dining or not?

[Spanish Fly]

i am trying to set up a package for august 2009 in a value resort, ASMo, but would like your input if i should get the Magic Your Way package with or without dining? what do you guys recommend?

 

[tiger4me2]

i am trying to set up a package for august 2009 in a value resort, ASMo, but would like your input if i should get the Magic Your Way package with or without dining? what do you guys recommend?

I am not sure if you can book it now as a package but if I was doing it I would go with MYW with dining.

Might be able to book a room & when the dates come oyut for 2009 you can switch over to a package or wait until the packages come out. think it is around late August

 

[misricsmith]

I like to know what my out of pocket expenses are
so I like to pay up front for the dining plan...
hence, I know that I will have t tip but I know it will not be as expensive if I
had to pay for the whole dinner.
I dont like to carry cash.

 

[georgemoe]

DW and I decided no dining for us. We are doing two TS meals with ADR's at Boma and Ohana in eight days. the rest will be counter service. We just can't see spending that much time dedicated to TS dining when we have so much more time needed for other things in the parks. So while dining may be a great value to some, not so to us.

 

[mickeynut1]

We've had the DDP two times, and although it was free both times (Sept. 2006 & 2007), we decided it's a must have for us every trip (even if we have to pay for it). It works for our family and is a great deal for us.....even with the appetizer and tip being taken away With that said, some people don't like to be "tied down" and have to plan their day around where they're eating dinner that night. But we don't let that become an issue for us. But then again, we do mostly resort TS rather than park TS, so being in a certain park on a certain day for dinner isn't an issue for us.

 

[Lovetherodent]

We're doing dining plan this year and I'm really excited. Like you, I like to know things are covered in advance. When I priced out where we were likely to have ts, I also found it to be a pretty good deal. My dh's favorite part of Disney is food in the World Showcase, so we'd end up dining there a lot anyway. In most cases, I'd vote yes, do it!

One thing you didn't mention was length of stay. I doubt we'd eat a ts meal every day if we were in Disney for a full week or longer (too much food). In that case, I'd have to crunch some numbers to see if DDP was still a good deal. It might be just for the convenience factor.

 

[brentalex]

I think it all depends on your family and how you want to plan and how you eat. My DD is old enough that she gets charged as an adult, but eats very little. She will almost always order off the childrens menu. We would waste a lot of money paying for her to eat off of the plan, since she would never eat enough at the table service meals to cover the costs. The last time we were at disney we saved all of our receipts and totaled it all up at the end and basically we came out ahead by not being on the dining plan. So it just depends on your circumstances.
As for the resevation, you can make room only reservations 499 days in advance, so depending on when in Aug you want to go, you may be a bit early to make a reservation. To make the reservation, you need to call disney or use a travel agent. Can't use the web site until the real rates are released.

 

[Spanish Fly]

thanks for all your great info. very helpfull info. helps to see the pros and cons

 

[insoin]

I like the dining plan. I liked it a lot better in the past because now the tip is not included. With that said, what I did when I was trying to figure out if it was worth it, I went to allears . net or go to wdwinfo, and looked at the menu.

Since it had prices there, it is easy to figure up about how much you would be paying out of pocket. If it averaged out less than the dining plan, then I would go with it, if not, then I'd skip it.

It also depends on what you like to do while there. If you are going for the parks and to spend the most amount of time in the, then you may not want to take time out for a meal every day. Counter service will be a lot quicker and take up a lot less time. For me, eating out and trying new places is part of vacation, so I like to eat at a sit down place every day.

Just my 2 cents worth.