Does anyone NOT get the Dining Plan?

[PrincessTrisha]

Not to mention the cost of paying rack rate on a room--may work out well if you are staying value, but at deluxe, not such a great deal.

I've always gotten a discount on my room rate and gotten the DDP (going outside of free dining period). Generally, if there are general public rates available Disney allows the same discount on the room with a package as they allow with room only.

 

[CarolA]

I did it once. NO WAY again. I don't need or want a sitdown meal every day. I don't need all that food! Could I eat it? Sure, but "could" and "should" are not always related! LOL!

 

[Dicecatt]

We used to get it, before it changed. I will no longer get it...it is not near the value it once was.

 

[DLo]

We used it on two trips a couple of years ago. We found that there was too much food and we felt like we wanted to be more flexible. I think it works for a lot of people. It did get us to try restuarants that we wouldn't normally think of trying. I am glad we tried it but probably won't use it agian anytime soo

 

[Aimeedyan]

The free dining plan is not really free - you have to sacrifice any hotel discounts and you have to buy a park ticket. If I have no need for park tickets, and a 40% hotel discount to use, then it's NOT free at all - it costs me a lot of money!

 

[Fawkes]

We used the DDP and loved it!!! We sent down breakfast stuff for the morning. We ate in our room in the morning, ate a CS at lunch, and a TS at dinner. Lunch for us was 12-2. We ate dinner at around 6-7. We found we saved about $300. When we go again, we will definetely book it!

 

[Brad Bishop]

I looked into it the last time I went (January). I decided against it.

It looked like it made eating more complicated with different credits for different meals and sometimes for some restaurants having to combine 1 dinner credit with a lesser credit to get in. I just thought, "Cash gets me in. Cash is simple."

I just stick to cash. When we're hungry, I take my daughters to whichever restaurant we decide we'd like to hit, we eat, I pay, and we leave.

I was also concerned about, if I did use the plan, we don't always eat regular meals. Me may skip breakfast and then do table service meals for lunch and dinner. If you have the plan then you're pretty well locked into what they want you to do or you start to lose money on the plan.

I think if you're the average family who does the regular thing of breakfast, quick lunch, and dinner, and that's just how you roll then it'd probably work well for you.

 

[Praying Colonel]

We won't do it again if the regular DDP stays like it is. We might do it again if they go back to the pre-08 version of the plan (no, I'm not holding my breath ).

 

[Uno Mas]

We don't base our visits to WDW on eating - we base it on getting into as many parks as we can and experiencing the rides. The DDP is too restrictive and really, we don't eat that much food. It's also quite annoying to be stuck behind someone in a quick service restaurant who is trying to figure out their dining plan options. I've been stuck in Captain Cooks endlessly trying to grab a quick breakfast while people try to finagle a meal that should count as a snack or vice versa. It was the same at the BC Marketplace - a woman spent ten minutes arguing about what counted as a snack and what did not - she could not understand why the yogurt parfait was an "approved" snack but the chocolate chip muffin was not. I've also had waiters at the nicer restaurants sigh and smile in relief when I emphatically state that I am NOT on the dining plan. I think it can be a hassel all the way around, and since it's evolved, you can't get a table anywhere.

 

[MonicaInFlorida]

We like the basic dining plan. It really suits us... we usually eat one CS, one TS and one snack anyway.

We've used the DDE card for our last three trips and we're very happy with it. We're usually not there for free dining, and we don't really see the DDP as a great value.

The DDE gives us a 20% discount and includes alcohol. The DDP is about a 30% discount on food, but we'd still have to pay OOP for tip and and an appy if we wanted one - and no discount on Disney's pricey drinks or wine. We don't do many CS meals, so those are mostly a waste for us with DDP. We also like being able to pay for EXACTLY what we want to eat, and not what the DDP would force us to pay for. If I want just a glass of wine, a salad and dessert at a TS meal, that's what I get and I don't feel like I've "wasted" anything.

DisFlan

That makes me wonder... we have the DDE card. If we're on the dining plan, can we use our DDE card for drinks as well, or do they prohibit combining the two on a single bill?

 

[CEK40]

Hi,
We have used the DDP on two previous visits, one was free and one not. It was the old plan that included appetizer, (don't know why they did away with the appetizer, I loved that) and tip. We were traveling with the whole family, 7 of us and 4 of them were 18-24 with healthy appetites, so needless to say what one couldn't eat someone would.

DH and I will be at the WL 10/25-11/2 alone this trip, and we decided not to to the DDP. We usually eat a light breakfast in the room and then just go with how we feel for lunch and dinner. Don't want to feel rushed or pressured to eat. I don't usually do dessert and may prefer to just get a appetizer for lunch, and DH likes dessert, but don't need two of them. Some of the meals are large enough that we can actually split them between the two of us, DD and I did that on our visit in January and we were plenty full.

And is free dining, really free? I have to admit on the trips we used it it saved us quite a bit of money with the amount of food that we got. I figure if I have to pay for a tip, and/or an appetizer then I just as well pay for the meal too. Maybe they should let you decide between the appetizer or the dessert.

 

[Tricia1972]

We like the basic dining plan. It really suits us... we usually eat one CS, one TS and one snack anyway.



That makes me wonder... we have the DDE card. If we're on the dining plan, can we use our DDE card for drinks as well, or do they prohibit combining the two on a single bill?

You can combine them and use the DDE for anything not covered by the DDP.

 

[MonicaInFlorida]

You can combine them and use the DDE for anything not covered by the DDP.

Awesome! Those Lapu Lapus aren't cheap!!

Thanks!

 

[Lilolvr]

I voted in the "I never have an never will" category.

 

[mindy6540]

Nope......I can't be bothered keeping track of it. I've crunched numbers with our dining habits and it just doesnt add up for us. Hats off to those who love it though!!!

 

[sharadoc]

Eating is the least of our concerns when we're at Disney World. Some character meals, some of the more interesting CS at Epcot and a few at AK are all that we plan to do. Breakfast will usually be in the room, as will some dinners. Too much food weighs us down, and we're all trying to be healthy. Eating that much will negate the positive effects of all that exercise

In 12 visits, I've never had a Mickey Bar. We've bought Rice Krispy treats and eaten those in the park, and one time we ate at the Old Town Square restaurant before it was Tony's. Ate once at Sci Fi, once at Brown Derby in MGM, and got egg rolls and Mexican takeout at Epcot. That's it! Snacks, water, occasional CS and maybe a dessert.

I think the Dining Plan is a great deal for adults who are going for a leisurely resort experience and should definitely be there as a prepaid option.

Instead of Free Dining, they should have a promotion for free DDE for your trip.

Now that I've said all that, we're taking kids for the first time and we may be eating more in the parks. Who knows, we may even look at the CS plan

 

[HGD24]

We like to be spontaneous and not tied to a schedule before we arrive. The dining plan doesn't allow for that. Also, we like to eat the foods we are in the mood for at that moment. If we made ressies at an italian restaurant and then weren't in the mood for italian food but had a ressie, we'd be stuck eating it even though we didn't really it. Just doesn't make sense to us. We make one or two TS ressies per trip, but don't always stick to them.

 

[ntsammy5]

A lot don't - I don't thinks it's such a good deal anymore and more importantly, eating like that is not important to us - I want a trip to be more than about the food. Besides we use DDE.

 

[Eeyorerocks!]

Never have, never will. Can't eat that much food during one trip.

That's true for us as well. Plus, DH already feels I go crazy with the ADRs - he just deosn't want it that structured. Now that we will be travleing with 3 kids instead of 2 (including DS - 10 months for Nov. trip) - I don't anticipate using it anytime soon.

 

[tyiwara]

Never have, probably never will. This Dec. is our first time on site, and we looked into the DP but it just doesn't make sense for us . We do have a few ADR's planned but there's only 3 of us so paying OOP isn't that bad. Plus, we're pack-a-lunch-and-bring-it-with-us people anyway so we probably won't do many CS meals.