DVC and Dinning Plan

[Hunclemarco]

There are also times when some of the restaurants will give DVC members a discount.
When we were there in February, the Dining in France had a 20% DVC discount. Other restaurants have as well. It may not always be posted...we always asked when we saw our server. (it became habit for us to show all our id....annual pass, DVC, Tables in wonderland....to see which discount would be highest)
Hope this helps a little.

 

[LisaS]

To the OP: One of the great things about staying at a DVC resort is that even in a studio you can fix a simple breakfast in the room every day (cereal, fresh fruit, etc) and even prepare a light dinner if you want a break from eating out. We save money on dining and I find I also feel better. At home we eat out no more than once a week so it's kind of overwhelming to eat out every meal every day when we're on vacation. I actually find it relaxing having dinner in the room once or twice during our stay. I should add that we're not park commandos and this probably doesn't work for those who prefer to spend as much time in the parks as possible. I know you said you don't want to cook on vacation but the kind of meals I'm talking about don't really require cooking. For example we'll have soup and sandwiches or we'll buy a frozen pizza and fix a salad to go with it -- just simple, light meals. We do purchase the TIW card if we have enough TS meals planned to justify the cost and/or if we can use it for two trips.

I just think it is unfair to exclude us from promotions.

Promotions are designed to entice people to go to WDW who otherwise would not do so to fill rooms that would otherwise be empty. And "free" dining isn't really free since it requires paying rack rate for the room. For a party of two staying at a deluxe resort, a good room-only discount (like the 35-45% off you could sometimes get with an AP or a PIN code) is a better deal. But I got tired of playing the waiting game for room discounts so we joined DVC so that our discount was locked in. It is great to be able to book 11 months out for whatever dates we want to go. (Now that is a great perk!)

I think DVC is wise to avoid promotions that would benefit only some of the members. How would you feel if those who booked rooms for September got free dining but those going any other month got nothing? What if due to your job or your kids' school schedule you could never go in September so there was no way you could ever participate? I think it would result in a lot of angry phone calls and emails to Member Satisfaction about how we all paid big bucks to buy in yet some members are getting free food just because they can travel at less busy times of the year.

 

[briar rose 19]

We got the regular plan this trip, one snack, one QS and one FS and it worked great for us and saved us money.

It does depend on where you eat and if you like to order a dessert as to whether it will save you money.

I agree. My whole family are foodies and we like to have a sit down meal every night on vacation. The DP definately saves us money!

 

[Sammie]

I agree. My whole family are foodies and we like to have a sit down meal every night on vacation. The DP definately saves us money!

Also I enjoyed the convenience. We ate late breakfast or early lunch using our QS and used our TS for evening meals and one signature meal.

We used our snack credits for bottled water which we put in our frig for the week.

I enjoyed never going off property and fighting local traffic and local crowds to eat, and I really enjoyed not having to be the one to go to grocery.

Many meals we got fruit as our QS dessert.

Based on where we ate and what we ordered we pretty much got our QS and snack for free.

It does not work for everyone, but it worked for us this trip based on what we had planned.

 

[BeesKnees]

To the OP: One of the great things about staying at a DVC resort is that even in a studio you can fix a simple breakfast in the room every day (cereal, fresh fruit, etc) and even prepare a light dinner if you want a break from eating out. We save money on dining and I find I also feel better. At home we eat out no more than once a week so it's kind of overwhelming to eat out every meal every day when we're on vacation.

I am glad I am not the only one who feels bad when they get away from their normal habits. At home 4-5 mornings a week I drink a smoothie. Now a light breakfast of eggs, toast, and fruit is okay but don't come at me with a stack of pancakes, sausage, and potatoes. I also eat a light lunch, today I had a chicken and pasta salad sometimes it is just a sandwich.

The last time we ate out for 3 meals straight at Disney I felt like I was carrying a load of bricks in my stomach. I told my wife to make a note in our passporter to remind us to never to do that again.

 

[Disjunky]

Not sure if its been said yet but, we love the DDP. First time we used it was on the freebie trip in sep. it was ok but not enough food for us. We then satrted using the middle selection of the options. We dont need all that waterpark stuff. Its great. We eat a character bfast of regular table bfast and save up the lunch points to eat at the signature restaurants for dinner. we are foodies and need those great restaurants. we use our snacks for the lunch thing if were even hungry. an ice cream or pretzel is enough for us. So i say, yes, do it. its great. We love it every time.

 

[rentayenta]

So I guess another question would be.....
As a DVC member, what is your meal plan?

We have only done spilt stays and find the DDP to be approrpiate for us for only half the trip. It's just too much food otherwise. We also cook. We spent 5 nights at the GCV and BBQd 2 of them.