Dining Plan

[ryley26]

Okay someone help me out. If your a DVC member and you have the abilty to use stove and microwave how many of you use the dining plan. We just got home from a 10 day trip and i figured it would cost around 1200 dollars for the dining plan. We went over our food budget with adrs and groceries we spent around 700 dollars I just wondering how many use the plan and then don't use your kitchens.

 

[lazydazy8]

We are going in November. It is our first trip ''home". I wasn't planning to use the DP at first. We now have a couple of other families joining us that are using the plan. We booked a few ADR's together. Out of pocket, I am estimating approximately $500 for those dinners alone. The DP for us will be $800. For the $300, we will get all those CS and snack points, plus, I DON'T HAVE TO COOK ON VACATION!!!

More than the cooking and clean up, I don't want to have to get back to the room to have to cook when we may not feel like leaving the parks.

 

[aclov]

Since it's only DH and myself we get the DDP. Or if I go with friends since I only have to worry about paying for myself we also get the DDP. I guess if I was traveling as a family or would stay a longer time than normal I would consider the cost more, plus I don't cook on vacation.

 

[ryley26]

That i understand the clean up and the cooking. We had three adr at Boma Chef Mickey And Rose and Crown. I guess my thought is will people really use 37 dollars in meals everyday. One day we ate at ESPN and had a snack in the park and i figured the cost at 80 dollars for the day we would have lost 40. I just wonder if you can eat.

 

[JimMIA]

I think a lot of DVCers use DDP. Whether it's a good deal for you depends on your family composition, how you normally eat on vacation, and what your options are. If you don't have a car, your options are much more limited for dining.

We always have a car and we've used it our last 4 trips, and we've enjoyed it. However, with the changes for 2008, it no longer makes sense for our family and we'll eat mostly offsite.

I have always said that I am pretty sure we would not use it for any stays of 7 days or more, just because the food would all start to taste the same.

 

[alldiz]

We have always gotten the DDP....

I don't want to cook on vacation....

I love that the food is prepaid and you don't have to worry about
anything.....

Of course with the new DDP changes....it isn't the awesome
deal that it was....
Kerri

 

[disneynutz]

Okay someone help me out. If your a DVC member and you have the abilty to use stove and microwave how many of you use the dining plan. We just got home from a 10 day trip and i figured it would cost around 1200 dollars for the dining plan. We went over our food budget with adrs and groceries we spent around 700 dollars I just wondering how many use the plan and then don't use your kitchens.

We use the DVC as a home away from home. At home we don't eat out every day and we follow the same pattern at WDW. The savings that we experience by having a relaxing meal in our room allows us to travel to WDW more often. When we do use the DDP we schedule split stays and only DDP for a couple of days.

 

[Muushka]

We use the DVC as a home away from home. At home we don't eat out every day and we follow the same pattern at WDW. The savings that we experience by having a relaxing meal in our room allows us to travel to WDW more often. When we do use the DDP we schedule split stays and only DDP for a couple of days.

Our sentiments also. Well put.

 

[patsal]

Loved it in 2006 and 2007, not so much with what they have done for 2008--not something that will work for my family. We have breakfast in the room, that will not change, CS lunch in the parks if we are staying for the day, that will not change--but now I won't have to beg the kids to eat in the park before heading back to the resort for a swim. We'll have dinners off site for the most part with the exception of a few signature meals-this changes a bit since while on the DDP we were captive to WDW dining. I looked at my old recipts form pre DDP and overall the total for four (all adults by WDW standards) for DDP was about (I round to 40 to make the math easier for me!)$1600 for 10 days. Off DDP my totals were around $800 for 14 days. The new DP will cost me more than the $1600 for the 10 days with appy and tip not included. Honestly while ont he DDP I felt kind of tethered to WDW becasue I didn' twant to waste my credits by being at US/IOA or Seaworld. I'll go back to the old way and use the money for US/IOA, more points or another cruise!

 

[ryley26]

How do you split your stay? I would be intrested and find value in it if i didn't have to use it for 10 days. Our family does not eat two heavy meals a day. We ate at Chef Mickey and only had snck the rest of the day. Just interested in what others do because so many seem to use it. I was just wondering if with a kitchen and groceries if they found value in it or just prefer not to cook.

 

[mikesmom]

We've never used DDP. We just can't see that we would get that much out of it. Once we hit that Florida heat, nobody in the family has an appetite for a lot of eating - including DS, formerly known as the eating machine

Of course, everyone in my family (including DS) likes to cook. On vacation it's actually more fun because we have more free time. We can also access things in Florida (seafood!) at much less expense than back home, so we take advantage of it. We stock a lot of drinks, fruit, cheese, deli meat, salad, etc in the fridge so anyone can "grab and go".

We do have one or two sit down meals at WDW, but even with those, the kitchen lets us take the leftovers home for snacks or supper the next day. We just wouldn't get our money's worth out of DDP.

 

[ryley26]

MIkesmom that what we thought Iwas just interested in if i was missing something. The heat takes alot out of you and we ate smaller meals and lite ones. We also has 3-4 adrs per visit and thats about it for eating in the parks.

 

[Dis13]

I prefer not to cook. We're in it for the larger accommodations! DH and DS like to nap in the afternoon (ok, sometimes I close my eyes too!). This way the rest of us can still come and go and not bother the sleepy ones! Plus, the extra bathroom is a must with a teenage daughter!

We do have a light breakfast (i.e. cereal/donuts) and snacks, but that's it. I have no desire to cook while on vacation!

 

[MarieA]

We've used the DDP in 2005, 2006 and 2007. I work full time and vacation for me means no cooking, cleaning or any other housework. We won't use the DDP in 08 because of the changes (we can do better with the DDE), however we will still dine out.

So far the only part of the kitchen that is used on our trips is the refrigerator.

 

[daisyduck123]

So far the only part of the kitchen that is used on our trips is the refrigerator.

Same with us.

We always use the DP & we eat all, all I mean ALL meals out.

No way am I cooking & having a mess to clean up in the room.

 

[Hollymom1229]

A huge part of vacation for me is eating out, and this year we'll be using the DDP. But with the changes next year, we won't be using it anymore because it doesn't make sense economically. One thing we love about our DVC is that we bring back our leftovers from the restaurants and put them in the fridge and then use the kitchen on our down days to warm them up. While we do at least one TS meal a day, we are grazers the rest of the time. Having leftovers in the fridge saves us on our grazing expenses.

 

[J and R's mom]

We fly into WDW and don't rent a car. Our first trip as DVC members was in 2005 (my 7th trip to WDW), and we did the grocery shopping stop (scheduled with our driver) before getting to WDW. I must admit, that was a PAIN! And we ended up still not cooking meals (except for a few breakfasts--bacon/eggs/toast) in the room.

My second trip as a DVC member, I decided to just pick up a few things at the mercantile shop (milk, bread, eggs, etc) and bring along some others (cereal, candy, chips, drinks, etc). That worked best.

Our third trip as DVC members, they had opened up DDP to DVC. DH and I tried it out. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We tried menu items we never would have tried before. But, it is ALOT of food!..and for us alot of FUN!

We used the DDP again on our fourth DVC trip with the in-laws and enjoyed it but had one CS meal left over. Since we were staying at the BWV, it was not easy or convienient to find a CS place near-by at which to eat.

I am taking my parents on our next visit in December 2007 and know they will LOVE the DDP so we'll be using it again. But it will most likely be the last time I use it. Now that my girls are old enough to where I have to purchase it for them and with the changes in the plan coming in 2008, it'll be more cost effective for us NOT to get the DDP. We typically don't get appetizers per person (if at all) and share one dessert (if we get on at all). Plus, I doubt we'll eat a TS meal each day if we're not on a dining plan.

Starting in 2008, I see us going back to 3 TS meal per trip (typically a 5-night stay), CS lunches and breakfast/snacks in the room from things we've brought from home and bought at the mercantile (milk, eggs, bread, etc.).

 

[JimMIA]

We fly into WDW and don't rent a car. Our first trip as DVC members was in 2005 (my 7th trip to WDW), and we did the grocery shopping stop (scheduled with our driver) before getting to WDW. I must admit, that was a PAIN! And we ended up still not cooking meals (except for a few breakfasts--bacon/eggs/toast) in the room.

My second trip as a DVC member, I decided to just pick up a few things at the mercantile shop (milk, bread, eggs, etc) and bring along some others (cereal, candy, chips, drinks, etc). That worked best.

The other option to these two strategies is to use one of the grocery delivery services. We have not tried them yet, but WeGoShop and Garden Grocer both generally get good reviews, and their fees are really low.

 

[hellerjw]

We are on our last night at AKV now (our first DVC stay) and have used the DDP the last 4 times we have been. I think its a good value as the plan stands now, with the proposed 2008 changes I think most of the value is lost (particularly with the dropping of the 18% gratuity and appetizer) and I'm not sure we will do it again.

The main downside I see with the DDP, at least for us, is we feel compelled to use up all our credits each day regardless of whether we are really hungry or not. It is a lot of food to consume each day and I'm not one to leave unused credits on the table, so we eat more than we normally would.

We planned a lot of Character Breakfasts this time so we were out of the room early each day and returned late at night. There was no time to cook in the unit so the meal plan seemed to work well cost-wise.