Do most people get the Disney Dining Plan?

[2cats1kid]

We went at Easter this year and had 5 nights on the DDP (then 3 night cruise then 6 nights w/o the DDP). We scheduled our non-Disney days (Seaworld, Busch etc.) to be on the second half so all the 5 days on the DDP were in Disney. Even at that we struggled to eat all the food and were eating things just to use up the credits. We came out ahead in terms of what we paid versus what we ate, but I'm not so sure that if we compared what we paid versus what we would have eaten had we been paying OOP that the same would be true. e.g. we would never normally eat a dessert with a CS meal, but did just because we could.

We will be over again in 2011 (14 nights again - not worth any less from the UK really) and will not be doing the DDP. I did a sample plan, and with the offsite days we are planning, we'd be doing 2TS things we wouldn't normally do just to use up all the credits. Now you could look on that as an opportunity to try restaurants you wouldn't normally try, but we see it as eating for the sake of it, really.

Also, we come over at Easter and they are slapping an extra $5pppn on the DDP then, so it makes it less attractive still - I was wibbling over the viability of it before they announced the change.

I worked out that for the 3 of us at $46 pppn or whatever it is, it would come to about $2000 for the 14 nights, so I've taken out a prepaid debit card, and I am aiming that by Easter 2011 I will have $2000 stashed away on it, so all our food (bar tips) will be paid for anyway. I'm also watching the exchange rate to put money on the card when £/$ rate is favourable. Then when we are at Universal we can eat at some of the Citywalk places, maybe try Bahama Breeze one night, or House of Blues, and not worry about wasting credits. I think it will work out much better for us this way.

 

[Fundytrail]

We like the regular DDP with one TS per day, as we like to sit and relax at least once a day. Once we have booked the DDP it motivates me to book reservations as there is nothing worse trying to find a restaurant seat at the last minute while at DW. Cost wise it usually saves us money in the long run. I believe it cost us a bit over $40 per person per day this year, below are some sample meals some will be more while others will be less.

Lunch at Pecos Bill; Chicken Wrap $7.59, orange juice $2.39 & yoga $1.99 = $11.97

Snack; Bottle of water $2.00

Dinner at Le Cellar; Pan-seared Halibut $24.99, side Cream Cheese Mashed Potato $3.49, Desert $6.99 & Chocolate Shake $4.29 = $39.76

Our only complaint is you can be somewhat limited to restaurants that accept the DDP in Down Town Disney.

 

[Uncleromulus]

robinbutterfly:
TIW is the Tables in Wonderland card available to Annual Passholders and Florida residents. It allows for a 20% discount on food AND alcohol at many Disney restaurants. At the moment it also includes free valet parking.
The particulars can be found under the general "dining" heading here on the boards.

 

[tricia]

We always get the dining plan. We have had it back when the apps and tips were included, and also since they are not, and we were there for free dining this year.

We get it cause it fits perfectly with how I eat on vacation. I like to sit down an have dinner brought to me, but I like to get something quick for lunch. So, we use CS for lunch, and TS for dinner every night. I could prob. deal without dessert at lunch, and each having a dessert at dinner (we would share sometimes if not on the plan) but, all 4 of us eat our own meal at lunch and dinner, and we do a couple of buffets every trip, so it is worth it for us.

 

[bellemeeko1]

We never get it.....it just isnt practical for us.....I dont like feeling obligated to eat at least 3 meals a day, I like to grab and go maybe make a ADR or two, but we prefer the sites and rides over food.....we figure $10/person/meal/day is plenty for us, thats what we budget but never use or go over!

 

[xenole]

I haven't bothered. I've got 3 breakfast ADRs booked mainly for the characters and if I eat enough, that will keep me full until the early evening.

Planning on spending some time outside the Disney parks as well so I'll eat whenever and wherever.

Last time I was there, only ate something like a burger around lunchtime and a snack in the evening perhaps. Mostly spent money on drinks due to the heat.

As already mentioned, 3 meals a day seems to much for me. Some of them are big enough to really fill you up and I don't want to be eating for the sake of eating / getting my money's worth. I know you could always save up credits and get a load of treats on your last day, but it's a waste really unless of course you're on the free dining plan.

 

[princessbee]

I don't know if we'll get it in the future, but we've decided not to get it for our future trip, simply because overall, it's cheapest to stay in a place that has a kitchen and make our own food. We're not big on eating out, and we'd much rather spend our time touring the parks than sitting down waiting for food.

 

[Planogirl]

I don't ever plan on getting the DP. I don't think that the food is all that good at many places plus we don't eat that much when we travel. Just personal preferences.

Of course, we could change our mind depending on prices. I always say never say never.

 

[PolyAddict]

We never do the dining plan with our family of 5.

I always book 7 sit downs for our 7 night trips but generally only keep 4/5 of them and cancel the others. When we eat CS a lot of times we share meals and never get dessert.

For our 8 night trip coming up, i have a budget of $1497 for food with 8 sit downs. DDP with tips would be $300 more. In all reality, we will not do all 8 sit downs so dining is an area we can save in, if we choose.

 

[tinkbyday]

For us, we found the DDP to be a great value if you want to do a sit down nice restaurant every night. But, I found this to be so restrictive. Sometimes, I just want t quick burger and be on my way.

I just felt like we were planning our whole trip around eating and that isn't fun for us...so we have gone without the DDP the last couple of trips and found we actually either broke even or saved a bit.

 

[blanq]

My family used to get the DDP when an appetizer was included with the TS meals and tips were included. Now, I am not as much of a fan. We don't like dessert with every meal and sometimes we would prefer an appetizer. If the plan was more flexible, for example you could choose an appetizer or dessert with TS meals, we might do the plan. I also would do the plan if we went during a free DDP period, but we generally have not traveled during those periods.

 

[karen l]

We enjoy having meals pre-paid so the dining plan works well for us.

 

[SummerIrmoma2_3]

We have gotten DDP for both of our previous trips. I am a foodie so I love sitting down and ordering anything I want off the menu. If I was paying OPP I always go for the cheaper options even if I really want something a bit pricier. I have considered not doing the DDP for our next trip as the value seems to be narrowing every year (our first trip DDP was almost $10/ adult cheaper and included appi and tip) but I am not sure how to budget for dining and I like that it is paid and taken care of so I don't have to worry about running out of money to eat while I am there. I book my ADRs and I know I have enough credits to cover them all. Now if only I can get dh to stop using all of our snack credits on soda for himself I would be in business.

 

[mybabesuz]

We always get the DDP for now because we have three kids under 10.
It is a definite value for kids. The kids really love the Character Meals.
However once the kids reach 10yo. it wouldn't be a value anymore and we probably won't get it then.

 

[Tiggr88]

The only time I got it was when it was free. Especially with the changes last year to eliminate the appetizer and not include the tip, I don't think it is worth it. Unlike others who like the 'all-inclusive" feel to it, I actually find it more of a hassle to keep track of the credits and to make sure that the CM's understand and apply the credits properly.

If you actaully go to that many TSmeals, then the cost difference ir probably not that much, but we usually spend less and get more flexibility without it.

 

[brunette8706]

We used to do it back when appetizers and tips were included, but not anymore. We do tend to eat at least one sit-down meal per day, but we also tend to share pretty much the whole meal and since we're big drinkers (well, we're actually kinda small, we just drink 3-4 drinks each with our meal), the TiW card works out better for us. My kids don't tend to eat the typical stuff they have on the kids' menus, so without the DDP I can order off of the adult menu for them as well, and they also share. We typically share CS meals as wel, and would never get dessert for those, nor do we each get one snack per day.

Personally, I think the DDP has resulted in a tremendous drop in the quality and variety of the food served at Disney. When I lived there 10 years ago, Disney had some of (if not, on average, the best) restaurants in the area. Now most of them are variations of the same meat/fish/chicken. The hard part for Disney was getting people to buy into their meal plan, once they were able to get most on-site guests to do so, trimming the menus, buying in bulk, increasing prices (it doesn't matter to those that are on the DDP - except that they pay much more in gratuity than they otherwise would), simplifying their offerings, and overall increasing their profit from food sales is easy for a company of that size once they have you committed to eating all of your meals there.

Something else most people probably don't think about is that the DDP allows Disney to increase their room rates over what they otherwise would be able to do. I know that there are tons of people out there that will swear on how great of a deal it is, but I just don't agree. I didn't even take advantage of the "free" dining this time because it added $1000 to our stay, and we will more than be able to feed ourselves on what the DDP would have provided for less than that.

Hi! I totally concur! The FREE so called dining isn't really free. They either offer you a discounted hotel rate (withOUT FREE dining) or you pay full price for the hotel and have FREE dining! We just can't justify the $40.00 per person DDP either, and it for the duration of your stay. We also have the TiW, it's a great buy! Thanks All! Brunette

 

[Debbie-TN]

We used the dining plan when it was free, but when it's not free it works out cheaper for us to get the AP discount room and buy our own food . I don't like soda with meals and we don't need a dessert a every meal.

 

[The Expert]

We did the math early on and figured we wouldn't save much, if anything, and it didn't match our eating style at WDW.

Our trips are usually just me and DH. We often have a late TS lunch and have a snack for dinner, or we do a nice TS dinner somewhere that would require two credits or that isn't on the plan at all. We thankfully don't have to really worry much about what we order and almost always have a few drinks and a bottle of wine.

As many others have said, we find the TiW card works best for us. We are DVC owners and AP holders so don't qualify for free dining either.

 

[saraheliz]

i haven't been since 2006 and didn't use the ddp back then.

for our upcoming trip, i sat down with all of the menus and compared ddp cost vs no ddp. the cost was virtually the same, however the food was different. with the ddp, i wasn't always getting what would have been my "first choice" - ie if i had planned a night in dd, i would have had dessert with my meal, when what i really would want is a ghiradelli sundae.

so, why the "less stress- already paid for" part was appealing, in the end i decided not to go with it so that i could get what i wanted (apps instead of dessert, or a meal once place and dessert somewhere else) without worrying about trying to fit it into the plan.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Basic plan for us works out well with our eating patterns, plus it saves us a good chunk of money...for now that is. I have 2 small children, both under age 9. The plan is worth it for them alone. We LOVE character dinners, and they cost more for a child than one night on the DDP for them, plus they get an additional CS meal and snack. That is a great value for us since we do a lot of these types of meals. For DH and myself, we save some but not nearly as much as the kids. When the kids are older and we are venturing out more to Universal and Sea World, we'll re-assess and see if the plan is worth it. If not we will pay OOP. If it is we will still get it. Who knows...I have 2 boys and my DH swears that by the time they are each 10 or over, they will be eating WAY more than $42 worth of food (in today's money...who knows how much it would be then but it's all relative)!!!! He thinks by then we will need the deluxe plan even though we will be going off-site more! LOL, I am sure he's just kidding but it's kind of funny! Thanks goodness we have DVC and stay in a 1-bedroom. That kitchen will come in handy for the full-size fridge and microwave alone...that is for the future when they will be putting US to bed, and staying up late in their own space watching TV and pigging out! That's what having sons is all about right?!