Have you tried the dining plan and felt it didn't work for you?

[Ragtime Gal]

We are really going back and forth about whether to go on the dining plan for our upcoming trip. We have never used it before, and we do have at least one TS reservation every day, but are also planning on spending a few days at Universal and eating there. Since we have to come back to our Disney Resort, we could easily stay on the DDP and eat at Disney for dinner, but we're sort of wondering if we would be putting too much pressure on ourselves to eat a Disney meal every day...not to mention using up the CS and snacks!

Just wondering if anyone who actually *was* staying at Disney the whole time decided that the DDP wasn't working for them and if so, why...and what you recommend for us.

Thanks!!

 

[Sandisw]

We did the DDP for a 7 night trip and found that it is too much. We don't want to spend that much time in a restaurant. We also didn't like that it guided how we had to do the parks.

We much prefer the QSDP as it is a lot more flexible. We really only like to do 1 - 2 TS meals a trip and then play it by ear the rest of the time.

We are now DVC members and will be doing split stays most times. Right now, this allows us the best of both worlds as we can book one plan for part of the stay and another for the other.

In your case, especially with going off site, I would not invest in the DDP, unless you decide that you want to try out some of the 2 TS signature meals. This way, it would use up the credits on the nights you are not there.

If you are already feeling as though it will restrict you, best to go without it and just pay OOP.

Good luck!

 

[Ragtime Gal]

Thanks for the advice!

I was just so excited to get a Le Cellier dinner that it was driving my whole decision process!

I do have a lot of TS booked, per the request of each of my kids...some days we have one in the morning for breakfast and another for dinner. However, I'm not sure that breakfast is actually a great use of a TS credit anyway, and this way we also won't have to worry about splitting up and just picking a QS meal at the last minute.

Thanks again!

P.S. We do have reservations for California Grill and Yachtsman, but not sure we will use either and I'm actually wondering if either is worth spending the two TS credits...hard to imagine that paying OOP would cost more than that!

 

[saintstickets]

We are really going back and forth about whether to go on the dining plan for our upcoming trip. We have never used it before, and we do have at least one TS reservation every day, but are also planning on spending a few days at Universal and eating there. Since we have to come back to our Disney Resort, we could easily stay on the DDP and eat at Disney for dinner, but we're sort of wondering if we would be putting too much pressure on ourselves to eat a Disney meal every day...not to mention using up the CS and snacks!

Just wondering if anyone who actually *was* staying at Disney the whole time decided that the DDP wasn't working for them and if so, why...and what you recommend for us.

Thanks!!

We did the DDP for the first time on our trip in May, 2010 (Trip report link below with $$$ details). I saved all the receipts and then compared the DDP cost vs OOP cash and we definately saved money. However, we are not big dessert people or will share a dessert between DW and I. We also like appetizers that are not included on the DDP. So for our next trip after Thanksgiving, we will use the TIW discount card instead of purchasing the DDP. The dining plans are VERY convenient and if you are an entree, dessert and non-alcoholic beverage family, it is for you.

In your post you mentioned that you want to spend a few days at Universal which means you will have the dining plan for those days as well. If you did not want to come back to WDW to eat, you could always try to get two reservations at WDW and not get the dining plan for the time you were at Universal. You can link the reservations so you will not have to change rooms but you have the dining plan for only that time you will be at WDW. It's worth a try.

 

[KELLY]

I'm so happy that disney offers the QSDP. We are going for 10 days and have one adr. Also going to be eating at T-rex and rainforest. I really don't care for the regualr dining plan. We have done it for the past 3 years once we paid for it the other times it was free.

 

[sparty7798]

I think it depends like everyone has said. We did it last year and enjoyed it and upgraded to the regular dining plan during the free dining this September. We have a 3 year old so the one sit down meal gives everyone a break in the day and allows us to do some of the character things with him much cheaper than if we had to pay out of pocket. We use most of ours for lunch before he takes his nap.

Good Luck!

 

[FoodLover]

It doesn't work for us because it doesn't match our dining habits. For example:

My husband doesn't care about desserts and would prefer appetizers. I like dessert after dinner, but not with lunch. So all of his desserts, plus my lunchtime desserts, went to waste and we ended up paying for appetizers.

We don't drink soda. We drink sparkling water, which is not included. We prefer espresso drinks to regular coffee, and usually they wouldn't let us count espresso or cappuccino as our drink. So we ended up paying for our drinks.

Overall we found we were having to adapt to the dining plan, instead of ordering what we normally would. We won't buy the dining plan again unless it becomes more flexible.

 

[TDC Nala]

You bet. I'm done with the dining plan, and I mean any dining plan, including QSDP. I don't believe I will even do it for free anymore (even free it's not worth it because as an AP holder I would now have to buy two-day tickets). I just don't schedule meals that rigidly, nor do I generally order the way the plan forces one to order. TIW works better (plus booze discount).

If you're not going to be spending your entire vacation eating at Disney, I don't know why you need the Disney DDP.

 

[The_Aviator]

On our last trip, due to not caring about making ADR's, we had trouble finding food and often ended having something that tasted awful in an attempt to end our hunger. We ate from places like the ABC Commissary, the McDonald's stands etc and we only had about 3-4 meals over our ten night stay that were actually memorable. We would much have preferred to have a table service dinner each night, have some counter service for an early lunch, skip breakfast and have something to snack on during the day, as we always do when we're on holidays.

When we looked at paying for the DDP, it was going to cost something like $48 per person for our peak period trip, so we thought that it would be best if we just pay as we go, the saving wasn't going to be that great and it would mean that a lot of flexibility was lost. However, getting it for free changes everything, and I am happy that we will be able to enjoy a great meal every night and a counter service during the day.

I have done some preliminary calculation estimates (based on looking at the menus and an average of what our family will eat) and I reckon that if we had paid for the DDP, we would not have made our money back. Of course, the difference is only about $12/night for our trip, but we are in fact eating at some of the most expensive restaurants and buffets, so it goes to show that the dining plan may not be a money maker for some. The best thing for you to do would be to make some estimates of how much you would pay for your food and compare it to the cost of adding the DDP. If it is close or cheaper, you may as well purchase the DDP.

 

[ancestry]

We tried the DxDP last year and the DDP this past year. We ended up ahead financially with both of them BUT we didn't follow our normal eating habits and often ended up eating a dessert that we really didn't want.

Now that we have annual passes, we have decided that we would be better off getting the TIW card and using that for our dining discount. This way we can eat the way we want -- i.e. appetizers and no dessert.

 

[Genmorr]

This is our first year using the DDP. We have always paid for our dining out of pocket. My family consists of me, dh, dd 7, ds 16, and ds 15. I would like to go to a few nicer restaurants such as Le Cellier and my two teenage boys would eat the entire CP buffet on their own if left to it, and we figured with their appetites we'd try the DDP. They are ALWAYS hungry. I am sure if me, my DD, and DH dont have "room" for any snacks, they will be happy to help! We did not get hoppers so we planned our parks around our ADRs, which allows for visits to each one. After this trip I suppose we can truly re-evaluate if we need the DDP but I have a feeling that at least until they are off to college, it will be a good deal for us.

 

[distherapy]

We love the DxDP and have done it twice- third time coming up in October. I figured out what we'd likely order if we were paying OOP and then I priced out the DxDP. It was a pretty easy decision - especially when I factor in the snacks with the plan. BUT - I also don't stress myself out when I'm there by trying to get the best bang for my buck! If I'm really hungry, I get the app, entree, dessert. If not, I skip dessert. We have canceled TS and eaten pizza from the resort. We still came out ahead and we enjoyed ourselves a lot more. If you feel like you'd pressure yourself during the vacation to get the most out of it, I wouldn't add it - just go OOP. On the other hand, if you consider it a sunk cost and order what you'd want - go for it.

 

[williamson_ja]

I actually LOVE the dining plan. It's been great for our family. I have lots of teens that are hard to keep fed (my ds is already over 6 feet tall). I feel like it's a great value and it's enough food for keeping everyone fed and happy. My kids love that they can have dessert with each meal. I'm always such a cheap mom at meals that I usually don't allow everyone to get a dessert. So, it works great for us, but maybe not everyone.

 

[DCDisney]

We are pretty mixed on the DDP because we don't really drink soda so the value of the drinks is fairly non-existant for us and the CS desserts lose their novelty after the first day or two. We are suprisingly getting the DDP on our next trip frr though because it worked out slightly better than the 30% room discount I had booked based on the meals I was going to pay oop for. We are also spending 2 full days of our trip at Universal and arriving after dinner our first night so to use the extra credits we are doing 2 2TS credit meals. Those 2 meals are basically what we are getting free as opposed to the room discount so not bad. For CS we will have some issues using them up too but will get dinner on our late arrival night and we will also buy CS dinner to carry with us to the airport when we leave and then I think we just can use the extra credits for a hot breakfast a few days which we'll just share.

 

[jlk806]

I have only done the dining plan when it is free. Ive never paid for it and cant say that I would - it is a lot of food.

 

[rentayenta]

We have done the DDP twice with our family of 5. The first time was in 2007 when the appetizer and tip were included. By the 3rd day we were declining 3-4 apps and at 3-4 desserts at every TS meal and not having any dessert or having something we could take for later with most CS. It was just too much food. And that was with two 2 TSs.


In 2009 we did a split stay and that worked out much better. We did the DDP for 5 of the 10 nights. I wish we could have had an app instead of dessert and not having the tip included stunk. We were able to sub a salad, if available on the menu, for dessert which worked out great for both TS and CS. I don't know any family of 5 who needs 5 desserts twice a day.

DH and I rarely drink soda that is another pitfall since the meals come with soda at every meal.

It is no wonder the obesity rate is what it is.

 

[leebee]

We are going to Disney during free dining (two weeks from RIGHT NOW I will be waiting for Fantasmic! to start!). We have never used the dining plan before, and we don't usually do more than 3 ts meals during a 7 day vacation. In fact, we don't usually stay on-site. However, this trip is just DD16 and me, and we are staying at POP so we can save money by not renting a car- prices for August are astronomical for a 10 day rental! I looked at the difference between the room-only discount and the dining plan, and asked myself if I could feed two of us at Disney for $30 a day, including our 3 favorite ts meals. Even with upgraded dining (QSDP to DDP), I still didn't think I could feed two of us for basically $500 for 10 days... $50 a day. Heck, our 3 "must-do" meals would be about $175 before tax! That leaves the question as can I feed us both for $325. THe answer to this is clearly NO!! So, we are doing the dining plan.

In all honesty, I think this is more food than we will eat. We don't usually order either appetizers or desserts with our meals, but will be happy to give it a shot! I am thinking we'll bring lots of saran wrap and ziplocks to seal the brownies from all those counter service meals and bring them home to DH! Our "dining plan" is to share cs meals for b'fast and lunch, and each have our own ts meal at dinnertime. I think this'll work for us, especially in the heat of August. We are looking at this as our chance to try out all the Disney restaurants we've looked at but only dreamed about. In this respect, it makes the DDP very affordable for us. Of course, it's going to make it a lot harder to limit ourselves on future trips, when we actually PAY for food oop!