Return of the Dining Plan?

[Garyjames220]

Any guesses to when it might come back now. Surly can’t be far away now

 

[mmouse50]

The Dining Plan is just a way to pay for your meals and snacks before you arrive. When it was offered, there was no guarantee that you would get every restaurant reservation that you wanted. Many restaurants were hard to get even at 180 +10 days out. People will buy the dining plan for the convenience of having their meals paid for upfront even if they can't "break even".

 

[Narcoossee11]

Staffing is still very low. Supplies hit and miss.
I would guess 'maybe ' early summer.
I think spring is out of the question now.

 

[dvc lover 1970]

Has anyone heard if/when the dining plan will be back?

I am still waiting for the dining plan to return. Has anyone heard any news or rumors? Not interested in the "free" dining credit. What a joke that is.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I am still waiting for the dining plan to return. Has anyone heard any news or rumors? Not interested in the "free" dining credit. What a joke that is.

What do you mean by this?

 

[Narcoossee11]

If the DDP comes back ,it will be totally different.
I do not see it coming back this year .

 

[StageTek]

I am still waiting for the dining plan to return. Has anyone heard any news or rumors? Not interested in the "free" dining credit. What a joke that is.

Nope. No news or rumors on the return of the dining plan. The "free" dining credit seems here to stay.

 

[Llama mama]

Are you just looking to have the meals prepaid? You could always start stacking up Disney gift cards to use, then the excess is not wasted and could be used for other things like souvenirs

this is the way

 

[dvc lover 1970]

What do you mean by this?

The credit you get for the room is only if you pay rack rate for the room. If you get the room at the 25% off summer rate, it ends up being around the same price as the dining credit. Personally I would take the 25% off the room, and put my money towards restaurants off site (which is what we will be doing this year without the dining plan)

 

[KrazeeK120]

The credit you get for the room is only if you pay rack rate for the room. If you get the room at the 25% off summer rate, it ends up being around the same price as the dining credit. Personally I would take the 25% off the room, and put my money towards restaurants off site (which is what we will be doing this year without the dining plan)

Ah, gotcha. There’s no discount available for my dates, so the gift card is a good deal for me unless one comes out later.

 

[dvc lover 1970]

Ah, gotcha. There’s no discount available for my dates, so the gift card is a good deal for me unless one comes out later.

Are you sure? Looking at the days listed it correlates exactly with the 25% off rates available april 10 - july 10

 

[KrazeeK120]

Are you sure? Looking at the days listed it correlates exactly with the 25% off rates available april 10 - july 10

Yes. My trip is not in those dates.

 

[dvc lover 1970]

Yes. My trip is not in those dates.










I still think it's a raw deal. Max is 150 per night per room for delux roo. If there are four in the room, that 150 does not go far. Dining plan was a much better deal. If this is the future dining plan I will be eating all meals off disney. Celebration amd windermere have really nice restaurants and much better priced.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I haven’t found the dining plan to be a good deal for us since about 2009. We spend less just dining how we want to. I realize that’s not true for every family.

 

[_19disnA]

Lots of older threads discussed the prior dining plans. IF it made sense for your family depended on where you preferred to eat and the kinds of things you like. It was never about saving money and generally more of a way to pre-pay for your Disney meals. If you eat off-site, there are many good choices that charge far less then Disney. Disney had also modified the dining plans to include various options prior to suspending the whole program.

None of us know if/when it might return or in what format. Lots of people have opinions or hunches about it but none of them actually have any inside knowledge of what Disney might do.

 

[jbharr1]

The credit you get for the room is only if you pay rack rate for the room. If you get the room at the 25% off summer rate, it ends up being around the same price as the dining credit. Personally I would take the 25% off the room, and put my money towards restaurants off site (which is what we will be doing this year without the dining plan)

i just booked this for august, 7 nights at POR and i'm getting $700 in dining credits. i think that is more than 20% off room rate currently offered and expected to be extended to august. there are 4 of us so it won't be hard to use those credits.

 

[Mle8308]

Same here. I booked 10 nights at the WL and the dining credit is the equivalent of a 35% room discount. Our dates are not included in the Disney Visa promotion, however it is the same percentage off as if the dates did qualify. We will get $1500 in dining credits and we will use it, it's kind of a six of one or a half dozen of another type situation. I think I like the credit better, I won't feel so guilty about spending as much as Disney charges on food! We don't go off property to eat - well, maybe a Publix sub!

 

[dvc lover 1970]

i just booked this for august, 7 nights at POR and i'm getting $700 in dining credits. i think that is more than 20% off room rate currently offered and expected to be extended to august. there are 4 of us so it won't be hard to use those credits.

I just ran the numbers for July 1-7 at PO in a garden view room, family of 4 two adults and two kids. With the current 25% off vs dining promo card (rack rate for room). Planning for 100 per night for the moderate resort - the difference end up being a little less than 200.00 credit for the "free" dining over 7 days. Disney never does anything for free. But I do miss the dining plan.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Disney never does anything for free. But I do miss the dining plan.

Absolutely agree that there are many who miss it. But agree more that Disney doesn't do anything for free. If (perhaps when) the DDP returns, it's going to be much more expensive than when they shut it down a few years ago, and perhaps in another new format. But I expect it will return at some point, mostly because it's something that Disney actually makes money on in the long run. It's why they do it! Or DID it.....

 

[persimmondeb]

I've given up waiting for it. We're probably going to do a couple of days in October even without it, but if anyone at Disney is watching this, we'd almost certainly stay on property longer if it were available, and possibly spring for an extra park day. Hint, hint.

We always, always made out well on it, even in the later incarnations when it wasn't as good a value. We even did well with the quick service, which was much harder to make into a winning proposition.

I know it's not everyone's experience, but budgeting to the value of the plan with "extra" for souvenirs.... Nope. Did not work out at all. Not only was there no surplus, we were all much more stressed out, and making stupid decisions like "no, we don't actually need a sit down dinner."