2009 - Will you do the Dining Plan?

[asmit4]

I will still use it even though I'm dissappointed they didn't change it to add in tip and appie!~! What do you want to bet free dining in 2009 is the cs deal!!!

And your last statement about the free CS deal is exactly why we will not be going to DW in 2009. We had planned on booking bounceback at a value during the free dining 2008 for 2009. The CS plan is not worth it to us- so we won't be going to DW next year.

 

[bicker]

What do you want to bet free dining in 2009 is the cs deal!!!

The best guess I've seen is that bounce back will be limited to moderate and deluxe resorts only, and for moderate you get free 2CS Dining Plan, and for deluxe resorts you get free 1TS/1CS Dining Plan.

 

[khertz]

I'm fairly certain my husband and I will be doing the basic plan in our Dec 09 trip, since we're both fairly picky eaters and mostly eat counter service anyway.

 

[myladyisatramp]

We did DDP last year when all us girls went it was great as you didn't have to worry about money. This year going with the family, (all grown children) we are doing the DxDDP as they all love to eat and I figure its easier all paid up front they can order whatever they want DH won't be having a heartattack when they order appis and steaks and lobster won't seem as bad Can't wait 94 more days

 

[Vility]

I really like the new quick service!
Since it's affordable I am thinking about buying one for my will be 2 3/4 year old too.

 

[theworkdogs]

Our son turns 10 this year too. I think we will still buy the basic. It is just easier that worrying about the price during vacation.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

No dining plan for us. We did it a few times in the past and didn't really see a huge savings. We prefer to use the DDE card instead and that way I don't drive myself crazy with counting credits.

 

[skjj2009]

We've decided not to use the dining plan for our trip in January. This is our first trip to WDW with our two young children (DD 5 DS 3) and basically my ds eats next to nothing. We will be driving and bringing food and a cooler. My son is so picky that buying meals for him anytime is a complete waste. He shares french fries and we make him sandwiches or bring fruit cups, applesauce, etc for him whenever we go out and at WDW it will be much of the same. We plan to eat breakfast in room everyday since my kids don't eat more than cereal or cereal bars anyway. It would be cost effective for dh and I but we probably won't do alot of TS meals (just booked two character meals) and don't want to be bogged down trying to figure out what to eat when and where to be. We will definitely track all of our eating and see how it stacks up against the basic plan. We'll at least know for our future trips.

 

[Nurse_Mommy4]

We just got back. Ate at least one TS every day. Didn't get the DDP, but I did use the DDE. We found the big iference between using the DDP and not using it was good for us. We spent less time feelin glike we had to get rid of credits, ordered only what we wanted. when and where we wanted it and saved money. If I were doing a short trip I might entertainteh CS DDP, but for a two week vacation I would end up withan excess of snack credits and be back in that I have ot push food place again. No thanks. Incidentally the only place we ate like the DDP was lunch at Brown Derby, that was four entrees, four desserts, four NA drinks--I would have been a very poor use of credits using two TS credits to cover a $116. bill.

This is why I voted no for DDP next year. We crunched the numbers and realized that we could still eat all the snacks, CS and TS that we wanted (and have apps if desired) and actually save with DDE! Especially since three out of four of the kids are "Disney adults" and my DD10 will never eat an adult amount of food in one day. Last year we were on DDP and even though everything was included and it was an awesome deal, I still sometimes felt like we HAD to use all our TS credits or we would be wasting them. I gaurantee you within the two weeks we'll be there next summer there will be at least one night where the kids will choose to skip our TS and do something else instead!

Happy planning everyone!

 

[karsha]

I'm torn between the regular 2009 Dining Plan and the Deluxe Dining Plan. This is our first time to WDW. We are 2 adults and two 8 y.o. kids. We plan to stay in the CL (3 nights Poly and 3 nights Beach Club) so, I believe a continental breakfast is included, which is fine with us. We don't eat big breakfasts.

Anyway, I'd really like to try Jiko, Flying Fish, Narcoosee and perhaps Yachtsman. At 2 TS meals each, we'd be OOP at one of them, and OOP at TS restaurants for the remaining two nights.

I haven't even thought about lunches. As much as I'd like to do TS instead of CS for lunch, I'm concerned that TS lunches would take too much time away from the parks.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[POOHLUV69]

We chose to do the basic ddp again. Even though the tip and appy aren't included I still think it works out for us. As my DH says "don't nickel and dime me" this way we all can order what we want and I don't have to worry about the price.

 

[schwoomp]

I think I change my mind about no dining plan or basic dining plan just about every day! I took the advise of a wise person on these boards and first made a plan of what I think our family will want to do for meals on different days. QS plan is actually more expensive for us because I'd add several TS meals OOP. As it turns out, the basic plan and no plan would cost us about the same amount. So, now I'm trying to figure out which would be more convenient. I'm leaning toward OOP. If I have to pay for some of the expenses OOP, it seems like I might as well pay for all of them. That way I won't have to keep track of credits, and it's possible that we'd actually skip a snack or a lunch if we didn't feel like having it. But if I were on plan, I'd feel obligated to eat!

 

[B-Ride]

We have done the math and although the Dining Plan is not as good as it was in 2007 it still makes sense for people who like to eat dinner every night in a TS restaurant. Our family goes to WDW every year and we usually spend 9 days there so there is lots of time to see everything. Since we are not rushing through the parks we really enjoy sitting down every night to a relaxed meal. I don't mind having to make ADRs in advance as I like to plan. I kind of like knowing where we will be eating each day. So for a family like ours the Dining Plan still makes sense, especially with the way Disney tends to raise prices in the restaurants.