"Dine in the Magic" Disneyland Dining Plan

[Keurigirl]

Have any of you done this? We're seasoned Disneylanders, but this is a newer thing they are offering and I haven't seen much talk about it online. Does it work like the Disneyworld Dining plan? I am wondering if it will save us money at all by doing it vs. not doing it.

 

[3BoysRDisneyFreaks]

From what I have read, the DL dining plan is $ for $. You get vouchers. Nothing like the WDW dining plan. I love that plan.

 

[plutorules]

We booked Mickey's Dine in the Magic program for 5 days. The way it was explained to me is each of us gets a book of coupons. In the coupon book for each adult is:
4 Meal Vouchers- Character Dining/Family Table Service
1-Premium Character Dining (Goofys or Ariels I think)
5 Snack Vouchers ($5 each)
5 - $15 Dining Certificates (for counter service restaurants)

The kids book is:
4 Meal Vouchers
1- Premium Character Dining
5-Snack Vouchers ($5 each)
5- $10 Dining Certificates

Somewhere online I pulled a list of restaurants to use for the character/family table restaurants. When I called to make my reservations, I noticed Blue Bayou wasn't on there. And we wanted to do BOTH Goofys and Ariels. The agent told me that they would accept them at Blue Bayou. And that on the 2nd Premium Character dining day, just present the voucher, and if there is a difference, we could just pay the difference. But she said in most cases, the voucher should cover the meal.

We'll see if it works out next month. I've read all the cons on the board about just putting the money on gift cards, etc. I just like knowing my meals are taken care of. I'm not very good at compartmentalizing my money-- this for this, this for that type of thing,--- so I like knowing my meals are pretty much taken care of. I do have to add though, that we're staying for 8 days, and this was the largest meal plan we could buy. So, we're trying to make the 5 day meal plan stretch for the 8. Again, we'll see how it works. I'll post a trip report when we get back home in June. We're at DL from May 22-May 30

Hope this helps some!
Shawn in AK

 

[mom4princesses]

I do have to add though, that we're staying for 8 days, and this was the largest meal plan we could buy. So, we're trying to make the 5 day meal plan stretch for the 8. Again, we'll see how it works. I'll post a trip report when we get back home in June. We're at DL from May 22-May 30

Hope this helps some!
Shawn in AK

I'm the same way, like to know the meals are taking care of. I will be looking for your trip report because I'm trying to decide if we should add the meal plan for our December trip.

 

[Keurigirl]

Ah, ok. So no deals like Disneyworld. That's what I needed to know. Thanks!

 

[Gisele]

I wonder why Disneyland does not have a meal plan like WDW does?

 

[DLR29]

I wonder why Disneyland does not have a meal plan like WDW does?

Dining is just not as big of a deal at DLR as it is at WDW. ADRs are in super high demand there, they have a much wider variety of places, and since the crowds are mostly tourists, they want unique dining atmospheres. At DLR, there are less places to eat and locals don't usually come to DLR for a nice sit down meal during their day trip.

 

[bumbershoot]

We'll see if it works out next month. I've read all the cons on the board about just putting the money on gift cards, etc. I just like knowing my meals are taken care of. I'm not very good at compartmentalizing my money-- this for this, this for that type of thing,--- so I like knowing my meals are pretty much taken care of.

Sounds like you're going into it with eyes open, and that's good!


For those who don't know (sounds like you do, pluto), if you spend less than the amount on the voucher, you do not get change back. If you spend more, you have to make up the difference out of pocket. Tricky, IMO!