First trip in years without the DDP!

[Ellie Webbs]

So we had our April trip from the UK cancelled and have managed to rebook for 2 weeks in April 2021, but it will be the first time since 2013 without a dining plan.
Who knew that thinking in terms of the DDP would become second nature?!
The down side: we have to save up to pay for all our food instead of either having the QSDP included or the DDP included and paying tax and tips etc

The up side: I can eat dinner at Nomad lounge if I want? I can just get apps or an app and dessert if I want?

Any suggestions on how to enjoy *not* having the dining plan? Any places we should definitely get to? Apps that are too morish to miss?

 

[rwdavis2]

Enjoy? Just go and order what you want. We have never paid for a dining plan nor would we. Got heavily discounted one once and that convinced us to never pay full price for it.

But I understand your dilemma. We usually do quick service lunch, breakfast in the room and wherever we want for dinner. Only one table service a day.

 

[Ellie Webbs]

Enjoy? Just go and order what you want. We have never paid for a dining plan nor would we. Got heavily discounted one once and that convinced us to never pay full price for it.

But I understand your dilemma. We usually do quick service lunch, breakfast in the room and wherever we want for dinner. Only one table service a day.

We have never paid for it, always had it included as part of the UK package, so it's a brave new world for us now, especially as the first few times myself and DH went together we only had the money for fries. I remember visiting Typhoon lagoon on our honeymoon and he troughed a burger anx half the fries without realising that was our budget for the day gone and I had no food ( I got caught out by locker rental).
So now, 9 years later we have the freedom to choose. Feels great but unfamiliar.

 

[IluvMGM]

We usually have free dining. So this time we will probably try to do 2-3 table service (instead of 10) and counter service the rest of the time. Too pricey for us to eat as many table service as we want.

 

[Ellie Webbs]

We usually have free dining. So this time we will probably try to do 2-3 table service (instead of 10) and counter service the rest of the time. Too pricey for us to eat as many table service as we want.

This is the problem, we had the same idea and then sat down to write our 'must do' list
.... it needs whittling down to say the least

 

[IluvMGM]

This is the problem, we had the same idea and then sat down to write our 'must do' list
.... it needs whittling down to say the least

Well, the good news (but really bad news) is maybe some of the places on your list won't even be open. I think the only major disappoints I would have is if I can't eat at Liberty Tree Tavern or Garden Grill. I am hoping they will be open and we can get reservations. But, who knows??

 

[Ellie Webbs]

Well, the good news (but really bad news) is maybe some of the places on your list won't even be open. I think the only major disappoints I would have is if I can't eat at Liberty Tree Tavern or Garden Grill. I am hoping they will be open and we can get reservations. But, who knows??

This is very true! It will definitely be a trip to remember. Flexibility will have to be the keyword I'm sure. I hope your key restaurants are open for you.

 

[Fangorn]

Yes, you can eat at any of the lounges. The ones that are attached to restaurants (Nomad Lounge, for example) generally allow you to order off the full menu of the restaurant. IMO, appetizers are much better than entrees as the chefs have more freedom to be creative and use higher quality ingredients since they are not limited by the dining plans as to what they can charge, and do not have to design apps for the masses.

We've had the DP a couple of times in the past, but find that we much prefer the freedom of not having our entire trip dictated by our meals, or thinking about whether we're getting all the "value" from the plan. For a 10 day trip, we might make 2 ADRs ahead of arrival, with any others made the day before, or more likely, the day of.

Not having the DDP does give you the option of trying apps and small plates at many more locations than you can with the DP. We tend to eat smaller, but more frequently, and share lots of stuff. It works for us.

We do go the gift card route for food, souvenirs and extras as it establishes a baseline budget.

Enjoy your new found freedom!

Steve

 

[Ellie Webbs]

Yes, you can eat at any of the lounges. The ones that are attached to restaurants (Nomad Lounge, for example) generally allow you to order off the full menu of the restaurant. IMO, appetizers are much better than entrees as the chefs have more freedom to be creative and use higher quality ingredients since they are not limited by the dining plans as to what they can charge, and do not have to design apps for the masses.

We've had the DP a couple of times in the past, but find that we much prefer the freedom of not having our entire trip dictated by our meals, or thinking about whether we're getting all the "value" from the plan. For a 10 day trip, we might make 2 ADRs ahead of arrival, with any others made the day before, or more likely, the day of.

Not having the DDP does give you the option of trying apps and small plates at many more locations than you can with the DP. We tend to eat smaller, but more frequently, and share lots of stuff. It works for us.

We do go the gift card route for food, souvenirs and extras as it establishes a baseline budget.

Enjoy your new found freedom!

Steve

Thank you, and a good tip getting a gift card also.. we usually take cash and divide it by the day to not overspend (credit cards are not my friend at this point) so I was concerned about keeping us restrained when it's all to easy to get hit with the Disney frenzy. We thought gift cards were a good plan but good to have it backed up.

 

[kniquy]

The down side: we have to save up to pay for all our food instead of either having the QSDP included or the DDP included and paying tax and tips etc

Your really not doing anything different. You either pay for your dining plan or you put that same amount of money aside to pay for your meals. Do you have access to any discount disney gift cards in the UK? In the us Target stores give you 5% when you buy disney gift cards with their Target red card. Maybe there are other avenues for buying discount GC. It would be an interesting experiment - buy the same amount in gift cards that you would have spent on the dining plan.

I have estimated our dining costs for our November trip and buy some GC's every month so by the time the trip rolls around our food costs are paid for. If we end up with any extra we can put it towards buying t-shirts or christmas ornaments.

The up side: I can eat dinner at Nomad lounge if I want? I can just get apps or an app and dessert if I want?

This is the beauty of going without the dining plan - flexibility. I hated keeping track of what we had left for credits, getting confused with what we were using when we ate in France and then you have to look for the symbol to see if an item you want for a snack is on the DDP.

Plus the dining plan can put you in a bad situation should anyone in your party gets sick. I always go back to this story - we were leaving AKL to head home and were just poking around the shop. There was a woman there loading up on all these snack items. I over heard her say that a few people in her family got sick so they had 40 or so snack credits to use up before they left. If you go the GC route and someone gets sick and can't eat then at least you have gift cards that you can use for a future trip.

Really the DDP does not save you any money it is just a matter of convenience for many to have the all inclusive feel of a vacation.

 

[Fangorn]

Thank you, and a good tip getting a gift card also.. we usually take cash and divide it by the day to not overspend (credit cards are not my friend at this point) so I was concerned about keeping us restrained when it's all to easy to get hit with the Disney frenzy. We thought gift cards were a good plan but good to have it backed up.

Again, this is my opinion, but I think gift cards are a great way to go, particularly for food. If you've not used them before, i suggest you familiarize yourself with the giftcard web site (disneygiftcard.com). You can purchase small denomination cards and combine them into a single card (max of $1000 per card).

You can create an account and store up to 5 cards in the account. From the app, you can transfer the funds from one card to another in seconds. I have 5 special cards that I've collected over the years. 4 of them will have funds on them, and the 5th will be empty.

Should a card go missing (even temporarily) I can immediately get on my phone and transfer the funds on the missing card to my empty one and I don't have to worry about searching for the lost card. It's only happened once (and we eventually found the card in my wife's purse) but knowing we hadn't lost the funds on the card was very nice.

Steve

 

[Ellie Webbs]

Your really not doing anything different. You either pay for your dining plan or you put that same amount of money aside to pay for your meals. Do you have access to any discount disney gift cards in the UK? In the us Target stores give you 5% when you buy disney gift cards with their Target red card. Maybe there are other avenues for buying discount GC. It would be an interesting experiment - buy the same amount in gift cards that you would have spent on the dining plan.

I have estimated our dining costs for our November trip and buy some GC's every month so by the time the trip rolls around our food costs are paid for. If we end up with any extra we can put it towards buying t-shirts or christmas ornaments.



This is the beauty of going without the dining plan - flexibility. I hated keeping track of what we had left for credits, getting confused with what we were using when we ate in France and then you have to look for the symbol to see if an item you want for a snack is on the DDP.

Plus the dining plan can put you in a bad situation should anyone in your party gets sick. I always go back to this story - we were leaving AKL to head home and were just poking around the shop. There was a woman there loading up on all these snack items. I over heard her say that a few people in her family got sick so they had 40 or so snack credits to use up before they left. If you go the GC route and someone gets sick and can't eat then at least you have gift cards that you can use for a future trip.

Really the DDP does not save you any money it is just a matter of convenience for many to have the all inclusive feel of a vacation.

As I said, we've never paid for the dining plan, it's a perk we had included booking from the UK. As we aren't eligible for the same room discounts as US residents it's a good deal for us, especially for a 2 week vacation.
Our vacation this April where we had the DDP included was cancelled so I'm trying to find a silver lining in what is actually quite a financial stumbling block.


So any great appetizer or hidden gem recommendations are welcome

 

[Ellie Webbs]

Again, this is my opinion, but I think gift cards are a great way to go, particularly for food. If you've not used them before, i suggest you familiarize yourself with the giftcard web site (disneygiftcard.com). You can purchase small denomination cards and combine them into a single card (max of $1000 per card).

You can create an account and store up to 5 cards in the account. From the app, you can transfer the funds from one card to another in seconds. I have 5 special cards that I've collected over the years. 4 of them will have funds on them, and the 5th will be empty.

Should a card go missing (even temporarily) I can immediately get on my phone and transfer the funds on the missing card to my empty one and I don't have to worry about searching for the lost card. It's only happened once (and we eventually found the card in my wife's purse) but knowing we hadn't lost the funds on the card was very nice.

Steve

That's great, thank you I'll definitely do my research, always great to have a good vacation without financial panic afterwards! And reassuring to be able to access it on my phone too. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Pumbaa_]

With the current circumstances, I would not tie up my funds w a gift card. If the trip doesn’t happen, then what?

if budget is a concern, skip ts. Or do the app in the lounge. Even consider offsite or more groceries brought in.

disney food prices are outrageous, but there is so many ways to stretch your budget when needed

 

[Ellie Webbs]

Just to be clear, I'm not concerned about the budget, I was looking for some suggestions for new experiences and things to try without the constraints of the dining plan. Sorry if i was unclear. I am actually really excited about this.

 

[Chef Dion]

The Mrs. and I are going this August. We usually use the DxDP as we actually get the value out of it with how we to things at Disney. This will be different as our DxDP was cancelled. We have set aside the price of the plan and some extra into a separate savings account, which we will use to pay off our credit room charges when we get back. While I like the GC idea, our CC gives us bonus points for purchases that we get back in cash (So we will actually make money on vacation to offset our savings for the next one). In addition we don't have to carry around a handful of GC or enter them into the MDE account. Our CC will be linked for room charges, so just use the magic bands.

 

[karen4546]

OP, a gift card is a good idea in that you would not need to carry around a lot of cash. Like a previous poster said-you can go to disneygiftcard.com and have up to 5 cards on there at a time. i put all my dining money ($75/person per day) on one and keep a couple of back ups so that if i lose the card then i can transfer everything to another blank card.

Okay, now to the FOOD !!
Nomad lounge is great. We get double orders of Churros and a couple of drinks. The churros are not like the ones they sell in the parks. They are warm, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside with a strawberry dipping sauce on the side that has a bit of a kick.

Liberty Tree Tavern can be disappointing as far as dining-but the Ooey Gooey toffee cake is a must for us.


My husband and I usually order two appetizers, an entree to split, and a couple of drinks.

 

[Ellie Webbs]

OP, a gift card is a good idea in that you would not need to carry around a lot of cash. Like a previous poster said-you can go to disneygiftcard.com and have up to 5 cards on there at a time. i put all my dining money ($75/person per day) on one and keep a couple of back ups so that if i lose the card then i can transfer everything to another blank card.

Okay, now to the FOOD !!
Nomad lounge is great. We get double orders of Churros and a couple of drinks. The churros are not like the ones they sell in the parks. They are warm, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside with a strawberry dipping sauce on the side that has a bit of a kick.

Liberty Tree Tavern can be disappointing as far as dining-but the Ooey Gooey toffee cake is a must for us.


My husband and I usually order two appetizers, an entree to split, and a couple of drinks.

Those churros sound like a dream! Thanks for the recommendation, I usually go straight to the savoury food but i want to try lots of new things.

 

[serene56]

Disney dining does not really save money. Its just made to sound that way. For me we put the money on a gift card. We do a TS every day. Via Napoli with a mezza pizza and 6 drinks was 66.00 plus tip. A TS credit is worth 50. we do late breakfast for 44.00 Or Liberty tree Tavern 39.,00 pp for AYCE Patriots platter. (so you see that dining at TS at cheaper places will be less then the dining plan.) we also do not do two snacks every day.
we also do not have the mindset on spending a ton of credits to take home at the end. (for one without the dining plan we would not be buying these but in fact you paid for those with the dining plan

 

[Pumbaa_]

If budget is not a concern I would stick w signature dining. Best food options, imho