Are Disney Dining Plans really worthwhile?

[Huff]

DDP works very well for us. Depending on where you like to dine and what you order, the DDP can save quite a bit of $'s. It always does for us. However, people who love to dine at the lower priced restaurants or choose more economical entrees would be better of paying OOP. We love going out to a nice dinner every night of our trip.

That said, the DDP is not even close to the value it was not long ago. Our first trip with DDP the TS portion included appetizer, entree, dessert, drink, tax and Tip at a cost of around $32 per person. The new DDP does not include appetizer nor tip at a cost of $58 per person. Not the value it once was but we still save quite a bit over paying OOP for where we dine and what we like to order.

 

[LSUfan4444]

it may be worthwhile to also note how much you plan to spend that would not be covered by the plan when you are deciding if it is worthwhile for you.

Absolutely.

We may do a character meal, but hardly ever for breakfast. Instead we eat breakfast in the room or leaving the room, snack throughout the day, then one actual sit down meal.

We may split an individual pizza from Pizzafari ($10) for "lunch" but also have some egg rolls ($5 for 2 orders) with chicken fried rice ($4), a Quinoa salad ($9) and a couple beers ($15).

That comes out to $28 for tons of food and beer. I don't have to get cardboard tasting chips, a drink I don't need and a dessert I'm going to take one bite of and throw away.

 

[AmyB2006]

Depends on how you like to eat, I say. For us, totally a waste of money. Tables In Wonderland is a much better option for us.

I generally dislike the DP because I think it is a main cause of the limited menus and decline in quality over the last 10 years or so. But, financially, it can work for some families.

 

[MommyJack]

So I've been debating about the dining plan for our next trip in September. Last three trips have been on the dining plan and we even bought the wine package last time. We have always liked it because we ate places we normally wouldn't and never hesitated about character meals etc. Now that the kids are older now considered adults and not so interested in character meals and we've been to all the diner shows, I'm thinking it may not be the best way to go for us anymore. Even though I'm assuming that free dining will be offered when we go, I'm hoping for a room discount instead. Based on our eating habits I'm pretty sure we'll do better without the dining plan.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I don't like the dining plan, mostly because I feel it is a lack of flexibility. I've gone to WDW 4 times as an adult - twice with the DDP, once with the QSDP, and once with no dining plan. I will not be using any dining plan on my upcoming trip.

I don't want a snack every day, a dessert with every meal, or a table service meal every day, but you most definitely lose money if you don't use all of your entitlements to their fullest.

DH and I like to do a mixture of TS and QS dining (doing 2 TS meals or so out of a 4-5 day trip). I'm not a big eater anyway, and many "snacks" are adequate meals for me. I would like to go to BOG and just get soup and a cupcake for lunch. When paying out of pocket, I can do all of this and spend less than I would for the dining plan.

Back when the dining plan included appetizers and tip, it was a much better value than it is now, but I found it to be way too much food.

One thing DH and I did was ask for Disney gift cards for Christmas to pay for our food. If you're going to celebrate something (holiday, birthday, etc.), asking people for gift cards is a great way to reduce the cost of food on your trip. I think DH and I may have enough to cover all of our food.

 

[distherapy]

We're going on our fifth trip and it will be our fifth trip with the deluxe dining plan. Clearly, we are fans.

That being said, before every trip, I figured out what we would likely order and did the math. I giggle every time I read "the dining plan requires you to get x, y, and z". The dining plan doesn't force me to order anything. I order what I want - we sometimes share apps, DH rarely gets dessert. No milkshakes or other drinks - just water. (Well, beer and wine but I don't count that because I'd pay for it either way.) I include tax in the calculation. Honestly, the last 3 times, I didn't even count snacks because we were ahead in the calculations without them. The math works for us WITHOUT apps, drinks and desserts at every meal.

I don't spend my vacation stressing about ordering the most expensive meal or getting my "money's worth" with the plan. I just think of it as everything is 80% off (because you still tip on the total.)

Of course, the HUGE caveat is that our children are still under the age limit for Disney children. Once they're Disney "adults", I fully expect my calculations to look very different.

I also have to say that we eat an early lunch and then a signature dinner each night. We like the break of A/C and service in the middle of the day and enjoy trying new things or old favorites at the signatures at night.

 

[AliceandAriel]

I’m curious what people think of the Disney Dining plans. On our recent trip (not using a Dining Plan) I scheduled dinner ADRs for every night of our stay, as well as a couple for lunch. The families’ opinion of this was that it limited spontaneity making for a more rushed feel. Part of the reason I made so many ADRs was that we had plenty of Disney Rewards Visa points to use AND I had heard that getting in as a walk-up is becoming a thing of the past, at least at popular places and dining times. I think on our next trip we would prefer to have maybe half as many ADRs for a few must-eat-at places. But if we went with the dining plan, and the need to get ADRs to ensure seats, we would be in the same boat as before. So, what do people think about the dining plans: Are they too limiting or can they be made to work in a flexible schedule?

The DDP (Disney Dining Plan) is something I continue to number crunch left and right, up and down, front and back, and it never even breaks even for me and the SO. So to us, buying it will never be worth it. If it was offered free with our stay (which we're hoping for in October!) it will greatly help buffer the costs of food, and give us more room for other spending bits in the parks. But that's the only time we'll use the DDP.

ADRs, however, are a must for us. This upcoming February I'm going to WDW for a spontaneous 3-day stay, and one day so far I have no ADRs planned. Not going to lie, it has me scared. I'm the type to pick a place for dinner, book the ADR, and then plan my day working towards there. Not having ADRs planned leaves me horribly lost.

 

[dwheaton]

We really don't do a lot of table service, and I rarely make ADRs, so it doesn't make sense for us. On our last trip in 2012, my only ADR was for Raglan Road on our night of arrival since it was a Saturday night. Given this fact, the Dining Plan would be a waste for us. We also get a condo and eat breakfast (and sometimes dinner) there, so it doesn't make sense.

Even if our situation was changed, I still wouldn't get it. It locks you into spending a ton of time eating, and the price just doesn't make sense since they've cut back some of the original elements. I think it's a waste and has also led to worse fare at many of the restaurants. So it's made it even less likely for us to eat table service in a lot of cases.

 

[AJPPGH]

I think it is definitely worth it if you really like to eat and will eat a lot and enjoy trying different restaurants. Also, with the DDP you will be able to go to some of the more expensive restaurants and not feel restricted in ordering what you want.

This will be the first trip that we have not got it. My son is 12 and so I would have to pay the adult fare for him-a super picky eater-so its no longer worth it. Also, I would have to say that we have tried many of the restaurants by now and really don't consider any of them to be very good. I have scheduled a few TS but we will mostly do QS meals.

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

We stopped doing the dining plan the last couple of years only because with the price it is at now, we couldn't make it out to be a deal for us. We do love having a sit down meal each day, but when we crunched the numbers, it was less expensive not to bother.

 

[over50visits]

The DDP is in no way worth it. You can justify it to yourself by picking the most expensive option for a full meal each day, and think you're saving money, but you are not really. You almost certainly would not eat that way. The savings are illusory.

What they are is one of the more brilliant ideas of Disney over the years. They market them as being convenient, saving money, letting you budget ahead of time, and so forth. What they really do is fill their TS restaurants, something they couldn't do in the past. And they have allowed them to significantly raise prices, especially for buffets, since now that restaurants are being filled they are able to charge more. Then you think your dining plan is still a good deal!

A few years ago they hid a significant price increase by dropping the inclusion of tips. So, effectively, they raise the amount of money you pay out of pocket by 15-20%. That is a huge increase.

Finally, the DDP is often restrictive in what you can order (an appetizer or not? drink? two salads?).

You will save money, have more options, and enjoy your trip more if you pick and choose when to eat at full service restaurants, when to eat offsite, when to eat snacks in your room, etc. You'll be happier with a richer set of choices and spend less money.

But, kudos whoever at Disney thought this up from a stockholders point of view. Brilliant.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I think buying the dining plan appeals to certain types of vacationers (and doesn't appeal to others).

Our relatives always buy the dining plan (its never free at the times they go), always stay onsite at whatever level resort fits their budget that year, always take Magical Express, love the Disney bus system. They just love the all-inclusive feeling of having everything paid for up front and taken care of for them.

We're kind of the opposite...I would never buy the dining plan. I'm open to staying offsite. We always rent a car. We drive around WDW. I like to take days and go see other parks. I don't even like having room charges, I prefer to just use my credit card.

 

[sethschroeder]

Sorry, I didn't think I'd be in the minority here. But to us, it's well worth it! We're adventurous eaters and like to try something new we maybe wouldn't get at home. We don't feel it limits spontaneity, because it's usually just ADR's for supper. The rest of the day is as spontaneous as WDW allows, depending on the time of year and crowds. We have gotten the DDP for every trip, and wouldn't consider any other way, just as we'll always stay on site. To us, it's part of being submerged in THE WORLD, where everything is taken care of for you! Just our two cents!

It does limit you from a stance that not all menu items and snacks in the parks qualify for the DDP. I would be interested for you to go back and look at all the meals and snacks you had the whole last trip and add up the bill and compare it to the cost of the DDP.

We were thinking about it last time but sat down and went over what we really would eat at restaurants and as snacks each day and decided to go out of pocket. We were very surprised at how many times our server would start to go into all the things you COULDNT have if you were on the DDP before we would let them know we weren't on a DDP.

Also you talk about being submerged but nothing is worse than seeing that great looking cookie at the bakery in epcot only to realize you couldn't get it with your DDP.

You have to figure out if it makes sense for you though based off what your family is likely to eat and where you likely are going to eat.

 

[JZCubed]

We're going on our fifth trip and it will be our fifth trip with the deluxe dining plan. Clearly, we are fans.

That being said, before every trip, I figured out what we would likely order and did the math. I giggle every time I read "the dining plan requires you to get x, y, and z". The dining plan doesn't force me to order anything. I order what I want - we sometimes share apps, DH rarely gets dessert. No milkshakes or other drinks - just water. (Well, beer and wine but I don't count that because I'd pay for it either way.) I include tax in the calculation. Honestly, the last 3 times, I didn't even count snacks because we were ahead in the calculations without them. The math works for us WITHOUT apps, drinks and desserts at every meal.

I don't spend my vacation stressing about ordering the most expensive meal or getting my "money's worth" with the plan. I just think of it as everything is 80% off (because you still tip on the total.)

Of course, the HUGE caveat is that our children are still under the age limit for Disney children. Once they're Disney "adults", I fully expect my calculations to look very different.

I also have to say that we eat an early lunch and then a signature dinner each night. We like the break of A/C and service in the middle of the day and enjoy trying new things or old favorites at the signatures at night.

As so many have observed, each family must do their own math.

I run the same math and seemingly the Dining Plan almost never works for my family.

The numbers came very close on our recent trip, but we opted for V&A one evening and the math no longer worked in my favor. As another response pointed out, the math almost worked in my favor because we had planned enough character meals.

The irony, we canceled one of those character meals at CRT for our last day. The flexibility to cancel was wonderful, since I did not have 'sunk cost' of prepaying with Dining Plan....it rained very hard that day and we were grateful for having canceled.

That's my fear of the Dining Plan - cancel just one ADR because a child or adult is simply too tired or full, or there is 'weather', and the math just seems to work against prepaying.

But I'll reiterate - if you chose character meals for lunch/breakfast and Signatures for dinner, the math leans in your favor.

 

[JamesMom]

Just got back from a free dining trip to POR December 22nd. I ran the numbers - the plan for our family of 3 adults and 1 child would cost $1,300. I tracked what we ate and purchased using the plan and figured we would have spent $1,150 out of pocket.
We ate at T-Rex, Sci-Fi, Chef Mickey Dinner, O'hana Breakfast, Hoop de Doo, and San Angelo Dinner. Spent our 2 left over Counter service on snacks and used all our snack credits. We left 1 table service adult unspent.
No room discount at POR would ever be available that would save us $1,000 on a 7 night stay (about 50%) so it made financial sense to go with free dining. While I doubt we would ever travel outside of free dining, purchasing the plan would not be worth it because we under utilized the plan (DS8 is very picky eater...).
HTH

 

[Tiggr924]

On our most recent trip, we chose not to do the DDP. We kept all our receipts and then calculated how much it all cost. We didn't eat any differently, went to the restaurants we wanted to, and ordered what we wanted to eat. We mainly did this as an experiment as we typically purchased the DDP.

We were much happier not on the DDP throughout the trip. We never felt overstuffed to the point of feeling sick, we enjoyed our meals. And it was much more cost effective. We've already decided that we won't be getting the DDP again on our next trip.

 

[rt2dz]

Everyone must do the math for their family. For us, the numbers never work out. It's always less expensive to simply pay OOP. I'm not one to watch pennies on what we purchase--just get what you like to eat--nor do I limit where we eat. We usually do 2-3 character meals, a few signature places and just whatever else appeals. The cost of the dining plan is just always more. Everything we want isn't always covered, a lot of times we don't order the most expensive things on the menu, we don't always want any dessert (or at least not one per person), we like things not covered by the plan, signature places require two credits, I have kids that would prefer to eat off the adult menu from time to time, etc, etc.

As far as the "convenience" goes, I just don't see it. With the dining plan you get locked into eating at places that are on the plan, you lose flexibility of just saying that you're full, you need to have snacks, you feel pushed into ordering food (dessert) you may not want, many feel the need to order expensive items or eat at high dollar places, you have to track every credit, you still need to figure out tips, you still have to pay for items not covered or just go without, etc. If I need that prepaid feeling, I'd rather put money on a gift card and refer it yo the dining card.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[photo_chick]

I’m curious what people think of the Disney Dining plans. On our recent trip (not using a Dining Plan) I scheduled dinner ADRs for every night of our stay, as well as a couple for lunch. The families’ opinion of this was that it limited spontaneity making for a more rushed feel. Part of the reason I made so many ADRs was that we had plenty of Disney Rewards Visa points to use AND I had heard that getting in as a walk-up is becoming a thing of the past, at least at popular places and dining times.

I think on our next trip we would prefer to have maybe half as many ADRs for a few must-eat-at places. But if we went with the dining plan, and the need to get ADRs to ensure seats, we would be in the same boat as before. So, what do people think about the dining plans: Are they too limiting or can they be made to work in a flexible schedule?

We do DDP and one ADR for each day. (we break even using the plan money wise) I plan the ADR's to coincide with the park we're attending that day. Sometimes it's a breakfast, sometimes lunch, and some dinner. We're still very flexible with what we do for the rest of the day although with FP+ I see that changing slightly.

 

[ReluctantDisaholic]

For us it's been worth it each trip. I add up our receipts and it's always less than what we paid. Not always a huge difference, depending where we've eaten, but still cheaper so far.

 

[tlkscott]

You have to really crunch your numbers to see if the plans will work for you. We like to do a character meal for breakfast each morning and do a nice dinner each night so we get the deluxe plan. We have saved a little money on two trips with this. We do not do fast food so this works great for us. However, it is not for everyone. We like to get early ADRs in the park early so that we can get in before the park opes and get some great pictures in an almost empty park. On non park days we sleep in and do a late breakfast.