Disney Dining Plan

[aggiemullins]

Something I forgot to mention. If anyone looks up a menu trying to add up what they would typically eat in a day to compare, make sure you add tax to your total.

The price of the DDP shown at the beginning of this thread is inclusive of tax. The menu prices (which can be found at various other websites) are typically not.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I'm surprised at how many people like the dining plan in it's present form. We are more likely to go with appetizers than desserts. We use the TIW and that seems to work the best for us. I prefer water with my meals so that's another reason.

Bobbi

 

[decklake]

We used the dining plan when we took our 4 grandchildren and found it to be a great benefit. I would strongly recommend it.

 

[Disneypubgal]

I'm surprised at how many people like the dining plan in it's present form. We are more likely to go with appetizers than desserts. We use the TIW and that seems to work the best for us. I prefer water with my meals so that's another reason.

Bobbi

Us too!

 

[rn4val]

Our family definitely thought it was worth it. Ate at alot of restaurants would have never been able to afford without it.

 

[Figment2]

Since I tried the dining plan in February 2010, I now tell people to look at menus to see what they would be ordering. I'm more of an appetizers, salads, soups type person and those aren't part of the regular plan. Tables in Wonderland works better for me. However, if you look at menus and would be ordering regular entrees, then the plan would probably work.

 

[rcchello]

As a big splurge the DDP is worth it. You can eat at restaurants you would normally not try and not worry about the cost. You can go to those exoensive Breakfasts with the characters. I would do it if it was my once in a lifetime trip or once every 10 year trip. It is sort of like those big family dinners where everyone eats till they need to loosen their belts.

Great fun but you don't feel like eating for the next couple of days.

Also, probably great if you have a couple of growing teen boys who consume everything in sight.

It was great the first time we went to Disney and stayed on property, but now I go to Disney every year and have eaten at most of the restaurants and sometimes my wife and I will share a meal ( restaurants meals have enough calories for two adults -sometimes more). It does not work for us now. If we ate most of the food offered we would stop eating by day 3.

 

[Hopefully]

The DDP works for us too. I have added up my receipts and we usually end up with a small savings.
I am a planner, so making ADR's far in advance fits my style.
We like a TS dinner each evening.
We go during F & W Fest and we use the snack credits for the booths.
On our last trip we were a group of 6 - 8 and we got the TiW card in addition to the DDP. We used the TiW card on 2 trips, and we paid for additional appetizers and adult beverages, and we believe we recovered the additional cost of the card.
The DDP is not for every family. As others have said, you need to assess your eating style and assess your family's likes and dislikes and decide for your family.
Enjoy

 

[eva]

The DDP does not work for us because we like to begin our meals with appetizers or salads, and we rarely order dessert. So DDP creates very unnatural eating patterns and isn't worth it to us.

It really boils down to your individual family dining habits, how many children (age 9 and under) are in your traveling party and if those children will be happy eating Disney childrens meals,

For us, as two adults that prefer appestizer over desserts and eat our large daily meal at lunchtime rather than at night, the DDP would not save us anything and would limit our choices. In fact, addding up our meal bills, we would pay more for the DDP than we pay out of pocket, and we would not be able to order our preferences.

If, on the other hand, you have a couple of youngsters that are perfectly happy eating mac & cheese and "happy meal" type things, it can be a pretty good value.

We are pretty much in the same situation. I know if you look at the more expensive restaurants and the higher priced items and add them up, the dining plan makes a lot of sense. But if you are like us and rarely order dessert and often share counter meals, it just doesn't make a lot of sense. Plus, we rarely order the most expensive meal on the menu. And for places like Sanaa I wonder how they handle the bread service, the salad trio, etc. Everything there is pretty much al a cart. I like the freedom of eating some nights at TS and some around the pool or at a counter service at DD. We are staying 8 nights in May and only have ADR for 4 nights. The rest are open for things like: appetizers and drinks at Raglan Road, pizza delivery at the pool, snacking around the world, etc. Since we are having WeGoShop bring us groceries, we are even thinking about having them get us a couple steaks and charcoal to grill by the pool. We normally don't cook anything but breakfast. But we may give it a try this time.

 

[Main Street Matilda]

We've used the DDP and also cooked back at the room, eating out for only some meals. Obviously, it depends on how much of your own cooking you're doing, but even with a mix of CS and TS meals and cooking, I found the difference in cost (for a family of 5) to be less than $200 for a 7-day stay.

Since costs are about the same, our main reason for liking the dining plan is that most of meal costs are paid before you start your vacation. It just doesn't feel like "real" money when you're only handing over a card to pay for dinner!

 

[Figment2]

And for places like Sanaa I wonder how they handle the bread service, the salad trio, etc.

The soup, the bread service and the salad trio are not part of the regular dining plan. My meal there is usually the soup and then split the bread service with someone.

 

[eva]

The soup, the bread service and the salad trio are not part of the regular dining plan. My meal there is usually the soup and then split the bread service with someone.

Thanks for the info.We are staying at Kidani this trip and will probably eat there a couple times. So it is good that we don't normally use the plan anyway.

 

[mickeyworld]

I am at the point when I go to WDW I usually travel with just adults since my kids are in college and we plan our trips around eatin and pool time... even skip the parks some days and eat in the resorts (where the dining is fabulous!) We are going this spring and since we booked the trips on different names, in two different resorts, we do not have to get the DDP for all of the nights so... we are going Deluxe and made our reservations the day we could at 180 days out. Travelling to WDW has become an annual trip for grownups but even with kids, I try to get most things paid for before I go and the Dining plan is a great way to do it. Take an evening when you are planning your trip and count out your meals and where you want to spend them Having that special meal is always a great way to end the day!

 

[ILuvMulan]

We love, love, love, the dining plan. We have 3 tweens and boy can they eat!! The one time we did not do the DDP we regretted it. We had a "no-parks" trip planned and decided to eat just one meal a day out and pay cash. For about $100.00 more (total) we could have had an extra QS meal and a snack per day We often end up with snack credits left over, but we just use those for snacks or drinks for the trip home before we leave.

 

[csmommy]

For me it is a question of freedom to order what I want & not look at the price. If I did not do the DDP I would be monitering every penny we spent & not order apps, desserts or have a snack every day. So for us it is a treat, a relief & a relaxation.

 

[FreeTime]

For many years when visiting WDW (whether DVC or otherwise) we would always eat in the room for every meal with the exception of one character breakfast. Since discovering the dining plans, I can't imagine going back and cooking! I remember how I would argue with my DH that it was just too much money to spend on a snack or CS meal in the parks. We enjoy our trips much more now that we don't worry about taking the bus back to eat or how much it is going to cost us. We buy gift cards, get our fuel perks (I have not paid for a tank of gas since before Christmas) and sometimes get CS and sometimes deluxe.

I have always saved our receipts and we have always come out ahead. We usually have a few snack credits which we use for drinks and muffins for the trip home. Also, I go to the Boardwalk Bakery or a similiar place the night before we leave and use any CS meals we haven't used and get sandwiches for the road.

We usually split breakfast, giving as extra meals so we get 3 meals a day on some days.

So, it is all how you use it / think about it, to decide if it is a value to you.

 

[diding]

Definitely think the dining plans are worthwhile, even though we own at BLT and have the kitchen facilities, the Dining Plan gives you the opportunity to feel free about the eating problems and just let you have the time to enjoy the world.

 

[Tink6666]

We have been doing the DDP for many years now. We have done the deluxe plan even. My DH & I like to do a sit down meal each night so, the DDP is a no brainer for us as one TS meal per night ends up paying for the DDP...as an accountant I have checked it with each trip! We have always saved by using the DDP. We always have extra snack credits because I forget to use them, this year the kids will be reminding me as we will have a lot to use since there are 6 of us and we will be there 5 nights! My suggestion is look at the places you would want to eat at, add up the cost of the meal, drink and dessert and compare to the DDP. This will tell you if it is worth it for you and your family.

 

[CarolMN]

Moved from DVC Boards -

 

[gip]

This March will be only our second trip to WDW but we are totally sold on the DDP. We enjoyed taking a break from the hustle and bustle of the parks in an air conditioned restaurant. Our kids also enjoyed it and we didn't seem to hit the wall as a lot of your friends did that didn't have the break each day. Thumbs up for DDP.