Is the dining plan worth it?

[ruadisneyfan2]

We are planning a 3 night stay at the end of August. 2 adults, 2 teen boys (16 & 19)
Even with the 2 free nights special, Newport Bay will total $3531 for a regular room with full board.
$4027 if we stay club level.
Breakfast would be included then, so the extra would be for lunch & dinner.
This is the total for a package including tickets and taxes for the Premium plan.

I chose that mostly because the Plus plan says "set menu" for any table service. What options are typically on the "set menu"? I'm afraid my husband will be annoyed if he can't just order something else on the menu. We've done enough character meals in FL that we're ok to skip it this time. We don't mind having fewer restaurants to choose from though. (15 for plus, 20 for premium) I'm assuming the difference is the character meal locations.

I'd love some tips on how to get this price down but still being able to stay at NBC. We don't usually travel club level anywhere but after reading how crowded the breakfast area is, I thought being able to use the club lounge would be easier.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Well, I think I just answered my own question. I just read this on the DLP website:

• Lunch or dinner vouchers are accepted in all Disney Park and Disney Hotels restaurants and in some Disney Village® restaurants (except McDonald's®, Planet Hollywood®, Rainforest Café®, King Ludwig's Castle®, Starbucks®, Earl of Sandwich®), for their monetary value for a meal including a starter, a main course, a dessert and a soft drink, or for an all-you-can-eat buffet with a soft drink

• If the price of your meal exceeds the value of the voucher, then you must pay the difference (see conditions in the restaurants). No refund will be given if the price of your meal is lower than the value of the voucher. Limited to one voucher per person per meal.

So I really don't see any reason why one would buy the vouchers. If your meal price is less than the voucher value, you lose the money. If it's more, you pay extra. I guess some people prefer to have as much prepaid in advance as possible.

 

[tennisfan]

To get prices down, have a look under each country as they have different deals. You can book under any deal regardless of you living there or not. I would imagine breakfast is like other hotels in that you are given a time slot when you check in to help stagger people.

 

[stocst]

Spent a lot of time researching the pros and cons of the meal voucher and we decided not to both buying them as it actually worked out much less to pay as you go rather than buy the vouchers. We are just putting the money on our Caxton FX card to use for meals, this also gives us flexibility should we decide not to eat in DLP.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Thank you both!
They assign you breakfast time? Do you have any choice?

 

[A Small World]

Thank you both!
They assign you breakfast time? Do you have any choice?

Most of the hotels give you a breakfast slot when you check in - sometimes you have a choice and sometimes you don't - however you can still go at any time. The slots are just to try and stagger people going for breakfast so not everyone turns up at the same time.
As breakfast is no longer included after march this may not apply anyhow as there will probably be less people in each hotel having breakfast as not everyone will pay for it.

Regarding the meal plans they are often not seen to be worth it however you can order off the main menu and will get the value of the voucher knocked off the bill however the set menus which are offered are often more worth while as sometimes include a drink as well.

As already mentioned have a look at other countries offers as the USA DLP site does not always give the best prices

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Thank you. I did finally book through Orbitz.com because they have a promo code for 15% off. Since it's a package of tickets & half board (no option to remove either) the discount essentially is applied to the cost of tickets and meal plan too.
My only worry is that when we check in they say something like tickets or half board is really not included in that price but it clearly states it on all the confirmations which I printed.