Dinning Plan: Deal or No Deal

[Jobie]

I was lucky enough to get the Dinning Plan for free last year, my wife and I are planning on going again this year and I just want to know what the DIS experts here think. I personally find that it is a good deal, but I maybe just thinking that because I got it for free last year.

If you do not think it is a good deal, what tips do you have for eating cheap but yet good?

 

[Honeybehr1]

We bought the dining plan and would do so again if it was available. It was great not having to worry about buying food and being able to try almost anything that we wanted. The cost for special meals at Disney are very expensive but on the dining plan, we were able to relax and enjoy

 

[disneyscuba]

I was lucky enough to get the Dinning Plan for free last year, my wife and I are planning on going again this year and I just want to know what the DIS experts here think. I personally find that it is a good deal, but I maybe just thinking that because I got it for free last year.

If you do not think it is a good deal, what tips do you have for eating cheap but yet good?

We got it free also. We are going to buy it for are trip in Nov. We thought it was a good deal. We keep all the receicts and added it all up and it was a lot.
Me and wife said " we would buy it next time we go to disney just for the we save a lot of money on the TS meals. "

Later,

DisenyScuba

 

[momto2inKC]

We went last May and paid for the dining plan. It was money well spent! I loved not having to worry what it all was going to cost. We're planning on getting it when we go back this December.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I think it's a great for adults and a great deal for kid's 3-9, but it loses value to me if you've got kids 10 to 12 or 13. I wanted to get it for my upcoming trip, but my niece just turned 10 and there is no way it'd be worth it for her, she barely finishes a kid's meal let alone enough to make the daily adult price worth getting the plan.

 

[Leota]

My 17 yo DS & I got it for free last year. I kept track of the reciepts. We would have paid $420 for it, we ate $780 worth of food. Good Deal. Especially with a young man who can EAT!

I reccommend it to people who ask me about WDW all the time. It's a good deal, IMHO.

 

[PattnFmly]

We got it for free last year too, but I did the math and we would have really saved! (But the actual figures are filed in my disney book). We truly enjoyed planning our meals ahead and going exactly where we wanted to go. DH wants to buy it next time we stay on property, we especially liked the prepaid part, less $ to carry too. It also cut down on all the discussion about where to eat every day while on vacation, it was all set ahead of time and with the kids, it was just ... "this is where we're going - OK Mom"!

 

[Tigger2252]

For us it would not be a good deal. My dd12 is very picky and rarely finishes a meal. We don't eat much TS so it wouldn't pay for itself for us. I do want to try it if my dh and I go by ourselves.

 

[Sammy]

I voted "no deal" for us. We just returned from an 8-day trip, 2 adults and 3 kids: 10, 14, 16. That technically makes 5 "adults" for the dining plan. $37.99 x 5 = $189.95 extra per day, which totals $1,519.16 for the entire trip!! There is NO WAY that we'd get our $$'s worth! Both DD's (10 and 16) are very light eaters so hardly ever eat more than a kids-sized portion. The kids are also at ages where they do NOT want to sit down for a long TS meal every day....they want to go, go, go! If it were just DH and I, I might consider it so we could try some different restaurants, but not with the kids.

 

[kldmom2000]

No deal for us.... In booking our hotel (Beach Club) we got the AAA rate of $259 + tax per night.... IF I wanted to add the dining plan, we would not be able to use the AAA discount and would have to pay the rack rate on the room since we would have to do a "package".... the rack rate for the week we're going is $345 + tax per night..... x 5 nights....that would be an extra $430 we would have to pay in order to then pay for the dining plan-SO not worth it IMO! I kept track of our last trip's meals per day and we spent an average of $100 per day on food-which is about what the cost of the dining plan would be-that was with 1 table service meal per day too! So, no deal for us!

 

[rgf207]

It's definately a deal for us. We all eat 3 meals a day and usually it breaks down like this

Bfast: $7.00
Lunch: $10.00
Dinner: $35.00
---------------
Total: ~$52.00

Saving about $15.00/person = $60.00/day



On a side note:

No deal for us.... In booking our hotel (Beach Club) we got the AAA rate of $259 + tax per night.... IF I wanted to add the dining plan, we would not be able to use the AAA discount and would have to pay the rack rate on the room since we would have to do a "package".... the rack rate for the week we're going is $345 + tax per night..... x 5 nights....that would be an extra $430 we would have to pay in order to then pay for the dining plan-SO not worth it IMO! I kept track of our last trip's meals per day and we spent an average of $100 per day on food-which is about what the cost of the dining plan would be-that was with 1 table service meal per day too! So, no deal for us!

YOu can book a package deal through AAA and get the dining plan included. The only difference is taht AAA books your entire pakcage. Essentially the package price is the AAA room rate + tickets + dining.

 

[mjkaferle5]

Howie Mandell, "Deal?....................Or no deal?".

His voice is stuck in my head when I hear or see that phrase!!! Darn Game Shows!!!

 

[Hopefully]

It was a deal for us (3 adults) in October. I kept track of our receipts and we "saved" $450 over the cost of the plan. We have been to WDW many times and no longer do the parks "commando" style. Also we enjoy a TS meal every day and we would have done that with or without the plan. We also had the delightful surprise of being able to use our Snack credits at the Food and Wine Festival. This made it even more valuable to us.

 

[pennyplanner]

I agree that with younsters who are picky or light eaters, the plan might not be cost effective BUT my two teenage DSs made the plan a dream for our Thanksgiving week trip.

We always dine at a TS each evening so the price of food really adds up even if you don't always have an appetizer. We would finish dinner and visit the parks and by the time we got back to the WL to take a nighttime swim, they were heading to Roaring Forks for a snack! Oh to be young, fit and have that wild fire metabolism!


--penny

 

[Degli]

I think it's a great for adults and a great deal for kid's 3-9, but it loses value to me if you've got kids 10 to 12 or 13. I wanted to get it for my upcoming trip, but my niece just turned 10 and there is no way it'd be worth it for her, she barely finishes a kid's meal let alone enough to make the daily adult price worth getting the plan.

Isn't this true! There is no way a 10 to I would say 14 year old child is going to eat as much as an adult. My 10 yo son ate off the child's menu our whole trip and will probably continue to do so for a few more years. He's just not a big eater. I think Disney needs to change the child age policy a bit. We ate at Planet Hollywood at DTD and their child menu was 12 and under. What gives?

 

[rgf207]

Correct me if i'm wrong but I think the reason why Disney has this dining plan that is considerable less expensive than the actual food cost is because they make up their money on the Kids dining plans. The majority of people who visit WDW have children and I can bet a good portion fall in the 10 - 14 age bracket and most of that age are light eaters therefore do not eat that much but have to pay the adult price.

The dining plan is a good deal for anyone < 10 and > 15

 

[Nikel]

I sat down and looked at the menus on allears and compared prices. It should save us $200-$300, which will pay for us to stay at WL instead of POFQ. We tend to eat a ts meal every day anyway, and we have a (then) 2 year old and 3 year old that can share the 3 year old's meals.

 

[princesscastle]

I think it's a good deal deal if you are going to eat TS meals every night or want character meals. We had it free last year too and it was great but it was so much food that I gained weight even with all that walking. I usually don't have an appetizer and dessert with every meal. We had so much that there were 2 CS meals on our plan when we left.

 

[KimR]

I didn't get it for our upcoming trip because it didn't seem like it would be a good deal for us. At least 3 of the restaurants I have chosen require 2 credits, so we'd still have to pay for some of meals on top of the dining plan. Also, while the rest of the family does counter service for lunch, I very rarely do so that would be more money down the drain. I didn't actually do the math but my gut feeling was that it would not be a good deal for us. Now, If alcohol were included that would be a different story.

 

[3mickeys&me]

It was a great deal for us!! I would do it again in a heartbeat!!