2009 - Will you do the Dining Plan?

[ssawka]

Am I the only one that thinks this?...

The tought of eating nothing but CS for an entire week reminds me of the documentary called Supersize Me, where the guys eats nothing but Mc Donalds for a month. If you haven't seen it, he gets sick quite a bit, and gains quite a bit of weight.

 

[mom2my3kids]

Honestly we won't be doing Disney next year anyway, we have gone the last three years and we are going to skip a year.. Hopefully 2010 will have a totally different dining plan..

 

[momandseandodisney]

are we sure these are the prices????

and yes i will still be doing the basic dining plan. if thats really the cost, it only went up $1!! woohoo, i thought it would have gone up to at least $45 for an adult!

Same here

 

[bicker]

Well, the CS plan includes only two CS per day -- some days that could be one breakfast and one lunch, with dinner paid OOP. Beyond that, I'm just looking at our upcoming trip, 4 nights -- my best guess, right now, is that we'll actually end up doing only two TS the entire time. So doing the math, that leaves 8 CS for the trip...

 

[lisaviolet]

Am I the only one that thinks this?...

The tought of eating nothing but CS for an entire week reminds me of the documentary called Supersize Me, where the guys eats nothing but Mc Donalds for a month. If you haven't seen it, he gets sick quite a bit, and gains quite a bit of weight.

No, not at all.

Honestly, there are some fantastic choices at CS restaurants. Very healthy. I can't speak for the CS in the parks too much. I do some non-park holidays. Although, I used to get the grilled salmon at the CS at AK before they changed it another buffet. Yakatori House - great options etc. etc. I'm sure most have something.

Buffets - now there is supersize for some people.

But most CSs outside the parks and resorts are wonderful for healthy choices. That I'm an expert on.

I'm a DVC member and I still go over to POP each trip, which I miss, just for their salmon. Pepper Market has healthy options. Always go there.



Wolfgang Puck's Express is amazing.

Sushi at Captain Cook's at the Poly.



I could go on and on......

 

[I Run Long]

We won't be doing it again. We got the free dining in 2007 when it incl. tips and appetizers. What a deal! I still think it is a good deal just not as much as it used to be. All that considered, with the rise in resort costs, tickets, and airfare we've decided we will no longer book a pkg through Disney directly. Rather we will rent pts from a DVC owner. To go through Disney is just too expensive.

 

[HayGan]

No, not at all.

Honestly, there are some fantastic choices at CS restaurants. Very healthy. I can't speak for the CS in the parks too much. I do some non-park holidays. Although, I used to get the grilled salmon at the CS at AK before they changed it another buffet. Yakatori House - great options etc. etc. I'm sure most have something.

Buffets - now there is supersize for some people.

But most CSs outside the parks and resorts are wonderful for healthy choices. That I'm an expert on.

I'm a DVC member and I still go over to POP each trip, which I miss, just for their salmon. Pepper Market has healthy options. Always go there.



Wolfgang Puck's Express is amazing.

Sushi at Captain Cook's at the Poly.



I could go on and on......

I agree! There is very little (if any) CS food that I eat at WDW that resembles McDonald's. There are plenty of great options. With that said, my family still enjoys our TS meals and I can't imagine eating just CS all week long. We usually only eat 2 meals a day with light snacks in between so I'm not sure that the CS plan would be for us. I really do miss the old/original dining plan (circa 2005/6)

 

[TDC Nala]

Just curious where you got the prices from. Just talked to Member Services and was told that the DDP prices for 2009 were not out yet, and couldn't be put on my reservation. (June 2009) Was told to call back and add it later.

Thanks

They may not be available for DVC yet, but they are available for package bookings.

 

[LIFERBABE]

No, not at all.

Honestly, there are some fantastic choices at CS restaurants. Very healthy. I can't speak for the CS in the parks too much. I do some non-park holidays. Although, I used to get the grilled salmon at the CS at AK before they changed it another buffet. Yakatori House - great options etc. etc. I'm sure most have something.

Buffets - now there is supersize for some people.

But most CSs outside the parks and resorts are wonderful for healthy choices. That I'm an expert on.

I'm a DVC member and I still go over to POP each trip, which I miss, just for their salmon. Pepper Market has healthy options. Always go there.



Wolfgang Puck's Express is amazing.

Sushi at Captain Cook's at the Poly.



I could go on and on......

I agree Lisa and who says just because you buy the CS Plan, that you will not eat TS meals?

We always buy a mug so the plan is already discounted by $14 bucks right there. (I bet the mug price goes up a dollar next year)
We dont want TS everyday. We dont want signature dining.
I can buy the CS plan and have all our snacks, Breakfast and Lunches covered. My oldest is 10 and the regular plan TS credits are a waste on him.

So we can hit our favorite TS meals pay oop and use a discount if applicable, order appetizers, skip desserts, and pretty much eat how we want. His favorite place is Beaches and Cream. We used Deluxe TS credits there because that is what he likes. Now we can use the 10 bucks we saved from getting the regular plan towards getting what we really want.

I think the CS plan is a happy medium for parents of Disney Adults (9 year olds). I will probably still spend total what it costs for the regular plan, but we will be able to eat what we want, when we want, no restrictions on our dinner choices.

This is a combo plan.

 

[TDC Nala]

Am I the only one that thinks this?...

The tought of eating nothing but CS for an entire week reminds me of the documentary called Supersize Me, where the guys eats nothing but Mc Donalds for a month. If you haven't seen it, he gets sick quite a bit, and gains quite a bit of weight.

A week is not a month, and WDW has plenty of options that do not involve burgers, chicken nuggets, or fries.

 

[snykymom]

I took a look at the various menus at the TS where we want to eat (and already havae our ADRs ), and decided that none of the plans make sense for us.

QS isn't available for our dates (prior to 1/11). Even if it were, we want to eat a significant number of TS meals, particularly late ones at resorts since the parks close early - that'll be our evening entertainment . So we probably wouldn't want to eat 2 CS per day anyway.

Basic Dining doesn't make sense either. We have a number of signature dining choices. Looking at the menus, there are a number of places at which I would prefer an appetizer or two and a dessert over the entrees. Same for my (adult) d who is my traveling companion.

And Deluxe is simply too much food! I don't think that we will eat $72/person per day. And I don't want to be locked in; the last time we had a similar plan, we spent so much time figuring out our meals and eating that there was too much stress. And I want the flexibility to eat off property if we want to. (One night, we do have an ADR for Victoria & Albert, which isn't included in any plan anyway.)

So no dining plan for us! I will keep track of how much we spend, and see how we do!

 

[momandseandodisney]

A week is not a month, and WDW has plenty of options that do not involve burgers, chicken nuggets, or fries.

So true!

 

[bytheblood]

Please do not flame me but I think it's kind of funny how people are griping about $38.99 per adult for the basic DDP. I do wish we had a choice of appetizer or dessert rather than just dessert. However, I think that $38.99 is a good deal for 2 meals and a snack. DH and I go to some more expensive restaurants (about once a month) and we rarely walk out of those meals at under $80. That's just for 1 meal for 2 people.

 

[bytheblood]

A week is not a month, and WDW has plenty of options that do not involve burgers, chicken nuggets, or fries.

Still not much variety at CS. Oh, I could get the salad with the nasty tasting boiled chicken or the pizza, again or a sandwich that is more carbs than protein.....NO THANK YOU!!!


I agree with the PP - the thought of eating "fat/fast food" for every meal makes me sick to my stomach!!!!

 

[Mandychelle79]

We will be doing the quick service plan with 3 ts paid oop. Ive worked the numbers and it is basically a wash money wise ( not using it to save money, just not have to save up the 800 I was taking for food). We will end up with a few cs left over but im sure we will figure out a way to use them. My kids arent big breakfast eaters so a snack for breakfast ( or possibly get a thing of donuts oop). We dont like to have TS every night because it then seems like food is the center of our vacation. the 3 ts I want are on days we wont be in the parks.

 

[lisaviolet]

Still not much variety at CS. Oh, I could get the salad with the nasty tasting boiled chicken or the pizza, again or a sandwich that is more carbs than protein.....NO THANK YOU!!!


I agree with the PP - the thought of eating "fat/fast food" for every meal makes me sick to my stomach!!!!

What the heck. I'm smiling. No sarcasm.

It's just not true. At first read I thought "Lisa, you just have a different opinion" but it's simply not true.

It's a fact that there are a myriad of healthy options at a lot of the CSs. Eating "fat"???? Why? Are people venturing from the hamburger, fried sections of the food courts. Heck at SSR people complain there is not enough greasy crap there. (I'm not a health nut either - I'm not against a hamburger )

In June, I was at ASSp for six days. I didn't do any of the parks. So no huge excess walking. I ate a roasted Turkey dinner with two vegetable sides, an orange or two every day, salmon with wild rice, roast chicken at WPE, sushi, that yummy apple, cheese and walnut mix, oatmeal. There's variety right there and it's only half of what I can remember. All at CSs. I never do TSs. And I wasn't in a park. So I couldn't get to Japan's CSs, The Land's CS, Morocco's CS etc. And missed out on Pepper Market a place I haunt. My goodness I don't know if it's on the list but BC/BCV has some great sandwiches in their deli counter. Boardwalk Bakery - wonderful fruit platter. And when I asked for fruit as a side a la grapes - they gave me it. Not sure if that is against the rules and they are for children's meals only. But I got them instead of this or that.

I do agree that some of the salads are not what I eat at home. Agreed. Earl of Sandwich used to have all field greens when they opened. Heck it's difficult to find decent produce in the supermarkets in Orlando I find. It's like Disney ships in their fruits from somewhere else. I'm also on a continual field green hunt in the supermarkets there.

And that CS in the Land. I wish that place was in my own neighbourhood it has so many wonderful options.

Anyway, I wasn't walking in the parks, ditched my workouts and lost three pounds while there.

I just don't get it.

 

[lustergirl]

I voted for the quick service plan for my trip Thanksgiving 09. My family of 4 will be staying at the Poly Garden View Club Level, which includes breakfast and snacks throughout the day inside the Club. I will pay out of pocket for a coulple of dinners like at ESPN Club and Ohana's at Thanksgiving. It would be too much food for us if we had a sit down dinner every night as that on the regular dining plan.

 

[musical2]

Yes, we'll be doing the regular dining in August 2009. But maybe not in subsequent years. It is still a good deal for us because of the way we eat at WDW. My twin girls will be nine years old next year. We always do lots of character dinners which means we save quite a bit on the girls' meals which makes up for the expense of the adult meals and then some. We do a CS for lunch and a snack mid morning or late at night if we are still in the park. Since we always stay in a DVC unit, we usually have a quick grocery store bought breakfast at our villa before going out for the day. In January we figure we saved about $300 on having to pay OOP and we didn't have to worry about budgeting our food money since it was prepaid.

Now once the girls turn 10 it won't be as attractive since they don't usually eat very much and will still have to pay as adults on the DDP. Then we'll probably won't do DDP until they grow up a bit more.

 

[grizbuzz]

With two kids under 10 who are still very happy with kids menus it's a good deal for us!

 

[patsal]

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.