Is Dining Plan still a good deal?

[kittyab]

See! This is why it is so dependent on your experience/needs! My family is the exact opposite--we really like TS, particularly when parks are crowded. It's a great break in the day and I get really frustrated trying to get everyone situated when using QS and fighting for table spots, standing in line to order, etc. That's why we don't do DDP--lunch TS isn't a great value and we aren't dessert with lunch people.

Our next trip is during a less crowded time, so the DDP makes sense for us only because we are doing fixed high-price options (character buffets, family style) for dinners and I ran the numbers--we're going to try eating as we go during the day, then enjoying a sit down dinner.

On our last trip we opted to spend more money on experiences and souvenirs then meals. It really depends on what is really important to your family. We have used TIW in the past and loved the flexibility.

I find with the dining plan, you are stuffing yourself to get your money's worth. If you pay out of pocket, you can split plates, share deserts. Not to just save on money but to eat yourself sick too.

We used Garden Grocer to stock the room for us too. I prefer a quiet breakfast in the room. Not to mention I don't like the coffee that is served at Disney. So I have my favorite blend in my room and the flavored creamer too. Me & dh like to eat our breakfast on the balcony and watch people lol!

 

[2girlsR2good]

I find with the dining plan, you are stuffing yourself to get your money's worth. If you pay out of pocket, you can split plates, share deserts. Not to just save on money but to eat yourself sick too.

I agree with you that is ridiculous! We've followed a similar plan to you in the past, which is one reason I'm really looking forward to getting to try the kinds of restaurants we've not experienced. There's just no way that Chef Mickey's is reasonable priced for our family, but I've wanted to go for years. We decided to lump all the overpriced, inflexible options together in one trip!

 

[married2mm]

After reading through the posts on this thread-
My answer is-it's a good deal if you want it to be.

Like many things in life-it's the individual take on the situation which counts.
2 exact scenarios (dining or whatever) = 2 totally opposite descriptions

As my sweet dd often says-there are 3 sides to every story!

 

[kittyab]

The fact my DD is a extremely picky eater, and will only eat off the kids menu even though she is 11.... a dining plan would mean she would be charged as a adult.

It all comes down to what you want to spend on your vacation. I will admit since we save so much on our meals on our last trip we splurged and went to the star wars desert party.

 

[xipetotec]

We haven't been to WDW for seven years so I know some things have changed like Le Cellier is now two credits, so I was wondering if it's still a better choice or if we'd be better off buying our meals?

I would say it depends on your dining habits. That being said, we used to be avid defenders of the dining plan up until about 2014. *for us* the value just hasn't been there since.

 

[elmpark]

It's a great deal (I think) if you get it free like I have from the UK. July 5th next year for 16 nights with free dining plan. - got the Yacht Club garden view room for £310 (pounds) a night which is no doubt full rack rate - very expensive but when you get the dining plan I've worked out for the 4 of us going (all adult meals) it would cost around £150 a day to eat at a sit down, quick dining and a couple of snacks a day. So really I'm paying £310 a day for hotel and all meals.

And I DO enjoy all the restaurants, Ohana, Teppan Edo, also gonna book California Cafe for a treat. And of course $8 starbucks coffee for each snack credit to maximise the deal lol.

Of course you have to add 18% gratuity to this, but you would if you paid cash anyway.

 

[Dakota731]

Now hubby said he wants the dining plan, ugh. I will do the math again. Can we bill extras like tip and alcohol to our room and my daughter charge hers to her room even if I bought the plans all together?

 

[maxiesmom]

On our last trip we opted to spend more money on experiences and souvenirs then meals. It really depends on what is really important to your family. We have used TIW in the past and loved the flexibility.

I find with the dining plan, you are stuffing yourself to get your money's worth. If you pay out of pocket, you can split plates, share deserts. Not to just save on money but to eat yourself sick too.

We used Garden Grocer to stock the room for us too. I prefer a quiet breakfast in the room. Not to mention I don't like the coffee that is served at Disney. So I have my favorite blend in my room and the flavored creamer too. Me & dh like to eat our breakfast on the balcony and watch people lol!

See, for me and my Disney travel buddy my nephew, the meals are a huge part of the experience. From the sounds of it you stayed at a deluxe resort? To me, that is a waste of money. Why spend money on someplace you sleep and maybe hang out to people watch? We all value different things. Neither is wrong, it is just what works and makes sense TO YOU!

 

[maxiesmom]

Now hubby said he wants the dining plan, ugh. I will do the math again. Can we bill extras like tip and alcohol to our room and my daughter charge hers to her room even if I bought the plans all together?

Did you pay for both rooms and packages then? Your daughter should be able to set up charging to her room and pay for things that way.

 

[Nancyg56]

The other piece to be honest about is what categories of dining you like.
Do you love TS meals and only fill in with a few QS meals? If so, there is likely no DP that will fit you. This is where we fall. Regular dining plan gives us too many QS meals, too few TS meals. Deluxe gives us too many meals period. QS wouldn't work either because we eat very few QS meals. Well less than 1 per day. While you don't have to eat 1 TS meal and 1 QS meal per day you do get the credits that way so look at the pool of credits you'll get and see if you can use them, even before you figure out how to get the best value for those credits.

That's why I build a spreadsheet if the meals we want, and how we will likely order. I like to know what we are planning and then pick a plan that will match. I'm not going to work backwards. That's a good way to become disappointed.

 

[Dakota731]

Did you pay for both rooms and packages then? Your daughter should be able to set up charging to her room and pay for things that way.

I paid for dining plan for all four of us but I don't want to pay for alcohol etc. So we we each have a different bracelet to charge extras to our individual rooms? Haven't been to WDW for six years so back then we didn't even have bracelets - just ticket cards!

 

[IrishNYC]

I paid for dining plan for all four of us but I don't want to pay for alcohol etc. So we we each have a different bracelet to charge extras to our individual rooms? Haven't been to WDW for six years so back then we didn't even have bracelets - just ticket cards!

Yes, you can assign different credit cards to each room, or even each individual when you do your online check in. I would double check at the resort when you arrive to make sure the charging privileges are set up correctly.