dining plan at DL

[gottagetback]

Hello:
DH and I are headed out next month for our first trip to DL. We are WDW veterans and tried the meal plan there last year. It was part of the free dining promotion and we have 4 kids so I would definitely say it was worth it. This trip will be just the 2 of us so I am wondering whether or not the dining plan at DL is worth it and can we use the vouchers at DTD and the resort hotels as well as in the parks?
Thanks,
Heather

 

[bumbershoot]

There are some here who enjoy it, mainly for the convenience of it I believe.

But it's just a bunch of vouchers, some for a character meal (depends on how many days you get the plan for), but most are in monetary amounts. If you spend over the amount of the voucher, you have to make up for it in $$. If you spend UNDER the amount of the voucher, you do NOT get change back.

When I looked at the numbers, figuring out the cost of the character meals plus the amount of the vouchers, I came out almost even. However, the character meal we went to was the Lilo and Stitch breakfast, which is less expensive than, say, the Goofy's dinner. So if a person went to Goofy's dinner they would get more out of the plan, albeit just a little bit.

The people who like it for convenience like it b/c they have pre-paid for their food. I personally like budgeting for food by getting Disney GiftCards and a few Disney Dollars for the outdoor carts that can't take cards.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

i liked it last year im one whop dose you just have to know what to do where to eat and dont worry about it to much go to bb go to charcter meals have a good time.

 

[PinkBudgie]

I have never been interested in those plans. Sometimes we would just split a meal and then have a snack like ice cream later. I don't want to pay ahead of time when I'm not sure if I'll feel like eating that much.

 

[Canyon girl]

We got the dining plan last year. Don't think we would do it again!!!! At one place, the CM took one too many vouchers from our books. When I brought this to her attention, she denied it. I counted the ones left in our books to prove there was an odd number. She kept denying it. I ended up wasting time in City Hall getting the problem taken care of. They did give me a fast pass though. The way DL does their dining program with the voucher books (unless they changed since Sept) is asking for problems with missing vouchers. WDW uses a credit card type program, don't they? I think that would be so much better!

 

[silence]

Before we got our APs and used to book packages all the time, we always bought the dining plan. It was easier for us, for budget reasons.

We didn't save any money, but it was nice at least "feeling" like we weren't paying an arm and leg for food and drinks since we used the vouchers.

We always bought for less days than our visit. So for a 5 day visit in the parks, we would buy the 3 day plan. So yes, there were times we would spend our own "money", but it worked out great for us.

I really wish DL had a plan like WDW though!

 

[gottagetback]

Thanks for input, everybody.

 

[CrazyDuck]

Don't do it... It will not save you any $$$. You do, howerver, stand the chance of getting stuck with useless vouchers!!!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

were buying charcter meals from getawaytoday.com and will just put other money on card