Are you booking with or without Dining Plan and why

[gm]

By the sounds of the new Dining plan it makes sense to get it but of course you would have to book with rack rate so I wanted to know how everyone is booking their disney Vacation.

1. Room Only (with discounts like ap, codes, etc and purchasing tickets separately)
or
2. Package with Dining Plan & tickets(booking rack rates for the hotel)
or
3. other ways

I want to book the package with dining because I do not have an AP so cannot get discounts, etc and thought maybe wait for some codes to come out and just get room or just book the package. We are big eaters and would love to have the food paid for but will have to book at rack rates.

Share your views on what and how you are booking.

 

[Cara]

I have booked a room-only rate with a AAA discount. I will purchase my MYW hoppers separately, and I will pay out-of-pocket for dining. I seriously considered a package with a dining plan, but I decided against it -- mainly because DD10 eats like a bird but would be charged as an adult. Had it been just the two adults I might very well have gotten a package with dining, but I just didn't see how we would get our money's worth with DD.

 

[calie_j]

I really considered getting MYW dining package after they added all the new restaurants last week but decided not to for these reasons.

1. I've got AAA discount on the room thru DU, to get the package and room discount I'd have to book thru AAA TA who would probably know less then me and won't make my PS for me.

2. DS14 would be considered an adult, sometimes he eats like one/sometimes not. Biggest consideration is the different restaurants I've chosen he wouldn't find anything on the adult menu he'd like.

3. We're eating at alot of TS but not many CS so I wouldn't be able to make the most of the plan, and don't want to change my choices.

4. I can't see us being able to eat all that food in one sitting, or carry it around with us in doggy bags. We'd normally order 1 app to share, 2 adult entrees, 2 kids meals, and 1 dessert to share. I can't see eating 4 snacks/day either, we'd probably get 1 or 2 and share if we got any.

5. I don't like the limitations on it. I probably wouldn't order the kids specialty drinks that light up or shakes since a soda is already paid for. I'd have to pass up dole whips which aren't included or that bakery item I wanted to try at Epcot.

I'm waiting for AP discounts, I wouldn't need much of a discount to make DDE worth it.

Calie

 

[Sally]

We did the dining plan, simply because after adding up what I spent last year, the dining plan is cost effective for us. Without it we could have gotten the room with a pin and added in passes, but that almost $900 we spent last year made that $560. dining plan look really good.

 

[ktink]

We decided to go with the dining plan for 2 reasons,
1. We spent more on food last year than what the plan will cost us this year.

2. We downgraded from WL and Poly to POR with the dining and saved over $700. I would rather stay deluxe but having our food payed for and staying moderate was well worth it.

 

[HayGan]

We booked a package thru AAA so we also get the AAA discount on the room. I like the idea of having many of our meals prepaid and the flexibility that comes along with the plan. I know that we will get our $$$'s worth out of the plan. Additionally, by having the plan we will get to eat at some places that DH would normally not want to eat at due to the cost.

 

[HillPete]

We are booking thru AAA with the dining plan and our AAA discount. It seems like it will be worth it for us for 3 reasons:
1. It doesn't seem like any great room-only codes are coming out this year, so there's no sense in not using AAA.
2. It's nice to have everything paid for in advance.
3. There will be so much food at each meal that we won't have to worry about ordering something extra for DS2 at non-buffet resaurants or CS places.

It should work out to about a $300 savings for us if we work the plan correctly.

--H

 

[Jasminesmommy]

I got a package through a Travel Agent. I got it so I have somethings paid for once I get there.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

We didn't do the MYW dining b/c we already had park tickets (one AP & some old Park Hoppers).

I got a room discount (was hoping for an AP rate but settled for my AAA discount).

I had a number of meal vouchers leftover from a previous trip and wanted to use them.

I joined the Disney Dining Experience to save on meals.

If I were booking a package, I would probably get the MYW dining added to it. With the AAA discount on the room, it would make sense to spend only $35/day/person on food. We can spend that much on a single sitdown meal if we let ourselves order everything from appetizers to dessert.

 

[we3disneygo]

Our family is still undecided on this.......not sure how it will go....nice to see what everyone else is doing/thinking!

 

[luv2nascar]

looks like change to snacks added fruit and bag of chips and many more restaurants in Epcot. Yeah. I definitely think we are going with the dining plan now.

 

[disneyfanfamily]

We decided not to because we do mostly counter service only. Plus my 10 year old would be considered an adult. Plus when we do sit downs, we usually go off site - Planet Hollywood, etc.

However, I am keeping track of all the food we eat and all of the money we spend on food when we go in July to see if it would be worth it when we go the next time.

 

[ncbyrne]

We booked a pkg. with the AAA discount and DID opt for the dining plan We booked in Jan. with the added incentive of $25 Disney Dollars. Our local AAA travel office specializes in WDW, and they also make all PS. The main reason my DH loves WDW is the variety of restaurants all in close proximity on one vacation! He'll look for bargains when it comes to park passes, room codes, etc, but when it comes to dining - it has always been no holds barred. He wants us to order whatever we want, regardless of cost. His thoughts are, "it's vacation, we're here to enjoy the food". The dining plan will most definitely save us a money! We booked in January, when the plan was brand new. Our trip isn't until October and there has already been a huge improvement in the additions of restaurants and the snack offerings. We are looking forward to our trip. We chose our dates for the Food and Wine festival! Dining plan, here we come!

 

[kdtwiss]

We are a family of 6 going for the first time. We are doing the dining plan for a couple reasons - #1 being I don't see any way possible we would spend LESS than $35 a day on food unless we were really scrimping and doing all counter service and snacks.#2 is since we are on a very tight budget, knowing I have already paid for probably at least 80% of the food we will eat (probably even more) really helped in planning/budgeting.
And #3 but probably most important - I know full well if we had gone w/o dining we would not be able to bring ourselves to pay out of pocket for the great meals we are going to go to. I just could not see spending $100 for bfast and I know dh would not either. As it is because of the dining plan we are going to Chef Mickey's, Coral Reef, 1900 Park Faire,Crystal Palace,Ohana's,and PSB. I know if it were an out of pocket expense we would likely be choosing one or two. I think the dining plan is a deal AND a half. Now if all my children were considered adults, that would have been different possibly, but I still think it is a good deal.People say kids eat like birds and have to pay as adults (mine eat like birds too) but most often IF you are going to one of the character meals the child who eats like a bird but is 10 or 11 is probably STILL going to have to pay an an adult anyway. So either way you are paying the adult price.

 

[kandeebunny]

We are not going with it, I am 21 but usually will order a kids meal if they let me. I'm not a big eater, nor is my mom. We often also split meals, so it just isn't worth it for us. Unless we did all buffets or All You Can Eat meals it just wouldn't pan out. We can easily split a CS burger and fries and be full, so I have no clue what we would do with all the meals. I like the idea that it's paid for ahead of time, but I still can't justify it.

 

[jenndisney]

Okay, here is the breakdown for my family (Myself, DH, DD (8)
(I pulled menus from Allears and am making as fair of a comparison as I can)

Plan A: With AP discount on room and DDE:
Hotel : 1089.00 with tax
Tickets: 872.00
Food: 1100.00 (all food we would order from parks-snacks, drinks, tax, tip included)
-90.00 Subtract 20% for DDE (only $450 of items are from DDE places)
DDE: 50.00

Total Cost of Plan A: 3021.00


Plan B: Package with dining plan (same # of days and same restaurants as above)
Hotel: 1475.00 with tax
Tickets: 685.00 (do not need to purchase Adult AP)
Food Pkg: 720.00

Total Cost of Plan B: 2880.00

This is with us ordering what we want to eat. Not wasting anything. Of course, if we did not use any plan or discounts, we would probably try to share or bring food in, but that is something that drives my husband crazy. He says that since we do not do that at home when we eat out, why should we in the parks. Again, we like our food and love to try new things. We love to order appetizers and desserts, but the last trip did not because of the cost. This is why this is such a hard thing to look at.

So, we are doing the dinning plan.

 

[gm]

Wow!!

It sure helps to see how everyone is planning their vacations by either going with the package or booking seperately.

I still have not booked and we are leaving at the end of July. The only thing for me to justify booking the dining is booking at a Moderate resort since we will booking the maximum number of days.

 

[tlbwriter]

We went with the dining... we weren't eligible for any discounts (AAA, AP, etc.), and based on my experience with Disney last year, I think we'll save money with the plan. Also, the other family we're travelling with had already selected the plan (they liked the idea of having everything practically paid for before they even checked into the hotel), and we'll be eating with them most of the time, so we thought, if we're going to be following the dining plan anyway, we may as well buy into it!

 

[oogieboogie]

We are booking room only with our APs and getting DDE. The reason being we're going back in December 05 and we're most likely going to go back again in May 06. So we're getting 3 trips out of our APs and DDE - most cost effective for us in the long run.

 

[Christy]

I think the dining package would be a great deal for us! We had many meals on our last trip that cost $75-$90 (for one meal...), so I think we would save a bunch of money!!