Dining Plan or No Dining Plan?

[candsmain]

Me and my family are going for seven days December 4th- 11th. Would you recommend the dinning plan or not? I understand the whole adding the menu options up but we are really wanting to be flexible with our meals. I know we need to make ADR's for one or two of the places but rather than that we plan on eating quick service. Any advice?

 

[hill6]

If you feel most meals would be CS then you should look at quick service dining plan

 

[GovieMom]

Agree that the Quick Service plan might be your best bet. And by the way, it's dining ... not dinning.

 

[DizGirl20]

We tried the DDP during our most recent trip and found it to be A LOT of food. Dessert is included and usually we don't eat dessert... so I found myself eating it b/c I had paid for it but not really enjoying it. I don't think we will do the DDP again - but if you are a dessert person I would say go for it!

I agree that you should take a look at the QSDP.

 

[ccw7759]

I tend to agree that the QS might be your better plan. Also, I think you might have a hard time getting
any good TS ADR's. We're going Dec 11-15 and I made my ADR's at my 180 day window (a month ago).
Went online to maybe "tweek" some of my ressies (different times and/or restaurants)
and there was nothing available. Glad I made mine when I did. Although, you can keep checking back
if you don't find the restaurants you want, or you could try walk ups.
Good luck!

 

[keishashadow]

Me and my family are going for seven days December 4th- 11th. Would you recommend the dinning plan or not? I understand the whole adding the menu options up but we are really wanting to be flexible with our meals. I know we need to make ADR's for one or two of the places but rather than that we plan on eating quick service. Any advice?

I'd skip the DP entirely if planning on eating CS, unless u like the desserts (usually yucky imo, I'd rather wait until later & get something I really want to eat that's sweetlike a mickey rice crispie treat). It is very convenient though to have it paid for in advance.

re TS check out disney's online reservation system to see what's available on your dates, then pick a few and plan on paying OOP, lunches are usually less expensive & easier to book

good luck

 

[Eeyore's Pal]

We'd never do a dining plan.

We rarely eat dessert directly after dinner. Even the QSDP includes dessert.

We prefer eating appetizers, sometimes making a meal out of appetizers alone.

Too much food just makes you sluggish when you want to get around the parks and do things.

Too much time wasted eating when we could be seeing a show or riding an attraction.

We make a 2-3 ADRs in an 8-day trip. The rest of the time we eat at CS or in our room.

 

[SGMCO]

to bad you can't arrive on 12-2-2010 because you could get FD.
We love the dining plan.
For Basic DP You get 1 CS, 1 TS, 1 snack per person per night--I don't think that is to much food at all.
It is also nice to get a little break and sit down, try unique restaurants, it makes WDW really enjoyable.
Plus, I don't think I could make it on fast food for a whole trip.

 

[winterman]

Me and my family are going for seven days December 4th- 11th. Would you recommend the dinning plan or not? I understand the whole adding the menu options up but we are really wanting to be flexible with our meals. I know we need to make ADR's for one or two of the places but rather than that we plan on eating quick service. Any advice?

Have you been to WDW before? Have you sampled a lot of the restaurants? I think it's a good idea to pay OOP until you get a feel for what eating at WDW is all about. The DDP takes away a lot of flexibility. For instance, dessert is included with all meals except breakfast. That's big reason why I would never get the quick service plan. While I love many of the desserts at TS restaurants, I would not waste my money on a CS dessert. DH and I get the DDP only when it's free. I often order an appetizer and salad (and dessert) and that does not work on the DDP.

Plan your trip, make the ADRs for the places that you want and pay attention to what you eat and the prices. That will give you valuable information to use when you go the next time.

 

[kad153]

If you are the type of person that thinks about money when eating out and ordering food, and wont get something on the menu because it costs too much - I say get the dining plan. If you dont worry when spending money, you dont need it.

 

[Pakey]

We've tried various dining plans and it just doesn't work for us. We prefer to go without. We aren't concerned about saving a buck or two; flexibility and being able to choose what we want to eat is more important to us.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

If you are able to take advantadge of one of the "free" dining deals, I'd book it, otherwise, I'd just pay OOP.

 

[mountdew1]

Will you eat what is offered every time? Will everyone in your family do that? If you won't eat the deserts with each CS meal, you are paying about 5 bucks a day that you don't need to spend per person. A family of 4, thats 20 per day, 140 over a week. Adds up pretty quickly. Also, if you think that you may want to share a meal, or maybe one of the adults order a kids meal (my wife won't eat the full adult meal, the kids meal is a perfect size) then again, you end up losing money. The same if the kids would be eating adult meals, but only get kids meals under their plan. The extra kids credits would be a waste and you would need to pay full price for their adult meal each time.
In order to not lose money on the DP you need to plan on eating everything they offer, exactly as the offer it. Otherwise you will probably end up doing better to pay out of pocket.

 

[B-Ride]

If you are able to take advantadge of one of the "free" dining deals, I'd book it, otherwise, I'd just pay OOP.

I agree. Also, I usually say no to the DP to friends going for the first or second time. Too much planning involved and too much time out of the parks. Especially when park hours are shorter. I would recommend CS for most meals with a few Character meals booked in advance.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

We've tried various dining plans and it just doesn't work for us. We prefer to go without. We aren't concerned about saving a buck or two; flexibility and being able to choose what we want to eat is more important to us.

I agree with this. We tried the DDP on our last trip (in May) after many trips without it, and I highly doubt we'll do it again. It may have saved us a bit of money, over the regular menu prices, for what we ate, but we also ate a lot of food that we otherwise would have likely not ordered, e.g. desserts and so many "snacks". SO MANY SNACKS! Towards the I felt like it was a lot of work to use them all.

OP, if you're certain where you want to eat and when, if it's primarily TS, and if you're large eaters, then in all probability you won't lose money on the DDP, but that still doesn't mean it's a great deal for you. Consider the options, and your personal dining styles, and go from there. Have fun!

 

[swafay94]

I think, unless the dining plan is free, the plan is too restrictive to use.

 

[rachel09985]

Agree that the Quick Service plan might be your best bet. And by the way, it's dining ... not dinning.

I dont know if you are joking or not but that is rude. In their title of the thread she spelled dining right both times, so obviously the dinning was a mistake.

 

[Sofia's Dad]

I'm one of the few who believes that the DDP is a good deal. Yes it may not be as good as it was before...and before I mean before the tip wasn't included. With a 18 to 20 per cent ad on it doesn't seem like a good deal but when the trip is added to the free meal plan which is a counter service, snack and a full sit down meal ( appetizer, main meal and dessert) its a good deal. To ad DDP it comes to an added 33 dollars a day per person. The DDP is 3 sit down meals and 2 snacks. But..... some of the signature restaurants are counted as 2 credits, Narcoossee's, Flying Fish, Artist Point, Citricos, Brown Derby, California grill, The Castle, Yachtsman Steak house and Jiko's. Even so I am sure you will eat more than 33 dollars a day, but if a quick meal is your thing than its not worth it.

 

[rachel09985]

I'm one of the few who believes that the DDP is a good deal. Yes it may not be as good as it was before...and before I mean before the tip wasn't included. With a 18 to 20 per cent ad on it doesn't seem like a good deal but when the trip is added to the free meal plan which is a counter service, snack and a full sit down meal ( appetizer, main meal and dessert) its a good deal. To ad DDP it comes to an added 33 dollars a day per person. The DDP is 3 sit down meals and 2 snacks. But..... some of the signature restaurants are counted as 2 credits, Narcoossee's, Flying Fish, Artist Point, Citricos, Brown Derby, California grill, The Castle, Yachtsman Steak house and Jiko's. Even so I am sure you will eat more than 33 dollars a day, but if a quick meal is your thing than its not worth it.

Are you talking about the Deluxe Dining Plan?? The Deluxe Dining Plan is I think $76 dollars per day- not $33.
Also the regular Dining Plan is around $45 per day. I am not sure where you got $33 per day. Did you have free dining and then upgrade to the Deluxe Dining Plan??

 

[jlhill4444]

Agree that the Quick Service plan might be your best bet. And by the way, it's dining ... not dinning.

Not sure that correcting a typo is really necessary.