Do you do the "Dining Package" or not?

[Sharon Esch]

I still don't understand the Dining Package. People always reporting that they save X amount of money. Before the plan would you really have ordered the deserts and appetizers (we wouldn't). We are a family of 4 (DH, DD8 & DS6) my kids are small eaters so we usually planned on $100 per day and the week included sit down meals, counter services and snacks. We did the math and we would be spending the same amount or less. The vouchers seem like a big, big headache. Tell me what you have already did or going to be doing!

Don't get me wrong, if I could go in October with the 'FREE" dinnig, I would.

 

[dawgfan]

I am like you. If it were free I think it may be worth looking into. If not I do not think my kids and my wife would be using the plan to It's "fullest".

 

[stellaxluna]

I am choosing the DDE card, not the dining package. This way I buy the AP, get 75 dollars a night of my room, buy the DDE card, AND save 20% on TS restaurants, including alcohol! Seemed easier too...

 

[twoeeyy]

we have planned 4 character meals, Our daughter is at the adult price so 3 people at 24.99 is 75.00 for each meal, thats 225.00 just for those. Just for this alone it is well worth it for us ( plus we are getting it for free ) I would spend the $ and buy it anyways. I really like the idea of having all of the food payed for before we even go, one less thing to have to worry about. Plus one year on our very first day my husband, the keeper of the $ lost his wallet in the lazy river at TL, it sure would have been less stressful if we knew that there was not as much cash in it and that we would be able to get our cards replaced.

 

[Anewman]

I still don't understand the Dining Package. People always reporting that they save X amount of money. Before the plan would you really have ordered the deserts and appetizers (we wouldn't). We are a family of 4 (DH, DD8 & DS6) my kids are small eaters so we usually planned on $100 per day and the week included sit down meals, counter services and snacks. We did the math and we would be spending the same amount or less. The vouchers seem like a big, big headache. Tell me what you have already did or going to be doing!

Don't get me wrong, if I could go in October with the 'FREE" dinnig, I would.

You are budgeting $100 per day(doable but tough), the Dining plan for the family would cost you $90 per night. It really depends on the sit down meals you are planning and what kind of eater you are.

Examples Day 1
Chef Mickeys Dinner
$27 per adult
$12 per child under 10.
$78 for your family(this does not include optional tip you may leave).
Now remember you payed $90 per day for the plan, first meal and you are almost there(and still have CS meal and snack).

Trails end Buffet(bfast or lunch)
$11 per adult
$7 per child
$36 for your entire family.
Now you could eat Dinner and Breakfast here(two sit down meals) for $96(dinner costs abit more) so in this case paying cash wins hands down. Now I know 90% of us will spend more on food than if we just bought the dining plan, I find it would take alot of work to eat for less than the plan costs.


I Understand how some here make the plan out to be a headache, but for me it actually made things easier. Cuz now I do not have to BUDGET. IMO it is not that much harder to hand the person my Dining plan card(room card) instead of cash. Yes those that want to sqeeze every single little drop of food out of it will take it to the next level, but one is not required to.

 

[Anewman]

Ooops forgot your original question.

Yes we are doing the plan for our Aug 8th - 15th trip.
Payed $980 for a family of four(kids 13,15).
But I can honestly see each and everyone of our TS meals(cept for Sci-Fi and paying out of pocket for Donalds) being over $35 per person, some much more but at least that. And that is what I payed for the plan per person, so all the included snacks and CS meals are pretty close to FREE.

And that is just the kind of EATERS we are, kids do love their shrimp so cocktails all around when available, we are not just ordering the most expensive item but our prefered items are usually close to the top in cost.

 

[Davids-Coco]

We are doing it for free in September... and I need to add...

It is free; I am still budgeting for food. If I want to order something not included, I still will. Regardless of how much we *could* save, anything for free is a nice perk that was unexpected.

I probably wouldn't do it if free wasn't involved. It is still slightly limiting for the way that we eat. The best way to figure it out is to look at your own personal eating style. If you fit into the 1 snack, 1 CS, 1 TS formula, then go for it. Whatever fits your lifestyle is the best way to go.

 

[purplepixie]

When adding your "savings" remember that to get the dining plan you have to pay rack rate for hotel and tickets. If you can get discounts on either of those and are light eaters it may not be worth it. We are going in Aug. with free dining. I don't think we would have paid for it though. I do like that it is one more thing "pre-paid". It also makes it easier to look at trying new stuff. I'm not a real adventurous eater so knowing that it's taken care of already helps to take the leap and order something new. The best way to see if it's worth it is to look at the menus and then decide if your family would actually order to break even. If you break even or are ahead the extras that you normally don't order would be a bonus.

 

[PrincessAlina]

My husband, myself, and our 2 and 4 yr olds (baby is staying at Grandma's) are doing the free dining in August/September. If we weren't able to get it for free we would not have purchased the package. We go to Disney for the parks, not the food, so we tend to eat entirely at CS places. We would make the exception for a TS character meal so our princesses could meet Sleeping Beauty.

 

[maxaroni]

We are using the plan for our trip next month. We do have the 'free' plan but were going to pay for it, prior to becoming free. For us, we gave up the AAA discount but for 3 Adults (2A's, 1-12 yr old), we are still saving $765.00. We will pay for things if we want what is over and above the plan.

We had gone back and forth...to get the plan or not get the plan (prior to it becoming free) and decided it was worth it for us. We've tried the vacations where we have gone CS for dinner and after 3 days, we had enough. We enjoy getting that respite of regrouping, a/c, and a somewhat relaxing dinner. I say somewhat because we don't sit there for 2 hrs and truly relax. For us, it's a time to unwind, talk about the day and what we want to do for the evening. If going to the CS's for all of your meals is your 'thing' (nothing against it, just not us)then the food plan wouldn't be worth it (unless it's free... . Also, if you are to do a TS but order the least expensive item or just the appetizer, you may not have a tremendous savings. However, keep in mind that the $35.00/day (adult) is for 1-cs, 1-ts and a snack including tax and tips . I have a hard time believing that one could get the equivalent for less than $35.00/day w/tax & tips. If one can take advantage of the 'free' plan...it's a no-brainer, IMO.

 

[umaangel00]

I am choosing the DDE card, not the dining package. This way I buy the AP, get 75 dollars a night of my room, buy the DDE card, AND save 20% on TS restaurants, including alcohol! Seemed easier too...

What is the DDE card? Where do I get information on how you did things?

 

[marathonmommy]

I believe DDE stands for Disney Dining Experience. If you are an AP holder, you can buy the card for $50. I believe Florida residents can buy it without the AP for $25 more. If you go to the disneyworld website and click on Florida Resident or Pass Holders it will explain better than me!

 

[ksjayhawkfan]

We used it and we will be using it again. Works out great for us.

 

[Carolinagirl1063]

We do DDE for the 20% off. We seldom order appetizers and desserts. We budget $150.00 a day for food and have not hit that since we have had DDE. We have APs also.

 

[swilphil]

We don't order appetizers and usually get desserts as a snack. If we had the dining plan, I'd gain at least 10 pounds on our trip. I usually lose about 5 lbs. per trip because of all the walking, sweating, and rushing around.

 

[Sheaboys]

We were going to pay for the dining plan if it were not for free anyway. It includes tax and tip, it is pre-aid, or in our case Free, and we love the restaurants in Epcot and the more expensive sit downs. We sit down and eat a meal together every evening, and we will do so on vacation too. Our 3 boys (7,5 and 3) have very expensive tastes, they love their shrimp and lobster and love new foods, we will share appetizers with them. We will split counter service meals to stretch them out for some breakfast platters in the morning at the resort. Can't Wait!

 

[tiggersthebest]

We were going in July paying for the MYW plan and switched to August since it is free (and that is when I want to go anyway). For us it gives us the opportunity to get food we normally couldn't afford and we always do the character meals at least twice and that gets pricey. Counter service is our mainstay, so this is a little perk for us. In the past Disney's plans that included food never looked as good as this one.

5 1
Proud to be a Christian
Too many times to list as a kid
Once I “grew” up:
1997 Fort Wilderness (summer); Coronado Springs Christmas
1999 Wilderness Lodge (Spring); Fort Wilderness Christmas/New Years
2002 Polynesian
2003 Caribbean Beach
2004 Took a break after having a baby
2005 Going to Port Orleans Riverside
2006 Back to Poly!!!

 

[disgram]

Have read through this thread and I don't seem to be grasping what is going on.right now people are able to get thier dining for free. This is not a good thing?? Not having to budget money for meals to me is one less thing to have to stress about. So far, we are paying for the plan.We go next August. If it happens that the free dining comes around again, we will jump on it with both feet!! Having the dining plan, I still plan on taking money for the extras that we may want from a menu that is not covered. Easy-peasy!! Just go with the flow!! It's a vacation!! No meal planning, no cleanup, no Dishwashing!! Hey it is Disney for heaven sake!! ENJOY!!!!!!!!

 

[UNCCLaw]

Free.

I have no access to codes or AP discounts so I will pay whatever the standard rate for tickets and lodging may be. I would be paying that without the free dining plan as well.

Thus, it is free.

And free is good.

 

[LiteBrite]

We changed our plans from a December trip to early October to take advantage of the free dining. I doubt if we would have booked the dining plan under regular circumstances. We usually get an AP room discount and use the DDE card. We budget roughly $25/person/day, and we're able to do some days with sit down meals and some days with just counter service (almost always eating breakfast in our room). The free dining saved us money over our usual approach, but having to pay rack rate for our hotel and pay for the dining plan would cost us extra.

Still, it will be interesting to see how much we enjoy the dining plan. When we first started using the DDE card, we found that we went to TS restaurants more than we ever had before, and once we started down that road, we liked it so much it would have been hard to go back to almost never eating TS like we did before that. It seems possible that this free dining plan may work on us the same way psychologically that the DDE card did, and who knows - we may like it enough to start paying for it on future trips. Maybe that's the reason (or at least one reason) they're offering it for free - to get people like us, who would never try it otherwise, hooked on it so we'll pay for it next time!