Is the Disney Dining Plan Worth It?

[Purplejewel]

My husband and I are taking our four daughters (ages at time of trip will be 7, 10, 10, and 11) back to Disneyworld for the 3rd time and this will be the first time that three of them will be too old to get the children's rate on the Disney Dining Plan. Is is still worth getting? I looked at menus and tried to guess at what we would all probably order and it looked like we would probably save money if we didn't get the Disney Dining Plan. My husband and I will have Annual Passes so we will get a discount at alot of the restaurants and we are considering subscribing to the Tables In Wonderland Program which gives Annual Passholders even more discounts at restuarants. The three older girls may still want to order off the children's menu at restaurants, but they won't have to if they don't want to. If we got the Disney Dining Plan, my 6 year old may feel left out if her three older sisters get to order off the Adult menu and she can't because the Disney Dining Plan restricts the children under 10 to only ordering from the Children's menus at restaurants. Has anyone else had to make this type of decision before? Thanks!

 

[lilandvisma]

As far as making the same decision as yourself but we struggled with whether or not we should have added it on and finally did last week. For us our DDs are 7 and turning 2, so one is childrens price and one is free basically...and for us it was worth it. However with your girls being older I think I would just pay as you go, esp. considering the fact you will get extra discounts. My girls are over 5 years apart but know what you mean with the younger one wanting what the older ones have as we go through this on a daily basis Girl Drama lol...gotta love it !

Your girls could probably split meals as well and that in itself would save $$.

Essentially, I feel you'd be better off W/O the ddp. JMO.

 

[dd50]

We are doing it for the first time but from what I can tell I will only break even. I think in your situation you will probably do better with your other discounts. My kids are 11, 15 and 17, but we are meeting my grown daughter and grandchildren 4 and 6. We don't usually do that many TS but will this time and see what happens. I don't eat that much and like to share at times so I don't think that we are going to make out of this but will try it once because my kids heard that they get desserts which we don't usually do. We usually get a snack a few hours later.

Decide on what you normally eat and see if it will be worth while. With your other discounts and having to buy a ticket you are probably better off paying OOP.

 

[Purplejewel]

Thank you for the advice. Really appreciate it.

 

[DISNEYNV]

the DDP is a worth it if you take the time to look at the menus and decide on when and where you and your family want to eat each day of your trip. Make ADR asap and have alternatives ready just in case. We listen to dining reviews here and on the DIS podcast and have never been let down yet. It is harder in my opinion to take our smaller kids to all the Table service meals though. They don't want to sit that long for a meal and don't eat much anyway. It would pay for teens though I would think...if they ate a lot anyway

Anyway, it can be a bargin if you like to plan every meal and get the more expensive item on the menus (if you like what is offered) and utilize the character meals and take note of each days credits. They can run out quickly if you don't plan a schedule first

 

[hokiesprincess]

My mom, my boyfriend, and I are planning on going to Disney at the beginning of January. We have never used the DDP before and are seriously considering getting it for this trip. Do y'all think it would be worth it to get it for 3 adults or is it just better to have when you have kids on the trip?