Poll: Do you use the DIning Plan when staying DVC?

[Genie+]

My wife and I did the deluxe dining plan for years, very carefully tracking the cost of each and every meal, snack, and mug. We reached a crossover point about 15 years ago where the only way to save money on the deluxe plan was to buy every snack. Since we weren't really hungry between meals, we waited until the last night and then loaded up on snacks to take home. After that, we did the math each year, using the new prices of the included items, comparing out of pocket with the deluxe, regular, and walk-up plans, and the out of pocket was consistently cheaper. Now that they've discontinued the deluxe plan (which was 3 table service credits, 2 snacks, and the resort mug), and their new top of the line is the dining plan (1 table service, 1 sit down, 1 snack), and coupled with the discounts we receive for DVC, Annual pass, and Disney Visa, it doesn't make any sense for us to do anything other than pay out of pocket for each meal.

The last year we did free dining the whole trip was late 2019 and DDP cost $75/day for adults.

Man there were some great options to use it! By that point it had removed appetizers from TS and dessert from QS credits, but it still had 2 snacks daily and the newly included alcohol/specialty drink category. I think 2018 and 2017 were even better, but as recently as 2019 DDP could still be maximized well beyond the cost.

Right off the bat there was a $45 BoG table service you could get on a QS credit, which still left your mug, TS and 2 snack credits. HS had funnel cake sundaes back then $10 each, and EP food booths had items $8+, so it wasn’t hard to get $20 daily value from snacks. For TS, ‘Ohana was around $55pp, plus then you could get a cool islander drink. In 2019 it wasn’t too hard to rack up $135pp using the $75 DDP, and it was easy to hit $100-110 daily average.

This current version relies on character buffets and alcohol to exceed the $100 cost over a trip.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

The last year we did free dining the whole trip was late 2019 and DDP cost $75/day for adults.

Man there were some great options to use it! By that point it had removed appetizers from TS and dessert from QS credits, but it still had 2 snacks daily and the newly included alcohol/specialty drink category. I think 2018 and 2017 were even better, but as recently as 2019 DDP could still be maximized well beyond the cost.

Right off the bat there was a $45 BoG table service you could get on a QS credit, which still left your mug, TS and 2 snack credits. HS had funnel cake sundaes back then $10 each, and EP food booths had items $8+, so it wasn’t hard to get $20 daily value from snacks. For TS, ‘Ohana was around $55pp, plus then you could get a cool islander drink. In 2019 it wasn’t too hard to rack up $135pp using the $75 DDP, and it was easy to hit $100-110 daily average.

This current version relies on character buffets and alcohol to exceed the $100 cost over a trip.

This is the kind of “optimizing/hacking” win that would have been hard for me to resist…feeling like you’re “winning” $40-50 a day without too much effort.

 

[cheryl.UK]

Not used it since they stopped accepting dining plan at V&A. It's just not worth it to us as my DH is vegetarian and eats the least expensive meals on the menu. When we could use our credits at V&A, we had a 2 night stay at the start of the holiday, saved our credits for V&A and made use of the mugs for the rest of our holiday. Oh how I miss those days.

 

[PolyRob]

The last year we did free dining the whole trip was late 2019 and DDP cost $75/day for adults.

Man there were some great options to use it! By that point it had removed appetizers from TS and dessert from QS credits, but it still had 2 snacks daily and the newly included alcohol/specialty drink category. I think 2018 and 2017 were even better, but as recently as 2019 DDP could still be maximized well beyond the cost.

Right off the bat there was a $45 BoG table service you could get on a QS credit, which still left your mug, TS and 2 snack credits. HS had funnel cake sundaes back then $10 each, and EP food booths had items $8+, so it wasn’t hard to get $20 daily value from snacks. For TS, ‘Ohana was around $55pp, plus then you could get a cool islander drink. In 2019 it wasn’t too hard to rack up $135pp using the $75 DDP, and it was easy to hit $100-110 daily average.

This current version relies on character buffets and alcohol to exceed the $100 cost over a trip.

I'll also add before the 2020 shutdown Tables in Wonderland existed for FL-residents, APs, and DVC. 20% off TS restaurants and lounges including alcohol and complimentary valet at the resorts. Still made the DDP hard for me to justify

 

[Genie+]

I'll also add before the 2020 shutdown Tables in Wonderland existed for FL-residents, APs, and DVC. 20% off TS restaurants and lounges including alcohol and complimentary valet at the resorts. Still made the DDP hard for me to justify

Oh boy I do wish they’d bring that back!

 

[PolyRob]

Oh boy I do wish they’d bring that back!

It was great! Worked on the second Luau (RIP) and third HDDR too! Even worked on value resort QS since they didn't have TS. What a wonderful little program.

 

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

Just curious, as almost all of my traveling parties are adults, or at least 9 years old, and I've never been able to justify it vs. paying cash and using DVC/AP discounts. Even mixing in a 2 credit signature location every trip.

But I also don't have an adult beverage with every table service meal, though I do occassionaly imbibe.

To be clear, a 2 credit restaurant automatically destroys any potential volume.

It can make sense and you can actually beat it quite easily if you do all 1 credit character dining dinners. But that’s way too much food for a normal human so we only do it on paper of a split stay.


We were all set to do it for one of our reservations in June. However the 40% passholder discount changed that. The dining plan can’t beat that if you have an annual pass those 2 months.

 

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

The last year we did free dining the whole trip was late 2019 and DDP cost $75/day for adults.

Man there were some great options to use it! By that point it had removed appetizers from TS and dessert from QS credits, but it still had 2 snacks daily and the newly included alcohol/specialty drink category. I think 2018 and 2017 were even better, but as recently as 2019 DDP could still be maximized well beyond the cost.

Right off the bat there was a $45 BoG table service you could get on a QS credit, which still left your mug, TS and 2 snack credits. HS had funnel cake sundaes back then $10 each, and EP food booths had items $8+, so it wasn’t hard to get $20 daily value from snacks. For TS, ‘Ohana was around $55pp, plus then you could get a cool islander drink. In 2019 it wasn’t too hard to rack up $135pp using the $75 DDP, and it was easy to hit $100-110 daily average.

This current version relies on character buffets and alcohol to exceed the $100 cost over a trip.

Ohana and polite pig every day is my hack to beating it in modern times.

Seriously though you need to only hit expensive buffets and character dining. Kids that are 10+ destroy the value because you can’t get the $18 alcohol with them

 

[Brian Noble]

Tables in Wonderland [...] complimentary valet

I will admit I miss this part.

 

[atthebeachclub]

We've never gotten close to finding financial sense for doing the DDP for us on a DVC stay.

Same. It might come close if we were regular alcohol drinkers. But I drink about 2 glasses of wine per year and the spouse has never drank alcohol. We’d have to eat a lot more steak than I’d want to eat to make the dining plan worth it.

 

[atthebeachclub]

What I mean is this: I want the steak. But I can't bring myself to pay $X for the steak. So I order the chicken instead, even though I don't want the chicken.

Everyone does this once in a while, but if it happens a lot, the DDP is permission to ignore the prices. You still might end up paying more, but you don't have crippling price anxiety at every meal.

This basically describes my DVC purchase and how it gave me permission to spend money to actually go on vacation. Because before my first WDW trip, my only vacations involved visiting my parents in my hometown and sleeping on their pullout sofa. After my dad died and my mom moved and Covid, we had a many years long era where we just didn’t travel at all. Finally decided we needed a trip; tried WDW, immediately bought DVC, and now we actually vacation. Regularly!