who has regretted getting the dining plan?

[CookieandOatmeal]

We did it once years ago and we definitely said never again. We felt like we were "forced" to eat and order more than we would've. We are not huge eaters and would've never ordered dessert for every meal. We often share meals at CS so we could save our appetites for TS. We definitely make out better when we pay OOP and make choices on the quantity too.

 

[havoc315]

Kids are 8 and 5. My wife sat down and looked at menus on Thursday night and calculated what we would reasonably eat. With the DDP to cover what we expect to eat, we were at $1200. OOP we were only at about $920 and not feeling like we are forced to eat our way through Disney. I don't think $280 difference is worth the convenience of having the DDP given how much everything else already costs.

Good work.
Funny thing is... Some people find the ddp convenient, regardless of price. Myself and others actually see it as inconvenient.
It's not like it truly pre-pays your meals-- you still need to pay tips and likely some extras. So you don't really get pre-payment convenience.
Plus, you really need to plan your dining far in advance on the ddp, which isn't very convenient.
And on the ddp, you lose the freedom to just skip a meal or cancel a reservation (technically you can do it, but you've essentially already paid for the meal).

For me personally, I'd only do a meal plan if I was confident it would save me at least 15%.

 

[Sarahbelle341]

I like the all inclusiveness of the meal plan. I don't mind paying for tips because I like the fact that I am still able to tip based on service received. I tend to have good service at Disney but the worst service I have ever had in any restaurant in my life was at Cinderella's royal table. We don't drink alcohol so no expenses there. The only thing I have to make an effort to use in snack credits since we aren't really grazers. We enjoy trying desserts at meals and don't feel pressured to finish every bite of food on our plates or stuff ourselves at a buffet. We like to do buffets since kids have more choices there and my son has a more adult palate. We have done the deluxe dining plan and the regular dining plan and have saved money on both. We drink soda and tend to choose seafood or beef entrees. I am frugal when dining out so I tend to look at prices and order a cheaper entree to save a few bucks even if its not exactly what I want, so for me the dining plan lets me relax and eat like its vacation.

 

[DaniMoon]

We are not big breakfast eaters, so one QS and TS is plenty for us and we don't pay OOP for anything daily. We do carry water bottles to the park. We are definitely those people who look at the price of an item when we go out to eat rather than what we would really like (I love seafood and most of the times, it's not something we can afford to splurge on). My hubby is the same for steak. We have had FD the last couple trips. I do think we'd probably get the plan in the future. We do have snack credits left over, but the kids love grabbing treats to bring home, so it's not like it is wasted.

I do know if we didn't have the plan at Disney, both my hubby and I would look at prices instead of entrees, it's just the way we are wired.

 

[amylock]

We regretted the DxDDP - it was just soooo much food (this was a few years ago when it was $80 per day). We haven't done the regular DDP, but like the QSDP. My 23 year old son is coming with us in December. I use the Target red card to get 5% off the gift cards and I've got $75 in "free" gift cards as well, so it makes the per day cost a little lower. The new substitutions allowed on the QSDP will make it work better for us, and we won't have sticker shock when we get home. We aren't big breakfast eaters, so we will have some items in the room (BWV 1 bedroom). Calculating it, we will come out even or better without always ordering the most expensive items.

 

[Baklava]

One of our deciding factors was that while the savings when we plugged it into the calculator were minimal, those are based on averages. My husband and son both have expensive tastes. The things they like are almost always the most expensive things on a menu. It might not save us money if we were eating chicken and salads, but with the two of them zeroing in on steaks and prime rib...

Look at menus and think about what you're likely to eat. Some samples of price range on entrees from menus I have pulled up at the moment:

Brown Derby: Cobb Salad ($16), Noodle Bowl ($29), Filet ($49)
Sanaa: Sosatie ($19.99) Strip steak ($32.99)
Marrakesh: Couscous with veg ($20.95), Taste of Morocco- Royal Feast ($45.00)

 

[jillmc40]

I thought maybe getting the DDP would be good to use for part of our stay (split stay) for the time where my TiW card has blackouts. We are going at Easter, so I took the highest price for each meal I could find. I have O'Hana, Garden Grill, and Crystal Palace dinners booked. Even then I can't seem to get a savings out of the plan! Maybe my math is off, but I don't think so. I would rather buy gift cards at Target in the amount I was going to use on the DDP and see what happens...

On the flip side, I do think I will do the Deluxe plan for the first night of our stay (we have AKL first night, then move). That seems to work out as we will use it at Jiko and Yak & Yeti, each have 2 snacks, and will have the mugs for the week. The Deluxe is too much food to have for the entire trip, but for the 2 days it seems to work out nicely.

I find it very stressful to pick and choose what I want to eat and what I should choose as a snack to get the best value. I would rather just pay for what I eat and move on with it. What if I only want a salad for dinner, or 2 appetizers, or whatever.