DL dining plan

[disneegrl4eva]

I was thinking about the dining plan at wdw and it got me to thinking about DL dining plan and it really stinks....the DP at wdw is sooooooooo much better I think partly because there is so much more to choose from as far as restaurants...I could go to 3 TS restaurants a day and never get to all that I would like to...and I would never have to even hit a CS at all...in DL thats mostly what you get and the hotels have one restaurant they do a character meal in and how many times are we going to go to those in a lifetime??? Dont get me wrong I do really love GK, Minnie and Friends and Lilo and Stitch breakfast but what are the alternatives really? CS thats just so so??? The only CS I have ever really liked there is Bengal BBQ and both pizza port and Pizza oom mow mow, coke corner and the red wagon (but to me those 2 are snack places) and there are a few more in DCA that I like..I started figuring that the package that would suit someone who was there for a week would give...

2 character breakfast
5 breakfast in the park
4 character dinner (2 of them at GK)
because I never do character lunch
5 snack voucher
2 $10 meal voucher $20
2 $15 meal voucher $30

I think I would be sick of GK by the time I was back from my trip ...and the DL plan doesnt really save you money it just lets you prepay

 

[mechurchlady]

I agree and others buy Disney Dollars or get gift cards to budget. I could not eat that much food and be happy. I am used to one big dinner and small snacks through the day. Now WDW on the other hand would fit me fine. I could eat breakfast or dinner as my table service. For those of us with special diets or who eat later in the day WDW is fine.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

and the DL plan doesnt really save you money it just lets you prepay

I think this is where the DL vouchers sorta fail when it compares to WDW DP. The DP saves you money at least right? I would be fine with the eateries that are already in DLR if they had a plan that saved you money. Yeah, we have APs, but I think it would be of great value for a DP with people who have 3 or more in their family.

And what really sucks about the vouchers is you loose money if you don't give them exact change. If you want to have your meals prepaid just get a gift card.

 

[mechurchlady]

If you are getting WDW DP for free then yes. I was checking and it is $40 a day. So ask yourself if one counter service, one snack, and one table service would equal $40 or more a day average.

http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/packages/2009-packages.htm#mypd
Prime Time Cafe is about $25 for dinner and drink.
Counter Service for meal and drink is about $9 to $12
Popcorn or other snack is $5 max

So you can lose money or save about $2 or more if you eat really good table service meals and buffets as well as getting the more expensive foods. Some people split meals or snacks to make the dining last longer such as split one meal twice then use the extra table service for something big like character meals. Two small eaters could split meals and thus have like 3 meals a day.

There is no vouchers to use so either you pig out and get more than your money's worth or order cheap stuff and lose money. It balances out usually.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

i like them an try storytellers it is far better then GK
ive added it up it by far is a good deal tho it is not as good as wdw i do hope dl changes soon

 

[PinkBudgie]

I find it outrageous that DLR don't give you change back. It is your money after all. The least they could do is put it on a gift card or give the Disney money.

I have been reading about the WDW plan and while it seems like a much better deal, I still wouldn't buy it. It still sounds like too much food and then I would have to plan the entire day around trying to get to my table service place that I would have had to make ADRs for months earlier. If I didn't go then I would feel like I was wasting money. I'd rather not be chained to a table.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

ok sure with out the character meals im doing id feel like its a waits.
gk-dinner
princess breakfast.
storytellers yum
Plaza inn
an now bbq
another thing is at least with these meal things i dont have to dig an figure out tax an tip its all included an for some reason wdw it isnt

 

[disneegrl4eva]

yeah but jade your still new to DL...the novelty hasnt worn off and you havent eaten a ton at all of the places so for you especially with 3 people that might work but I was talking about for me...I dont like storytellers personally and I HATE the food at Ariels Grotto...now that they are bringing back the bbq though I would be all over that...I was so mad when they took it out which obviously was a STUPID idea to begin with because they are bringing it back...granted its different but I bet the food is still the same as it used to be...and no your right about not having to figure out tax but at least you dont lose money...thats ridiculous

 

[JadeDarkstar]

lynn i like you easter stuff on the siggy.

an ya true. the lunch sucked at the princess we will do the breakfast as long as it all still goes good.
We are looking things over an may re budget things this year If we find out Fantasmic wont be playing (a high chance) then we can cancel a day an make it a smaller trip an less on the food plan. It wont save me any for playing around with it will just go to paying off other things)

 

[Sherwin]

I always thought if there was one thing that Parks and Resorts should really focus on, it's Dining at DLR.

 

[jessica52877]

I don't find that the dining plan at WDW would save us money what so ever. We would come close to breaking even but that would only be if we all drank sodas instead of water and ordered desserts (that we normally would not order). We tend to enjoy lunch at table service restaurants so that comes into play a bit but not much.

Overall there are very few days we come out ahead (if paying). We are hitting free dining for our 4th time and LOVE it!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

lynn i like you easter stuff on the siggy.

an ya true. the lunch sucked at the princess we will do the breakfast as long as it all still goes good.
We are looking things over an may re budget things this year If we find out Fantasmic wont be playing (a high chance) then we can cancel a day an make it a smaller trip an less on the food plan. It wont save me any for playing around with it will just go to paying off other things)

glad you liked it..now that Ive taken it down

I don't find that the dining plan at WDW would save us money what so ever. We would come close to breaking even but that would only be if we all drank sodas instead of water and ordered desserts (that we normally would not order). We tend to enjoy lunch at table service restaurants so that comes into play a bit but not much.

well as I said originally, Im not much into CS so the basic DP wouldnt really work for me...I would definitely lose money for sure...however, what I did was made a list of all the places I realistically could do for the time I would be there, picked specific days and whether it would be for B, L, or D...then I went through the menus and added up all the cost it would be at the end of my trip and I even included a couple snack things I really want to try and for me just the TS every day and a couple of snacks came out to be just shy a few $$ what the DDP would be and that doesnt include all of what I would get with the DDP so for me its a no brainer....