How is the dining plan ever a good deal?

[goofy4tink]

I have done the DDP about 4 times now, as well as having the DDE card with me. I used to enjoy the DDP simply because it simplified things for me. All I had to do was plan where I was going, eat and enjoy. I usually spent about $12 a day for CS, then about $35 each night for TS. I would get a snack most days and if I had any left over, I headed for the shop at my resort and bought some to take home. But, with the tip being excluded, and the appetizer being taken away, it's just not worth if to me. I enjoyed the appetizer rather than the dessert. And I liked not having to worry about tipping. So..it looks like I'll use my DDE for the time being. I've sat and run the figures until I'm blue in the face. The DDP doesn't come close to making sense for me anymore. For others, it still makes sense.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Another way you can come out ahead - if you have kids who like to eat!
For example, it is $11.99 for kids to have dinner at 'Ohana. The child's price for the DDP is $11 a day. Which for me means that 2 of my kids are getting a counter service meal and a snack for free. Also, the adult price is $27.99 at non-holiday times. Even if we don't spend the remaining $12 on a CS and snack for that day (although we will definitely come close) with the free food the kids are getting, you are bound to come out at least even. Like a previous poster, we tend to do a lot of buffets/ character meals because it gives the kids a lot more selection.
Also, it is so nice to be able to say to the kids - go ahead and have that filet mignon, mahi mahi, salmon, shrimp etc.... something I know I wouldn't do if I was paying out of pocket.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Can somebody explain the other levels of the DDP? I have only seen the "basic" plan advertised. What is with the deluxe and platinum plans? We tend to mainly eat CS dinner in the parks and make most of our TS dinners at the "signature" restaurants (such as the Brown Derby or California Grill). Maybe one of the other plans would make more sense to me if I see the details and pricing.

The deluxe plan includes three meals per person, per night. They can be used as TS or CS credits.

You also get an appetizer with each table service(and counter service )meal.

The plan includes 2 snacks per night per person.

I believe it's $69.99 per adult per night. I'm sure about the kid's price. (My 16 year old is an adult in Disney's eyes)


You don't have to order or eat everything that's included with the plan. During our last trip, we skipped plenty of appetizers and/or desserts. We were just to full from our meal to eat it all.

We order our meals based on what we'll eat, not what we're entitled too.

Even without maxing out the plan, I believe it's a great deal.

 

[Bete]

You have to go to the most expensive places like Le Cellier, Teppan Edo and Coral Reef, etc. and then order the more expensive items there for the plan to be worth it. Your drink is ala carte except at the buffet places and some places will let you order a smoothie or milkshake and that will be considered a regular drink. Desserts can go for $4 to $8 each. Doing the simple math, entree at $27, drink at $4 and dessert at $6 which is on par for the places mentioned. Your total for a TS is $37. You play the same game for your counter service and pick the most expensive places and meals. There are counter service meals that can go $10 to 15 for your entree with a $3 drink and a $4 dessert. So, counter service can reach around $19 at the better places. Your snack is worth let's say $3.

This brings the grand total to $59 a person; so, the plan works to your advantage. You will need to make ressies way ahead to get the better places on the plan or accept less desirable times to eat there. There are sites that show the cost of many items on the plan and that's what I'm working with here in my calculations. These are honest numbers.

If you go to the better buffets, you subtract the drink and dessert which is worth about $10 and that brings the total to $49 a person and still a good deal. There are some shows that are allowed on the plan like Hoop de do Revue which is a good deal on the plan, too.

Myself, I prefer food courts and counter service or cheaper lunch pricing (less crowded) for the table service meal, if I do one. I utilized the DP ever since it came out, but I'm ending that for 2008; because, it doesn't include appetizer or tip on the basic plan. I like doing food court for breakfast and or dinner; because, you can go there during non-park hours; so, you have more time to enjoy the parks. I can tolerate one CS at the park taking away time doing the park. I will skip dessert without any issue. I'll have an appetzer that I'll probably share. Finally, I'll go to the places not on the plan and enjoy less crowds there.

I am waiting for reports about the second tier dining plan which may work out as a better deal, but you have to spend a lot of time eating your way through Disney on that plan or go to signature restaurants like the Brown Derby, etc. that utilize 2 credits for a TS meal.

I'm glad I was able to do free dining twice and get the plan when tip and gratuity were included in the price. I don't feel 2008 will have that much of a drop off from the plans until later in the year. I think everyone will get wiser about it and Disney may change again or not on how the plans will work. If waiters are hit with poorer tips and there's less attendance in these places Disney will change it, again.

Also, we don't know if the prices of all these places don't go up in 2008 which would make it a better deal again for the plan. We will have to wait and see.

 

[goodferry]

Hate to hijack this thread, but one more question about the deluxe dining plan. I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to the changes since we just got back and aren't planning another trip yet, if you are allowed three meals a day is it true they can be counter service OR table service? There aren't a certain number of table a certain number of counter like now?

 

[disneyjunkie]

Hate to hijack this thread, but one more question about the deluxe dining plan. I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to the changes since we just got back and aren't planning another trip yet, if you are allowed three meals a day is it true they can be counter service OR table service? There aren't a certain number of table a certain number of counter like now?

Correct

 

[kimsuenew]

IMO we would just about "break even" now that appetizer and tips are not included, however, we LOVE the convenience and ease of use the plan offers!

I would guess the only time it is an incredible value is when it is offered free in September... that is absolutely unbelieveable! And while you do have to "rack rate", if you are staying at a Value in September it is less than 90 bucks a night to stay there... and you get the free DDP for everyone in your party... so that rocks!

 

[Colleen27]

Can somebody explain to me how the Dining Plan can be a good deal? I can't seem to figure out why anyone would buy it.

Here's the way I understand it:
- You essentially get a meal, a drink, and a dessert for CS or TS, or a buffet.
- The Snack is worth about $4 at max.
- Tips are not included.

To me it just seems like before when you got an appetizer and the tip was included you barely came out ahead (barely as in it was still worth the "hassle" of using DDP). Now though, I can't figure out how you really even break even considering the cost of the plan.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't really remember going to any TS restaurants (that aren't considered "signature") where each person's meal, drink, and even dessert was more than about $25. Likewise, I don't remember ever spending more than $15/person for a meal, drink, and dessert at CS restaurants. So that's $40 plus the $4 snack. So $44/day assuming those prices (and most of the time I don't remember spending more than about $18 per person at TS and about $12/person at CS, so that would be only $34/person/day at that rate).

That's where you lose me. I've had several meals at Disney where my entree alone was in the $20-25 range. Add in a $2 drink and a $6 dessert, and the TS alone can account for $30 or more of the $37 cost of the dining plan. I really can't think of many places where you'd spend as little as $18 for a entree, drink & dessert, tax included.

Losing the tip and appetizer are a significant price hike, but with the dining prices also increasing, I'm sure there are circumstances where the dining plan is still a savings.

 

[tmatthews]

We went back and forth with it.....I have one DS13 who is a PICKY eater....(I am as well) and we have a DS4! I don't see us doing many TS especially since we are going at Easter time.....It was kind of last minute for us so we decided against it.

 

[TDC Nala]

We are fans of appetizers and salads. I think the 2008 plan should give you a choice of appetizer OR dessert. I'm not sure why they dont allow that-looking at the menus, prices of appetizers/side salads seem pretty comparable to the prices of desserts anyways.

Desserts are cheaper (to produce) than appetizers. Appetizers are not just salads.

It's easier to adjust a dessert menu to allow use of cheaper ingredients.

Part of the reason for eliminating the appetizer was for faster turnover of tables. The logic behind this one is that it's more likely that diners will be full from the entree and either not order the dessert, or get it to go, thus turning the table over faster.

 

[Melissa_E]

We went back and forth with it.....I have one DS13 who is a PICKY eater....(I am as well) and we have a DS4! I don't see us doing many TS especially since we are going at Easter time.....It was kind of last minute for us so we decided against it.

Well thats the thing, it doesn't work for everyone. If you are going to do mostly CS then it probably doesn't work for you. We decided on the DxDP because we wanted to do some signature dining and the appetizer, especially since we'll share it with DD4. The other reason was, I don't want to look at the prices and think, well I paid $20 for lunch for all of us, I don't want to spend $100 for dinner. We do that enough at home.

 

[MomofCKJ]

We used it in 2006 and are using it in 2008 as well. For me it is purely convenience. I like knowing that almost all our food is prepaid. I don't want to be limited when I am there by the dollars in my pocket. What I mean is by prepaying I know I can order filet each night if I want (and I might!) and not need to switch to a burger by day 4 because my cash is running low. KWIM? I just like having it all prepaid and be able to order the entree I want without any regard to the cost.

FWIW we did save money on it in 2006 and I still think when all is said is done we'll save some $$ on it in 2008 too though probably not as much. I still like the concept of it though and will continue to use it on our trips.

Allyon

 

[Pirate's Princess]

If you like eating dessert and not looking at prices, then go for it. I am. I like going to "finer" restaurants and eating steak and seafood a lot. Even if I order lower price entrees (say $16, it's still $6 for dessert and 3 for a drink) that's $25, then I need a CS (cheapest being $6.50, with a 2.09 drink and a $2 dessert) that's 10.59 (not including tax) and then it's about 2.50 for a snack- very doable. So you break even. Big whoop! Why are you hasseling those who've done the math and come ahead with the choices we like. Even without a CS dessert I come ahead.

If you don't think it's not a deal,then DON'T DO IT

 

[red1der1]

I have been spoiled from all the all inclusive vacations to the Caribbean thart I have taken in the past, so while the dinning plan may not be the best out there, I really like the fact that my meals are prepaid and I do not have to carry as much money with me while on vacation. That is the benefit to me IMO.

 

[Nbtstatic]

Maybe you haven't seen entree prices lately?

When we go, there's no way I can get an entree, dessert, drink, Cs meal and snack for 38 bucks, it just won't happen.

I pretty much spend that on the TS meal, maybe TS meal plus one snack. The rest then becomes free.

Not to mention the fun of just picking whatever you want, having everything all taken care of before hand, etc.

 

[chrismb22]

For us the Deluxe plan was a no brainer for one reason. It was prepaid. I would never have saved enough money for food for our upcoming trip (in 12 days YEAH!!!) especially with the holidays just over. This way, I only have to bring money for tips and drinks (and of course, souveniers). We received about $250 in disney dollars/gift cards for the holidays so we should only need a little more.

We are also eating 2 TS meals a day a day (I don't like counter service) and that includes California Grill, Le Cellulier, Coral Reef, Flying Fish. I figure we would spend more than $140 at those places alone (that's $70 for each of us) so we are making out just on dinners.

 

[kaytieeldr]

It's always been a good deal - just, next year, it's going to be somewhat less of one.
Example: Tuttu Italia. Average entree is $28.30; average applicable drink is at least $3.00; average dessert is $8.10. Total = $39.40; the DDP includes/covers/pays the tax, so that's another $2.56, for a total dinner check of $41.96. You only paid $37.99 for the DDP for that night.
Tip, if you're not in the auto-charged category is, at your descetion, $5.91 or $7.10 or $7.88.
Meanwhile, you also had that $3 snack and that $12 counter service meal. Your food which was covered by the DDE totals $56.96. You paid $37.99 - that $18.97 difference, is two or three times your additional out of pocket cost.

So, while again it's not as good a deal as it was before, it's still a deal.

 

[Eoywin]

We loved the dining plan - it was just me and my husband, but each of our ts dinners ran over $80, so we definately got our money's worth.

Even with the changes, we would use it again.

 

[MFLetou]

I booked my trip not even two weeks ago for a Jan. 13-17 visit. Thought hard about it but decided against it for a couple of reasons:

#1--can't get dinner ressies for many of my preferences. We are doing lunch at Le Cel, Chefs de France, and San Angel. In order to really maximize the dining plan, though, you need to be using your TS credits for dinner, and ordering nicer entrees.

#2--my wife is not a dessert person. She IS a soup/app person. I'll be you know what if after paying nearly $80 a day for food for us, I still have to pay upwards of $15 for soup and tip.

#3--we like breakfast--another terrible use of the DDP. Therefore, I'll have to be paying for our breakfasts.

#4--It feels like a lot of pressure. I'm the type of person that would need to maximize the DDP if I was going to buy it. Its a lot of money to me. I couldn't stand leaving money on the table, such as it is. We only 5 days, I don't want to spend all my time eating or worry about it eating.

So we have lunch ressies for 3 days at Epcot, which is a challenge in an of itself logistically. Not sure if we can pull it off, but we'll see. Forgoing the DDP, and I'll try to work it out on the other end to see how we made out.

 

[vtwep]

Being an accountant, I sometimes like to look at things like this. On our November 2007 trip, I calculated everything we ate that we used our dining plan on. In total (just on the dining plan purchases), we saved $234 over what we would have spent paying out of pocket had we ordered the exact same items (6 days, 2 adults and 1 child). I then ran the exact same scenario and removed one appetizer and the tip from each meal...using the 2008 plan we would have saved $112. So, not a "huge" savings, but enough to be worth it. That money saved helps take the sting out of the bags of souvenirs you'll probably end up buying!

So, based on how we ate that trip, the dining plan was a winner either way.