Comments on the Dining Plan

[Neednewneez]

My husband myself and my two girls are leaving for WDW Sunday the 12th. We are staying at the CBR. We just ordered the Dining Plan. Do we have a deal or no deal????? Does anyone have any comments or suggestions?? Should we only eat at the higher end places? Is there a secret to this plan? Only 4 days till DISNEY.

 

[FancyBrat]

Do you already have ADR's made? If not then alot of places you might not get into. I would call and see where you can get in ASAP.

 

[NotTooGoofy]

I've used the dining plan once and it is worth it if you dine at the higher end (table service) restaurants. If you only eat at the food court or at a counter service, it's not worth the price to me. Here is link to participating restaurants - http://personalpages.tds.net/~rb/DIS/MYW Dining/MYWDiningRestaurants.htm ,

If you haven't made any advanced dining reservations, you may find it very difficult to eat at the table service restaurants.

 

[goldneye]

Hi, we just got back and loved the dining plan. It's a lot of food! I did have a couple ADRs but since I know what to expect now, I will not have ADRs the next time. We even had to wait 30 minutes even WITH an ADR! Too much having to stress over when and where?, are we late?, it's on the other side of the park!? that sort of thing. I liked just eating where ever we were. We even had a TS and snack left on our last day and had to eat another meal (wasn't even hungry) just to get rid of it. Enjoy!!

Remember to get a printout of your room charges every day or every other day, I caught an extra charge and it was removed.

*after reading the other posts, from what I understand while we were there, the concierge (sp?) can call in reservations, or you can get to the park, go to the restaurant of choice, schedule a TS for later in the day and STILL GET IN! We saw many people still getting in this way. The front desk was even suggesting we could still get in to some popular restaurants. I even waited until the last minute to schedule mine and we got in with no problem*

 

[Seahunt]

*after reading the other posts, from what I understand while we were there, the concierge (sp?) can call in reservations, or you can get to the park, go to the restaurant of choice, schedule a TS for later in the day and STILL GET IN! We saw many people still getting in this way. The front desk was even suggesting we could still get in to some popular restaurants. I even waited until the last minute to schedule mine and we got in with no problem*

But also keep in mind that this probably won't work so well when the "free dining" people dates start! (8/12 -9/29 for UK Res, 8/26 - 9/22 for US Res)

 

[Leleluvsdis]

I actually sat down and figured it up b/c I didn't believe it was that good of a deal but the cost per day per person on the basic dining it aroung 35 dollars. Which when lunch is going to be aleast 10 dollars for everything they include, and any buffet is about 40 bucks its one heck of a deal in my opinion. have a wonderful trip I am so jealous!!!

 

[Cinderaven]

Hi, we used it last year, (free DDP). It was well worth it. We booked it for our Nov. - Dec. trip. Then the free DDP came out for Aug.-Sep. That changed our mind to go now. (saved over $1000 for 8 of us, 8 days).

My DW and I ate at England, Coral reef, Capt'n Jacks, Germany, etc. it was well worth it. The average meal price was $95 for the 2 of us. ( dinner) Lunch was $25 ave.

We will do the DDP from now on.

Len

 

[cybrkitn]

First off, Welcome to the Boards!

We used the DDP for the first time last year. We thought it was definately worth it if you are going to be using a lot of TS (table service) credits. Of course, we over booked on TS restaurants (my fault ). The first day and a half our food bill was a little over $300 for 2 adults and one 4 year old. Over all it was worth it.

I still think it's worth it in the long run so you don't have to worry about paying cash. The cashiers just swipe your room keycard and you're done. This year however, there have been some changes. Tips are no longer included with either the basic or deluxe DDP. Appetizers are also no longer part of the basic but are part of the deluxe DDP.

If you have any other questions, you might want to hop on over to the Restaurants Board. There is a whole sub-forum on the top for nothing but DDP questions.

 

[Leleluvsdis]

Can anyone explain the new plan dining deluxe. for some reason it's confusing me, and i don't know what you get with it, maybe I'm not reading it right, but if anyone understands it please help?!

 

[stitchlover]

You get 3 CS/TS credits for each night of your package with 2 snack credits each night. So you can do basically whatever you want. 1 CS with 2 TS a day, 3 TS a day, 3 CS a day, 2 CS and 1 TS...whatever. You get to choose what type meals you eat!

 

[Leleluvsdis]

Thanks you so so much for the clarification!

 

[byoung]

This year is a great deal.

 

[jenseib]

They got rid of the appetizer too? man that sucks. When does this go into effect?

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I loved the dining plan but reservations are a MUST!

 

[njdisneyfreak]

I noticed the last poster's question and wanted to make sure everyone here was clear. If your trip is during this year, it is still the same plan:

For each night of your package stay you will enjoy:

1 Table-Service meal including appetizer, entrée, dessert or full buffet, non-alcoholic beverage and gratuity/service charge
1 Counter Service meal including entrée, dessert and single serving non-alcoholic beverage or 1 complete combo meal, dessert and single serving non-alcoholic beverage
1 Snack choice of a frozen ice cream novelty or fruit bar, or single serve popcorn or single piece of whole fruit or single serve Grab Bag of Frito Lay's Chips, or 20 oz. bottle of Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite or 24 oz. bottle of Dasani water or medium size fountain drink or apple juice

If you plan to go in 2008, it's as follows -

For each night of your package stay you will enjoy:

1 Table-Service meal including entrée, dessert or full buffet, non-alcoholic beverage. Gratuity NOT included
1 Counter Service meal including entrée, dessert (lunch/dinner) and single serving non-alcoholic beverage or 1 complete combo meal, dessert (lunch dinner), 1 juice with breakfast and single serving non-alcoholic beverage
1 Snack choice of a frozen ice cream novelty or fruit bar, or single serve popcorn or single piece of whole fruit or single serve Grab Bag of Frito Lay's Chips, or 20 oz. bottle of Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite or 24 oz. bottle of Dasani water or medium size fountain drink or apple juice

I hope this helps.

 

[jenseib]

S othe only things that changed are ..no appetizer with the table meal and the tip is not longer included. right?

 

[crissichef]

As far as the snacks go, you used to be able to get lots of other things like a box of entamanns donuts in the gift shops......did they get rid of that too does anyone know?????

 

[njdisneyfreak]

S othe only things that changed are ..no appetizer with the table meal and the tip is not longer included. right?

For 2008, that's correct.