Anyone NOT on the dining plan?

[debbiepump]

We pay plain ol' ordinary cash-confuses some of the poor servers.

 

[Harambe]

We pay plain ol' ordinary cash-confuses some of the poor servers.

LOL! No one understands "greenbacks" anymore.

Like someone else said, each family has to crunch the numbers. We are going during "free dining" time, but in order to add free dining, we'd have to buy at least one park ticket (already have discounted tickets), and give up our AAA discount on a concierge room. That's a lot of money. Plus, we have loads of Visa disney dollars to spend on our meals (we don't do a ton of souvies). Hence, for us the dining plan is NOT free!

We do make ADR's though. I'd rather have the ADR's and not use them, than go with none.

 

[sleepydog25]

We probably spend twice as much per day as the DDP but still perfer it that way. We usually eat at a lot of 2 credit meals anyway and we also eat two counter service a day. We would already be OOP most of the time just for those two things. While the DDP is much cheaper for us it is still too inconvenient.

We don't spend twice as much, but like you, we wind up eating at a lot of 2TS restaurants, so we'd wind up paying OOP for some meals, regardless. We infrequently eat at CS and pack food into the parks. I certainly understand that for some it makes sense and is considered easy enough to track. For us, the DDP would be about the same price as we usually pay for food, so why bother?

 

[Harvest02]

Our family of 4 is NOT going to use the dining plan on our trip in June. I decided not to for several reasons: First, I got a great AAA rate for our room at All star Movies. Second, I got our park tickets from Ticketmania using the Mousesavers newsletter discount. Saved about $100 on our tickets this way(versus buying them from Disney). Third, we are going at a hot time of year and my husband and I will probably split some meals, or eat at mostly CS restaurants. My kids may get hungry, but I don't like to eat big meals with all the heat! I also agree with other posts that I don't want to be tied down to where we have to eat every day. Who knows what we will be in the mood for and at what time? We do have 3 ADR's for Whispering Canyon Cafe, Chef Mickey's, and Sci-Fi Drive In. Those are the only Table service we will probably do for this trip.

 

[Hedy]

For me, AAA room>DDP (I also do the TS at lunch, which helps matters).

 

[poohluvrs]

Our AAA room discount was a better savings, thankfully as I cant deal w/ what seems to be a headache of the DDP!

 

[aclov]

Not on the DDP. Leaving on Wednesday for 4 nights with two friends, tried to convince them to do it but said it was too much food. They seem not to eat alot on vacation. I would definately do it if going with DH, he's a big eater.

 

[makinorlando]

ITA.What snack we can have or not. Doesn't make for a vacation if you ask me! QUOTE]


I felt so bad for a little boy at EPCOT a couple weeks ago who wanted a Kaki Gori ($2.25) and his mom said no because it wasn't part of the DDP!

Geesh - it was hot, and they are such a nice cool treat and well worth the $2.25 to me!

No DDP for me, I'm local and use the DDE for all our dining experiences. Even if we were able to use it I don't think we would - we as a rule don't do appies, dinner and dessert when we eat out! It's just DD9 and myself.

 

[Eeyore2003]

We have the DDE card and have saved hundreds this year in 2 trips. We will get at least one more 9 day trip out of it. In November it was just us and our neice and in May it was just DH and myself and we still saved bunches. I have not really checked into the dining plan, it really seems like a hassle to me.

We rent points from DVC owners for our room, have AP's for our tickets, and between that and our DDE card, we get some kind of discount at pretty much every restuarant at Disney, plus discounts at certain shopping places including World of Disney, Basin, etc.

 

[Eeyore2003]

Oh, I also forgot, we have the Disney Visa. I charge pretty much everything I buy on it and then pay it up each month. By the time we get to each trip, we have several free meals in Disney Reward Points.

 

[Esmerelda]

We are definitely not....we use the DDE card. We saved tons of money last year and I do not want to be limited to where I can eat at. We are a family of four and we would seriously never eat that much food. I don't want to have to keep up with credits....I just want us to eat when and where if we are hungry just like we did last year and enjoy!

best of luck,
Esmerelda

 

[Barak's Disney]

We aren't on the dining plan. We are staying in a 1 bedroom at the Wilderness Lodge Villas (rented points) next stay and plan on making at least 2 meals a day in the room. Last visit, we stayed in a studio and managed 2 meals in the room every day with just a microwave, fridge and toaster. We have 2 little ones and meals take them forever, so it is just easier to eat in our room before the parks and during our midday break - our time in the parks is limited enough by naptimes and bedtimes!

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Not me, I have the DDE and use that. I am one of the people who still like to be spontaneous......even though that is getting harder to do, and go where the day takes me.

 

[Laura]

We didn't use it, and I never really considered it. I got a AAA discount at POFQ for room only, and only made 1 ADR (Boma) before we left. We ate 3 more TS dinners and 3 TS breakfasts, and we didn't have any problem getting ADRs while there; we were never told there was no availability. It could be different if we'd wanted to eat in different restaurants than we'd chosen or had been there when it was busier, but we liked it the way it was. I think with the room discount we saved $ versus the plan, and we didn't have to worry about using our credits up or making our ADRs every day. And DH (type 1 diabetic) could eat when he wanted to, wherever we were. I had planned certain parks on certain days ahead of time, but we wound up not sticking to the schedule. We have a much better vacation that way.

Now, if we were going during free dining, that's a different ball of wax. I'd probably try it then.

 

[RC Fan]

I don't think the DDP would work for me for several reasons: I don't care for counter service meals, I much prefer table service; as far as the TS credits, I generally don't order three courses, as I just can't eat that much; and lastly, I would only use the CS credits for snacks, in which case I would never use all my credits.

I think the DDE would be a decent value for me though.

 

[klmall]

The DP isn't offered when we're going but will impact our visit anyway, DARN! Since people who booked a package earlier will still be there and have ADRs and are filling up the restaurants we have to make more ADRs than my DH wants.

We much prefer to choose a dinner based on our mood but now we're kind of forced into more planning because of all this!

The other main reason we're not doing the plan is because we're doing concierge this trip. Not that we will fill up every meal on concierge food but I know that for at least our breakfasts we will grab quick items from the lounge and we don't do character meals at all with a 20 year old anymore!

We've always done mostly CS lunches and eaten some sit-down dinners so I think the DDE card will be perfect us this trip since I bought an AP for the first time.

DH lost 50 pounds this winter; I lost 20 and DS is losing too so the Dining Plan would only do us in!!!!!!!

 

[MiamiBeach]

We rarely order dessert, sometimes split an appetizer, etc. Sometimes we're in the mood for just a croissant and coffee in the mornings. I think the dining plan would make us overeat because we'd be trying to get our money's worth. We have great restaurants where we live, so don't feel compelled to try every restaurant while at Disney. We even - God forbid! - skip meals once in a while.

 

[frannn]

I don't believe we would do it if we had to pay, since usually get APs. We'd have to buy a 1 day ticket just to have the option of purchasing the plan. We usually do about 4 TS (B,L,D) during our 11 day trips, and got the DDE last year. Most other meals were CS and offsite. We spent less than we would have with the DP. I love to eat, so the "free" DP will be a real treat for me this trip. I am nervous about losing valuable park time, though. I am also worried that when we go again after this year, if we do not get (free) DP, we will be worse off. I don't want to have major issues getting ADRs and hated to see the prices of the snacks go up recently to suit the new snack rules of the DP. I have read posts about portion sizes getting smaller and non-DP prices going up in the past few years, supposedly attributable to the DP.

 

[Braque]

We're not DP'ing this year. We got a much better deal on our room at the Swan to think about changing our plan.

 

[pozey]

I have the DDE card as well. We have gotten 2 8-day trips worth of use out of it. We have saved HUNDREDS!!