Anyone do the Disney Dining Plan?

[lexib]

Hi,

We are new DVC members, just made our reservations for 2weeks in August, we can hardly wait, 1 week at VWL, 1 week at OKW. I was on the DVCsite and saw that members can now take advantage of the DDP. Has anyone used this perk and thought it was worth it?

THANKS

 

[Chuck S]

Hi,

We are new DVC members, just made our reservations for 2weeks in August, we can hardly wait, 1 week at VWL, 1 week at OKW. I was on the DVCsite and saw that members can now take advantage of the DDP. Has anyone used this perk and thought it was worth it?

THANKS

A lot of folks really like the plan. It really depends upon the make up of your traveling party and your personal dining habits/preferences as to whether it will work for you. If you do character meals, dinner shows, or regularly eat a Table Service dinner, it will probably be worth it for you. It seems to save most people $$.

We (2 adults) usually have a table service lunch, rarely order dessert, and usually (but not always) drink water as a beverage. Using the Dining Experience Card that is available to Annual Passholders, and figuring tax and tip, the pre-paid dining plan would cost us more than we normally spend. Some days we spend more, most days less than the plan would cost us, and usually spend about $100 less than the plan would cost us over a 9 night trip.

 

[shellbelle1971]

We've always found the DDP would be more food than we would want and would cost us a lot more than we would normally spend. We eat in our villa and offsite a lot, though. If you would normally eat in the parks a lot, and tend to order appetizers and drinks, it would probably save you money.

 

[JimMIA]

A lot of folks really like the plan. It really depends upon the make up of your traveling party and your personal dining habits/preferences as to whether it will work for you.

Chuck is absolutely right. Many people compare the menu prices of what they could order to what they pay for DDP, but that's really an apples/oranges comparison. You have to look at what you would actually eat if you were paying cash to get a real-world evaluation.

If you do character meals, dinner shows, or regularly eat a Table Service dinner, it will probably be worth it for you. It seems to save most people $$.

And, except for the dinner shows, this describes us to a tee. We always have either a nice dinner or a character meal every day of our stay -- that's an important part of our WDW experience. Therefore, DDP saves us money. In addition, we also enjoy the convenience of the plan. We used to have a DDE card, but once we tried DDP, we didn't renew the DDE.

The only question I have about DDP for our family would be if we were doing a longer stay. We live 4 hours away, so we usually only stay 4-5 days twice a year. If I were staying a week or longer, I'd take a real long look at the prospect of eating onsite every day -- especially with the menu standardization they've recently done.

DDP and DDE are both great discount plans -- you just have to figure out which fits your family best.

 

[MinnieFan]

We used the dining plan on our most recent trip and for us it was worth it. We have 2 adults, one teen (who counts as an adult) and one child. We normally would eat 1 table service meal and one counter service meal a day. We found that the out-of-pocket cost of a TS dinner for the 4 of us would have been more than the dining plan cost us for that day. We did do some character breakfasts which we paid for - we're annual passholders so we also have the DDE card.

Many people have commented that there is so much food on the DDP and we found this to be true as well. We had a couple of counter service and many snack credits left over at the end of the trip. Since we don't like to cook on vacation or leave WDW property once we are there, we still found that the dining plan was a saving for us.

 

[Lenc324]

My son and I and my folks used it this past Nov at Food and Wine and it worked out great. I would do it again.

 

[Sammie]

We really like it but as Jim and Chuck said it really about your personal eating habits or desires.

If you plan to eat a Table Service meal daily, then yes it can save money and be very convenient to have it prepaid.

If you only do one or two special table services meals during your trip, eat in your villa, or do mostly counter service, it probably won't save you money.

 

[Muushka]

I think, for us, if we are staying in a 1 BR we will not get the DDP (which is where we usually stay). And on that rare occasion that we stay in a studio, we will splurge and get the DDP. While in a 1 BR, we just can't justify the cost.
And all that food.....

 

[DisneyMama27]

We've used it several times and loved the opportunities to try many restaurants (w/o it we would probably have opted - out of guilt - to just eat CS, which gets old quick) Also, with my frugal parents, this was the way to go - no splitting side salads, etc. My DM got to eat what she wanted w/ NO guilt! Yes, it's expensive, but it's worth it for the experiences. This summer, we are NOT using it - we'll have a 1BR, so we can eat some meals in and save time. Plus, DH and DS got tired of being on a meal schedule (have to be at this TS at this time) and prefer a more spontaneous approach. We won't eat at as many TS, but it's ok. We'll be back again at Christmas with DDP and I get to plan that out to my heart's content (guess who's the planner in this family?) So, even for one family, there's no one right way to do it!

 

[canwegosoon]

Like the previous poster..for our family(2A2c) at least at TS there is no splitting(just sharing of an appetizer)...which is great. I stretch the CS meals to cover our Breakfast and Lunches and we do a lot of splitting there. The good thing for me is I am splurging at a fixed rate. Now when everyone becomes an adult..I will probably switch back to the DDE...but we will see. We do not do anymeals in our room except bagles 2 times a week for breakfast and some sodas/snacks. I love the the DDP has the snack option...this way when DH is hungry or whatever, he walks over and orders his own pretzel.

 

[JenninVT]

My sister and I stayed in a studio for two nights in December, and we tried out the dining plan. I think it fits the way we normally eat, one CS and one TS per day, but we are more likely to have a glass of wine instead of both app and dessert.
My sister loved the plan, b/c she didn't have to look at any prices on the menus, she could just order whatever she wanted.
I didn't like it that much, because I found I was contantly calculating whether or not I was breaking even with the cost of the plan. (I always did, or saved money) Maybe when we go back, I'll be able to just relax and enjoy the options now that I know I'm not "losing" money.

And on the extra food question, if we were too full for extra app or dessert, we just refused it, or took it to go for later.

 

[DVCajun]

I enjoy the Dining Plan because it enables me to look forward to eating out w/out worrying about the expense, or needing to keep a running tally. Yes, I may spend less if I didn't use the plan, but to me drinking water and skipping dessert to save money isn't a "fun" option. Sure, I can do it to save money, and *have* done it, but saving $100 over the course of a week isn't worth it to me when I can spend that $100 and basically have whatever I want -- as one poster mentioned *more* than I want -- instead. So for me, Dining Plan =

edited to add: I solve the "more than we want" problem by dining at a couple of two-credit restaurants, like Flying Fish. YUM!

 

[Steffy]

I loved the DDP. The previous 2 times I have used the DDP were adult trips and we used the kitchen basically for coffee and maybe a bagel in the morning as we dashed out of the room to get to the parks!

I mostly have ts meals. Character breakfasts. Table service dinners. The thing I enjoyed most about the DDP was everyone could order what they really wanted to eat and we didn't have to divide up the check!!

The last two trips I "discovered" the counter service places! We would eat there for breakfast or lunch and always looked forward to our relaxing ts dinner.

This will be the first time I have my entire family on the DDP. My DGD is 10, so she will be an adult, so no worries about her ordered a child's meal. The baby is only 13 months and I have no problem paying OOP for him. I think it will work out great. Not having to divide up a check between 3 families will be so relaxing. And it will relieve my Dear Sweet Dil from thinking she has to pick up each check.

I am sooooo looking forward to this trip. It is my plan to have groceries delivered so we can have breakfast at the villa. Counter service lunches, and then the nice relaxing table service meals in the evening. I have two character breakfasts planned, but I think we will pay for them OOP. Since they are prix fixe it will be easy to divide the cost of those meals.

I just can't wait.

 

[ilovediznee]

I think the DDP eliminates a bunch of stress on a trip. When we go, I still have a lot I do - packing lists, making sure we have everything. The last thing I want to do is decide which entree to get based on price.

I kinda view it as a cruise where it is all paid for, so all I have is what else I want to buy - pictures, souvenirs.

We're going in December so if I save about $30 a month, it will be paid for by the time we get there. I've got a pt job, so my money will go towards debt and the trip.

Diane

 

[lsutigerita]

We have never tried the DDP. I usually order groceries before we depart for DW. I also pack non-spoiling food in my carry on. We just got in the habit of eating breakfast in our room before we head off to the parks just to save $$$ on one meal.

Let us know how it works out for you!

 

[kimberh]

For our family, it is a must do! They just love it. I have always made them order what was the best value for the money. The last 3 trips have been wonderful. We have ate at places that I never dreamed that we would have eaten at and no bill at the end! Absolute Relaxation and enjoyment during the meal. IF we can't eat all the food, I get a to go box, usually for the deserts, put them in the napsack and off we go. Some of the CS deserts are prewrapped. The snacks have really improved. There are so many things that you can get. I never let a snack credit expire, I go shopping before I go home. I have spent 13 at one time before. I have even bought prepackage candy and given it as gifts when we arrived home.

 

[byoung]

Love the DDP, use it three times now and in May's trip. Not doing the plan in Oct thought, to full to do the F&W more than once. Use the DDE card that week.

 

[Uncleromulus]

For us the DDE is a better value. We almost never do lunch, don't do CS, almost never eat snacks and almost always eat dinner at what would be 2 TS credit restaurants. And we always have a drink or two with dinner. And with DDE we can valet park for free when we're eating.
So if your dining profile is like ours, DDP may not be a good value.

 

[daisyduck123]

Hi,
Has anyone used this perk and thought it was worth it?

THANKS

We do the DDP every trip, although our trip this May will be our first time as DVC members.

For us, it is REALLY worth it.
We do a character dinner almost every night & those are expensive....when you look at the cost of a character dinner with tax & tip, that is almost the cost of one day on the DDP, so it's like getting the CS credit & snack credit for free!

 

[mic_KY_mouses]

We used the DDP for the first time last November. It was great for us for many of the reasons stated by previous posters. My DH spent lots of time on DIS in advance of the trip seeing where the best value for our DDP dollars could be found. It is fun for us to plan ahead in that way.

I would add that you would want to do ADRs as far in advance as possible. Our trip was "last minute", only a month out, and there were a few places we were unable to reserve.

I would recommend trying it to anyone. That way you can judge for yourself.