Is adding the dining plan a good deal?

[Hooked_on_Mickey]

I know, this has probably been asked a thousand and 1 times..but...does the dining plan save you money, or is it more of a convenience thing that has an added expense with it? I like the idea of having a more accurate food budget for our trip, but only if it's worth it. TIA..

 

[jennyl772003]

Here is what we found...

Taking into account the price our meals would be without the dining plan, we come out ahead

HOWEVER

If we didn't have the dining plan, we wouldn't be eating TS everyday and ordering 3 apps, 3 entrees and 3 deserts. We would stay away from the more expensive TS as well.

We do like the convenience of the dining plan, so we will continue to use it.

 

[disneymama73]

I think it depends on how you eat. We eat 1 TS every day regardless and spend $100 or more on lunch or dinner every day. So the dining plan definitely saves us money.

 

[LeesyUD]

I think that as long as you are into the TS meals, it is a good deal. There are some restaurants that you can use the credits on, like LeCellier for dinner and just that meal sometimes pays for the cost of the whole dining plan for one day. We also like to do a signature restaurant like CG and use 2 credits sometimes. Last time the bill for the two of us was about $150. That just about paid for the cost of the dining plan for two days. But with the dining plan, the credit covered that bill plus 2 CS meals plus 2 snacks each. If we had paid for that dinner OOP it would hav just covered the dinner bill and we would be paying more for the 2 CS and 2 snacks each. So it probably saved us a good $50- 60 in that case.

If you do not like to do TS then the plan may not be fore you. But I think it is worth it to try at least once. You can get some very nice dining experiences that you might not normally do at a great price.

Also check out the Dining Plan thread/forum which is in the Disney Restaurants board. You can get alot of good info there. Here is a quick link though:
http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=116

 

[mazdabug]

We used the DDP in April. Was worth every dime. Never had to worry about money. It`s all taken care of .
DG and myself are going back i hope around Jan 07 and we plan to use the DDP again.

A Pirates Life A For Me

 

[Hooked_on_Mickey]

AArgh! I just noticed that CSR is not included in 2007. Since that is where we are staying, that will most likely affect our decision. Why the heck would CSR not participate in the DDP?

 

[kvogel11202]

I find it's a good deal if you are an eater! My DFamily loves to linger over a good meal, so we do a lot of TS meals. For our upcoming 6/day 7/night trip we have 11 TS meals planned. For us it works out. We eat big. If your group is the type that can split a salad and be full for the day, which I've noticed a lot of the anti - DDP people are, it's not worth it. So look at the appetites, realize you'll be walking 8-10 miles a day, plus standing around a lot, and then decide!

 

[kvogel11202]

I find it's a good deal if you are an eater! My DFamily loves to linger over a good meal, so we do a lot of TS meals. For our upcoming 6/day 7/night trip we have 11 TS meals planned. For us it works out. We eat big. If your group is the type that can split a salad and be full for the day, which I've noticed a lot of the anti - DDP people are, it's not worth it. So look at the appetites, realize you'll be walking 8-10 miles a day, plus standing around a lot, and then decide!

 

[WVDisGeek]

For our May 2007 trip, I did the math and for my DW and I , it will save us approx. $156. Now, if we weren't using the DDP we might eat a little less, but probably not enough to not do it. For us and for our desire to eat at some nice TS restaurants while on vacation, it makes good fiscal sense. However, it isn't one size fits all. You have to take your situation into account. It can be good or bad.

 

[JoiseyMom]

AArgh! I just noticed that CSR is not included in 2007. Since that is where we are staying, that will most likely affect our decision. Why the heck would CSR not participate in the DDP?

\

Others have called and they said that CSR will be on the plan for 2007. A bunch of restaruants were pending. I really wouldn't worry about it.

 

[HRPro]

I used the DDP in June. It was great not having to worry about money for meals. DD5 loved the fact that she could eat with just about all the characters. (Which more than covered the cost of the plan). Without the plan we would have done CS for 7 days, as much as I love pizza I would have been sick of it after the trip

I loved being able to try new places. I think the best part of the plan was the smile on my DD5's face as she got to spend time with Mulan, Belle, Snow White, Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Lilo, Stitch, Pluto, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip, Dale, Pooh, Piglet, Eeore and Tigger on her very first trip to WDW

We are returning in April with DGM & DGP and will be using the DDP again.

 

[Hooked_on_Mickey]

\

Others have called and they said that CSR will be on the plan for 2007. A bunch of restaruants were pending. I really wouldn't worry about it.

Thanks! That is good news. I originally poo poo-ed (or I guess here it would be Pooh Poohed ) the thought of the DDP, but now I'm really considering it.

 

[Cebshop]

We are also staying at CS - was worried that it wasn't on the plan for 2007, but I am sure they will add it.

Another thing to consider is that a lot of people will be on the dining plan and making ADR's so you will have to make advanced plans anyway, so why not join in and get on the plan yourself.

The last time we went was 2001 and they didn't have the dining plan so we only ate at a few pricey restaurants but it will be nice to try more of them this trip.

 

[Cool-Beans]

Did it once, that was enough for me. It was nice to have everything paid in advance, but was a scheduling nightmare and we just can't eat all that food.

 

[jmskinner]

We used the dining plan for our first trip and can't imagine being without it. We would have eaten CS probably all 7 days if it had not been for the DP.

Every TS meal was about $150 for the four of us. Of course, each of us would not normally order an appetizer and dessert each, but if you each order a different one, you can share and try different things.

Highly, highly recommend it!

Oh, I have to say it, this is my 100th posting!

 

[badblackpug]

I think, again, that it depends on your family's eating habits. If you have picker eaters of the chicken nuggets, pizza, grilled cheese only variety, it is probably not worth the extra expense. But if your family is more adventurous or has bigger appetites then it is definitely worth the $$. I think that the adult plan is $37.99 a day and the childrens plan is like ??? $15.99 a day. If you sit down with menus and figure out what you would likely spend on food a day, you can figure out it's worth. Remember to figure in a tip. Gratuity is included in the DDP

 

[LeesyUD]

I hate to be a downer but you may want to check into the CS being included. I just read this on allearsnet.com
Major Changes to the Disney Dining Plan in 2007 - No Coronado Springs locations, addition of In-Room dining (began August 06), Dinner Show seating Categories 2 and 3 only; Pool bars not available; all Downtown Disney locations removed except Cap'n Jacks Restaurant. Aunt Polly's deleted from Magic Kingdom, Epcot locations removed include Boulangerie Patisserie, Chefs de France, Cantina de San Angel, San Angel Restaurant, L'Originale Alfredo di Roma, Lotus Blossom, Nine Dragons, Tangierine Cafe, Restaurant Marrakesh, Yakitori House, Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki, Refreshment Outpost, Refreshment Port. At the Disney-MGM Studios, Toluca Legs Turkey was added. Animal Kingdom - Dino Bites and Petrifries removed.

 

[GotFids]

This is my quandary for today as well....as for the other thread with the link to allears page here it is:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1190093

There seem to be a lot of changes...Epcot has a lot of restaurants leaving the program.

I keep going back and forth on this. I have 2 different reservations...one with CRO no DDP and the other with AAA for the whole shebang. The cost difference is $1248. Thats a lot of food... It would be nice to know that after a long day of walking...there is a nice restaurant already paid and tipped waiting for ya. Otherwise we wouldn't treat ourselves so well.