Disney Dining

[JLKennedy]

We booked our 2008 vacation through AAA for the Wilderness Lodge. We purchased the deluxe dining (which is 2 snacks and 3 meals per day, per person, per night you stay). You get to choose how you spend your 3 meals...3 table, 3 counter, 2 table & 1 counter (so on). With the deluxe plan, you get an appetizer at your table meals. On the regular, you lost the appetizer. You lost gratuity on both plans, with the exception of Cinderella's Royal Table, Hoop-Dee-Doo-Revue, Spirit of Aloha and Mickey's BBQ...all of these have gratuity included in them.

Also, with the deluxe dining, you qualify for category 1 seating at dinner shows, versus 2 or 3 with regular.

For the extra couple hundred bucks, I booked the deluxe. I'd rather hear everyone say, I can't eat another bite, than be screaming about how hungry they are.

 

[Cool-Beans]

If you want to eat one table service and one counter service meal each day and it the numbers for the DP are lower than those you're coming up with, do it.

If not, don't.

I don't like the dining plan. It is a pain in the butt planning-wise and I often prefer more sit-down meals (and fewer fast-food) meals than it allows.

 

[JLKennedy]

Cool-Beans,

It is for that same reason, I prefer the deluxe, more sit downs than on the go. IMO, it'll be well worth the money spent for it. We used it last year when it was free and thoroughly enjoyed it (with 2 kids).

 

[Cool-Beans]

Cool-Beans,

It is for that same reason, I prefer the deluxe, more sit downs than on the go. IMO, it'll be well worth the money spent for it. We used it last year when it was free and thoroughly enjoyed it (with 2 kids).

I don't need 3 meals, though. Two is enough (sometimes more than enough!) I also like to offsite sometimes.

I don't know if it would save money or not. The dining plan just requires more structure than I want to have. And it isn't easier in any way - I'm handing over the same card whether they charge the room or debit the DP credits.

I think it is great for people who will save money and/or get what they want, though!

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Im new at all of this...can anyone tell me what the abbreviations stand for? (DDH, DD, DS, DDE, AP...?) Thanks.

Someone's siggy has a link to a listing of the commonly used acronyms on the DIS. The most common ones are DH (dear husband), DS (dear son), DD (dear daughter). DDE is the Disney Dining Experience which is a discount card you can buy if you have an AP (annual pass) or if you're a FL resident. DDE is good for 20% off your meals at table-service restaurants. DDP is the Disney Disney Plan.

Hope this helps!

 

[TinkerBelle314]

Thanks so much, that is very helpful. Sometimes it can be hard to follow.

 

[lam712]

We had the dining plan two years ago for myself, my husband and two teenagers (one girl and one boy). We were fortunate to have it free during our time period, but even if we had paid I believe it would have been worth it. This was our first trip where I wasn't trying to constantly budget our money for food and snacks. We were all able to order exactly what we wanted from the menu. Granted, on other trips we did not eat table service more than once or twice during the week but we enjoyed them. We tried restaurants we had only dreamed of on previous trips. The only downside is the amount of time the table service meals take. There was so much food at the table service meals that I believe the elimination of the appetizer ifor 2008s a good thing. We were so stuffed we could not enjoy our desserts at many of the table service meals.
You'll have to decide how much time you wish to take out of your park time and how many table service or character meals you would like to attend. All the menus and prices are listed on allearsnet.com and you can make a better decision after reviewing what you think you and your family want to eat during your stay.
We plan to visit WDW at the end of August 2008 and I pray they offer free dining again. My college age son will also be coming with the four of us for this trip and I really don't want to worry about keeping him fed for the trip! We will either purchase the plan or stay off property in a house to stay within our budget!

 

[My2Angels]

My kids love the character meals! With the DDP we can do one each day if we want and the DDP is only $9.99 per day per child. One character meal is $12.99 per child. This is just the one TS per day that they get. Each child still gets a snack and a CS for the day for the $9.99. To me, it is a good value! We saved all receipts from our last trip on the DDP and added the $$ amounts the meals would have cost us (mostly character meals) and we figured we saved almost $500 on food for the family by using the DDP! Of course, that did include tips, but I still think it is a good value. We easily would have spent over $100 per TS meal, about $45-50 per CS, and $20 per snack if paying OOP.

 

[Ihave3daughters]

I'm in the same boat as the OP (original poster...). We have 5, me, wife, and 3 daughters 13, 11, and 8. They don't eat much. We're planning on 8 days in June 2008, and I have decided against the DDP. It would cost $170.00 a day, PLUS I'd have to shell out $30-40 in tips? I don't think so.

We'll just muddle through as best we can budgeting $200 a day in food... I think we can manage. We may only get 1 or 2 really nice sit-down meals for the trip, but I am spending enough for the trip and don't want to play their game when it comes to eating. Just my opinion...

 

[khurley23]

Does anyone know if the price is still the same and they are just giving less food, or have they also dropped the price to reflect the changes?

If I remember correctly, the 2008 plan is cheaper by $1.00 a day. Definately not enough for taking away appetizers and tips if you ask me. I'm glad I'm going in November!

 

[PortieOwner]

I have had the free dining plan twice in the past and it worked great.

I doubt I would pay for the 2008 DDP though for the following reasons:

1. We like big breakfasts and tend to hit morning character buffets (Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Faire, Chef Mickeys, etc.). Especially if we have these late in the morning (11am seating) we don't need lunch. Character buffets continue to be fairly (relatively) cheap.

2. We also like dinner buffets (Cape May, Boma, Akserhus, etc.) which are also relatively cheap compared to a sit-down at a place like LeCellier.

3. CS credits tend to be used either on mornings when we don't have a breakfast scheduled, or as an early-AM snack at resort CS to tide us over until the 11am buffet. CS also gets used on those evenings when we don't want to do a sit-down dinner.

4. Eating a breakfast and dinner buffet every day means paying OOP anyway for meals. We never did use all our CS or snack credits.

5. I like a lot of the off-World restaurants and would like to visit more of them. Being on the DDP forces you to stay on-World.

6. I really like the WDW resort hotels, but it looks like there are some very nice resorts off-property, and there is even the opportunity to bring the family dog along if we rent a home for a week. Can't do that with the DDP.

 

[JLKennedy]

My thoughts are that we're at the World for a reason...we're not vacationing or visiting "greater Orlando areas", so I'll dine in the world. But hey, that's just me.

You can bring your dog to Ft. Wilderness camps for an additional fee (likely the same fee that an off-site hotel would charge)

 

[PortieOwner]

My thoughts are that we're at the World for a reason...we're not vacationing or visiting "greater Orlando areas", so I'll dine in the world. But hey, that's just me.

You can bring your dog to Ft. Wilderness camps for an additional fee (likely the same fee that an off-site hotel would charge)

I love camping but just can't do tent camping in Orlando in September. My wife would stage a bloody revolt.