A couple thoughts on the Disney Dining Plan

[tx2tn]

I thought that I would share a couple thoughts on the Dining Plan for those of you still planing your trip. We are currently onsite at POFQ (awesome).

I think the dining plan is a good option if you like food to be a part of you experience. If you are one of those people that are not much into food then I would suggest saving your money and time.

Some thoughts:

We made ressies at Le Cellier, California Grill, Restaurant Marrakesh, Jiko and Chef's de France. We would not have gotten in at Le Cellier without them. The rest we could.

We found that having a set reservation for dinner really cramps our style. We found that we needed to return to our resort to clean up before going to dinner. This used up a lot of time.

I think it is a good value, but would probably not make so many ressies in the future.

BTW, to California Grill, Le Cellier AWESOME

 

[Figment2]

My friends & I usually go down to WDW anywhere from 3-5 times a year. We rarely plan where we are going to eat (although this may have to change). A couple of us have DDE and the dining plan doesn't appeal to us. This past weekend (5/5 thru 5/9) was the first time we could not get or change dinner reservations. We wanted to change our Brown Derby reservation on Monday night from 6 to 7. Couldn't do it unless we wanted to eat later that night (we had a 4:50 ressie).

So the couple that would have liked to eat with us went back home (they live in FL). While dining at Brown Derby though, there were about 10 empty tables including one large one. When asked, our server told us that there are more no shows than before.

So my plea to all the Dining Package people is this - If you are not going to use your reservation, please cancel. It's only polite and it may open up spots for those of us who don't plan.

Thanks

Cyn

 

[misslissa]

I will have to agree with you.

ADRs are a little of a downer. Last trip, we had booked Marrakesh, Ohana, Boma, Prime Time and Chef Mickey's.

On the first day, we cancelled our Marrakesh ressie 'cause it was during the food and wine fest. We were stuffed.

We went to Ohana and it is now my favourite restaurant on Earth.

We didn't enjoy Boma so much.

Enjoyed Prime Time.

But then, I had been looking forward to Chef Mickeys but just couldn't go 'cause I felt like all we had done all week was EAT! It may not look like that on "paper"... but was just too much.

Now, we are going and getting the Dining Plan for the first time. I think we'll do other things for our table seatings... like shows... because it is sometimes just too much when you are trying to enjoy other aspects of Disney.

Oh, and by the way... this should matter... I am a restaurant fanatic. I actually write restaurant reviews on the side. I like to dine out a couple of times a week... usually. And, my opinion remains the same.

 

[MOMOFMNM]

We opted out of most of our CS for the TS meals just because we were SO STUFFED all day!!!!!

It is a lot of food but the more people in your family and the more character meals or buffets you want to do, the better off you are with it!!

esp for free!!!


I was really stressing about food money for my family until I got ressies with free dining again!!
I know ADRS are a pain but so is paying 150 bucks for a meal oop...for five!!!

I will take note of cancelling any ADRS I can see how that is causing problems for walk ins...

I would love to not have to make them but I do because it is kinda fun and we need them now!!

 

[ShannonN]

Do you have to be on a dining package to make a reservation or can someone that's staying off-site or has chosen not to do a dining package call and make ADRs too? thanks

 

[tx2tn]

You do not have to be on a dining plan to eat at these restaurants.

BTW, some of the more pricey restaurants require a credit card to hold your reservation. If you don't show up, they charge you $25.

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

Do you have to be on a dining package to make a reservation or can someone that's staying off-site or has chosen not to do a dining package call and make ADRs too? thanks

Any one can make dining reservations .. or ADRs in Disney speak. Just call 407-WDW-DINE. It does not matter if you are staying on site or not or if you are on a plan.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

I am a bit of a foodie--ok, I have an unhealthy obsession with food that is probably some sort of non-skinny eating disorder. So I really really enjoy planning out exactly what I am going to eat, even two months in advance (it really is food porn for me...I sit up in the middle of the night looking at food pics...). But on the non-creepy side, I enjoy having my food be a part of the whole experience, and that is why I like the DDP. Our first time, there was no DDP, and we only ate at Chefs and Jiko. The rest was burgers and chicken fingers--not very magical. Our second time, we hit H&V (hated it! that is where I learned the importance of ADRs!), Chefs, Alfredo's, Le Cellier (twice), LTT, and Grand Floridian Cafe. Sooooooo much fun! So what if I only take two bites of my dessert? We save a little $$, and get a whole experience!

Now leave me alone with all the pictures...

 

[ShannonN]

Thanks so much for the info!! I think making dining plans is part of the fun of planning the trip.

 

[MickeyMonstersMom]

I think you hit the nail on the head!

I think the dining plan is a good option if you like food to be a part of you experience. If you are one of those people that are not much into food then I would suggest saving your money and time.

I hadn't thought of it that way, but it's so true, for my family at least. After our first family trip it seemed that we talked more about the meals than the park attractions, and whenever we planned another trip we always got our meal plans set before deciding what else we wanted to do. For us, an all-CS trip would be little different from a day at Six Flags. I haven't made up my mind about whether it's worth it to *pay* for the DDP (especially since DD 11 is now considered an adult), but as long as Free Dining is being offered again, I jumped at the chance to try it out.

 

[NMW]

I thought that I would share a couple thoughts on the Dining Plan for those of you still planing your trip. We are currently onsite at POFQ (awesome).

I think the dining plan is a good option if you like food to be a part of you experience. If you are one of those people that are not much into food then I would suggest saving your money and time./QUOTE]


For us, food is a very big part of our vacation. DH and I spend weeks planning our breakfasts/dinners at TS restaurants. We always eat CS for lunch as not to slow us down at the parks. Although we are doing two oop TS lunches in Oct-SCI-FI (my sons request) and Brown Derby for lunches in MGM. I hate MGM CS food.

We love that DVC members can now get the meal plan. Pre-DVC we were huge fans of the Dreammaker gold and silver plans. Now we can get a meal plan with our DVC and I am thrilled! We also have the DDE card for alcohol and oop meals-like our lunches at MGM and TS breakfasts. We make our ADR's the first day we can! Our biggest problem is that we have too many "must-dos" for dinner, it's hard to cut some out!