Disney Dining Plans?

[whit8960]

We are taking our honeymoon in May of 2010. FI and I are trying to figure out if the Dining Plan is worth the money or if we are better off just taking cash? Any advice? This is our first time going to WDW and staying onsite. Thanks!

 

[CharacterFan]

It depends on what and where you'd like to eat. When I go with my dad the dining plan isn't worth it, because we're both light eaters. We don't need a dessert with our entree and most places I'd prefer an appitizer.

With my fiance the dining plan works out because he can eat his entree part of mine and then we have dessert.

We do Deluxe Dining Plan from time to time and have a nice signature meal. This is what we're planning for our Disneymoon next year. Considering doing a signature dinner almost every night.

I do though before every trip go over to allears.net and price out what I think we'll eat and figure out the savings. Then we decide if we should pay out of pocket or get the dining plan.

 

[Teamdisney306]

I always use the Deluxe Dinning plan, but you have to make your ADRs early to get to eat wher you want. I like having all that planned out, it breaks up the day keeps you a slower pace and lets you enjoy your time. Where as if have found if you just do counter service after a while it jsut feels like your back at the office grabbing a quick bite before you rush off to your next meeting. And I for one come to WDW to relax and forget the real workd for a couple of weeks.

 

[rebecca_boo]

My family always does the dining plan and I think it is definitl worth it if you aren't a light eater. However, if ou don't book in advance the choices of restraunts might not be so good and in that case I would just bring cash!

 

[MainStMandy]

We love using the DP. There is plenty to eat, everything is planned ahead of time. I don't think we would take a trip without it!!

 

[whit8960]

Our main concern is time and we will have our own car so it is possible that we can eat outside of the park as well. Ugh...I am driving myself crazy trying to figure out what we need to do!

 

[soulmates]

Our main concern is time and we will have our own car so it is possible that we can eat outside of the park as well. Ugh...I am driving myself crazy trying to figure out what we need to do!

If time is a problem I'd rethink using it. We were just there in Aug, and while it was SO worth the money, it DID cause probs with the timing. We MISSED Illuminations. I was VERY upset. We had ressies at Le Cellier, and they were behind...we were seated 40 min. late and well, while we were enjoying a fabulous meal, I heard Illuminations outside. Also, we had to be at the restaurants early. As far as quality & quantity of food, for the money, it's a STEAL if your big eaters. We never made it thru a meal w/out leftovers. Hope this helps!

 

[lurkyloo]

Our main concern is time and we will have our own car so it is possible that we can eat outside of the park as well. Ugh...I am driving myself crazy trying to figure out what we need to do!

That's one of my main problems with the dining plan - driving myself crazy trying to maximize it so I feel like we're getting our money's worth! The thing is, you don't have to be on the dining plan to make reservations or plan out your meals; anyone can do that. But if you're on the dining plan you are pretty much *forced* to do that if you want to be sure you use all your credits.

Like Characterfan said, the usefulness of the dining plan depends on how you usually like to dine.

For example, if you eat a table-service meal for breakfast and for dinner every night, and sometimes do Signature Dining, then the regular Disney Dining Plan (DDP) is not a good deal; you would have to pay the $72/person to get the Deluxe Dining Plan. But if you just eat a snack in the morning, a counter-service meal for lunch, and a (non-Signature) table-service meal for dinner, the Regular Dining Plan would be perfect for you.

The reason that no Disney Dining Plans work for us is that we like to eat at table service restaurants for lunch and dinner, and dinner is always a Signature place, which would require 2 credits. We'd use all our Regular DDP credits up in the first few days if we did that. And Deluxe DDP costs more than we pay out of pocket, because we usually split our meals.

Another factor is that we want to be able to eat at non-Disney restaurants, like bluezoo, which isn't on the plan.

There are TONS of comparisons, including blow-by-blow cost breakdowns, on the Restaurants board - you might check them out and see if it helps you figure out what's best for you! http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=116

 

[aduck126]

If you are anything like me, i LOVE food. The dining plan is probably my favorite thing about disney world especially because my DF and I dont eat out alot in order to save money. It becomes part of our vacation experience. The food is sooo good and it gives us a nice little romantic break in our schedule of event for the day. For us the dining plan is a MUST!

 

[pezaddict231]

We are huge fans of the Deluxe plan. We eat at mostly signature meals for dinner and like to do TS lunches and character breakfasts. DF is not a fan of CS, he finds it to be stressful and he wouldn't want to share a meal with me, so it really is a great value for us. We saved a ton of money on our last trip using it. Dining is one of our favorite things about Disney and there are so many restaurants that we love and new ones to try that it's not hard to use up all those credits!

 

[Teamdisney306]

Love the deluxe dinning plan. I already have our breakfast and dinner planned for our entire stay. For lunch we play it by ear. But it's great to know that you have a wonderful meal to start the day and a great meal to relax with at the end.

 

[Evi]

I like the dining plan but not because I think its a financial savings. Honestly I could never eat the amount of food you could get on it. Truthfully what I should be doing is creating a food budget way before my trip and put that money aside. You see what I like about the dining plan is prepaying for my entire trip and having it paid off. So I have no hidden surprises on my credit cards unless I've gone crazy shopping. I do think it can be nice to have just out of convenience. But if your going to try to save money I'm sure there are better ways to do it.

 

[Teamdisney306]

I agree I like the whole idea of having taken care of and pplanned before I arrive. So all I have to purchase is some drinks and whatever cool thing I think I cannot live without, or more like it what cool thing one of my girls think they cannot live without.

 

[leelee9878]

The dining plan is great if you are going with a group of people because you don't have to worry about splitting the bill, or figuring out who ate what. You just give them the room keys and you are done with it.

 

[ChristyJE117]

We're doing the dining plan for our honeymoon, but it was the free deal.

But the past few trips we've gotten the dining plan, and we just think it's easier to have it paid for upfront. I also like planning the parks & meals without feeling stressed that we'll be shut out of certain restaurants if we try to go somewhere on the spot.

 

[2012DisneyWorldBride]

We are doing the deluxe dining plan for our wedding/honeymoon trip in December. We decided to do it because there are alot of restaurants in Disney that we have never dined at and some that I have always wanted to dine at. Even though we have annual passes and go to Disney at least once a month, we usually dont take the time or spend the extra money to go to some of the nicer restaurants. We thought it would be special to enjoy them on our honeymoon trip, and it would give us a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the parks. But that being said, if we didnt go to Disney alot, I dont know if Id want to take that time from the parks. Maybe you could do the plan under the deluxe dining plan that way you get to expierence some of the dining but arent locked down to 2 sit down meals a day. Our trip will revolve around our food reservations with us being able to hit rides before and after our meals. But I am oaky with that!!

 

[deltag07]

That is a tough decision!! We have gone to disney as a large family trip and used the dining plan and it was great with the kids and more than 12 people. However, when my fiance and I go on our own, I find that the timing usually does not work out and we end up eating lighter than we thought. I have saved more money not using the plan when it is just the two of us!