Do most people get the Disney Dining Plan?

[rotlex]

We get it every trip, whether free, or paying for it. We ALWAYS come out ahead, and frankly, would not consider at trip without it. For myself, wife, and DD, DS is only 1 right now, the plan cost under $100 per day. Considering we do at least one character meal every day, that alone nearly pays for the plan. Not to mention the CS, and of course the snacks.

 

[winterman]

We have gotten Free Dining three times but will not pay for it. Mostly because it is not a good match for the way we eat. I usually prefer to eat a salad and an appetizer, rather than an entree. I love to eat dessert at TS restaurants but DH can take it or leave it.

Our last vacation was 10 days during Sept. free dining. We chose to use FD on the first 5 nights at ASMu. Then we moved to POFQ for 5 nights, where we did not take FD. Instead we used a 40% pin for the room and paid OOP for our meals. It worked great for us.

 

[RMulieri]

I always get the dining plan.Like having the bulk of my dining paid for in advance

 

[Brian Noble]

We don't, because it doesn't really fit our style. We never quite seem to average one TS meal per day---we've done anywhere from two to six on a seven-night stay---and the more TS meals we do, the more likely some of them are inexpensive. For example, we'll have breakfast or a quick lunch some days, or might have dinner at Plaza, that sort of thing. We have never, not once, spent as much just eating what we feel like eating as the regular Dining Plan costs. But, we like to have *some* TS meals, so the QSDP doesn't make sense for us either.

 

[robinbutterfly]

No. WE rarely do lunch, never any buffets, never any snacks, never any CS. And we always order drinks and an appetizer with dinner and have one meal at V&A each trip.
TIW is a much better value for us.

What is TIW?

 

[deedeetoo]

We did the DDP once, back when it included appetizers and tips. It was a good value than. We have not done it since.

Whether it works for you or not depends on how you plan to eat. While there are several reasons the DDP doesn't make sense for us, the biggest factor is a preteen daughter who still eats off the kids menu when given a choice. We would have to pay for her as an adult on the DDP. This really tips the scale away from the DDP for us.

 

[LegoMom3]

We have done the regular Dining Plan twice (both times during the "free" promotion). As a family of 5 with three growing boys, it works for us. I also love having the bulk of our meals paid for ahead of time.

Now, that being said, I will say that the next time we go, we'll be using the new Quick Service plan. Partly because I'm ready for the freedom of just eating at whatever is convenient to where we happen to be at the time, and partly because of the OOP tips required for TS now. It may not be a big deal to some parties, but the tab at a Disney TS restaurant for 5 people can be large!! We spent a lot of $$ on tips last year.

So yes, I will continue to get the DDP, at one level or another!

.

 

[robinbutterfly]

Well if we eat at 3 TS it will be around 300 dollars. I am sure Groceries are going to cost at least 100. So that is 400 dollars. the DDP is 650. So I am wondering if it is worth paying the extra 250 to get 3 more TS, 20 snacks, and 6 CS meals.

 

[MissBritt]

I purchased the DXDDP for my 4 day trip in December, and the QSDP for my 1 day trip in January. Based on our eating habits, days vs nights, special events like CP, I see how we can come out ahead in December and save just a few dollars in January. I also like having everything but tips paid in advance. That said, I will probably skip it from then on for short trips with my SP, since the price is rising, and inclusions are dropping.

 

[SGMCO]

We've gotten Free Dining 2 times and loved it.
I wouldn't hesitate to pay for the plan because it is so easy to
use and I know it saves money because some of the places we ate at
were very expensive (I wouldn't want to pay OOP for those).
3 years ago on our 1st FD trip we ate at CM for dinner and for the 3 of us
DS (10 years) cost $104.00 and it was terrible food (I felt ripped off even
though it was Free--I would have really been mad if I had to pay for that
bad food). Tony' Town Square 3 years ago was $125.00 for the 3 of us for
Lunch. Food is expensive at Disney, it's so much more relaxing
to be on the plan and order any entree' you would like and not
worry about how much it cost (that would be a bummer on Vacation).

 

[ksbean]

When we went with DH's family in 2007 we did the dining plan. It was easier for the family to budget their meals that way and back then it was a great deal.

When its just DH and I we pay OOP. We find we prefer to eat at more table service restaurants than quick service. For the two of us we tend to budget about $100 a day for food. If we plan on going twice in a year and buy annual passes we purchase the Tables of Wonderland to get 20% off table service.

It really depends on your eating habits in determining if a dining plan will work for you. The menus will give you an idea of what is available and the prices. It also depends on when you are going. Disney tends to raise prices at buffets during the holidays.

 

[Pakey]

We've tried the regular and deluxe plans a few times and do not care for it. We are not interested in tracking spending/savings or trying to eat with a plan to make sure we get our money's worth out of prepaid dining, especially since that would mean eating so much more food than we want.

We prefer the TIW and eating what we want and where we want, which includes many places that are not on the DDP (Victoria & Alberts, the restaurants at the Swan/Dolphin).

 

[disney queen]

as DVC members we are not eligible for free dining and the deluxe plan costs way too much both money and calorie wise for us. the TIW card is a much better deal for us.

 

[Judy in Texas]

Tried it when it was free... also not our style. Too much food, too many desserts. We make out better by eating at the CS restaurants and by not feeling like we need to order desserts at TS restaurants to get our $$ worth.

Also, if you stay at Fort Wilderness you can't take advantage of Free Dining - even with a prime site where you pay more for just the site than for a room with daily mousekeeping at some of the other resorts.

 

[TDC Nala]

I have used it a couple of times and I do not believe I will ever use it again. I don't like being restricted to restaurants that accept it. I know that's most of the restaurants, but I like some that don't. I also do not like being limited to entree and dessert at TS. Sometimes I don't want an entree and many times I don't want dessert.

I don't tend to keep track of how much money I spend per day.

 

[Praying Colonel]

For us it was a no-brainer before they changed it to remove the tip & appetizer. Now we price out our options & get the best deal. Last year we stayed at shades of Green, bought military tickets & paid for our meals OOP. This year it was better to go with the "free" DDP.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

We did a form of the deluxe dining plan our first two trips to WDW (3 TS meals a day, appetizer, entree, dessert, and drink per person per meal). After that we started paying OOP (although my parents did the DDP during our November 2008 trip). I save a lot more money than I know I'm going to spend so that I can feel free to order whatever I want while at WDW and not let the fact that I'm paying OOP deter me from getting something I really want. That being said this is what a typical day at WDW eating costs me (and my bf):

Breakfast: We don't do breakfast. I barely wake up to go get a soda with my refillable mug.

Lunch: Usually a TS place, sometimes CS. I budget about $35 for the two of us with tip.

Snack: If we're eating a late dinner we usually get an afternoon snack or we'll get one after dinner. I budget $10 total.

Dinner: After going so many times and looking at the menu's I can pretty much guess how much the meal I'm going to want will be. I try not to eat red meat or pork and steaks are usually the most expensive things on the menu's (so is seafood but I don't eat much of that either). Our meal is usually $65-$75 with tip for the both of us.

So I budget approx. $120 a day for the two of us which I figure when you include the tip into the DDP it comes up about the same (although we are eating at two TS places instead of the one that the DDP provides). Also, a few days we end up spending more around $90-$100 for the two of us as we'll eat a CS lunch or dinner or we'll eat at a buffet for dinner that'll usually run us about $50-$60.

It also makes it nice to be able to eat at two TS places a day and be able to take advantage of the 40% off room only codes we've used the past 4-5 trips (and purchase discount tickets through undercovertourist using the mousesavers link).

 

[doclegler]

mainly because each year, when I plan our trip, I check both options. Staying off-site and not getting the plan is much cheaper for us. This year it came out to $1000 cheaper! It really was a no-brainer for us. I even took our meal possibilities for each day and added everything up and it just wouldn't pay.

 

[mickey916]

We did the DDP back in 2006 when it included apps and tip and we definitely got our monies worth. However, we are not planning on getting it this time. I have done a spreadsheet and revised it a bunch of times trying to get it to be a savings for us and it just isn't. Would we get more food for our money? Absolutely. However based on the allears menus and what we would normally eat (with treats and all) it looks we'd just spend less without it, not to mention we wouldn't be eating when we weren't hungry, we could go to T-Rex instead of DDP TS, we could order an app instead of dessert sometimes, and I could use my Disney rewards to pay for some of the meals. I also couldn't see how we'd fit all the meals in our schedule, without having to be VERY focused on it. I REALLY wanted it to make sense to get it but it just doesn't for us...

 

[sydneysmom]

we booked our trip and got the deluxe DP.... I know what people say, it's alot of food... but the way we look at it, it's only alot of food if you eat alot of food. We're going w/ DD who is 4. so we're planning alot of character meals since this is her first time. we're looking forward to sitting down and relaxing for a while and also keeping her on a little schedule. the one thing we like, it's basically all paid for (except tips). so i kind of figured out approx how much we'll need in tips and we'll have a separate wallet for that. it's a nice feeling not to have to pay out of pocket (at that moment) for everything.... it also allows us to eat at places we might not have.