Our thoughts on the Dining Plan

[dixiedizfan]

Pros: You can order (just about) anything on the menu, so price is no object. At table services each person gets an appetizer, so you can each order a different one and then share. You don't have the hassle of dealing with cash.

Cons: You definitely get way too much food. We sure didn't need desserts at lunchtime, and ended up not ordering them because we were too full and didn't want them to go to waste. Same at dinner ... we normally don't get appetizers and desserts, at least not for each person ... so several times we just skipped those. The times we didn't we were overstuffed.

Since we normally wouldn't have ordered most appetizers or desserts, we would probably have come out cheaper paying out of pocket, especially since sometimes we just wanted a hot dog or salad for lunch instead of a combo meal.

 

[BostonRob]

Is it just me, or does this seem like a ridiculous bargain for kids between 3 and 9 years old? I mean the meal plan for them is like $10 per day, right? I can't imagine feeding a kid lunch and dinner for $10 per day in WDW.

 

[jennifer293]

All I know is that I added our receipts finally from last May and we would have spent 1200+ dollars and only paid 560.00 for the dining plan so even if I wasted food I think i got my money's worth..

I just called at few minutes ago to make our ressies for our July trip and I made sure we had the dining plan again. It is a wonderful bargain for those who eat a sit down meal per day and with the appetizers and desserts and you all order something different it gives you more variety. We just sit them all in the middle of the table and sample off everyone's plate.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

We used it in Dec. and are using it again in Oct. I agree, it's a LOT of food! Everytime I would say "O.K., we have to be at .......... for dinner in an hour", my whole group would say "We have to eat AGAIN???" I think for this trip we're going to do some dinner shows and things to use up some of our credits so we don't feel like we're about to burst the whole time! Overall, I think we really came out ahead, money wise.

 

[brivers222]

The amount of food is insanse... I am guess that there will be a few meals where my DW and I will just eat off of one TS mean and then use the extra one for a dinner show or something. Did the OP eat at WC? I was wondering how the Skillet thing works on the DP.

 

[loralie]

For me it was more of the convenience of not having to look at the prices when ordering my food. My family is not rich and we do not usually spend a lot of money on eating out. I know that if I had to pay for everything at the time I would have been more stressed out about spending the money on the food and would not have enjoyed the TS resturants as much as I did. We loved the dining plan and I hope that the next time I can afford to go back to WDW (It might be 2 years before we can go back) that they still have the dining plan.

 

[mjkaferle5]

For me it was more of the convenience of not having to look at the prices when ordering my food. My family is not rich and we do not usually spend a lot of money on eating out. I know that if I had to pay for everything at the time I would have been more stressed out about spending the money on the food and would not have enjoyed the TS resturants as much as I did. We loved the dining plan and I hope that the next time I can afford to go back to WDW (It might be 2 years before we can go back) that they still have the dining plan.

Same here!!

 

[ducklite]

We've looked at the dining plan, and it just doesn't work for us.

We don't eat breakfast out much at all, and if we do have a "hearty" breakfast, we usually have something really light for lunch. (I had a side of couscous yesterday to give you an idea.) And we eat at a signature every night, and don't want to be limited at all, or to feel like we need to eat more than we might otherwise.

But that's just us.

I can see it being great for families on a strict budget or larger families. But it doesn't work for everyone.

Anne

 

[diznyfanatic]

Our experience was almost exactly like that of the OP, so I am c/p portions of a post I made in another thread about a similar subject...

For what it's worth, we just returned from a 10 day split stay trip. The first 7 of those were spent at CSR on the Dining Plan with 2 Adults and 1 Child.

The Dining Plan is wonderful and offers several advantages (trying new places, meals are already paid for etc...) BUT using it exactly "as intended", it was way too much food for the three of us and Disney made out big time on our party.

We left food at every single meal, and except on two occasions, didn't even order appetizers and desserts.

At places like LTT which is served family style, or Chef Mickey's, Boma, and 1900 Park Fare which are all buffets, you could have fit what my 3 year old granddaughter ate on a saucer and still had room left. We still used her 1 Credit each time for her since we weren't allowed to share which would have been much more practical.

In the end, I'm sure that Disney made a nice profit on our Dining Plan. I don't know that we'd purchase the plan again as it is so different than how we would normally eat which is to share meals and not do a TS meal each day. It was also a little more scheduled than we normally would be at WDW.

We had a lovely time though being able to try places that we probably would not have tried without the plan.

Adding to my original post that you could make the argument that if you used your TS credits ONLY for dinner, that those meals alone would pay for your dining plan and that as a result you would be getting your CS and Snack credits essentially for free.

I just know that our family normally would be sharing meals and ordering far less food so I would really have to crunch the numbers to see if the dining plan is really cost effective for us to know if we would use it again.

 

[Tinkerbellz]

It just works for our family. DD and I did the dining plan when we went to MNSSHP in October. We had our fill of everything disney including the obligatory character meal. It was wonderful. On our trip this May Dh's aunt and her family(who is meeting us for DD's graduation trip) offered us a chance to stay at the Swan or Dolphin. We turned it down. First of all our plans were already made and half paid off. Secondly, we want to use the dining plan. They have a very particular child and the dining plan would be a waste of $$$ for them, but my family is full of eaters. There would be no way that we could pay for meals like we get on the DP.

Just my opinion on how it works for us. For those of you who have not yet experienced the DP. Weigh the costs of eating what you want by the number of people in your party by the cost of the DP/day. It's by far a fantastic deal for my family of 4

 

[DaisyGirlAllTheWay]

The amount of food is insanse... I am guess that there will be a few meals where my DW and I will just eat off of one TS mean and then use the extra one for a dinner show or something. Did the OP eat at WC? I was wondering how the Skillet thing works on the DP.

I was wondering this as well??

 

[LIFERBABE]

I like the fact that Tax and Tip are included in the DP.

We did use the DP for Signature meals that we had intended on doing anyway, like HDDR which for our family of 4 would have been $200 and TS meals like CM and Concourse.

This trip we stayed 14 days and lunches were around $45 and dinners $75 with the DDE.

 

[cheerful chickadee]

we're going through our budget right now to see if the dining plan would be best for our family. It's just me, dh and ds(9). The thing I like about it is that we will be able to try some restaurants that we ordinarily wouldn't go to because of expense, etc. I did a sample of one day without the plan. We will have Chef Mickey's b-fast for approx. $55, then a counter service dinner which could be up to $25 or more, snacks and drinks could be $15 - $20. That's a little over $100 for one day, which only includes 2 "meals". On the dining plan we'd be paying $80 a day. It does make the plan more appealing, money wise. Our last trip to the world we found that we only ate 2 meals a day, if that! We would sometimes have one big meal and snacks or appetizers at other times of the day. We also stuck to counter service a lot to save money but would have loved to go to many table service places that we decided not to go to because of the prices

I was wondering what happens to the credits you don't use? Say you go to Le Cellier for dinner and order appetizer and an entree but are too stuffed for dessert, do you lose that dessert credit? Also how is the plan conducted? Is it applied to your resort ID? How do you keep track of how many of each credit you have left? It can be used at food courts, correct?

Sorry for all the questions, I am an obsessive planner!

 

[dixiedizfan]

You don't get separate credits for appetizers, desserts, etc. One credit includes all these things at one meal; also tax and tip. So if you're too full for dessert you don't have a credit left over; you just lose out on the dessert you could have had. We had to forego several appetizers and desserts because of so much food. The dining plan is on your room key card, so just show that to your server. The credits you have remaining after you "pay" will show up on your receipt. Be sure to check those receipts: When we used our first snack credits for two beverages in MK, the cashier rang it up as having used 22 credits instead of 2. We didn't notice it til we checked our receipt later, and had to have it taken care of at the front desk. They told us if we hadn't kept our receipt as proof they couldn't have helped us.

 

[jamal]

Am I correct that you can share food with no problem? I'm hoping to share a TS meal (App., Entree, Dessert) w/ DH some so we will have some extras for 2 credit dinners. That is, if he'll share...

 

[westjones]

Can you get food to go if you are too full? We are staying in the Villas at BWVs, so we will have a kitchen and can put stuff in the fridge and heat up later. Will they do that at the Epcot restaurants?

Thanks,
DJ

 

[dixiedizfan]

While we didn't do this I know that yes, you can share a TS meal and thereby only use one credit. And yes, your dessert or whatever can be taken "to go", even at Epcot. We tried doing this once but didn't like carrying around a bag with us in the park. Makes more sense to do this if you're going right back to your resort after dining.

 

[ducklite]

Can you get food to go if you are too full? We are staying in the Villas at BWVs, so we will have a kitchen and can put stuff in the fridge and heat up later. Will they do that at the Epcot restaurants?

Thanks,
DJ

Yes except at buffets. I'd be careful taking a doggy bag unless you are headed right back to teh villa, things spoil quickly in teh FL heat.

Anne

 

[jade1]

Was wondering things like ordering the Filet and Shrimp instead of the Sirloin and Shrimp at Jaqan? Is that OK to do? Or a double Cheeseburger instead of a single at B&C-or adding Mushrooms to a steak at a Steakhouse? In otherwords is there limitations when ordering (other than of course 2 steak dinners for yourself)?

 

[TastefullyChris]

Can you only book the dining plan w/ a Disney Vacation Package? I have earned 4 free nights hotel stay through my job and booked an extra two nights thru WDW reservations. We bought our 7-day MYW tickets at the Disney store before the Jan. price increase. Is there any way to add the dining plan at this point? (We are hearty Midwestern folk who eat A LOT....and we have a 12-yr. old boy with hollow legs!!! Ha ha!)