Disney Dining Plan - Is it worth it?

[outstandinfarmer]

So, I've been to Disney many times, but never did the dining plan. For those who have used it, do you think it is worth the money? It seems like a big upgrade to the vacation package price and I am not sure if it would be a wise decision to add it or not.

Thanks everybody!

 

[millerjmls]

We have never used it either, but this time we decided to get it. We looked at all of the menus on allears.net then figured out about how much it would cost to eat where we preferred and compared that to how much the dining plan cost. We found that the dining plan will save us money. We have made reservations at places like LeCellier, The Crysal Palace and The Boma. Each of these would cost over $100 for a family of four. After you add in your counter service meals and a snack each night, it really adds up. We are going to give it try this year and see how it goes. I also like the fact that I won't have to carry around so much money and our meals will be paid for before we get there. Hope we made the right decision.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Now that they removed the tip and appetizer, it's not worth it for us. There was a time when I thought it was a good deal.

 

[Gitts2008]

Before our trip in Oct 2008, I fretted long and hard if the DDP would be worth it. I even tried to figure out how much we could spend in meal vs. the cost of the plan.

We took the DDP. When each character meal cost about $100.00 it was worth it for us. I also liked the idea of knowing how much our vacation would cost and not worrying about putting aside x amount for food.

Only you can determine if it will be cost effective for your family. We are not big eaters and planned on using the TS for all of our Character meals.

Just like most things here, there will be differing opinions.

Best Wishes and have a great vacation.

 

[Silver Queen]

Hello again. I think it depends on your family's eating habits. We tried the DDP last April and felt that we got our money's worth but in some cases it was more food that we would normally eat. (For example dessert at lunch.) We ended up using some of our snack coupons for items that we could use for a light breakfast.
We were also conscious of trying to get our money's worth from the plan and ordered higher end entrees such as filet a couple of times.
When we went back in December we bought annual passes and tried the Tables in Wonderland discount card and liked it very much because we usually have a cocktail or bottle of wine with dinner and we also like to order an appetizer and dessert and share them. For us the 20% discount fits our dining style but if we don't get annual passes in the future ( and therefore can't get Tables in Wonderland) we'd consider the DDP.

 

[britterbell]

Oh Yes It IS! Character Meals are usually around $300.00 but with the DDP you get as many TS as nights you are staying plus CS and snacks! I would sooo use it! =)

 

[jblrn2b]

If you eat a lot of TS it is worth it.

I can not feed my 14yo DS for less than $70 a day at Disney. I also get my moneys worth for the 9 yo since he lives on popsicles at $4 a piece plus the price of meals for him it is worth it to us.

 

[Tricia1972]

Hello again. I think it depends on your family's eating habits. We tried the DDP last April and felt that we got our money's worth but in some cases it was more food that we would normally eat. (For example dessert at lunch.) We ended up using some of our snack coupons for items that we could use for a light breakfast.
We were also conscious of trying to get our money's worth from the plan and ordered higher end entrees such as filet a couple of times.
When we went back in December we bought annual passes and tried the Tables in Wonderland discount card and liked it very much because we usually have a cocktail or bottle of wine with dinner and we also like to order an appetizer and dessert and share them. For us the 20% discount fits our dining style but if we don't get annual passes in the future ( and therefore can't get Tables in Wonderland) we'd consider the DDP.

You summed up how we feel, and what works for us very well. Personally we do better without a plan for the same reasons you do.

Oh Yes It IS! Character Meals are usually around $300.00 but with the DDP you get as many TS as nights you are staying plus CS and snacks! I would sooo use it! =)

I think you may have a typo here, the character meals run about $30/adult for dinner, $25 for lunch and $20 for breakfast.

NOT saying that the plan doesn't work for you, I am sure it works very well. Just to clear up for anyone else that character meals tend to not be $300 per event.

(CRT is a bit more at $43/adult for dinner, $38 for lunch and $35 for breakfast, but that will cost a person 2 credits)

 

[tamclan]

So, I've been to Disney many times, but never did the dining plan. For those who have used it, do you think it is worth the money? It seems like a big upgrade to the vacation package price and I am not sure if it would be a wise decision to add it or not.

Thanks everybody!

In general when you use all of your credits because the children's plans are inexpensive you will save money.

However, the Dining Plan and potential savings is based on how you truly want to eat. For example I am not a big dessert eater, nor is my wife. At home when dining out I would let my children order dessert once in awhile not every day. So when I compare the total bills and what DDP costs it may seem like I saved however ordering stuff because it is an entitlement when not desired provides the illusion of savings.

What I didn't enjoy about the DDP last year was I needed to be at a specific place at a specific time. Not being able to wing it really put more stress into my vacation than I wanted. Rushing from HS to EPCOT in the rain is an example of this. Without an ADR I would have hung out at HS. Getting to ADR drenched is not fun and then your freezing because of the AC.

I will be trying the quick counter service this year to see how that goes. I figure the few TS I want I will pay OOP.

Good luck.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

In my opinion I think it's Absoutely worth it. No ? about it here.

 

[LAWalz23]

It really does depend on your eating habits. In general if you enjoy planning and having a sit down meal every day, you will probably like and get your money's worth. However if you like to wing it it could be more trouble than it is worth. For my familty it pays because we enjoy sitting down to dinner everyday and don't spend 12 hour days in the parks. Also just my opinion but now that ADRs are back to 90 days, I think planning and getting ADRs are easier, doing it 6 months in advance the last two trips took some of the fun out of it!

 

[SnwflkCts]

I used it the two times were were at WDW but did not book it for this one. The change - no appie/no tip did it in for us. Not so much the tip but I do not eat desserts (well ... try not to). It was not as cost effective for us this time around.

Anyway - would I still recommend it? YES - at least try it out!

pros: paying for everything all up front was great; it did save money if you select restaurants wisely.

cons: you do seem to spend so much time making and keeping ADRs, too much food & sometimes we ate more than we SHOULD have!

I really don't think it is wrong to go with the dining plan. We just decided to do some TS lunches and share CS and snacks this time around. It would not make the best use of the credits to do that.

HAVE FUN AND HAPPY EATING!!!!

 

[BarbieWannabe]

We went last year after an absence of several years. I read for months, all the complaints about tips and appetizer changes. If you never experienced the previous plan it was hard to relate. We used the deluxe plan and absolutely LOVED it. Worth depends on how you look at it. If you strictly want to approach it by dollars, then no, I'm sure you can do it more cheaply OOP. A late dinner at California Grill watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks is PRICELESS. An experience. I'm sure if we were paying out of pocket, we automatically would decide it was too expensive. To pay ahead of time and have the freedom to eat wherever and whatever you wanted was truly "vacation" to us. This year we are going back in December to see the holiday magic and without a doubt will use it again.

 

[kkyle60]

My family just returned from 7 nights (buy four get three rocks!) with the dining plan and for us the DDP is more than just a cost saving tool. We view eating at WDW as an attraction just like any ride or show, and the DDP takes a lot of stress out of dining. With the plan we can order anything we want and not worry about the price. For us it makes the dining experience more enjoyable and even relaxing.

In planning for our trip I did an extensive cost comparison (I basically planned every meal we would eat with and without the plan). Long story short, we could save about $70 by not using the plan, but with the plan we would get a lot more food. We loved having the plan and we used every single credit.

My conclusion about the plan, you have to like eating at a TS every night, and you have to like planning out all of your ADR's in advance and sticking to that schedule. For us it is great, but it is definitely not for everyone.

One tip for extra value - if you have kids(3-9), the plan does not distinguish between adult and child counter service meals. For example, we had 2 adults and 1 child. We could get an adult breakfast CS meal and two adult CS lunch meals every day. This helped spread out the food some, and gave us a good meal for breakfast. The only restriction on CS is that you can't order more adult meals than adults in your group, i.e. we couldn't order 3 Adult CS meals at one time.

 

[buckirj1]

The dining plans aren't a good match for me and the way I eat. The dining plans don't save solo folks much money anyway. Besides, I'd go nuts doing all the planning involved to mazimize its value. Some don't mind planning and think pre-payment is a big convenience. I think it's a PITA. YMMV.

 

[Tricialiv]

We liked the dining plan. We eat TS once a day with three of those being character during 7-8 days . The TS seems more relaxing and gives the kids a little break. I also love the planning of the ADR's. I am already planning for December. I wish tip was still included. That really made it great!

 

[indigoxtreme]

The best thing you can do is go to Allearsnet.com and review the menu and prices. Do 1 day of what your family would normally eat, no extras etc, be sure to include tax for all meals and tip (for TS meals) and snacks each day. Compare this to one day cost of the meal plan and see if it will save you money. For the meal plan include tip to the cost for TS meals.

We have found it is absolutely worht it as we do eat a TS each day, either breakfast or dinner etc. Even with the appetizer taken out and the tip it is still worth it. Have a good time.

 

[B-Ride]

When they changed the Dining Plan last year to not include appetizers I figured it was no longer worth it and did not include the plan when I booked our trip. But when I sat down and did the math I realized it was still worth it and decided to add it to our package. Even better, I ended up getting it for free which is definitely worth it.

Even without getting it free, though, it is definitely worth it if you plan to eat a TS meal for dinner each day.

 

[Tikitoi]

Not worth it for me and DD11 this time. She still eats very much like a little kid, so it's not worth it pay the adult DP price for her, which I would have to do, due to her age. Besides, with the 2 of us, if we get an appetizer it would only be one. And probably the same with desert. That's even if we get that. We usually are happy with a chocolate covered strawberry or a cupcake or something like that.

 

[CruznLexi]

We just got back from WDW and had the Deluxe plan. We normally would not have gotten that but we had our nephews and did not want to shell out extra money for food. This also enabled us to go to HDDR and CRT. I will get the dinning plan and maybe the next time just get the basic or CS and pay out of pocekt if we want to do a TS. We felt most days that 3 meals was too much as well as the snack credits when you are there for 8 days but for a few days it is worth it.
Lexi