Dining plan Disneyland, CA vs. Disneyworld

[FeeleyFans]

We go to Disneyworld every year and understand the dining plan and how it works. Can someone explain how the plan works in Disneyland CA vs. the plan in Disneyworld. We are switching things up this year and making our first trip to Disneyworld. We're really excited.

 

[Califgirl]

There is no actual dining plan at Disneyland - certainly not one that is in any way comparable to the Disney Dining Plan at WDW.

I believe there may be vouchers that come with some of the travel packages for DLR.

Unless they have greatly changed the way these work, the vouchers are for a specific amount. Say $10. If you use $8.45 of the voucher you get no change back. It's not a deal - in fact it's often a money losing proposition.

Around DLR there are so many places that you can eat that are 'off property'. There are several very good restaurants in DTD, across the street there is Mimi's for family casual food. A few blocks away is Garden Walk with a variety of restaurants.

Yes, there are some good restaurant choices in the parks and hotels, but there are lots of other options out there too.
My advice is not to bother with the dining plan at Disneyland.

 

[DLR29]

Unlike WDW, DLR's dining plan is not worth it because:
a) It doesn't save you any money, the best you can do is break even.

b) You do not get a set amount of meals, you get a set amount of $5 ("snack") and $15 vouchers and when you use those vouchers you don't get change. So for example if you want to pay for something that costs $4.95 with a $5 voucher, you will lose 5 cents. That's not a big deal, but if you have run out of $5 vouchers, you need to either pay in cash (which defeats the purpose of a dining plan) or pay with a $15 voucher and lose $10.05 (which can add up significantly). Disney also prices the dining plan so that you pay exactly for the amount of voucher $ that you get. So by buying that thing for $4.95, you are already losing money. You would have to buy things that cost exactly $5 or exactly $15 in order to stay even. Or you can buy things that cost more and you can break even, but you would have to be paying out of pocket.

c) You can't use the vouchers at Downtown Disney restaurants, which is where a large variety of the DLR restaurants are.

Instead, if you still want to prepay for meals, the recommendation is to put money on Disney gift cards. That way, you know you won't be losing money. You can use them at DTD or snack carts too, so you'll have a wider variety to choose from also.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

Traveling to DL from overseas, we found the vouchers to be worthwhile as we were able to prepay for some of our food and lock in an exchange rate. We purchased a dining plan for half the length of our stay which worked well and enabled us to also dine in DTD. It was great for budgeting and allowed for more of the trip to be prepaid.

If we lived in the states I think the Disney Gift Card would be a better way to deal with this. For our trip next year we have purchased dining plan for half the stay again just for budgeting convenience.

 

[Hound 109]

We go to Disneyworld every year and understand the dining plan and how it works. Can someone explain how the plan works in Disneyland CA vs. the plan in Disneyworld. We are switching things up this year and making our first trip to Disneyworld. We're really excited.

Walt's park (& the rest of DLR) is a magical place & a fabulous spot for a 3-5 day visit.

There are several reasons why i much prefer my visits to DLR over WDW.....But the dining plan isn't one of them. It pretty much s*cks & pales in comparison to what is offered elsewhere.

Here's another thread that discusses this:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2485536

 

[wdwfan22]

People, please don't do the DL dining plan. You have the great potential to lose a lot of money.

I understand the allure of wanting to pre-pay for your food. I love getting the dining plan at DW so I don't have to worry about food money while I am there, but it's not worth losing money at DL.

Even though you are locking in an exchange rate, there must be a better way to do that without losing money. How about buy some american currency for meals now? Anything is better than the dining plan.

 

[Goofy_Mom]

I'm also not a fan of DL dinnig plan. As mentioned by other poster, you have great potential to loose money or end up spending more money in order to get the full value of the voucher. When in comes to the character breakfast voucher, it doesn't get much better. The price is based on Goofy's Kitchen, the most expensive breakfast. So if you use your character breakfast at the Plaza with Minnie and Friends, your going to loose money.

IMO, you're better off budgeting money for food instead of adding it into your package. On Harbor Blvd there is a Mimi's, Minnies, Tony Romas, IHOP, Dennys, and a Joe's Crab Shack. We have a Joe's in Sacamento, I really like it. It is loud (beware), but a very upbeat environment. The others are kinda ehh, but at least you're not paying "ouch" prices for "ehh" food.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I'm also not a fan of DL dinnig plan. As mentioned by other poster, you have great potential to loose money or end up spending more money in order to get the full value of the voucher. When in comes to the character breakfast voucher, it doesn't get much better. The price is based on Goofy's Kitchen, the most expensive breakfast. So if you use your character breakfast at the Plaza with Minnie and Friends, your going to loose money.

IMO, you're better off budgeting money for food instead of adding it into your package. On Harbor Blvd there is a Mimi's, Minnies, Tony Romas, IHOP, Dennys, and a Joe's Crab Shack. We have a Joe's in Sacamento, I really like it. It is loud (beware), but a very upbeat environment. The others are kinda ehh, but at least you're not paying "ouch" prices for "ehh" food.

Well ~ there are 2 types of Character Meal vouchers the 1st for Ariel's & Goofy's costs more. The 2nd is for the others and costs less

 

[Goofy_Mom]

Well ~ there are 2 types of Character Meal vouchers the 1st for Ariel's & Goofy's costs more. The 2nd is for the others and costs less

They've changed it since I looked at it last You can tell I'm a big fan of the dinning plan It used to be a breakfast in the park (at Riverbelle Terrace) and character breakfast options. Ya think they got enough complaints?

Thanks for the update.