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

[mking624]

Why do people keep saying they don't do the dining plan because they don't want to do all that planning?

I am of the same thoughts you are except that I don't want to add "what planning"...because what I find interesting is how many people say they don't like all the planning, but there's always so many people talking about the necessity of making ADRs. It always makes me wonder if those are the same people.

I mean definitely to each his own...I wouldn't do the plan if it wasn't free. But that's a monetary issue for us since we don't normally do this many TS.

 

[mking624]

As for people who say they are on such strict budgets (i.e. $30 a day for two adults). Why are so many of you not staying at value resorts? I know everyone is different and choose to spend their $$ in different ways. Maybe dining is not a priority for some, but for me Disney Dining is part of the magic, with or without the DDP.

This has nothing to do with the dining plan, but I am a little bothered by how you seem to question a budget with dining and location for where a person is staying (and it amazes me that you somehow know that people who did tight budgets didn't stay at a value). Not that I am required to explain myself to you, but I will.

I did say that when we did our $30 a day for 2 adults, we did it in 2003. In 2003, we DID stay at a Value resort...All Star Movies to be exact (and it's even in my signature). We went with a group...a costuming club I am a member of, we were invited to march for the Star Wars Weekends parade. We were able to get a group rate for our room, and we split the cost with two other people we room with. At most, we paid about $140 for a 4 night stay. We didn't have to worry about paying for tickets, because as our "compensation" for marching in the parades, Disney provided us with 2 free 1 day park hoppers every day we marched (giving us a total of 6 1 day park hoppers). We were unable to find airfare that year that we could afford, so we drove. The trip in total came to be approximately $500 for a 5 day/4 night vacation. Not bad for staying onsite in the month of June with park hoppers.
We did it again in 2004. Yes we stayed at a moderate in 2004, but I was a CM at The Disney Store at the time and got POFQ at a 50% discount...which came out to be cheaper than the normal price of a value.

You have to remember that for some people, the hotel experience is a lot more important (we've done vacations, not necessarily at Disney, where we wanted to use the extra money on the hotel and could care less if we ate at McDonald's). For some, it's the dining experience an dos they splurge ont hat rather than the hotel. And for some, it's both. Who is anyone to judge their budget and say "why aren't you staying at a value?" You don't know the circumstances, so it's better not to assume.

 

[Cruz Family]

This has nothing to do with the dining plan, but I am a little bothered by how you seem to question a budget with dining and location for where a person is staying (and it amazes me that you somehow know that people who did tight budgets didn't stay at a value). Not that I am required to explain myself to you, but I will.

I did say that when we did our $30 a day for 2 adults, we did it in 2003. In 2003, we DID stay at a Value resort...All Star Movies to be exact (and it's even in my signature). We went with a group...a costuming club I am a member of, we were invited to march for the Star Wars Weekends parade. We were able to get a group rate for our room, and we split the cost with two other people we room with. At most, we paid about $140 for a 4 night stay. We didn't have to worry about paying for tickets, because as our "compensation" for marching in the parades, Disney provided us with 2 free 1 day park hoppers every day we marched (giving us a total of 6 1 day park hoppers). We were unable to find airfare that year that we could afford, so we drove. The trip in total came to be approximately $500 for a 5 day/4 night vacation. Not bad for staying onsite in the month of June with park hoppers.
We did it again in 2004. Yes we stayed at a moderate in 2004, but I was a CM at The Disney Store at the time and got POFQ at a 50% discount...which came out to be cheaper than the normal price of a value.

You have to remember that for some people, the hotel experience is a lot more important (we've done vacations, not necessarily at Disney, where we wanted to use the extra money on the hotel and could care less if we ate at McDonald's). For some, it's the dining experience an dos they splurge ont hat rather than the hotel. And for some, it's both. Who is anyone to judge their budget and say "why aren't you staying at a value?" You don't know the circumstances, so it's better not to assume.

You are not the only one to whom I was refering. Many people who are on tight dining budgets stay at the "better" resorts with or with out great discounts. If you look at the end of my quote you referenced, I said "Maybe dining is not a priority for some, but for me Disney dining is part of the magic, with or without the DDP". Don't take it personally, I am sure many people would think it strange how much we spend on dining, souvenirs, etc. when we choose to stay in a value resort. Again, to each his own.

 

[littleladykaty]

are you kidding me?! Having the opportunity to eat at some really great restaurants, sample things from appetizers to dessert and NOT have to pay well over $100 a meal to do it?! SIGN ME UP!!! Why not take advantage of it if it's free? It's not like there is someone there with a knife to your back saying "ORDER THAT APPETIZER...NOW EAT IT!!!" It's having the option that I love!! My DF and I are pretty basic sandwhiches and diet coke types, but when the free dining became available for our honeymoon I was thrilled!! One less thing we have to pay for and worry about! WOO HOO!!

 

[La2kw]

Did you only eat on Disney property or did you get some food from a grocery store? I truly am baffled at how people eat so cheaply. Thanks

We eat cereal and toast in the room for breakfast. We eat mostly counter service (but rarely eat a burger). We eat at TS for lunch instead of dinner(it's usually cheaper). We don't order appetizers. We share a dessert occasionally. We use the DDE for a 20% discount. We take picnic lunches to the water parks. We cook one or two simple meals in our DVC kitchen. Last year we spent $100/day for a family of 4, including 2 teens. We ate everything we wanted, whenever we wanted to. We had pastries, ice cream bars, popcorn, etc. whenever we wanted a snack. In order for us to vacation at WDW every summer for two weeks we have learned how to stretch our food dollars. The dining plan would have cost us $52 more per day. For the 16 nights we were there last year, that's a total of $832 for food we didn't need or miss.

 

[Dina]

I really don't understand what that has to do with the dining plan???
When we went in early Nov. 2004, pre-dining plan, and attendence was very low. Just about every TS restaurant we went to we watched people with out ADR's turned away.
I don't think the dining plan is for everyone, and if someone chooses not to use the DP even if it is "just because" then more power to them.

It has every thing to do with the dining plan. I don't think you understand what I'm saying. With the dining plan I HAVE to eat at a Table Service, because if I don't, I will run out of counter service credits. When not on the dining plan, I could eat at counter service (which I like) and that's fine. So, I didn't have to have an ADR, because if I couldn't eat at a table service, just go to counter service-- no problem-- I'm happy. I think you have your own plan of what a disney vacation should be like, and don't seem to understand what other people enjoy. I prefer to do what I feel like doing on a given day(even if that means eat at counter service) to being tied to a schedule every single day-- which I am on the dining plan, because I only have one counter service credit per day, and I have to make an ADR for the table service. I don't care if people were being turned away before, being turned away wasn't really a concern to me. Now if I'm turned away at every restaurant, I have a credit that's useless. Anyway, I'm not on here saying free dining is horrible. It's not-- obviously its free, which means I'm saving alot of money (even on a trip where I would eat all counter service-- it would still cost alot more than the "free" dining)-- so I couldn't pass it up. What I said, is I don't enjoy the fact that I'm tied to ADRs (which I would not make if it weren't for free dining, because we dont' feel the need for table service every day-- every other day during a trip is more than enough for me), and I will never pay for the dining plan-- because though it's saving me money, its taking alot of the fun out of a trip. Obviously "dining" isn't as much as a priority for me as it is for you. I like the rides and the atmosphere-- I don't need the restaurants every night-- though that seems to be a priority for you. Sitting in a restaurant for an hour and a half every night isn't what my kids enjoy right now (especially since they're going to eat chicken nuggets or pizza no matter where we are)-- different strokes for different folks.

 

[Cruz Family]

It has every thing to do with the dining plan. I don't think you understand what I'm saying. With the dining plan I HAVE to eat at a Table Service, because if I don't, I will run out of counter service credits. When not on the dining plan, I could eat at counter service (which I like) and that's fine. So, I didn't have to have an ADR, because if I couldn't eat at a table service, just go to counter service-- no problem-- I'm happy. I think you have your own plan of what a disney vacation should be like, and don't seem to understand what other people enjoy. I prefer to do what I feel like doing on a given day(even if that means eat at counter service) to being tied to a schedule every single day-- which I am on the dining plan, because I only have one counter service credit per day, and I have to make an ADR for the table service. I don't care if people were being turned away before, being turned away wasn't really a concern to me. Now if I'm turned away at every restaurant, I have a credit that's useless. Anyway, I'm not on here saying free dining is horrible. It's not-- obviously its free, which means I'm saving alot of money (even on a trip where I would eat all counter service-- it would still cost alot more than the "free" dining)-- so I couldn't pass it up. What I said, is I don't enjoy the fact that I'm tied to ADRs (which I would not make if it weren't for free dining, because we dont' feel the need for table service every day-- every other day during a trip is more than enough for me), and I will never pay for the dining plan-- because though it's saving me money, its taking alot of the fun out of a trip. Obviously "dining" isn't as much as a priority for me as it is for you. I like the rides and the atmosphere-- I don't need the restaurants every night-- though that seems to be a priority for you. Sitting in a restaurant for an hour and a half every night isn't what my kids enjoy right now (especially since they're going to eat chicken nuggets or pizza no matter where we are)-- different strokes for different folks.

As I said about 12 posts ago "If you are going to do TS restaurants you will pretty much need ADR's anyway, with or without the DP."
So if you are not doing a lot of TS (no matter what the reason) then I didn't mean you.
You are the one who quoted me first, so you are the one who did not understand what I was saying!

And to quote you -" I don't need the restaurants every night--though that seems to be a priority for you." -WOW, you are brilliant!
I am the one who said in an earlier post that dining was part of the disney experience for me, but I know it is not for everyone.

 

[afcgirl]

We eat cereal and toast in the room for breakfast. We eat mostly counter service (but rarely eat a burger). We eat at TS for lunch instead of dinner(it's usually cheaper). We don't order appetizers. We share a dessert occasionally. We use the DDE for a 20% discount. We take picnic lunches to the water parks. We cook one or two simple meals in our DVC kitchen. Last year we spent $100/day for a family of 4, including 2 teens. We ate everything we wanted, whenever we wanted to. We had pastries, ice cream bars, popcorn, etc. whenever we wanted a snack. In order for us to vacation at WDW every summer for two weeks we have learned how to stretch our food dollars. The dining plan would have cost us $52 more per day. For the 16 nights we were there last year, that's a total of $832 for food we didn't need or miss.

Okay, this makes sense if you are in a DVC unit with a kitchen and have a DDE 20% discount (whatever that is), but I don't think this is feasible if you stay in a regular resort room with no dining discount.

Also, it seems like it would take a ton of planning to eat cheaply compared to being on the DP. Packing picnic lunches and cooking meals takes a bit of effort when you are on vacation. Even sharing desserts would be a hassle for my family, lol. Making an ADR seems pretty easy compared to that.

I also noticed that a lot of the people who criticize "all of the food" on the DP, mention how they would rather snack throughout the parks. I would rather eat two well-balanced meals a day then eat dole whips and funnel cakes all day. If you like to snack on a lot of junk food in the parks, then yes you will probably not be hungry for an appetizer or dessert on the DP and the DP is probably not for you.

 

[PaulaSB12]

We all come to the house of the mouse for one thing, to enjoy our time away from work in the best way possible. For some people that is without the dining plan, for others that does include the plan. There is really no right or wrong way to do it. For me its with the plan, I cant remember one meal from last year as I was always thinking of cost first but this year with the free dining I hope to enjoy many meals, and with overtime help I can afford to go to Victoria and Albert's as well. That is my perfect holiday, for someone else it could be a nightmare. So why worry about who is and who isn't having the dining plan, the only thing that counts is that we are ALL having fun at the house of the mouse.

 

[LoveWDW]

True about those who have kitchens available to them, although I like not needing to prepare food and being able to try different things on my vacation.

The facts that ADR's are needed whether on DP or not, and that taxes and tips are included, really make me go for the plan. My husband and I split meals and doggy-bagged TS desserts and covered all meals on the DP- never had to buy a meal out of pocket, and without much planning about it, it was easy and fun.

 

[madison66]

.

 

[momomonster]

DH and I are going to be in Disney for six days this December and I opted for the DDP, which is $38 a day, each. I thought it would be a great deal for us since we do enjoy eating out for nice meals. We routinely end up paying $75 for dinner alone, but that includes a bottle of wine, which the plan does not cover. We never order appetizers, although a salad is nice, and we never order two desserts- we always split. Lately, we've noticed most restaurants give us WAY too much food on the entree and since we don't care for leftovers, there is a lot of waste. I've browsed through the food photos and it looks like Disney serves food in vats and platters, not bowls and plates!

I do like Pellegrino to drink with dinner and I like nuts for snacks, and neither are covered by the plan (as I read here). It's beginning to look like DH and I would come out about even with the plan. What do y'all experts think?

We have planned on one dinner at a signature (CaliGrill), and sharing a few CS meals. I don't mind planning, that part is necessary due to the popularity of the DDP. I do like pre-paying, just one less thing to worry about later. However, I don't like the idea of wasting so much food and I realize we would be unable to "maximize" the plan because our eating habits are for smaller meals. It also sounds like the servers prefer serving people without the plan since they don't have to hold their hands through the ordering process (which is completely understandable.) I also normally tip 20%, so the included gratutity wouldn't be enough for us, we'd have to supplement that, too.

I guess I'll contact my travel agent and get them to remove the DDP from our ressies. It seems like the thing to do. . . Thanks for letting me "think outloud" here.

Happy Travels!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

We never order appetizers, although a salad is nice, and we never order two desserts- we always split.

At many places if you order an entree and a non alcoholic beverage with tax and tip it totals your table service "cost" for the day. (i.e. $22 entree plus $2.40 for a drink = $24.40 + tax and tip = $30)

I do like Pellegrino to drink with dinner and I like nuts for snacks, and neither are covered by the plan (as I read here).

Non alcoholic beverages are covered - and snacks are now listed as most items under $4 - if you are going to use information from a message board, it's always good to double check it because there are a lot of assumptions and misinformation out there.

We have planned on one dinner at a signature (CaliGrill), and sharing a few CS meals. I don't mind planning, that part is necessary due to the popularity of the DDP. I do like pre-paying, just one less thing to worry about later. However, I don't like the idea of wasting so much food and I realize we would be unable to "maximize" the plan because our eating habits are for smaller meals.

I definitely recommend sharing counter service meals. And there is no reason to "waste food". If you do not want it, don't order it. And don't worry about maximizing the plan, that is what causes people stress.

It also sounds like the servers prefer serving people without the plan since they don't have to hold their hands through the ordering process (which is completely understandable.) I also normally tip 20%, so the included gratutity wouldn't be enough for us, we'd have to supplement that, too.

In my experience (and the experience of many on the board) servers showed no preference to DDP / Not DDP. Service was never less than stellar when servers found out about the dining plan. In fact, the worst service of the trip was in a restaurant where we were not using the dining plan. And if you want to add extra tip go ahead and do so.

I guess I'll contact my travel agent and get them to remove the DDP from our ressies. It seems like the thing to do. . . Thanks for letting me "think outloud" here.

Only you can decide if the dining plan is right for you. Think about the restaurants you want to enjoy and take a look at the menus on allearsnet. Get a rough price based on what you would normally order (sharing appetizers, no dessert, etc - whatever you case is) and then decide if it would be cost effective for you. Oh, and don't forget to add in the 6.5% tax and 18% tip that is included in the DDP.

Decide for yourself (not because of one thread on a discussion board).

 

[Cruz Family]

DH and I are going to be in Disney for six days this December and I opted for the DDP, which is $38 a day, each. I thought it would be a great deal for us since we do enjoy eating out for nice meals. We routinely end up paying $75 for dinner alone, but that includes a bottle of wine, which the plan does not cover. We never order appetizers, although a salad is nice, and we never order two desserts- we always split. Lately, we've noticed most restaurants give us WAY too much food on the entree and since we don't care for leftovers, there is a lot of waste. I've browsed through the food photos and it looks like Disney serves food in vats and platters, not bowls and plates!

I do like Pellegrino to drink with dinner and I like nuts for snacks, and neither are covered by the plan (as I read here). It's beginning to look like DH and I would come out about even with the plan. What do y'all experts think?

We have planned on one dinner at a signature (CaliGrill), and sharing a few CS meals. I don't mind planning, that part is necessary due to the popularity of the DDP. I do like pre-paying, just one less thing to worry about later. However, I don't like the idea of wasting so much food and I realize we would be unable to "maximize" the plan because our eating habits are for smaller meals. It also sounds like the servers prefer serving people without the plan since they don't have to hold their hands through the ordering process (which is completely understandable.) I also normally tip 20%, so the included gratutity wouldn't be enough for us, we'd have to supplement that, too.

I guess I'll contact my travel agent and get them to remove the DDP from our ressies. It seems like the thing to do. . . Thanks for letting me "think outloud" here.

Happy Travels!

Just as a heads up. At places like Cali. Grill most apps. and entrees are on the small side (very good though). You each may want to get an app. and share the two. I just wanted to let you know.
No matter what you decide is best for you I am sure you will have a magical trip.

 

[KJMAX1]

I dont know if I would pay for it. Right now we have 4 small kids. All 7 and under. We are getting our dining plan free. If we bought an AP, we wouldnt use it within a year to go back because we live in Seattle and its too expensive to take another trip, so we go for long stays, with non expiring tickets. If we were to pay for our room with an AP discount we would only be saving 30.00 per day. No way could my DH, I and my 3 eating kids, buy meals for all day for 30.00. So in the end we are saving nearly 1300.00 or more on the food, snacks, and drinks. That is based on one to two sit down meals per day, snacks, drinks, and counter service.

 

[las3888]

I just spent an hour yesterday deciphering the costs for us. I went through all of our prospective meals for our upcoming 4 night visit. I picked the restaurants we are probably going to attend, looked up the menus, chose our items (of course all of this is subject to change), trying to get a feel for how much this was going to cost/save. We also have AP so we are thinking of doing the DDE. In the end, we are better off NOT doing the dining plan and doing DDE. This is our conclusion. I know everybody is different, but we just don't do alot of the "snacks". Don't usually do ice cream etc., maybe once a trip if that. I just figured in everything we usually order, eat, etc including my DH's iced tea. Also, we do order drinks with our dinners. It helps having DDE to fray those costs.

Just our conclusion!

 

[sameyeyam]

We tried the DDP for the first time in April - we LOVED it!!

Yes, we ate way more than we normally do, we had more TS than we normally care to pay for. But to be honest it was really fun. Now I don't know about everyone else, but how often do you go to dinner, order appetizers, entree, drink & dessert and don't even bother to look at the price??

We are on VACATION, we want to do different things, experience different foods and throw all of the rules out the window. The DDP fit right in with that!

I don't think the DDP cost us any more than we normally spend on food, but conversely we I don't think it cost us any more (and I can vouch for the fact that we ate good!).

What the heck, it's VACATION, live a little!

 

[donac]

We went last Aug with some friends and they had the plan and we didn't. My family like to make plans as eah day happens. We are very flexible about where we want to eat and will call Dining sometime during the day to chekc about where we will eat either that night or for next day lunch. My friend with the plan spent a great deal of time planning and often rearranging where the entire family was going to eat. They all ate way too much food and they were the first to admit that but my friend also came back saying how much she beat the system by (They had to pay since they were camping and I dont remember how much they beat the system by).


For me it was just too much food. There was one day where we had breakfast at Chef Mickey's and we didn't eat again until dinner and even at that we only ordered appetizers and the entire table (11 of us) shared the Volcano at RFC. I also ate several meals off the kids menu because I was just not hungry.

It really is a personal thing adn some people love to splurge when they are vacation andsome people just like to eat like they normally do and then add on some special snacks like we do.

 

[justsyd]

my parents and i are veterans of over 25 wdw trips, and we will also create our own excitement on our upcoming august trip by NOT doing the ddp

we just don't see the appeal of the ddp's enormous amount of planning - and equally enormous amounts of food.

Just wanted to add that the planning has been so much fun for us!! We can't wait to try all the restaurants that we have researched!!

 

[swimmom]

Its just not for me - I really think it takes people out of their normal eating patterns (vacation or no vacation). It encourages gluttony and waste and I hate that.