Disney Dining? What did YOU do?

[Dacky619]

We don't regret getting the DDP. It allowed us to have almost everything paid for in advance and then we were able to splurge and order things without worrying about the cost. The problem was that sometimes we did think about the cost, but in the opposite way. We paid XX for the plan for each day, so I'm going to have another steak... It was nice to do and I'd consider it if we went during free dining or something like that, but we have been very happy using TIW instead for the last 7 years worth of trips.

 

[hsmamato2]

I feel as though I am more of a graze eater myself! Especially when it is hot outside.

What is the app for keeping up with Disney gift cards?

I am sorry I can't remember the name of it.... I just downloaded from the app store tho.... I know it's on another thread around here somewhere....

 

[loves to dive]

Through the years I've done both. When the dining plan included 3 meals, and a snack we enjoyed it since you got an ap, entre and not a dessert. We stayed with it when they went to two full meals a day and kept the ap and entre. I used it once with the new plan of QS and TS a day with one snack and no ap but a dessert. I found I didn't really like that option since I still tend to order an ap and don't often want dessert. Now I go oop and find I enjoy my meals more and most times save money. I usually eat kids meals for breakfast and lunch since I don't like heavy meals during the day and often that is even more food than I can eat. For supper I either order an ap as my meal then have dessert or find the lightest thing on the menu and get an ap and no dessert. It's just too much food for me. I also tend to snack a lot at Epcot and don't actually get a meal for lunch at all. I found that more often than not when free dining is offered it works out less for me to get a room discount and pay for my meals. But again, I'm not a huge meal eater and like the freedom to just eat what I what.

 

[bemily]

We went for 10 days last August...3 of us...myself and 2 kids (age 16 and 12), so paid for 3 adults. My daughter kept track of everything we "spent" on the dining plan. We felt like we ate wayyyy too much food to use the credits and then had to pay out of pocket for somethings. I paid $100 for the dining plan than what it would have cost me out of pocket, and we did 2 or 3 character meals (Akershus, Crystal Palace and maybe 1 more I cant think of). I would have never spent that much money on food because I was eating dessert when I never would have ordered it some nights, etc. So, I dont think it is worth it anymore (I had it twice when I got it "free" as a promotion, but will never pay for it again).

You can still book all your meals/character meals whether or not you have it, so I am not sure what the convenience actually is.

 

[lauradis]

We have done them all off site, oop, qs, reg, deluxe.

We don't get the dinning plan unless is "freeish" then we normally upgrade to deluxe.

We eat what we want with or without the plan. The only difference I notice is when on the deluxe dinning plan we tend to order all the apps and desserts and not eat them all. think more like taste testing. which makes us tip more. We normally have snack credits left over at the end.

But if money wasn't in the factors I really do like the deluxe plan.

This trip we want to do V&A, shula which arent part of the dinning plan, so it might not work for us

 

[2China2009]

We have been to Disney 4times in the last 6yrs. We gave done the DP every time. Our first time we did a lot of sit down meals and I did not like that b/c we have to make the reservation times and with 2 little girls that did not always work out. The last 3 times we have gone we have done QS and that works out great for us. We just got back 3 weeks ago and did the play,stay and dine and for 5nights/6days our trip was around $1700 so our food was dirt cheap. We love the Columbia Harbour House, Wolfgang puck at DTD and loved to eat around the world showcase at Epcot. Most of our snack credits were used around the world showcase. For us it is totally worth it and I like the fact it is all paid for. I figure we are in vacation so it by no means breaks the bank and if we are just saving $100 no big deal. We would not change a thing about it. The one thing I do notice when people are paying out of pocket they are scrutinzing every decision they make and making comments that the food is so expensive. I love to eat anyway so bring on the desserts.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

We like to do DDP but do not see it as a money saver. It also consumes lots of time. We like to spend time at Disney eating great food and having a nice relaxing time with our adult children. If money was my concern I would not get DDP. I would share some meals and not eat at as many TS restaurants.

 

[dromio42]

We used it when it included an appetizer and tips - that was great. We got to try a lot of restaurants we never would have otherwise. My suggestion, if you are looking for the convenience of 'prepaid', is to put your food budget on a gift card. You have already paid for it and you can eat what ever you please instead of the right amount of entrees and snacks and desserts. I imagine if DDP is the kinds of foods you eat in a day then it would be a great choice.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We use the DDP every year, but not so much because it is a "deal", but because I like the all inclusive feel of using it. I know people say to calculate up how much you would spend and just put that in envelopes for your meals, but I know myself well enough to know that I would still order the cheapest thing at every restaurant to "save money".

We also always go during Food and Wine, so the snack credits are great for that. Some of those food samplings are close to $7.

I know a lot of people say that they feel like it is just too much food, but DH and I are pretty big eaters, so we don't feel like anything is wasted. The only thing that we probably wouldn't order every time are the QS deserts. I would probably get a desert at a place that had something neat like specialty cupcakes, but I wouldn't order the little pre-made chocolate cake if I were paying OOP.

 

[tzeitel]

We have done qsdp, ddp and dxdp. The dxdp was way too much food - more like way to much time spent in restaurants - but it was a gift from DFIL so I was not going to say no . We ended up doing a bunch of signatures, character meals, and shows. The qsdp was good but we do like one TS a day. The ddp was great for us since DD was still considered a child and we went to a bunch of family style and/or character meals - but I wish it had 2 snacks instead of just one. Now that DD is a Disney adult (but she still eats like a kid) it is not worth it. Last trip we did OOP and it ended up working in our favor - but we did not do any character meals or signatures.

I think the DDP works best for families with several kids doing buffets. The price of one buffet is equal to one full day on the plan for kids.

 

[dalmatian7]

We have done with and without. I like the pre paid aspect of it and I am a dessert person. That said, now that I would have to pay for my picky eater we will prob go to OOP or disney gift cards.

No one mentioned it but an adult can swap their CS dessert for a kids applesauce or yogurt.

 

[Mouse3Dad]

We have done the Dining Plan once, and then another year Out of Pocket.

Since I am the planner I am pretty sure we will always include it now in the cost of our vacation.

The year we didn't get the plan our total cost for food and hotel as $2350.19. The year we got the Dining plan and hotel cost was $2795.08 (Tips included).

Both trips were the exact same amount of days (7 days).

A few items to note.
Our first trip for $2250, we had 2 meals that were TS (CRT and Biertgarden).
Our family is more the desert family anyways, so we rarely order an appetizer.


Even though it is more expensive, and we spent one of our last days on our trip filling up with Rice Crispy treats and chocolate goodies at DTD Goofy's, the character meals and other TS meals make it all worth it for us.

 

[tigger51276]

I have done the DDP a good handful of times thinking I was saving money and for the convenience of having everything paid for. However like others have said, I wasn't really saving money. I am not a huge sweets and dessert person, that being said there are a lot of desserts at Disney I do like and I find myself eating them even though I'm beyond stuffed simply because I've already paid for them! I hate the idea of ordering meals just to "maximize" the plan. There have been times I've wanted a simple chicken dish or pasta dish but I won't order it because then I'm not "utilizing" the plan correctly. I've told myself a few times that i'd buy the plan and not care about the price of what i'm ordering and go with what I want, but in the end my frugal side takes over and I get something I don't want. I feel like I spend so much time researching menus to plan where we will eat and what snacks we will get.
I actually sat down and spent a few hours making a sample meal chart according to what park we would be in and what meals we would most likely order and I can say that it came out that the meal plan was more expensive as we don't do dessert and usually share snacks or bring them into the parks with us. It wasn't a huge savings, maybe $100 for myself and my two kids, but it was still a savings.
We go every year for 2 weeks and I can honestly say i'm kind of tired of Disney food so I tend to make most of our meals at our hotel. I save a boat load of money and feel like we are able to eat healthier. We have always done breakfast in the room (cereal, bagels, toast, fruit, granola bars) as I just bring the dry goods with us and then get the perishable stuff there. And then we eat at a few of our favorite places: Boma, Crystal Palace, Norway Princess Dinner and then one other table service and then a couple of counter service meals. I bring a snack bag for each kid with me that they pick out in the morning and then we will usually get something to share at the parks: funnel cake, popcorn, huge sundae.
As a side note, I always book our first night separately and do purchase the Deluxe Dining Plan for that night. For one adult and 2 kids we are able to get 3 table service meals, 2 snacks and our resort refillable mugs each for about $140. Because my kids are kids it does save a boatload of money as we are able to get in our favorite meals, just bites that we have to do it in the first 24 hours. Now once my oldest is no longer a "kid" it will not be worth it and that will happen next year.

 

[dpswift]

It depends on where you want to eat. At character meals and other buffets it is a money saver. The one time I did not get the plan we would have saved money with it.

For DH the food is a big part of the trip. He loves trying and eatings foods we do not get at home. We save money this way.

For me I tend to cheap out when paying out of pocket. It does not matter how much I have put aside for food. I get cranky and resentful when DH orders what he wants. For these reasons the dining plan is a must for us.

 

[scrapquitler]

We just pay out of pocket. I've done the math and it's cheaper for us that way.
-we do QS only, maybe one TS during the trip (but definitely not a character meal)
-we wouldn't eat the desserts
-we don't eat that many 'meals', we tend to share QS meals at meal times and then eat lots of snacks throughout the day
-DS is an 'adult' for Disney purposes but still will eat mostly off the kids menu (heck, I do sometimes too)

 

[HeyKoolaid]

Once our boys started eating like adults, we switched to the dining plan. We don't count prices or scheme to maximize benefits, rather the idea is that we are on vacation and the dining plan encourages us to try restaurants we would otherwise avoid because of cost. We have, with few exceptions, been delighted with our choices.

 

[Pooh2]

Alot of people say they do the dining plan for convenience sake because it's paid for ahead. We put about the same amount on a gift card that it would have cost us for the dining plan. We had $168 left on the gift card when we came home. And we bought a few nonfood items with the gift card as well so that is proof enough that it does not work for us. Definitely would not buy the dining plan after that!

 

[nooneshome]

put us in the category of - we only get it if it is FD because we save more money than getting a room only discount. We don't eat that much so there is no value in paying for the DP.

 

[Judique]

I like to do the dining plan for a one night stay. I've done deluxe and dined at Narcoossee's or we've gone to a buffet we wanted to try. A week on the dining plan is far too much time and far too many calories.

Dining plan was really cheap for awhile so much so that Disney was losing money. It was a no brainer then - you couldn't lose. Disney had to raise the price and it certainly lost it's luster.

It still has it's place. There are people who want the perceived convenience.

 

[jerseygirl82]

We are DVC owners and have yet to try the dining plan. We will be adding it to our upcoming trip simply because we are going with a large group (6 adults, 5 year old and an infant). While we go every other year, our travel companions haven't been since EPCOT opened. We are also traveling with big eaters, so most of our TS meals will be buffet and/or character meals. With a party this large I don't want to deal with dividing bills, collecting money, etc. Instead I will collect dining plan money up front and have one less thing to stress about on vacation.