Disney Dining Plan

[AgiNJ]

Does anyone here have an opinion on the dining plan? It seems like a pain to use. When I was in line behind anyone using it there were always a hundred questions ("is this considered a full meal, is the banana part of the breakfast or is it a snack,?" etc, etc) It just doesn't seem worth all that to me.

 

[LegoMom3]

We used it last year and will definitely do it again, whether we get it for free or not! We loved it. We didn't encounter any problems in line ourselves. We knew what counted towards it and maybe we just got lucky with the CMs we dealt with. If we wanted to use a credit of any sort we just said so, and it was swiped off.

What I liked the most was the table-service restaurants. If you're someone who doesn't like to eat that way, or do it every day, while on vacation, it might not be so great, but for us it was a chance to eat at places we wanted to try but never did due to the cost (we're a family of 5 - it's expensive to eat out!!). We did two character meals and lots of buffets and really enjoyed being on the plan.

 

[Flametamr]

Unfortunately everyone does not research and learn the plan. Even if you do sometimes the policy is handled differently at a certain place. That and they can't seem to leave it alone from year to year. But I agree with you it can be a pain and if it was not free I prob wouldn't use it.

 

[disneydance]

We did it this for the very first time and loved it. It was so great already having all of you meals payed for. Also we got to eat at place we would have never eaten at if it wasnt for the dining plan. We ate on a 5 day trip at Bomas Twice (We were staying at AKL and at there once for breakfast and once for dinner) The Corral Reef once, and the Brown Derby(Its a signature restraunt so does require 2 TS credits) We loved it and our planning on doing it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[The6ofUs]

I've never had this experience (I've never been delayed due to someone else not knowing the rules of the dining plan). I know it's common, however, because I've had CMs actually thank me for understanding the rules and making it easier for them.

 

[Simba22]

we are using it for the first time in October and are looking forward to it! It's SOO nice to know that I don't have to worry about paying for our meals while we are there since they are paid for in advance. And since it breaks down to about $39 a day we know it will pay for itself over the course of the week. To me, it's worth it to learn how to use it, rather than either not use it at all, or pay for it and not understand how it works

 

[MomPOM]

It's really not difficult to figure it out. I'm not thrilled that they've cut out the tip and appetizers, although the appies did make it a LOT of food. I'm not sure if we're going to do it this time around. I need to see if it's still cost effective.

If you're going to do a lot of two-meal dinners or just don't care to do table service, it's probably not a good thing but for most people it's pretty neat.

 

[Mcbruns]

We love it !
Never had any problems with it.

If newbie's take the time to read the DDP pamplet provided at check in, it will help them. It's also available on the Disboards to check out.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

We just used it for the first time last week. It is great to have all our meals paid for in advance, but honestly, I would never eat that many table service meals again. We had to tailor our schedules around our ADR's and had to eat table service sometimes when we were not even that hungry! I'd rather make one or two ADR's for dinner and play the rest by ear. Snacks are fine for lunch and CS would be OK for most dinners. We had CS left over and used up the snacks before leaving on snack-type souveniers.

 

[Mom2Trey]

We just used it last week also. It was nice to be able to try new restaurants that we wouldn't normally go to. We probably wouldn't do the dining plan again, even free dining. We can usually get a discounted room (FL res, passholder, etc.) and we also had to buy passes with the package so it wasn't great for us. Also, we found that our whole day revolved around eating. It was hard to leave the parks early some days just to make it to our priority seating then wait around for our name to be called. It really is great for a lot of people... but not our family.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

We used it for the first time last year during free dining and loved it. We will do it again if it is free or not. Loved having everything paid for in advance. Not too thrilled with the changes they made for 2008 though.

 

[miksilver]

I just got back from WDW with free dining and have a few observations with the DDP. I liked the plan and with the research I did beforehand (thanks Disboards ) I didn't have a problem. Unfortunaltley, my Mom and DH had trouble understanding the plan. I think they would of had problems understanding the plan even if they read the brochure... It's not as easy as it sounds and there is a true art of how to order something in order to use the appropriate credits that you want. I learned almost too late that my Mom and DH were not using the DDP to the most. I should have given them a lesson earlier on how to use the plan.

My DH and I talked about the DDP later, as to if it was worth it or not since next year we'll be returning not during free dining time. We said that we would still have to buy additional drinks since we liked using the snack credits for snacks, not for water or sodas. But since we really like the character meals and the different TS meals we would get our monies worth from it. You do have to make your ADR's and plan ahead, so if you don't like to be tied down to a schedule, aren't a foodie, or don't eat a lot than the DDP might not be for you.

I like it if it's used correctly and everyone in your party knows how to order and what to use it for.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I just got back from WDW with free dining and have a few observations with the DDP. I liked the plan and with the research I did beforehand (thanks Disboards ) I didn't have a problem. Unfortunaltley, my Mom and DH had trouble understanding the plan. I think they would of had problems understanding the plan even if they read the brochure... It's not as easy as it sounds and there is a true art of how to order something in order to use the appropriate credits that you want. I learned almost too late that my Mom and DH were not using the DDP to the most. I should have given them a lesson earlier on how to use the plan.

My DH and I talked about the DDP later, as to if it was worth it or not since next year we'll be returning not during free dining time. We said that we would still have to buy additional drinks since we liked using the snack credits for snacks, not for water or sodas. But since we really like the character meals and the different TS meals we would get our monies worth from it. You do have to make your ADR's and plan ahead, so if you don't like to be tied down to a schedule, aren't a foodie, or don't eat a lot than the DDP might not be for you.

I like it if it's used correctly and everyone in your party knows how to order and what to use it for.

We just returned from our third trip using the dining plan. After the sweltering heat and terrible crowds, I would have to say that the dining plan was one of the best things about our trip. Super easy to use and never had to worry about how much money a meal was going to cost. Love it, Love it, Love it!!!

 

[kmvand1]

We paid for the dining plan in December last year and really enjoyed it, so signed up for again, but this time in September. It too was one of the highlights of our trip last week because we tried several different restaurants we had not done before. However, we will NEVER go again in September, the crowds and heat were enough to want to make me pay for the plan and go back in early December.

 

[kacaju]

We loved the free dining we got! We found the plan very easy to use, and even though I read all about it, we still made the mistake of only taking 1 drink at our first cs breakfast. We wer etold we could go get another, but I passed, I didn't want to hold up the line grabbing 5 more drinks.
No big deal....
My 7 year old got a magical moment and got a free box of popcorn because she understood the dining plan!!

 

[MousekaMaddi]

kacaju
Im confused,...why could u get more than one drink at your first cs?

 

[kacaju]

at the cs breakfast you were allowed juice and one other drink. My husband always got water and a coffee. I don't drink coffee or tea so I would get juice and water. My girls who were both on the adult ddp would get chocolate milk and OJ.
On our first day we only got 1 drink each and were told we could get a second drink. After that we did get the second drink.

 

[MousekaMaddi]

thanx for answering,

 

[rotlex]

We used it twice this year. Once paid for, once free. LOVE IT, and will absolutely buy it every trip. (Yes, even with the 2008 changes). I'm not sure I understand how anyone can feel it's confusing, as it seems pretty straight forward to us.

Anywho, I guess my ONLY complaint with it is it feels at times you are given TOO much food! We generally used the snack as breakfast, bagel, muffin, whatever, the CS for lunch, and the TS for dinner. (Almost all character meals). On both occasions, I figured we saved at LEAST $400 per trip by using the plan. To us, it's an outstanding value, and a great convenience!

 

[Rustysmom]

The only thing I found confusing, as a PP mentioned, was the drinks at breakfast, because I didn't know until like the 3rd day that you could take 2 drinks with it. The CM never told us.

If you get the plan, watch your credits, because someone else used a day's worth of our TS credits! I had to waste over an hour of my time trekking to the Custom House at CBR to get it straightened out, and I think if I didn't have all my receipts with me, they wouldn't have believed me.

They started listing everywhere that I ate and I said "yes, yes, yes", and then they got to Tony's Town Square and I was like "no!" Somehow my credits got used there before we had our own dinner at 'Ohana. That's where I noticed on the receipt that we were short a day's worth.

It was a real pain to get it fixed because they spent a long time trying to enter my name in the computer to credit it back. They had to call Tony's and verify whether or not we ate there, which of course we didn't. I missed going to MGM and seeing Fantasmic that night because of this mess.

Because of that and having to constantly watch the clock for our ADRs, I don't think I would do it again unless we got it for free. DH doesn't even want it then, but I'll take it. Free is free.