How many of you do the dining plan....

[bama_ed]

Never done the Dining Plan - never plan to.

We pack a lunch in a small backpack and stash it in a locker at any theme park so we don't have to go back to FW. We like riding the rides, seeing the parades, browsing thru the shops so the last thing we want to do is sit and wait for the waiter to take our order/food to be brought out/bill to come to the table EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.

DDP was an excellant value for consumers when it first came out but it has "declined by degrees" over the years to where it is a good deal for DIS Corp and not for you-n-me. I also tend eat healthier/less when I do breakfast at the PUP and pack my lunch into the park. At the restaurant I might worry more about maximizing my credits.

We do eat out in the parks each trip (did the Plaza at MK last month-first time nice place) and save oodles of cash. For 7 people I spent $120 for groceries at Winn Dixie for 5 days (plus the one table meal-less than $100). The DDP for the group would have been over $1000 for the same period. Hello?

Bama ED

 

[AuburnJen92]

Not me. I'm an Annual Passholder, so use the Disney Dining Experience for 20% off sit down.

I have yogurt, a bagel, juice, and a breakfast bar at the camper, then eat out for everything else.

That is exactly what we do, minus the breakfast bars

 

[Whosemom]

At the restaurant I might worry more about maximizing my credits.

Bama ED

That's my concern too. Who wants to walk around the parks with that stuffed sick feeling? But by golly, I can't NOT order the paid for dessert.

Actually, I think we pretty much decided this last trip that we are done with TS for awhile. Each time, we were watching the clock! "dude, bring the check already!"

 

[auntie]

We usually plan our table service meals for the evening and then leisurely shop or visit in whatever park we had the meal in. Our days of visiting the parks "comando style" are done. If we want to see a parade or show we schedule the meal accordingly so as not to have to rush through it.
Of course this is after many of years of taking little ones, and seeing every parade and light show there is too see. Have a bit of a more laid back feeling and found that we enjoyed the restaurants that we visited last year with the dining plan. We even enjoyed a signature restaurant that we might not have visited otherwise. All in all, it was a good experience for us. I am dissapointed they have removed the gratuity..as the convenience of having that included was a big plus.

I do think they should add a character breakfast or meal back to FW. Other than the BBQ or Hoop Dee Doo..which is great but a dinner show.

 

[auntie]

Sorry was a double post..not sure what happened there.

 

[loveDmouse]

It is just the two of us and we run a fairly relaxed schedule so we don't worry about time when we sit down to eat. We still catch everything we want to see.
The first year we were there I opted not to do the plan for thinking that was a ton of food to eat. I might still be on that mind set. I don't want to feel like I have to shovel it in so I can maximize the plan.
Thanks again for all the opinions. Keep um coming.
Not sure what we will do yet.

 

[bord1niowa]

Well, when camping every meal we eat at the camper or take with us saves a bunch of money as there are 9 of us going. The dining plan for 12 days would cost us $3780. I think we can do it for less than that by uilizing our camper some. Dining is pretty much all or nothing but this way we can eat out when we want and where we want, on or off grounds. We're not big ones for having to work our vacation schedule around ADR's much either. We fly by the seat of our pants. Hakuna Matata

 

[BigDaddyRog]

We're not big ones for having to work our vacation schedule around ADR's much either.

Ya know....thats exactly how I felt....like the rides and attractions were what we did between meals...instead of the opposite way around. I have to say...it was great getting to check out so many restaurants that I normally wouldnt have and being okay with ordering the most expensive entree on the menu, but I'm not real sure we'll use it again. I dont eat such extravagant meals everyday in real life...although we Do eat OUT alot, but its more like Chili's and Applebees versus Emerils and WolfgangPucks (which is WAAAY over rated, Wolfgangs, not Emerils....Emerils is incredible).

 

[PolynesianPixie]

On the subject of not including gratuity on the dining plan, WDW did actually have a good reason for this. Yes, it will end up saving Disney beaucoup $$$$$, but more importantly, including gratuity in the cost of the plan became a service issue. There was no incentive for the CMs to provide the excellent service that WDW is famous for. They didn't need to work for their tips because no matter what effort they put forth, the tip didn't change.

We used the dining plan once. I think it saved us money for what we got, however, we never would have eaten like that if we were paying OOP. It was so much food! At the end of the trip we had credits left over and a fridge full of deserts we never ate! It really needs to be a personal choice. WDW has some amazing restaurants and if you can hang with the marathon eating, then go for it! It does take a lot of planning to maximize the plan, however. All in all, I won't use it again unless it's free!

 

[tungpo1]

I just don't see how the heck anyone can eat out everyday with those prices. I guess that dining thing is good $37 a day is worth it. Chef Mickeys is $35.00 for adults thats just insane especially for that food. The buffet food isn't all that to me and for that price you can go to the sizzler off 192. For $10.99 you get a steak, baked potato plus the salad bar which is just as good if not better then Disneys buffets. Sorry had to vent they just could lower the prices I paid $20.00 for breakfast at TE GEZZZ eggs and bacon!!!

 

[stacktester]

I just don't see how the heck anyone can eat out everyday with those prices. I guess that dining thing is good $37 a day is worth it. Chef Mickeys is $35.00 for adults thats just insane especially for that food. The buffet food isn't all that to me and for that price you can go to the sizzler off 192. For $10.99 you get a steak, baked potato plus the salad bar which is just as good if not better then Disneys buffets. Sorry had to vent they just could lower the prices I paid $20.00 for breakfast at TE GEZZZ eggs and bacon!!!

I agree with that Ron. TE is ok once in a while but I wouldn't plan on going more than once a trip. I usually try and pack some snacks in the camper plus breakfast stuff. Once we're at the parks I don't feel like coming back for lunch. I try and make lunch and dinner one meal if we're eating at the parks or a resort. The bad thing about the buffets is you fill up quick and it's probably not good to eat all that at once. Making things like Tuna Salad and anything easy to heat up is the best thing to bring. I try and limit a buffet or resort meal to once per trip so that we enjoy the resort surroundings and trying different atmosphere's. I guess it's different for everybody though. Say if you only come once a year you might just budget it and forget making anything, but for people who go like us, I try and spend as little on food as possible so we can go more often.

 

[PolynesianPixie]

I just don't see how the heck anyone can eat out everyday with those prices. I guess that dining thing is good $37 a day is worth it. Chef Mickeys is $35.00 for adults thats just insane especially for that food. The buffet food isn't all that to me and for that price you can go to the sizzler off 192. For $10.99 you get a steak, baked potato plus the salad bar which is just as good if not better then Disneys buffets. Sorry had to vent they just could lower the prices I paid $20.00 for breakfast at TE GEZZZ eggs and bacon!!!

The buffet restaurants are food for the masses. Not bad, but the main focus is characters, usually. If you want truly amazing food, the signature restaurants offer it. Narcoosees, Jiko~places like these. It takes 2 ts meals, but definitely worth it!

 

[loveDmouse]

Artist Point is a yummy one too!

I am still undecided about this dining plan. I think I will wait til we get a little closer and decide what we will do. I know we could do it WAY cheaper cooking every day but this is vacation after all not a regular camping trip. I would think it would be a pain to have to worry about coming back to fix a meal and we have really enjoyed the places we have eaten each trip. I just don't know.

 

[auntie]

The buffet restaurants are food for the masses. Not bad, but the main focus is characters, usually. If you want truly amazing food, the signature restaurants offer it. Narcoosees, Jiko~places like these. It takes 2 ts meals, but definitely worth it!

I agree, we tried restaurants we ordinarily wouldn't have..like LeCellier. Which was fabulous, and way better than any of the buffets we've been to. We also used two table service credits to eat at the Brown Derby. I don't think I'd use the table service credits on the buffets, would rather pay out of pocket for those. The Epcot restaurants are a much better value for a table service credit than the buffets, although we do enjoy the one at the Cape May Cafe in the Beach Club. Since we only go once a year..or lately it seems once every few years, the Dining plan is something we would consider adding again. If I were lucky enough to live closer, like some here on the board, I'm sure we wouldn't be using it if we were able to visit more often.

 

[TheGreatGonzo]

I agree, we tried restaurants we ordinarily wouldn't have..like LeCellier.

LeCellier is another one that's very hard to get a reservation for. I was able to catch it for lunch when I was there in Dec by arriving at 11:30 when they opened. Great food!

 

[nalalion224]

We have done the dinning plan a couple of times, but this time we decided against it. The first reason is we found being tied to an ADR schedule everyday was cutting into to much of our park time. We were never actually able to eat all the food, and we have 2 kids under 10, who are not content with having to have PB&J while the rest of us eat pizza. So this trip we are eating breakfast before we leave, we'll do counter service and snacks in the park and have a late dinner when we get back at night. We are planning to eat at CP our first day there. And will most likely have one more sit down meal. But at the end of the day the dining plan just wasn't for us.