dining plan that is not free..is it worth it????

[jann1033]

since i highly doubt it will still be free in 13 months ( maybe....) what do you really think of $38 for the dining plan....it seems llike more food than we would eat but am wondering ...i think we would spend about that much on what we would normally get any way...so did it seem you used most of it or would it have been a waste if you had paid ( now) $38???

 

[Tjaleks]

I haven't used my yet, but did pay for it for Dec. I think it will be worth it...

1)That way I know that most of my meals are paid for. I don't want to have to stress out the closer we get to our trip if some emergency comes up that I won't be able pay for our food or other items or have to tighten our purse strings.

2)We are planning at least one character meal. With the cost of these meals it more than covers the cost of the dining plan.

 

[lovinpoohbear]

I THINK IT WILL BE WORTH IT....WE WENT TO WDW IN JUNE AND STAYED OFFSITE THINKING WE WOULD SAVE SO MUCH MONEY.....WELL, WE SPENT A FORTUNE ON FOOD BOTH INSIDE AND OUT OF THE PARK AND NEXT TIME WE WILL STAY ONSITE AND DO DINING....I THINK ITS REALLY WORTH IT!

 

[marj70]

We're going in Dec, and although we aren't able to add it on because we are staying at Shades of Green, I would add it on in a heartbeat. We spend more than that on food easily, and it would be nice to have it pre-paid because I'm the one that always signs the bill! I think I would try more desserts and appetizers than I would OOP also.

 

[abk96]

Yes it was well worth it. We used it last month for our family of 2 adults and 3 children. We ate what we wanted and didn't worry about prices. We would have spent about $500 more if we didn't have the dining plan.

I'd go for it!

 

[BottledRed]

I think the dining plan (paid) is worth it for my SO and me because we generally spend $30pp for dinner each day, so it's like getting a CS for free each day! The no-guilt snack for each day is awesome, too.

 

[scrump]

It just depends on your eating style, I would think. When we go, we don't do snacks or counter service, and some days we spend way less than $35 a day (or whatever it is now). I'd be paying out of pocket for a lot of thigns, and not using the cs and snack credits, which doesn't make the plan worth it for us. Probably better for families, and for those who eat at a mix of TS and CS places.

 

[bizeemom4]

We booked our trip to utilize it when the Dining Plan was free. We have since pushed that trip to Thanksgiving week and now it isn't free. For us, it's cheaper to take advantage of an AP discount (if it comes) and pay OOP for all our meals. I sat here yesterday and looked at everywhere that we would want to eat (with or without the plan) with our itinerary. I excluded the 4 appetizers we would have gotten using the dining plan and just went with an entree, drink & dessert plus a normal counter service breakfast & lunch and our food bill will be $700 LESS than the cost of the dining plan.

So we've decided against the Dining Plan. That way we can eat where we want and not worry that we are getting our money's worth at every meal. HTH!

 

[Luv2Roam]

I think the dining plan is a good deal, depending on your dining habits and family ages.
As a general rule of thumb I do not think guests with young children, but who have to pay for them as adults, would get their money's worth from their kids.
The adults would. But I think the average "adult" pre teen would not. It seems most of them eat mac n cheese, pizza, hot dogs or chicken fingers.
If a family is not use to sit down meals, they may not want the dining plan.

It's like any plan. It is not a one size fits all. Some the dining plan will work great for. Others not.

Even if we were staying on-site I would not use it because we have APs and DDE.

 

[RichNKatHolly]

For us, I didn't think it was worth it. We do eat 3 meals a day (not 2) and the kids will eat most of what we get them. After adding up where we wanted to eat and what we normally order, it was not a savings.

Use the menus at allears to see if it is worth it for you.

I should say though, that I would have purchased it (if available on a land/sea package) just to have it prepaid. One less thing to worry about.

 

[loralie]

We went in May before the dining plan was free and we paid for it. It was so worth it. We saved about $400.00 and we were able to eat at resturants that we would not have if we did not do the dining plan. It was also nice knowing the meals were paid for in advance. Just plan ahead so you use all the credits. I am always surprised when I hear people say that they did not use them all. Get the dining plan even if you have to pay. You get so much food and it is fun planing out all the resturants you can eat in.

Have fun...I wish I was going back soon.

Loralie

 

[Hopefully]

We are paying for the Dining Plan in October ($35/adult, 3 Adults). I went to Allearsnet.com and reviewed the menus and prices of the restaurants we would like to eat at. For us doing the math, I believe we will save money on the plan, and eat well to boot! We do, however, enjoy a TS dinner most days on vacation, so for us this works well. I like having it pre-paid and not having to worry about what I eat. And finally, I will not obsess about "getting my money's worth" or pushing ourselves to use every credit. We likely will have CS left over. That said, I believe we still will save money.
As others have said, it depends on your style, your desires and your taste.
Have Fun whatever you choose!

 

[abacobaby]

Last November we were at DW for 6 days and only ate at 1 TS restaurant. We just couldn't afford to eat out all the time. This year, we decided to go with the dining plan. The reasons being:

1) I know I still have to pay for it, but it will be pre-paid so when I get to DW food money is one less thing I have to worry about.

2) Just because we don't eat at TS restaurants at DW every night does NOT mean that we wouldn't want to so this plan works great for us - a different restaurant to try every night!

3) Knowing that we can order anything we want (as long as it's within the rules of the dining plan of course) is an amazing feeling. If DH and I both want steak (no matter how expensive) we can just order it without money worries.

4) The opportunity to try different restaurants and different foods is hard to pass up, especially restaurants we would normally never even consider due to the price.

5) We would never be able to afford an appetizer each, a main course each, and a dessert each if we didn't have the dining plan. Let alone all of that plus 2 CS meals and a snack!

6) Truthfully, I read so much about DW dining and it is obvious it is a huge part of the DW experience. Last year, I really felt like I missed out on part of that experience.

I personally can't wait to see what experiences and memories the dining plan will provide me on this upcoming trip!!!

By the way, it is Dh, our 2 year old DD, and I travelling. DD is still free for both the food and park tickets, which helps out a lot!

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Anewman]

Last night we ate at Spoodles and Friday we ate at Le Cellier. Family of 4(all considered adults), both bills were about $230. Dining plan covered them, sounds worth it to me.

Will post some photos when we get home on the 16th.

 

[Kaycee]

The dining plan definitely pays off for some people - it's just not for us. We don't eat big meals; we never order appetizers, and we rarely order dessert. We also usually choose the less expensive entrees on the menu - not to save money, but because that's what we prefer. We snack quite a bit on things that are not included in the dining plan, so we'd have to pay for those out of pocket. And we usually do just a few TS meals each trip because we don't want to spend a lot of time on meals when we're in the parks.

Our daily dining costs are less than the price of the dining plan, and we'd still have to pay out of pocket for some things that are family favorites but aren't on the plan.

 

[BrerMama]

We're in a rough spot. Our children will be 6, 10 and 12. The oldest two will be considered adults at any buffet/character meals, yet they don't eat as much as an adult (the 12 year old is just starting to order some smaller meals off adult menus, but not at every restaurant). Now matter how I figure it, we'd have to do a character meal every day in order to save money, and that's not what we want. Also, although we love to eat out, we don't normally order an appetizer and a dessert at every meal, and certainly not one for each person in the family! We'd be more likely to get 1 appetizer and 2 desserts and share (and never both in the same meal!). With the meal plan, we'd be allowed 4 adult appetizers and desserts. I just can't imagine the amount of food we'd waste. And yet, I'd feel bad if I didn't use those features.

Before I knew about the dining plan, our original thought was that we'd do mostly CS meals this trip. That's still how I'm leaning, but the opportunity to have a nice meal everyday is soooooo tempting....

 

[DreaminDisney]

I think it'll be worth it. My kids (and their Mom and Dad) love Character dining and that itself is expensive. I plan to have dining pkg when we go next year. Who knows maybe it'll be free again but even if it's not we'll still get it. Happy Planning!

 

[califred]

I wish I could add it on to my room but I got a military discount so I can't.

Last year when we went I cooked in our vacation home for several meals and we ate two sit down meals that week and a cs pretty much every day. Just doing that we spent more than the meal plan would cost us and we didn't order appetizers or dessert. It would be well worth it for us if we could use it.

 

[a Really Bad Egg]

We did the dining plan...and quickly realized (at our first counter service) it was worth the money.

I think if your touring plan includes a table service each day, then you'll be fine.

If you go commando and it's more important to see/ride attractions than to sit down and eat, you may not wanna do a dining plan.

For us, we did a 7 night stay and had plenty of time to see and do everything we wanted and the restaurants were part of that. The dining plan kinda forces you to include very good and healthy meals into the routine and allows for some great relaxation and bonding time with the family.

And by the way - it doesn't mean you have to waste food. If you don't want an appetizer or dessert, you don't have to leave it on the table just 'to get your money's worth'. In fact, we had unused counter service when we came home - and didn't regret it at all.

Cheers.

 

[jann1033]

last time we went we usually split a meal ( appe entree dessert) for one meal and got counter for other but i am wondering if that would be doable with the dining plan..then we'd do counter for 1, split 2 ts,1 each for the other 2meals ..i like trying all the ts but really wouldn't normally eat that much .we split a lot when out so guess we are gettting like old people, next will be early bird specials at 4pm for dinner (haha)