Can't decide about the dining plan!!! Help!

[Debs Hill]

Hi guys! We are staying in a studio for the first time rather than a 1 bed so will have limited cooking facilities....so considering the dining plan. (standard one). Would love to hear from anyone who had done this.....how did it work for you? How did you use your credits? Did it save you money? Did you feel restricted? Tell all!!!

Does anyone known if non-alcoholic smoothie drinks are counted as snacks?!
Debsxx

 

[Rohais]

Hey

Personally, I love the dining plan! We used it for the first time last year, and it worked like a dream. There was four of us (me, DF, DB and DNan) and we enjoyed every single meal...apart from Planet Hollywood and DF and I weren't feeling too well

Yes, it did save us a lot of money...but it was a free dining offer.

We've just chosen the dining plan for September 2011...but we're upgrading from the free quick service plan. It's costing us £325. Thats for two people, for 18 nights.

If you assume that a standard table service meal for two people will run you around $60 for entree, dessert and non-alcoholic beverage...thats $1080 = £720 (at 1.5)

Then, assume each counter service is approximately $10....$20 a day x 18 is $360 = £240

Then add the snacks in for approx $8 a day, which is $144 = £96

So, unless you eat at signature restaurants, you're looking at £1056 for 18 nights. A saving of £731

(Dislcaimer: I could be wrong here as I'm mathematically dyslexic!)

Then you have tips to pay for, on top, which work out at roughly $10 per meal at 15%

Some people may feel a little restricted by the plan, with having to be at a certain place at a certain time..but it worked perfectly for us. However, I have a relatively strict itinerary that we stick to..for the most part. We did change two of our reservations on our last week, and that was really easy to do.

We didn't do any signature restaurants, or character meals (my 14 year old DB wouldn't have appreciated it!) but you can cut down the number of meals you have by making use of those. Also, we didn't do any breakfast meals as they make me ill...so thats another way to use them up.

DF and I love the dining plan so much, we're skipping IOA and Universal etc. Its like having 18 dates in one trip

 

[Laurafoster]

It depends how you like to eat. For us it doesnt work (unless its free ).

It would be better to take a look at the menus on all ears and see what you would actually eat if you had to pay for it. Then see if its worth while.


Snacks are anything up to $4 i believe and you have 1 per day - $4.26 a day inc tax

Counter Service - If you ate at somewhere like Pecos Bill in MK and choose the most expensive options it would be $16.26 a person inc tax

Sit down meal - Eating somewhere like the Plaza restaurant in MK and getting the most expensive entree, dessert and drink it would be around $23.62 a person inc tax

That works out at $44.14 a person.

The DDP is currently $41.99 plus tax in low season = $44.71


It all depends how you eat, if you always go to the expensive restaurants and the expensive options then its a good deal.If you dont then i dont think its a good option.

Personally i see it more of a "pre payment" plan rather than saving money.

 

[dixonsontour]

We did DDP first time last trip and are doing it again this year.

It is the reason DH agreed to stay onsite and he was the one who wanted to do it again this year.

We did alot of character meals as we have a young DD.

We either do charcter breakfast, snack and then CS tea or CS lunch and TS tea.

Using your TS for your evening meal maxamises the value.

Menus like on allears give you prices so you can see if oop or DDP is best.

We thought it made the holiday seem very luxurious like an all inclusive. Order what you want, have dessert every day if you like. Get DD an ice cream every day if she wants etc.

We enjoyed eating in restaurants we wouldn't have eaten at but for DDP.

Whispering canyon, sci fi, olivia's and prime time let you have a milkshake on DDP for your drink. le cellier, olivia's and coral reef offer smoothies. There are probably more which do aswell.

 

[Twilight Terror]

The plan doesn't work for us either. Since we are DVC, we no longer get the free dining plan, and would have to pay if we ever wanted it. Then, it definitely doesn't work for us.

Mind you, free isn't even free these days where the dining plan is considered. It used to be you could get the normal plan (1xTS, 1xCS, 1xS) when staying at a value - now you have to be at a deluxe resort to get it, which involves paying extra compared to a value! lol. I guess if you were always going to stay at a deluxe, then free dining is a blessing. If not, then it really does require some thinking.

Anyway, back to the question at hand. The first time we did the dining plan, we pretty much managed to use up all the credits we had, but it was the first time and bit of a novelty. Plus, there were a lot more things that counted as snacks! Second time around, we used up all the TSs and most of the CSs, but hardly any snacks. Ended up buying boxes of cookies to take back as gifts.

The holiday before last we did a split stay as DVC, so paid OOP the first week for food, and paid for the dining plan for our second week, mainly to see if it would be worth it in the future. I would say we probably spent a little more the week of the DDP.

We ate more the second week than we did the first. The first week, we most of the CS, we'd get two and share them between three, and we rarely had any snacks. Second week we always used the three CSs, although we still had loads left over, and once again we didn't use many of the snacks.

For us, we tend to eat breakfast buffet TSs, and not a lot of CSs or Snacks, so there's no real value in the DDP for us. I think it's a very personal, family thing and depends incredibly on what you are and are not likely to eat and how you'll go about it.

There are plenty of menus on the Dining section of this site with prices, so it might be worth going through those, seeing what you may and may not eat, and working out at least quickly how much it might be if you paid OOP?