Dining Plan or NOT?

[tjaronb]

Hi EVERYONE,

I'm in the process of planning my Family trip for 2012.

DH, Me, DD's 4 & 6.... Since Free Dinning isn't available during the time we plan to go, should I get it or pay as we go?

 

[olecow]

We've never used the dining plan when it wasn't offered for free. I haven't crunched the numbers but the next time my family goes I think we'll eat OOP and try to get a discount on our room. Our kids (currently 13,10 and 4) don't need a sit down restaraunt. Any burger or breaded poultry product usually goes over well.

Also, meal portions, even at quick service are rather large (or were the last time we were there) so you can share meals, which saves money. We also bring stuff to eat in our room for breakfast.

With the ages of your kids I would recommend paying as you go, but it depends on your kids eating habits. I would think a 4 and 6 year old could share a meal. Whatever you choose I hope you have a great trip.

 

[msp2mco]

We don't get the dining plan either, for a few reasons. It seems like too much food, so we pay OOP and never have felt that it would have saved money. Although I make ADR's, we occasionally cancel them because we aren't hungry enough; if I were on the dining plan, I would be less likely to do that and end up overeating.

 

[Diegosmom]

But if you plan on doing a lot of characher meals for your DD those can really add up. Especially if you are going for dinner and some of the prices for 1 meal is more expensive then the daily rate for the child.

Also what are your eating habits? Do you all eat 3 meals a day plus snacks.

For your quick service meals you still could split meals and spread them out in order to do 3 meals. I know some of the resorts will let you get 3 sides as your meal.

I would check out all ears and crunch the numbers and see if it makes sense.

Also does your family normally get drinks with meals and dessert (this isnt as important if you are doing buffets since it is included).

 

[Me!Thatswho]

Well, for our last 5 or 6 trips to WDW we used the DP (always paid in order to get the room discount)and loved it simply for the convenience. Plus, our kids still loved character meals, so it seemed, whether or not it was true, like we were actually saving a little coin. But, on our last trip, again using the DP, we realized, as many have expressed here, that we were a) eating too much, and b) planning our day around eating. Also, our kids were no longer interested in characters. So, while we booked some of the places that DW & I had long wanted to try, it didn't feel as if the value of the DP was the same.

Granted it's a different system in Anaheim, but on our most recent trip to DL we paid OOP and let me tell you it was like a breath of fresh air. While we still made reservations, we ate less per day (1 big meal w/ snacks as opposed to TS/QS/S) and spent much less than we had budgeted.

So, due to this experience, we decided that on our next trip to WDW we're going without DP. Will it work, we're not sure but we're going to try it and see.

Hope it helps!

 

[Tinker1972]

We had the free dining plan on our trip in Sept..and we won't ever do Disney without it again. We didn't do ADR's because we didn't want to be tied down, so the quick service worked well for us. We're hoping for free dining again with our next one, but if not, we will be adding it to our package. I know alot of people don't think its worth it, but for our family of 6 (7 when my sister comes), it was great. I loved not having to worry about having cash, or how much everything was costing when the kids asked for a snack. I know it doesn't save money when you do have to pay for the dining plan, but having all of our meals prepaid is a huge stress reliever! Knowing we didn't have to spend any money on food, allowed us to shop more

 

[Geomom]

If you want to do a lot of character meals/buffets--it will make sense for your family--with 2 children and 2 adults...vs. another family with children who are now charged as adults. For the children, you will actually save money by being on the DDP and doing buffets.

 

[Phatoomch]

We loved the DP when we went in Sep - yes, it was free however, when I crunched numbers I came out a few bucks better off (as in if I had paid for it so would pay in future if free not available).

We would use the QS for breakfast (which came with a dessert also like a brownie/muffin etc) which set us up for all day in the park. We would take the brownie/muffin with us and that would be a snack and use the snack credit to buy a drink. We would then have a very nice meal in the evening and not have to worry about cost and that would give us some nice relaxing down time.

 

[MHTeacher]

You will find that the dining plan is a topic that a lot of people around here feel very strongly about-either pro or con.

We've had the DDP free, and we've paid for it. I did enjoy it all the times we had it--Obviously, I enjoyed it much more when it was free! I loved the convenience of having the meals pre-paid for, and just to let my kids (Disney adults), order whatever they wanted.

However, I'm not sure we will pay for the plan again. With four Disney adults, and only 1 kid, the plan will cost my family over $220 a night. (For a six night trip, that's a lot of money!) When I crunched the numbers, I figured on 4-5 TS meals, the remainder of meals as CS, 1 snack/person/day, and we came out cheaper paying OOP. I do NOT add in desserts-and yes, I know they're part of the DDP---But, honestly, if they weren't included, we would never order one. We don't have dessert after every meal at our own home.

It's just something you have to look at the numbers for and see if it will work for your family, as everyone is different.

 

[tjaronb]

Thank you all for your the HELPFUL Suggestions.... I'm so excited!

 

[LisaBi]

Yes - Definitely crunch the numbers based on how you would order if paying OOP - not based on what you will get with the plan. Like the PP said, we would not order nearly as much food normally.

I've found that free dining is a better deal for us than taking a room discount and paying OOP for food, but the dining plan is not worth paying for on its own.

That depends a lot on the number of people in your party vs. the amount of the room discount.

 

[autismgoesdisney]

I really think it depends where you want to eat! If you plan on doing character meals and eating at the nicer table service restaurants, then I think its worth it.

If you plan on eating at The Plaza, Sci-Fi, and counter service than absolutely not!

I will say that this year it seems that the prices are SO close and not necessarily a no brainer as it was for my family of five in years past!

 

[TDC Nala]

If your plan is to do a TS meal every night for dinner (and I do mean dinner, not breakfast or lunch) and many of these will be character or other fixed price meals, get the DDP.

In any other circumstance you will need to do the math to figure out if DDP would be a better deal than just ordering what you would normally order without it.

That's if your primary interest in looking at the DDP is possibly saving money. For others, they consider having DDP so convenient that it doesn't matter if they lose money on the deal or not.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

Hi EVERYONE,

I'm in the process of planning my Family trip for 2012.

DH, Me, DD's 4 & 6.... Since Free Dinning isn't available during the time we plan to go, should I get it or pay as we go?

We just got back from POR and we purchased the Quick Service Dining Plan. We decided that in the future we will not purchase it again. We figured that it is worth it; if you alway want a dessert to go along with your meals, plus a the drink included and you can eat everything you get and not feel stuffed. We will always order at least one Mickey Premium ice cream bar/person/day (one snack a day is included).

But DW and I could have easily shared a lunch and dinner with the portions they give you. So most meals we would have only purchased one meal for the two of us. DS (19) can eat like a horse so he got our moneys worth. We just felt like taking a nap after eating everything they gave us. And we could have easily have skipped the dessert for each of us and if we had ordered one shared that as well.

So we think if your big eaters go for it; it's worth it. If your like us skip the plan.