Do you BUY the meal plan?

[disneycake]

We don't buy the meal plan because for us it doesn't pay. We bring the small cereal cartons because it's healthier in the morning and gets us going much earlier than if we had to stop and eat something really big in our stomach. Also, a lot of the time we don't do TS because once the heat gets to me I hardly eat a thing, especially at night. The other thing is that I enjoy seeing what sparks my curiosity and sometimes that means have lots of little items throughout the day.

Now, if I was plan on eating at a lot of the TS restaurants than I would absolutely get the plan. Or perhaps if I had kids and knew we would be doing character breakfasts and such then it would be worthwhile.

As others have said it truly depends on your eating pattern. Some questions to ask your self - Do you like to eat a lot of food and sit-down for dinner every night? Do you know the restaurants you want to eat at? Who are you going with?

 

[Lisa Hale]

We will buy the plan the next time we go. In the past we've used the DDE (Disney Dining Experience) instead because we've been annual passholders. It was useful, but we'd hesitated to try the DDP, simply because we were unsure of it (creatures of habit, I guess). This year, we did get it for free, but we had already talked to a friend who got it last year and decided to buy it (total bonus that we got it for free). After sitting down with our receipts from last year (yep, we had them all), we would have saved quite a bit of money had we purchased the dining plan then.

I think it depends on your dining habits. If you frequently dine at TS meals and eat all other meals onsite, it will save money. We'll be there for 2 weeks with a TS meal every evening (and a couple of character breakfasts thrown in). We will definitely save money even with paying extra for the 2nd TS meal on those days when we have the breakfasts. Add to that the extra cost of tips and a dining budget can get crazy! Now that we know about it, we'll purchase it every visit (barring radical changes).

 

[ransom]

We buy it, and it's a good deal versus paying for table service every night. It basically pays for the salad, main course, dessert, beverages, tax, and tip for dinner each day. Then our lunches and snacks are free.

 

[DizneyNutz]

Do most of you eat this way at home or do you find yourselves ordering way may more at each meal than you normally would eat? To US it causes you to be restricted to ADRs and order more than we would normally eat, so it is not a good deal for US since we don't normally eat that much and don't want every dining meal planned out. That is just OUR preference and not everyones. We understand those who enjoy the dining as much as the vacation, but we rather prefer the flexibility, especially since we joined the DVC and know that we can experience the dining at our leisure. It really is up to what is YOUR family's desires. We don't prefer to be locked into having to be at a certain location as much as possible and like to have the freedom of touring at our leisure. Don't get me wrong, we do book some ADRs but just not every night. It is all about what you want in YOUR vacation. Either way you will not go wrong, because you are at Disney

 

[mmessler]

We don't buy it when we go. With our eating routines, it doesn't make sense. We usually only go with 3-4 TS meals within an 8-9 day vacation and don't actually always eat three meals a day either. It's a great deal if you do eat a TS per day and if you have kids. Some TS meals alone are worth the per night price, without throwing in the CS and snacks.

 

[pospisil]

We had planned on buying it, but are now part of free dining. ( ) We got free dining with our first trip in 2005, so had used it before and knew what to expect. For us, it doesn't really save money. We aren't foodies, and eat pretty simply most of the time, so we could easily eat burgers and pizza and other cheap stuff the whole trip and be perfectly content. However, I like not having to think about money while I'm on vacation. I don't want to have to budget, and keep track of each dollar spent, and the DP is as close to all-inclusive as I can get at WDW. For some reason, since it's paid for before we get there, and I'm not paying for any food while I'm there, it almost seems like free food. I know, it's silly. So since I consider it part of the vacation package, hence the food I eat there is free, character meals and Le Cellier and other places we'd never feel comfortable paying that much for in a million years are just perks! What kind of twisted logic is that, huh! But it works for us!

 

[islandmum]

we've done the DDP as dining is a big part of our vacation as well as the parks and resort.

with the TS's being 3 courses theres no need to worry about ordering the nice big epensive stuff, its still cheap enough that even if we dont spend what we've paid for it we wont be peeved by saving just a few bucks - its done, paid for and something we dont need to keep an eye in whilst we're there.

 

[LurrrvtheDuck]

We bought the meal plan on our last trip and we enjoyed it. The only bad thing is that if you have a TS in the middle of the day it kinda interrupts your park touring schedule. I thought the best was the breakfasts in the park where you can get in early, eat and be done around park opening time and just start your day. Or dinners when doing a 1/2 park day.

I think if it's someone's first time visiting WDW doing the DDP may be hard. First because you have to find the restaurant and second because you don't know how hungry you'll be or when and then you don't really want to eat too much before the TS because they really do get you full.

I'm kinda in between about the DDP. I think it's really good because it is
$38/day per person and includes a TS, CS and snack. That's great if you really do like to dine and eat a lot. We had a ton of snack credits left over on our last trip because we were afraid we'd be hungry so we saved them and it was the complete opposite we were usually too full. But it's great because all your food is paid for in advance and it includes the tax and tip already, plus you get the sit down meals and always getting a dessert with your meal. I usually skip dessert when I eat out.

So for me it's a toss up. If you know you're going to be eating a lot and want TS's and don't need/want to see everything in the parks then I say go for it. Otherwise you might just want to bring $50 per person/per day and do CS's and Snacks whenever you wish. Or bring your own snacks/drinks and a little less money for CS's.

 

[Alesia]

We won't be buying the dining plan. There is no way that I could eat an appetizer, entree, and a dessert at one meal. Honestly, I wouldn't even be able to finish the appetizer. We can eat 6 small meals (mostly CS and snacks) a day for the same price as the dining plan. If you can eat three large meals a day, then it's worth it, But if you need smaller, more frequent meals, it's not the best idea.

 

[indigoxtreme]

We buy the dining plan and love it. I think it is basically convenience sake as to not having to worry about staying on a budget. The DDP is is 1 counter service and 1 table service, with a snack, taxes and tip thrown in.

Look at the menus and the prices on allearsnet.com and see what your family would like to eat. Add up what they would like that day, only include what they will truly eat, you don't have to include dessert or appetizer if you don't want to. Add the tax and 18% tip and 1 snack for the day. I bet that even if you eat 2 counter services and 1 snack and no table service that day you are right near the 38.99 per adult.

I did a little calculation of my own just now and took the middle price cs meal, no desert, only a drink with tax for lunch (Columbia Harbour House) and took an average of the meals at Cosmic Rays for dinner, no desert, only a drink, added tax and for the day for 2 cs meals I would spend 24.53. Now if I added 2 desserts and 1 snack (average 3.00) I would have spent 32.96 that day. No appetizer included at all. This is a small difference of 6.00 for the day.

For me, and to each their own, I am on vacation, we do not eat out all the time at home, so we enjoy eating a nice TS restaurant dinner. With the 6.00 a day difference to eat only counter service meals and not to mention nothing for breakfast, the DDP is well worth it, not only for convenience, but for being able to enjoy the vacation without worrying about someone spending more than they should have for a meal.

My DH and I after the 1st day would share many CS meals. By doing this we would share a breakfast CS meal at the hotel, and then share a CS meal in the park and then a TS meal 1 time a day. Thus having a small breakfast, a small lunch and then a nice dinner.

Just some ideas

 

[Lisa Hale]

Do most of you eat this way at home or do you find yourselves ordering way may more at each meal than you normally would eat? To US it causes you to be restricted to ADRs and order more than we would normally eat, so it is not a good deal for US since we don't normally eat that much and don't want every dining meal planned out. That is just OUR preference and not everyones. We understand those who enjoy the dining as much as the vacation, but we rather prefer the flexibility, especially since we joined the DVC and know that we can experience the dining at our leisure. It really is up to what is YOUR family's desires. We don't prefer to be locked into having to be at a certain location as much as possible and like to have the freedom of touring at our leisure. Don't get me wrong, we do book some ADRs but just not every night. It is all about what you want in YOUR vacation. Either way you will not go wrong, because you are at Disney

We've always set up scheduled ADR's for all TS meals each night of our trip. For us, it works. We stay between 12-14 days when we go, and that way we can take it easy. We get to the parks around 9:00 - 9:30 and then stay until we have CS lunch somewhere (wherever is convenient, that's about it for us and being spontaneous). Then, after lunch around 2:00, we go back to the resort, swim or nap or whatever (we do have a 3 year old, so naps are a must), then get ready for dinner wherever we have planned and then after dinner, we enjoy whatever park we are at or is near the resort we went to for dinner. If a particular park is too crowded or if it's too hot to enjoy, we head back early and eat at the resort (for lunch). Since we take breaks every day and go back to the resort, we can easily keep any ADR we've planned, it doesn't matter what park we were at that day. Like I said, works for us.

 

[PaulaSB12]

I am doing the dining plan this year again as I have got it free, BUT I am planning a holiday for 2 adults and 3 15 year olds in 2009 and I will buy it then, having an annual pass is not practicle as I don't always go yearly so I will buy the 14 day ultimate tickets and can't get the dde card.

 

[susieq76]

We don't eat like that usually- but we do like to try things on vacation. We'll order different appys & try both (DH & I love to do that)- my DH doesn't eat dessert and I'm usually too full so we will either bring it back to the room & eat for breakfast (Is cheesecake for breakfast really any worse than waffles w/ butter & Syrup???) or just skip it. Even w/o dessert we save $, however, the most important thing is what someone alreadt mentioned- not having to worry so much about our budget..

 

[IcePrincess467]

DH and I are planning our 2008 trip and are looking into the DDP. We are going for 2 weeks in August and it turned out to be about $1000 more for the DDP meals. We really don;t spend too much money on food...we went for a week and spent about $400...but I guess if you go to sit down restuarants and do all the planning ahead of time it could be worth it.
Question: If you only have a 10 day PH with extras (WP, DDD etc) can you still go into DW to eat?

 

[Mischa]

We tried the DDP on our first trip and loved it! So much food and you don't have to worry about paying for (cause it's already paid for!)

We didn't have it on our 2nd trip (because we went at DVC members and it wasn't offered at the time); boy were we sorry! We spent so much money on food and didn't even get as much as when we were on the DDP. We're so glad it's now being offered to DVC members!

just our 2 cents!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I'd thought about this a lot. I'm using the DDP for free this fall, and while I think it's a great deal, I don't think I'd purchase it. But that is based on my touring style. Last Dec when I went down, I purchased an AP and the DDE, which I also used for my Feb trip. I was planning on using them again in Oct, but then the free dining bounce-back promo was offered when I was there in Dec, and it only cost me the money for a park ticket to get free dining, so of course I went for that, and those were the dates, (begining of Oct,) that I had wanted to go anyway.

But since I like to go mutiple times a year. And since I don't usually do a lot of CS, and I usually do two TS a day, and a signature restaurant every other night. As well as the fact that I never eat dessert at CS places, and I usually get two appetizers instead of an entree at the TS locations, it's a better deal for me to get the AP and DDE, and not pay for the DDP.

I figured it out cost-wise, and it's about the same. I spent just over $500, on food for my 12 day trip last Dec, while the DDP would of cost me about $450. But I went to seventeen TS restaurants, and only like two CS places, so my TS credits would of been completely used up by day five with the way I tour, and I never would of used all of my CS credits.

So yeah, for free, I'll adjust my touring plan to do one TS a day, and cut back on the amount of signature restaurants. I am still going to be eating at Brown Derby and Flying Fish, and be paying OOP for Crystal Palace and Akershus, but if I had to pay, I'd stick with my AP and DDE.

 

[disneygirl29]

We did buy the DDP... Yes it was a good deal, IF you eat that much! It was a super screamin deal, but I thought it was TOO much food! We normally eat a few character dinners or sit downs (maybe a total of 4 sit down meals for a 7 night stay) and the balance are counter service meals (for lunch, breakfast and then the dinners when needed)... I think with the snacks, the CS and TB it was just to much... we had so many to burn on our last day it was actually hard! We had to buy suckers, etc to take home with our snack credits and we used counter service tickets to take food to the airport for breakfast!

So to do it again... probally not... because we can eat our normal way for less, and not be stuffed, plus the sit down meals take a lot of time away from the parks. We will probally spend close to the same or a little less with eating on our own.

I do think it is a good plan though, do not get me wrong, just not for us!

 

[Hope73]

For us the meal plan is great. 1) We want to eat a character meal almost every day and a few very nice restraunts so it is worth it with just that. It is like getting the counter service meal for free then. 2) My husband is cheap so if we don't have it he counts up all of the money as we go and wants to skip meals or share. It is just less stressful in the end.

 

[islandmum]

its definately how you stay at WDW influences whether or not the DDP is for you.

With our little guys we dont have any evening activities planned (like cruises or Fantasia etc..) we will have done MORE than enough during the days and at ages 5 and 3 we'll be back again when they're older and do more evening stuff.

Which means that for this trip our TR's are easy to book mainly for the evening (well, between 5.30 and 6). Either in the parks that we're at during that day or at the WL where we're staying. We have done 3 morning TS's for character breakfasts at MK, MGM and AK.

The TS's becomes an attraction themselves - with the character meals, WCC, Mickeys BBQ - so its worth us doing the DDP, we enjoy the fact that meals are an "event".

 

[la79al]

We have not actually used the DDP yet but have it for our June trip. Here are some things that finally made me decide that the plan was for us--
-kids cost roughly $11 on the plan. This is more than covered with one Character meal per day and practically covered by 2 CS meals and a snack per day.
-all food is paid for ahead of time. There's no putting money in envelopes so you can have lunch on your last day, etc...
-last trip we only did one CS per day and were still all sick of it after 5 days.
-yes, sitting down for TS may take time, but going back to your resort, getting in your car, heading off property to eat takes more time.
-who wants to lug a cooler full of sandwiches around the park all day?
-even if we don't eat all of our food, we can at least say we tried different things
The drawbacks?
-yes, I was planning my summer meals the week before Christmas
-yes, if one of the kids don't want to go to Epcot on Monday, without park hoppers we won't be eating at Coral Reef
-yes, we will most likely have more food than we can possibly eat. (I'm hoping we can share credits and end up with food to take home with us, but we'll see)
Overall, I was going to split our stay and do part with the plan and part without and then realized that I don't want to worry about food!!!