Dining Plan, Yes or No and your thoughts

[Andyjo0930]

We have always gotten the dining plan, and wouldn't go without it, whether it was free dining or we have to pay for it. I like the fact that it's paid for in advance. We have always had things left over at the end of our vacation. The nice thing is that you can use the credits for lots of things. We were able to get bags of chips and candy, stuff for the kids to eat on the plane on the way home. Even the meals you can break down and get different items rather than a meal. The food court at the hotel they let you substitute almost anything. We even will get bottles of water and give them to people who just checking in.

 

[LovinPooh]

We totaled up our last trip and spent almost $2000 in food. All on dining plan. I have done it with and without the DDP, and will NEVER go with out it again. It was so easy and convenient and saved us tons of $$

 

[eliza61]

The DDP doesn't save us money but I purchase it because I don't have to keep pulling out my wallet at every meal. It's a convenience thing for me.

That's interesting Arie, because we don't find it convenient at all.

The ddp doesn't really save us any money any more. back when the tips and apps were included we save a bit but since then it saved us "maybe" 50 bucks.

we stopped doing it because;
1) some days we didn't' want a ts and we felt that if we didn't use that credit we were wasting the money.

2) We hated forcing ourselves to eat things we just didn't want. I know it was totally psychological but we would always order dessert even when we did not want to simply because in our head it was "losing" money.

3) ordering stuff we really didnt want. Once again it was probably more of a mind thing but we'd end up with 4 people ordering steaks simply because we "had" to make sure we got the most expensive thing on the menu.

So we're the exact opposite, people always say they love it because they don't have to "think" about their meals but it may us waaay more concious of the cost.

I love not having it now, no worries about what to pick and if we don't want ts at all, no worries about wasting money.

 

[JZCubed]

From past experience, I find it difficult to eat all the food you prepaid for. And I also found myself going crazy trying to remember all the rules without feeling ripped off. For instance, let's say one of the folks in your party simply doesn't want an appetizer or dessert. Are you going to order it anyway because you paid for it? Is room service worth the added meal point if you want breakfast in your room without the hassle of waiting for a table one early morning?

My family eats very well while at Disney with 'Signature Dining' reservations most every day. Granted, we use Tables in Wonderland (TIW) as often as we can, and our daily meals with tips cost about $85/person (this includes discounted alcohol). Without TIW, it would cost us about $105/person daily. TIW is another reason for one person in your party to consider an Annual Pass....the math often works....

 

[CTH3]

For us (two adults, no kids)...

The disadvantage of the dining plan:
We are "forced" to eat more food and different categories of food than we would otherwise eat.

The advantage of the dining plan:
Psychological. All our food is paid for in advance, long before we make the trip, so there's no balking at menu prices, no dithering over "is it worth the money?", just eat and enjoy.

Economically going DDP and going OOP are very close to being the same for us--not enough difference for money to be a deal breaker or maker. We're going OOP in May, but that was more a caloric decision than a money decision.

We would do the dining plan every time if it operated on some sort of point system, if it gave you X number of points that you could use however you like, rather than plans that "force" you to eat certain amounts of certain kinds of food. (I don't really want the prepackaged dessert at Pecos Bill's but...y'know...I paid for it, so I eat it.)

 

[disneyquestions]

Without reading everyone elses posts.... I think the dining plan is great if you have kids and plan on doing a lot of character meals. They can get pretty pricy.
Even without that, I like the dining plan because I don't have to worry about "Ooh, I'd like to have the tuna steak, but its so expencive..." - Its on the plan so I don't have to worry about it. On the other hand, I don't like feeling that I have to get the most expencive thing either - especially if I prefer something cheaper. The other thing I don't like is that you cant get an appy - especially since lots of times I'd rather the appys over the entrees....

Having said all that, we are on the dining plan this time, as we are every time. It just makes things a lot easier and more enjoyable for us, not having to shell out $$$ so often.

 

[TLinden16]

I'm going to move this to our dining plan board.

 

[HsvTeacher]

We don't add the DDP, because for us, it isn't a good value. We don't eat everything that is included, so we end up having leftover credits at the end.

I've also done a straight comparison between DDP and OOP, including the entrees, drinks, desserts, and snacks, and we save money by not adding it. Then on top of that, we save extra money by not buying desserts and snacks that we don't want.

 

[Disneyhenry]

That is what I did, I took a look at a couple of the menu's of where DH and i want to eat and thought that it was WAY worth it. Hubby is a steak guy, on our trip it is DH,DS (age 2) and me, so take a look at the menu's
http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

 

[whytemoose]

It was recommended by friends to use the dining plan due to cost so we opted in this year. I paid $530 up front for a plan that covered the family (3 adults [Wife and I and an 11 year old] and a kid [6] for 4 days. This sounds like a bunch of money until you see the prices. Our average full service meal bill was $135 before tip, times 4. You do the math. This basically means that the quick service meals and snacks were free. If I had it to do again I'd get a plan that only covered quick service meals and snacks. My kids don't eat much nor does my wife, and the requested gratuity was 18-20 %. One other caution: if you purchase extras with your sit down meal (i.e. alcohol) make sure the wait staff knows how you plan to pay for it. My wife and I had a couple drinks totaling $23 at Epcot. At the end of the meal I gave the waitress $50 cash to cover the cost of the drinks and the tip. At the end of our stay .. check out .. we had a bill of $23 from this meal attached to the room. The waitress had taken the entire $50 for a tip! Hell of a tip on a $130 tab. We found the full service meals to be "Okay" but certainly not worth the cost they quoted on the bills. Had a Mahi dinner at the Maya grill (menu price $28) that wouldn't fill my 11 year old, presentation was first year chef school at best and the fish tasted old (fishy nasty flavor). All in all we would be just fine with quick service the whole stay ..

 

[chartle]

If I had it to do again I'd get a plan that only covered quick service meals and snacks. My kids don't eat much nor does my wife, and the requested gratuity was 18-20 %.

If you want the QS plan really look at the numbers. The QS meals don't have the same price range as the TS. So its a little harder "getting your money's worth". Also there is not a huge selection for the QS kids meals.

 

[TDC Nala]

I would never purchase the dining plan again (or even accept it as "free" on the package promotions) because it is too restrictive for my taste and any value I could get out of it (the actual value of the DDP has declined somewhat over the years since it was introduced because of price hikes and more limited offerings, i.e. no appetizer with the regular plan) would be offset by the fact that I don't like being restricted as to which restaurants I can go to and what courses I can order. I know most WDW restaurants are on the dining plan...but there are several good ones that are not.