DVC Dining Package...

[Twinprincesses]

We are new to DVC and are going in October. I was looking at the Dining plans online but wanted some opinions on them. When we go we normally do a quick b-fast, 1 quick meal and then 1 character meal each day (we will probably do 2 character meals this time, 1 being in the castle.) I was wondering if these dining package are a good deal and if so which one is the better value.

 

[dzorn]

For us I do find it is a good deal because we do at least 1 TS a day. We have two under 10, after DD turns 10 not sure.

Denise in MI

 

[CruznLexi]

We just got ack with 8 nights with Deluxe. Deluxe has 3 meals a day of any kind plus 2 snacks. It was too much food. But it did enable us to eat at both HDDR and the Castle. We will either do the basic or the CS.
Lexi

 

[Brave teacher]

We like doing the basic dining plan because our meals are prepaid. We like to do 1 TS a day along with a QS for lunch. We eat a quick breakfast in the room.

 

[ILuvMulan]

Last year we found it to be a great deal!! We did the 1TS, 1QS, and 1 snack. We also had breakfast foods in the room for the mornings we did not have a character meal. Now that all of mine are considered "adults" I don't think it will be as good of a deal for us until they start eating more. We are not getting it this year and will evaluate for next.

 

[deide71]

There were 6 of us on our last stay. We shared 3 CS for breakfast, 3CS for lunch and had a TS dinner. There was plenty of food to share to be honest, we were never hungry. We used our snack credits for drinks and snacking around World Showcase.

 

[Twinprincesses]

If I want to eat at Cinderellas Castle can I pay extra, if I only get the Basic package??

 

[ILuvMulan]

You have two options. Unless it has changed you can use two of your table service meals(per person) for a meal at the castle or you could pay cash and eat an extra table service meal somewhere during your trip. Most of the other character meals are only 1 TS credit.

 

[Shooby doo]

If you were planning on eating at WDW for the duration of your stay then I would buy the package-WDW just isn't cheap to eat at! We found the snack credits especially useful,we managed to accumulate them due to visiting the other parks (US,IOA....)so normally used a couple for fruit bowls for breakfast & the rest for ice-cream & sodas,coffees etc in the parks.
Sd

 

[alisonslp]

I'm glad this was asked. Our first trip home is coming this April for 5 nights and initially, I figured we would just get the Tables in Wonderland card, but the more I research it, I just don't know...

We have 3 kids (8,8,5) in addition to 2 adults. It just seems like a lot of CS and snacks. I know we are planning on TS each night, but we plan to eat most breakfasts in the room (except one character) so every day, we will have 5 CS and 10 snacks. Just sounds like a lot! Usually when we go to other parks, we end up splitting 3 CS type meals among us. Same with snacks. So that was my reasoning for disregarding the DDP but most people are saying it's definitely worth it...

We are planning 2 more trips this year (thanks to DP's) so we will probably try it both ways and then decide which is best. I would defintely be all for it if they allowed us to choose how many ddp's to get - then we would only get 3-4 and pay cash for everything else. But it's not an option.

Any input?

Alison

 

[jenelope]

I've done it with and without dining plans and for the next trip, we're going without. I think the Basic dining plan is pretty good, especially if you like the peace of mind that comes with pre-paying for meals. I haven't tried the Deluxe plan, but think I could easily eat $72 in WDW each day, as long as I didn't eat everything on my plate. The Quick Service dining plan seemed great, but a review and comparison showed that it just doesn't fit with the way I travel and eat. Paying OOP is more flexible and I'd rather not feel like I have to have dessert with every meal or a snack every day just because I already paid for it.

alisonslp, with the way you described your family and your dining habits, I don't think I would recommend a dining plan unless you think you might do a counter service breakfast on a couple of mornings. If you did that, you could split your family's CS credits among lunches and breakfasts. But if you intend to eat all but the character breakfast in your room, you probably won't use all of your credits.

 

[Hockey Mom KQ]

If I were you I would get the plan. Even if you don't use all of the snack credits, or even the meal credits, you still can't feed your family at WDW for any less per day. We have 2 children - 8 & 9, and it seems as though they are always thirsty, or hungry when at the parks. We use many of our credits just on water and ice cream - even if they only eat half. It is no big deal

 

[trinchick]

Since you have 3 kids, I think you'll get great value out of the DDP. It's only 10.99 per day per kid. One character meal or table service meal exceeds that, so everything else is a bonus. Even if you don't use all of your CS or snack credits, you'll come out ahead. Plus, as pp said, you can use the credits for water. And you'll never have to say no to a Mickey Pop; it's so much more fun to say yes!

 

[alice99]

For us I do find it is a good deal because we do at least 1 TS a day. We have two under 10, after DD turns 10 not sure.

Denise in MI

I'm with you Denise - My son is 11 and eats chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, etc.... My daughter will be 10 next month. They really should come up with some type of 'tween meal program. Not worthwhile.

I did the meal plan when travelling with an adult friend, it was great, cost effective.

 

[Monorail Purple&Gold]

DDP worked well for us. Liked doing 1 TS meal a day, usually eat BF in our room. We have a 4-y.o. and a 1-y.o., so we had to learn the hard way to keep TS meals at the beginning or end of the day, easier than breaking up a day and waiting around idly for lunch (this is because of OUR children, nothing else).

Found the value was good for us, will do again in the future.

 

[wildernessDad]

If you find yourself gravitating to the signature restaurants, then you might want to consider the TIW card for annual passport holders. I think that provides better value in that case, instead of shelling out 2 TS for a dinner.

 

[Gypsy Gal]

We were at WDW in Jan and used the BDP. LOVED IT!!! Seemed to be just the right amount of food for the day. We have two 16 yr olds so knowing that their meals were paid for meant we didn't have to make sure they had money for food. Most days we chose a late QS breakfast and then all gathered for our TS dinner. With the QS breakfast you get 2 drinks so often we chose a water to drink later in the day and juice or milk for breakfast. Snack credits were used for a mid-day snack or for a late-night munchie. Teens are always hungry so this was a great value for us.

 

[cheezNE1]

If you find yourself gravitating to the signature restaurants, then you might want to consider the TIW card for annual passport holders. I think that provides better value in that case, instead of shelling out 2 TS for a dinner.

I agree- I was gonna use 2 TS for Narcoosee, but changed my mind. I ended up splitting it up between Le Chef and Tutta. Just wasn't worth the 2 TS.