Never again will we use dining plan

[helloirishkitty]

I am a planner- I plan out everything. Even though I do make reservations at the 180 day mark, the DDP is not for us. I always to a cost analysis based on the reservations we make, and it we always have 1 or 2 too many TS' for the DDP and two few for DxDDP to make it cost effective.


We also have annual passes so we have TIW which also makes DDP less lucrative. And with DVC, we will never have free dining

 

[the6lees]

We love the DDP. With proper planning (which we normally wouldn't do but it made sense to us) in terms of reservations and park visits, along with ordering strategies, we made it work and never over ate (at least not the second time . We were able to try different restaurants in the parks as well as the resorts and found a few favourites along the way. With 6 of us in our party, we tend to order 1 or 2 less CS meals and simply shared. We try to do the same with the snack credits. We would then always have a wonderful sit down dinner where we (since we hadn't over ate during the day) can relax from the day, share our excitement and experiences from the day before we retire to our room (or venture back to the parks). It does take some will power to not over eat with the DDP.

 

[whencanwegoback]

We love the dining plan. We have been frustrated with having our days planned around meals, but we have a plan for that this year. Love the food, love not worrying about what the menu items will cost. Miss the appetizers, but it is what it is and we enjoy it.

 

[3pletprincesses]

I love ther DDP and it works for us since we have 4 yo triplets. That being said, once they pay adult price at the age of 9, I don't think we will get it for a few years unless I know it's worth my $$. I don't know too many 9 yo children who can eat a big meal lik an adult KWIM. For now, it's for us. Do don't do HP so we know that we are eating at the park tha we are going and we know that we either have early breakfast or late dinner scheduled. Also, AK day, is 2 ts day as we ALWAYS do Tusker and 1900 pf. another day AKA HS day, we only have counter service unless we get early breakfast at Ohana.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We've never done either the DDP or QSDP.

The DDP wouldn't work for us because we don't eat more than 2 or 3 TS in a trip.

I keep thinking of trying the QSDP but when I work the numbers it has been even with the cost of eating OOP for us.

So we'll just keep taking the % off rooms and paying OOP for our food.

 

[princesspeach]

We(mom,dad and 2 kids) love the deluxe dining plan. I never felt like we were planning our days around Adrs. We ate dinner late about 8pm every night after swimming and showering. None of us have any desire to wait shoulder to shoulder with 10,000 other people to watch fireworks or parades. Its just not that big a deal for us. I would rather relax in the evening with a bottle of wine and some good food. We stay deluxe so we have lots of dining options available. I think it really depends on how you want to spend your vacation. If you are commando park people I could see how the dining plan might slow you down.

 

[Stubbzilla]

You can get the % off the rooms, AND the DDP.

 

[OceanAnnie]

You can get the % off the rooms, AND the DDP.

How do you do that? I thought it had to be one or the other. Is this new?

 

[imthatgirl]

How do you do that? I thought it had to be one or the other. Is this new?

Of course you can get the DDP with a % off....you just can't get free dining with it.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Of course you can get the DDP with a % off....you just can't get free dining with it.

Oh. I got confused. Silly me.

 

[traceym]

We just upgraded from the DP to the DDP. We have never went on the deluxe before. However, we had booked two breakfast meals with characters and were going to have to pay for them plus one cs meal OOP. I sat down and figured the total cost of everything OOP and added the DP cost. I then figured the DDP cost for our stay. We were only paying $173 more to go on the DDP versus the DP. It was a no brainer!
We have booked TS breakfasts and TS dinners. We plan to eat CS lunch everyday but 1 (we will eat @ Coral Reef for lunch since we couldn't get in for dinner and eat CS this night).
This should work for us. We can't wait to try it out!

 

[dskib]

I think it's all in how you manage it. We did the DDP for the first time this year, and I liked it. I had a few issues, but I'm learning from my mistakes. I don't mind having to make ADRs, and I get tired of counter service. When I priced out the regular DDP compared to the QSDP, it wasn't a huge difference in price. And once I added in a character meal and TS restaurant that would have been out of pocket, it cost less to just do the DDP.

We have a little guy, so we took a break from 1-4 every day and made dinner ressies for around 5 - 5:30. I started to get pretty annoyed at missing so much park time! This was the first time we ever took breaks during the day.

So next year, we're doing it again, but a little differently.

We'll have 5 TS meals. We will use 1 on the night we get into WDW(non park day), and 2 for Character breakfasts. This way, there are only 2 meals that might cut into park time. I think that this plan will make me feel a bit less constricted.

I also LOVE that my food is pre-paid. I'm an all inclusive kind of girl, so I really like this.

For people who don't eat regular meals or who share meals, I can see where the DDP wouldn't work, but for people like me, who love to eat and try out new restaurants, it can work out great. You just have to figure out how to work it best for your own situation.

Deb

 

[SnipsNSnails]

We absolutely can eat cheaper in the parks and would eat cheaper than the DP if we paid OOP just because when we see the prices, we gravitate toward what's cheapest rather than getting what we actually want to order and rarely eat at the TS restaurants due to the higher prices even though we might prefer to. I'd love to order dessert occasionally but would never do it when paying OOP, I was raised by savers! That's why I love the DP, for some reason paying the money up front doesn't bother nearly as much as pulling out the cash at each meal. We did the DP with a group of 13 in Dec '09 and used all the TS meals in the evening. It was great since with a group that size from ages 2 -70+ there was no way that everyone was staying together all day long. We all did our own thing with our CS meals during the day and came back together for dinner at a TS meal at night. I am hoping to see the return of the free dining offer some time this spring because we are planning to take our 2 boys, along with grandma and grandpa and great-grandma and great-grandpa in September.

 

[taymorel]

We love the DDP. My husband loved that there was so much food. I loved it because I like to eat in a nice air conditioned restaurant and I was able to try so many different foods I would normally never eat. And I love desserts, but don't normally order them. Also, it was a way to "pre-pay" for our meals.

I am taking my mom this year for her 1st trip to Disney and I am more excited to have her try the restaurants, than to ride the rides.


caroline

 

[Theresa-MI]

The DDP was much better in its early days, when it would include both appetizers and tips. I honestly don't understand why Disney cut back these perks.

We have used it more than once, and no matter how much planning we do, our vacation does seem to gravitate around table service meal times.

Also it was way easier to book ADRs before the dining plan became "free" at certain times of the year. We went to WDW this past December and I tried to book Le Cellier at Epcot since the day reservations opened and could not get a spot for any of our vacation days.

We have used the Quick Service Dining for two trips and it worked way better for my family. We had a lot of flexibility with our meal times, and also you get 2 daily snacks on this plan compared to one with the regular dining plan. We used snack credits for breakfast ( bagel, pastries, fruit ) and it worked perfectly. Plus you get the refillable mugs with the quick service plan.

Next time we visit I'll go back to the quick service and if we really want a table service just pay separately.

 

[IL5]

We usually hit the parks for opening and then go back to the room for a while in the afternoon before returning to a park at night.

We have found it better to buy groceries for our room (SSR). Breakfast is usually something quick so we can be at a park early. Sometimes lunch or supper might just be a sandwich.

We also usually have at least 7-10 people in our group. Not everyone is hungry at the same time and the reservations became a nightmare.

Glad to hear it works for some, but not for us!

 

[MommyBryn]

We LOVE the dining plan. But we don't do Disney more than every 2 years at the very most, and we don't eat out very frequently at home, so it's all part of the vacation for us.

 

[KevGuy]

We love the dining plan!!! If there is too much food for some of you how about stop eating it lol. I couldn't imagine not going to table service meals and having to eat q/s burgers and chicken strips all the time. That stuff is ok for lunch but not every meal for us....

 

[sunshineNJ]

We love the dining plan. We would normally never order dessert, so it's fun that we can at every meal. The regular dp is more then enough food i think. It's great having it all prepaid. I've done the math and the place we have eaten at would have cost way more if we had paid oop. I can't imagine going to Disney without the DP. I have free dining this for this Aug. I can't wait!!!

 

[chocovrdmicears]

I am one of the brainwashed I guess. I LOVE the DDP - Could we eat for less that what we pay for the Dining Plan - probably. But I don't want to *think* about the prices of food when we are on vacation. It would drive me nuts!

We always get park hoppers because we love the freedom and flexibilty they offer..that makes planning meals 180 days in advance much less stressful.

I just know myself...if we were paying OOP for every meal I would be watching the $$ amounts of what we were ordering, or I would end up ordering something less expensive even though it wasn't what I wanted because I would be worrying about the food budget. Not my idea of fun...so for our family, as the planner and budget keeper, I love the Dining Plan.

All that being said, I can totally understand how the Dining Plan wouldn't work for a lot of families..Everyone had their own dining style - I have read where many people enjoy eating 3 TS a day ( I couldn't imagine!) and many who enjoy eating all Counter Service for their entire trip ( I couldn't imagine!) - and obviously there are many who couldn't imagine eating they way my family does!