Meal Plan not worth it anymore.

[gonesaleing]

I am in 100% agreement with Gailanncreates. I, too, like to be spontaneous on vacation and can't bear to be on someone elses schedule, having to be somewhere at a specific time.

We always rent a villa and eat all our meals in it. It takes is a bit of planning but I have been doing it for so many years that I have it down to a science. It's not for everyone but it works great for my family.

IMHO - I think that Disney is slowly and quietly closing all the loopholes to increase revenue. When we were there during NJ week, I took pictures of all the empty parking lots. They are feeling the economic downturn like everybody else.

 

[jessica29]

I have never done the plan but I am going for 10 days with my husband, and children 5 and 9, and I think it was gonna cost like 1200.00($120 a day). Unfortunatly That is not what I think I will spend for one or I will break even at 1200. Hopefully I am not wrong.

2. It seems like a lot more food than I want to eat. I hardly think that I need a dessert everyday. I am trying to lose wait.

3. Since I paid for it I would over eat "to get my moneys worth" like a buffet.

4. Even though I am doing several charater meals and a few TS. When I calculated my days it did not matter. Some days I will go over 120.00 a day but others I may only spend 75.00. (I plan to bring snacks +water)

5. A lot of places I want to eat at are not on the plan.

6. I want to be able to order what I want, not what they want me to choose from. If I want a soup or appetizer for dinner for 10.00 then so be it. I shouldn't have to get entree,etc. Also, my kids will not be wanting a kids meal at everymeal. Maybe they will want soup.

7. My husband didn't want to risk missing out on his credits. It seemed very stressful to him. (He has never been to disney and doesn't understand the plan). He thought he might lose out on getting his dollars worth and didn't want to plan a TS everyday.

8. My kids don't eat that much food! One child may share with us. Last time they shared with each other and still had food left, from one meal. Though 12.99 is a good deal for them, I guess, I will not be using 47.00 on myself everyday. I don't even really eat snacks.

9. If I was on the plan I would do more TS meals than not on the plan which means more money for a tip.

10. Finally, I just paid $4,000 for tickets, hotel, and air. Without the plan I can save money 45 days out for food and not pay upfront.

It seemed like a better deal in the past but not since they raised the price.

 

[rotlex]

We have been either buying, or using, the DDP since it's inception, and feel it is still an incredible value. We have two kids, one is 7, the other 1 1/2. At that rate, it is less than $100 per day for food on the plan. There is NO WAY we would spend less than that out of pocket.

As we are normally fairly strict with our diets, and exercise, we really let loose when going on vacation. Not total slobs mind you, but dessert with every meal is a good thing. We truly enjoy one table service meal per day, and frankly, that alone pays for the plan. The addition of the snacks and CS meal take it over the top.

Now, once our kids are over 10, it may be a different story, but for now, we think it's great!

 

[Planogirl]

I travel with a teen usually but occasionally DH goes. The meal plan has never been worth it for us even if we ate TS every meal. It's even less worth it now.

But then the restaurants are really getting pricey. I'm not sure yet how to handle that.

 

[goofy4tink]

The ONLY way to know for sure if the ddp is going to be worth it for your family is to sit down with menus and compare prices.
I always do this....it's the only way I can know for sure. But, we seldom do snacks during the day, so that's a wasted expense for me. In fact, I usually have to head to the resort shop on my last day and use all the leftover snack credits on stuff I can take with me.
I usually have the TiW card (I can get that since I always have an AP). This basically saves me the tip on table service meals.
So...I sit down, with a list of where I plan to eat. I then jot down the price oop for each day. I include each meal and snack per day, for each person. I usually know, going in, what we would normally eat at each meal. I also have to add in the cost of buying the TiW card each year...but I only do that for one trip since I usually save enough on one trip to cover the original cost.

Then, after I total that, I compare it with the cost of the ddp for all of us. But, don't forget to add in the tips with the ddp...it isn't included and it can be a sizable amount at the end of the trip.

If the difference is less than $100, I will go with the ddp. Otherwise, I don't..I just pay oop with the TiW card at table service spots.

I have never felt tied down due to using the ddp. I have to eat anyway...and I always have one adr for us for each day. Those have to be made in order to eat where we want to eat.

 

[swald91]

I have to say I really enjoy hearing how everyone feels about this...when it first came out w/ appetizers & tips included it was great. Honestly, alot of those restaurants I don't think I'd go to unless we had the dining plan-and as far as kids go.... I prefer the QS plan. Alot of variety to choose from-you get a dessert & no tips to leave. I really do like not having to pay out of pocket when there...

 

[kinggoofy]

We did the DDP last August. It was our 1st time. We liked it only because it gave us the opportunity to eat at the nicer places and also order dinner that we never would have.

That being said....we wont do it again. The nicer places you eat...the higher the bill....the more expensive the tip is. When we use our Tables in Wonderland card...the discount basically covers the tip plus we usually add a few bucks more when the service is good.

I dont want to say we are conservative people BUT we certaininly dont get excited or "nose up in the air" about ordering an expensive dinner either.

PLUS...with the way the ADR's are nowadays, everything fills up way too fast and you dont get what you want with or without being on the DDP.

So for us...(no children), the Tables in Wonderland 20% off discount is a far better deal.

The other thing we found annoying was...there is way too much "dining" planning needed when you are on the DDP.

KG

 

[singnring]

As PPs have said, it all depends on the people using it.

For us, a normal trip to WDW consists of some CS meals, a snack maybe every couple of days, never soft drinks, never desserts, and no TS meals.

We prefer to eat out in town more than on property, and we have never been really big breakfast eaters.

We take our own snacks, that way everyone has what they like.

So for us, the DDP is not a good deal.

That being said, we do go for FD in Sep each year. Not because it's "free", because it isn't.

We run the numbers, and it is close before tips. It gives us one time/year to do things a little different. I don't have to pack food and drinks because they're taken care of.

However, we eat @ character breakfasts, not lunch/dinnner restaurants, so the value of the DDP isn't as great due to that fact. BTT we pay tips, it actually costs us more than our usual style of eating would. Each year, we all agree it's fun to do something different, so we opt for FD over a room discount.

So, to wrap it up, if you eat in the style of DDP, it probably saves you money. If you're like us, and you're happier doing your own thing, and you frequent less expensive venues and eat lighter, it might not be such a deal.

 

[jenseib]

We like it. We don't save a ton, but we do save some. I considered going OOP next trip (whenever that may be) and I did the math. Our costs were not much less than the dining plan, and we got alot less. We like TS alot. We love character meals. We almost always do dinner, which means the price is higher.
The big factor for us is that it is prepaid. We don't have to hear DH grumble each meal. That is a big plus! LOL! For some CS desserts, we get something we would like to eat later as a snack and save it. Or even for breakfast the next day. We sometimes have snack credits left over, but we don;t mind taking some yummy snacks for the plane ride home. It works well for our family, but I really wish if they keep raising the price, they would go back to including the tip. It only went down a few bucks when they did away with it and then they have raised the price each year after.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

It was worth it when tip was included...my husband does not like the DDP and said lets just pay as we go. I'll be getting an AP for first time (gives me a reason to go back) and get the TIW (when I was doing a rough estimate the TIW works bettter for us).

 

[Native NYer]

I think the dining plan's worth really depends on the family and their eating habits. The only reason why we book our package with dining is to prepay our meals. We love going on vacation knowing the only thing we have to budget for is airport transportation/parking at home and souvenirs. For us, it's all about convenience.

 

[ReelRedHead]

OP here...
I think the TS meal plan is still a very good value. That is the plan we gave always used. This time around we were going to try QS because going to a sit down every night with 2 small kids would be too much.
I really feel the QS plan is not a great value.
I would agree, as many of you have said, that it is nice to have it pre-paid and not have to worry about it while you are there.
I took it off our ressie last night. That saved us almost $800. We will just bring that money down with us. It will be interesting to see how much we really spend.

 

[Muppet_Girl]

We did the QS last March and are doing it again this March. It really worked well for us- we're college students.

Here are some of the pluses for us:
1) Eat whenever and pretty much wherever- there are lots of locations
2) Paid for up front
3) Maybe too much food- so we would get desserts like cookies that were prepackaged and we would stash them in our backpacks for later; we would also get bottled drinks at meals and stash them in the backpack too
4) The snack credits are really a God send- 2 a day We got to get all of our fav park treats without an additional cost per day
5) It helps us in saving up for trips because we know what everything will cost
6) It caused us to try new places- such as Yak and Yeti and the CS in World Showcase


I really loved it and so did the people I was with. It worked great for us. Sure, it's dependent on your situation. However, this was really ideal for us.
Besides- we're college kids and we're used to meal plans

 

[MelanieC]

For us the regular DP wouldn't pay us because we don't eat desserts. We did however enjoy having the DP during free dining last year. Even DH agreed it was nice to have. This year we are trying the QSDP. The kids are excited to have so many snack credits, and it's nice knowing the kids can get whatever they want in snacks without dishing out cash all the time.

 

[zoie101]

Just read that they plan has different prices now, and that the prices are also different based on season. Wow:

• 1/01/10 - 2/11/10, 4/11/10 - 6/03/10, 8/15/10 -12/16/10 is $41.99 per night per adult or junior (ages 10-17), $11.99 per night for children (ages 3-9).
  
• 2/12/10 - 4/10/10, 6/04/10 - 8/14/10, 12/17/10 - 12/31/10 is $46.99 per night per adult or junior (ages 10-17), $12.99 per night for children (ages 3-9).

So I will have to investigate more. The prices in 2009 were worth it, though...

wow I did not know prices changed for seasons!

 

[YesMickey]

For us the regular DP wouldn't pay us because we don't eat desserts. We did however enjoy having the DP during free dining last year. Even DH agreed it was nice to have. This year we are trying the QSDP. The kids are excited to have so many snack credits, and it's nice knowing the kids can get whatever they want in snacks without dishing out cash all the time.

We are doing the QS this March. It is a much better deal for us. We have done the DP for the last 4 trips and are just over it. Not only do you feel obligated to over eat, but for some reason I end up spending $30-$40 or more out of pocket for drinks, or something my daughter wants and tips. Also when it is all said and done you are spending about 2hrs waiting to be seated, eating etc. With the QS I shouldn't spend anything OOP unless I want a drink or something and no more 18% gratuity, also we are done in about 30-45 mins. That's just about a whole extra day (8hrs) at the park on our 5 day trip. Would never get the dining plan for a 10-15yr old anyway, Probably not even if it were free.

 

[SWAMPBO]

the last 2 times we have not used all our snacks and we waste...we have also found that our 4 yo and 7 yo do not eat their full meal and could have split one...Going easter week and have decided to just pay as we go...

Plus I do not like being tied to eating dinner at a full serve when I may want QS...or vice versa...plus I don't feel guilty when we go to Dinasaurs in Downtown Disney knowing there is already a meal paid for...

 

[Disneylvr]

I think the dining plan's worth really depends on the family and their eating habits. The only reason why we book our package with dining is to prepay our meals. We love going on vacation knowing the only thing we have to budget for is airport transportation/parking at home and souvenirs. For us, it's all about convenience.

Us too! I have never done the actual math to see if it was worth it monetarily. But like you we continue to book it for convenience and peace of mind. That alone makes it worth it to us.

 

[joannalh]

If your kids are under 10 and you plan to do a lot of TS and character meals then it is probably a good deal for you. It was for us!

But now that we've done nearly all the character meals (some several times) and DS is 10, it doesn't work for us anymore. Even if free dining is offered when we go it is a better deal for us to take a room discount.

I think it just depends on each individual family, the age of your kids, and what type of touring you do.

Thanks. I've done some of the math now, not all, but it looks like since we were planning a few character meals, the dining plan may be reasonable-I'm not sure we'll actually save a lot money, but it doesn't look like we come out behind either.

 

[MerryFlora]

I really wanted to try it because of the pre-pay convenience and what someone else said, that my DH always orders the cheapest menu item instead of what he wants. That drives me crazy! I like to splurge on vacation! But I have done the math many many times and its quite a bit more than OOP, even ordering things we never would otherwise. We plan to do 3 or 4 TS but I just dont see the savings (not even including oop tips)