How is the dining plan ever a good deal?

[disneyfantotheend]

WE saved a lot of money on the DDP this trip, but that was 2007 terms. I think if we purchased it now, it would not be as much of a savings. However, with the convenience of it, we may still purchase it. I did not find it at all to be a hassle. Now I did read somewhere that the snack is going to go back to the old standards. Popcorn, chips or drinks basically, not anything under $4, if they do that also, I may stop buying the DDP. nOt that it makes much of a price difference, just that I think they are going to keep removing stuff as long as people keep purchasing it, eventually it will include nothing but 1 entree. LOL Okay, so that is a bit of an exageration, but I do think they are pushing it. I can eat mostly CS for the week much cheaper. Do I want to do that? Nope, but I will if it means a big savings.

 

[dreamalittledream]

Who said you can't have both?

You can't use a discount with free dining. You can’t book the dining plan with an AP rate. However, you can pay for the dining plan with most other discounted room rates..

For example

Say CRO releases a 40% room only discount. There will be a matching discount that allows you to add on the dining plan.

Is this really true? I would love it if it was! I was always under the impression that you had to give up the disc onthe room to buy the DDP. (unless you booked thru AAA) I crunched numbers and for us it was not worth getting the DDP if we lost the disc on the room at a Mod or Deluxe.

 

[missesdisney]

Is this really true? I would love it if it was! I was always under the impression that you had to give up the disc onthe room to buy the DDP. (unless you booked thru AAA) I crunched numbers and for us it was not worth getting the DDP if we lost the disc on the room at a Mod or Deluxe.

Not sure if this helps, but my sister tried to add DDP to a room only reservation and couldn't since they said it can only be done with a package (unless you are DVC member which I assume not if booked a discount plan). Just call disney and ask though to be sure.

 

[budbeerlady]

Is this really true? I would love it if it was! I was always under the impression that you had to give up the disc onthe room to buy the DDP. (unless you booked thru AAA) I crunched numbers and for us it was not worth getting the DDP if we lost the disc on the room at a Mod or Deluxe.

Yes its true. I always use a discount code to book our package with the dining plan. I wait for a general public code and they have a code for the dining plan and a code for packages without the plan.

 

[MrWixter]

It seems that the DDP pre2008 was a good deal for almost everyone and the DDP 2008 is a good deal for about half the posts on this thread. So if less people will be getting the DDP, then more people will be eating off-site, CS, or back at their rooms. This in turn will mean less people using TS. That with the fact of turning tables over faster with the apps not included will mean making ressies will be easier, the TS restaurants will be less crowded, and the service will be better.

So while the DDP won't be the same great deal as it used to be as far as saving some bucks, I think that it will now be an even better experience. Now, I don't know about you, but I go to WDW, not to save a few bucks, but for the experience for myself and family.

So please keeping posting about how the DDP is not a good "deal".

 

[CanadianGuy]

Ok - a BUNCH of misconceptions here...

You MUST be on a MYW package to get the Dining Plan. This means at least a one day base ticket for each person in the room and following the package reservations policies .. $200 paid at time of booking and full payment due 45 days before check-in.

Check with your AAA office to confirm package availability with room discounts. You can NOT book an AAA discounted package directly with Disney. You CAN book an AAA discounted room only reservation directly with Disney.

You can NOT add dining at check-in. Conversion from a MYW Tickets & Room package to a Tickets, Room & Dining package must be done at least 3 days before check-in and must be paid in full at the time of the change.

You can not add the dining program to a room-only reservation. Most times, if you wish to switch from a room only reservation to a package, your room only reservation will be cancelled and then a new reservation made.

Hope this clears up some misconceptions in this thread.

Thanks,

Knox

 

[Stinky_Pete]

Used the DDP for the first, and probably last, time last month.

I find it funny how many people say it makes their trips more relaxing because everything is paid for. For me it created stress!

About half-way through the trip we realized we really needed to focus on using our CS and snack credits or go home without using them all (heaven forbid!). Each night I would make a list of what we were going to do the next day and at the top I always put the number of days we had left and the number of CS and snack credits we had to use in that number of days. Often we had more credits per person than days remaining (like 4 days and 12 CS credits for the two of us)

We even went the the MK on Christmas day, our last day, just to use a snack credit on Figaro Fries (which are incredibly yummy, BTW). I even ended up using CS credits for breakfast (*gasp*) at least once because I didn't want to go home with any unused.

I also didn't like how it limited our dining choices. One night I wanted to have drinks and appetizers at our resort's lounge for dinner, but that wasn't included. I did it anyway, but I felt like I should have been using a counter service credit somewhere. I also wanted to go to Spoodles at some point in the trip and have appetizers and a salad for dinner (love the dips!) but didn't because we needed to use up the credits, and we couldn't order that way on the plan.

Financially it may be a good deal if you eat like the plan dictates, but to me it's just not a fun vacation to be picking where I dine and what I order based on what's on the plan.

 

[Tiger926]

Ok - a BUNCH of misconceptions here...

You MUST be on a MYW package to get the Dining Plan. This means at least a one day base ticket for each person in the room and following the package reservations policies .. $200 paid at time of booking and full payment due 45 days before check-in.

Check with your AAA office to confirm package availability with room discounts. You can NOT book an AAA discounted package directly with Disney. You CAN book an AAA discounted room only reservation directly with Disney.

You can NOT add dining at check-in. Conversion from a MYW Tickets & Room package to a Tickets, Room & Dining package must be done at least 3 days before check-in and must be paid in full at the time of the change.

You can not add the dining program to a room-only reservation. Most times, if you wish to switch from a room only reservation to a package, your room only reservation will be cancelled and then a new reservation made.

Hope this clears up some misconceptions in this thread.

Thanks,

Knox

Knox - Good summary. Just wanted to clarify though that us DVC folks can purchase the Dining Plan without a MYW package, and can add up to 48 hours prior to arrival. Just wanted to mention this as people still seem to get confused when they hear of others adding the DP without a MYW package, and it's because they are DVC.

Tiger

 

[alldiz]

For me it's simple.....

2007 DDP was an awesome deal....

2008 DDP...an OK deal....

Why do I get it.....to guarantee my DH dosen't push me to the
counter services every day for every meal
Kerri

 

[CanadianGuy]

Knox - Good summary. Just wanted to clarify though that us DVC folks can purchase the Dining Plan without a MYW package, and can add up to 48 hours prior to arrival. Just wanted to mention this as people still seem to get confused when they hear of others adding the DP without a MYW package, and it's because they are DVC.

Tiger

Good catch Tiger. I didn't mention that as others had covered it nicely in the thread but I should have...

Thanks!

Knox

 

[MiknMinMouse]

I was just at WDW last week. We were able to get out of most TS places for $35 (for 2 people). A few others would be about $50 for 2 (such as the buffets or the Garden Grill "family style" type places).

I.

BTW, first of all, that's a very conservative quote for the buffets.
Okay if the dining plan is $37.99 per adult. You spend $25-$30 on your average sit down meal at best, your counter service meal is going to be over $10 then you have a snack that's $4-5. Those are cheap estimates, it still seems to make sense to me. The price you used must have been sharing meals. We usually don't share meals at Disney and we do a lot of the buffets Which are usually $28.99 plus tax. Then we do counter service which is about $7.79 plus $2.09 for small soda(cheap at Pinnochios). Then a Nestle Cookie Sandwhich is $3.50. We're still saving money on the dining plan. Without tax that total is $42.37. I figure every penny helps since that's what we're going to eat, dining plan or no. Granted it was better when they had gratuity added and an appetizer but people complained about too much food so Disney listened and saved themselves money.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Is this really true? I would love it if it was! I was always under the impression that you had to give up the disc onthe room to buy the DDP. (unless you booked thru AAA) I crunched numbers and for us it was not worth getting the DDP if we lost the disc on the room at a Mod or Deluxe.

Keep your eyes on the codes board.

Whenever a room only code is released, there will be a matching code that can be used for dining.

You'll get the discounted room, price park passes and the dining plan. (You'll pay full price for the passes and dining)

 

[disneyfantotheend]

For me it created stress!

About half-way through the trip we realized we really needed to focus on using our CS and snack credits or go home without using them all (heaven forbid!).

I even ended up using CS credits for breakfast (*gasp*) at least once because I didn't want to go home with any unused.


Financially it may be a good deal if you eat like the plan dictates, but to me it's just not a fun vacation to be picking where I dine and what I order based on what's on the plan.

See we did not take it so seriously. I think if we worried the whole week about how much we were spending and that we used all our credits, we wouldn't have liked it either. We just ate, used the plan where we could, where we couldn't we paid cash. If we wanted dessert we got it, if not we didn't. I didn't feel we had to eat the dessert or we were wasting money. We looked at it as more of a convenience than a money saver. We still ended up saving money and I didn't stress a bit.

 

[ilovecountry]

Would you share your discount site, please? You are making me very curious, here. It sounds like you are getting this incredible deal; so, please share. Are you booking a Disney resort or are you staying off-site? It sounds like you are staying off-site and then I would understand why you can't get the DP.

Also, I truly believe you can always upgrade to the DP when you arrive at a Disney resort, regardless of how you booked the trip originally. It's like an add-on.

--- My friends & I went in June & we actually booked it through Expedia. Originally we were gonna book it through Disney but the over all price was just too much for us to afford! There was a bunch of us but three of us put our money together on one credit card & the package was 8 nights at POP Century (3 of us shared the room) & a non-stop roundtrip for $419 each. We then got our tickets through undercover tourist. Then for our meals we just went to the lunch buffets, etc to cut costs. Afterwards we calculated how much we spend & it was still literally hundreds less then what Disney offered us as a package (we asked for the cheapest possible package while booking too lol)

 

[Dawn68PA]

The DDP not only saves me money but stress. I know before we leave where our CS & TS meals will be and I don't have to think about a thing. Snacks? We grab them when we want them. Last time we went we had 2 snacks left over and we stopped by our resort snack place and grabbed a couple bananas for the ride home. When traveling with 6 adults, this is a great thing. Especially if we do buffets so everyone in our party can have plenty of what they like. If we happen to want something extra (which has yet to happen, meals are filling!) we would just buy it. We definately get our money's worth and more out of the DDP.

 

[pinkerbell]

We have been on the dining plan 3 times. Twice we have paid for it and once we got Free Dining (receiving free dining on our September trip saved us almost $1000). We are a family of six and it has saved us money everytime we used it. Unless you are packing your own pb&js to bring into the parks or going back to your room for a "homemade" meal, I don't see how you can't be saving money. The value is especially good for the kids, there is no way we could feed them on $11.00 per day without the plan. We even used snack credits for breakfast items on our last trip. You could get a whole carton of Entimens donuts and a half gallon of milk for two snack credits. That was a quick breakfast for the kids before we left for the parks. We had a character meal everyday of our trip. I can't remember the price of every single item at every single meal (part of the beauty of the dining plan, not having to worry about prices), but I know the buffet at Crystal palace is about $28.00 per adult and $13.00 per child (the child's price on the plan for the entire day with cs meal, ts meal and snack was on $11.00!) so our bill was about $107.00 (before tip, which was included on our last trip), with tip about $127.00. The dining plan for our family for the whole day was only $120.00. We came out $7.00 ahead just on dinner, then you throw in lunch for the six of us that would have cost about $40.00 out of pocket and say $3.00 each per snack for each of us ($18 total), that has us saving about $65.00 per day.

I also can't quite understand everybody griping about too much food. If you don't want an appetizer and dessert, don't order both. And also, I lost 6 pounds during our September trip. How can you possibly gain that much weight with all of the walking. I wouldn't be surprised if we walked 15 miles per day! And what is with saying that the plan is hard to use? We have never had any trouble with it. You just hand them the card and they swipe it. No big deal. That's my husband's favorite part of it all, the ease of the plan and not worrying about the money.

Now, I must say I agree that people will not be saving as much money with the new 2008 plan because it does not include the tip. (I also don't think the revamped plan will last past 2008 either, just my opinion.) Even without the tip and the appetizer we would still come out ahead. So, as you can see we are "Fans of the Plan!"

wow princess tiffany... you have a full house for sure... and I agree it was not too much food last year, I almost always cleaned my plate...
free is when you save the most.. even still we found it to be a savings and with two little ones it kept us on track with feeding them... we also used snacks at times for a qucik breakfast... it is more like 3 meals a day when you use the snack that way..and quick when you want to get out fast to go to the parks!


OP I must admit I didn't think I would like it but I make my adrs's knowing I can cancel and on both our trips we have only cancelled one or two, it keeps us eating, so we don't eat junk or get cranky from hunger... adults too.
it might be more of a break even deal now and due to the auto tip I might not buy just because of the principal...

 

[itchin2go]

It just seems like you have to be prepared to be very strict on your vacation to use DDP. If you decide to skip using one of the TS credits you have basically blown the whole budget.

Actually, we would have to be "strict" if we didn't use DDP. With the DDP, we're free to order whatever we like, regardless of price.

Bottom line: Everyone's different. DDP works for some, not for others. It works for me. If it doesn't work for you, that's ok with me. Live and let live....

 

[Sandy321]

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.

Also dh and I split a CS Breakfast and split a CS Lunch - so its beyond worth it for us - but, not as a great deal as before - we often would take desserts to go - and we loved the appetizers, we often shared those - so sad its gone!!

 

[SnackyStacky]

I'm going to move this over to the Dining Plan Board.

 

[LSchrow]

Actually, we would have to be "strict" if we didn't use DDP. With the DDP, we're free to order whatever we like, regardless of price.

Bottom line: Everyone's different. DDP works for some, not for others. It works for me. If it doesn't work for you, that's ok with me. Live and let live....

agreed
we really don't spend much time in the parks anymore, but enjoy our dinners at world showcase (walk over from BWVs). b'fast & lunch (CS) are flexible...maybe tangierine cafe, paninis at BW bakery, or WPE (delicious!) in DTD.

or fav snack is the mochacino in MGM (yes, i'm going to keep calling it that lol)...good enough to have 2!

honestly, the DDP has made our trips even more relaxing & pleasurable. if we were "park commandos", we prob would not use it.