how many people get the dinning plan while camping

[team bradfield]

we pack our breakfast foods, lunch stuff, frozen pizza, snacks and plan on 1 Disney sit down meal a day, they are so many great places to eat...Boathouse, Raglan, Brown Derby, Tiffins, Backlot (Cubans!) etc. Its part of our Vacation. When we travel to Utah, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, we are all RV eating, not many places to eat in Yellowstone so the restaurants are always packed and the food is pretty so so. Although the best pan seared walleye we've had was in Jackson WY.

 

[StormyCA]

Awww, my (Pennsylvania Dutch) Gramma used to make scrapple waaaay out here in California. It was deee-licious.

But on topic, we crunched the numbers and no way is a dining plan worth it for us. With breakfast in the trailer, one 'big meal' + a snack or two a day in the parks we'd be throwing money away.

 

[Paulaparm]

For us, the only way the dining plan is worth the money is when it's free, so as long as we are camping (we haven't been there yet), we won't get the dp, if it is offered again.
We will plan on probably 6 or 7 TS meals while we are there and some quick service too. The rest cooked at the camper.

 

[jaredjohn4]

We used to do the dining plan when we were there for about a week. It was too much food! On departure day we went to food courts to retrieve our snack credits and maybe a sandwich for the trip home (1,100 miles). Now the dog and I drive down early, then the dw flies in a couple days later. She flies home and then I take a couple days to pack up. The dining plan works for the length of stay for all people no matter how long they are there. Way too many credits left over at the end. We have bagels and coffee in the morning, a sit down maybe during the day, quick service sometime. Drinks and snacks are at the camper. I got a Tables in Wonderland card when it was running and found it a better value. I think it was an 18% reduction in the bill including drinks, then an add on of 20% tip. Much better than tipping on top of a full price meal. Easy to make up the cost during a 2 week stay.

 

[FtW Mike]

Let me jump into the wayback machine. When I would go in the late 80's through mid 90's I would thanks to the MAGIC KINGDOM CLUB get a plan called GOLD KEY. This entitled us to all sit down and quick serve restaurants tip included as well as access to ALL PARKS including Water Parks and all recreational activities. It even got us a Golf Cart for our length of stay We were always in a cabin.
With careful planning we made it work for us. Park Time was afternoons or evenings while mornings were devoted to recreational activities
Jump forward to 2011 and we again stayed in the cabins but now booked Premium plan, Again all sit down restaurants except Victoria and Alberts, as well as quick serve and all recreation but needed to purchase Tickets separately . Only the addition of recreation made this worth it to me as I booked 4 hour fishing trip every day. We left far too many dining credits unsed .
Today we do TIW We do 1 major table meal a day and this pays for itself, with the 20% discount and Tip included at sit down establishments
Consider this and I apologize for the math.
Without TIW
Meal + taxes $100 add Disney recommended tip $18 Total $118
With TIW
Meal + taxes $100 less 20% = $80 + DRT $18 Total $98 savings $20

 

[garneska]

@FtW Mike you did hit the way back machine. My very first trip was in 1997 and I was able to get the Magic Kingdom Club card through MWR as a civil servant on the Air Force base. That was a good deal. Of course back then I was not staying at the fort.

 

[FtW Mike]

My first trip to WDW was an off property stay after that it was all Cabins at the Fort. My Union had Magic Kingdom Club so I made use of it. Once I understood what the plans back then offered I found that for our interests, touring style and dining preferences made GOLD KEY an excellent value for us.
For Lucille's first trip I did consider Wilderness Lodge but soon conditions warranted a move and Ft Wilderness was her choice. We did a split stay in 2013 with our 1st stay was Animal Kingdom Lodge, Lucille couldn't wait to go to the Cabins.
When I booked Lucille's first trip during my 1st call to investigate options I lucked out and the CM I spoke with actually knew about MKC and was knew all the plans from back then and explained the differences to me. Today dining plans don't work so well for us. We stay longer and lack of recreational options no longer justify costs for us. Just My Opinion

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Have never gotten the dining plan. Camping or our many years at the other resorts. Crunched the numbers and we would always lose money.

1) True!
2) This is true even if staying in a hotel room.
3) Many people, including DIS have made studies.
4) Only under special circumstance did ANY save money.

NOTE:
. . . if you order the most expensive thing on EVERY menu, it pays.
. . . otherwise, the dining plan is a loser - for the guest.
. . . but, a BIG winner for WDW.
. . . Disney does NOTHING that does not benefit Disney!