Anti-Dining Plan

[GrumpyBelle]

We are also anti-dining plan. We do make a few reservations that we really want and the rest of our week is CS or in-room or whatever we can get while we are there. This works for us. Making dining reservations and planning our park days around our eating schedules is very stressful for us. We have never had a problem the way we do it but we are not always wanting those meals that fill p early.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We are not doing the DDP this year, we are using TIW though. I did book a LeCellier and Tusker House because it is our families favorite and would not want to chance a walk up. And two new restauraunts to us I want to try Via Napoli and Liberty Tree for lunch, and Fly Fishing Cafe. We stay in Orlando for two weeks, so I am planning a lot of walk ups to the a few places like Trex, Ragland Road, Captains Grille and who knows where else I will try to see what is available while we r there. I also enjoy alot of CS like Flame Tree, Cosmic Rays, Wolfgang Puck Express, and Earl of Sandwich. Also there for F&W Festival, which is meals in them selves.

I am very excited not to have everyday booked and going with the flow alot.
I would consider booking a few if you have must do's but other than that go for the freedom. There is always somewhere to eat in all the World.

I haven't read all the replies, so this may be a repeat. Since you are not limited by DDP, I suggest you eat at bluezoo rather than Flying Fish. IMO, it's consistently better than FF. FF can be excellent. It can also be mediocre. We've had both experiences. We also use TIW. Swan/Dolphin restaurants are the best options for those who aren't limited by DDP.

 

[Dwheels]

ugh....we are so over making ADRs and running around to try and make them. Though we loved most of our dining experiences in the world, the fact that ADRs dictate our day or park we attend is exhausting. For the first time in years we are doing without the Dining Plan and seeing how this goes.....what do you think is this a mistake??

I feel the same way!! So tired of it and now the price is not really worth it! Going to the world on Friday w/out it! 1st time since 2000!! Looking forward to it! We have ADR's, but on a 8 night stay only 5 ADR's! Def don't think it's a mistake can't wait! Although we do have TIW

 

[lgcountry]

DH and I never do the dining plan either. We're not big on desserts (I know, *GASP*) and appetizers are a big deal for us. We also like a beer or cocktail with our meals. In light of all that, TiW is the way we go now. However, we make a list of our "we'll be really disappointed if we dont get to eat there" restaurants, and we always make at least one or two ADR's.

That is exactly our philosophy also. I was diagnosed pre-diabetic, so I skip deserts. We've never gotten the DP, and get the TiW instead if we have more than 10 days scheduled in the year. Never been disappointed either.

 

[andeesings]

We have a very large group, so actually, the ADR's make our lives much much easier, because there's no FIGHTING! I do all the planning long before we leave, and then there's no discussion of who is hungry, who doesn't eat this food, who wants this, who wants that... If I had a small party of just my family that wasn't really a democracy, I'd probably wing it with the exception of 2 or 3 meals. But for a LARGE group?? ADR is the way to go!

 

[Pakey]

I haven't used the dining plan since 2004. Also, we rarely make ADRs. I go 2-3 times a year. I was there 4th of July week, park crowds at capacity, and we had no issues with walk ups.

Last October I saw a party of 19 get a walk up at Tusker House breakfast. Sure, I've seen restaurants fully booked but not nearly as often as people on here indicate.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

We make countless reservations through our trip but never do the DDP. It's just far too much food for us and doesn't work well with how we eat. We usually only have a main meal, sometimes a dessert. Rarely an appetizer. We would never have dessert with counter service. It works out far better OOP for us

 

[patsal]

I think you will be happy with your choice. We skipped the dining plan and ate where we wanted when and how we wanted we ended up saving money and most importantlly time and sanity. No chasing credits, no making choices to insure we break even, and no food we didnt' really want just becasue it was on the plan! Better yet we could enjoy snacks and other things that were not on the plan without worrying that we would have too many snack credits left.

 

[mickeysbestfriend]

the dining plan but I honestly feel that it, and free dining, has taken most Disney dinning to at best a mediocre level. We eat our big meal at lunch and have breakfast in the villa (or occasionally Trails End or Olivias) and if we are hungry at dinner we hit EOS or one of the sidewinders.

We do plan our ADR's based on which park we will be eating at but this isn't a hassle for us.

Back in the old days when they had the Gold Key it included 3 TS meals a day. We always felt stuffed trying to pound down so much food and we seemed to be eating constantly. We could burn it off much more easily back then.

 

[Gonzjj]

Well, after reading, we feel that we are making the right chioce this time around, though we are throwing around the idea of purchasing the Quick Service Dining plan...do you think that is a good alternative? I wonder if it is even worth it to get the any DP?

Advice on this?

 

[francie57]

We just returned and we did have the dining plan. We will have to see on our trip next year if the price is still worth it to us. We make ADRs for all the sitdown dinners that we want. We get the park hopper option so we don't have to plan on where we are going for the day. We stay in the Epcot resorts and most of our dinners are in Epcot but we really don't worry since we can just hop from park to park if necessary.

 

[kar0066]

Our past four trips have been with the dining plan. This December will be our first trip without the plan. DD is 10 this year and paying for her as a adult does not work for us. She is a mac & cheese girl.

I am actually looking forward to the freedom on not being committed to all the ADR's. We have a few ADR's, but the quick service menus seem to getting better and better each year.

 

[poohguys]

ugh....we are so over making ADRs and running around to try and make them. Though we loved most of our dining experiences in the world, the fact that ADRs dictate our day or park we attend is exhausting. For the first time in years we are doing without the Dining Plan and seeing how this goes.....what do you think is this a mistake??

Do you not get park hopper passes? We will do one park in the morning, go swim in the pool at the hotel and then go to the park where we are having dinner, or the the other way around if it is breakfast. Sometimes it is a pain leaving enough time to get to where we need to be. It will be better for us this year DS is finally considered an adult. When he was on the kids dinning plan it was never enough food for him, so we tended to do a lot of buffets. Sometimes I do miss all of the spontanious meals we used to have. Good luck with what you decide works best for you.

 

[peabody58]

No DP, just TIW.

We have been scaling back our ADR's (to < 50%) to only a few choice TS's centered around our favorites. The rest of the time we just wing it, and it has worked out well for us.

 

[CanadianPaco]

We have a very large group, so actually, the ADR's make our lives much much easier, because there's no FIGHTING! I do all the planning long before we leave, and then there's no discussion of who is hungry, who doesn't eat this food, who wants this, who wants that... If I had a small party of just my family that wasn't really a democracy, I'd probably wing it with the exception of 2 or 3 meals. But for a LARGE group?? ADR is the way to go!

Really good post!! Any piece of advice that keeps the peace, is valuable! Thanks!

 

[mullysisters]

I wonder if this will be a trend and many people will start to scale back their ADRs?
I was planning no ADRs this trip but with free QS dining (upgraded to DDP) I now have made 7 TS ADRs. I always like to eat at Boma, Cape May and Trail's End my personal favs, so, the upgrade to DDP was less than I would have paid OOP to eat at these three restaurants. In fact costing just 16$/day.
I can tell you traveling alone or with Dsis, we have walked into many TS restaurants without ARDs, even in June! We are willing to eat "off hours" the way I do at home, working shift work. You can move your meal times to allow for a late breakfast or brunch, a late lunch or early dinner, and a late evening snack (likely with adult drinks) I'm not sure how much wiggle room ppl have with their kids meal times, not having any of my own. : (
Surprising how many restaurants you can get into this way without ADRs!
I just wish ppl would stop dbl or tpl booking their ADRs (and cancel in good time) as a courtesy to walk-ups.
Good and interesting thread!

 

[goofy4prez]

For me, I am not really anti-ADR as much as I have become anti- DDP. I don't mind making an ADR based on where I will be for that day. I also have encountered very few restaurants in WDW that I would call terrible. Sure, some I found to be average, but terrible, no. Why I have become anti DDP is because WDW has now priced it out where I no longer feel it is a value. I don't want to order off the menu the most expensive item and then follow up with a dessert in order for it to be of value for me. I may be the voice of only one, and WDW may not give two flying leaps about me, but I will not be buying the DDP any longer. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Tricia1972]

The dining plan is very subjective. What works for some, does not work for others.

Our group is, personally, very anti dining plan. We may be in the mood to 'go, go, go' one day and only want to do CS, or we may be feeling the exhaustion of the trip and really want to sit down to lunch around 2pm. I can't guarantee that we'll use enough TS throughout the trip to break even on the DxDDP, which is the only plan that allows for last minute freedoms like CS vs TS

For our upcoming trip 13 day trip we have committed to two reservations, an 8:05 Crystal Palace, a 7:30 California Grill. We have other must do restaurants, Coral Reef, Sci Fi Dine In, T-Rex, Bongos, Yak & Yeti, and Boma Breakfast. For those, we'll call up the reservation line that morning and see what time we can eat that day. Traveling in January, we've had luck walking into LeCellier, and we've never found ourselves shut out of any restaurant on any given day if we're flexible with our times. If the kids are hungry before a later dinner, we'll give them an afternoon snack.

Does our style work for everyone? Certainly not. Does it work for us? Yes.

In the end, whether you love the dining plan or not, you need to do what works best for your crew. Reading the boards is helpful in that you get a lot of advice, however, my advice to everyone is to read that advice and then make a decision that feels right to you and your group. Don't feel like you need to do something that goes against your nature because a majority of the people in a group say that their way is the only way that they can imagine vacationing.

 

[disnut8]

Well, after reading, we feel that we are making the right chioce this time around, though we are throwing around the idea of purchasing the Quick Service Dining plan...do you think that is a good alternative? I wonder if it is even worth it to get the any DP?

Advice on this?

Personally, I've never done the dining plan and probably never will. For one, it's too much food - even with the quick service, it's still two counter service meals per day. Second - I do not like the idea of having to use the credits or losing them. Too much planning and hassles (like you wrote on your first post).

That doesn't mean I don't make reservations and I don't enjoy Disney food. I just don't have to plan around those things. I eat when I want, where I want and how much I want. I'm on vacation, I don't want to have to think.

 

[Dwheels]

For me, I am not really anti-ADR as much as I have become anti- DDP. I don't mind making an ADR based on where I will be for that day. I also have encountered very few restaurants in WDW that I would call terrible. Sure, some I found to be average, but terrible, no. Why I have become anti DDP is because WDW has now priced it out where I no longer feel it is a value. I don't want to order off the menu the most expensive item and then follow up with a dessert in order for it to be of value for me. I may be the voice of only one, and WDW may not give two flying leaps about me, but I will not be buying the DDP any longer. Just my 2 cents.

Me too! I can't agree more! When the DP was 1st introduced it was a great value at 37.99 a day and 10 a day for kids!! It was a great value but now so not worth it!! I also don't like the DP because it dictates everything u have to eat! Not the places but the fact that u have to have a counter snack and TS. Maybe I don't want dessert at dinner but I feel the need to get it in order to get my money's worth! So I find that I am eating not because I am hungry but because I have to get my money's worth! We r leaving on Friday with no dining plan can't wait!