Is the dining plan worth it???

[lifesgr8]

I have to disagree about the deluxe dining plan. We just recently purchased it for 4 nights, and totally got our money's worth. It cost us $320 per night for our family, and we easily got double that in food. It is 3 table service credits per day, to use as you wish. We had the most fun eating at great restaurants, and ordering an appetizer, entree and dessert for everyone in our family. My boys were in heaven. Our cheapest bill for a TS dinner was over $200, with some being closer to $400. You can easily get your money's worth ++++.

To the OP's point about the regular dining plan. We love using the Disney dining plan. We are DVC, so we pay to add the dining plan to our reservations. I like the fact that my 15 and 11 year old boys can order what ever they want off the menu. If they want the $40 steak, they can have it. If we were paying OOP, I would cringe at them ordering that steak. You have to balance out the cost of the dining plan for your family, and then look at the menus of the restaurants that you are interested in dining at to make sure that you will get your money's worth. Some restaurants are alot cheaper than others, and are better payed for OOP, than with the dining plan. Unless you get free dining, then I guess it doesn't matter.

Ahhhh! I am going crazy! How do you figure all this dining out?! Is there a place that lays out all these things? table service, quick service, credits, tinkerbell card or what ever that was, deluxe, ????? all I know is I have 5 kids and the last time we went to dl they ate me out of my budget and I was constantly saying no no no! coming to wdw in january.....I want more of a relaxing meal time rather than pinching pennies the entire time. we dont do sit down meals with our younger 2 they wont really sit through a regular meal and I dont want to make reservations 4-6 months in advance. we like to eat when we are hungry, close to where we are standing at the time! so can you use a credit for a sit down dinner at a quick service place? is there a place that explains all of the options? or what things might cost with out the dining? help!

 

[lifesgr8]

would someone explain the tables in wonderland card?

oh and another dining question..... Are restuarants at a Disney resort considered a Disney restuarant like in the park? So if I buy the dining plan can I use credits at the food court of the cbr? OR my diney gift cards?

 

[lifesgr8]

If the only two sit-downs you want are the ones you mentioned, then you'll be better off without any dining plan. Rainforest Cafe is not on the DDP, so you would have to pay OOP for that anyway.

As for the QSDP (quick-service/counter-service), it is 2 meals a day, one snack, and a refillable mug that is only good at your resort. For three of you it will be $35.00/day and I don't remember how much it is for a child. If you want drinks and desserts with ALL your meals, you'll do okay. If you're water drinkers and dessert twice a day (plus another snack) seems like too much, you'll do better without it.

the refill mug is not good in the parks?

 

[lifesgr8]

If I do the dining plan ... are there only certain places we can use the credits? Is there a list of that somewhere?

 

[sharonabe]

lifesgr8:

It sounds like you would not benefit from any of the dining plans. You are going in Jan 2012 when the quick/counter service (QSDP) plan will only include 2 meals, 1 snack, and the refillable mug and it will cost $35 for each person 10 and up and I think $12 for 3-9. For each meal at a counter service (walk-up, order, and find a table) you will get your entree (burger, chicken, fish, ribs, etc), dessert, and a drink. And yes, the refillable mug is only good at YOUR resort not the parks.

The way to figure it out for you would be to check out the menus at allearsnet.com and look at the "counter service" restaurants to see what your family would like. If what you would order for two meals is more than $35, then get the QSDP, but remember they still only get 1 entree, 1 dessert, and 1 drink per meal. If you have some heavy eaters and you're going to be supplementing the QSDP with more food, then you'll probably be better off just going OOP.

All the other plans, DDP and DxDP are for sit-down, table service (TS) meals and since you said you don't want to do those, they would not be a good deal for you.


If you go to the restaurant board, there is a thread titled "$40 a day". That will give you some ideas of what you could eat for just $5 more than the QSDP, but they all include a TS, so you should be able to do the same with just QS.

 

[ILoveWD]

We skipped the DP on our last trip to WDW. This was the first trip that I did not gain 5-8 pounds over a week. I found that on the DP I always ordered a soda and and ate the dessert because it was included or paid for by the plan. I liked the freedom to order a CS kids meal for myself or have an just have an appetizer as a meal with water.

We keep our food receipts and calculated that we did save money every day without paying for the DP. We also took our own water bottles to the parks and small snacks from home for between meals.

Your resort selection and room discount (if you have one) and also whether you pay for the dining plan are also factors.


That is just what worked for my family. Each person has a different answers based on their family needs.

 

[lifesgr8]

lifesgr8:

It sounds like you would not benefit from any of the dining plans. You are going in Jan 2012 when the quick/counter service (QSDP) plan will only include 2 meals, 1 snack, and the refillable mug and it will cost $35 for each person 10 and up and I think $12 for 3-9. For each meal at a counter service (walk-up, order, and find a table) you will get your entree (burger, chicken, fish, ribs, etc), dessert, and a drink. And yes, the refillable mug is only good at YOUR resort not the parks.

The way to figure it out for you would be to check out the menus at allearsnet.com and look at the "counter service" restaurants to see what your family would like. If what you would order for two meals is more than $35, then get the QSDP, but remember they still only get 1 entree, 1 dessert, and 1 drink per meal. If you have some heavy eaters and you're going to be supplementing the QSDP with more food, then you'll probably be better off just going OOP.

All the other plans, DDP and DxDP are for sit-down, table service (TS) meals and since you said you don't want to do those, they would not be a good deal for you.


If you go to the restaurant board, there is a thread titled "$40 a day". That will give you some ideas of what you could eat for just $5 more than the QSDP, but they all include a TS, so you should be able to do the same with just QS.

Ive just been to all ears and priced for just my oldest child and what he would eat...would be oop $30. (in park eating) so you are right. I just dont see us doing sit down meals, we have never been that kind of park goer. And my 6 year old will not sit through much of any meal in public. I am new to disboards so I will go find a section about eating (im sure there is one right?) and find more about these mugs, savings cards etc?! but, for now unless the dining plan is free (hopefully it will be in jan 2012) I wont pay extra for it. I do need to figure out a way to budget for the days and not be a food/money miser ... that drove me nuts at dl last time! teenagers are always hungry! and the churros look much better than the wheat thins in my diaper bag!

 

[amylynne01]

Ive just been to all ears and priced for just my oldest child and what he would eat...would be oop $30. (in park eating) so you are right. I just dont see us doing sit down meals, we have never been that kind of park goer. And my 6 year old will not sit through much of any meal in public. I am new to disboards so I will go find a section about eating (im sure there is one right?) and find more about these mugs, savings cards etc?! but, for now unless the dining plan is free (hopefully it will be in jan 2012) I wont pay extra for it. I do need to figure out a way to budget for the days and not be a food/money miser ... that drove me nuts at dl last time! teenagers are always hungry! and the churros look much better than the wheat thins in my diaper bag!

I haven't seen free dining offered in January in 09, 10, or 11. And you do pay extra for "free" dining because it means you can't get a discount on your room. You can get a discount on your room, pay OOP for food, and get your tickets through an authorized reseller like Undercover Tourist or AAA. Or you can pay full price for your room, get your tickets through Disney, and get free dining. For your family, it really sounds like the first option I listed will be better.

 

[beautyqueen]

We will be doing the dining plan when we go as a family next summer and also staying CL so breakfast types of items will be in the CL area. For our Feb trip with just me and three of my 5 kids we are doing the dxddp, I am going with the oldest of the three and staying value, my 16y/o can eat like 2 grown men and he won't be with us for the summer trip so I want him to be able to enjoy his time with shows and other 2ts meals.

 

[lakohls]

We are effectively a family of 5 going in November. 3 adults & 2 kids for 7 nights (8 full days) regular DDP should be about $1133. I did a spreadsheet with our reservations & estimated prices from allears as suggested many times on the boards and come up with a total of $1573 for the week. Assumptions include $4 snacks and $12 QS meals/person/day plus our sit-downs which include 3 character meals. So may be about $400 saved this trip. (I know kids QS will be less, and not all snacks are $4, but for ease of spreadsheet these were my assumptions).

However, I am still torn on the meal plan as it is not how we would always prefer to eat. Likely this will be the last trip on the plan as next time 2 of the kids will be "adults" and the math in combination with my "prefer to eat" concern will trump the possible savings.

 

[AshtonsMom99]

I feel it is totally worth it....esp. if you have a family of eaters. I know the last time we went it didnt cost us anymore than it would have without the plan, the freedom of not having to carry extra funds in your pocket is worth any price you do have to pay in my opinion....

 

[carone0318]

We always get the DDP. Our family has always been a family that ate 1 TS per day before the plan existed, but now the plan makes itmore cost effective to eat how we did before.

 

[krowe333]

Thanks so much for all of your opinions!!!

 

[aggordon2]

We have always used the dining plan, in fact we upgraded to the deluxe, we like to go to character meals, signature restaurants and the hoop-dee-doo show. So we need the extra TS credits. We always go during free dining and upgrade. We have twin boys with food allergies and the TS are the best bets for them. Not all QS have alternatives for alllergies, but all the TS that we have booked have. For our situation the dining plan is our best bet.

 

[dhardawa]

I haven't seen free dining offered in January in 09, 10, or 11. And you do pay extra for "free" dining because it means you can't get a discount on your room. You can get a discount on your room, pay OOP for food, and get your tickets through an authorized reseller like Undercover Tourist or AAA. Or you can pay full price for your room, get your tickets through Disney, and get free dining. For your family, it really sounds like the first option I listed will be better.

We had it this past January (2011) toward the end of the month.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I haven't seen free dining offered in January in 09, 10, or 11. And you do pay extra for "free" dining because it means you can't get a discount on your room. You can get a discount on your room, pay OOP for food, and get your tickets through an authorized reseller like Undercover Tourist or AAA. Or you can pay full price for your room, get your tickets through Disney, and get free dining. For your family, it really sounds like the first option I listed will be better.

Free Dining was offered for a large number of dates in 2011. Also, for many people, like my family, the free dining discount is the best discount we can get through WDW. Most of the time is you are staying at a value or a moderate resort free dining is going to beat any room discount by far. The free dining discount saves us $1,200.00 where a room discount only saves us about $630.00

 

[amylynne01]

We had it this past January (2011) toward the end of the month.

I stant corrected. It was not available for my dates in the first two weeks of those 3 yrs.

Free Dining was offered for a large number of dates in 2011. Also, for many people, like my family, the free dining discount is the best discount we can get through WDW. Most of the time is you are staying at a value or a moderate resort free dining is going to beat any room discount by far. The free dining discount saves us $1,200.00 where a room discount only saves us about $630.00

But that's only if you do the Basic DP like you said your family does. While my girls are typically good in restaurants, I really have no desire to sit in a TS meal every day with them. So the QS meal plan is actually more expensive than just paying OOP.

I think the point of this thread is that we all different opinions for different situations regarding the DDP. No matter how you cut it, you have to eat, so do what works best for you.

 

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

haven't read the rest of the responses...but I asked the same question on the dining board....and did the numbers myself for our 2012 trip...and there is NO WAY it is saving us any money....so we won't be getting it.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Definitively maybe.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

These were our numbers in 2009, using the regular dining plan, over 10 days, with 7 adults (including one child over 11), 3 kids, and a 2 year old (who wasn't on the plan, and shared food):

FINAL DINING PLAN TOTALS:

This brings us, (drumroll please) to our final totals for food for the week. We used all 70 of our TS, CS, and Snack Credits.

We spent $122.37 out of pocket, mostly on alcoholic drinks and appetizers.

We spent $456.10 on tips.

We spent $2190 on the dining plan. If we hadn't been on the dining plan, we would have spent $3261.89. Now, it could be argued that we wouldn't have gotten desserts everywhere if they weren't included. It could definitely be argued that we wouldn't have gone on that last $100 snack shopping spree. But saving $1071.89 still feels like a big deal to me!