Disney Dining PLan

[rhardinrn]

Is the dining plan worth purchasing ?

 

[supersnoop]

Generally speaking, you'll only save money if you have multiple children ages 3-9.

If you define "worth it" as something other than saving money, you'll have to make that call based on your own judgement.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Depends on what you want it for.

Looking to save money? Then you have to plan and tailor your dining so that you save money on the plan. And it will depend on where and how your group prefers to eat, the makeup of your party, which dining plan you chooose, and whether you can get ADRs for the restaurants you want (if you select a plan with table service component). In general it is somewhat difficult to save money on the quick service plan at all, the best type of party for the regular plan (the one most guests purchase) is a group with several children under age 10 who plan on doing a lot of character meals or buffets/AYCE, and the best type of party for the deluxe plan would be those who want a signature dinner (2 dining credits per person) each night of their trip.

Do you just like the idea of a prepaid dining plan? Does it really matter to you whether you lose money on the deal or not, so long as you don't have to look at the prices on the menu? That's a value that you personally will put on having the plan.

 

[debbidowright]

My husband and I have used the basic dining plan for the past 5 years. It's just the 2 of us and we've never lost money on it. You do have to be particular about where you eat. Since I love doing research we usually check menus before we make our ressies and check old favs, as well as new places to consider. I like to get my money's worth and have been most fortunate to have great meals and experiences. Best of luck to you!

 

[robndani]

Oh, the Disney Dining Plan... People love it, people hate it. I still don't know where I stand on it. The one time we used it, we could have saved $100 by not using it, but it was nice having it all paid for ahead of time.

If you have kids 3-9 and you do lots of character buffets for dinner, I think you could make it worth it!

Have fun!

 

[lauradis]

Depends on what you want it for.

Looking to save money? Then you have to plan and tailor your dining so that you save money on the plan. And it will depend on where and how your group prefers to eat, the makeup of your party, which dining plan you chooose, and whether you can get ADRs for the restaurants you want (if you select a plan with table service component). In general it is somewhat difficult to save money on the quick service plan at all, the best type of party for the regular plan (the one most guests purchase) is a group with several children under age 10 who plan on doing a lot of character meals or buffets/AYCE, and the best type of party for the deluxe plan would be those who want a signature dinner (2 dining credits per person) each night of their trip.

Do you just like the idea of a prepaid dining plan? Does it really matter to you whether you lose money on the deal or not, so long as you don't have to look at the prices on the menu? That's a value that you personally will put on having the plan.

This is the best objective post on the is the dinning plan worth it question in long time.

 

[Hopefully]

Generally speaking, you'll only save money if you have multiple children ages 3-9.

If you define "worth it" as something other than saving money, you'll have to make that call based on your own judgement.

I disagree with this completely. We - a party of all adults - have done the regular DDP for years and we either save a bit or come out even. We do not have children 3 - 9 and we do not do any character meals. It suits our way of eating.

Is the dining plan worth purchasing ?

The only way to know for certain is to do the research and math yourself for your party. Look at the menus for where you will eat here on the DIS or at allears.net. Price what you are likely to order each and do the math. Compare that do the daily cost of the DDP and see whether you would save money or not. Remember tax and gratuity are not included in the menu prices and need to be paid on top of your assessment either way.
Good Luck.

 

[lauradis]

I disagree with this completely. We - a party of all adults - have done the regular DDP for years and we either save a bit or come out even. We do not have children 3 - 9 and we do not do any character meals. It suits our way of eating.



The only way to know for certain is to do the research and math yourself for your party. Look at the menus for where you will eat here on the DIS or at allears.net. Price what you are likely to order each and do the math. Compare that do the daily cost of the DDP and see whether you would save money or not. Remember tax and gratuity are not included in the menu prices and need to be paid on top of your assessment either way.
Good Luck.

Tax is included in the price of the dinning plan.

Gratuity is not.

 

[OasterP]

Like others have said - it depends what you are looking for. Worth it financially - it would never be worth it to me.

But if you just want convenience and to feel like you can order whatever you want without worrying about prices - it's good for that.

I personally would never pay for it. I don't even like to get it when it's "free" because I feel I would do better with a room discount. But my husband likes it a lot for the convenience and because then he is encouraged to get dessert at every meal!

 

[EPCOTatNight]

For most people, NO. The plan is $60 a night. Snack are about $3 an expensive CS meal may be $17. That means that your sit down meal MUST be $40 just to break even. It that's everyday. Hard to do, plus you still have to tip. If you eat at buffets everyday, great. But for me, between DVC discounts, AP discounts, and 20% off gift cards for Yak & Yeti, T-Rex, Rainforest Cafe, and Wolfgang Puck, I can't come close to making it worth it.

 

[B-Ride]

If you use all it offers it is worth it but for our family it means spending our whole trip on the edge of exploding.

We have done it our last 7 trips but only because it was free and because we are happy to take home 15 pieces of fudge when we are too full to use the snack credits in the park.

 

[supersnoop]

I disagree with this completely. We - a party of all adults - have done the regular DDP for years and we either save a bit or come out even. We do not have children 3 - 9 and we do not do any character meals. It suits our way of eating.

You "completely" disagree with my "general" advice? Yes, it can work for some people. If you always drink soda with your meals, if you always eat dessert, and if you always order expensive entrees, you will save money. If not, the savings from the children's price is your only hope for coming out ahead financially.

 

[EPCOTatNight]

You "completely" disagree with my "general" advice? Yes, it can work for some people. If you always drink soda with your meals, if you always eat dessert, and if you always order expensive entrees, you will save money. If not, the savings from the children's price is your only hope for coming out ahead financially.

I'm not even sure you can "save" any significant money. Maybe a few dollars at best. Obviously, kids 3-9 make it worth it. But, if everyone is over 10, I don't see it. also, mst CS locations have the same desserts.

 

[rwdavis2]

It s not designed t save you money. Besides that it can be too much food.

 

[mirandaperez10]

We love the dining plan it lets us have the freedom to eat what we would like and not have to worry about prices , it makes the vacation feel all inclusive

 

[Misha72683]

I think it depends. You can look at the menus of the restaurants you're looking at and figure it out that way.

I made an Excel spreadsheet and guessed what everyone would order. It came to about $10 less to pay OoP, but I had forgotten about the resort mug (which we would buy anyway), so we were suddenly ahead by about $50.

If we'd only lose out on about $10, I would have done it anyway for the convenience. Yes, we probably order desert everywhere but my bff and I love dessert and this will be a change to splurge.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Disney did not create the dining plan out of the kindness of its corporate heart to save anyone money. Can you save money? Yes, if you plan carefully. I can create a dining plan over a 4 or 5 day period that would "save" me money if I purchased the dining plan instead of paying out of pocket. At the same time, instead of spending $40 per person on a dinner at Cape May because I have the dining plan I might spend $25 per person on a better, more relaxing meal at Chefs de France. And those buffets/character meals that are so expensive are generally some of the worst reviewed restaurants on property.

If you are going to Disney and want to eat a buffet or character meal every day, or are certain you'll purchase the most expensive item on a regular table service menu AND the quick service menu, and you will eat desserts and don't want appetizers, AND you'll take advantage of the offered snack every day, then yes, the dining plan might save you money. Just keep in mind you'll be eating a LOT of food and will need to plan you park time around your meals and you'll be ok. And I would NEVER do the quick service plan. Always a money loser.

Here's a sample of what I would consider good food at Disney that would cost about the $60+ per day that you'll spend on the dining plan:

Breakfast - not a huge breakfast eater at Disney since I want to get to the parks early, so might grab something after I get through the gates at the park. Let's say MK and I stop at Starbucks - bacon/gouda sandwich and a water - $8. Or a snack credit and a drink.

Lunch - MK doesn't have great lunch options but I'd go with Columbia Harbor House. Fried shrimp platter with fries (one of the more expensive meals) and water - $14 or your table service credit. Keep in mind you could spend $3-5 less on a table service credit elsewhere.

Dinner - we probably wouldn't eat dinner at MK but would hop over to one of the monorail resorts. Let's go with The Wave since we like the food and can usually get a seat fairly quickly even without a reservation. And I'm hungry after a long day at the park. So I'm going to get the pan seared scallop appetizer for $12 (not a dessert fan) and for an entrée the lobster ravioli (2d most expensive entrée) at $29 (could spend less than $20). Or about what you'd spend at 'Ohana for a meal. So at the end of the day I've spent about $60-65, plus a 20% gratuity, plus whatever alcohol we get.

At the same time, you could grab the same breakfast for $8, get lunch at the Plaza for a bit less than $20 (and better than any quick service) and then eat a good (and very filling) meal of Pappardelle Pasta at the Crews Cup lounge for about $25 when you get done at the park all for $10 less per person than the dining plan costs.

And finally, if you want to save on the dining plan, grab a breakfast using your snack credit worth about $5, use a quick service credit for lunch at Wolfgang Puck in Marketplace (spaghetti Bolognese ($18), crème brulee ($6) and a drink ($2.50) for a total of $26.50), and grab dinner at Boma for roughly $40 a person (depending on season) and you've just had about $73 in food for the $62 or so the dining plan cost you. Plus you might use you Disney mug.

This is just a sample of what you can do with some planning. Since most people don't plan, Disney profits from the dining plan.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Some folks have stated that they save significant money over just paying for whatever it is they want to get. Of course the best way to do this is to have kids under 10 and do fixed-price restaurants, because the children's plan is priced such that one fixed price TS meal a day works out to make the children's QS meal and snack pretty much free, and on top of that they get a refillable mug which is a nice souvenir even if they don't use it.

With all adults, it's harder; you have to use the heck out of that mug and you have to pick restaurants so you can "maximize" the value of the plan: dinners over lunches or breakfasts (especially with buffets/ayce), steaks over veggie entrees, smoothies over a bottled water where you can get them, picking the most expensive snacks. This is on the regular plan. On the deluxe plan, if you bought it to save money you have to make sure you're taking advantage of the 2 credit restaurants and using the majority of your credits for TS over QS.

If you just like the way it "feels" to have a prepaid dining plan then you place a value on it above and beyond the actual cost of the food you are ordering (or not ordering), and that's subjective. The "feeling" is really what Disney is selling with the plans.

I like to wing it too much to have a dining plan (and yes, I can wing it at Disney restaurants; I don't do character meals and I'm good with eating in lounges.)