DVC Members and Dining Plan

[Lori2816]

Could someone please explain the dining plan to me. Is it worth it, why and why not. Are all restaurants included? Pros and cons, please. Also, is free dining available to DVC members? Thanks, in advance!!

 

[ses1230]

Free dining is not available to DVC members staying on points. To get free dining, you must book a package that includes paying rack rate for your room.

DVC members can add the dining plan to their reservation by calling MS and payment is due when you add it on.

We usually do the regular dining plan (DDP) which is one TS, one CS and 1 snack per day. We do a lot of buffets/character meals with our DDs, who are 6 and 3. IMO it is a good way to see the characters instead of waiting on line. We just clear the plates so we don't have half eaten plates in our pictures, lol!

 

[rentayenta]

OP, do a lot of research. I did mine and found that the dining plan isn't free at all and that Disney inceased prices to gear *free diners* towards buffets and the like to raise their bottom line which only increases the waist lines of those who feel they need to get their money's worth . *Free Dining* is not available to DVC but the dining plan is. One bonus though, if you decide to use the dining plan, is that as a DVC member you can use the dining plan in segments and not required to use it your entire length of stay.

 

[Cafeen]

Could someone please explain the dining plan to me. Is it worth it, why and why not. Are all restaurants included? Pros and cons, please. Also, is free dining available to DVC members? Thanks, in advance!!

As mentioned, the Free Dining Plan promotion is only available to guests booking through the WDTC (Walt Disney Travel Company) and not available to guests staying at DVC resorts on points (rented or owned). In general, the amount of discount that you're getting by staying on points far exceeds the discount you'd get by paying full price and getting DDP for free anyway.

Most of the restaurants on property are included, for the list you can view the information in the sticky here or on the WDW site's dining plan pages (note, the 2012 list is not yet finalized, but it's very rare for any restaurants to drop off).

Now, the more difficult question. Worth. This differs depending on your individual party's desired experiences and eating habits.

If you desire to have at least 1 sit-down per night of stay, with most of them being dinner, and that sit down includes what's included with the DDP, and you'd like to get desserts from at least most of your CS meals, then it might be worth it (this requires a second check of the actual locations and potential orders to check the financial side of things).

If you want at least 2 sit-downs per night of stay, and you're interested in an appetizer at all those meals (as well as entree + dessert), then DxDDP may be worth it (again, a mathematical check afterward is recommended).

With the prices going up in 2012, DDP's margin of savings is pretty slim, while it is advertised as 15-20%, the standard use case rarely reaches this high. DxDDP is still slightly better and easier to come out ahead on (based on lower per-meal targets), but it requires a much larger investment in time (both planning and dining) as well as costing far more.

The best thing to do will be to sit down and hammer out what you want to get out of the trip as far as dining. See how that compares to what's included with each plan. If they match up, great, if they don't, you'll likely be better off OOP.

As far as pros and cons:

• Pros:
  
  • Easier to budget - Since the cost of the bulk (or all) of the dining is figured ahead of time, you can pick and choose off the menu as if they had no prices.
  • Easy to track - You go to 'Ohana for dinner? That's 1 credit off your total. A simplified credit system makes the entire system that much more user friendly.
  • Great for "mixed" parties - If you're bringing a friend, or other family member down that you're covering their bill, it makes it much easier to work out with them what they "can" get, since you (or they) are not going to be struggling with "Well, the steak is too expensive even though it's what I want, so I'll get the chicken".
  • Potential Savings - If planned ahead properly, and you've already figured out that it's what you want to do, it can offer some savings over going OOP with the same setup.
• Cons:
  
  • Restrictive Ordering - You must order an Entree, Dessert, and Non-Alcoholic beverage at each meal. While you can skip dessert, you really eat into your value by doing so. You cannot substitute one course for another!
  • Locations - While DDP is accepted at the vast majority of restaurants on WDW Grounds, there are a few that do not take it. If restaurants you really wish to go to are on this list, it would certainly be a drawback to any of the plans
  • Pre-planning - All levels of the dining plans require quite a bit of planning ahead. Even QSDP comes into play here as it has a very slim savings margin, and without planning where you'll want to eat, you can fall behind.

There are more on both sides, but these are the most common ones that I've seen, deduced, and experienced.

 

[havoc315]

Cafeen, that analysis should be in a sticky. Well done.

 

[Lori2816]

As mentioned, the Free Dining Plan promotion is only available to guests booking through the WDTC (Walt Disney Travel Company) and not available to guests staying at DVC resorts on points (rented or owned). In general, the amount of discount that you're getting by staying on points far exceeds the discount you'd get by paying full price and getting DDP for free anyway.

Most of the restaurants on property are included, for the list you can view the information in the sticky here or on the WDW site's dining plan pages (note, the 2012 list is not yet finalized, but it's very rare for any restaurants to drop off).

Now, the more difficult question. Worth. This differs depending on your individual party's desired experiences and eating habits.

If you desire to have at least 1 sit-down per night of stay, with most of them being dinner, and that sit down includes what's included with the DDP, and you'd like to get desserts from at least most of your CS meals, then it might be worth it (this requires a second check of the actual locations and potential orders to check the financial side of things).

If you want at least 2 sit-downs per night of stay, and you're interested in an appetizer at all those meals (as well as entree + dessert), then DxDDP may be worth it (again, a mathematical check afterward is recommended).

With the prices going up in 2012, DDP's margin of savings is pretty slim, while it is advertised as 15-20%, the standard use case rarely reaches this high. DxDDP is still slightly better and easier to come out ahead on (based on lower per-meal targets), but it requires a much larger investment in time (both planning and dining) as well as costing far more.

The best thing to do will be to sit down and hammer out what you want to get out of the trip as far as dining. See how that compares to what's included with each plan. If they match up, great, if they don't, you'll likely be better off OOP.

As far as pros and cons:

• Pros:
  
  • Easier to budget - Since the cost of the bulk (or all) of the dining is figured ahead of time, you can pick and choose off the menu as if they had no prices.
  • Easy to track - You go to 'Ohana for dinner? That's 1 credit off your total. A simplified credit system makes the entire system that much more user friendly.
  • Great for "mixed" parties - If you're bringing a friend, or other family member down that you're covering their bill, it makes it much easier to work out with them what they "can" get, since you (or they) are not going to be struggling with "Well, the steak is too expensive even though it's what I want, so I'll get the chicken".
  • Potential Savings - If planned ahead properly, and you've already figured out that it's what you want to do, it can offer some savings over going OOP with the same setup.
• Cons:
  
  • Restrictive Ordering - You must order an Entree, Dessert, and Non-Alcoholic beverage at each meal. While you can skip dessert, you really eat into your value by doing so. You cannot substitute one course for another!
  • Locations - While DDP is accepted at the vast majority of restaurants on WDW Grounds, there are a few that do not take it. If restaurants you really wish to go to are on this list, it would certainly be a drawback to any of the plans
  • Pre-planning - All levels of the dining plans require quite a bit of planning ahead. Even QSDP comes into play here as it has a very slim savings margin, and without planning where you'll want to eat, you can fall behind.

There are more on both sides, but these are the most common ones that I've seen, deduced, and experienced.

WOW!!!!!!! Thank you so much...I'm speechless.

 

[miprender]

*Free Dining* is not available to DVC but the dining plan is. One bonus though, if you decide to use the dining plan, is that as a DVC member you can use the dining plan in segments and not required to use it your entire length of stay.

Really? I thought you had to use it up by the last day of your checkout. How long do they carryover until your next trip?

 

[ses1230]

Really? I thought you had to use it up by the last day of your checkout. How long do they carryover until your next trip?

It does not carry to your next trip. What pp meant was that you (DVC members) don't have to have the dining plan every day. MS can segment your reservation so you have different ( or no) dining plans for different nights of your vacation.

 

[Faldred]

With a "segmented" reservation, treat it as you would multiple consecutive reservations. The dining plan entitlements for each segment begin on the morning of the first day of the segment and expire on the last day of the segment, just as they would for a single reservation of the same number of nights.

Note that when segmenting, the last day of each segment is the first day of the next segment, and therefore the credits from the two segments overlap (assuming you're getting a dining plan on each segment). Unless they issue separate KTTW cards for each segment, I don't know how they'd manage to track which credits go with which segment on these overlap days.

As to why DVC doesn't qualify for "free dining": "free dining" is a package discount on resort reservations designed to fill the resorts closer to capacity during off-peak times. (Basically, it's a discount on the package equal to the cost of the dining plan.) But DVC doesn't need to do that -- they've already sold the resort to their members. The DVC members' discount (for lack of a better term) for staying during off-peak times is a lower number of points required for the same length of stay as compared to busier seasons.

 

[miprender]

It does not carry to your next trip. What pp meant was that you (DVC members) don't have to have the dining plan every day. MS can segment your reservation so you have different ( or no) dining plans for different nights of your vacation.

With a "segmented" reservation, treat it as you would multiple consecutive reservations. The dining plan entitlements for each segment begin on the morning of the first day of the segment and expire on the last day of the segment, just as they would for a single reservation of the same number of nights.

Note that when segmenting, the last day of each segment is the first day of the next segment, and therefore the credits from the two segments overlap (assuming you're getting a dining plan on each segment). Unless they issue separate KTTW cards for each segment, I don't know how they'd manage to track which credits go with which segment on these overlap days.

.

Thanks I learned something new today. But it wouldn't have mattered as I used up all my TS anyway.