DVC and dining plan

[suzy021372]

Is the dining plan worth it?

I know that the "free dining" in the package deals would be great, but what do you thing about paying for the dining packages? Is it worth it? I am wondering if the money saved is worth the lack of flexibility when travelling.

I am also torn between the quick service and the regular dining plan. We are mostly quick service people, but would like to eat some buffet/character/sit down meals. Am I better off paying as I go?

What do you think?

 

[dianeschlicht]

We did several trips using the dining plan. When we did that, we kept very detailed accounting of our costs and what we ate. Then we compared two following trips with using the TIW card. We kept all receipts and records of what we ate again. We found we were much more satisfied with the TIW card than with the DDP. We actually saved a couple hundred dollars by paying OOP over using the DDP.

Bear in mind, that we really don't do much in the line of counter service places. We usually do table service and always do at least breakfast in our villa. We are more likely to have an appetizer than a dessert, so the DDP is very limiting to us in that way. The killer for us was when the DDP no longer included the tip or appetizers.

We would NEVER go back to the DDP.

 

[papertraveller]

We have had the regular and deluxe dining plans. The kicker for us was when DD passed 10, and was suddenly considered a Disney adult. This meant that her meals became very expensive, even though her appetite hadn't changed. We are also appetizer people, as opposed to great dessert lovers.

When we ran the numbers, the TIW card was far superior for us. It earned its keep in three or four days, plus DD could order off whatever menu she preferred at that time.

 

[sweetdana]

We love the dinng plan. I like if for a few reasons.

1) I have a hard time ordering 3 meals and drinks at a QS paying cash. I wait a little longer and end up starving. I pick cheaper things on the menu and skip the salad. I order an app in stead of a dinner and water instead of pop. When I am on the DP I order whatever I want, and I get dessert. Not the healthiest way to go, but it is vacation and I enjoy it more. I stop by Main street Ice cream place and get a hot fudge covered scoop of cookies and cream. My DD6 can get giant frozen treats, and DH can get pretzles dunked in cheese.. all things I would mostly skip if not on DDP. I go to Capt Grill instead of calling Pizza Hut.

2) For us it is like pre-paying with a max amount as opposed to saving $$. I pay for it now a few months ahead of trip and see nothing for food (except tips) when we get home.

3) I cannot mentally shell out 110$ for the Norway dinner with princesses. I wouldn't do it I would tell her she is getting chicken fingers for 8$ and take her to see Belle in France. It makes is so much easier to pay 106$ for the day of food, or 171$ (for DDP) and it includes other meals. The last cash trip I went on, I had ressies for Dine and Vine, CP and Chef Mickey and couldn't bring myself to go and spend 80$ or more on them. I walked to a near by conter service ordered Chicken from the adults menu and shared with her. It may be subcontious.. but to me.. the DP and DDP are fantastic and work for us.

The new pick and choose days for DP is FANTASTIC, it looks like on my May trip I am skipping 1st and last night and doing DDP 3 night in between. For 3 nights of DDP we are doing 4 days of dining including Capt Grill, Mickeys BBQ, Sci fi, CP, Cape Mae, Norway, and San Ann. For about 500$ (we would buy mugs anyway) everything is included and done. We are totallly maximizing the use of it.
In Sept I am hoping they have all the bugs worked out and I will be going the DDP every other day. 2 TBS and 1 QS along with 2 snacks for 2 days that will be perfect.
Used right I think the DP and DDP can be ideal, maybe not save you $$, but work well.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We did the dining plan the first year it came out - included appetizers and tips.

Now, we wouldn't buy it. We found we spent a lot of time worrying about eating instead of just having a few TS ADRs and eating at our favorite counter service when we felt like it. We also have the TIW card, so that has come in handy for our TS dining.

I've heard that some people will get a Disney Gift card and load it with money about what they might spend on the dining plan (or less) and they find they don't spend as much.

 

[quirty30]

We have always used the dining plan in the past, however, last visit I got a TiW card and we are looking forward to a more relaxed dining experience going forward. For us, we just couldn't help but try to get our money's worth on DDP. I was compelled to order the most expensive entree, even if it wasn't what I really wanted. And by the end of every trip, we were on what I called "dessert overload." I think we're going to eat much more sensibly using TiW. At a lot of the 2 TS restaurants, I'm more inclined to order an appetizer and a side rather than an entree. And I don't have to order dessert every meal or feel like I'm wasting money. Granted, if you order expensive entrees and eat dessert EVERY meal, the DDP will save you money. The fact that my youngest becomes an "adult" this year on the DDP makes it an even easier decision to use the TiW card.

 

[jelliott04]

As with most things Disney it just depends.

We are a family of four and my husband and 9 year old don't consider it a meal if there is not a tablecloth and silverware involved. Otherwise, it is just a snack. We usually eat either a buffet breakfast or an early lunch at a TS restaurant. Then we normally go to one of the resorts for a TS dinner. Our favorite places are mostly all 2 credits. So if we choose to use a DP, the DxDP works best for us.

I did the math a few trips ago and really, it worked out to within $100 of what we spent on the DxDP and what we would have spent using TIW. Here is the spreadsheet if you are interested. https://spreadsheets6.google.com/ccc?hl=en&key=t7FYO8VD2czi8xeFjh7VEmg&hl=en#gid=0
I don't eat dessert so I usually get that packed up to take back to the room for someone to snack on later or eat for breakfast. (I'll often choose fruit for this reason)

We also have the TIW card and use that in conjunction with the DxDP for drinks.

It really works out close to the same for us. So, given that info, I'd rather get the DxDP and not look at prices when I'm ordering.

Jen

 

[notnothin]

The new pick and choose days for DP is FANTASTIC, it looks like on my May trip I am skipping 1st and last night and doing DDP 3 night in between.

I haven't heard of this new level of customization to the DDP. Could someone elaborate or point me towards more information about this?

 

[Deb & Bill]

I haven't heard of this new level of customization to the DDP. Could someone elaborate or point me towards more information about this?

DVC members can partition their stay and use the dining plan for the different partitions of their stay. So if you are here for 7 nights, you can get the dining plan for the first four nights and then the last three night no dining plan. Or any variation. But it amounts to checking out and checking back in without moving. You may want to leave your tickets off your KTTW.

But all guests on the reservation must get the same dining plan.

 

[glindamood]

I have to ask - what is the TIW card? We will be in the parks at the end of October and are considering the DDP but I want to be sure I am not missing something. I so hate it when that happens.

 

[MrShiny]

The TIW card is "Tables in Wonderland." It is available to AP holders for $75/year. It gives you 20% most sit down restaurants, lounges and also food courts at resorts without sit down restaurants (sunch as Pop and All Stars). At sit down restaurants, there is an automatic 18% gratuity (so it's essentially like getting the tip for free, plus a bit more). It also includes a discount on alcohol at the covered restaurants and lounges.

If you will spend $375 or more on food at covered dining spots, it breaks even or saves money.

We've actually saved by using the DDP and the TIW - TIW applies to what DDP doesn't.

There are also monthly dining events just for TIW members (but they are expensive - for example the one at Raglan Road March 15 is $145).

We have used DDP occasionally. If planning to eat on site, it does save. For us it was about 30%. We had some extra food (brought back a lot of counter service desserts to the room), but actually not a lot went to waste, and the savings was more than if we just didn't order everything we did.

It is a bit to keep track of - and the system does mess up. The resort desk can fix, but that does take time.

Lately, we've been cooking in the room more. That saves a lot. We still have the TIW though, because with a family of 4, $375 is not very hard to reach each year.

 

[danielle782001]

You will save tons of money if you have children between 3-9...We have done the math a few times and we saved hundreds of dollars using the plan...I do see the savings as much less without young children.

 

[glindamood]

Thank you so much for the explanation but we don't have AP's so it would not do us any good. My concern with doing the DDP is taking the time to eat all those meals that are included as we would generally have groceries and do at least breakfast in the room along with snacks. It would be a totally different dining experience for us but I guess we have to sit down with menus and a spreadsheet and crunch the numbers to be sure. Might be fund to do once...

 

[brendasol]

We have 4 children and loved the DDP when we used it in the past.

We planned ahead and made reservations at a variety of character meals. Our children got to meet all their favorite characters here so we NEVER waited in line at the parks for meet and greets! We LOVED that!

However, it did take a lot of planning in advance to make sure we would get our money's worth. And we found ourselves running all over the world to make each reservation.

I LOVE the idea of loading up a gift card and using that to pay for all our meals! I think we'll try this next trip!

 

[Sandisw]

I think it really depends on how you want your dining experience to go when at WDW.

We have used the plans and have liked knowing ahead of time what our food budget would be (give or take a few $'s for extras). We also knew we would order things we wanted and not take the "cheap" way out because it was prepaid so it allowed us that freedom.

But, we also realized that having to do one plan for the whole trip did not work as we don't want TS every day but don't want CS every day either. Its a lot of food and plenty of times, we ended up throwing out things we just didn't finish.

Now that we can segment and do customized plans, it might work better. This summer, we are taking at my DD's friend and have decided to do a TS meal each day for lunch so I have worked it so I can do 1 night of QSDP, 1 night of DxDDP, and 1 night of DDP. The other 2 nights will be OOP since the meals they choose were not that expensive to make doing the DDP worth it.

But, at least this way, I can budget a little bit easier and not feel like I have to limit our guest in any way.

 

[kaytieedid]

DVC members can partition their stay and use the dining plan for the different partitions of their stay. So if you are here for 7 nights, you can get the dining plan for the first four nights and then the last three night no dining plan. Or any variation. But it amounts to checking out and checking back in without moving. You may want to leave your tickets off your KTTW.

But all guests on the reservation must get the same dining plan.

I wasn't aware of this - is it on the DVC member website? I can't find it and am really interested...thanks!!!

 

[Sandisw]

I wasn't aware of this - is it on the DVC member website? I can't find it and am really interested...thanks!!!

It is not really advertised. With the new system, a reservation can be segmented but kept all under the same reservation #, which means not having to change rooms.

If you segment your trip, then you can add the plan by nights instead of for the whole stay.

We will be doing it in August. I am staying 2 nights at BWV and then 3 nights at BLT. I segmented my BWV nights apart so I can do one night of QSDP and one night of DxDDP. I then segmented one of my BLT nights from the other two nights so I can do one night of just the DDP, and pay OOP for the last two.

 

[kaytieedid]

It is not really advertised. With the new system, a reservation can be segmented but kept all under the same reservation #, which means not having to change rooms.

If you segment your trip, then you can add the plan by nights instead of for the whole stay.

We will be doing it in August. I am staying 2 nights at BWV and then 3 nights at BLT. I segmented my BWV nights apart so I can do one night of QSDP and one night of DxDDP. I then segmented one of my BLT nights from the other two nights so I can do one night of just the DDP, and pay OOP for the last two.

thank you! Is this something that can be done after the initial reservation is made? I've already made reservations for October and I don't want to re-book b/c I'm sure the availability is gone.

 

[bub]

thank you! Is this something that can be done after the initial reservation is made? I've already made reservations for October and I don't want to re-book b/c I'm sure the availability is gone.

People have reported that you must ask for a manager to get this done, so that you do not lose your reservation. My brother just did this for a trip in March. He was told it could not be done (without risking his reservation) but he asked if a manager could do it. The manager did it for him, but indicated that in the future a reservation needs to be segmented when it is made, as they will not always be willing to do this after the fact.

(For popular reservation times, I think that segmenting the original reservation would mean calling multiple times and hoping to get each segment of your stay, rather than making one call. Not sure I will want to take that risk.)

 

[SAHDisneyMommy]

We did several trips using the dining plan. When we did that, we kept very detailed accounting of our costs and what we ate. Then we compared two following trips with using the TIW card. We kept all receipts and records of what we ate again. We found we were much more satisfied with the TIW card than with the DDP. We actually saved a couple hundred dollars by paying OOP over using the DDP.

Bear in mind, that we really don't do much in the line of counter service places. We usually do table service and always do at least breakfast in our villa. We are more likely to have an appetizer than a dessert, so the DDP is very limiting to us in that way. The killer for us was when the DDP no longer included the tip or appetizers.

We would NEVER go back to the DDP.

What is the TIW card and are you able to still make dining reservations in advance if you use this instead of the DDP?