Ready To Be Flamed

[disneyjunkie]

I hated the Dining Plan. NEVER again. I don't care if it would save me money. Too big a hassle. Never, ever again.

Aside from the scheduling nightmare, I like to sit down for breakfast AND dinner and sometimes lunch, too. But, noooo. Felt like I had to stick to the plan since I'd paid for it. "We have to go to Animal Kingdom and eat at the Flame Tree!" I actually said that.

OP, I thought I was alone and it is good to know there are others who didn't like it.

Never again.

This just shows that the plan is not for everyone.

Some people are trying to force the plan to work for the way they like to vacation and not use it the way it's written.

 

[robinb]

Here's where I'm having a problem: we decided to go rather last minute, so I was not able to select the times/days I wanted at the more popular restaurants we wanted to try. Instead, I had to take what was available and then try to plan our park days around the dining ressies vs. the other way around. At this point we will be zig-zaging back and forth between parks and resorts almost everyday. I really feel that will become a difficult situation with two children that care more about the rides than eating. I'm about ready to bag the whole thing by canceling our current ADR's and just try to make them on a day-by-day basis once we get there (even if it means trying restaurants we normally wouldn't). Anyone else experiencing this problem?

I had a bit of a problem with booking Alfredos for our final dinner on 8/20. I had to take a 7:45 which is a bit late for IllumiNations. I don't know if I'll keep it or if we'll try somewhere else.

I think that you're in worse shape if you try to book things "on the fly". Why not go back to the drawing board and plan your park days first and then fit in the restaurants. There is no reason to "zig-zag" everywhere! You just need to be a bit more flexible on your plans. Good luck!

I put together a MYW Dining Planner that may be of some help. It's in Excel format: http://personalpages.tds.net/~rb/DIS/MYW Dining/MYM-Dining-Planner.xls

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Thank you Robin...you're right of course, we will sit down tonight and plan our attack!!!

 

[jennifer293]

I love the dining plan because last year if we would have payed out of pocket for our meals it would have cost us some $1278.00, but we only paid $560.00..I would rather have a little headache and save money than not.

 

[sconnell]

I look at the DDP two ways. When we are doing a budget trip, we can eat much cheaper than the DDP costs. However, when we are "going all out" (at least for us) it saves us a bundle. (Especially when it is free!) We have a 4 year old and an almost 2 year old and the best way for us to meet characters is at Character meals. (vs. standing in line) At these meals, we pay just to come in, no matter what we eat. So, at $22.99 + tax + tip a head (adults) the dining plan per day costs very little more than that one meal. It also benefits us to have a plan on what parks we are going to do when. Based on EMH, park hours, event hours, etc. I actually LOVE the planning, making a calendar, kind of working it like a puzzle. It makes the trip last so much longer, because I'm already there. lol.
In Sept, we are doing 6 Character meals.
The CS & Snack Credits will take care of themselves. I just worry about the TS so I can make ADR's early to get the times we want.
But I completely understand not wanting to use it. Our friends that travel with us don't like to plan and love that I love to do it for all of us!

 

[Brooknwdw]

~ We paid for and used the DP for the first time last June, we found it to be very easy! ~

I think the complications come from over thinking it...can I do this, can I do that...we just used it as intended, two adults, two children at every meal and it was truly great.
A couple times the kids shared a CS meal or me & DH did,& so we got breakfast CS a couple times. That was the extent of our "wrangling", and we all were happy with it.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

[Hanover]

We have used the DDP a couple of times and plan to use it again on all our future WDW trips as long as it's available. We found it very easy to use and loved everything about it.

 

[ElizabethB]

We're using DDP with free dining in August, so I guess I can't complain. But, I still will. We have AP's, but went with the MYW with free dining since it seemed like a better deal overall than the AP rate this year. But, I liked it much better when codes and good AP rates were offered. I hate feeling that, in order to actually realize on my discount, I've got to eat myself silly. I would much prefer to have the money in my pocket to use as I please -- including off-site meals or meals at Universal or Seaworld. But, Disney isn't a marketing genius for nothing. They've figured out how to keep everybody on site their whole trip -- two free meals a day and no where to eat those meals but at Disney. Further, we don't like CS, so we've got table service reservations for lunch and dinner everyday. We'll be paying for a lot of meals OOP anyway (and wasting alot of CS means and snacks).

We'll have two ten year olds with us, so all adult credits. And, we definitely plan to use their credits for our meals and buy them kids' meals. That was one of our deciding factors in selecting MYW with free dining over the AP discount.

 

[disneyjunkie]

We're using DDP with free dining in August, so I guess I can't complain. But, I still will. We have AP's, but went with the MYW with free dining since it seemed like a better deal overall than the AP rate this year. But, I liked it much better when codes and good AP rates were offered. I hate feeling that, in order to actually realize on my discount, I've got to eat myself silly. I would much prefer to have the money in my pocket to use as I please -- including off-site meals or meals at Universal or Seaworld. But, Disney isn't a marketing genius for nothing. They've figured out how to keep everybody on site their whole trip -- two free meals a day and no where to eat those meals but at Disney. Further, we don't like CS, so we've got table service reservations for lunch and dinner everyday. We'll be paying for a lot of meals OOP anyway (and wasting alot of CS means and snacks).

We'll have two ten year olds with us, so all adult credits. And, we definitely plan to use their credits for our meals and buy them kids' meals. That was one of our deciding factors in selecting MYW with free dining over the AP discount.

A room only code was released this morning.

 

[Luv'sTink]

I think if people used it the way it was planned to be used it wouldn't be so difficult. However, I have not used it YET! So, time will tell.

 

[Liliyana]

I haven't gotten to experience the actual thing yet, but we have it booked for September and it seems heavenly But, we are two very flexible adults who LOVE to eat. And I love checking out restaurant menus etc. regardless, so planning was fun!

 

[PureTcrazy]

We are so excited. We are doing free dining in Sep/oct. The trip started out with just me, dh, ds, db, dm. Then I talked to my dh and we decided that we could add dsil to our room and buy her an ap for her birthday and she could come with us . Then my Best friend and her family got tired of hearing me talk about it and her DH, who is a real frugal man, decided that free food was too good to pass up. Then they decided to add their used to be foster child as well

My DB and I have spend hours planning (which we thoroughly enjoyed, most we'ved chatted in years) and Lord knows he has wanted to kill me about changing ADR's

But, eleven people dining for free for 5 nights WOW The discount rate for room only at values is $64. We are paying $79 each for 3 rooms. Figuring the savings we could have had with the discount that's $45 per day or about $4 for each of us to have the DDP. No, I guess that ain't free, but I believe I will be able to eat my $4 worth every day

I agree that most of the hassle is caused by trying to get over on the plan. We made ADR's at places we wanted to try or old favorites. We are eating together each night except for the last when we split into 2 parties. We are using Adult credits for adults and child credits for children. It's amazing how easy it is when you use it the way it was designed.

 

[littleladykaty]

It DOES seem like a lot of food and it can be nuts trying to plan ADR's but I thought it was fun reading about the different places and picking what I would like best.

Mostly the DDP works for my fiance and me b/c we love to try a bit from every part of the menu!! We often DO order and appetizer an entree AND a dessert! And if we can't eat the dessert they'll wrap it up for us. (Luckily my fiance has a really fast metabolism and I am an exercise maniac so it we CAN pig out and not feel too badly!! Otherwise the DDP would be an enourmous amout of calorie intake for every single day of vacation!)

Of course the fact that it's FREE is extremely attractive. But even if were paying for the DDP we'd still save a ton. There is no way we'd eat under $37 or however much it is a day going to those places. It is such a great deal!! We'll be eating at a lot of pricey places every day where we probably would have done just one our two for the whole trip without the DDP! I'm thrilled to death about the DDP!!!

 

[bertalander]

I just LOVED the Dining Plan last year. Had no problems what so ever. I am the the type who likes to have plans set. So I enjoyed the process of getting my ADR's etc.

We will be a party of 10 this Fall and my SIL and I made all the dining choices. It will be SO nice to just say "Ok, we'll meet up at 5:30 at Kona Cafe" you know?! Instead of the stand around going 'I dunno, what do YOU want to eat? I dunno, what do YOU want to eat?' Ugh. Can't stand that.

I'm planned and ready to go. THRILLED!!!!!!!!!

 

[ReneeA]

I CANNOT for the life of me figure out why people are complaining about the DDP being too much food. If you can't eat it...DON'T ORDER IT! You are still going to come out way ahead. I didn't stuff myself silly and came back 2 pounds lighter after all the eating and walking we did last year.

Just because it's offered to you doesn't mean they are standing there stuffing your face with it.

 

[MadamMim]

Well, just to throw in my two cents...

I had the free dining plan when my friend and I went to Disney last fall. It was awesome! Granted, I am a planner born and bred, but I really liked knowing that I had these free meals just lying there waiting to be plugged into my plans. Plus, my friend is a veggetarian, so that was an extra challenge. But let me say, we had a great time. We got to get all dolled up and go to Artist Point (a place neither he nor I could ever afford on our tiny incomes as college kids), we got to wander around the park until we were hungry and use up our counter service meals, we got to take food back to the room to have as snacks later, and we also got to splurge on snacks in the park! I felt so amazingly swank, like money was no object, it was an incredible treat for us. So personally, I think it's a great deal; especially for people who are forced to watch every penny in "real life" the dining plan opens up a whole new world of possibilities. I would totally go back and do it again, but this time I'd stay longer!

 

[Gina35]

Well, just to throw in my two cents...
I felt so amazingly swank, like money was no object, it was an incredible treat for us. So personally, I think it's a great deal; especially for people who are forced to watch every penny in "real life" the dining plan opens up a whole new world of possibilities. I would totally go back and do it again, but this time I'd stay longer!

My thoughts exactly; couldn't have said it better!

 

[jjatwdw]

When we went in 2005 we were offered the plan and refused. This May we used DDP and loved it. We got to eat at wonderful TS restaurants that we probably wouldn't have tried otherwise. The plan was extremely easy to use and saved my party of 7 alot of money. We plan on using it again next May. I don't see many complaints about it. I think people are just excited about planning their vacations and want to discuss it all.

 

[Nancyg56]

I found the DDP easy to use, and fun to plan. For my family, a meal at the end of the day was part of our vacation, and we enjoyed the time spent dining. We had no problem planning our meals, we actually enjoyed this aspect, and are already discussing next January.

I understand that it does not work for everybody, but the issues seem to come from those who try to get the biggest bang from the plan. If your plans are for the food you enjoy, you should be fine.

My DDIL eats like a bird, but my DS and DH will "help" her finish what she does not want, and she will not feel badly for ordering a meal that she cannot complete.

We are taking one child, and she was thrilled that she got to eat mac and cheese, hot dogs and chicken strips. She has to eat what we eat at home. so this was a treat. She was able to have milk, but we would have paid OOP if it was not included.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

We prefer the Premium Dining Plan over the regular so that we do not have to worry about counting credits and the like. Any dining plan, though, is well worth it.