Dining with DVC

[petranoff]

Im planning on renting points for the first time, and wanted some experienced thoughts on dining.....do you ante up for the dining plan, or just wing it? or perhaps you buy groceries and manage that way? just looking for ideas....we definitely want to have a few sit down meals, but not sure that its worth the $1,100 (add on price for a fam of 4). THanks for responding!

 

[alanapapa]

Im planning on renting points for the first time, and wanted some experienced thoughts on dining.....do you ante up for the dining plan, or just wing it? or perhaps you buy groceries and manage that way? just looking for ideas....we definitely want to have a few sit down meals, but not sure that its worth the $1,100 (add on price for a fam of 4). THanks for responding!

We have bought groceries and cooked with a ADR's for a few meals. We tend to eat breakfast in the room and either bring snacks and skip lunch or eat lunch at whatever park we are at. One of the reasons we bought into DVC was the kitchen. We have used a delivery service a few times and have also driven to buy our own groceries. Last trip, we had groceries delivered and ended up needing more as we had friends over a few times.

 

[dianeschlicht]

With the full kitchens, we find we don't get a whole lot of value out of the dining plans. Instead, we make a nice big breakfast in our kitchen and then plan one table service meal out either midday or evening. We don't spend whole days in the parks anymore, so we usually come back to the villa to prepare our other meal of the day. If we have an evening ADR, we'll come home for a bit of lunch when we come back to rest, and if we have a midday ADR in one of the parks, we are usually not very hungry later, so we just snack in the evening.

 

[drusba]

If you are going to rent points and get dining plan just be aware that you must order it through the owner by no later than 48 hours before arrival. We do not use the dining plan because we would not use everything you need to use to make it economical (e.g., we just don't do breakfast anymore outside the room). You need to sit down and do some fairly complex estimating of numbers and locations of meals to determine whether the dining plan is economical for your particular family or if it is just better to pay as you go. We do not have that issue because we do have Tables in Wonderland card (you need to be an AP holder or DVC member to purchase it) which gives you a 20% discount on food and drinks at almost all sit down and buffet restaurants.

 

[dvcterry]

Since we have the kitchen in the villa we make use of it. We get groceries. Usually a good breakfast in the morning. We plan a few adr's-mostly dinner. But mid-day we have taken breaks and gone back to the room to rest and use the pool too. So we keep some groceries there for a light lunch. We have never done the dining plan. Not if we use the kitchen.

 

[msp2mco]

The more trips we take, the more we use the kitchen in the villa. We still plan a bunch of ADR's at TS restaurants, but we also find that cooking simple meals in the villa allows us to use the resort more too. When the kids are swimming, I can make dinner. My DH and I can enjoy a drink on our balcony too. When we have a car, we will shop for groceries. When we don't have a car, we use Wegoshop.com for grocery delivery.

 

[k3chantal]

Im planning on renting points for the first time, and wanted some experienced thoughts on dining.....do you ante up for the dining plan, or just wing it? or perhaps you buy groceries and manage that way? just looking for ideas....we definitely want to have a few sit down meals, but not sure that its worth the $1,100 (add on price for a fam of 4). THanks for responding!

We always eat 'breakfast' in the room. So we either bring or order groceries for that meal. Then, we eat out for the rest. If you are an annual pass holder, you can purchase a Tables in Wonderland card that gives you 20% off your meals including alcohol. I like the freedom this card gives you and we definitely saved money using it.

 

[hakepb]

It's mostly a math question. What would you spend cash vs dining plan.
If you enjoy going to several character buffets, then the dining plan can be a decent deal if you have 2 children under 10...there are also some high dollar locations that can make the DDP worthwhile for adults...if you can get those ADR's

But yes, it is possible to spend less using cash, even less if you are agreeable to cooking in the kitchen (but that usually requires a DW willing to cook on vacation.. Some foodies love cooking on vacation because they are too busy working the rest of the year)

If you are used to value or moderate resorts, you need to be aware that DVC resort QS options are very limited compared to food courts....so we had to adjust our schedule to QS more in the parks..

 

[alanapapa]

It's mostly a math question. What would you spend cash vs dining plan.
If you enjoy going to several character buffets, then the dining plan can be a decent deal if you have 2 children under 10...there are also some high dollar locations that can make the DDP worthwhile for adults...if you can get those ADR's

But yes, it is possible to spend less using cash, even less if you are agreeable to cooking in the kitchen (but that usually requires a DW(?) willing to cook on vacation.. Some foodies love cooking on vacation because they are too busy working the rest of the year)

If you are used to value or moderate resorts, you need to be aware that DVC resort QS options are very limited compared to food courts....so we had to adjust our schedule to QS more in the parks..

Why do you assume it is the wife that cooks? I tend to do most of the cooking and almost all of the menu planning while on vacation. I tend to do the same at home as I love to cook and am quite good at it. We do tend to go with things that are easy and I love using the BBQ grills. We did a trip over Xmas two years ago with another family and we shared the cooking duties. We delegated some of the items to the teenagers with us.

OP- What are the ages of the members? This too might make a difference on the dining plans. One trip (during F&W) we saw our DD's only at prearranged dinner times and at breakfast. DW & I were more than happy to let them be on their own together (they did have cell phones with them) and let us do our thing.

And hakepb, I am not trying to pick a fight with you or anything. I did not mean to offend anyone.

 

[rentayenta]

With our full kitchen this last trip and F&W, we kept 4 out of 9 ADRs. The dining plan would have cost me much more than we spent even with me going bonkers on groceries. It really depends on your eating and vacation habits.

 

[dvcterry]

Why do you assume it is the wife that cooks?

That's what I was wondering. My son is 18 and works as a cook right now at college. But before that he was preparing meals at home. Husband same. I love to cook. Brother in-law and father cook and don't really go to any restaurants at all during their stays. We went to HHI over the summer and I saw plenty of men preparing meals on the grills too. I was just trying to understand the comment that if you have kitchen you have to have a DW to be willing to cook.

 

[petranoff]

Thanks All!! Looks like most of you cook, which is what I was thinking.

 

[petranoff]

Oh, and I will leave the question of who cooks out of it.

 

[Niewoe]

We spent a small fortune last year on character meals. If you're interested in doing them often, then DDP is the way to go. The other huge piece of it, for me personally, is the pre-trip purchase of the DDP. I dreaded getting the check after our meals, wondering how much it would be, even though we tried to be careful. (It would just put a damper on our fun time.) So... It may all even out in the end, but I'd rather dish it out before we leave, and just enjoy the meals on the trip. Looks like I might be in the minority

 

[rusafee1183]

Another vote for utelizing the kitchen!

Not only for cost savings, but calorie savings as well. I used to do the DxDP, and then we downgraded to the DDP. Both are WAY too much food and we used to come home felling like crap after eating out that much and had a hard time adjusting back to "normal" eating habits. I was reaching for dessert after every meal

Now, we cook and eat most meals in the room and only make ADR's for a must do restaurant. This trip we booked HDDR because my sister has never been there, and that is our only ADR this time.