Dining Plan Vouchers - Where can we use them?

[Marthasor]

Help me please!! WDW vet here completely going blind with DLR dining plan.

I understand it's a voucher system and it cannot be used anywhere in Downtown Disney. Where CAN I use it? All resort hotel restaurants and theme park restaurants? It looks like it's good for character dining and "premium" character dining, but not WOC fast pass dining? Can I use them at Napa Rose, Blue Bayou? Or are there specific restaurants that take the vouchers.

Please enlighten me! Thank you so much!

 

[sonnyjane]

Did you already purchase them? If not, then I would advise that you not. As you said, it's not like WDW's dining plan. You get vouchers to use like cash, but you pay the face value for them, so for example, the "6 meal" plan costs $106, and you get exactly $106 worth of vouchers. You get two $33 vouchers, two $15 vouchers, and two $5 vouchers, adding up to $106. Many people use that $33 voucher toward a character meal, but if you don't want to do a character meal, you can use them just like cash at any other restaurant in the parks. Since you're not saving any money, and if you really want to pre-pay, it would be more advantageous to just get a Disney gift card, because if you do not use the full amount of the voucher, for example if you use a $15 voucher to buy a $13 meal, you will lose $2, as they do not give change.

If you DID already purchase the meal plan and can't get out of it, then yes, you can use the vouchers at the other sit-down places as well as counter-service ones just like cash. You can also combine them and use them all at one place. I'm not sure about Napa Rose, but you can use them at Blue Bayou.

 

[DLR29]

Another response against getting the DL Dining plan!

Unlike WDW, DLR's dining plan is not worth it because:
a) It doesn't save you any money; the best you can do is break even.

b) You do not get a set amount of meals, you get a set amount of $5 ("snack") and $15 vouchers and when you use those vouchers you don't get change. So for example if you want to pay for something that costs $4.95 with a $5 voucher, you will lose 5 cents. That's not a big deal, but if you have run out of $5 vouchers, you need to either pay in cash (which defeats the purpose of a dining plan) or pay with a $15 voucher and lose $10.05 (which can add up significantly). Disney also prices the dining plan so that you pay exactly for the amount of voucher $ that you get. So by buying that thing for $4.95, you are already losing money. You would have to buy things that cost exactly $5 or exactly $15 in order to stay even. Or you can buy things that cost more and you can break even, but you would have to be paying out of pocket.

c) You can't use the vouchers at Downtown Disney restaurants, which is where a large variety of the DLR restaurants are.

Instead, if you still want to prepay for meals, the recommendation is to put money on Disney gift cards. That way, you know you won't be losing money. You can use them at DTD or snack carts too, so you'll have a wider variety to choose from also.

 

[Marthasor]

Holy smokes! Really? What a terrible idea? Do people actually purchase this dining plan? Thank you for enlightening me - I will NOT be purchasing it!

 

[sonnyjane]

Holy smokes! Really? What a terrible idea? Do people actually purchase this dining plan? Thank you for enlightening me - I will NOT be purchasing it!

Whew!!! Glad you found us first lol. I don't know why people still buy them to be honest. I'd imagine a large percentage are people that like WDW's dining plan and therefore buy DL's in error, assuming it's the same.

 

[Marthasor]

Whew!!! Glad you found us first lol. I don't know why people still buy them to be honest. I'd imagine a large percentage are people that like WDW's dining plan and therefore buy DL's in error, assuming it's the same.

When you read about the plan, it sounds reasonable. The way they present it - "two meals plus one snack per day". It really does sound similar to WDW's. Then when you start doing the math and getting the particulars . . .!!! yikes! Not so good for the consumer!

I really don't know what I would do without these boards! I would have been lost at DLR without you kind folks! Live and learn, ASK and learn!!!

 

[buzzgreyhairs]

Can you use the Disney gift cards at DTD restaurants?

 

[skiingfast]

Can you use the Disney gift cards at DTD restaurants?

No. Only the dining locations in the parks and hotels.

 

[buzzgreyhairs]

thanks