Anyone NOT do the Dining Plan?

[mcgrawfan]

Sorry for yet another DP question. Does anyone not do the dining plan because it seems like way too much food? My family eats well but I just think it seems like soooo much food. Most threads I read it seems like most people get it. We rarely eat an appetizer, entree and dessert. If we do get an appetizer we share it. What are thougts from those of you who don't get this plan?

 

[tmt martins]

Way to much for us .

We might get the DDE card as we just got our PAP's and that might be a better fit for us.

 

[HJL413]

I decided against the dining plan for our upcoming trip 1/27 - 2/04. We don't usually eat all 3 courses and I just didn't see the value based on our eating habits. I also liked the room only with separate tickets better than the package.

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

We did not do the dining plan. I don't know if it was the right decision or the wrong one. To be honest with you, the dining plan really confuses me. Does it really save you money? How does everything work. I thought I would research it a little more before I made any commitments. We usually eat a character meal every morning and fill up. Then we eat dinner at night. We usually bypass lunch all together unless we didn't eat breakfast for some reason. Sometimes we get a snack if we're hungary. For all you that understand the dining plan, would it be worth it for us?

 

[slp87]

We're DVC members and the dining plan isn't available till after our trip, but we wouldn't do it anyway, especially since our DD is 11. It is definitely more food than we eat at a meal and DH is not a breakfast eater either.

 

[2tinkersmom]

We totaled our food expenses from our trip last January and compared it with what we would pay to do the dining plan. It actually came up more to do the dining plan and it really would be a lot of wasted food for our family. Almost every day we ate breakfast, sometimes a larger one especially if we weren't eating in our room, but then tried to hold out until 2:00 each day to get our main meal. This worked well for us for several reasons - our girls carried snacks with them so they had something if they were hungry, we hardly ever had a wait at restaurants because that was an off time to be eating and that meal tided us through the day usually just getting a snack later at night.

We go again on Feb. 1st and we're planning on doing it the same way!

 

[skiwee1]

I don't do the dining plan plan not because it's way too much food. We eat at too many of the signature restaurants and the plan would be too much of a hassle to figure that out. We would use up a lot credits and have to pay out of pocket anyway. Also we eat 3 meals a day and the meal plan only gives you two meals. Again we would be paying out of pocket. We also don't want to be told that this or that isn't covered. To me, a vacation is not having to worry about where or what you eat or if you are getting the most bang for your buck. I much rather know that I can order what I want and just pay it. I do think it is terrific for those that need to budget their money. Edited to add that we have APs so the DDE card saves us $$$$ each trip. We saved over $300 on each trip so far. With 3 trips using the DDE we should be saving over $1000!

 

[java]

We are sticking with our DDE card instead- it won't expire until the middle of our trip- and I think that savings is better for the way we eat(and drink!

 

[Hanover]

We love the dining plan. We definitely have saved money on food on the trips we have taken and used the dining plan. We find that we don't overstuff ourselves and usually have enough credits left over the last day that we can eat CS meals for breakfast and lunch. We usually get 3 meals instead of 4 for breakfast and/or lunch and share them among the 4 of us. We each get plenty of food and don't have to waste any. We find that we've been able to check out a lot of TS restaurants that we wouldn't have tried if we hadn't been on the DDP. To us, it's a great deal.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I don't know enough about the DP to do it! I have read about it and sometimes I'm curious. From the little bit I know, it doesn't look like a good fit for us.

 

[clydenora]

We are not doing the dining plan for our trip in March. We cannot because we are renting points from a DVC member.

I did a lot of research on this before deciding to go with the DVC place/no DP or going with Coronado and DP. The dining plan for us...5 night stay for 4 adults (two sons, 12 and 14)...was high $700s. I went online to access menus and prices, because I have always felt, as many of you apparently do, that it is just too much food. My final impression was that it would definitely be a good deal for our 14 year old son (who will turn 15 a few days after we return from WDW). He would be able to order app, entree, and dessert w/o having to share. It would also be worth it if we did two or more buffet style restaurants, as those run $25-30 per adult. And when you figure gratuity is included, that makes a difference.

But at non-buffet, we never all order our own app, entree, and dessert. I truly don't think I can eat all that. So for the rest of us, I didn't think it would save us money.

So I finally decided to go with the DVC. With the money I saved on the DVC room as compared to Coronado (over $200) added to the cost of the dining plan, I figure we should at the very least break even, even if we let DS14 order to his heart's content. Plus, we get a room that has two queen beds. With boys our ages, that matters.

 

[Amyrlin]

DDE for us, it is also more freedom to eat outside Disney as well.

 

[CamColt]

We eat a lot, but even so, there is no way we could eat all that food. So while we would be getting more food for less money than its worth, we would be spending more money because we wouldnt normally order that much food. Even when we do the FDP or CP Package, I usually feel like that is so much. We would rather skip dessert and get an icecream later on, maybe split a salad or appetizer with our meals or something like that. The dining package is not for us (unless it were free, then of course Id go for it ).

I plan to get the DDE with our APs this summer though. That seems so worth it to me.

 

[ptrbryant]

It won't start until April, so I don't know when your trip is scheduled to begin, but even as a renter of DVC points, you can now sign-up to do the Dining Plan and it's linked to the number of nights you're renting, not to any tickets/passes. We're doing this in May. I think it's really the best of both worlds: deluxe accomodations at a low price AND the DP!
Check it out!

Karla B.

 

[teacher31]

And I was just beginning to think we were the ONLY people not doing the dining plan!! We aren't doing it for our upcoming stay for several reasons. Primarily because of the cost, though. We, a family of 5 - 2 adults & 3 disney 'adults', don't eat nearly $200 a day in food. We splurge every couple of days, but don't spend anywhere near that amount for the dining plan. It was wonderful hearing other people feel the same way!

 

[cara loves the poly]

Our family does not do it either.

 

[Keebles]

We were just the opposite than most...we didn't do the dining plan 'cause it wasn't enough food! We had at least 2 TS's per day, no snacks, and very little CS's (I think two) and the dining plan just wouldn't have come close to helping. We received a lot of flack from some people about it too. I'm planning a solo trip this year and am seriously considering using it, but this time, on a solo trip, I think it might be too much food! I'm still debating it.

 

[snowbunny]

We're not doing it on our trip this year. I can't stand the commando mentality it seems to engender -- "where can I go to eat lobster and steak on the dining plan?!!" -- and because we don't like counter service in general. It doesn't make sense for our dining habits.

 

[Goofy4]

...DVC renters can now do DP, too!

At first I was excited to read that. But then I realized that I really like to try to eat healthier and save cost by eating in once a day. Still, it's tempting... Something more to think about now.

 

[DebIreland]

We didn't do the Dining plan last year because I bought an AP and saved on our room cost. I wanted to do it this year for our upcoming trip in October ( I still can't believe we're going back ) and, as we're hoping to rent DVC points I reckoned if would be great because DVC owners/renters can avail of it now too BUT now I'm having second thoughts because I don't think we'll do a table service meal each day - especially if our little one, who will be 2 by then, will want to nap, we might just grab something quick or even cook in (if we get a studio) some days to save money and time.

Having said that, the DP could save us a packet on the days we do character meals because at 28 per adult and 13 per child for Chef Mickeys (for example), that's 97 there already for us (2 adults, one 11 year old and a 9 year old) before a tip, so that's about 115 JUST for that meal. The DP would cost us 126 per day. So on a day like that, we could get a counter service meal plus 2 snacks each for just 11 dollars for all of us!

What put me off it too was the fact that children aged 10+ are charged the adult rate but at character meals we'll have to pay an adult rate for our eldest anyway now, so hmmmmm, what to do?

We'd lose out some days but gain other days so I need to plan it carefully to see which is best. Hmmmm, I guess I need to give this a lot more thought.