If the dining plan included wine...

[pradamom]

I might be going out on a limb, but my "gut" tells me not to purchase a DP. We tend to eat breakfast in the room, bring our own snacks to the park and splurge on one table service meal during our Disney Vacations. We are the sort of family that "eats appetizers for main courses" and the thought of buying a pre-packaged meal plan just makes me uneasy. If wine was included in the plan than that might change my mind!!! Honestly, the only dining plan I would entertain is the "free" one. Am I crazy?

 

[3pletprincesses]

The plan is not for everyone. For us, it's perfect as we do character meals almost everyday with our triplets and they tend to be expensive. That being said, once our girls become Disney adults but still eat like little mouse like they do now, you can be sure we will skip the plan for a few years. The plan only works if you intend to use all the credits and take advantage of everything offered. If you plan on skipping desseert most day, the value of it is pretty much out the door. The plan that is the more worth it i IMO is the Deluxe as can do 2 table servise a day including a signature as there's no way I could eat 3 ts a day but it's also only worth it if you plan on eating app, entree and dessert at every meal.

 

[TDC Nala]

If the dining plan doesn't fit the way you eat or order, it's best not to get it. If you want the feeling of prepayment, use Disney gift cards. These will work fine unless you want to eat at the Swan/Dolphin or a couple of places at DTD.

 

[disneymom443]

The DDP works for our family. It just makes it easier to have all expensives paid.

Oh and you can add wine to your DDP it's an extra cost but they do have it.

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1 more month and we will be at WDW!!

 

[cluvsdisney]

I might be going out on a limb, but my "gut" tells me not to purchase a DP. We tend to eat breakfast in the room, bring our own snacks to the park and splurge on one table service meal during our Disney Vacations. We are the sort of family that "eats appetizers for main courses" and the thought of buying a pre-packaged meal plan just makes me uneasy. If wine was included in the plan than that might change my mind!!! Honestly, the only dining plan I would entertain is the "free" one. Am I crazy?

Not crazy at all. If you have to entirely change how and what you eat to make the dining plan fit into your vacation, then it's not worth purchasing.

This is why DH & I don't get the DP. We don't eat that many desserts. We don't want to make ADRs and be committed to using up all those credits since it is more meals then we would normally eat - then it's an even bigger waste of money for us. Plus we'll still have out of pocket food expense since we will still be buying drinks and salads or appetizers here or there.

 

[Cafeen]

Echoing the above. Choose a dining plan that fits you, not the other way around! If you're not dining in the way the plan is set up, your chances of coming out ahead will dwindle. If you don't want to dine that way, but are, your experiences may suffer. Neither is a very good option.

In your case, best stick to OOP, doing the gift card "trick" as mentioned. (Though, I do recommend to put the GCs on the room and use KTTW for dining. Easier than trying to remember individual balances and such).

The DDP works for our family. It just makes it easier to have all expensives paid.

Oh and you can add wine to your DDP it's an extra cost but they do have it.

___________________________________________

1 more month and we will be at WDW!!

The wine & dine addon works OK for those who enjoy wine, but it's not really much of a savings. Most of the wines that cost more than the nightly cost require two entitlements anyway, so in most cases, you're better off simply paying OOP for it.

Of course, I'm not a wine drinker, and I haven't done the math on it, but that's the general consensus of those that have reported back.

 

[ncc1701]

We purchased gift cards last year and found it worked out for us. (we took a room discount instead of free DDP). We like to share salad with our dinners & only occassional share a dessert
Plus Ghiradelli's isn't on the plan and we sometimes get an ice cream there as a dessert an hour or so after dinner.
For our style of eating the DDP wasn't quite enough to cover all our meals but the DxDP is would have been too food much.I was also able to figure in the cost of an adult beverage or 2 . when buying gift cards
Of course if the DDP is free & there's no room disount it's a no brainer