Hakuna Matata- a different view of free DDP

[Deebo]

I've read lots of posts about getting the most out of the Disney dining plan. Things like (1) scanning the menus so that you can identify the most expensive allowed items to order at the most expensive restaurant and (2) elaborate schemes to try to 'stretch' TS credits farther than the number of meals that they were intended to provide, seem to be very popular topics on this board. And things seem to have escalated during the period of 'free' dining. I am NOT knocking anyone for doing this, nor am I taking sides in that debate. And I do not wish to start another thread about whether or not certain behaviors are ethical, etc. This thread is about something different.

I have noticed that the quest to squeeze every last nickel out of the plan seems to be causing considerable stress for some folks, and likely has the potential to cast a dark cloud on a wonderful Disney experience. So I'm offering an alternative way of looking at the plan, which we were lucky enough to get 'free' during our upcoming trip.

Instead of making this a contest to see if we can gorge ourselves and get our 'money's worth' (whatever that is-- who can tell with the way the room rates and discount codes vary!?) my gang is viewing the dining plan as an opportunity to have 'Hakuna Matata' during our entire Disney stay. We can go into a restaurant at meal time every day and be fed, with little or no out of pocket cost (except for an occasional breakfast item), and the convenience of not having to reach into our wallet or figure out if we are overspending our budget. Yes, occasionally we may choose to pay out of pocket for an additional item, but this will rarely be necessary. Sure, ordering a steak might get me more 'value' than ordering the chicken, but if I'm in the mood for chicken, that's what I'll have. No worries!

I know that this philosophy isn't for everyone, but if it helps even a few of the stressed out folks to put things in perspective and enjoy their vacation a little more, that will be fine with me. I hope everyone has a great time and lots of pixie dust on their next trip to Disney!

 

[wright1baby]

What a WONDERFUL phrase! I in with you, "Hakuna Matata" to all with FREE DDP!

 

[kcashner]

That was exactly our philosophy on the paid plan--eat where we wanted and mom wouldn't sweat the bill! We loved it and ate VERY well.

 

[CMAXphoto]

These are our thoughts exactly. It means we can try things we might not normally try, and it means "No worries for the rest of our Disney days!"

 

[thunderbird1]

Bravo, Deepo! As a vegetarian (and therefore someone who pretty much always orders the cheapest item on the menu), I'm still looking forward to free dining. We're likely going to go over our allotted # of TS meals and, after much calculating, figuring and fretting over splitting meals to get the best deal, I've finally decided that we're going to go "all or nothing" with our credits for each meal. I'll try to guess which will be our cheapest meals (probably the buffets), but I'm not going to try to split meals between credits and OOP. Could we save more money? Probably. Could we get away with using some child credits for adult meals. Maybe. But trying to work the system (or even just maximize it, which would probably still look fishy) and worrying about whether we'd get away with it would just suck the "Hakuna Matata" out of the trip for me. So, we'll end up spending $100-$200 OOP for extra meals on the trip. 90% of the dining will still be FREE, which is better than we've ever gotten before.

Enjoy!

 

[richard_andmel]

Sure, ordering a steak might get me more 'value' than ordering the chicken, but if I'm in the mood for chicken, that's what I'll have. No worries!

That is an excellent plan. We have APs and could have saved $75 per room (3 rooms) per night, but decided not to for the sole reason this trip is a gift for our parents. We didn't want them reaching for the bill in every sneaky way they knew how. This way they can order what they want to and not have to worry about it. I had already planned and booked all of our ADRs when we decided to add free dining. I didn't change anything. How is it a deal if I have to eat at the most expensive places I can, just because I can. And I am not holding a gun to anyones head to order anything they don't want. I know we will end up with leftover CS credits, and I don't care really. If I can, I'll treat a few strangers on our last couple of days...

I hope everyone manages to just enjoy themselves when they are there,

 

[Kae]

Very well put.

Kae

 

[dance2874]

So true, what a great view point! I am paying oop for the dining plan in Sept because I missed the cut off for the free dining We are thinking of it the same way though. We never would have paid OOP for a character meal every day, or a TS meal, considering what it costs per person. With an almost 4 yr old, we now get to spoil her by doing that. All these posts about getting their moneys worth are making me sad. I never would have thought of that stuff. To me, I am getting my moneys worth by getting the freedom to choose where I want to eat and have money not be an object. That would not have been the case if we were paying for each meal OOP.

I am just thrilled this plan exists!

 

[Microcell]

I don't care what I eat, as long as I am not stressing about how to pay the bill when it comes! Hakuna Matata!!!!

 

[tinkandbelle]

I totally agree and could not have said it better myself. Congrats to you for putting it out there! I am so excited about the free dining for the freedom from the budget it gives us. We are eat a protein bar, split lunch, eat some trail mix kinda of people and now we can splurge both in money and diet! Now that's what I call vacation. We are trying stuff we probably would not have because I wouldn't want to slow down or take the time in the past, now I must and I think my vac will be all that more relaxed!! Yea!! another benefit. Again-great post, well said!!

 

[MickeyMonstersMom]

Well said! I booked free dining with the idea that we would get to eat wherever we wanted without worrying about it. Then I read a bunch of posts that made me second-guess my ADR's - maybe we should book more expensive places - but that's not what it's about for us. Disney's magic comes from the enjoyment we get from our experiences, including dining, and to forego places we want in favor of getting more bang for our (unspent!) buck just seems to run counter to that magic.

I did consider sharing just because it's going to be a lot of food and I hate thinking of it going to waste. However, I've changed my mind there, too. I want us all to be relaxed and enjoying whatever we want, not negotiating ("Get the steak for me today and I'll order chicken for you tomorrow"). Whether the Plan is free or not, I'm not going to be paying OOP for much once we're there - so what if we actually do pay for one or two meals? It's a lot better than paying for ALL of them!

Thanks for the validation.

 

[oobidoo]

Howdy neighbor! (We live in Dayton, TN) Glad to hear someone else say just what I have been thinking! We nearly killed ourselves last year trying to "maximize" our dining plan (which we did have to pay for...), but this year I am taking a whole new approach. We travel to WDW at least once a year with our DD and best friends and their DS. We have pre-trip get togethers to plan when and where to eat, but the girls (cant say the DHs will do the same) have decided to eat what we want, no matter if its $50 or $5. I feel much better about it already. We DO have the FREE dining this year, so no matter what we eat, we are coming out on top.

 

[BeckyEsq]

This is how we are looking at it too. To me it is not so much about saving money as just not having to bring money with us, knowing before we even leave that our only expenses will be our souvenirs, not having to calculate gratuity, etc. I think Hakuna Matata is a great way to look at it!

 

[Lewisc]

I'm amazed at how many posters ask if the rib eye steak at Pepper Market is included. None of the posters ask if the steak is any good or if it's worth the time to get to CSR if you're not staying there.

I stayed at CSR last year. The steak is OK, probably about what you'd expect from a CS restaurant. I don't think it's worth the menu price. I don't think Pepper Market is worth the time, using Disney buses, if you don't have a reason to otherwise go to CSR. Worth it if you want an excuse to look at CSR.

 

[FionaLovesShrek]

Exactly!!!! That's what the DP is all about. Maybe Disney should take your idea and rename the plan We haven't been fortunate to be able to take advantage of free dining, we purchased the plan last year and loved it. This coming trip we again purchased the plan and aside from making ADR's, we will go with the flow and just enjoy the simplicity of it. I love that they have given us great options for snacks this year

 

[GoofyBaseballMom26]

That is our plan also. We went last year during free dining and will be there again this year. I am just so thrilled it is free, I would have been delighted if we just had CS meals. Our family is not very particular and I don't care if we eat expensive meals or use the plan to the fullest. I just want to have fun, enjoy my meal and not worry about whether I have spent as much of Disney's money as I can. It's vacation ..... no stress!

I personally don't even like making ADRs but did this time just to make sure we got a couple of our favorites.

 

[anneofgreengables]

I agree! We purchased the dining plan for the sole reason that we wanted to try different restaurants at Epcot because we believe that's part of the experience. Otherwise, we would not buy the dining plan because we typically share meals (don't eat that much) and hardly ever purchase appetizers or dessert. That's what we do in Disneyland in California. But in Orlando, we figure dining in various countries is an attraction in itself, so since we were going to go to all these sitdown dinners, might as well buy the dining plan.

I heard about sharing from these boards and got excited about the possibility of being able to eat at more countries. But I'm tired of agonizing over my ADRs, so Hakuna Matata! Our focus is not on trying to get the most expensive food, because I would just stay home here in the San Francisco area if I wanted to gourge on good food. Our focus is on those unique Disney experiences--the character meals, the themed restaurants, all the Disney magic.

 

[goofy4tink]

Well, I'm one of those that has to pay for the DDP.....it actually comes out to be about $60 more expensive than using just my DDE card. However...the ease of use is what made me do the DDP....it's worth it to us, 2 moms and our 2 13 y/o dds, to not have to worry about splitting bills, or how much something costs. I'm sure that there are going to be meals that are not going to be 'cost effective'..my dd is very 'discerning' about what she eats, especially at WDW, so I'm sure she isn't going to come close to eating her day's worth of dining plan on some days. But, I just don't care. It's paid for, it's there, just hand my room key over to the waitstaff and be done with it. No hassle about how much to tip..none of that. Could we have eaten more cheaply? Absolutely...guess I'm just the kind of person Disney is hoping to attract to the DDP.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I've already learned my lesson about trying to get my money's worth with the Q&C Vouchers. I bought a bunch of them off ebay before I knew what the true value of them was and paid more than I should have. Because of that, I forced my family to eat at places that gave us the biggest bang for the buck, whether we liked it or not. We were miserable the whole trip and I vowed to never do that again. I made ADR's for our upcoming trip based on the menu selections...not the prices. Although my kids are adults on the DDP, if they want a kids meal and the server allows it...so will I. I will admit that there are a couple of restaurants where they may want to use an appetizer as their entree. If we can share on the DDP great, if not, I'm not going to give it another thought. I plan to just go with the flow and have the best vacation ever.

 

[powellrj]

we are treating free dining as an adventure in dining for our family. We sometimes will split an appt or dessert as a family, but never order one for each of us. The kids are thrilled. My DS keeps saying "mom, we are going to eat like kings!" We picked resturants we have never been to before and have gone over the menus to find new things we may not have tried before.

With free dining, if we make a bad choice, it will not ruin our trip. Its no big deal. Nobody will have to go hungry because they picked something they didn't like. While we are not sharing dinning credits, we will be using all 4 adult credits at all of our meals, that doesn't mean we can't share bites with each other. If you pick something you don't like, there will be enough food on the table that I don't think anyone will go hungry.

We are on vacation. I don't want to be my families food cop and tell people "ok, we can only use 2 credits so you can only order things that you can share and that we all like" We are on vacation. We are there to try new things and enjoy ourselves!! The DDP is giving us the chance to try new resturants and new foods and not have to worry about every dime we spend!