Thinking of the dining plan for first time, can you pick from entire menu?

[Jillpie]

And did you like being on the plan? We usually eat breakfast in our room (usually a studio, just me and DH), use a quick service dinner, but have table service as our lunch. I think it may make sense, just for convenience alone. Also, can I give the front desk cash up front and that would go toward tips at the restaurant, I just don't want the credit card to be hit for them?

 

[Monoxide]

Yes entire menu is available to you just like any other customer.
If you don't want a CC to be charged just pay the tip in cash.
I have used the Dining plan 2 times and it was convenient for my style and I felt I got the value out of the plan.
1st trip was a party of 4 next trip was just a party of 2. This years trip will again be a party of 2 and with the dining plan.

 

[Jillpie]

Thank you, very helpful!

 

[Dean]

And did you like being on the plan? We usually eat breakfast in our room (usually a studio, just me and DH), use a quick service dinner, but have table service as our lunch. I think it may make sense, just for convenience alone. Also, can I give the front desk cash up front and that would go toward tips at the restaurant, I just don't want the credit card to be hit for them?

We've used the dining plan a number of times, really all versions over the years and we like it when it works financially. I doubt it'll make sense in your situation. Normally the best value (used appropriately), is the deluxe, the basic plan that would fit your situation is more difficult to get a real value out of. 2 credit options normally return a lower value as well. Remember it's use or lose and there are other potential discounts so compare accordingly, if you got sick or had to leave early there are no refunds. I want at least a 20% discount or 20% added value for items I truly want to justify it. Just go through the menus looking at what you'd order if paying cash and run the numbers. Get your reservations if looking at difficult to get options.

 

[disneynutz]

The current version of the DDP costs more than it saves plus too much food and we feel like all we are doing is rushing to the next meal to use up the credits.

Bill

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Also, at some signature restaurants, there are entrees that cannot be ordered on DDP without a cash up charge. These are things like wagyu beef, etc.

Items that serve multiple people are also not options on DDP, generally speaking, unless multiple credits are used (and not always then). For planning purposes, it is safer to assume you cannot get those items.

Highest value from DDP tends to be for people with under-9s who do a lot of character dining. One character meal for a kid can cost more than the day's cost of DDP.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

For us it was too much food (and DH can eat a lot!). And we were using snack credits up before heading to the airport. At most we've done it for a night or two when we've had a split stay - then, mostly because it also came with mugs but even that was before they stripped it down even more.

 

[Sammie]

As with most things, it varies from individual to individual. I would suggest looking at menus for places you like to eat and get a cost estimate of what you normally spend for your meals. Many snack credits we used as our breakfast.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

And did you like being on the plan? We usually eat breakfast in our room (usually a studio, just me and DH), use a quick service dinner, but have table service as our lunch. I think it may make sense, just for convenience alone. Also, can I give the front desk cash up front and that would go toward tips at the restaurant, I just don't want the credit card to be hit for them?

As some have said, yes, you can choose any entree. There are "enhancements" that are not part of the plan. But those should be clearly marked on the menu.

When we used the plan, yes, I liked it. When we used it, we saved money. But we aren't tiny and we like dessert.

We don't get it every time. There are some trips where it makes sense. When that happens, we get it.

Yes, it can be a convenience. But if you are using it like that, you will probably pay more than if you paid out of pocket. But of course, most times you purchase something out of convenience, you pay more. Think about cut veggies or shredded cheese. Those are convenient, but they are more expensive than their whole counterparts.

There have been stories about the ability to put cash on your magic band. It sounds like it is very much up to the cast member. Some will do it, some will claim it can't be done. But if you really don't want to have them hit your credit card, and you don't want to carry cash, you could put that cash on a gift card. Or, you could charge it to your band, then pay it every night at the front desk. Disney doesn't charge your card for each purchase, they do it in batches, once you have hit their limit. So if you pay off your charges each night, it won't hit your card.

 

[rocketriter]

And did you like being on the plan?...

We used the dining plan only once, some years ago. As sometimes happens in an "American Plan" resort, we ate ourselves silly and gained a bit of weight despite walking umpteen miles each day. And we spent more time sitting down in full-service restaurants than we might have otherwise. But the funniest result was unexpected: we accidentally taught our young children to like lobster tail, prime rib, filet mignon, and crab legs, so they tried to continue ordering expensive delicacies in restaurants after we returned home.

 

[Anal Annie]

We have never used the DDP so I'm no help with that but we also don't want the charges we accrue throughout our trip to hit our cc that we leave on file. I buy a Disney gift card every week with my groceries. Of late I have been getting the ones that don't have a pre-fixed amount (you can put anywhere from $15 to $500 on them). After I see what my grocery bill adds up to I put whatever remaining food budget I have left onto the card. Sometimes it's only $25 but could be $30, $35, $40 or $50 depending on how thrifty I was that week. I don't waste my time going down to the front desk every night to apply the cards. I keep track of our receipts & go down a night or two before our last day and apply them. It is often on our last night but sometimes I go mid-week too just to be sure I'm on top of our balance & that I haven't lost count of something. I find it's usually quieter down there if I go late (when the lobby isn't full of the mid-day check-in rush. I try really hard to bring enough gift cards to cover all of our expenses for the week - if we go too often tho sometimes I run a little short so I budget our Disney spending a little tighter.

 

[Jillpie]

Thanks everyone, most helpful!

 

[kniquy]

did you like being on the plan?

We did the dining plan (1TS, 1QS plan) on our last trip and it was nice not to have to worry about what we were spending on our meals and we could just order what we wanted. I think we might have ended up with a credit or two of snack left so we just grabbed a few things before we left. I didn't like having to keep track of credits -- it was actually confusing when we were in France at the pastry shop and all we wanted to get was a few snacks but i think we ended up using a QS credit and some snack credits - throwing us all off.

The down side is that it is much more food then we typically would eat - a fairly big lunch (QS) a large meal and dessert (TS), snacks every day. This is not how we typically eat, so our next trip we will likely still do just as many TS & QS meals, but we will probably order a couple appetizers and split a meal and not do dessert, so with this situation I feel we will have more flexibility and won't spend as much and with the AP or DVC discount we will probably make out better. As a comparison I am going to load the same amount of money onto a Disney gift card and use that for our "dining" plan.


I should add that it seems like the dining plan can be a benefit if you have Disney kids (under 9yo) and you are planning many character meals. From what others have noted - in this scenario the dining plan can be a little bit of a savings. I did a rough pricing of my family for our next trip 4 Disney adults and 1 kid. For the character meals we wanted and a selection of other TS and QS meals - there was maybe a $100-200 savings if we went with the dining plan. But if we go the root as noted above (more apps and splitting meals and DVC/AP discounts) we will likely ended up a little better.

The dining plan i don't think is really set up to save money but to give you the all inclusive feel. Even the mugs for us were probably not much of a savings due to the fact that we were in the parks more than at the resort and only got a few sodas and coffee. Despite that we love our mugs, use them almost every day so we would probably still get them for our next trip. It is one of those very useful souvenirs.

 

[disneynutz]

We look at the menus and compare the prices between the DDP, TIW, and OOP. OOP useally wins based on our length of stay and the number of people in our party.

Disney designed the DDP system so that people leave credits on the table or use TS credits for QS food or QS credits as a snack credit. The DDP makes Disney boat loads of money or they wouldn't offer it.

Bill

 

[Jillpie]

We did the dining plan (1TS, 1QS plan) on our last trip and it was nice not to have to worry about what we were spending on our meals and we could just order what we wanted. I think we might have ended up with a credit or two of snack left so we just grabbed a few things before we left. I didn't like having to keep track of credits -- it was actually confusing when we were in France at the pastry shop and all we wanted to get was a few snacks but i think we ended up using a QS credit and some snack credits - throwing us all off.

The down side is that it is much more food then we typically would eat - a fairly big lunch (QS) a large meal and dessert (TS), snacks every day. This is not how we typically eat, so our next trip we will likely still do just as many TS & QS meals, but we will probably order a couple appetizers and split a meal and not do dessert, so with this situation I feel we will have more flexibility and won't spend as much and with the AP or DVC discount we will probably make out better. As a comparison I am going to load the same amount of money onto a Disney gift card and use that for our "dining" plan.


I should add that it seems like the dining plan can be a benefit if you have Disney kids (under 9yo) and you are planning many character meals. From what others have noted - in this scenario the dining plan can be a little bit of a savings. I did a rough pricing of my family for our next trip 4 Disney adults and 1 kid. For the character meals we wanted and a selection of other TS and QS meals - there was maybe a $100-200 savings if we went with the dining plan. But if we go the root as noted above (more apps and splitting meals and DVC/AP discounts) we will likely ended up a little better.

The dining plan i don't think is really set up to save money but to give you the all inclusive feel. Even the mugs for us were probably not much of a savings due to the fact that we were in the parks more than at the resort and only got a few sodas and coffee. Despite that we love our mugs, use them almost every day so we would probably still get them for our next trip. It is one of those very useful souvenirs.

Very interesting, thanks. Its also a different way to look at it, with the disney gift card, I'm intrigued. So if you fill it up for meal intentions, before your trip, will they take that as payment at the restaurants?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Very interesting, thanks. Its also a different way to look at it, with the disney gift card, I'm intrigued. So if you fill it up for meal intentions, before your trip, will they take that as payment at the restaurants?

Yes, Disney gift cards can be used as payment at the restaurants.

 

[Dean]

Very interesting, thanks. Its also a different way to look at it, with the disney gift card, I'm intrigued. So if you fill it up for meal intentions, before your trip, will they take that as payment at the restaurants?

Some use the DP options simply because they're prepaid. IMO, unless the DP is at least break even or better, this is an extremely poor choice due to the risk and limitations. If one just needs it to be prepaid, gift cards are a great way to do so.

 

[DenLo]

And did you like being on the plan? We usually eat breakfast in our room (usually a studio, just me and DH), use a quick service dinner, but have table service as our lunch. I think it may make sense, just for convenience alone. Also, can I give the front desk cash up front and that would go toward tips at the restaurant, I just don't want the credit card to be hit for them?

The entire menu is not always available for free for the DDP. We ate at Boatrights in June and they had a special offer complete meal including dessert and appetizer and it had a note on it that if you were on the DDP you would have to pay extra to get this offer. Probably because some items were not included on the DDP.

 

[Dean]

The entire menu is not always available for free for the DDP. We ate at Boatrights in June and they had a special offer complete meal including dessert and appetizer and it had a note on it that if you were on the DDP you would have to pay extra to get this offer. Probably because some items were not included on the DDP.

The there are some exceptions usually where its for more than 1 or like this where it includes an appy not included on the basic plan though we've sometimes had the option, esp at artist point.

 

[Judique]

I used the dining plan a few times for week long vacations when they first offered it to DVC. After that I would get it for 1-2 days when I had a split stay.

On one trip, daughter was ill for a couple of days and didn't want to leave the room.

That can be a little problem when you have prepaid meals. Sure there is that stale looking room service menu at 2 credits a meal.

I was able to get food for her only by sitting down in the restaurant - there's no to go option - but they will wrap your leftovers.

After that I ditched the full week DP. Too much food for us and very easy to have credits remaining which takes away any value there might still be.