How to make the most of Disney's Dining Plan??

[SumWhrOvrThRanBo]

Can someone suggest to me what restaurants (both TS & CS) will give me the most bang for my buck!?? The DDP is expensive and I want to get my money's worth... So where to eat & what to order?? So many decisions!!

[Disneylover99]

Any of the character buffets at dinner are good bets to get good value.
Wolfgang Puck Express at DTD for quick service.

[sharonabe]

QS suggestions:
MK--Cosmic Rays, Be Our Guest
AK--Flame Tree BBQ
Epcot--Sunshine Seasons, Tangeriene Cage
HS--Fairfax Fare

TS
Do dinners and order the steak

[purple figment]

Buffets and all you care to eat family style restaurants are good use of TS credits since you get unlimited food. Also Akershus if your family wants to meet princesses and it is only one credit.

You can go to allears and look at the menus to get an idea of the prices at various restaurants. Don't forget that signature restaurants, CRT and the dinner shows are 2 credits per person. Here's the link:

http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm#pi

[G719]

I sat down with the menus from the Internet and selected restaurants that we wanted to eat at. Then I calculated the cost of all the meals we would eat using credits, picking food that my family would typically eat. I used $3 as an average price for eat snack credit and added in the cost of 4 resort drink mugs. I was trying to see if it made sense to do the plan or just pay as we went. I even left dessert out at a few restaurants. I would save about $300 on the plan. I think if you have kids under age 9 you save more than if your kids are on the adult plan. My kids also want to do character meals which we have 3 picked out for our next trip. Those are expensive. Don't use counter service credits for breakfast though.

Some people love the plan, others not so much. See if it works for your family but I wouldn't pick dining choices just to get the most out of the plan. I have read on the boards that is one reason some people are opposed to it. Happy dining!

[patsal]

Buffets at dinner, WP at DTD for CS

If you go planning on maxing out the DDP, understand that the travel between places can eat up a lot of your time and you may not be eating what you want to eat but rather what is the most expensive.

Many people think about what and where they want to eat to determine if the DDP is right for them. It is becoming more and more difficult to "max" out a DDP with the increasethey have had in pricing.

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I think if you need to ask other ppl what you should order at a restaurant to get the most bang for your buck then the dining plan may not be the best option for you.

Why don't you just go to the places you want to eat and order exactly what you want to eat?

If you don't think you will come out ahead by just eating what you want (check the menus and prices on allears) then just don't even get the dining plan and pay OOP.

People trying to get the most "bang for your buck" seems like it has turned eating into some kind of game show.

If you are all set to go ahead and pay for the dining plan and try to make sure you get your money's worth just go to these places, look at the menu, find the most expensive thing, and order that. Every time.

Most TS places have steak and that is usually the highest priced menu item. If you like steak just plan on eating it every night and you should break even on your dining plan.

To be honest, if you want the best value and most bang for your buck you should just pay out of pocket. Skip desserts. Drink water. And you will definitely save money over what you would have paid for the dining plan.

[TDC Nala]

Assuming this is regarding the regular dining plan:

Either do as many one-credit buffets/family style meals as possible, or make sure you intend to select the more expensive items on any a la carte menu.

Find the places that will let you have an appetizer if you order from a prix-fixe menu. (Remember this means you will likely be limited to the restaurant's less expensive entrees on the prix-fixe)

Don't do two-credit meals.

Choose the most expensive CS restaurants. The most expensive, relatively, is Wolfgang Puck Express at Downtown Disney.

Use all your TS credits on dinner. Don't choose breakfast or lunch. If you can help it, don't use any of your credits on breakfast (except buffets, but be advised that lunch/dinner buffets cost more). If you get CS or a la carte breakfast, you lose the dessert allotment.

Do not skip dessert. Make sure you use your snack credits on items costing $4 to $5, not on bottles of water.

[danicaca]

This article is a great place to start: http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2012/0...lues-for-2012/Otherwise, the Disney Food Blog is a great resource, also for snack and CS options that will get you the best value for the DP. Hope that helps!

[hotcarib]

Originally Posted by SumWhrOvrThRanBo

Can someone suggest to me what restaurants (both TS & CS) will give me the most bang for my buck!?? The DDP is expensive and I want to get my money's worth... So where to eat & what to order?? So many decisions!!

See if this helps you:

http://seeyareelsoon.wix.com/seeyare...alculator/cxc0

[linetbo]

Originally Posted by SumWhrOvrThRanBo

Can someone suggest to me what restaurants (both TS & CS) will give me the most bang for my buck!?? The DDP is expensive and I want to get my money's worth... So where to eat & what to order?? So many decisions!!

[linetbo]

Originally Posted by G719

I sat down with the menus from the Internet and selected restaurants that we wanted to eat at. Then I calculated the cost of all the meals we would eat using credits, picking food that my family would typically eat. I used $3 as an average price for eat snack credit and added in the cost of 4 resort drink mugs. I was trying to see if it made sense to do the plan or just pay as we went. I even left dessert out at a few restaurants. I would save about $300 on the plan. I think if you have kids under age 9 you save more than if your kids are on the adult plan. My kids also want to do character meals which we have 3 picked out for our next trip. Those are expensive. Don't use counter service credits for breakfast though.

Some people love the plan, others not so much. See if it works for your family but I wouldn't pick dining choices just to get the most out of the plan. I have read on the boards that is one reason some people are opposed to it. Happy dining!

Hi, so you said that we should pay for my breakfast and have the csc for lunch and the table credit for dinner? This is the first time using dining plan and want to learn more, how can I do some research about where and when and what to eat, have time to do it because going for NYE. Thanks

[G719]

If you are eating breakfast in your resorts food court then yes pay out of pocket. You don't get a lot of value from the plan by using a credit for a quick serve breakfast. You can even find some breakfast foods like a pastry can be bought with a snack credit. We did do a couple character breakfast buffets which were a table credit. Then we would usually just get a small lunch and then a quick serve dinner. Plus remember you have a certain number of credits based on the number of nights you have but you don't have to do a table service, a quick service, and a snack each day. Some days If we did character breakfast, we had a table service dinner. Then another day we would have a quick service lunch and a quick service dinner. You have a little flexibility that way. Have fun planning!

http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm is a great resource for all the menus and prices.

[vacation_junkie]

Originally Posted by SumWhrOvrThRanBo

Can someone suggest to me what restaurants (both TS & CS) will give me the most bang for my buck!?? The DDP is expensive and I want to get my money's worth... So where to eat & what to order?? So many decisions!!

We "Maximize" the Dining plan
next trip
-TRex
-Rainforest Cafe DTD
-Rainforest Cafe -AK
-Cape May
-Captains Grille
-Mama Melrose
-and still 1 left to decide. Hesitating Chef Mickey's..we had horrible service there last time.

Look on all ears dot net and browse through the menu's..depending on what you like to eat you can see which are the best places to eat.

-Don't use your QS for breakfast. Waste of a credit. You can get a bagel , muffin..etc for a snack credit if you wish.

-If you go down to the QS place in your resort you can order a large pizza with 2 desserts & 2 drinks for 2 TS credits. It feeds more then 2 people. Do not have it delivered to your room...that is 2 TABLE service credits..

We will not "purchase" the dining plan now that our 12 yr old has to pay the Adult prices. The average meal at the most expensive places were about $130 for the 3 of us. Even though we strategically maximize the dining plan we just about break even if we paid for it out of pocket.
Dining plan cost $56 x 3 people = $168 -$130 for dinner =$38 for counter service and snacks. QS average platter $9 x3 =$27..which leaves approx 11 for snacks... breaking even!! If we were paying out of pocket we wouldn't eat dessert normally or chose such expensive selections.. so in perspective it would be cheaper without DDP



If its Free dining time then we will take advantage of it...but if not we'll pay out of pocket. We always have a rental car and there is a tonne of places to eat within a short drive for a fraction of the money!

[serene56]

my family picked'their choices'for our visit.

the dining plan is costing 770 per couple.

i did the math on each meal adding in a snack each day.

dining plan is 770 and paying out of pocket will cost 672.00 losing 100 per couple buying their dining plan

but my family is looking at this as a prepaying and not worrying about what to order and making sure they have money at the end of the week to purchase food.

for 100 savings- i am thinking of paying out of pocket

to make rhe plan work for me i figure i need a counter that will cost about 20 bucks, the snack to cost about 4 and sit down to cost about 30 just to break even