Dining plan or not

[jennhart627]

We are going to wdw in January. This is our first trip as DVC members...we were trying to decide if we want to do dining plan or not. I have a table service reserved for each day and several are buffets....we love the convenience of the dining plan and not having to think about what we order

 

[Chuck S]

IMO, I doubt the dining plan will save a lot of money, unless you do character meals. I've never been able to make the dining plan worth it, given my normal dining habits.

But you can look at it as a convenience item for prepayment.

Personally, I use the Tables in Wonderland card for 20% off table service meals.

 

[Moparlar]

IMO, I doubt the dining plan will save a lot of money, unless you do character meals. I've never been able to make the dining plan worth it, given my normal dining habits.

But you can look at it as a convenience item for prepayment.

Personally, I use the Tables in Wonderland card for 20% off table service meals.

I agree 100 %. We tried DDP and saved no money and actually felt like we ate more food than normal to use the credits.

 

[lsbgvadvcer]

We made the switch from DDP to TIW this year too and absolutely recommend doing so! With the DDP we felt like we were 'paying' for all this food so we 'had' to eat it. But who really needs dessert with lunch? And we both really prefer appetizers to dessert with dinner anyway. The added bonus of the TIW card is the discount is also good on alcohol! We're going in January with two good friends, so four of us in our 20's and 30's...the TIW card will come in quite handy on that trip I think!

 

[jennhart627]

We had wondered about this. We have 3 kids...We have a 10 year old who by Disney standards is an adult. By the time he ate his meal he never wanted dessert but we hated not to get it. The 8 year old was pretty good with his meal options and desserts, and we have a 3 year old who I doubt will eat enough to justify. I may look up menus and pretend we are eating there and figure cost....

 

[disneynutz]

Look up the menus of where you plan to eat, add up the prices and compare it to the DDP cost.

We don't find the DDP worth it for us anymore and we hate being tied to ADR's plus we find Disney food to be overpriced and less in quality then a few years ago.

I remember saying a couple of years ago, "here we are at the most magical place on earth and all we do is eat, I can eat at home".

Bill

 

[mikron]

To much food for us, we eat light when travling. don't like looking at the watch to eat either. About half of our guest (8 per year) we rent to do buy the plan and have liked it.

 

[dvcterry]

ddp is something you should check if it will be worth it for you. we looked into and found some restaurants were not on the plan, we don't want all the dessert, and we eat breakfast in the room more than out in the park or resort. too much food so not for us. you'll have to compare and see.

 

[ssawka]

The DDP matches our eating habits pretty well, and I still don't think it is worth it for us. Most of the time when we have gotten the DDP we pretty much broke even. The DDP works out well if you are traveling with many children.

 

[Dean]

We are going to wdw in January. This is our first trip as DVC members...we were trying to decide if we want to do dining plan or not. I have a table service reserved for each day and several are buffets....we love the convenience of the dining plan and not having to think about what we order

It really depends on what you actually have reserved, the make up of your group (esp kids 3-9) and how you'd use the QS and snack credits (I'm assuming you're looking at the basic plan). I'll agree with looking at the menu's to give you a better idea.

 

[bbn1122]

We bought into DVC for 3 main reason, Disney service, family of 5 (more sleeping space) and to have our own kitchen to enjoy meals. We eat breakfast, snacks and most lunches at our villa. On a week trip we will eat out 4 nights and maybe 2 lunches.

Before we bought into DVC I had looked into the dining plan and to me it was too much food. We enjoy a nice meal but we do not need dessert and snacks all day long. Just my humble opinion.....but it isn't nice to save a little money and relax in your villa over morning coffee..

 

[coup2516]

We got the DDP the first trip we made and have never gotten it since. Sure, it was convenient, but we felt like we always had to order the most expensive dishes on the menu when we really would've been just as happy with the chicken or pasta.

Before our next trip, we sat down and figured out what we would most likely order at each of the restaurants that we had ADRs for and compared that to the cost of the DDP. In the end, it just wasn't worth it to buy the DDP. Also, like others have mentioned, I'd much rather have an appetizer than a dessert.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We tracked our "savings" and costs through 4 trips....2 with DDP and 2 without using just TIW discount. The verdict....We spent more than $200 MORE when we used the DDP than we did paying with the TIW card. I hated how restrictive the DDP was. NO WAY do we ever eat that many counter service meals. In fact, we are lucky if we eat one or two CS meals on a whole trip, prefering instead to have at least one TS meal a day. We ended up at the end with lots of CS meals unused, and paying for a TS out of pocket.

Now, I do get the convenience thing, but when we had a group of 5 that included 2 kids, we found it almost impossible to track. You just have to rely too much on everyone knowing what they are allowed to use, and then you have to check the totals daily. This was nothing but a huge hassle for us. I'd much rather pay OOP and KNOW what I'm spending.

 

[MrsDuck]

We never do the dining plan. We have the DVC discount, an AP discount, and TIW. We've found that those discounts are more $$ saving than DDP.

 

[disneynutz]

We tracked our "savings" and costs through 4 trips....2 with DDP and 2 without using just TIW discount. The verdict....We spent more than $200 MORE when we used the DDP than we did paying with the TIW card. I hated how restrictive the DDP was. NO WAY do we ever eat that many counter service meals. In fact, we are lucky if we eat one or two CS meals on a whole trip, prefering instead to have at least one TS meal a day. We ended up at the end with lots of CS meals unused, and paying for a TS out of pocket.

Now, I do get the convenience thing, but when we had a group of 5 that included 2 kids, we found it almost impossible to track. You just have to rely too much on everyone knowing what they are allowed to use, and then you have to check the totals daily. This was nothing but a huge hassle for us. I'd much rather pay OOP and KNOW what I'm spending.

Like most things Disney, the DDP is offered because it makes Disney money, if it didn't it wouldn't be offered.

I hate to think about how many forfeited credits there are yearly and how many drink mugs barely get used. Disney is number one when it comes to marketing and they are very good at creating hype and perceived value compared to true value.

Bill

 

[Donna M]

When I was contemplating whether to get the DDP or not, I scoured the menus and was not able to make it work out in our favor. And now the price has gone up again.

I wonder if anyone has loaded a Disney gift card with the amount they would have to pay for the plan and then see what was left at the end of their trip. That way it would be prepaid but they would have the money that might be left over to spend another day.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

I have only found 2 cases where the dining plan worked out for us.

First, when it is a short trip and we know we will be spending pretty much all our time in the parks and eating both table service and counter service meals consistently. We have done this on two separate Thanksgiving trips in years past.

The second time was just last week. We did a last minute trip with a total of 5 nights on site - one at BLT and four at SSR. For the one night we did the DDP, and used two of the TS credits one night at Narcoossee's and the next night at Sanaa. We tried items we normally would not have, and received about $350 of value out of the approximately $170 we paid for the DDP.

Otherwise the dining plan for anything other than what is listed above is too much food for the style of vacation we normally do. the numbers dictate this.

 

[taaren]

The second time was just last week. We did a last minute trip with a total of 5 nights on site - one at BLT and four at SSR. For the one night we did the DDP, and used two of the TS credits one night at Narcoossee's and the next night at Sanaa. We tried items we normally would not have, and received about $350 of value out of the approximately $170 we paid for the DDP.

This is the reason we're getting the dining plan for one night, our first night at OKW, then once we get into the larger part of our stay at BLT/BWV, we will not have it as it definitely wouldn't be worthwhile. But on that one night of the dining plan we're having Garden Grill for 7 (including 3 children), plus Flame Tree BBQ and snacks at Kusafiri Bakery .... and the math worked out that the kids are basically eating for free for the first 24 hours of our trip.

I think if they had kept the segmented reservations for DP available to DVC members for a longer period, more DVC members would still be using the Dining Plan, but they would be maximizing their value from it by using it for character meals/signature meals, which means Disney would not be maximizing their profits (which is probably why they discontinued this option). If you're not eating character meals/expensive buffets every night its difficult to get a great value out of the DDP, so I suspect why many members won't jump on it anymore.

 

[lilpooh108]

We always do the deluxe for short stays. We usually get 2 nights of deluxe and use it over 3 days. It's always always been a great value for us (especially because we choose restaurants that we (1) enjoy & (2) are great "values" on the dining plan (like Narcoossee's & Le Cellier).

We don't love dessert so we usually ask for coffee, but we sure love our appetizers.

 

[omalley1118]

We have been debating TIW as well. WE have always used the DDP with the sit down and counter service. We went with counter service only this time around. I looked at TIW and wondered about counter service meals and if it would be worth it... If ew change our mind, is the counter service DDP I purchased for next week refundable???