Do you do the dining plan? Why or why not?

[CarolA]

Been there, tried that... probably not again.

1. We had four teens with us. Even they couldn't eat that much food.
2. I don't need a sit down meal each day. (I don't care HOW much walking you do at Disney you aren't burning that steak at LeCellier off before the next meal)

I did the math and based on my normal eating habits it's not a good deal. And changing my habits to "get my money's worth" just doesn't make sense.

 

[kaelarad]

So what you are saying is that for lunch you leave the park and eat then come back and then leave again for dinner. The gas used to go off property does not out weigh the price?

No we eat a lunch in parks or resort and dinner being our main meal we go off property. Our disappointment is with the sit down restaurants not counter service places.

 

[gray52]

One big thing i hated about being on the DDP was that i was always looking at my watch... calculating if i had enough time to this or that before heading to our table service... and if we were in a different park than our Reservation, forget it... everything that can go wrong.
By the end of our DDP trip, i was sick of deserts... but felt compelled to eat them because "I paid for them".
Now our family eats at OctoberFest once and does one character meal for the kids... the rest of the time it's pizza and counter service meals.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Anyway, I thought I'd check and see if many of you WDW/DVC experts bother with the dining plan.

I haven't read all the posts so this is just my response to you.

We haven't ever chosen to go with a dining plan. We're just pretty happy to make our own meals. DW says frequently... why would I pay someone else to make what I can make better. I have to agree. That is pretty much just dinner. We are on our own for breakfast and lunch. Though, I make pretty good breakfast for us both at least a few times a stay.

We like knowing what is in our meals and choosing better ingredients. Also, like having our meals when we're actually hungry.

Keep in mind we're just two now and that makes a difference. Much easier to cook for.

 

[allshookup]

We also use the DDE (Disney Dining Experience card) recently changed to TIW (Tables in Wonderland card) which gives a 20% off your meals including alcoholic beverages. It is availabe to AP holders & FL residents. It's a great savings & one of the reasons we tend to purchase the AP (not to mention the freedom of coming & going to the parks without worry of getting a day's worth out of a park ticket) & is a much better savings for us then the DDP.

As for the DDP we got it free once & purchased it once as DVC members. I tried to talk DH out of it, because I didn't think it was a good deal for us, but he insisted it was awesome. After that week, he agreed that we will NEVER purchase the DDP again. As DVC members we typically have breakfast in the room which consists of coffee, donuts & fruit. None of us are big breakfast eaters & just works for us. We then grab a snack when we get to the parks, typically a sandwich or hotdog. We almost always have a TS meal for dinner, but even then it is rare that we ALL (4 of us) order dessert. I like to share with DH & only have a couple of bites after being so full from dinner.

So for us the DDP would only be a savings if that is how much food we normally consume in one day, and even though we are NOT lightweights, we can't eat as much food as the DDP offers. Plus we prefer a much more relaxing vacation without worrying that we got our money's worth with the DDP & constantly trying to use our credits. Which by the way, we never seemed to use all our snack credits & we ended up purchasing candy in the gift shop to bring home just because we had them. It's different for everyone, but that was our experience.

 

[bangzoom6877]

We got the DDP back in July because it fit right into our normal vacation eating patterns. We had the regular plan, as the deluxe plan was way too much food for us, and we knew we would want one TS meal for dinner daily and a CS meal to grab at the parks, so it fit into our plans. Our focus was getting to the parks super early, so we had breakfast in the room (cereal). So we did not care about breakfast being included too.

The only meals we paid out of pocket for were one character breakfast at DHS (before the park opened, we were out before rope drop), and one character breakfast just before leaving property on our very last morning, to end the trip on a sweet note and not be depressed going to bed the last night! Gave us something to look forward to on the last morning.

We also did all-you-can-eat meals for our TS dinners. This makes a difference, IMO, since everything is included and not just entree and dessert. We found the DDP a great deal for DS3 since he was $10 a day and the character dinners cost more than that for a child, PLUS he got a CS lunch and a snack each day. DS1 was not on the plan (too young), but was free at buffets. So it worked for us and saved us money because we would have dined the same way if we were not on the plan. It was just more convenient for us to pre-pay and it ended up saving us money.

 

[disneymayz]

No we eat a lunch in parks or resort and dinner being our main meal we go off property. Our disappointment is with the sit down restaurants not counter service places.

I somewhat agree, I just eat counter service and around 2 character meals. That what makes the new QDP great for us.

 

[happymommy]

I would agree with the original poster's decision, don't do it.

For your family, it probably won't be the best choice for this trip.

We did a cruise last spring (Disney 7 night). We're not huge eaters (except my skinny 11 year old son seems to eat constantly on vacation). Food is available 24 hours a day - we got room service at least twice a day (very convenient for late night sandwiches and morning coffee and breakfast). So other meals, we ate very light. Still, after a week of that, you may not be too thrilled with sitting down in restaurants with your kids. Ditto the kids - they will probably have had enough of that.

Also, it being the first trip taking the kids, I think some of the special meals (with the exception of a character meal if they really love the characters) can probably wait for susequent trips to Disney. You will probably be more interested in enjoying the parks, seeing the shows, doing the rides.

You will be rushed to make meal reservations on the dining plan. That will definitely take park time away.

Every trip and every family is different. Some love the plan, we've never tried it yet. We like to make one or two meal reservations, then just do counter service the rest of the time.

In the villa, you will have a full kitchen. Washer and dryer are so handy! I'm sure the first day you'll be doing laundry.

I'd do some grocery shopping, or order grocery delivery. You will probably be ready for some simple food after a cruise. We were!

I'm glad to hear about your trade; we own Marriott Ko Olina (on Oahu), which is super duper great, and may try to trade through II for Disney one year. We've stayed twice at BWV for cash through Disney - love the location. It's not at fancy as Marriott, but the location can't be beat, walk to Epcot! It would be cheaper for us to trade one year for a week, than pay what we will this year, so we'll see.

 

[Ashlotte]

Happymommy,
I think that is good advice. My DH still sort of wants the DDP because he likes to eat, but after a week on the cruise and all the food (and desserts!), I think we should get back to our normal eating routine (or as much is possible on vacation).

As for the II trade, if you are trying to trade into Disney, make sure to put in the request faaaar in advance. We put ourselves on the list last November (as soon as we booked the cruise), so we would get a good shot at the trade. Then we had to wait patiently for a year for the request to come through. We really wanted to stay at Fort Wilderness, but since our dates for this trip aren't flexible, we'll take whatever DVC property we can get! I looked up the cash equivalent of the room for seven nights and it was $6500! I can't imagine people would really pay that, would they? Either way, it feels like a steal and that we won the lottery doing an exchange like that. Whoo hoo! I love my timeshare!

 

[Dean]

I'm glad to hear about your trade; we own Marriott Ko Olina (on Oahu), which is super duper great, and may try to trade through II for Disney one year. We've stayed twice at BWV for cash through Disney - love the location. It's not at fancy as Marriott, but the location can't be beat, walk to Epcot! It would be cheaper for us to trade one year for a week, than pay what we will this year, so we'll see.

Getting a 2 BR will be almost impossible. You're better off doing the lockoff and then doing an ongoing search for a 1 BR. Then you can use the bonus week you'll likely get or the studio to get a studio or second 1 BR if you need more space. It'll cost you two exchange fees and two $95 resort fees but it's likely worth it, esp if you can get two 1 BR units. Or you can just request a 2 BR and hope it comes through.

 

[Ashmagash]

Our past trip to Disney was our first time using the Dining Plan and we loved it! We rented DVC points because we're not owners...yet! We broke down the pricing and saved a lot of money using the regular dining plan. It was nice having your reservation ahead of time (Book as early as possible- you can do reservations within 180days of your trip and should!). Also, you could order anything you wanted at any meal and not have to worry about pricing. The plan works as long as you make your reservations ahead of time and look at the menu online to make sure you like the food (and that it's a nicer restaurant!) Our favs were Liberty tree tavern and Coral Reef . We did counter service for lunch each day and the sit down meal. We planned far enough ahead that we did our sit down meal in or near the park with extended hours because that was likely to be where we should be spending our time for the night. You just have to figure out what works for you

 

[Ashlotte]

Getting a 2 BR will be almost impossible. You're better off doing the lockoff and then doing an ongoing search for a 1 BR. Then you can use the bonus week you'll likely get or the studio to get a studio or second 1 BR if you need more space. It'll cost you two exchange fees and two $95 resort fees but it's likely worth it, esp if you can get two 1 BR units. Or you can just request a 2 BR and hope it comes through.

I don't think it is as hard as it seems if you request it early enough. We were able to get a two-bedroom, as was my sister for SSR. Before this reservation came through, they put one in for us for the wrong dates for a two-bedroom at OKW. It can be done if you are high in the queue.

 

[mommylo]

For our last 2 trips, we used the DDP. We would never be eating at the places we ate if it wasn't for DDP, e.g. California Grill, Le Cellier, Jiko, Artist Point, Teppan Edo. We also liked character meals. I totally agree it's not for everyone, and I am not happy about the gratuity, but at least I can sort of budget what I am spending on food for my trips.

 

[Dean]

I don't think it is as hard as it seems if you request it early enough. We were able to get a two-bedroom, as was my sister for SSR. Before this reservation came through, they put one in for us for the wrong dates for a two-bedroom at OKW. It can be done if you are high in the queue.

Certainly SSR and OKW are doable certain times of the year but the other resorts are much more difficult, enough so not to count on. It seemed that BWV and possible BCV was the item in question in this instance. The problem is if you count on a 2 BR, you'll miss all the 1 BR units that come through. Time of year is also important, and I'd recommend anyone trying to trade in, much less for a 2 BR, take the time of year seriously into account. Jan, Feb, May, Sept, Oct, Nov and Dec (excluding Christmas and Thanksgiving) are the easier times to trade in overall but summer can be workable, just not very likely for a 2 BR. Still, the only way to have a chance is to try. Ultimately it comes down to how important it is to get a trade vs the all or nothing option of a 2 BR.

 

[Dean]

For our last 2 trips, we used the DDP. We would never be eating at the places we ate if it wasn't for DDP, e.g. California Grill, Le Cellier, Jiko, Artist Point, Teppan Edo. We also liked character meals. I totally agree it's not for everyone, and I am not happy about the gratuity, but at least I can sort of budget what I am spending on food for my trips.

I think you'll find that you'll spend a fair amount less for those options without the DDP and even less using the DDE (TIW).