Has anyone used the Disneyland dining plan?

[lil_ragamuffins]

Is it worth it? What does it include? Does it offer any savings or is it just a convenient way to pay for park meals? Did you find you had to pay additional money regularly, or did the plan pretty much cover the expenses? Does it include character meals? Would you use it again?

I'm considering purchasing the Disney dining plan for our family's December trip. My DH is the world's biggest cheapskate when it comes to spending money in the parks. When he was a kid, his family packed a granola bar in their pockets and that was *all* they ate the entire day . Even though he swears it worked for his family, I don't want our kids to associate Disneyland with being hungry. I figured buying the dining plan ahead of time could solve any griping I might get on his part when it comes to paying for meals at the park.

The information concerning the dining plan is so vague on the Disney web site, it's hard to make heads or tails of it, and I'd love any insight or information anyone might offer.

 

[bumbershoot]

You get vouchers in various denominations depending on the ages and the number of days you'll be there.

It can only be purchased if you have a package deal for staying there, by the way.

It's not a money saver, just a way to almost pre-pay for your food.

But if you pay for something with a voucher that's more than your food, you do not get change, or money left on the voucher.

If you use a voucher under the cost of your food, you pay out of pocket.

So unless you plan very very very carefully, you're going to lose pre-paid money or pay more out of pocket.

This is a really hot topic the last couple days, there have been a few threads! And what I keep suggesting is to check out menus on allears.net and dlresortinfo dot com, figure out what you guys might eat over your stay, and budget around that amount (plus tax and tips if eating other than counter service). When you get to the parks, go and buy a gift certificate in the amount you think you'll need (or it's worked for me to split the budget up day by day, and buy a GC each day, but that's mainly b/c the cards are so cute and I want to scrapbook them later, LOL), and just work off of the gift certificate for food and even souvenirs.

The gift certs don't expire, and if you do any shopping at disneyshopping.com later on you can use them there if you have money leftover, and it is, to me, a much better way to use your money, rather than to do the dining "plan".

 

[gramto2boys]

I have done them on several occasions in the past, jut forget where the breakfast in the park is LOL! I love doing them, the gift cards do not allow you to eat at the snack carts, and I love the fact I can pay all thru the year on our trip and the food is all paid for when we go. I do how ever bring extra cash as there is no change back if you buy a $3.50 item and give them a $5.00 voucher. the good thing is that you can buy 2 items and pay the difference in cash. Being on a severe tight budget we have a great time when we do get these. Heck the last time I gave some away to dear friends since we had several vouchers left.
I am one who likes the vouchers.....

 

[bumbershoot]

For food carts I buy disney dollars (or rather, I cashed out on Sunshine Rewards for $20 worth of them, along with $75 worth of disney giftcards) and will use those at the carts where I can't use my giftcards.

But since my usual cart purchase is latte + cookie at the "permanent" cart to the left of the castle, and since that cart takes gift cards, it's not really an issue, and the dollars I'm quite sure are going to be turned back into cash before we go home.