Is the Disney Dining plan worth it.......

[Donald Duck 57]

We are staying for 5 nights mid September. There will be 3 adults, The question is with our DVC and AP discounts is it worth it for us to buy the dining plan. We will be going to Cape May Cafe, Germany (lunch) Canada, Japan and Ohanas for our table service meals.:surfweb:

[ancestry]

Well, I think the value of the dining plan varies from family to family and depends on how they utilize their dining points. I'm not a DVC member and I don't have AP passes so I can't repond specifically to your situation. What I would suggest doing is pricing out the meals based on what you think your group might order (most menus and pricing are available on line) and then compare your totals to the cost of the dining plan and see if it is a good value for your group or not.

Good Luck and enjoy your trip!

[Shelly S]

We have DVC and have had annual passes for the last few years. We used the dining plan before but last July and this January we did not. We ate at a table service and a counter service every day and did not have dessert or appetizers in the restaurant most of the time. We ended up spending more than the dining plan would have cost us last trip. It seems the prices have gone up in all the restaurants making the dining plan a better value if you plan to do a table service nearly every day.

[dd50]

I think it depends on how your family usually eats. We are doing the dining package for the first time, but normally we don't do TS every day so for us I think it will end up more than I usually spend. The up side is I will be trying to places that I normally didn't go before. My teens are looking forward to all the desserts that I don't usually buy at lunch.

[Cmbar]

Just curious, OP do you have the Tables in Wonderland card? This is available to AP members and we are considering doing this. Have you compared that to the dining plan yet?

I agree that the Dining plan is really a value if it works for your family. Lots of families are different. Also since we go often (and will go now more with DVC) some of our trips are going to be more of a Park trip versus a Resort trip. On our park trips we do the parks and therefore don't want to stop for TS meals. On our more Resort trips we enjoy the resorts more and look forward to our TS meals. We are actually going to try CS dining plan this time and see how it works.