DVC Dining Plan

[CarolAnnC]

We have decided to consolidate all the DVC Dining Plan threads into one place where all the information can be found. Please feel free to add to Dining Plan thoughts and/or questions here.

As always, please visit our Restaurant Board for general Dining Plan questions that may not pertain to DVC.

Thanks everyone! Bon apetit..

 

[Dale-Not-Chip]

Several people further up was wondering about the math. Here it is.

Keep in mind the Al a cart is based of menu prices over a year old.

There have been many questions about the + Dining
Is it worth it or not


The Break Down


Adults 2 Kid 1

Day 1 Animal Kingdom
+Dining Same thing Al a cart

$86.97

Safari Popcorn - Snack
Popcorn Popcorn $2.75
Soda Soda $2.39
Soda Soda $2.39


Flame Tree BBQ - Counter Lunch

1/2 Slab of St. Louis Ribs
$8.49
1/2 Slab of St. Louis Ribs
$8.49
Baked Chicken Wings
$3.99
Key Lime Pie - $2.79
Key Lime Pie - $2.79
Key Lime Pie - $2.79
Drink $1.99
Drink $1.99
Drink $1.99

Dinner
Boma Flavors of Africa - Animal Kingdom Lodge

adult $24.99
adult $24.99
child $10.99
tip $9.20

Total
86.97 $113.01

Day 2 Magic Kingdom

Crystal Palace Char meal

adult $17.99
adult $17.99
Child $9.99
tip $6.90

Snack
funnel cake x3 $9.87

PINOCCHIO'S VILLAGE HAUS
Monstro's Turkey Sandwich $7.29
Geppetto's Bacon Double Cheeseburger $7.29
Child's Hot Dog $3.99
Drink x3 $5.97
Rice Krispy Treat x3 $6.87

Total
$86.97 $94.15


day 3 Epcot

drinks x3 $5.97


Lunch
Electric Umbrella

Bacon Double Cheeseburger Meal - with fries $7.29
Bacon Double Cheeseburger Meal - with fries $7.29
Macaroni and Cheese $3.99
Cheesecake x3 $10.47
drinkx3 $5.97


Dinner
Rose and Crown Dining Room

Fruit and Cheese Plate $6.99
Grilled Prawns $8.99
Pan-Seared Salmon Filet $17.79
Rose and Crown Steak and Prawns $19.99
Harry Ramsdens Famous Fish and Chips $6.49
King or Queens Ice Cream Sundae $2.59
Baily's Irish Cream Brulee $4.59
Warm Apple Crumble topped with ice cream $4.99
Drink x3 $5.97
tip $11.75

Total
$86.97 $131.12




Now I picked the most expencive things off the menu. You could order cheaper, but if this is what you would want to order this is the Diffrence

+dining 3 day 2 adult 1 child = $260.91
Same al a cart = $338.28


Clearly I choose the most expencive menu Items. Your personal tastes is most likely diffrent. But this lets you see the breakdown.

This was also taking for granted a 15% tip. Your Tipping habits could change the results.

 

[SnowWitch]

I have been crunching numbers all week. We have 2 boys that will be 16 and turning 14 on our trip, so 4 adults on the dining plan. Our daughter will be 14 months so can we all say FREE!!! We are staying Poly concierge the first two nights of our stay, then over to the BWV's for 5 nights, and then AKL concierge the last 2 nights. I anticipate the dining plan for our Sun-Sat stay at the BWV's. We have a fairly solid idea of the places we will eat...at the very least the TS. We sat down as a family and played with the menus on Deb's site and said okay.... We usually only order 2 appe., 3 entrees (the younger son and I share) and 2 desserts. Just using that method plus tax and tip the TS alone will pretty much pay for the dining plan. The younger son and I can still share thus leaving more TS for the DH and I to share, the boys while off at the water parks can use the extra CS. So it looks like we will be going with the dining plan.

 

[SnowWitch]

Okay, question. If we check into the BWV on Sun and checkout on Fri, thats 5 nights, so I pay for 5 or 6 days worth of dining?

 

[brivers222]

Okay, question. If we check into the BWV on Sun and checkout on Fri, thats 5 nights, so I pay for 5 or 6 days worth of dining?

From what I have gathered... you pay for the nights and your DDP is valid from the time you pay for it (check-in) until 11:59pm of the day you check out! Plus I have read that you can share some meals meaning you can make the food credits last a bit longer as well!

 

[Mi3stooges]

I just read my January e-mail from DVC and it's official, we can now get the dining plan after April 1. You can't get the plan for Hilton Head or Vero Beach. What a bargin!

 

[gamomof2]

We're new to DVC - bought in August. As long as you're not going over the number of people allowed in your room size do you have to list all people staying in the room? Realizing of course that those not listed wouldn't have room keys and couldn't participate in EMH or any other perks. Is listing everyone something we have to do?

 

[pbharris4]

I Just posted this in a new thread..before I found this one. For now I would recommend calling WDW dining to make your ADRs because MS is still learning. WDW dining has been booking the DP for months and they know more about it. I had already made ADRs for Mama Melrose (FAntasmic Pkg) and was checking on them. MS told me that the Fantasmic Pkg was not included in the plan. When I called WDW Dining (because MS is closed today) the man said that it IS INDEED included in the DP and is 1 TS credit.

 

[Dean]

Now I picked the most expencive things off the menu. You could order cheaper, but if this is what you would want to order this is the Diffrence

+dining 3 day 2 adult 1 child = $260.91
Same al a cart = $338.28


Clearly I choose the most expencive menu Items. Your personal tastes is most likely diffrent. But this lets you see the breakdown.

This was also taking for granted a 15% tip. Your Tipping habits could change the results.

IMO, this is one of the mistakes many people are making evaluating these plans. They are looking at the more expensive items and assuming appetizer and desert every meal. Not very likely to happen for extended stays. And available discounts would decrease or even wipe out the savings between the 2. And given that it's a use or lose system, you need to do far more than break even to justify getting the DP.

 

[DisneycrazedX6]

I apologize if I have asked a question already answered about the dining plan.
If four people are staying in the room and all four people are on the dining plan, can other people not on the plan eat with you at your table. Would they be required to order a meal or could they share your food?
I ask because, my sister in law will have two children with her. They are not going to stay on site therefore couldn't get the meal plan. I hope they will eat with us from time to time. They may want to order their own food but most likely won't eat an app. and dessert, they are on a budget trip. Can we share or is that frowned upon????
Thanks for the info! If needed: her kids are 12 and 11.

 

[Dean]

I apologize if I have asked a question already answered about the dining plan.
If four people are staying in the room and all four people are on the dining plan, can other people not on the plan eat with you at your table. Would they be required to order a meal or could they share your food?
I ask because, my sister in law will have two children with her. They are not going to stay on site therefore couldn't get the meal plan. I hope they will eat with us from time to time. They may want to order their own food but most likely won't eat an app. and dessert, they are on a budget trip. Can we share or is that frowned upon????
Thanks for the info! If needed: her kids are 12 and 11.

There are no rules that say you can't share meals and to my knowledge, never has been such a rule with any Disney Dining plan over the years. And given that Disney hasn't enforced the rule of kids eat from the kids menu, there is potential value there as well.

 

[jpolak]

For our next trip in August it will be me dw, dd and my in-laws (who are also members). We are staying in a 2bdrm. Now does everyone in the room need to buy the plan? Can the three of us buy it without them?

 

[patrizella]

I read that all parties staying in the room must purchase the plan. We used it last summer (it turned out that it was free, promotion-but we had originally planned to purchase) and it was a good deal. If you like going to higher end restuarants (ie-Le Cellier, Alfredos, etc) then you will easily get your $38.99's worth. Not to mention most counter service meals can run between $10-$15-So you are definitely saving. The thing is they stuff you with food-by our last day we still had almost all of our snacks left-so we went and bought a bunch of the rice krispy Mickey Heads and water bottles for the trip home. Another tip-if you haven't used this plan before-make sure when you use the table service advise your party to get different appetizers. Every person gets an appetizer-we made the mistake when we went to Sci-Fi and 3 of us got onion rings-what a waste

 

[Mi3stooges]

Anyone can eat with you. There are severals ways of doing this. From a stand point of you having a meal with others not on the plan, you can get separate checks. I also believe you can share the food. When I was in Disney in September, we went to Capt Jacks in Downtown and my DS did not want anything from the adult menu (anyone over 9 is an adult) so he ordered from the childrens menu. Then what we did was pay for his meal since it was only about $4.99 or so, and my DH had his "dining meal" so for $4.99, my DH had 2 extra lobsters!!! That might be an alternative for your sister-in-law, meaning if you have youngsters not interested in the regular menu, she can have their meal. Also, if your child does not want something from the regular menu, they can order "down", meaning, their childs menu item can count for the meal plan, but might not be worth it.

 

[Dale-Not-Chip]

IMO, this is one of the mistakes many people are making evaluating these plans. They are looking at the more expensive items and assuming appetizer and desert every meal. Not very likely to happen for extended stays. And available discounts would decrease or even wipe out the savings between the 2. And given that it's a use or lose system, you need to do far more than break even to justify getting the DP.

People asked for the Math and I gave it to them. If what you have to order scares them then my post did it's job the same as if it got someone excited. We can sit around and advise people to get it or not get it and people still wouldn't know if the plan was right for them or if it saved them money. Making a list of the most expencive menu items compared to the plan is the only way to begin to decide if it's for you.


As far as not very likely to happen. Thats not true. It really depends on the person and the vacation. My famliy of 3 went to Disney For 11 days on the premium plan. That plan is a table service for every meal. We did a Character breakfast for every meal. Granted we hardly ate anything at Breakfast. Mainly fruit. Our Savings there was not standing in lines at the park for our 7 year old to get autographs. For Luch and Dinner it was the most expencive and app and Dessert as well. Did we eat it all. NO. Did we enjoy it all? Yes. We are just working class people. When we go to resturants at home we not only look at what we want we also look at the price. We often settle for a cheaper meal in order to not spend as much. On Vacation I do NOT want to worry about a budget. I love my meals being prepaid weather otr not I save a dime. We used the plan to try new things. We had 3 diffrent Apps at the table. Tried some from all of them. Left some of all of them. We ordered what we wanted off the menu. If you know anything about Chefs their most expencive meals are most expencive for a reason. Did we leave some on the plate? Yes. And desserts were fantastic. Although we left some of it as well.

Some will say this is a waste of food. If it was at our house it would be, but at a resturant the food is wasted as soon as it's delivered to the resturant. It would not have gone to feed the homeless. And the do order more than is expected.

As I have said before. There are cheapers way to eat at Disneyworld. This plan is NOT for someone looking for the cheapest way to eat at Disney. Especially for the DVC people that has a fridge. the DP is a way to save money eating the most expencive way at Disneyworld. My price breakdown just showed that.

 

[Tiger926]

Mi3stooges - Umm, don't think that's the intention of it at all. Boy, Disney sure needs to make a set of Dining Plan rules as people are getting absolutely ridiculous with how much they are cheating the system. All kinds of things in life function on unwritten rules and implied statements, but it seems that most people are totally playing games when it comes to the Dining Plan, or so it would seem most DISers are as evidenced by the ridiculous threads on this topic as of late.

Tiger

 

[sedelen]

We are DVC members and are going to Boardwalk in June. We have booked a second room for my sister and her family at the Boardwalk as well. Will they be eligible for the Dining plan as well? Thanks.

 

[Chuck S]

Yes, just let MS know. When I asked about the dining plan for guests that have their own room (since we won't be using it, but they may want it), MS said to let them know about 48 hours before you arrive so they can link the dining plan into the ressie.

 

[browniemtb]

Spoke to my DVC rep yesterday......The plan covers everyone anyway. There are no discounts for owners. Its $37.99 a day per adult for 1 counter service, 1 snack, and 1 sit down dinner. Which eating in Disney isn't bad. We used it last year and got our monies worth....specially character dining.
Brownie
Soon to own

 

[dsneygirl]

I get the impression from reading other posts "no" but I'm not sure. If not when do you have to decide by?