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

[crazycatlady]

We usually buy it for the first night or two of our DVC stay. We never know when we are flying in when we book our room, so we usually have a night or two at the front of the trip before the main stay. We always buy the mugs and I know by now which restaurants have a hefty enough price tag to make it worth it. For a night or two with Chefs, Ohana, Steakhouse 71 {dinner}, or Tutto for our TS and Polite Pig, Docking Bay 7, or Satuuli Canteen for our QS, we will definitely save money. There are others that are expensive enough to work, but these are some of our favorites. We don't feel like it is inconvenient to plan around a TS or two for the first couple of days and we enjoy being able to order expensive drinks, entrees, and desserts at the start of the trip.

We had the DP scheduled for our early May trip this year but canceled those reservations when the 40% off was announced for APSs since that makes more sense in money saving.

 

[airjay75]

At what point would this be worth it for 2 adults? Like 1-2 nights booked separate with dining plan? I have never considered the 1 day to get the mugs and 1 of the big table service meals in it.

I haven't run the numbers on that specifically, so I can't say. The refillable mugs are $22.99 plus tax per person, so if you're going to purchase those regardless of whether you're buying the DP, I think I would just subtract that from whatever the cost of the DP is and see whether you'd be spending that much on food anyways during that time to see whether it's a good deal or not. For us, with the kids free, if we were to buy 4 refillable mugs, that's already $100 and the cost of the QS DP for all 4 of us for one night was not much more than that and we can easily use or dining credits for one night. I think when you get to the DP for many nights, that's when it can become difficult because you've just got so many dining credits you're trying to use up.

 

[Brian Noble]

I would not create a split stay to try to leverge a dining plan over a couple of mugs. Way too much work for too little return, but YMMV.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I use the dining plan price as an estimate for food costs and I get discounted gift cards for that amount for each trip and I always have a decent amount left on the cards at the end of each trip. And we’re eating where and what we like without trying to make the most of a dining plan.