Meal Plan (Have you done it?)

[kc10family]

Has anyone done this?
Give me pros and cons please.
I have never done it and figure it might be somethig to look into.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Think of DLR's meal plan as a series of no interest loans to Disney that Disney repays you in the form of food.

If you eat the total amount of the loan at each stop, Disney repays that loan in full.
If you do not eat up the total amount of the loan at any stop, well that portion of that loan just became a gift.
If you eat up more than the amount of loan at any stop, you pay the extra.

I see no pros to this unless you simply cannot trust yourself to control your meal spending or you don't use credit cards and don't want to carry the cash.

You've probably concluded from this that I have never done it. That would be a correct conclusion.

 

[silence]

we've done it several times and got our vouchers for our trip this coming week.

we use it as i like to pay for everything up front at once and we always book a package through Dreams Unlimited Travel. It's just easier for us to do it all at once and not have to worry about additional food spending money while we are in the parks.

For our 5 1/2 day trip we bought the 3 day plan which will work out perfectly for us. One of my kids won't hardly eat anything while we are there but the fruit.

there is no savings and some people find them difficult if you get a CM that is not very familiar with how to ring them up. Also, you don't get change, but this has never been an issue for us, we spend just a little over and pay the difference in cash.

 

[ShawnaF]

At DL this is something we never do - the meals are figured on cost based upon the most expensive meals - Goofy's Kitchen dinner. So if you do any other meal with those vouchers, you actually spend more money than you would paying directly. A better way to go is to use your AP, Disney Visa, or Fun Card for the discount and paying direct. I've heard wonderful things about the WDW meal plans but don't care for DL at this point. If you decide to do it - watch all the prices very closely and be careful in your selections to ensure you're getting the most for your money.

 

[hlbtimes2]

We have done it a couple of times. I dont really recomend it. We have used it as a budgeting tool. It allows us to pay for our meals months before our trip when we have the money. Other then that its not a great deal. It does not save any money. The cost of the voucher is what it is worth- no savings. It takes time to use them. EAch one has a number on it, and they have to be entered in to the system one at a time. If you spend less then the value of the voucher, you get no change back. It best to carry some cash and spend more then the value, making the difference up in cash.

In the future we'll order disney gift cards to prepay our food rather then the vouchers. Then anything we have left can be spent on other things.

 

[bjsmom]

We love it! The cash we take is "fun money". Make sure when you use them you buy the souvenier cups and popcorn buckets. This way it is a two for one. You have something to take home. The food is enough to share just buy the next size up with the vouchers. Eat at the character meals when hungry. They will fill you up and it is all you can eat.

 

[hlbtimes2]

Character meals may be all you can eat, but at twice the price of a regular meal they are far from a bargin!

 

[ShawnaF]

Very true Linda - not to mention that eating the kid-friendly foods gets a little old. I'll do it for my daughter but not everyone wants to eat Goofy mac&cheese, pizza, pb&j, and desserts constantly. Don't even get me started on hot dogs! lol....

 

[iceskatejen]

They save you neither time nor money. You won't get change (as others have already said) if you don't use the full value of your vouchers and they're time consuming as they're rung up individually (and often the cashiers do need to help you put them together for the best use of them). You're far better off buying Disney gift cards and/or Disney Dollars of you're just trying to budget/save for your trip. Gift cards are good in all the regular restaurants (counter service, qsr and table service) and everyone takes Disney Dollars, even the carts, which are cash only.

 

[DevilDuckie]

You're far better off buying Disney gift cards and/or Disney Dollars of you're just trying to budget/save for your trip. Gift cards are good in all the regular restaurants (counter service, qsr and table service) and everyone takes Disney Dollars, even the carts, which are cash only.

Amen. Disney dollars are the perfect budgeting tool.

 

[kc10family]

Thank you everyone.
I think I will stick with my DD or GC. (Yes, I do those as well as many of you do)
I have heard so many good things about WDW meal plan I figured it was worth asking.

 

[ShawnaF]

Just be sure you aren't collecting those gift cards and Disney dollars for too long before your trip, you can be earning interest on that money that you can use at DL if you set up a vacation account. Plus if you don't use the Disney Visa for purchases, you don't get the discounts. More often than not we use the vacation account at the bank as savings, pay everything with the Disney Visa for discounts and then immediately reimburse the credit card online.

 

[iceskatejen]

Most restaurants don't give a discount for the Disney Visa. The official list is Carnation Cafe, Rancho Del Zocalo and Pizza Port in DL. I can't remember the DCA list off the top of my head.

 

[ShawnaF]

I noticed the last two trips that lots of the places not listed officially gave me discounts - when I went to pay at each place, I just pulled out the Disney Visa and my AP and asked them which was better. All the character meals gave me a discount on the Visa and Riverbelle Terrace did too.

 

[iceskatejen]

Your AP will give a discount at all the restaurants and it's the same discount on all (10% for Disney Visa of offered, Deluxe and below APs and for those that offer it, AAA) or if you have a premium AP 15%.