Is the dinning plan wotrh it?

[slice67]

Is the plan worth it?

[StuckInKS]

It varies per family. I just got done adding up where we likely to eat and what we are likely to order (all of OK on the dining plan) and our food cost was $1330 paying OOP vs. $820 for the DDP. That is without dessert for the adults at most meals, so it would be more if we added dessert at every location. That is also with only 12% tax on the OOP food, as I forgot where it is 12% or 12.5%.

[palmettogirl07]

For us the dining plan really worked fantastic for us. It saved us so much money when we went. It does vary with what you would most likely eat and where you would eat, ect.. What I would do is do an analysis and add up how much you would each individually eat and then base that off of how much the dining plan is.

Plus I love the ease the dining plan is :)

[pauly's girl]

We enjoy the plan because it allows us to pre-pay everything. It also gives us the freedom to enjoy some of the resturants that we otherwise wouldn't if we were not on the plan. The best way is to figure out where you would go and what you would spend on meals. In 2003 My DH and DD5 spent over 1000 dollars eating. This was before the DDp were avaliable. It's worth it for us with a sporty DD12 and growing DS8, who are good eaters!

[OhThePain]

As the other posters have said, it depends on the family. I have found that for my girlfriend and I, there is not too much savings in money terms. However, having most of our meals already paid for makes our trips that much more enjoyable.

[TDC Nala]

Depends entirely on your party and how they use it. I personally will not voluntarily choose to use the dining plan again (I will use it again only if traveling with a group and the rest of the group insists on it). Prepayment for the sake of convenience doesn't interest me at all - I would fall victim to Dining Planus Maximus, eat when I don't want to eat and order things I wouldn't have ordered otherwise.

[Faldred]

My general canned answer to this question:

Is the DDP (or QSDP or DxDP) right for me? This is a very subjective question, and as such requires a very subjective answer, though backed up with a bit of fact and analysis. Everyone is different, with different objectives and priorities, and as such, it is doubtful that any given two groups of people, even if going to the same places at the same times, will agree on the relative benefits (or lack thereof) of any particular dining plan.

That said, there are some basic rules of thumb to consider. Table service meals (except room service and pizza delivery) pretty much require making reservations; it is very difficult to secure table service seating "on the fly". As such, some people may not wish to be tied to a schedule -- these people will likely not enjoy the DDP or DxDP, though the QSDP may be an option for them. In a similar vein, people who do not want to feel "committed" to using a set number of credits within a certain time window may find that any of the plans are too burdensome for them.

As a personal opinion, if you qualify for the purchase of a Tables In Wonderland (TIW) card, it's probably a better option. The savings will probably be as good (within some margin of error) as any of the dining plans and there is more flexibility and less commitment involved, although you will need to use the TIW card enough to justify its cost; on a single short trip, this may be hard to accomplish -- for multiple and/or longer trips, the cost can be more readily absorbed by savings. Note that there are some dining plan locations that don't take TIW (and vice-versa).

Otherwise, the general advice I try to give is: if one of the plans matches (at least closely) the way you want to eat while on vacation, then it's probably a good idea. If you're changing your dining habits to match the plan, then it very well might not be a good "deal", regardless of any apparent (or real) savings. If you tend to want to order off the "low end" of the menu and would rarely want desserts, you might not see any savings on the dining plans at all!

The "intangibles" of having a dining plan is knowing that everything (within reason, and generally excepting tips) is already covered -- it makes for a more "all inclusive" experience and allows you to be a bit more ambitious in ordering items that you might not take a risk on if you're paying for each item out of pocket. The flip side is that it could also lead to some stress in trying to ensure that you "get everything you're entitled to" and attempting to "maximize" the plan, rather than simply dining the way you want to at that moment.

So, back to the first principle: everyone is different, and will accordingly see a subjective value (or lack thereof) in the dining plans differently.

[Checkers]

As already stated, it depends on your family. When DH & I go alone we do not use the DP, just the TIW card. However, when we take our DD, SIL, 3 DGC, we always get the DP because it is more cost effective. We do use the TIW card for any "extras" ordered.

[YesMickey]

For us the DDP became a hassle and a waste of time. Also after about day 3 or 4 we were tired of eating so much as you feel like you are not making the most of it if you don't eat alot. The biggest negative is you have to plan your whole trip around your reservations, and we are there for the rides. You can count on a table service meal taking up about 2 hours of your time and that does not include scrambling, in some cases, to get to the restaurant in time for your reservation as we almost missed one because we were nearly 15 minutes late. Kinda weird because your wait time ones you show up is always over 15 minutes after you check in at the podium:confused3. We are doing the Quick Service plan this time and are looking forward to it as we can eat whenever we want, and aren't strapped to a schedule.:thumbsup2

[dd50]

I pretty much feel like yesmickey. After 2 days I got tired of the TS and was always full. We didn't even have a snack the whole week because it seemed like it was almost time to eat again. Two of my girls didn't really eat much of any thing in the restaurants except the dessert so to me I was seeing $40 a kid going down the drain where I could have bought them the $4 ice cream and had the $40 each in my pocket. This time we aren't doing a food plan because with the QS sometimes I don't want a full meal and would end up having some left over that you need to hurry up and use.

[owenbyd]

Well, technically I can't tell you YET, but I can tell you why we chose it:thumbsup2

Although Dh and I have been to WDW several times together and on two DCL trips, we have had a change of lifestyle (thanks Dave Ramsey:lmao:) plus two children that ceased a lot of 'extras' at all. Short story: we are going to the World in May but don't plan to return for some time as there are a host of other things that we would like for our children to experience. For this reason, we are kind of going 'as big as paying cash will allow'.

We elected the QS plan for our upcoming trip. We - like PP- wouldn't like to be tied down to TS ressies and felt that we just wouldn't get our money's worth with our more activity/less food children. That said, we like the idea of completely SPLURGING! We rarely go out to eat here at home and so just eating OUTSIDE the room will be quite the experience but the freedom to tell our children - for just one week - "Sure! Go ahead and have that snack!!" rather than comparing the cost of a popcorn vs. an ice cream etc.

I dunno. Having this plan - even the QS - has taken a lot of the stress out of planning for me (and I am a natural $$ stressor). Yes, we will eat more than ever but thanks to the wisdom of these disboards folks, we feel that we will be able to eat in a diverse and equitable manner throughout our vacation.

That said, we did make two TS ressies: one character meal (Ohana) and one Sci-Fi ressie because I have always wanted to take my children there one day--and now we ARE!!:banana:

[danielle.st]

It depends on your family and how you define "worth".
I've been to WDW 3 times in my life. The first 2 times I sayed off site, in the cheapest hotels possible, and ate fast food for every meal. I actually couldn't tell you what I ate as it was not memorable. I do remember on the 2nd trip that I wanted to go to some of the more interesting CS places, but my picky dh was afraid to try anything except burgers so it was easier for me to give in and have foods I didn't really want (lunches onsite, I am talking about, dinners were fast food off site).
We went on a trip in December 2008 and to my immense surprise, my cheapskate dh agreed to the deluxe dining plan! His reasoning was that he requires 3 meals a day anyway and I think for him the organization of having all of the paid for vs some paid for and some OOP was a draw.
I preferred it because I desperately wanted to wat in all of those character meals and amazingly themed places! Also, the variety was much better for the TS, IMO.
We went and loved the deluxe dining plan. We loved having about an hour per meal to rest, relax, see characters, chat, try new foods, etc. We tried going into a CS place one day (in AK at lunchtime) and it was a mobscene in there. We walked out without eating, went back to our hotel and ate at the fairly empty food court instead. Had we planned a TS meal there, we probably would have stayed in AK a couple of more hours after eating and seen a few more things, but instead we didn't feel it was worth traveling back and forth.
We all decided that we would do deluxe again for our upcoming April trip. Not one of us had misgivings. Did we have too much food? Sure, if we ordered every little thing and worried about mazimizing our plan. Actually, the only day we ate enough to feel sick was a day that we used snack credits for breakfast and has 2 TS (nonbuffet) meals. The rest of the days we had 3 meals a day, many buffets, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
As far as I recall, we only spent more than an hour at a restaurant once. That was Biergarten and it was because we were enjoying ourselves too much to leave! We didn't realize how long we had been there until we left and realized the Friendship boat wasn't running from Germany to Future World! lol.

[pooch]

of course we've never paid for it. The only time we found it too much food was when we had noshed around F & WF and then had a TS for dinner. We split all CS meals, 1 for breakfast & 1 for lunch then have our own dinner. We usually get apple slices for our CS dessert to munch while waiting in line so we don't overload on sweets and often split or skip dessert at our TS meal if we aren't hungry or nothing appeals to us. Since its free (we stay at Pop so rack rate is pretty cheap) we don't feel the need to maximize the plan and so we find it fits our eating style pretty well.

[3princess mommy]

I added up the menues from All Ears and it saved us about a couple hundred dollars
Plus no need to worry about what to order what you have spent

[MrsLS]

To us, yes it is worth it, we save a lot of money. It might not be for everyone though, you have to review the menus & where you are going to go to see if it is worth it or not.

[ncc1701]

DH and I got the free DDP on our last trip.After we got home I review the reciepts on a spread sheet (what can I say I was an Accounting major:cool1:) After taking out the desserts we wouldn't have ordered if we weren't on the plan ( we aren't big desserts eaters) we broke even. That was with having eaten 4 of our 5 CS meals at WPE DTD MP which is a little more expensive (but worth it:thumbsup2)
If they gave you an option of side salad/soup instead of the dessert we might pay for it. But it not for us as it stands now
Don't forget you still have to cover the tip

[LovesTimone]

I love the ease of the DP, Just give them the card leave the tip and your off.
I like to try new things and this way you are more inclined to try something new.
This year we decided to try DXDDP, several family and friends getting together, for a weekend and just my family staying on a few extra days. There are alot of big eaters in our group so this was the only answer we could come up with.

[a1tinkfans]

Is the plan worth it?

YUP. paying OOP but when its FREE its even better :goodvibes
Love that dining plan!!!

[liz827]

It was definitely worth it for me. When I first starting booking the trip, I had QS and all I wanted to plan was a meal at Cinderella's Castle. It ended up being cheaper for me to upgrade my plan to include 1 sit down meal a day, then to just pay for the castle meal :eek: So, now we have a sit down meal every day and 3 of them are character meals :cool1: DD LOVES eating out, so it'll be a win, win for both of us :woohoo: Plus she has been non stop eating, so I hope this growth spurt lasts until after Disney ;)

[TillyMarigold]

The dining plan, like most such things in life, is "worth it" if you like to eat exactly the way the plan is designed for you to eat. If you eat nothing like the way the plan is designed for you to eat, then it's a complete waste. Most people fall somewhere in between.

[johamna]

definitely worth it for us! we save a bit and i think the convenience is worth it, alone!

[paulas]

The ddp is definitely worth it but you have to plan ahead. I unfortunatley did not the first year the plan came out in 2005 so we did not get good reservations. I usually book a table service for lunch and sometimes dinner, there is a lot of food, however you do save money in the long run. There is no where else in the world you can go and enjoy a character meal with your children, the absolutley love meeting the characters up close and personal.