Dining plan restrictions?

[MagicalMomAZ]

I read that there are restrictions & many say they're just paying for your meals in advance ... I kind of like that idea. Anyone know the restrictions or why this is a bad idea? What happens if you don't use them up?

 

[jacky b]

The only restrictions that I know of is that they can only be used in DL and DCA, not in DTD and they can not be used at any outdoor venders with out a cash register. We always do the meal plan to pre-pay. We like that idea. The other thing to remember is that you get no cash back so plan accordingly. If the cost is 16.50, use 15.00 in vouchers and then pay the extra 1.50 in cash. If you don't use them, you can use them on another trip unless they expire prior to you going. They all have expiration dates on them. I hope this helps.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

You can only get this if you book your trip through disney though right?

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

The restrictions that I know of, and why we would never do the plan, is that you can only eat inside the parks. It does NOT include DTD, and obviously does not include any places off site (Mimi's for example). Good if you are planning to do A LOT of Character meals I suppose.

We like to eat at DTD and even offsite (including places like Subway and McDonalds). It gives more variety, and we find it also to be much cheaper, then if we ate ALL of our meals in the parks.

 

[samkj]

One more thing buy LESS than you need. We went for 6 days, bought the three day plan and still had extra vouchers. Luckily we are going back before they expire and will use them next time since you will not get a refund for unused vouchers. My biggest problem with them was I found myself buying more than I normally would, for example the $5 snack voucher, I would get 2 churros(to share with the kids, I didn't eat both myself!!) instead of 1. I liked having the vouchers, and will most likely do it again sometime.

 

[silence]

when we book a package, we always tend to get the dining vouchers.

it comes with 1 character meal which is always nice. when we went in may, we used the snack vouchers for beverages at the carts (lots of cold water) as we were there during a heat wave.

there were 5 of us (3 adults, 2 kids) and we bought a 3 day plan for a 5 1/2 day trip. we used all our vouchers before we left.

we do not tend to eat outside the park. we did not use them at blue bayou and we ate there that trip as well. we enjoy all the dining options in the park, so we just tried to pick a different one each day.

i like feeling like i'm not spending a whole lot of money while we are on vacation and paying up front for most of our food expenses came in handy to me.

 

[2GuysSeattle]

OK I am confused. Are the vouchers for a certain dollar amount, or for a certain meal. Some above have mentioned a "snack" voucher. So am I correct that you may have a $5.00 voucher for a snack and you cannot use that voucher for lunch or dinner? If you have essentially paid $5.00 for that $5.00 voucher, why can't you use it at any meal you want? Can someone please spell this out for me? So the vouchers are marked breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and they are not interchangeable??????

 

[MagicalMomAZ]

OK I am confused. Are the vouchers for a certain dollar amount, or for a certain meal. Some above have mentioned a "snack" voucher. So am I correct that you may have a $5.00 voucher for a snack and you cannot use that voucher for lunch or dinner? If you have essentially paid $5.00 for that $5.00 voucher, why can't you use it at any meal you want? Can someone please spell this out for me? So the vouchers are marked breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and they are not interchangeable??????

Maybe since I don't know the answer I shouldn't post but I THINK there are 2 types. A voucher you get, like a coupon. And then they actual Dining Vouchers you pay ahead for. Or maybe you just get the "Snack" vouchers w/ certain package deals?

Not trying to confuse you! I''m learning as I go on this thread....

 

[jacky b]

Depending on what plan you purchase will dictate which vouchers you get. We are getting the 6 day plan for December. It includes a Char Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. It also has 5, 10, and 15 dollar vouchers. Plus 2 breakfasts in the park (breakfast at a counter service like Club Buzz or Riverbelle Terrace, and Pacific Wharf in DCA). We have used the snack vouchers for meals, just check with the staff where you want to use it, we didn't have any problems using them. We eat in the park for most of our meals and always eat at Blue Bayou so we use a lot of the vouchers for lunch.

 

[Crazy4Disney72]

Depending on what plan you purchase will dictate which vouchers you get. We are getting the 6 day plan for December. It includes a Char Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. It also has 5, 10, and 15 dollar vouchers. Plus 2 breakfasts in the park (breakfast at a counter service like Club Buzz or Riverbelle Terrace, and Pacific Wharf in DCA). We have used the snack vouchers for meals, just check with the staff where you want to use it, we didn't have any problems using them. We eat in the park for most of our meals and always eat at Blue Bayou so we use a lot of the vouchers for lunch.

This may be a case of it all depends on the CM you get, but in January 2006 I tried to use the $5 snack vouchers towards my meals at Blue Bayou and the Hungry Bear and both times was denied and told they were only for snacks. I did use them towards items at the bakery that I used as breakfast, including beverages.

 

[silence]

the snack vouchers have a value that is listed in the print on the back. it was like 5.50 or maybe even more. we had no problems using these towards our meals at the mexican restaurant on our trip in May, so maybe that is just hit and miss with the CM that is helping you?

same with the breakfasts, there is a value on the back that tells the max dollar amount they cover.

 

[disneydance]

Ok stupid question here but what is the DL meal plan. We havent been for a few years and didnt use it then... Is it like the WDW diningplan. We used that this year on our vacation I would just like to know exactly what it is thanks

 

[silence]

if you purchase a package from disney travel, you can add on the dining "plan" which is basically vouchers for the number of your party to pay for meals during your stay. they can only be used in the resort (though i am fairly certain the character meal can be used at the hotel locations as well).

if say you buy a 3 day dining plan, they give you enough vouchers that they believe should help cover your meals for 3 days along with a few snacks for each member. most of them come in dollar increments (5, 10, 15). you do not get change when you use the vouchers, so you need to spend MORE than you are presenting and pay the difference in cash or just take the loss.

i hope that makes sense. the "benefit" of the plan is that you can pay for it before your trip and possibly even make payments on it depending on your travel agent and such. you do not get any discounts on the meals for purchasing the plan.

i have read before that others recommend perhaps buying disney gift cards that you could redeem anywhere in the park, except the snack vendors, rather than purchasing the meal plan.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Think of the meal plan at DLR as a series of no interest loans to Disney, which they pay back in the form of food at various locations.
If you eat the full value of the voucher, Disney paid back it's no interest loan.
If you do not eat the full value of the voucher, that amount of said loan just became a gift.
If you eat over the amount of the voucher, you pay the difference.

A meal plan where the best you can do is break even. That's a great deal.....For Disney.

 

[JessGWisc]

For my upcoming trip in November (My Best friend and I, both 20, are doing the Great Escape from Wisconsin), we have purchased Disney Gift Cards instead, you can use them anywhere in the park, except for the snack carts that don't accept debit cards. We're planning on having dinner at Napa Rose and can even use them there. If you bring along your receipt and card numbers, they can be replaced if lost or stolen. Much more convenient the meal vouchers, IMO and its a handy way of prepaying for your meals and even souvenirs if you like beforehand. We bought cards for less than what we thought we would spend on food (Since once you leave Disney, they're really somewhat useless) and got additional Visa Gift Cards, again, they can be used anywhere Visa is accepted. That way, if we don't spend as much as planned, we can take them back home with us and spend them on whatever.

And one more note, shipping for the Disney cards is FREE! I ordered my cards on Monday and they were delivered Yesterday.

 

[2GuysSeattle]

Can you use the Disney gift cards at the Downtown Disney restaurants.....I am assuming that you cannot.

 

[Blndiebby25]

Here is what I found about what is included in the dining plan on the Disneyland.com site.

Donald's 3 Days of Disney Dining Plan
8 Disney Dining choices per person.
Adult/Junior $92.05
Child $69.65

Adult/Junior Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Breakfast in the Park 1
$5 Voucher 3
$10 Voucher 2
$15 Voucher 1

Child Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Breakfast in the Park 1
$5 Voucher 4
$10 Voucher 2


Goofy's 4 Days of Disney Dining Plan
10 Disney Dining choices per person.
Adult/Junior $134.33
Child $97.03

Adult/Junior Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Character Lunch 1
Breakfast in the Park 1
$5 Voucher 3
$10 Voucher 2
$15 Voucher 2

Child Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Character Lunch 1
Breakfast in the Park 1
$5 Voucher 4
$10 Voucher 3


Minnie's 5 Days of Disney Dining Plan
13 Disney Dining choices per person.
Adult/Junior $185.25
Child $126.88

Adult/Junior Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Character Lunch 1
Dinner with Goofy 1
Breakfast in the Park 1
$5 Voucher 4
$10 Voucher 3
$15 Voucher 2

Child Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Character Lunch 1
Dinner with Goofy 1
Breakfast in the Park 1
$5 Voucher 5
$10 Voucher 4


Mickey's 6 Days of Disney Dining Plan
15 Disney Dining choices per person.
Adult/Junior $215.59
Child $152.22

Adult/Junior Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Character Lunch 1
Character Dinner 1
Breakfast in the Park 2
$5 Voucher 3
$10 Voucher 4
$15 Voucher 3

Child Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Character Lunch 1
Character Dinner 1
Breakfast in the Park 2
$5 Voucher 5
$10 Voucher 4
$15 Voucher 1

 

[2GuysSeattle]

Interesting. I don't see anywhere where a "snack" voucher is mentioned. So, the $5.00 vouchers you can only use for snacks? From what some of the prior posts have said, some of the vouchers can be used only for snacks. So if they are restricted where you can use the $5.00 vouchers, or the $10 or $15 for that matter, this makes the plan a lot less appealing to me.

 

[iceskatejen]

The snack vouchers are worth $6.50 each, but that isn't mentioned in the above info.