Dining Plan with concierge...is it necessary?

[ltmomof3]

ISO opinions....

For those of you who've had concierge experience, what are your thoughts on also getting the dining plan? Is it worth it? I know the concierge lounge isn't meant to take the place of all your meals, but I'm wondering if we need the dining plan if we're already paying for concierge?

My question arises because I'd like to book a room-only reservation, but my TA informed me that if we book a room-only and subsequently get a room-only discount code (staying in Jan), you can't switch to a package (with DDP) without losing the discount code. And you can only get the DDP with a package. I hope I'm understanding her correctly!

 

[kgc07]

Getting the DP while staying concierge depends on how much you like to eat. For us, the DP would be a total food overload. We are not large eaters and eat even less when we are hot. We had breakfast at the concierge lounge, lunch was usualy at the parks and most nights we just had a few snaks in the evening in the lounge instead of a full dinner.

 

[SeaSpray]

We've done the DDP and also concierge on our October 2005 trip. We look at each of those components separately though; the DDP can be a great value as far as Disney dining goes, and the concierge level of the Polynesian is something that we enjoy, but the food offerings play a very minor part in that.

We felt that the DDP was way too much food for us, and we're even the type who eat at sit-downs all the time. For DH and I to each have an appetizer, entree, and dessert, it was just way too much food. Also, we like to do sit-downs for breakfast and lunch too, so we ended up using the counter services for lunch, which was actually kind of nice to have the opportunity and incentive to try them. But we tend to favor the sit-downs and have not done any counter service places since that trip.

We just got back from the Polynesian concierge and even having the breakfast options available to us each morning, we went to Kona Cafe for breakfast anyway.

All of our lunches were at sit-down restaurants, and so were our dinners.

So for us, the DDP just doesn't suit our dining preferences, and on the otherhand, we tend to not use the concierge food offerings very much at all either.

I know I'm not really giving you a direct answer here...lol Sorry...lol But I'd have to say that if you like the food offerings in the concierge lounge, then most likely the DDP is just overkill. We ended up wasting more food than we were comfortable with on that trip.

I'm glad we tried the DDP, and I won't say we'll never do it again (although being AP holders once again, we won't have the option to purchase the DDP at this time), but it's not the right option for us, but it's not because of the food offerings in the concierge lounge.

Have a great trip, either way!!

 

[paladin]

Our last trip was conceirge and we did not have the dining plan. If we had, we would have found it to be too much food - and we are big eaters.

Continental breakfast at the lounge was plenty (great fruit, baked goods and cereals). The evening snacks, while certainly not full meals, were quite filling and we generally combined these with something light for dinner.

Of course, it does depend on your touring style and whether you are at the resort enough to take advantage of the offerings - we do spend quite a bit of time relaxing at the hotel.

You do have to have a package to get the dining plan, not room only, and often the room only discounts and package discounts do not mix.

 

[ChelleinNC]

We've stayed concierge in the past and I loved having breakfast there, saved a lot of time and money with that. We occasionally managed to be there when the snacks were served, but we were usually in the parks for lunch and dinner. I wouldn' count on the concierge food feeding you for the day, because of timing and offerings. The DDP seems like an awful lot of food to me, so I probably wouldn't do it myself. I just like to go order what I want, when I want it and pay for it that way.

 

[madalex]

The concierge lounge food offerings can certainly be enough for breakfast, but can in no way take the place of any other meal (especially since the offerings have declined significantly in recent years). I don't do the dining plan, so I don't know if not using the plan for breakfast and eating the lounge food for breakfast instead is enough to make the dining plan non-economical.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Since my family and I always stay on the Club Level floors we never purchase the DDP because of the continental breakfast in the mornings, a long with the food they offer in the evenings. So to use the DDP is not worth it plus we don't like making ADR's at 180 days out, so that is another reason why it's not good for us. However we also happen to think the foods they serve at 5:00 PM can be filling and since we are usually full, later on in the evening we like get something to eat at a counter service location since we won't be going to a table service restaurant.

 

[ksc37]

I agree with everyone who says it is too much food...

We had free dining in 2005 and also received a free upgrade to concierge at check-in Anyway, we had a ton of left over snack credits, and a couple of counter service meals. We were rolled out of Disney World when we were done with that trip.

Basically, with concierge, you really don't need an appetizer with your dinner, because you can get them in the lounge. The same goes for desserts. I also think getting an appetizer and a dessert with a counter service meal is overkill, because the portions are large anyway. We found that a lot of our food went to waste, or we felt compelled to eat it and feel totally full.

 

[DisneyBride'03]

We did DDp in March and it worked out great..short trip and used a 2TS for the CRT....
This trip we will use DDP one last time...using 2TS again....so we will enjoy CL for breakfast...and some CS for late lunch/early dinners. We are planning on being at the resort alot...and with a baby in tow, it will be convenient, I am assuming, for snacks/drinks...
DDP is alot of food...but I like to go to CG and Narcoosees

 

[lookingforward]

We did dining plan with concierge at AKL and it was way, way too much. I felt like I was eating all day. Yes, I could have used restraint but.......
I have Poly concierge booked for December and I did not take the dining plan. Instead I opted for the disney dining card and will get the 20% off. DDP is a great deal though!

 

[stm61]

we did the dining plan last fall and plan on doing it again in 2008. We plan on a TS dinner, CS lunch, and previously brought things to eat in the room for breakfast. This time we will stay CL for the first time, using the lounge for breakfast. I have 2 big eaters, an if-I-like-it-I'll-stuff-myself-otherwise-I'm-picking eater, and a just turned 4 yr old who's somewhere in the middle. For what it cost us for food without the DP (and the youngest, she wasn't around for the first trips), the DP is a huge savings for us. We didn't always eat all the food, but we still came out ahead price wise. We did have a ton of snack credits left, we just used them in the candy store for treats to take home with us. For us the combination of DP and CL should be perfect, plus I'm looking forward to a few evening cocktails lol. If my kids were not big eaters, or I had less kids, the savings might not be worth it, but we averaged at least $150 for TS meals for 2 adults, a child paying adult prices, and 2 children on the earlier trips without DP.