Dining plan or no dining plan???

[fbcovin]

We are going on our FIRST Disney trip with our 3 1/2 yr. old daughter the first of Feb. I have done a TON of research but still not so sure about this whole Dining Plan. We are doing 2 character dinners (1 @ Akershus which will be over $100). We will NOT have a car so we cannot go to store for snacks and other items. Would LOVE any suggestions.

 

[devinfl]

i just was trying to figure out the same thing I have always gone in september have gotten the dining plan for free, so with this trip coming up in febuary I looked online and added up the prices of where we wanted to eat and the dining plan, the plan was much cheaper. If you dont want to do many sit down resturants you could look into the quick service dining plan

 

[rayangel]

hi my first post too...

ive been to disney probably ten times now and am new to the whole ddp thing.
if its just the 2 of you , you proabably wont save much money to be honest. im going with my 3 kids , 17,14 and 2. they will probably use all the snacks which i wouldnt use or my dh. the table service meals (most expensive ) are like 32. the counter service at most are like 9 or ten dollars.
so where you save money is on snacks if youre going to use them if not it is my opinion that it is not going to save you much.

we have decided to use it because i am a dvc member so my room is paid
i am an annualn passholder so my tickets are paid. and if i now have the ddp then my food will also be paid for by the time i get there plus 2 teenagers will take care of all those snacks... hope ive helped.

 

[rayangel]

oooh i would have loved to have gotten the ddp for free.

you only get that with myw tix though oh well..

i should mention the ddp it seems is for the people who like the little extras when they dine or eat or whatever i dont do apps or dessert or the snacks so that is why it would not be good for myself and dh alone however if you do like all that stuff than its a good deal for you.

 

[MagicalKingdom]

We are going on our FIRST Disney trip with our 3 1/2 yr. old daughter the first of Feb. I have done a TON of research but still not so sure about this whole Dining Plan. We are doing 2 character dinners (1 @ Akershus which will be over $100). We will NOT have a car so we cannot go to store for snacks and other items. Would LOVE any suggestions.

Agreed to Devinfl, If you dont want to do many sit down resturants you could look into the quick service dining plan, and with this you can choose which is much chepear among the rest!...

 

[caroline1851]

On our last trip, ds was 6 and dd was 2 and it was a nice, relaxing break during the day to have a sit down meal. It's not very relaxing eating CS all the time, imo. The best days were those that we had a lunch adr. after lunch, the kids were re-energized because it was an hour where we could relax, be waited on and sit in the air conditioning. We saved a lot of money doing the ddp.

 

[debdebdebby13]

We've been once before and we were also car-less. We just ordered some groceries from wegoshop.com. The woman who serves WDW called us to confirm our order, our resort and what time she should deliver and voila she showed up at our resort door about 15 minutes after we arrived with all of our stuff. Her deliver fee was $16. She shopped at Walmart for us since it was cheapest, but she'll shop wherever you ask her to.

We spent about $50 (total including delivery) and ended up with more than we could actually use. We were staying at ASMovies so no mini-fridge but we got bananas, fresh mandarin oranges, cherrios, pretzels, bread and peanut butter, pop tarts, bakery muffins and several gallons of water (since WDW water is gross!) and several other things I don't remember. We had everything we needed for breakfast and quick snacks that we could carry with us around the park. We'd fill up our water bottles in our room in the morning and when we went back to rest we'd refill for the evening. We also got juice boxes and Horizon milk boxes. We filled up our ice bucket before we went to bed and stuck a few drinks in and the were nice and cold for breakfast.

Honestly it was AWESOME to have that stuff. It really helped us save money. We were on the regular dining plan so it filled in the gaps easily and was much cheaper than upgrading to deluxe.

 

[smidgy]

for your FIRST Disney trip, I would definitely NOT to the regular dining plan. you don't want to be obligated to definite reservations at def. restaurants. (even if it wasn't your first time, I wouldn't suggest many ADRS with a little one. little ones, as you know, have too many unforseen "variables"!)
whether or not to do the quick service plan. take a little time and do the math. the refillable mug you get with the plan is only good at the resort, not the parks. (and you can buy it separately). are you big eaters? I believe you get the mugs, 2 CS and 2 snacks per day. the CS come with a drink (a huge drink) and a dessert. even the CS meals, to get your money's worth , are big. hubby and I can split one meal often. of, if we don't a burger each will not get our money's worth. and we usually don't get dessert anyway. with a little one, you might want to just snack and nibble as you go. (a funnelcake at sleepy hollow aat MK is big enough for 2)
at which resort are you staying? if it is one with a food court, you can eat pretty cheaply without the CS dining plan. we found ourselves eating more food than we wanted, just to get our money's worth.
go to all ears net, and look at the menus.(and prices) see what you might order and do the math.
I'm just thinking, with a little one, and it being your first trip, you have enough planning to concern .
yourselves with
If you are flying down, you can put some granola bars, raisin boxes,etc. in your luggage to keep in your room. and the gift shop usually has donuts, etc.
I envy you..... your first trip.. have lots of fun!!!!

 

[Metro West]

 

[lovetoscrap]

The decision was quite simple for us. Go to the wdwinfo.com Dining pages http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/disneydining.cfm#mk and look through the menus. Look at the the restaurants (counter service and quick service) you think you might like, and look at what you think each person will order. Then add that all up and see which is a better deal.

For my family of 4, we eat mostly quick service with maybe one or two table services a visit. We generally bring some stuff to get our morning started (granola bars, pop tarts etc) and some snacks (peanuts, crackers) and are so busy in the parks that we don't want to spend much time eating. So we try to do lunch around late morning, maybe a snack mid afternoon and a late dinner. That means really only 2 meals a day.

And the portions really are quite big. So often we will only order 3 meals, sometimes maybe only get 2 orders of fries (you don't have to buy the advertised Combo Meal-- you can order things separately), or add a side salad for someone. We can't all finish 4 full meals at a quick service place. And when we are hot and on the go we really prefer water to drink-- we just get a cup of water for each person-- not bottled! or maybe order 2 large drinks and share.

When we add it all up it is cheaper for us to just skip the dining plan. Look at what you think your family will eat. You will find the prices pretty consistant across the parks-- a pizza in one place will cost the same as a pizza in another.

Make sure you also check out our Disney Restaurants Board and the subforum on the Dining Plan: http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14

 

[tpclady]

I am not a huge fan of the dining plan because it takes away some of the spontaniety of the trip. However..... If you have a little one and are planning on doing a few character dinners it is the way to go. ONE character meal in a day for a child is about the price you will have paid for the meal plan for the day so it means the snack and the counter service meal are pretty much free. With an adult a day on the plan is a little more than a character meal but not much so you are still ahead of the game at the end of the day. Also, as far as ressies, you will still need them months ahead for any sit down meals because the dining plan has filled all the restaurants and you won't be able to get in without a ressie whether you are on it or not. Hope this helps! Have fun!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

You have to answer yourself three questions to know what to do:

1. Do you plan on eating lunch and dinner in the parks or at a resort EACH day?

2. Do you plan on eating at a sit down restaurant in the parks or your resort at least once a day?
a. If you plan on eating at a sit down restaurant TWICE per day, do you expect to pay more $71.99 per person per day (children 3-9 $20.99)?

b. If you plan on eating at a sit down restauarant ONCE per day, do you think you will spend $39.99 per person per day (children 3-9 $10.99)?

c. If you plan on eating counter-service only, do you think you will spend $29.99 per person per day (children 3-9 $8.99)?

If you answered yes to both 1 and 2a, you should get the Deluxe Dining Plan.

If you answered yes to both 1 and 2b, you should get the Regular Dining Plan.

If you answered yes to both 1 and 2c, you should get the Quick Service Dining Plan.

We used the plan in 2006 and 2009 and ended up saving money both times and had the piece of mind knowing that our food was already payed for.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

A little more info:

With a group of 11 of us this summer, including a 2 year old (who wasn't on the plan and shared food), a 4 year old, 2 9 year olds, and 7 adults (including a 12 year old), we spent $2190 on the regular dining plan for a 7 night trip. The receipts totaled up to $3261.89, so we ate $1000 more in food than we paid for, or about $166.67 worth of free food per person (not counting the 2 year old).

Here's the link to the post from our trip report with the totals: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34939316&postcount=95

Remember that alcohol and appetizers would be extra, as are tips. YMYV.

 

[Electric Mayhem]

My Wife, two little princesses and I visit almost every year and we get the DDP. We love to enjoy a great meal almost as much as we enjoy the attractions. My wife and I plan the trip...well...let say excessively. We have sit down meals and Character meals planned for every day of the trip, so for us it's a no brainer. But to be honest, we don't get it to save money. We have found that we can go and spend less than the dining plan costs, but we always save a ton of money on what we actually eat. Not sure if that makes sense, but that's our logic.

One thing that we learned which might be useful to you. You can use a snack credit at the sundries shop in your resort for a large milk to keep in your room fridge. That has been a life saver with our little ones.

 

[sstanaford]

I know for us it worked out to save use money. We used our snack credits for breakfast type stuff and saved the snack from our QS to use as a snack. I also had packed cereal, granola bars, pop tarts, crystal light, bottled water and fruit to bring with us. I do know that my daughters ate more than normal while we were at Disney because we were doing so much walking. It seemed like they were always hungry. We are going back this September and will be doing the dining plan again. With 6 of us it works out cheaper. I would figure out roughly what you think you will spend and then see which is cheaper the dining plan or out of pocket.

 

[OhThePain]

When my girlfriend and I go down (100 days till our next trip.. woot) we use the DDP. Not even so much for the savings because between the 2 of us, I hardly see any savings. Basically the savings are in the snacks from what I can tell. The reason why I always end up going on the plan is because it's just easier not having to worry about how much anything costs, and everything is all paid for upfront. All I have to worry about is tips and alcohol for the meals that I choose to use the dining plan with (usually our cheapest TS's and most expensive dinners I pay OOP). In the end being on the DDP just means there is one less thing to worry about.