Are we the only family who does NOT do the Dining Plan?

[jimmytammy]

We love to eat good food, but the DDP doesnt interest us. We like to do a TS usually on a daily basis, and that is a lot of food in most cases. We usually dont order anything other than the meal, unless we are at 50s where we get a shake or Le Cellier where we order cheese soup as an appetizer. We have a DDE card so that helps offset some expense. But to have to feel like you have to eat all that food on the DDP. More power to those that can.

 

[Harvest02]

Reading up on dining reviews it seems like EVERYONE is on the Dining Plan. I consider myself a Disney veteran, but the DDP does not excite me. I enjoy the restaurants and usually eat at one sit down meal per day, but never order appitizers and dessert for everyone. That's a lot of food. We usually purchase snacks that are not covered on DDP so we would be spending extra money on that. Maybe someday we will give it a try to see if we actually saved money. We never go during free dining time so hopefully they will bring that back next year and try it then.

We don't do the DDP either. I just think it is way too much food! We never eat appetizers or desserts with all our meals either. We are a family of 4 and spent on average about $100 a day on food, but we ate pretty good most days.

 

[3dog2kidmom]

For our family, it was wonderful. We would pay for it again in a heartbeat. We didn't stress about maximizing the plan. We didn't worry about whether a meal was the best use of a CS credit or TS credit or snack credit. When we wanted something, we used the applicable credit for it. If we didn't want something that was included, we either "gifted" it to a neighbor in line or we just didn't order it.

ITA. We do one TS meal and one CS everyday anyway. We found it to be worth it just for the TS -- salad, entree and dessert is what we'd have ordered anyway. Snacks were used for water or sodas during the day. If you want to share meals, not do TS, and eat on the cheap (if that's even possible at Disney), then of course it isn't for you. For people who make eating at nice places part of their vacation experience, it's a great value. And who says you have to eat everything that's offered?? Finally, I knew I had meals paid for and didn't have to worry about what anyone was ordering and trying to keep costs down. Kids want dessert? fine. DH wants the most expensive entree and appetizers? fine. Easier on the budget this way

 

[Harambe]

We don't use it either, even though we are going during the "free" time. We enjoy the AAA rate on our rooms (if you have a couple of rooms, or a deluxe room - that's a nice chunk of money), we purchase discounted tickets way in advance, and we use our Disney Visa rewards dollars to pay for our meals (those don't stick around, so we're better off using them up whenever we go to WDW. Unfortunately, we have a lot of them! LOL!).

I almost laughed out loud when the CM I had on the phone explained what I'd have to do to get the "free" dining - give up the AAA discount, buy another ticket, bla bla bla. Didn't sound free to me.

I also don't like the pressure of following a plan, even though this one doesn't seem all too complicated.

 

[Texa]

We won't be doing the dining plan for our December trip either. Most of our upcoming ts are prepaid or set menu (candlelight processional, fantasmic package, CRT, and chef mickeys) so it was easy to crunch the numbers for TS, plus adding in what we general spend for counter service and snacks. The only TS where we will sit down and order is Cali Grille. When I crunched the numbers on that it kind of confirmed that our family wouldn't benefit from the dining plan. Cali Grille is a 2TS but in my party two would just order sushi for their meal, probably not even the most expensive platter as they are seniors and light eaters, my DS10, who I would have to pay for as an adult would order a flat bread to share with his DD4, then they would order dessert. DH, well, would probably order a $30 entree but no appy or dessert. Me, I like to order two appys and a glass of wine, and attempt to do dessert but I don't always make it. This is how we generally order in restaurants, so we wouldn't benefit from the dining plan.

 

[Dina]

We are doing it since its free (I agree if you can get AP rates or AAA rates it can be better, but we're staying at a value on this trip-- budget trip, so even with a big discount we weren't going to save as much as we would by not having to pay for lunch and dinner every day)

That being said, I hate planning this trip. I feel like I have to have ADRs for every day, and we are so tied to a schedule because of that. I will never ever do it again (unless its free and we can't get a good room discount otherwise).

 

[powellrj]

We are doing it since its free (I agree if you can get AP rates or AAA rates it can be better, but we're staying at a value on this trip-- budget trip, so even with a big discount we weren't going to save as much as we would by not having to pay for lunch and dinner every day)

That being said, I hate planning this trip. I feel like I have to have ADRs for every day, and we are so tied to a schedule because of that. I will never ever do it again (unless its free and we can't get a good room discount otherwise).

Thats pretty much how we feel about it. We are staying at a value with 4 adults (kids are 10 and 15), so free dining was a better discount than I could have gotten anywhere.

BUT, I hate feeling like I have to plan every TS everyday. I will miss some of our favorite off-site places this year. We aren't planning on sharing any meals or banking any credits, we are just doing it the standard way, but it still seems like more planning than I normally like to do. I only planned one park meal because I didn't want to feel tied to any one park for a day. The rest of the meals I planned for are resort or DDT. I know I can parkhop, but I just don't like to have to plan that much!!

 

[WVParkfan]

I just can't imagine having to stick to strict reservation times every day. We plan many of the details of our trip (what park on what day, what we want to accomplish that day, etc.), but sometimes we just like to "wing it."

On our last visit, we were having such incredible luck with walking onto rides and working out our Fast Passes that we forgot to eat dinner. At the end of the evening, we were on Main Street getting ready to see Wishes, and we all realized that we were starving. The closest place was Casey's, so we decided to give it a try. We had a BLAST. We're baseball fans, and the hotdogs were a perfect late-night dinner. What a great memory we have of standing in the street watching the fireworks while munching on a hot dog from Casey's.

If we had been forced to make a certain dinner time, we wouldn't have discovered Casey's. We also wouldn't have been able to ride everything that we did that evening as we would have been sitting at a table wasting time ordering dinner.

So, count us as another family who has no interest in the dining plan.

 

[mirlow]

I just switched our free dining reservations to an AP discount. I thought it sounded like fun trying some new restaurants that I wouldn't normally do, but it is just way too much food. I usually gain a couple pounds from what we normally eat, I couldn't imagine how much I would gain after eating an appetizer and dessert with every meal Yes I know you don't have to order the food, but if it were free my lack of will power would be shot! Plus in August it is just way to hot for me to be eating big meals. We're fine with a handful of TS where we all just order an entree. My dh and I will be going to Bistro de Paris which is not even on the dining plan.

We like to switch resorts so that was an extra ticket for the five of us. When I did the numbers for our family it was the same price for us to eat what and where we want staying in a GVC room at the Polynesian with an AP discount vs a standard room with free dining. Plus we get to stay at WDW when we usually do, August 5th-16th. We couldn't do that with the free dining.

I do think the free dining is a great deal. It's just the AP/DDE is a much better deal for our family.

 

[LSUDis]

Two reasons for no dining plan:

(1) did it before and found ourselves planning our day around eating, not the parks or what we were interested in at the moment.

(2) my son just turned 10 years old....he does NOT eat $35 worth of food a day at WDW--he will eat hot dogs, pizza, chicken nuggets--that's about it.
10 years old is really young to be considered an adult.

 

[Sunseeker]

We went with another family who had a different reservation #. We got the plan for one reservation and shared the plan. That way you can split meals and have the option of not doing table service every day.

 

[heatherfeather24]

No for us, but for a very different reason. I have NO willpower and have struggled with weight all my life. If someone says to me, "Hey, HeatherFeather, you can have an appetizer, meal, and dessert at every meal," I will do it. Even though I know I shouldn't. Paying OOP for each item helps keep me honest and makes me ask whether I REALLY want something before I eat it.

 

[mking624]

The only reason why we're doing the dining plan is because we're getting it for free. Even if we didn't order appetizers and desserts, we save a ton of money on the meals alone. We're all for free food!! Had it not been free, we wouldn't have done it. We can eat for cheaper than the plan would have cost us each day.

 

[Cruz Family]

Even with the "free" dining, I don't see what the deal is. You're still paying rack rate for your hotel room and then, like other posters have stated, if you don't "maximize" your DP credits, how much are you really saving?

It is a huge deal for us!
We are not AP holder and stay at value resorts. Going in Sept/Oct. for 10 nights with myself, DH, DS 8, and DS 13. For our package including our room, 9 day hopper passes, and free dining we paid only $1864.53.
In 2004 we went for 7 nights, had 7 day hopper passes, and with food we spent over $2300. Last time we only ate at 5 TS restaurants, and the rest were counter service.
The only other difference in the two trips is my up comming trip is during value season, and the other was regular. So we are paying about $10 a night less, that is if the rates have not gone up.

Like most people have said on this thread usually we all do not get apps. and dessert (usualy we split one of each). But this time I guess the option of each of us getting our own dessert and apps. is just a burden we will have to bare.
Now that is what I call a deal!

 

[La2kw]

We don't bother with the dining plan. It would cost too much for two adults and two teens- one who is a very picky, light eater. We have been to WDW many times and have never spent as much on food as the dining plan would cost us- we usually spend about two weeks at Disney. We could never eat that much food, either. We prefer to eat where we want and what we want without worrying about what we can and can't order on some plan. With the DDE, we usually spend a lot less than what the dining plan would have cost.

 

[La2kw]

Wow, there sure are alot of people who don't want to "keep track" of points.

I have used DDP in the past and plan to use it this coming january. I think most people miss the big picture with DDP. If you will eat at a table service restaurant at least 4 times on your trip, it will save you money...even if you don't use the other 3 nights worth of table service credits.

Most entrees at table service restaurants run anywhere from 20-35 dollars. Drinks are usually 2-3 dollars and tax+tip varies. So right there you are close to $30 on the low side. Plus you get a counter service and snack.

I think the bottom line is this...those that don't use it or don't want to are not the people who want to eat in the table service restaurants anyway.

Personally, I enjoy eating at a nice restaurant everynight and not eating pizza back at the hotel room. It saves me quite a bit of money and I would recommend it to all of you.

We enjoy the table service restaurants. We do our table service meals at lunch. They are cheaper and the break during the day is a great chance to relax. I rarely pay 20-30 dollars for an entree even before my DDE discount. There is no reason you would have to eat pizza in your hotel room for dinner either. There are plenty of great non-table service places to eat dinner that are cheaper than table service and require no reservations. Almost every World Showcase country has a quick serve restaurant that serves very good food from that country. Not to mention Earl of Sandwich, Cooke's of Dublin, Wolfgang Puck Express, and the take out window at Bongo's in Downtown Disney.

 

[afcgirl]

Wow, I think a lot of you are really missing out.

We did the DP last summer (we paid) and are getting it free in August.

We saved a fortune last summer and had the best meals. There is nothing complicated about it, you just go and order.

And with the outrageous prices at WDW for food, I don't understand how so many people can say they pay less OOP (especially since tax AND tip is included on the DP). One turkey leg at a stand in MK almost costs as much as a whole day for a child on the DP!

And we are thin people, I doubt we eat that much more than anyone else. Yes we were full when we left the restaurants but come on it's vacation! I give the DP a big

 

[Dina]

I really don't think there is anything bad about the dining plan, and I absolutely believe I am saving money, however, I'm afraid if I don't make ADRS-- I won't get a table anywhere, and I don't want to be stuck to a schedule (which we will be if we have ADRs every night)-- those of you that do the dining plan-- what do you do so that you don't feel that you are "chasing" reservations the entire time???

 

[HenDuck]

I kept looking at the dining plan and thinking, "there's no way we can be this organized about meals on our vacation!" We don't eat TS that often, we rather eat when we can or eat off-site.

Plus we have light and picky eaters in our family, so I don't think this plan would work for us.

Thanks for thinking what I was...

 

[HayGan]

We really enjoy the dining plan but I do understand that it isn't for everyone. One of the main reasons that I like it is that I don't have to listen to DH deciding what he wants to eat by the prices not the descriptions I like having everything prepaid and for us it really does save us a good bit of $$$!!!

I probably would prefer the DDE but since I don't see us buying APs just yet, we will have to stick to the DDP