dining plan question

[princess lovers mom]

with the dining plan options at DLR it says you get some sit down meals (depending on the plan)- does that include an appetizer or dessert or just the meal

I can't really find any details anywhere.....

 

[DizNee Luver]

Unless the plan has changed.....we got a character meal voucher...that covered everything. We got a couple breakfast vouchers (that were good at River Belle Terrace & Tomorrowland Terrace) that covered everything. The other vouchers were dollar amts: $15, $10 & $5. We also got snack coupons that were approx. value of $5.

The vouchers are really not a money-saving way to go & tend to be a pain......you will lose money on these if not careful. The character meal voucher needs to be used at the most expensive meal....as you paid for the more expensive meal. You don't get change back on the vouchers if you don't use the entire amt & then you've lost that money. You spend extra time making sure you come as close as you can to the total when paying.

We did these one trip & we'll never do them again!! We still wanted to pre-pay as much of our trip as possible, so we did Disney gift cards. No hassles, easier to carry around & your balance will be printed on your receipt each time you use it.

 

[DLR29]

The reason why you can't find many details is frankly not very many people use it.

It's very different from the WDW plan, and most people around here would not recommend the DLR dining plan. Here are 3 negatives about the plan:

1) It does not save you money unlike WDW's dining plan. The very best you can do is break even.

2) You get vouchers instead of "meals". So I think for the 3 day you get a couple snacks, a character meal and a few $15 vouchers (that can be used at CS or TS places). The snack vouchers are valued at $5 and the character meal/table service is $32 I think. When you want to use a snack voucher say for a Dole Whip for example. It costs something like $3 or so. You use your $5 snack voucher but you will not get change, so you basically spent $5 on a $3 snack, putting your dining budget at a deficit already. That extra money can add up quickly, especially with the $15 vouchers. The only way to break even is if you use the vouchers for something more expensive than it actually is but then you have to pay out of pocket to cover the difference, which kinda defeats the purpose of having a dining plan.

3) You can't use the vouchers at Downtown Disney places, which is where a lot of the best table service places are.

What many people do recommend, if you want to prepay for meals, is putting the money on Disney Gift cards. Those gift cards can be used at pretty much any food place at the resort, including DTD and some snack carts. That way you know you won't be losing money.

 

[princess lovers mom]

thanks ! - you two cleared that right up for me !!

I think the disney card sounds like a good option...thanks

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I love Disney GCs ~ and FYI once you have a Disney GC you can add $$ to it - simply call DelivEARS ~ 800-362-4533 *you give the CM your credit/debit card info and they mail you the receipt. Last time I did this *last month* the $$ was on the GC the next day.