Dining Plan dilema....

[maxaroni]

It's a tough decision. You really need to think about what your family likes to do and how you eat. For us, we did the *free* plan last year and had loved it. Yes, it was free but we lost the AAA discount....we were still way ahead of the game. However, for us, we said we wouldn't pay for it and hadn't planned on paying for it this year. However, we are going again, low and behold, free dining is out again. We are still ahead by forfeiting the AAA discount, so using it again. Even though we said we wouldn't pay for it, the DDP is really easy to use and we like the fact that the meals would be pre-paid and you don't need to *worry* about what is being spent on food. The con, for us, was the length of time sitting in a TS restaurant. We had never used a DP before and hadn't really thought about that aspect. We took an afternoon break, from the parks and had dinner around 5:00-5:30....many nights not getting out of the restaurant till 7:30 and once 7:45. When the parks were closing at 9:00, we didn't have alot of time to go back and enjoy the evening.

 

[Kick Save]

That is actually not quite correct concerning the DDE card, yes the card will be in her name, but it will cover up to 10 guests. It is a great saving.

You're right, I cut that a bit short. What I should have typed was that the card would be in her name, but she would need to be present to use the card and apply the discount to the whole party's meal. (And we actually used ours for a party of 11 last year. )

 

[01Sweetpea]

We are on the fence about the DDP for our Thanksgiving trip. We are considered a family of 5 "adults" for this trip...Me, DH, 13, 11 & 11yos. I KNOW my 11yos would NEVER eat an appetizer, adult meal & dessert for 7 nights... they wouldn't eat it for 1 night! Heck, "I" wouldn't eat that much food for 7 nights straight.

So now, I'm trying to weight out the difference between convenience, sharing meals, COST, etc.

So my latest decision maker is going to be giving DH & the kids menus of the places that I want to make ADRs, and having them tell me what they "might" order. I think I'm making ADRS at:

Chef Mickeys
Kona
MM w/Fantasmic package
Le Cellier
HDDR
Whispering Canyon
Coral Reef OR Concourse Steakhouse or some place else
1900 Park Fare....MAYBE for breakfast on the day we leave.

 

[karla63]

I totally agree with you. We can have at least 1 fantastic meal per day and also try different foods at the same time. My girls scouts are using their cookie money for this trip, so would like to have everything prepaid before we leave. Also if we decided to split up for the day and go to different parks, then we don't have to worry about all of getting back to the room at the same time to fix a meal.

Karla

 

[Stitch65]

Ok, now hubby wants the ddp again since I told him he could have steak.

This is insane. I'm sure Disney Dining is going to block my number pretty soon....

 

[PrincessTrisha]

I think I'm making ADRS at:

Chef Mickeys
Kona
MM w/Fantasmic package
Le Cellier
HDDR
Whispering Canyon
Coral Reef OR Concourse Steakhouse or some place else
1900 Park Fare....MAYBE for breakfast on the day we leave.

Chef Mickeys is a buffet $27.99 per person (= $174 with tax and tip for 5)
MM w/fantasmic pkg is a set price per person $28.99 ( = $180.46 w/t&t for 5)
HDDR (2 credits) is $50 per person (set price)
Coral Reef and Le Cellier - are a better value through the dining plan than without.

 

[allegracristina]

We (DBF and myself) did not do the DDP on our last trip. We didn't even consider it, and we were sure we wouldn't consider it for this trip. That was until I worked out the actual numbers. We are TS people and have at least 4-5 TS meals in a 7 day trip. After researching all the menus, adding up estimated dining costs OOP, etc. it turned out that just our DINNERS equaled the total cost of the DDP for a week! That basically means we EACH get a CS lunch every day PLUS a snack for free! We can't wait to try the DDP this time. It's not for everyone, but when it works, it's great!