snack and we came up with an average of $52 per day each....so for us it is worth it......we like steak:)

Some ADR's are for the higher cost places...we are eating at
Liberty Tree dinner
Coral Reef dinner
Le Cellier dinner
Wolfgang Puck Cafe dinner
Yak n Yeti lunch
Turf Club dinner
Chef Mickeys dinner

We would be eating at these restaurants even without plan so didn't addin tips......we are getting the 4/3 deal and the $200 gift card which should pay nicely for the tips and a few drinks......:goodvibes

[AustinTink]

For us the DDP just doesn't make sense. We do one TS per day, one CS and a light breakfast. The thing is my DS10 and I always split a meal. The portions served at Disney are just too large for one person. I mean half a rotisserie chicken for one person, really? At home my son and I could eat on that for two days!

So my husband gets his full meal, he's a big eater. My son and I split most meals. And we eat all the Mickey ice cream we can along the way. :) After doing the Math, we still spend $30 less per day than we would on the DDP. And, we don't have to carry around that "too full" feeling all day. That's what works for us now. I'll let you know when my son is a teenager!! :rotfl2:

[Ron from Michigan]

We will be doing the Dining Plan for the first time next month. We will have all three daughters and there husbands with us on this trip so we juct thought the dining plan made more since.

[mooneyda]

I think the dining plan is definitely worth it especially if you do a TS a day. I actually kind of glad they got rid of the appetizer so I can save some room for desert.

[chocovrdmicears]

I love the Dining Plan. We have used it several times. This past trip we did a split stay at POFQ & AKL..For the 2 days we were at POFQ we paid OOP for everything and I was miserable. I couldn't wait to check into the AKL and start using the Dining Plan. We will never go to Disney and not use the Dining Plan.
When paying OOP, even though I had plenty of money budgeted for those days, I found myself 'stressing' over what I wanted to order and how much it was. When we are on vacation I don't want to worry about things like that. The dining plan does save us money, but more importantly it gives me the feeling of more flexability and peace of mind. I also love having my meals & snacks paid for before we arrive.

[PrincessCaitlin]

For the sit down dining plan

it's worth it if you plan enough sit down meals to make it worth it

The dining plan is definitely worth it but you dont think you can plan enough sit down meals I would suggest the counter service only one

[Hopefully]

We love the DDP and have done it on several trips in the past.
I was, however, rethinking it for our upcoming trip. As others have said we were spoiled by the original plan which includes appetizers and tip.
However, last week I read in the Unofficial Guide that their research shows that the average person saves $4 - $7 a day. Not a huge savings, but a savings non the less.
The DDP fits our style and I am doing it again.
Good Luck

[Bree]

For MY family the Deluxe plan is worth the price. It will save MY family money. You really do need to do the math based on how you eat on vacation. I had all our reservations made before I decided to add it. Even without a dining plan I would be going to character meals & signature restaurants for dinner. It's just a bonus for me that I can get it cheaper by paying for it up front. It cost me $1300 to add deluxe dining for 7 nights. I have 13 ADR's scheduled (7 breakfast 5 signature dining dinners) and my estimate for the meals w/ tax is $1371.42 (and that is without desserts - we hardly ever order dessert). I still have 5 credits per person to use for CS lunch, 56 snack credits & 4 mugs. So you can see for my family we are coming out ahead.

But like I said, do the math based on how your family normally eats on vacation. It may or may not be a good deal for you.

[avantrease]

I have debated this question myself over and over. I have decided NOT to do it, again. Reason being, my DH and I eat kids meals most of the time because we are hot and busy and don't want a lot of food making us feel yucky. Also, I don't want to have to be at a reservation somewhere when we are having fun and not too hungry. All of the advanced planning and having to be at an ADR didn't make sense to us.

If someone who has done it feels differently, let me know. We are going in June and I have a friend who keeps trying to talk me into it.

[chocovrdmicears]

I have debated this question myself over and over. I have decided NOT to do it, again. Reason being, my DH and I eat kids meals most of the time because we are hot and busy and don't want a lot of food making us feel yucky. Also, I don't want to have to be at a reservation somewhere when we are having fun and not too hungry. All of the advanced planning and having to be at an ADR didn't make sense to us.

If someone who has done it feels differently, let me know. We are going in June and I have a friend who keeps trying to talk me into it.

Well I won't try and talk you into because I don't want to be held responsible if it doesn't work out for you. ;) But I will say this..I do understand what you are saying about the heat and it affecting your appetite and the time involved. We travel in Sept and it is HOT and humid. By planning one sit down meal a day we are able to escape the heat and relax. We all need that cool down, rest and eat break every day. That being said we are very careful about where and what we choose to eat because of the heat. We had dinner at LeCellier on day 6 of our vacation on a 90 degree day. Bad choice. :scared: But I still feel that for our family, we need that 'break' every day. If we didn't take it, we would really run ourselves down and probably not enjoy the parks as much as we should.

[outstandinfarmer]

Ok everybody - you talked me into doing the dining plan, and here's the reason why - not because I was convinced that we would save money, but having the luxury of going out and just ordering without worrying about having to pay the bill at the end made me feel it was worth it. It's our first time using it, so we will see how we feel when the trip is over. My husband the whole time would have been like "What are we spending? What are we spending? How much is this costing us? Scam scam scam!" (It's his first time going to WDW, so he doesn't understand the magic like I do. He's convinced this is all a money scam, so I want to show him it's not) So for that reason, I want him to relax and enjoy what we are doing. I also cashed in the Disney dollars and we are getting the $200 gift card so we will have about $400 extra to use throughout the trip on other things we may want to get, like souveniers, or other things to eat, etc.

So I booked the 1 CS and 1 TS a day. We are planning on going grocery shopping when we get down there and we will pack a lunch and use the CS for breakfast at the resort and the TS for dinner. So I think it will work out! Thanks for the input everybody. You made me a LOT less scared about booking it. This is actually the first time we've ever booked a vacation package, usually we do everything separate cuz we can get it cheaper, so there is a lot of new things we are trying out.

Thanks everybody! It'll be a great time. :beach: I'm going to be 5 months pregnant, so I was nervous about that, but another thread made me feel better about going then too. So you all really help. Thanks! :goodvibes

[outstandinfarmer]

One more question, does the 1 CS, 1 TS dining plan come with refillable mugs at the resort too?

[Hardy]

It is definitely worth it for us. We have two kids both within the under 10 range, and you cannot feed your kid for $10 a day on Disney food, so we already end up ahead with that, plus we do definitely enjoy doing the TS every day. We make sure to recoup our costs with dinner alone every day, even if it was more food than we would normally order (like dessert) we did our best to eat it :rotfl2:

We are going again in March, just me and DH, it isn't as great a deal without kids, but we feel we would just prefer to have it prepaid and enjoy ourselves and order what we want, instead of worrying about the bill racking up and all we are spending while there. We are going to enjoy ourselves, and having everything but tip prepaid takes a load off our minds. We would not eat at all these expensive TS restaurants without the dining plan, so yah, we could save a ton by eating cheaper and less, but the question is, would we want to?

[Hardy]

One more question, does the 1 CS, 1 TS dining plan come with refillable mugs at the resort too?

oh and no it doesn't.

[outstandinfarmer]

oh and no it doesn't.


I can't believe that. Why does all of the other plans include the refillable mugs? Crazy to me!

[amblackmon]

I have a question about the dining plan. Our family loves it, but we have a new dilemna now. My middle two children are now considered 'adults', which means that they would need the adult dining plan. Now, they are very light eaters and the adult plan is WAY too much for them. My questions is this: Do I have to buy the adult plan for them or can I go ahead and get the children's plan for them?

Thanks for the help.

[Hardy]

You have to get the adult plan. If your kids are light eaters I would recommend not getting the plan, because I don't see how it could be worth it for you financially considering it would $80 a day you are spending on two light eaters. It would be nice if they made some sort of option for the in between age.

[firsttime2disney]

We debated with the dining plan, but once I found out that you can't use it unless you stay onsite I decided against it. We booked a 3 bedroom condo for half the price of 1 hotel room onsite. We're trying to have the best budget trip we can and with half the price for lodging, I figured that could be put toward food. One of my ds's is the pickiest eater ever so we are planning to grocery shop and do breakfast and some dinners at the condo. I have never been and have always heard people say it is better to stay onsite than off, but for this time it just wasn't in our budget. Now I just have to find out how to book a few character meals within our budget. (Especially ones that ds's ages 7 and 9 AND dd age 2 will all enjoy).

[amblackmon]

You have to get the adult plan. If your kids are light eaters I would recommend not getting the plan, because I don't see how it could be worth it for you financially considering it would $80 a day you are spending on two light eaters. It would be nice if they made some sort of option for the in between age.

I was afraid of that. We won't be getting the dining plan until they are bigger eaters. Thanks for the clarification.

[dbarker]

For us, I crunched the numbers. I went to allearsnet.com and looked over the menus of where we would eat. I figured the meal price based on what we would order if we were not on the DP. Price wise, it was just about even. So, the big bonus for us was the fact that w/ the DP, meals were prepaid and that was one less thing to worry about. DH loves the convenience of the DP. This next trip, we will be on the DDP. :thumbsup2

[outstandinfarmer]

How much are the refillable mugs?

[jcmaro]

This is something I'm struggling with. Partly because it is very overwhelming planning where I'm going to be 3 months from now. It will be my husband, me and our son who is 3 1/2. He is a very picky eater and doesn't eat a lot at a time, but eats multiple times a day. He's also not good at sitting still and waiting for food. I think we've decided not to do it because we are losing part of our day when we go back to the room for naps/rest and can't see losing more of our day at a long sit down meal everyday.

We are doing one character breakfast right now, and I'm thinking about doing on more sit down meal in the park. And we will also go to DTD to T-rex one day. I don't know, it's really overwhelming to me.

[chocovrdmicears]

How much are the refillable mugs?

Don't quote me on it but I believe they are between $12.00-$13.00.
Someone here will know for sure. :)

[maggieb9975]

This is something I'm struggling with. Partly because it is very overwhelming planning where I'm going to be 3 months from now. It will be my husband, me and our son who is 3 1/2. He is a very picky eater and doesn't eat a lot at a time, but eats multiple times a day. He's also not good at sitting still and waiting for food. I think we've decided not to do it because we are losing part of our day when we go back to the room for naps/rest and can't see losing more of our day at a long sit down meal everyday.

We are doing one character breakfast right now, and I'm thinking about doing on more sit down meal in the park. And we will also go to DTD to T-rex one day. I don't know, it's really overwhelming to me.

Perhaps the Quick Service dining plan would be a good option for you?

[diskids2]

We struggled with this.....a fun struggle though!

We decided not to the plan for the following reasons and its really the combination of them all instead of each one in particular if you know what I mean:

:cool1: We are four adults because my children are 14 and 18. My 18 year old DD does not eat like an adult.

:cool1: We are BIG appetizer eaters. In fact sometimes DD and I only eat the appetizer and skip the main meal.

:cool1: We SHARE counter service. Many times we order three counter service meals and share them with each other. On the rare occasion that we are still hungry we simply order one more or another order of chicken fingers or fries...you get the idea.

:cool1: We do love TS. Out of our 11 night stay we have 8 choices that we will get ADR's for. HOWEVER....two of them are NOT on the dining plan...Rainforest Cafe and TREX.

:cool1: We don't like to get dessert at the TS location. Usually we are so full that we get dessert some other time in the evening.....like we LOVE stopping at Ghiradelli's for an icecream treat when we are in DTD.

:cool1: I actually went through each menu and added things up and found myself ordering things just because I was ENTITLED to them instead of what I really would have done. In addition we found ourselves looking for the extra three TS choices to fit into the plan. And without spending too much time on this....eating more then I need to eat or would eat is not a good idea for me ;)

:cool1: Refillable mugs are not on the regular dining plan. Upgraded plan with three meals is just way too much at $70 per day per person...For our 11 night trip that's THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS...I know I can spend less then this.

:cool1: We are SNACKERS. Usually we end up "grazing" through the day. One thing we LOVE to do is "eat around the worldshowcase" We always have one day when we sample something (sharing is involved) at each of the countries....also yogurt or bananas/fruit/bagels for breakfast too.....watching a parade....get some popcorn....wait look at those dole whips.....yipeee there are the mickey pops.....you get my point!

:cool1: 11 nights was just way too many TS for us to even think about.

:cool1: It is TRUE if I altered the way we usually do things and stuck to the basic plan ... $40/day per person is really not much money. In fact, I could never take care of all of us for $160 per day. BUT typically, and we went last Easter...we spend about $200 per day as an AVERAGE. And I know this for a fact because I divide the food money into envelopes $200 for each day....if we have left over we add it to the next day, etc. and we didn't run out. When I add a 20% tip on a $100 (low side) TS dinner...I get $20 so that cuts the savings down to $20 and if I add the extra snacks and appetizers I will need to buy anyway.....I come out spending more money.

:cool1: We always do ADR's but we also like FLEXIBILITY. Usually this goes back to the snacking issue.

So for us....it didn't seem to be a good fit.....but like so many others have said....its about your dining style and what your family likes. I have read many many posts when I was doing my research and it seems that if you have children the plan really pays because their cost is so small compared to the adult price.

I hope I helped.

[outstandinfarmer]

:cool1: 11 nights was just way too many TS for us to even think about.



Wow! How did you talk your husband into 11 days? Good job! My husband made a big deal about 7 days being too much. (He's never been there though, so doesn't get it) :p

[3boymthr]

Despite an incredibly fussy eater we're doing the DDP, here's why:

I won't spend the entire week fretting about the cost of every little bit of food. No telling the kids you can't have that it's too expensive.:cheer2:

I like the idea of having my food paid for up front. pixiedust: No worrying that I'll run out of money or have to charge it.

I was able to find 4 out of 6 TS places that offer something the fussy one likes to eat. At the other two they offer a side he likes to eat that his brother doesn't so he will share meals with his brother.

We're actually going to save money. After the cost of my TS was added up and netted from the total cost of the DDP the cost of my CS meals and snacks is $2/ea. If I have to add some OOP costs to buy the fussy eater some sides instead of a meal I'll still come out ahead.

Total projected cost of our meals: $1,182 incl. taxes. Projected cost OOP is $927.26. (Not including tips which is another $120:scared: ) I used average food prices for cost of meals. Some of the menu items cost much, much more than what I used in my calculations.

This is the first time the kids have ever been to WDW and probably the only time (DH won't vacation in the same place twice) so I wanted to let them have as many Character Meals as they wanted - they picked 3 (Plus they picked 3 gourmet places :cool1: ).