Poll: FD / dining plans experiences

[mkymouse4ever]

Wondering how people feel after using the free dining or dining plans.

 

[joecatz]

If you are staying onsite, and plan on eating onsite, the dining plan is a great deal.

If you plan on ONLY doing quick service meals, however, and don't eat a dessert with each meal, the QS dining plan doesn't do much to save you money, IMO.

The Deluxe plan is great if youlike to sit down for every meal, and want to experience higher end dining. I would suggest doing a few two credit meals at the higher end places, cause you end uip with extra meals.

We've done both plans, in the past, and have conceded that the regular dining plan is the best value for us. We tend to do the buffets, as the value is better.

 

[jagafen]

and it works for our family.....lunches are usually QS, and we do a sit down dinner each night at a TS....it gives us a chance to relax and cool off in the a/c!! We've never done "free dining", so no input in that regard. As long as DS is a "disney" kid, it works for us....he's an exceptionally picky eater, and we don't have any issues finding somewhere for him to eat. As long as there's something on the menu that he likes, he's fine. Once he turns 9, I doubt that we'll pay the adult prices for him, unless his palate matures rapidly in the next 2 years, but for now, it works for us. We don't do it so much for an extreme money saver (Dh and I usually get an app or two to share, plus a bottle of wine), but a way to prepay and offset the costs of eating on vacation. And for those that are gonna ask, the DxDDP won't work for us....there's no way we could do 3 TS meals a day...in an ideal world, we'd be able to get DS out of the parks early enough to go back and shower/change for the 2TS restaurants (that's the only way that plan would "work" with our touring style), but I don't see that happening. Now, if I can convince DH to take a mom/dad vacation, I'd to the DxDDP in a heartbeat!!

 

[HunnyJar]

We are big fans of the regular dining plan. My husband and I just like the fact that we can travel and feel like we are pretty well stress free during the trip since everything is paid for in advance. Well, except for the tip. One day we said we would try the deluxe dining plan, but that's for a trip when it's just the two of us.

We have only tried Free Dining once.. It was fine, but I don't know that we would do it again. I'd rather travel when we want and pay for the dining plan out of pocket.

 

[design_mom]

Boy -- I haven't voted because I'd want to pick multiple responses. All of these are true: It is worth it, I would do it again.... Ok, might do it in the future, but not needed... We can eat / stay cheaper without the plans

We've done the regular DDP twice (long weekend for hubby and me in 2008 w/ FD, and a week-long family trip in 2010 when we paid for it). We've also paid out of pocket on numerous other trips.

Overall, we enjoyed FD. We ate at some restaurants and ordered some things that we probably would not have done if we were paying OOP. I was worried that on the weeklong trip we would feel "trapped" by the ADRs I had to make so far in advance, but we really didn't (my plans worked out well.) For what we got, I believe that it was a good value.

When we pay OOP we usually do more CS and fewer TS (which is fine by me). We almost never order desserts. We sometimes share meals, etc. We can eat cheaper by paying out of pocket. We're not consuming the same foods as we do on DDP, but when it comes down to dollars, it's cheaper.

So... I would happily accept free dining if it was offered, but I don't plan my trips around it. If we were paying for the dining plan, i would definitely consider getting it again. We enjoyed it and the kids did, too. If we were planning a budget trip, the DDP would not be a "must have" feature for me. We can eat cheaper and still have a great vacation without it.

 

[Tara]

We did free dining in 2005 and paid DDP in 2006. Back then the appetizer and tip were still included, so it was a "deal." Now it is more like a simple pre-payment plan. We also rarely eat quick service and most of our meals are signature TS restaurants. We find that Tables in Wonderland works much better for us.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've done the 'old' DDP, when appetizer and tip were included and felt it was a very good deal. I have also used the 'new' DDP, no tip or appetizer, and don't feel it is nearly as good a deal.
I have taken advantage of FD...at a value resort. It worked pretty well, but I felt the crowds in the parks offset the value of the FD.
I also use the Tables in Wonderland card for discounts. To date, that seems to work the best for me.

 

[TDC Nala]

I can eat less and pay less if I order my own food, not prepay it and eat the way Disney says I can eat. Besides, I also think the best restaurants are the ones that don't accept the plan.

The above didn't apply when the now "regular" dining plan was the only dining plan, cost under $30 a night and included appetizers and tips. Then it was a no-brainer (although it did cause me to eat too much) but now I can do better just ordering what I want.

 

[tabrizia]

We enjoyed the plan with the appetizers included. We were less thrilled when they weren't since we get them anyways which adds extra money.

For the way my family eats, we do get appetizers, but rarely get desert, and both children like more adult foods, I've crunched the numbers and figured out if we can get free dining on our next trip it is worth paying the extra to upgrade to the deluxe plan, if we can't get free dining the wonderland card is a better choice for us based on how we all eat.

 

[Pakey]

We have done Platinum Plan, deluxe plan, regular dining plan with appetizers, regular plan without appetizers and we have done the TIW card. For us, the dining plan just doesn't make us happy, none of the plans do. I usually prefer an appetizer and a salad, no dessert. We tried the plans enough to know that we aren't really happy having to order certain things and it makes no sense to me to prepay food. The TIW card is a better choice for us.

 

[design_mom]

Am I correct that only Florida residents and AP holders are eligible for the TIW card? The rest of us only have the choice between the dining plan(s) or paying regular menu prices out-of-pocket, right?

 

[TDC Nala]

Am I correct that only Florida residents and AP holders are eligible for the TIW card?

yes, that's correct.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

There are a number of the responses that apply to my situation. My family likes the free dining. If the dining plan was not free, we would go without the it. We can eat cheaper on our own. With the DDP or DXDP, there is running around, planning and less spontaneity.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I'll get the basic DDP when it's free, that's a good deal for me. I've never paid for it though. I will pay for the deluxe plan though, that's a good deal for me, since I enjoy the signature restaurants.

 

[Swimalie]

For us, we enjoy it for 2 reasons 1 - we like that food is basically "pre-paid" and 2 - we eat at places that we normally wouldn't spend the money on. We're pretty frugal people and there is no way we'd spend the out of pocket money on eating at places like Aksershus but we love going there on the dining plan. So, yes, it's totally worth it and we will do it again next time.

 

[SiAmCrAzY]

I love the DP for trying new restaurants. When I am there without the plan I tend to gravitate towards places i know I will like, and often get stuck eating the same things. The DP helps me broaden my horizons And it is a must have when my DH is with me, as it reallydoes save us money.

That being said, there is one time of year I will NEVER again get the DP- during F&W. I want to graze at the kiosks, do the party for the senses and some of the other special ticket dining experiences. With the DP it was just to much

 

[missminniemouse]

We have used it twice in the past, when we've gotten it for free. If we were to pay for it, we wouldn't bother. The Tables in Wonderland card is a much better deal for us.

At table service restaurants, we usually order 1 or 2 appetizers to share. Since appetizers are no longer included on the DDP, this is already an OOP item for us. Sometimes our daughter doesn't order her own entree, but eats some from the rest of us. Desserts are also an area where we might order 1 or 2 to share, not one for each of us. This doesn't work well with the DDP.

For lunches we'll order 2 or 3 meals and share between the 4 of us.

The 2 times we had the plan for free, we found that we had a lot of snack credits left at the end of the trip. We took home a lot of mickey rice krispie bars the first time and the second time we got a lot of bottled sodas to put in our refrigerator for the remainder of our trip, which was at a DVC resort.

The TIW card gives us much more flexibility for the way we like to eat.

 

[robinb]

I LOVED the DDP when my DD was under 10-years old. Now that she is a "Disney Adult", not so much. It's WAY too expensive for a kid who will still eat children's meals. The TiW card is what we use now and we get a discount on our meals and her children's meals.

I would do the FREE DDP in a heartbeat, though.

 

[Karpkg]

When we booked for the first time last year it was during FD. It took a lot of research and planning to figure out what FD entailed, how to max out the benefits, making ADR's, what restaurants I can choose, etc. I didn't look at prices, I looked for experiences (character meals for the kids, theming) That part was fun. We had PH'ers so we hopped specifically to try a lot of Epcot restaurants. Pros- free, tried a lot of places we wouldn't have Cons- a lot of planning, research, can be restrictive.

We're going for a short trip in May and we won't be using the DP so yes, I'm looking at prices and convenience sake, we won't also have PH this time. But I'm also trying stuff like BD (2 TS in DP so we didn't last time) and just ordering what we like (ie appetizers). A lot more freedom but paying for it.

 

[PJAY]

We've purchased the regular dining plan and also had FD for the last two visits and we plan on getting it for our next two this year as well.
I also like the idea of having all my meals paid for before I arrive and not having to worry about the prices of what I am eating. I would never normally pay $30+ for a buffet but if it's offered as part of the DDP, I will try it.
We went in 1999 and went as cheap as possible (all QS and off site) and I will never do that again.
By the time our week was up I never wanted to see another burger or fries again.