Is Dining Plan Worth It While At a DVC Resort?

[Minnie*Mouse]

Are many people considering the dining plan even if they stay at a DVC resort with a full kitchen and all the amenities?

Also, can you purchase a dining plan for a specific number of days and not your full length of stay?

M*M

 

[DebbieB]

If you eat one large meal out a day, it may be worth it. When I was there in June with my niece (12), we did breakfast in the room, lunch counter service an then a charcter dinner. The character dinners came to around $65 to $70 for both of us, the counter services were around $25.

You must purchase the dining plan for all nights and all people in the room. I think that is the key for Disney to make money on the plan, if it was pick and choose it would not be profitable.

 

[LoveMickey]

You have to purchase the DDP for the length of stay.

I've only been home once and stayed in a studio. We only had breakfast there and normally when we go to WDW we eat out all the time.

If you normally eat out, and include a sit down meal once a day, it would be worth it.

If you normally cook, I would say DDP would not be worth it. You may want to look at the Disney Dining Experience (if you are an AP holder). You get 20% off of you bill at selected places and it include alchols. We had that once and it basically paid for the tips.

 

[mom2rb]

We are trying the dinning plan this trip. We normally have one sit down meal a day and split two counter service meals between four people. Plus we buy ice cream. Then we had one meal a day in the room. This trip is the first one in a while that is just the four of us. We have been bringing lots of family. So we will try and see how it works out.

 

[fofinia]

My sis and I were at BCV 5/06 and we did the DDP. We were two adults and two kids and two infants. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but we paid about $500 and our food bills totalled way over $800.

As with other people said, you need to sit down to eat once a day. We thought it was great and we'll be doing it again in January.

HTH

 

[keishashadow]

Especially since there is no tix purchase requirement, it's a winner!

I don't cook on vacation - period. We don't eat breakfast on vacation either, usually up bright & early for am EMH's.

We're more than satisfied to eat CS early, then TS later in day. There's so much food on the DP we usually stretch it out to cover our last day too.

What a wonderful perc.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

There's no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on your dining pattern at WDW.

For example, if your family likes a big counter service lunch every day and a three-course table service dinner every night, then you can save a lot of money with the DDP. (Yes, I know there's the flexibility to use the DDP CS and TS credits in other ways too; I'm just giving an example.)

However, if you typically don't dine at a TS restaurant every night, or you typically order one- or two-course meals, or you enjoy dining in your DVC villa some of the time, then the economics of DDP become shaky. With DDP, you may just find yourself eating more than you really want.

We decided that we'll be better off with DDE. I prefer a two-course dinner with wine. Three-course meals tend to be too much food for us, and we're not big on buffets either. DDE provides a discount on the meal and the wine. (With DDP, wine is full price.) Sure, you can get two-course meals with DDP, but it's the third course that really makes DDP a money-saver.

 

[KelNottAt]

We stayed at the BWV Aug 12 - 17 and used the dining plan. To be honest, it's not for us. Just too much food. Even the counter service meals were enough to split. And ADRs everyday got in the way of spontaneity.

I had my doubts going into it but figured, "hey, I'll try anything once." Plus our trip was a family reunion and we'd be the only ones without DDP if we decided against it. So we succumbed to peer pressure.

In hindsight, I concluded we could have enjoyed it more if we only used the TS for "Signature Dining." That way we'd save money on some of the nicest restaurants and only be "locked in" to big meals every-other day. (Signature Dining requires 2 TS credits.) The rest of the time we'd stretch our CS and probably still come out ahead. Or, better yet, whip up something real quick in the villa.

 

[JimMIA]

I'm sure you get a sense that the correct answer "depends!" It depends on the composition of your family and your eating habits at WDW.

We (2 adults, 1 4 y/o) ALWAYS do either a nice dinner or a character meal each day, so for us DDP is a no-brainer. In our recent 5 night trip, it saved us a couple hundred bucks over what we normally would have ordered using our DDE card...and that's just comparing the prices of what we would really have ordered, not the full three-course meal.

We also liked the convenience of the CS and snack credits. It's nice to be able to grab a bottle of water or an ice cream whenever we like, without worrying about the cost. (We calculated our break-even on DDP using the TS credits alone, and considered the CS and snack credits just bonuses.)

We had a few CS and snack credits left over, but we stopped by Earl of Sandwich on our way out and loaded up for the trip home.

 

[bpmorley]

It was worth it for us. We had to get it for 8 days. We saved a little over $200 if we would have paid cash. That included 3 breakfast buffets(that aren't really worth a TS). We also did 2 shows that cost 2-TS apiece. But somehow when we got home and I did the math we saved.

 

[Bill K]

dining plan is a little pricey for a party of 8 staying 10 + days.

 

[slp87]

We went in March before the DP was offered to DVC members, but I wanted to keep track of our expenses to see if we might want to use it in the future. We are a family of 3, DH, DD (11), and myself. We typically ate a quick breakfast in the room, a snacky, quick service meal, and 1 table service meal. After looking at our totals, it would have cost us $200 more to use the DP. We are not big eaters and typically share food at all our meals. DD and I usually share a main course and the 3 of us share 1 dessert. We could never eat the amount of food that you get on the DP.

 

[disgrits]

In hindsight, I concluded we could have enjoyed it more if we only used the TS for "Signature Dining." That way we'd save money on some of the nicest restaurants and only be "locked in" to big meals every-other day. (Signature Dining requires 2 TS credits.) The rest of the time we'd stretch our CS and probably still come out ahead. Or, better yet, whip up something real quick in the villa.

Great tip for "signature dining!" The CS meals were really plentiful in June when we were at WDW. Between the CS and snacks we could have stretched that out to fill the entire day and then use our TS for "signature dining." Although, I really love that Disney allows character meals to only count as 1 TS each. Next time, I think some signature dining will be the way to go for our family of 5...if my boys aren't "hungry men" by then, and can stand sharing CS meals .

 

[Sammie]

We loved it.

We used it for a 5 night stay and were not leaving on the weekend, but moving to another Disney resort. I think had we been checking out and leaving that day we might not have enjoyed it as much.

We had 3 very nice TS and one Signature on the day we moved.

We used all our CS meals and the snacks we used for bottled water or for breakfast items that we took back to our frig.

 

[JimMIA]

dining plan is a little pricey for a party of 8 staying 10 + days.

EVERYTHING is pricey for a party of 8 staying 10+ days!

But...this post and slp87's post give you two excellent examples where DDP may not work well.

Our DD4-going-on-24 @ $10.99 per day is going to get a lot better value than slp87's DD11 @ $37.99 per day...even if she's a voracious eater, which she's not.

And I think the DDP does become a bit much on a longer stay, unless you just skip it a few days and use the saved credits for Signature dining.

 

[slp87]

Jim - my DD is definitely not a voracious eater! In fact, it's amazing how little a human can eat and still be quite healthy. "Picky" is her middle name. I also agree about your comment on longer stays...we typically go for 10 - 12 days a stay. Unless DD's appetite improves substantially, we'll pass on the DP.

 

[Disneyaholic]

We went in March before the DP was offered to DVC members, but I wanted to keep track of our expenses to see if we might want to use it in the future. We are a family of 3, DH, DD (11), and myself. We typically ate a quick breakfast in the room, a snacky, quick service meal, and 1 table service meal. After looking at our totals, it would have cost us $200 more to use the DP. We are not big eaters and typically share food at all our meals. DD and I usually share a main course and the 3 of us share 1 dessert. We could never eat the amount of food that you get on the DP.

I think that's the key to determining if it's "worth it" to you. I think most of us will order more (appetizer & dessert) if it's included in the dining plan than we might if we were ordering on our own. Instead of comparing what your bill would have been for the meal you got, compare what you would have spent if you hadn't been on DDP.

I'm with Horace Horsecollar -- we would probably be happier with two courses (or even just one!) with wine than three courses and having to pay for wine separately. We haven't tried DDP yet -- may do it for a short trip some time, but I think DDE is better for us, as well!

(Now, if we take DS18 along, it will be more than worth it, because he can eat whatever DH and I don't! )

 

[JimMIA]

I also agree about your comment on longer stays...we typically go for 10 - 12 days a stay.

Yeah, we typically do several 4-5 day trips a year because we live so close, but I think the math may change when you get 7 days or so plus. I think I'd either be traveling by forklift or skipping a lot of meals after a week!

It would be interesting to hear the perspectives of some of our European members who typically stay a "fortnight."

 

[MinnieGi]

We loved it the DDP in July and plan on using it again in Feb! We are a family of four who normally eat one TS meal a day plus CS meals. The DDP was fun for us. We liked that all of our meals were paid for up front with tip included. We liked that when one of the kids wanted a popcorn or ice cream snack we could just swipe our "meal card." We liked that when ordering I didn't bother to look at the price of an entree I ordered what I wanted to eat! Normally if an app or entree is too pricey I won't order it and I just loved that with DDP I didn't worry about it. We also didn't buy as many groceries as normal for our villa since we were too full to eat anymore! We mostly just bought drinks to keep in our villa - water bottles, juice, milk, beer, coolers. For us it was a good value and fun and we will use it again.

 

[crisi]

Dining plan fits us pretty well, but we may use the DDE instead....

Just note that if you haven't done a DVC stay before, the full kitchen really is a apartment full kitchen. The fridge is smaller than my fridge at home (which isn't a big fridge), the oven is small, and there isn't a lot of counterspace. Also, it would be really hard to feel a family given the seating you have. OKW is different and you probably would do fine with the OKW seating and kitchen, but I, myself, wouldn't want to cook out of the BWV kitchen for a week - works great for breakfasts.....