Dining plan?

[TinkerBrig]

Do you find th dining plan easy to use every day or do you end up not using all your credits? We have never done the plan, and wondering if it is worth it.

 

[dreamscometrue101]

I think there are as many opinions on the Dining Plan as there are people on the Dis.

I've been to the world once without any dining plan, once with the regular plan and will be going down in August with the Canadian Free Dining offer that we've upgraded to Deluxe.

For me the regular plan was great, we were able to have character meals but weren't tied to a lot of sit down places otherwise. We did have some snack credits left but I figured that would happen and I still saved money on it.

The reason we're doing Deluxe this time is my DS15 wants to try some signature places and it's only going to be the two of us so I can afford the upgrade cost.

I like not having to worry about what I'm spending on food and we are free to order what we like.

For you, it would depend on who is in your party and how you normally eat and plan your trips.

 

[kdawg8762]

The DxDP and the DDP. As for snack credits, we know we are going to have some left over, so we usually use them for things to take home. We've never taken the kids (too young) so we brought them disney type candy. This year, we are taking my two DD, but not my DS, so we'll bring him stuff.

 

[DisDaze]

We love the basic dining plan. We have used it a number of times and find it very easy to use and keep track of credits - your credits are updated each time you use your dining plan card and your remaining credit allottments are printed on the bottom of each receipt.

 

[tzeitel]

We did the DDP last time we went and like others have experienced - we were left with extra snack credits. It was a good thing since we went to the resort gift shop on the last day and got snacks for the trip home

This year we are doing the DxDP (going to every dinner show and several signatures) and expect a crazy amount of extra snack credits - really looking forward to that!

I really liked the regular plan What we did last time was a character breakfast, the HDD, Luau and the rest TS. That meant that 2 days we would be w/o a TS (HDD and Luau are 2 tix) but one day we went to Universal and the other day we went to Rainforest Cafe which I paid for using gift cards I got from the rewards site MyPoints.

 

[brettcw23]

Do you find th dining plan easy to use every day or do you end up not using all your credits? We have never done the plan, and wondering if it is worth it.

We didn't use it the first time but have used it every time since. You'll get a milliion different opinions on this one.

We like it b\c we do a character meal each day and they are pricey. Even if we didn't do them, we'd be eating at at least one pricey place\day.

I also like the convenience!

 

[IheartDDuck]

We like the dining plan because I love the idea of paying ahead of time and not really worrying about anything else. Normally, we don't have any problems using the credits.

We bounce back and forth between the Quick Service and Regular Dining plan depending on what kind of trip we're taking. I like both of them for different reasons. I love the flexibility of the QSDP, because you don't have ADR's that you have to keep.

 

[polkadotsyellowheels]

Many people have their different opinions on the dining plan, but we never go without it. You're able to prepay and not worry about the expenses of the meals while you're there. The only thing that is left to pay are tips. Use the qs meals while your having fun in the parks, then the ts meals for a whole other feel to the trip...dining around the world, dressing up a bit and going out..etc. The snacks are great because you can use them as breakfast (bagels, croissants, muffins) or for fun indulgences throughout the day. Don't listen to what the dining plan brochure says...apples, water,chips and mickey bars are about the cheapest snacks that are offered...you can get anything with a purple little disney dining snack credit square next to the item on the menu. We feel like it really saves money for the food your getting too. We went with my uncles family one year and when he found out what we paid for our meals compared to what his bill was, he was sold for the next year. I find that if I plan a general schedule each day and figure out where and when we can use the qs and ts credits none go to waste. It is a lot of food, but you're on vacation...and I've heard calories don't count in disney

 

[mommyrosa2]

Many people have their different opinions on the dining plan, but we never go without it. You're able to prepay and not worry about the expenses of the meals while you're there. The only thing that is left to pay are tips. Use the qs meals while your having fun in the parks, then the ts meals for a whole other feel to the trip...dining around the world, dressing up a bit and going out..etc. The snacks are great because you can use them as breakfast (bagels, croissants, muffins) or for fun indulgences throughout the day. Don't listen to what the dining plan brochure says...apples, water,chips and mickey bars are about the cheapest snacks that are offered...you can get anything with a purple little disney dining snack credit square next to the item on the menu. We feel like it really saves money for the food your getting too. We went with my uncles family one year and when he found out what we paid for our meals compared to what his bill was, he was sold for the next year. I find that if I plan a general schedule each day and figure out where and when we can use the qs and ts credits none go to
waste. It is a lot of food, but you're on vacation...and I've heard calories don't
count in disney

This is pretty much us... We NEVER end up with any extra credits but we tend
to use our snack credits for breakfast items most days as we are not big
breakfast eaters. We also find that we don't always want the basic "brownie or
cookie" they offer for dessert at many of the QS restaurants for lunch so we, many times will get some fruit instead and I often will eat that the following day for breakfast. I found there is a lot more flexibility on the DP then you'll read and hear...many times you just have to ask what yo can swap certain items for. We LOVE the DP and it still does save us money, even with the price increase this year. But like others have said, you'll get a lot of different opinions...what works for some doesn't work for others. Good luck!

 

[KayLuvsMickey]

My family loves the dinning plan, but we enjoy the chance to sit down to a nice meal each day. It's our goal to eat at every restaurant at the world!!! As for snack credits, I use them for drinks such as silk, water, juice, or whatever at the resort gift shop or food service counter each morning. That keeps us from having so many left over Enjoy!

 

[sunshineNJ]

We really love the dining plans. We are not big breakfast eaters so we use some of our snack credits for breakfast items like muffins, bagels etc. The convience of having everything prepaid is GREAT!! We have been lucky enough to get free dining!!! Which of course is the best deal It does save us $$.

 

[dancin Disney style]

We find it very easy to use and do really love it. However, for my family the dining plan only truly works in our favour when we get it for free. Paying for it would end up costing us far more money than paying OOP....we tend to stay for approx 12 days at a time and my kids are both over age 10. When we have been there without a dining plan we tend to share a lot of meals and don't get desserts every day. We also will have some food in our room to cover drinks, snacks and light breakfasts.

After having the plan a few times we have figured out the best way for us to use it. With the DDP we will have a late breakfast and then an early dinner and fill in between with the snack credit if needed. We will usually have the TS for dinner but a couple of days we will do a character breakfast. We found this doesn't leave us feeling stuffed all the time. The very first time we had the DDP we used our snack credits for breakfast items....3 meals a day was way too much and we felt that we spent more than half our day eating.

Last year we decided to try the QSDP....that is a much better fit for us. It really was a tough decision though...I thought we all would miss the TS meals. I did my homework and made a list of all the CS places that had different food options and in the end we only had burgers once,on a 13 day trip, which was totally by choice. The freedom to eat when and wherever we wanted was a fantastic change. We did end up with around 30 snack credits left over but we used them to bring home items that helped with the post vacay blues.

After our last trip we came to the conclusion that as long as there are food options other than burgers and fries we will be most happy with the QSDP. We can always pay OOP for a few TS meals if we want.

 

[MomofStitchandLewis]

I have been reading all these posts becuse I have been wondering the same things....but I still have a question....

With the dining plan, if I have reservations at Animal Kingdom for let's say the 1st and 2nd of any given month & I check out on the 3rd would my dining plan credits still be available to use up on the 3rd?

Thanks!!

 

[polkadotsyellowheels]

I have been reading all these posts becuse I have been wondering the same things....but I still have a question....

With the dining plan, if I have reservations at Animal Kingdom for let's say the 1st and 2nd of any given month & I check out on the 3rd would my dining plan credits still be available to use up on the 3rd?

Thanks!!

I believe that the dining credits expire at midnight of your last official "day" there. So for your example, you could use your credits on your 3rd day until midnight. I'm about 92% sure on this...you might want to ask your cm that books you through disney to verify or if someone else is 100% sure on this! have fun on your trip!

 

[Meetmeinmontauk]

DBF & I LOVE the DDP. We used it last time & saved $97.01. I wrote down the price of everything to see what we would have paid OOP. Yes we got dessert with every lunch & dinner but all of that walking ensured that every bite was eaten I had 1 snack credit left over & DBF had 3 I think. We stopped at Goofy's in DTD and used them up

 

[Meetmeinmontauk]

I have been reading all these posts becuse I have been wondering the same things....but I still have a question....

With the dining plan, if I have reservations at Animal Kingdom for let's say the 1st and 2nd of any given month & I check out on the 3rd would my dining plan credits still be available to use up on the 3rd?

Thanks!!

Yes, you can! We still used all of our leftover snack credits on our last day. They are good until midnight

 

[disneyshan]

It depends. When DH and I go, we use all our credits and even pay for meals OOP (he's a big eater and doesn't share meals). We also don't bring food with us and eat breakfast in our room. Even when QSDP was 2 snack credits a day, we used all of them up (Dole whips, popcorn, cinnamon buns from MK!!)

When my mom and I went - we had two extra meal credits and about 5 extra snack credits (QSDP for 4 nights...)

Really it just depend on how much you eat and how often!

Our next trip in 2 years, we will have a 4 year old and a 2 year old, so we are debating whether it's worth it considering if the 2 year old sees his older brother eating a full meal, he probably won't want to eat off mom's plate and want his own meal too so we'd end up paying for meals for 2 year old anyways. They are pretty inexpensive and we'd probably try to eat all our Table Service at buffet's so he can eat free too though, so it might be worth it.

All in all - I figure if we are pretty close to the same amount either way, I'd rather have it paid up front and just use the credits instead of paying at the time...

 

[TDC Nala]

When I used the dining plan (quit using it in 2008) I used all my credits but at times wished I had fewer credits.

 

[LilRonGal]

Whether it's free or not, we never go without the dining plan. I love the freedom to choose expensive items, and we always leave with snacks at the end of our trip. It's a great thing (even better when it's free), convenient, and pushes me to try something new on every trip.

 

[hollypoast]

We have gone with the DDP and without... when we pay oop I miss the convenience of it. I just wish Disney would build in some flexibility. I don't always want dessert.

I love the idea of using snack credits for breakfast.

Also, the last time we traveled with the DDP, our server at the Plaza (MK) allowed us to get the specialty drink with glow in the dark Tinker Bell for our dessert. (even though the brochure says this is not allowed)