Dining Plan or No Dining Plan?

[bumbershoot]

We always do the dining plan. Dining in the Disney restaurants are part of the vacation experience for us and we enjoy it. If you plan to eat at the parks/resorts, the dining plan is worth it.

It isn't worth it for all. We always do a table service each day and generally a counter service. But we still
arent ordering as the dining plan would have us do. Sometimes we share. sometimes someone wants a salad not an entree. We don't order sodas, and we don't drink Dasani (so the beverage included is generally worthless). I've done the math for almost every trip and for us the plan is pointless, even though we're eating at the restaurants.

And we would get NO psychological benefit from prepaying; that mind game doesn't work on us.

 

[bumbershoot]

OP when we're in something bigger than a studio we get breakfast foods, beverages we drink, and ice cream type desserts.

The parks have almost no desserts we can eat (most Disney-made desserts have gelatin and/or corn syrup, and those are both not ok for us) so having our own dessserts works for us. And one Haagen dazs bar in the park costs as much as a 3 pack from publix.

When we have a two bedroom it's because we have extended family with us, and it's great fun (for the women and kids) to have the husbands make breakfast every morning. If were in a one bedroom it's just us and still hubby is generally the food maker.

If we are in the room for dinnertime and we are hungry we'll make simple pasta or go out to sweet tomatoes (inexpensive and lovely salad/soup/pasta buffet offsite) or last time we ordered pizza...

Lunch is in parks if it's a park trip.

If it makes sense for the year's plans and the restaurant plans, we buy TIW.

 

[Shellyred8]

We did the DDP with our first on-site stay. I felt like I was always full from eating so much, as we are not normally big eaters. It was fun to do it once, but it was just way too much food. We pay much less by going OOP. We usually will get breakfast items for the room and eat breakfast there. We usually eat the rest of our meals out in the parks or other resorts.

Have a great trip!

 

[Julylady]

Making your own meals allows you to eat the food that you are used to and more importantly, when you want to. No rushing to an ADR as your plans change. No threat of paying a no show fee.

Bill

Eating foods the kids are used to is a big part of making our own meals in the villa. Our 15 year old has always been a very picky eater. Eating out at restaurants is a great challenge for her. She orders something that sounds good on the menu, but inevitably it is served with a sauce she doesn't like or some accompaniment that freaks her out. We encourage her to ask the server questions and request for things like sauces to be eliminated or served on the side. (I advocated for her when she was younger, but at 14 she was on her own.) But eating at restaurants still causes her considerable anxiety. When we make things at the villa, we make them exactly the way she likes with no pressure on her.

 

[GhostHostMemories]

For us, we like the DDP. We know it probably costs us more in the "long run" but we think paying for it up front makes the trip easier. no fussing over getting the big steak or the chicken tenders. just get what we want an be done with it. while yes, it does seem like a bunch of wasted food (first trip i didn't want to see another chocolate cake for ages), if you plan it right, it's not so bad.

also, we never had any problems with changing reservations. closest we came to an incident is when we booked Rainforest Cafe on arrival day, and ended up having issues with our flight. Wife called, and they canceled the reservation w/o penalty.

I have a coworker who takes his RV down and stays at the campground. He did the deluxe plan and said it was a waste. 3 appetizers and 3 deserts at every meal. Said it was just too much food. He saved his receipts and realized he "lost" money. When he went a second time, he said he saved some $$ by paying out of pocket (no AP or TIW discounts). But he's also of the mindset that he will pay for whatever it costs.

If you are bent on saving money, dining plan is pretty much not for you (unless you like to eat quite a bit, using the snack credits and all)
If you can value the "pay upfront" and "not worry" and things like that, you can "justify" the ddp.

 

[quandrea]

Eating foods the kids are used to is a big part of making our own meals in the villa. Our 15 year old has always been a very picky eater. Eating out at restaurants is a great challenge for her. She orders something that sounds good on the menu, but inevitably it is served with a sauce she doesn't like or some accompaniment that freaks her out. We encourage her to ask the server questions and request for things like sauces to be eliminated or served on the side. (I advocated for her when she was younger, but at 14 she was on her own.) But eating at restaurants still causes her considerable anxiety. When we make things at the villa, we make them exactly the way she likes with no pressure on her.

I find my kids eat better in the villa. They are more comfortable, the food is what they know. They are not particularly picky, but they also are not into the usual kids' meals. When we do eat out they more often than not eat off the appetiser menu. On our last trip we spent about $1400 for fourteen nights. That includes groceries, alcohol, snacks, meals out. The dining plan would have been more than double that plus tips.

 

[mort1331]

This is always subject to each families way of vacationing. Ours does not like to cook while on vacation. Breakfest is one thing, quick and easy in the studio or 1bdrm. But the rest of the time we go out. While at home we might eat out once a month, so this is vacation to us. Now we also check to see where we are eating and knowing I can add the DDP 2 days before arrival gives me flexibility. My wife prefers the buffetts for variety, so with them tending to be on the higher end. We end up 50% of the time with the plan. Now that my oldest just turned 10 this will change the value for us. We will see when I run the numbers next March.

 

[Brian Noble]

I have never, not once, spent as much just eating what, where, and when I wanted vs. the "appropriate" dining plan that would cover our meals. Usually, that's because I don't eat exactly the "right" number of meals---I tend to average a little more than one TS credit per day. so DDP doesn't work but DxDP is overkill. However, even when I get the "right" number of meals, I inevitably sprinkle in a mix of more and less expensive meals that add up to less than the cost of the plan.

 

[Dean]

I have never, not once, spent as much just eating what, where, and when I wanted vs. the "appropriate" dining plan that would cover our meals. Usually, that's because I don't eat exactly the "right" number of meals---I tend to average a little more than one TS credit per day. so DDP doesn't work but DxDP is overkill. However, even when I get the "right" number of meals, I inevitably sprinkle in a mix of more and less expensive meals that add up to less than the cost of the plan.

It's likely the only situation that would work for you is the part that works well for us, that of having more than one villa and covering the meals for the group from one plan. That combined with the Dlx plan is often the best value. But it does depend in large part on the choices one makes. IMO one needs to have a sufficient savings or true added value to justify getting a DP. Due to the risk, my judgement is one needs to be saving at least 20% over what they either would have done or truly want but wouldn't if paying OOP. I feel it's a poor choice just for the "convenience".

 

[Firepath]

We almost always stay in 1BR or 2BR for the kitchen and laundry. For a 7 night trip we'll usually do 1 -2 sit down meals and 1 - 2 counter service, cooking the rest of our meals. I don't "like" to cook on vacation but the savings means we can go more often and stay longer so it's worth it for us. We rent a car our first day only (from the WDW rental location) and go to the grocery store for our supplies. We pretty much cook normal home type meals except we do purchase much more prepared foods than we do at home, such as already marinated meats, fresh veggies already cut up and in a sauce, prepared salads, cut up fruit, veggie trays, pizzas, etc. Instead of chopping onions, peeling carrots, shredding cheese, etc, we spend a little more to have that already done for us. We still have the savings of cooking without all the prep time. The one other thing different that at home, is we do indulge in more desserts on vacation. Last trip we added key lime pie and chocolate Klondike bars to our cart. We have done the DP in the past but only for short stays and when we didn't have a kitchen. With the DP I always felt like we were eating too much meat and carbs, and missing out on the veggies and fruits.

 

[CaliAdventurer]

We always do the DDP. We didnt do it onthe last trip and regretted it. With the children still being on kids price, its a def money saver but truly we do it for the convenience. We go to Disney to dine (me), golf (DH), relax (DH, and ride rides (DD) in that order. I just returned from a trip with just the kids and we used every single credit. We did a split stay and what I learned is that the first half of the trip you use all the credits, eat all the meals, do the sigs and character breakfasts and sig brunches and by mid trip youre full and fatigued. Next time we go in Oct, again a split stay (we are satisfying our curiosity) I will get the DDP for the first stay, load it with Sig dinners and/or shows and then design the 2nd half to eat at places that dont take DP like Club Villain, Food Fest (although they do take a lot of snacks, food fest events like Parisian Breakfast, Club Villain, Afternoon Tea.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

We haven't done the dining plan in years. Just last week, I changed by AkV reservation to an AKV/CCV split stay. It got me thinking about possibly doing the DxDDP for the first half like we did in the past (before we stopped doing split stays). I had already budgeted my meals based on my original stay. We do not eat an app, entree, and dessert each (if we do an app, entree, and dessert, we get only one of each and split) and we don't drink soft drinks or tea on a regular basis. If we did the DxDDP, we would change two restaurants: Tiffins instead of Yak and Yeti and Narcoossee's instead of Kona Cafe, both awesome restaurants, but the price difference was going to be about $350 more than paying OOP for our original restaurants. I do love Narcoossee's and I want to try Tiffins one day, but for that price difference, it's just not worth it.

 

[Brian Noble]

It's likely the only situation that would work for you is the part that works well for us, that of having more than one villa and covering the meals for the group from one plan.

We did a split stay and what I learned is that the first half of the trip you use all the credits, eat all the meals, do the sigs and character breakfasts and sig brunches and by mid trip youre full and fatigued.

Agreed. The only way these work for most people is if you can somehow create "partial plans" either through multiple villas or split stays.

 

[kboo]

On our last trip to the Poly for 6 nights we spent a grand total of $621 on food for myself and my two teen sons. Granted we only ate one TS meal at Via Napoli, but we didn't cook in the room (except for microwave pizza) but we never felt deprived. I just don't see how the dining plan makes financial sense unless you have children 9 or under and eat a lot of character meals.

Even with the character meals, I don't think it's been worth it. We don't do much QS, but rather do TS at varying levels, and will often share appetizers or desserts (if we get them at all). And no way could we ever finish all the snacks! And we don't drink soda, so getting the DP would just make us eat more to eat our "money's worth." Yes I cringe occasionally on how much we are paying for our 5yo to eat at CP or CRT, but then again, TiW helps, as does that fact that her 1yo sister eats as much as she does. Ha!

Oh, the healthy kids menus at the Signatures is also a great deal. Grilled fish at Artist's Point and Narcoossee's that was almost as good as the adult menu. A little simpler presentation, but actually good, healthy food.

 

[Dean]

Even with the character meals, I don't think it's been worth it. We don't do much QS, but rather do TS at varying levels, and will often share appetizers or desserts (if we get them at all). And no way could we ever finish all the snacks! And we don't drink soda, so getting the DP would just make us eat more to eat our "money's worth." Yes I cringe occasionally on how much we are paying for our 5yo to eat at CP or CRT, but then again, TiW helps, as does that fact that her 1yo sister eats as much as she does. Ha!

Oh, the healthy kids menus at the Signatures is also a great deal. Grilled fish at Artist's Point and Narcoossee's that was almost as good as the adult menu. A little simpler presentation, but actually good, healthy food.

We aren't big eaters so our normal meal might be a soup and salad plus one entree between the 2 of us so the DP does present a challenge though buffets in general are a larger challenge DP or not. Our next trip we're looking at saving about 40% because it's a shorter trip, well placed meals and multiple kids in the correct age. We just do the math and decide based on the potential savings. If I'm not getting at least a 20% savings, we don't do it.

 

[KSkywalker17]

We've done the dining plan a couple times and don't see the value in it. A family member is a cast member and we once got a discount on the plan along with the room (it was amazing and hasn't happened since). We.re now DVC member and like many of you, we don't like the forced structure of the plan. We didn't always want a dessert with lunch or wanted to wait a little while to eat it (cupcakes and a Florida August don't mix). Our family loves to eat at Disney but I agree with those who said it consumes your vacation. I also found myself doing goofy things like looking at the menu and picking the most expensive entree whether I wanted it or not to justify the plan or settling for a snack because it was included in the plan when I really wanted something else.

I understand why people like the idea of prepaying, we did to but came up with our own way to do this. Once or twice a month we'll pick up a $50 Disney Giftcard at the grocery store. When we're about to go on a trip we'll combine the cards into 2 cards (one for my wife and I) and use them to pay for meals and souvenirs. Anything leftover can be saved for the next trip or used at the Disney Store for a birthday present.

Just remember, Disney offers the plan because they more often then not make money on it. Think about all those unused credits and people that are eating cheaper items off the menu or skipping dessert. If you are "beating" Disney on the plan and are honest with yourself, you're probably forcing yourself to eat more or differently than you would without the plan.

That being said, to each his own. Do what makes you happy on your vacation, thats what we work for, right?

 

[tasha99]

We never do the dining plan anymore. We did it years ago when appetizers and tips were included, and with free dining, it was a no brainer. We even got upgraded from All Star Music to an OKW 1 BR villa on one of those trips. That was the start of us buying DVC (years later, when we could afford it, but that's when the seed was planted. Diabolical of Disney.)

But no. . .now my kids are all adults, mostly over 21, and free dining doesn't cover appetizers or alcohol, which is a lot of what we choose to buy. Cooking and baking are my hobbies, so I don't mind cooking in the villa. I even bring a some of my own cookware. I don't make anything time consuming, but there are tons of easy recipes I use for travel. We order groceries and get Costco meat/pizza etc on the way.

In addition to eating in, we also hit our favorite restaurants out. On our upcoming trip to DL, for a 4 night trip, we have a big group ADR for 8 at Blue Bayou, then my boyfriend and I are going to Carthay Circle for lunch, and the Chef counter at Napa Rose for dinner--ditching the kids. More than that is too much organizing as a group for us--in the villa, I'll make food and people can eat or not as they please.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

We are staying at a 2BR in January at BLT. The plan was to eat in using the kitchen as much as possible, as a means to save money. We did so many reservations on our last trip, and really have little interest in doing that this time around. I actually started to get cold feet on the whole trip because I was worried I was spending so much on the 2 BR and wouldn't save enough on the food, and possibly should have just got 2 connecting rooms at a moderate with the dining plan. Just wondering if it is reasonable to pay less on food using the 2BR, and what experience others have had (with both the dining plan and not using the dining plan)? We are not big eaters and plan to do simple meals, especially breakfast and dinner. I am guessing we will need to eat some lunches out while at the parks, and maybe one nice dinner reservation.

I would probably never get the dining plan again unless I was doing it for simplicity. The value is definitely not there anymore. Paying cash will be much cheaper. We will just buy disney gift cards as a way to "prepay" still without losing money on the dining plan

 

[Castillo Mom]

My adult sons are foodies and big eaters, so no sharing of meals. I don't care to cook while on vacation. We have very busy schedules at home, so sitting down to a meal at one of the signature restaurants is part of the vacation for us. We're going during F&W this year and after doing the math, the dining plan makes sense for us. That may not be the case in the future though, so I run the numbers prior to each trip.

 

[rocketriter]

Some years ago, when our kids were little, the Dining Plan taught them to like filet, and lobster, and crab. We had to detox the little devils when we got home and returned to affordable dining.