Newbie to the Dining Plan - HELP!

[bna16]

I am booking with the new stay, play and dine offer for January. We are going to do the quick service dining plan, but wanted to go to a few select table service restaurants, like Whispering Canyon Cafe and Garden Grill. Can you use 2 counter service credits to make a table service credit? I am new to the dining plan and we debated whether to do it or not, but with the new offer, it is actually cheaper with the dining plan. Any help would be awesome! Thanks!

 

[jmrothermel]

No, you can not.

 

[wdwjeffc37]

No. To use the dining plan for a table service meal you would have to upgrade to the regular dining plan. That would give you one table service meal, one quick service meal, and one snack per person per night of your stay. Check the price to upgrade to the regular plan versus the cost to pay out of pocket for your table service meals. If you only want to do a couple of table service meals, it might not be worth the upgrade price, especially if you don't want to eat table service everyday. You can find the menus and prices to all WDW restaurants on allears.com to get an idea of what a table service will cost. See what you and your family might eat then weigh that against the cost of upgrading. The DDP can sometimes be kind of overwhelming for first time users, especially when using it for table service meals, with ADRs, tips and such. Do your research and make an informed decision and you will have a great trip.

 

[bna16]

No. To use the dining plan for a table service meal you would have to upgrade to the regular dining plan. That would give you one table service meal, one quick service meal, and one snack per person per night of your stay. Check the price to upgrade to the regular plan versus the cost to pay out of pocket for your table service meals. If you only want to do a couple of table service meals, it might not be worth the upgrade price, especially if you don't want to eat table service everyday. You can find the menus and prices to all WDW restaurants on allears.com to get an idea of what a table service will cost. See what you and your family might eat then weigh that against the cost of upgrading. The DDP can sometimes be kind of overwhelming for first time users, especially when using it for table service meals, with ADRs, tips and such. Do your research and make an informed decision and you will have a great trip.

Thanks so much for your help. We are currently looking into the dining plan that includes table service. I am hoping I can talk everyone in my party into going for that plan. It will be so nice to have everything paid for before we go so we only have to bring souvenir money (basically)!

 

[POOHsie]

The problem I have with the regular DDP (1TS, 1CS, 1 Snack) is that you have credits to eat one Table Service meal per day. Honestly, in the Florida heat, and after a long slog thru the parks, the idea of sitting down someplace nice and eating a large, hearty meal every night is not on my radar. Plus you have to stop what you're doing and travel to the restaurant. It's a major time-consuming issue.

You're not the first one to say they liked the convenience of the dining plan, but really, the price is very similar to paying out of pocket and the only thing being accomplished is not carrying around extra cash or CC. We get the QSDP and charge our one or two TS meals to our room, so in that sense, it's just as convenient as charging it to the DDP. We have money saved in advance, and when the CC bill comes in for the meals, it's paid that month. If you're purchasing the Dining Plan, you have to consider all the extra money you would pay to have TS every night, including tips at those meals. That could easily add $100 to your expenses. We think it's better to have the QSDP and just have a few TS meals. Just my opinion.