Ready To Be Flamed

[*NikkiBell*]

Definitely too much to think about. I come on vacation to have FUN, not do tortured math about credits and adrs and who used what and how much is left, blahblahblahdeblah. Besides, then we'd miss eating at some of our favorite off-site restaurants! (Tutu Tango's potstickers and white sangria! )

This is why the Premium Dining Plan is so much better. No credit counting and all of that nonsense! Plus, you get unlimited tours, recreation, La Nouba tickets, and more!

 

[NMW]

I admit it's not a perfect fit for us. We like to have a TS breakfast AND a TS dinner every day and just grab CS lunch most days. We even do a couple of TS lunches. The old Gold plan with 3 TS per day or the silver which gave you 2 TS meals per day were both better fits for us.

As DVC members we can only get the regular DDP, so that's what we are taking. We are keeping things very simple. TS dinners, CS lunches and we are using our DDE card for our TS breakfasts and 2 lunches. We probably will use the snack credits for bottles of water or soda, as we usually buy them every day anyway.

I can understand the plan not being the perfect fit for every family, but I can't for the life of me understand what people mean when they say it's "confusing" or hard to use.

 

[mickeyfan2]

We would never use it. We have an AP with a DDE card. Too much planning, too many TS (we normally do 3-4 on a 10 night trip) and too much work to be there on time. We can eat healthy (fruit, salads, chicken) at CS.

 

[FOV]

To the OP - I can understand not wanting the DP for many reasons. Here are just a few:

#1) If you are an "over-analyzer" and will be constantly worried about getting your moneys worth then it could detract from the vacation. (Hmmm, I'm too full for dessert but I really should get it....)

#2) You are on a tight budget and it is less expensive to book a deeply discounted room and bring your own food into the parks and/or your hotel/condo. Disney may discourage this but we all know many, many people do this. For instance, we usually bring our own water bottles into the park. I'm sure you could save money by avoiding all or most of the WDW restaurants or just eating your own snacks and going to CS restaurants and splitting meals. This would probably add up to less than the dining plan.

#3) You want to do TS meals 2-3 times a day and would not use any of your CS credits. (I can't imagine not using the snack credits even if it is just to buy bottled water.)

#4) You eat at a CS and TS everyday but order very conservatively (no appetizer, dessert etc...) or split meals. If you do the math it may come out to being less expensive paying OOP than on the DP.

As for me:

We will be using the DP for the first time this August and we're excited about it! We are a family of five so the FREE dining promotion was great for us. It will be an "all-inclusive" Disney vacation!

We plan to just use the credits as we need them with no big OOP strategies etc... We made ADR's for the TS places but we always do that anyway. The CS and snack credits will be used day-to-day and we won't worry about it.

We try to eat healthy and have noticed it is getting easier and easier to do that at WDW. Most places have salads (get the dressing on the side) and lots of the kids meals come with fruit instead of french fries etc... I'm not quite sure why people think the DP can't be healthy. We may choose to share appetizers even though we are each entitled to our own. I don't care if I don't spend all the $$$ that I can. I just want to enjoy myself.

For those worried about dessert everyday - skip it - or request a bowl of berries or a small scoop of sorbet. Maybe you can get a fancy coffee like a capuccino or a latte instead of that chocolate lava cake.

With regards to the snacks being unhealthy - you can get bottled water, fruit, yogurt etc... There are more than mickey bars to choose from!