Dining plan for DVC members

[Rellyrooly]

Hi All-

I t has been some time since I have done the dining plan. Is there ever a time where they allow DVC members to receive the dining plan for free? I thought I heard about a promotion where they sometimes offer it. I know they are offering it for people booking room packages but since we don't need that as we are using our villa, does that mean we can never get these perks? I sometimes feel like non-members get more perks than us! Also, is there some sort of thread or info that tells you how to get the most out of the dining plan? Do you all think it is worth purchasing? The one time we did purchase it, we thought it was somewhat difficult to use...thoughts?

Thanks all for your feedback!

 

[erionm]

No free dining when staying on points.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

DVC members can take advantage of the free dining promotion like anyone else. However, it involves purchasing a room package from CRO. We cannot get free dining when booking with points.

Those getting "free dining" are paying full rack rate for their package. Believe me, you're getting a MUCH better value on rooms through your membership. The fact that they don't throw in free meals on top of the savings we already get doesn't necessarily mean cash customers are getting the better deal in the long run. This is especially the case now that the type of free dining plan they offer will vary based on category of resort.

As to your question on how to best use the plan, you may want to also ask that on the dining board. You'll get many more responses there.

We've tried both the regular dining plan and the deluxe plan. Our biggest complaint about each time was that dining seemed to drive the whole vacation. We found ourselves scheduling restaurant that offered the best use of the credits, rather than the ones we really wanted to eat at.

 

[Harlemgirl720]

The plan is still a good deal when you look at it.

Quick service is $30.99 for adults and $9.99 for kids

Regular plan is $41.99 a day for adults and $11.99 for kids

Deluxe is $71.99 adults and $20.99 for kids.

I have purchased it on my recent stay and it was a blessing. Some of those entrees can be expensive and when we received the bill it was high for a party of 6.

 

[Chuck S]

And remember that Disney get to rent those rooms for full price, and then they throw in the DDP "for free." As DVC is already pre-paid, and at a substantial discount over cash room already, otherwise there would be no reason to be a DVC owner, what advantage would there be to Disney to offer the DDP for free to DVCers? They aren't offsetting the cost with a non-Discounted room.

As a previous poster said, if you feel free dining is a better value for you, you are welcome to book it like any other cash package.

 

[Rellyrooly]

All good points, thank you for your responses! Just one last question...do you have to use your credits daily or lose them or do get an allotment and can use them whenever as long as your stay is?

 

[TDC Nala]

Sorry...no free dining for DVC members. They don't need to offer us that kind of incentive to encourage us to book rooms.

You can, however, buy whichever of the three dining plans you wish in addition to the discount you are getting on your room by being a member.

You get your full allotment of credits for the whole stay when you check in. You're allotted credits per night you stay, not per day. If you have two adults on the regular plan for a 5 night stay you will receive 10 TS credits, 10 CS credits and 10 snack credits. It's up to you to decide how to use them over the course of your stay. Any unused credits will expire at midnight AFTER you check out.

The above post with prices shows 2010 prices. 2011 prices are higher. You can find 2011 prices on the Dining Plan sub-board of the Restaurants board.

 

[tgropp]

They have to be used up on the day of check out

 

[Chuck S]

All good points, thank you for your responses! Just one last question...do you have to use your credits daily or lose them or do get an allotment and can use them whenever as long as your stay is?

You receive an allotment that can be used during the length of your reservation. For instance, if you have a studio reserved with the DDP from July to 4, and then a one bedroom July 4 to 8 without the DDP, you would have until midnight, July 4 to use the credits. They expire at 11:59p, on the day of check-out from the reservation to which they are linked.

 

[blondietink]

We have taken advantage of booking a FD package at either a value or moderate resort for 5 nights, then moving over to a DVC villa on points, using our leftover food credits to stock our refrigerator for a few days at the DVC villa. There is too much food for us to eat on the dining plan! For us it is cost effective, as basically our room covers the cost of the free dining, even at rack rates, when you consider that the 4 of us are counted as adults as far as the dining plan goes. I don't think it would make as much sense if your children are younger than 9, though.

In a perfect world, the DP would be free for DVC members also, but nothing is perfect, even at Disney.

 

[Kane07]

We are a family of 6 and purchase the regular plan every time we go. One meal covers the cost for the whole day.

 

[tjkraz]

We are a family of 6 and purchase the regular plan every time we go. One meal covers the cost for the whole day.

The value of the dining plan will vary greatly depending upon the makeup of one's traveling party. Specifically, groups with a large number of children (age 3-9) will do MUCH better than groups with a lot of adults. The low child DDP rate ($11.99) essentially subsidizes the adults in the group.

At less than $12 per child, per day, it's very easy to "save" on the kids. Some of the child buffets run $14 or more. Add in the CS meal and the snack and you're "saving" $10-15 per child, per day on the dining plan.

But with the adult rate of $41.99, you have to work pretty hard to spend more than $42 on a CS meal, TS entree and snack.

 

[TDC Nala]

The dining plan can be great to use if you're satisfied with using it the way it's meant to be used (for example, ordering entree and dessert at every meal). If that's not the way you eat and you want to try switching it around, like getting an appetizer instead of the entree, you are either diminishing the value of the prepaid plan or you may run into instances where the restaurant follows the letter of the plan and says that if you are entitled to an entree, you have to order an entree. If you want an appetizer in place of the dessert on the regular plan, that is never permitted anywhere.

 

[Sammie]

I agree with Nala and TJ, depends on what you eat and where you eat it.

Somedays we probably did not eat our $42 worth but other days we were over it and it saved us a good bit.

We felt we got our snacks for free on most all days. Since we used them for bottled water, yes we could have brought water with us or gone to the store, but honestly this last trip I just did not want to do that.

I wanted the convenience of not having to worry with it. Would we do it every trip, probably not.

 

[crisi]

A lot of DVCers like the Tables in Wonderland card better. You need to be an annual passholder to get one, and it costs something around $75....but you get 20% off most table service meals. If you visit WDW for many days a year (i.e. two trips a year like a lot of us here), it makes a lot of sense and doesn't tie you into a "have to use the credits" situation.

 

[Mtnman44]

While my wife loves it (based 100% on emotional and psychological reasons), I don't think the current DDP is worth it. We don't save money and we either eat way too much or waste too much food. We also give up a lot of freedom in what we do and don't order. The ONLY reason I've used it is due to the fact that none of our kids are 10 years old yet. My next trip will be our last using the DDP since my kids will start costing "adult" prices. For us that just makes no financial sense execpt in the most extreme scenarios where we order ridiculous amounts of food and eat dessert at every meal.

For example, our friends' situation is: mom, dad, three kids; all over 10 years old. so for 2011, that is 5 x 43.99 for the basic plan. $220 a day is way more than enough for all 5 of them (or us) to budget for food, even with a table service each night. Now, maybe that doesn't include dessert at every meal, but I don't eat that even with the plan. I can't even find a way to use all the snack credits.

 

[dmoore22]

A lot of DVCers like the Tables in Wonderland card better. You need to be an annual passholder to get one, and it costs something around $75....but you get 20% off most table service meals. If you visit WDW for many days a year (i.e. two trips a year like a lot of us here), it makes a lot of sense and doesn't tie you into a "have to use the credits" situation.

That's our situation exactly. TIW seems to be a much better deal if you make multiple trips. We don;t feel limited in our food choices plus it covers our libations. We did attempt to keep track and found, based on our eating habits, that TIW was more cost effective. However, if it were offered free I would have to reassess my analysis.