Should we do the dining plan or not?

[lisareneeo]

Been to disney many times and never did the dining plan because we always had annual passes and never did a "package"

This Jan we are doing a package and are considering the basic dining plan.

My kids are 10 and 12 (both adult prices)

My 10 year old daughter is still very picky and will only eat off of the kids menu or may eat a ceaser salad. My son is better but may still eat off kids menu but will also eat off reg menu.

We are staying for 5 nights.

We want to eat at Ohanas for dinner and Crystal Palace for breakfast. That is all we have in mind at this time. If we did the dining plan we would have no problems picking other restaurants but if we do not do the dining plan we might jsut do one more sit down dinner in addition to Ohanas and Crystal Palace.

If we do not do the dining plan we figured we could use the $200 gift card we will get as part of our package for some of our meals.

Thoughts???

Thanks in advance for your help!
Lisa

 

[DISNEY1975]

Im using the deluxe plan as I type. We started cancelling meals day 2, it is way too much food. I will say though, that my breakfasts for 3 (2 adults 1 child) are running about $160 w/ tips. Dinners are $250 w/tips. I would suggest getting the plan. You really do save a ton of $$.

 

[aceys_h0ney]

If you think your family would enjoy one TS meal and CS meal a day I think its worth it. The bargain hunter in me could not turn it down, otherwise I would have been cheap and not eaten at many TS restuarants on our trip. We really enjoyed taking a break every day and relaxing for dinner. If your daughter is really picky and would order a childs meal anyway you might want to calculate to see if it would even be worth it.

 

[septbaby]

Do the plan then do this:

Book CP and 'Ohanas (8TS credits total)
Book HDDR Review for a really fun family night (8 credits used)
Book Narcoossee's or other 2TS meal for a date nite for you and your spouse
Put the kids in the Kids Club and use some of the Gift card to pay for that.
That would use up all 20 of the TS credits and give the kids a break from you and vice versa.

You could also let the kids each select a 1TS restaurant rather than do HDDR. For example one might want Coral Reef or Sci Fi and the other a princess meal. Letting them each pick one will make the Date night seem more fair.

Also the DP doesn't include alcohol or tips so you can use the gift card to cover those things too.

Your kids probably won't want the kids meals most of the time at CS, so having the DP will be helpful there.

Have fun.

 

[lisareneeo]

I will have to calculate to see if it is worth it, but we are leaning towards using it.

I need to look at the menus and estimate counter service too.

Does anyone know what a snack is?

 

[Buckeyemouse]

It depends on what you like to eat. DW do not get dessert but we like to have an appetizer. We took all of the places we want to eat at while we are down there and calculated all of our costs with the plan and without the plan. In our case we would spend more money on the plan than we would if we used Tables in Wonderland card without the plan. We are not going to try the plan unless we would happen to fall into free dining.

If you do choose to go with the plan I would get my ADR's before going on the plan.

 

[GailT]

when I booked I first got the Basic DP but as time went onI changed it to the DDP then chnaged it back to basic then back to DeluxeDP and I stuck with that, after making all my ADrs I know that was the best option for me, Christmas dinner alone is going to cost me alot just for 2 people The besic is good but you have to stick with one credit TS and places that are signiture take 2 credits Good luck on no matter what you do.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

The Tb serv & CS Plan is the best we alwyas do this one. We did the deluxe once a lot of food.

 

[McDISer]

I know O'hana is $26.99 a person, drink water or soda and no out of pocket except tip.

I think Crystal palace is the same price.

In my opinion Counter Service is really getting expensive.

So is snacks.

Do the plan and save your gift cards for tipping and souvineers.

 

[B-Ride]

The best part about the Dining Plan is the ability to just eat whatever you want and not think about the cost of the meal. If you want the most expensive thing on the menu you can have it without a second thought.

But if you are going to do it make sure you choose all of your TS restaurants and make an ADR well in advance. The Dining Plan won't pay for itself if you find yourself unable to get into the TS restaurants you have chosen.

 

[armomof3lvsdisney]

I have been on the fence about the DDP, also. We have never used it before, but I'm really leaning towards booking it. It would be really nice to just order and not think about the price.

 

[DISNEY1975]

I have been on the fence about the DDP, also. We have never used it before, but I'm really leaning towards booking it. It would be really nice to just order and not think about the price.

Its is fantastic not worrying. Im on day 7 now. There is no way I would have been able to afford what we have been eating. Cali Grill was $400!! Le Cellier was $250 most dinners are running us $250, breakfasts are $120ish We only are paying $180 a day on the plan. I have not touched a snack credit yet, but dont care..we are still saving a ton per day.

 

[GailT]

Its is fantastic not worrying. Im on day 7 now. There is no way I would have been able to afford what we have been eating. Cali Grill was $400!! Le Cellier was $250 most dinners are running us $250, breakfasts are $120ish We only are paying $180 a day on the plan. I have not touched a snack credit yet, but dont care..we are still saving a ton per day.

The first time I used the DDP I brought all of my snacks home with me. Rice crispie bars bars, dipped pretzels, candy, for a whole we we lived Disney in our house

 

[nyyankeegirl]

I do love the dining plan. We used it 3 yrs. in a row. However this year w/o them including apps & tip, seems to cost a lot more out of pocket. I think each TS meal was running us about $50. DH & I usually order an alchoholic drink & we are not afraid to let the kids order one of the souvenier glow drinks. Even with that extra $$, I still think the plan is worth it. We enjoy sitting down for at least 1 meal a day. Sometimes it can be annoying to rush off to your reservation, if for some reason your plan changed for that day (& with 2 young kids my plan does sometimes change)

I'm not sure how people spend a day w/o using any snack credits? Even if we don't use it for popcorn or ice cream, I'd rather get a bottled water then let the credits go to waste. This last trip I realized that you can use snack credits on lots more than you would have thought!!

 

[lisareneeo]

What can you use the snack credits on that surprised you?

 

[taliategan]

I think if your kids prefer kids meals over adult meals it is not worth being on the DDP. There is a big price difference between paying for an adult on the DDP and paying for a kid (3-9) under the plan. When your kid(s) are just over the age cut-off, I just don't think the plan is worthwhile when you have to pay the adult price for them. Now you could pay OOP for the kids on some of the TS meals, and you and DH could use the extra TS credits at other meals, but it sounds like you do not want to do that many TS meals.

 

[wdwluver]

The thing you have to think about is where you're going to eat. You're going to be there 5 days. You're going to eat more than 2 table service meals while you're there - be it table service or counter service. Onsite or offsite. I would look at the menus on http://www.allears.net and decide where I was going to eat and estimate the cost. Determine whether your kids would be eating off the kids menu, in which case the dining plan would be a waste of money or the regular menu. If you cost estimate comes out less than the meal plan, then don't do it. If your cost estimate is even with or greater than the meal plan, then I would get it.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[itchin2go]

Price it out. We eat table service every night, so it would seem we would be good candidates for the DDP. I priced it out, though and it doesn't make financial sense for us. If we are lucky, we would break even. Most likely we would lose money. If that's the case, then why do I want a plan dictating how I eat? I am vegetarian (cheap!) and we rarely if ever order dessert. Even if we did order dessert, we would probably order 1 and then share. We don't do muffins and such for breakfast (we could, but we don't want to). We don't eat very many snacks, so we end up with a boatload of snack credits at the end which we use for snacks for the ride home. We eat bits and pieces of those, but we are tired of junk food (and eventually tire of even the fruit we snagged) and get rid of the rest.

I enjoyed the dining plan the first time we did it. It was 2 years ago, included appetizer, tax and tip, and probably made good sense for us at the time. That said, I got tired of the plan dictating how I ate, and the constant wondering: what can you get for a snack credit, what's included in the CS, blah, blah, blah. We did the deluxe plan last year, thinking it would free us up to eat what we want and stop thinking about what was included in the plan. The problem is that you feel like you're not getting your "money's worth" unless you do LOTS of TS. So ultimately, it was just too much food. We said no to dessert at least 90% of the time, and still, by the end of the trip, we were tired of eating.

This year, we are going sans-plan. I keep waffling - thinking how nice it would be to have that portion of the trip paid for. But I don't know. I don't want this trip to be "ruled" by food. I think it will be nice to choose what we want to eat and not worry what's included and what's not, and how many credits we have left. If we want to "graze" all day at the World Showcase, we can. We don't have to use up any credits. I've missed out on snacks the past two years because we ate so much at mealtimes that I just wasn't hungry.

Anyway - to each his own. I've read enough to know that the various dining plans are super-economical for certain people -- and not such a good idea for others. To each his own -- just crunch the numbers before you commit so you go in with your eyes wide open.

BTW - here's how I crunched the numbers. I looked up the menus for our ADRs. I used the $ amount for the entrees we would order. I didn't include app because it's not included in DDP. I didn't include dessert, because we really don't want desserts. Then I did the same thing for CS. The resulting total didn't come close enough to what we'd pay for DDP to merit me looking into it any further. Sure, if you throw in some snacks, the numbers become closer. I just don't want my snack choices to be determined by the DDP.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Tiger926]

I started a thread yesterday about our Dining Plan vs. Tables in Wonderland comparison for our next trip as I know so many families struggle with this decision. We normally eat 2, many days 3 TS meals per day, so we've eaten pretty much everywhere on property, multiple times. We've paid cash out of pocket, used AP or DVC discounts, used DP (regular and deluxe) as well as TIW, formally DDE. For us, a family of 2 adults, 5 year old and a baby, the Deluxe plan is best. We don't care for counter service, so we don't like the regular dining plan, or, new quick service plan. We were surprised to see that the deluxe plan will save us money over the TIW plan as we are subject to dining surcharges, blackout dates and higher gratuity for buffets, plus the cost of the card needs to be factored in there as well - hubby is a banker and did a very detailed spreadsheet on it! Your situation may not be like ours, so you need to consider many other variables when making this decision.

You have a different family situation in that you have 4 adult prices as your kids are over 10, so you need to not only crunch your numbers, but look at menus as well. For us, the kids meal price is low and so it adds even more value to the Dining Plan. We only order what we can eat, and use the adult appetizers (only with deluxe plan) as food for our kids. We don't care for many of the kids meals, so this works out well for us.

There are so many things to consider when trying to figure out if DP is for your family - price, ADRs, menu variety, ability to get to restaurants, eating habits, time of year you are in WDW (holiday surcharge prices on buffets) and touring schedule.

For us, the deluxe plan is the best fit as it allows us to eat well (we don't eat junk food, nor drink pop or alcohol) as we can order soups, salads, grilled chicken, etc.,, keeps us feeling good as we have low blood sugar and need to eat regularly, and it also saves us money!

Good luck in your decision, Tiger

 

[snykymom]

Price it out. We eat table service every night, so it would seem we would be good candidates for the DDP. I priced it out, though and it doesn't make financial sense for us. If we are lucky, we would break even. Most likely we would lose money. If that's the case, then why do I want a plan dictating how I eat? I am vegetarian (cheap!) and we rarely if ever order dessert. Even if we did order dessert, we would probably order 1 and then share. We don't do muffins and such for breakfast (we could, but we don't want to). We don't eat very many snacks, so we end up with a boatload of snack credits at the end which we use for snacks for the ride home. We eat bits and pieces of those, but we are tired of junk food (and eventually tire of even the fruit we snagged) and get rid of the rest.

I enjoyed the dining plan the first time we did it. It was 2 years ago, included appetizer, tax and tip, and probably made good sense for us at the time. That said, I got tired of the plan dictating how I ate, and the constant wondering: what can you get for a snack credit, what's included in the CS, blah, blah, blah. We did the deluxe plan last year, thinking it would free us up to eat what we want and stop thinking about what was included in the plan. The problem is that you feel like you're not getting your "money's worth" unless you do LOTS of TS. So ultimately, it was just too much food. We said no to dessert at least 90% of the time, and still, by the end of the trip, we were tired of eating.

This year, we are going sans-plan. I keep waffling - thinking how nice it would be to have that portion of the trip paid for. But I don't know. I don't want this trip to be "ruled" by food. I think it will be nice to choose what we want to eat and not worry what's included and what's not, and how many credits we have left. If we want to "graze" all day at the World Showcase, we can. We don't have to use up any credits. I've missed out on snacks the past two years because we ate so much at mealtimes that I just wasn't hungry.

Anyway - to each his own. I've read enough to know that the various dining plans are super-economical for certain people -- and not such a good idea for others. To each his own -- just crunch the numbers before you commit so you go in with your eyes wide open.

BTW - here's how I crunched the numbers. I looked up the menus for our ADRs. I used the $ amount for the entrees we would order. I didn't include app because it's not included in DDP. I didn't include dessert, because we really don't want desserts. Then I did the same thing for CS. The resulting total didn't come close enough to what we'd pay for DDP to merit me looking into it any further. Sure, if you throw in some snacks, the numbers become closer. I just don't want my snack choices to be determined by the DDP.

Just my 2 cents.

This was exactly my analysis. We do want a lot of TS, many of which are 2 credits. We also often prefer appetizers to desserts. So the DP was no good. The DxDP was too much food - we rarely eat appetizers and desserts at the same meal, and almost never twice in one day! So we'd be leaving money on the table by not ordering desserts, etc. And sometimes I want 2 appetizers & dessert, or only dessert, or whatever.

I don't want to have to count credits or wonder if the restaurant is on the plan - we're doing V&A and maybe Bistro de Paris, neither of which are on the plan. And with the 2009 restaurants up in the air, well, I don't have to worry!

I started a thread yesterday about our Dining Plan vs. Tables in Wonderland comparison for our next trip as I know so many families struggle with this decision. We normally eat 2, many days 3 TS meals per day, so we've eaten pretty much everywhere on property, multiple times. We've paid cash out of pocket, used AP or DVC discounts, used DP (regular and deluxe) as well as TIW, formally DDE. For us, a family of 2 adults, 5 year old and a baby, the Deluxe plan is best. We don't care for counter service, so we don't like the regular dining plan, or, new quick service plan. We were surprised to see that the deluxe plan will save us money over the TIW plan as we are subject to dining surcharges, blackout dates and higher gratuity for buffets, plus the cost of the card needs to be factored in there as well - hubby is a banker and did a very detailed spreadsheet on it! Your situation may not be like ours, so you need to consider many other variables when making this decision.

You have a different family situation in that you have 4 adult prices as your kids are over 10, so you need to not only crunch your numbers, but look at menus as well. For us, the kids meal price is low and so it adds even more value to the Dining Plan. We only order what we can eat, and use the adult appetizers (only with deluxe plan) as food for our kids. We don't care for many of the kids meals, so this works out well for us.

There are so many things to consider when trying to figure out if DP is for your family - price, ADRs, menu variety, ability to get to restaurants, eating habits, time of year you are in WDW (holiday surcharge prices on buffets) and touring schedule.

For us, the deluxe plan is the best fit as it allows us to eat well (we don't eat junk food, nor drink pop or alcohol) as we can order soups, salads, grilled chicken, etc.,, keeps us feeling good as we have low blood sugar and need to eat regularly, and it also saves us money!

Good luck in your decision, Tiger

I'm actually still looking at the TiW (counting the increase on the ticket to the AP & the cost of the TiW), since d will be "legal" and I think there will be lots of adult beverages. It also works at V&A. And I don't really care if we eat somewhere that it's not taken.

So many decisions!