Is the Dining plan worth it?

[ebowman]

Some of this has already been mentioned, but we love the dining plan. This Apr will be our third trip with it, and even thought it has changed over the years, here is why we love it:

1. Sets the food costs up front - we know almost exactly what we will spend as our crew rarely feels like eating any more than what we get on the dining plan. Sure, there is a random item here or there, but our food costs are pretty much fixed.

2. Allows us to eat food we wouldn't otherwise - if we were paying OOP for everything, I know how my wife and I are. We would not go to places like Ohana or Coral Reef (both of which, we love). We would be more frugal about what we order, etc. With the dining plan, there is more freedom to enjoy our meals without thinking about the costs. We have paid in advance so eat up!

I would bet that we don't save any money on the dining plan, but I also don't think it is much more than we would pay all OOP. However, it certainly adds to the fun factor of our trips.

 

[DisGirl23]

For my boyfriend and I, it worked well. I like a decent size breakfast in the morning, a light snack in the afternoon and then a dinner. So, that IS the DDP, and if we didn't have the plan, we wouldn't have gone to half the nicer places we went to. Our bill at Whispering Canyon Cafe alone would've cost us $100 but, we only paid the tip. It made our vacation more special and not so generic. A lot of the TS restaurants are an experience of their own.
And if we didn't want the dessert, we didn't get it. It's not like THAT'S what will kill you if you paid OOP.

 

[WDWjen]

We looked at the menu for our trips like LeCellier (we got a late lunch ADR) and if we chose an entree, dessert, and soda it would be $45 each but the DDP costs us $40 a day. So we save $10 but that makes our CS and snacks for the day FREE. Same with the kids - usually their kids meals are $7 or $8 but we only pay $11 per day for them. Usually makes the CS and Snack free.

Our last onsite trip in 08 we did the DDP and saved money, but it was a lot of food. However, it was really nice to go to the nicer restaurants and not worry.

Last year we were offsite and so we couldnt do the DDP, but we went over the feb break and it was so crowded - and with 11 people in our group I dont know if we would have gotten any ADR's anyway, so we at CS the whole time. I HATED that. It is really nice to take 1 hour every day to sit down and relax, recap the trip, and plan for the rest of the trip. If you factor in the lines to pick up your CS food, and walk around to find a table carrying a tray etc.... its so much nicer to have someone wait on you once a day!

We're leaving in 3 weeks and we plan on doing the DDP again. With 3 kids its just so nice to know what our dining costs will be beforehand.. even if we have to pay somethings OOP at least we dont get home and get hit w/a big bill.

 

[WizardLarz]

Do not forget there is now a Quick Service Dining Plan that is 2 Counter Service Meals and 2 Snacks a Day. the Plan give you an main dish plus a drink and desert. The math usually works out that your snacks are basicly free, on both the Quick Service or the Plus Dining Plans.

 

[kydisneymom]

I think the dining plan is totally worth it!

 

[kimis]

We're trying to plan our next trip and I was wondering if the Disney Dining plan is worth it. Can anyone help with that?

When my dh and I go to WDW we do use the DxDDP. We have the time and we like to eat at the signature resturants and relax. However that may not work for you and the DDP is just as nice. I would recommend the DDP.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

The basic dining plan is the BEST! It saves us at least $200.00 over paying out-of-pocket. The DDP is the best thing Disney has come up with in a long time!

 

[Spokavegas]

After several trips paying oop, we tried the DDP this past February with our group of three families (11 of us) staying together in a Grand Villa.

B/c of your dinner ressies at CRT and Aker- the DDP is the way to go. We ate at Le Cellier and California Grill, where our bills would have been astronomical, and we got to order whatever we wanted.

We, too, used the snacks to purchase fruit, muffins, etc for breakfast, and on the last day, we had four snacks left on the Grand Villa account, so we got a packaged snack for the car ride to Jax for all four kiddos.

I have become a huge fan of the DDP- as did EVERYONE in our party (which is rare between in-laws!!)

Good luck!

 

[rosiep]

I would bet that we don't save any money on the dining plan, but I also don't think it is much more than we would pay all OOP. However, it certainly adds to the fun factor of our trips.

This sums it up in a nutshell for me. My daughter and I love to look at the menus and plan our ADR's. We like being able to order room service for breakfast (even though it's four credits and not saavy cost wise). We also like not having to consider cost when ordering, because like this poster said...we'd probably look to cost cutting and pick something less expensive than what we really wanted. In the end it doesn't so much as save me money...but it allows for us to indulge and have alot of fun!

 

[happy place]

Having travelled a couple of times with the dining plan and two kids, and then not being able to get the plan while my husand was at WDW for a conference, we really noticed the difference. It was much more convenient and less worrisome knowing in advance that the meals were paid for.

We usually vary the TS by time of day getting in a few breakfast character meals or two dinners, and a few late lunches. I'd agree with all who said the break in the day was a great way to connect with the kids about wht you have done so far, and what you have planned next.

No one else has mentioned this - but the resort refillable mugs are well worth it, if you are on site for a week or more. They come included inthe QS Dp and I think also the Deluxe, or can be purchased oop.

This thread covers all of the many things you can use snack credits for - certainly more than enough for breakfast.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1683477

It''s also nice to grab a mickey ice cream bar for everyone and not think about how much it's costing you.

 

[mrscamm02]

We loved the dining plan. I wasn't sure if I would like it but with my granddaughter we would have spent a fortune to go to all of the special character meals etc. In the end we took a lot of rice rispies "mickey mouse" heads home. It helped to prolong our disney vacation a bit longer.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We don't want the hassle of making ADR's and keeping to that schedule. We want to freelance our vacation, go where we want and eat when we're hungry. Some days we eat 2 meals, some just one, we split alot of meals and enjoy making picnic lunches by the pool with groceries from our in route stop. For us, after a couple of days of restaurant food, nothing beats a salami or ham sandwich. We're also breakfast people, eat a good meals or split and we're good to go. We've also found after our 43 trips that the TS meals are not that great, not worth the effort and really not waste the time it takes to do them. Our trips are 9-12 nights and for me and the wife, our food bill runs 300.00 or less each trip, we're frugal and not foodies, we enjoy the atmosphere, parks and resort more than the restaurants.

 

[michelleiada]

I found the DDP to be well worth it and think you get a lot of food for the money. Before we had tried it I wondered if two meals and a snack would be enough food to fill us for the day and we actually found that we had many left over snack credits at the end of our vacation. We will absolutely continue to use the dining plan for all future vacations.

 

[DisMomme]

With the CS plan can you exchange 2 or 3 CS meals for a TS? I know with the TS plan you can use 2 TS credits for a character meal.

 

[Alesia]

With the CS plan can you exchange 2 or 3 CS meals for a TS? I know with the TS plan you can use 2 TS credits for a character meal.

No, you can't.

 

[mommy3girls]

We are going to Walt Disney World for the first time, and are not doing the dining plan. I would like to see how it goes meal-wise (will we want to sit down for more then one meal etc) Perhaps next time we may decide to add the meal plan.

 

[indimom]

I went to the restaurant menu site at allears and went through the restaurants we wanted to visit line by line, picking items I though my family would enjoy, including some aps and specialty drinks. It actually came out cheaper with tip to pay out of pocket for us. We did the dining plan on our last trip and loved it, but I think this is going to work better for us this time around.

 

[difry]

Let me start by saying I adore my husband : ) He is a great guy!

Bless his heart...he can be a penny pincher! The first time we had the dinning plan (which thanks to DIS Board advice we got for free) was the first vacation where I didn't have to listen to him huff and puff every time we stopped for a meal. The "OMG this hamburger and fries just cost me $20" reactions get old very quickly!

Our next trip to Disney (both trips were taken with our adult son and daughter) we purchased the dinning plan.

Yes - we struggle to eat all the food
True - we probably would not eat table service meals if we didn't have the plan
No - I'm not sure we actually save money

HOWEVER - the PEACE that comes from pre-paying and not having to budget for meals combined with the fact that the cost of the food is "hidden" from my husband in the trip cost allows everyone to enjoy the trip more. Also, we really enjoy the table service offerings at the restaurants in EPCOT.

Diana

 

[ronnancyskinner]

This depends greatly on your family make up. The nicer restaurants such as the Ohanas at the Polynesian or the Coral Reef at the Seas in EPCOT are going to have long wait times even with reservations...not good if your kids are hungry. The snack plan is very good but you must use all your snacks as you don't get reimbursed nor can you accumulate them and use them all in one day. They must be used daily.

There are many great restaurants just outside of the park that will go much faster. Let me know and I will give you a few of my favorites.

 

[LandChildWorldAdult]

This depends greatly on your family make up. The nicer restaurants such as the Ohanas at the Polynesian or the Coral Reef at the Seas in EPCOT are going to have long wait times even with reservations...not good if your kids are hungry. The snack plan is very good but you must use all your snacks as you don't get reimbursed nor can you accumulate them and use them all in one day. They must be used daily.

There are many great restaurants just outside of the park that will go much faster. Let me know and I will give you a few of my favorites.

Sorry, this is plain wrong, except for the reimbursement. We didn't wait at Coral Reef and our ADR was for the wrong day (innocent mistake) -- our "wait" was about 15 minutes, perhaps less.

And snack credits are routinely used by people in large amounts on the last day for things like candy. Perfectly OK and done all the time. Our family used all but one credit on snacks we consumed at WDW but that was a result of how we like to eat and we certainly didn't eat 5 snacks each day, more like 0 on some days and 10 on others.

As for reimbursement, you do not get anything if you have left over credits from your dining plan, you must "use or lose" all your credits by midnight of your check out day -- and note that you get credits per *night* not per *day* of your vacation.