How many DVC'ers use the Dining Plan?? IF so.....

[Hopefully]

We (4 Adults) do use it and have since its inception. It certainly is not the value it was with the appetizer and gratuity included. That said, we believe that we minimally break even, and in the past have actually saved.
We eat breakfast in the room, a CS lunch and a TS dinner. We go during the F & W festival so we have been able to save our snack credits for F & W booths.
Not only do we feel that we have saved, but I enjoy the planning, I don't mind making ADR's in advance and they are planned around which park is the best on each day so they are near where we are going to be anyway. I also like that it is prepaid and I don't have to worry about prices when we eat.
It works for us, for now.

 

[rutgers1]

Hopefully....Have you ever gone to the online menus (I just found them today with a google search) and checked to see if you are really saving money? I thought I'd be saving more than I was. I ended up creating a 4-page Microsoft Word document highlighting various scenarios....in some scenarios, we were saving, and in others we were not. ...........One thing that I will say, though, is that I really loved not having to think about $ for food when I was there in April. Even though I had already paid for the plan, the food seemed "free."

One thing that I don't really mind is the "lack of flexibility" mentioned by others here. I never felt limited when I had the DDP in April. In fact, if anything, I felt like I had too much food. I just asked my wife, and she said that we finished the trip with an extra table service meal (my one son got hurt and we missed our meal) and a few snacks. My big fear, though, is that I will go with the TIW option and end up not only spending more but also having more of a hassle in terms of paying for meals. In all of the scenarios that I worked out, it was never a "slam dunk".

 

[Hopefully]

Rutgers1. in my research (years ago) prior to the first time we used the DDP I did review all of the menus to help in my decision. First we decided Where we would like to eat. Once we had an idea of that I printed all the menus and we all looked at What we were likely to order. We did not go for the most expensive item, but rather what we like. Just looking at TS meals at first, we nearly broke even - not quite, but almost. When we added in an average CS we found that we were saving money. And as a bonus we could use our snack credits to Nosh Around the World during the Food & Wine festival.
I have not done that level of research for our upcoming trip yet, and I am a bit on the fence. But I believe that we will choose the plan again.
It is our style to eat a formal dinner each evening. We enjoy the break. We would do that whether we were on the DDP or not.
Even though we are all adults and no longer commando touring, our style is to be out at a park failry early in the day. Many days we come back to the villa to relax or swim, freshen up and head out for a nice dinner and evening. We love the WS restaurants so many evenings are spent in Epcot. We also love Raglan Road and make a later ADR so that we can enjoy the band and Irish Step Dancer.
I don't mind cooking, but I do not want to spend the vacation time it takes to prepare a big meal for everyone. I want to Play Too
So from all perspectives the DDP works for us for now. The cost is only one factor in our decision. Planning and having ADR's in advance is part of the pre-trip fun for me.

 

[Tink6666]

We have used the DDP twice now. Once in 2006, we did the deluxe/ premium plan and I added up all the reciepts for our family of 4 and did not include the extra activities and things that were included and we still saved money with the Deluxe/ Premium plan we were on. We also used it this past December for a 4 night stay.This time we did the basic plan (1 TS, 1 CS and Snack per day). We saved enough each day by simply using the TS credits and counter service credits. We planned it so we split meals in the morning and split counter services at lunch time and did a table service for the evening. Our average table service meal came to $140 for the family of 4 ( all considered adults for the dining plan). The total cost per day was $156. Once I added in breakfast, lunch and snacks it dinitely paid for itself with us.

Just my 2 cents!!

Happy eating no matter what you choose to do!!!!

 

[TifffanyD]

We always use it! Our first trip we didn't but the 2nd we had free dining and were hooked after that! Our last several trips have been deluxe dining - but they are generally 4 days or less. We love it.

Oh, and to answer your q, we're just a couple. No kids

 

[CheapMom]

short trips with just dh and I - YES we get the dining plan.
family trips- NO dining plan.

 

[dcfromva]

We have used the DDP a few times now. Of course, I liked it much better when it included an appetizer and the tip, but that's another discussion.
Prior to DDP, it was rare for us to do counter service. From the standpoint before DDP we had two table service meals each day, the DDP has saved us money. So, we tried some new options that we wouldn't have otherwise and we have found some new favorites--like counter service Wolfgangs and the new flat bread pizzas at the Contemporary Resorts and the Nachos at Mexico and the tuna salad sandwiches on whole grain bread at Wilderness Lodge and breakfast options at Animal Kingdom Lodge and the sandwiches at The Land.

Now that they don't have appetizers, I won't order one. I have discovered a new benefit to no appetizer and that is more room for dessert! Most restaurants will serve some sort of fruit option for dessert which I think is awesome.

Generally, the cost of our dinner is the price of DDP for 1 day. So, the counter service and the snack are a bonus.

It turns out that using the snack credits are very easy when we have our DS along. This past trip, some of the snacks we enjoyed were glazed almonds, chili cheese fries, caramel apples, Kaki Gori, crepes and ice cream (several times). It is nice to have all that covered.

 

[starbox]

One thing that I don't really mind is the "lack of flexibility" mentioned by others here. I never felt limited when I had the DDP in April. In fact, if anything, I felt like I had too much food. I just asked my wife, and she said that we finished the trip with an extra table service meal (my one son got hurt and we missed our meal) and a few snacks. My big fear, though, is that I will go with the TIW option and end up not only spending more but also having more of a hassle in terms of paying for meals. In all of the scenarios that I worked out, it was never a "slam dunk".

The big thing that pushed us to TiW for our TS dining is that after multiple long trips, we just got tired of the mediocre quality at most of the one-credit TS. We ate our first signature meal two years ago and boy, were we hooked. The atmosphere, service, and quality of the meal are all incredibly higher. In listing favorite restaurants, even my kids now put Jiko and California Grill over the ole standbys of Sci Fi and Ohana.

If you look at the online menus - you'll find that the actual cost of entrees at signature dining establishments is not significantly higher than at one-credit DDP TS restaurants. Yet the DDP charges "two" credits for the dining.

Example: Filet at Le Cellier - 34.99
Filet at Jiko - 39.00

Shrimp Pasta at Coral Reef - 23.99
Seafood Pasta at Flying Fish - 29.00

So TiW really allows us to dine at signature restaurants at about the cost that the DDP charges for a regular TS (add in free valet parking to make getting to the restaurants a pleasure as well).

If we want a themed restaurant -we can do lunch at Sci Fi w/TiW for a fraction of the cost of DDP. PLUS (and it's a huge plus for us) - TiW works on adult beverages and at the resort lounges and at Vero Beach (and you can get adult beverages for the beach/pool to go from the Green Cabin Room and use the TiW discount).

I really love the flexability of TiW and feel like we get much more "bang" from our dining dollars.

 

[Lynn5700]

We use it I love the DP.

 

[LSchrow]

we like the current DDP when there is just two of us, for 5 days or less (split stays).
more than 5 days, & we found ourselves tiring of being anywhere at a certain time (we enjoy relaxing on vacation, spending little time in the parks, so it can be a nuisance adhering to a schedule).

we've used the DDP (in its differing forms) about 15-20 times. the last 2 trips (as well as the next 2), we used the TIW. instead of trying to get the most bang for the buck on the DDP, we are more selective about where we eat & will just have a CS if in the mood.

btw, we found picabu at the dolphin a great "quick bite" option, & they offer a DVC discount