We didn't do the dining plan and here's the result...

[3Minnies1Mickey]

There are 3 of us and we are not very big eaters. So I'm not sure if the dining plan would be for us. Our next vacation comes with a free quick service plan. What do you get for that?? Also any thoughts on the dining plan overall??

QS includes 2 CS meals(entree, dessert & drink), 2 snacks, and a refillable resort mug per person per night.

Are you wanting to do some TS restaurants? Are you 2 adults and a child? If you aren't big eaters then it may be cheaper to just pay OOP for any TS meals. Check the menus on allears.net to see what you'd like to eat.

This was an easy decision for our 2011 trip since we have 2 adults and 3 kids plus an "infant". Kids in 2011 don't cost more to upgrade to the regular plan, so it cost us $308 to upgrade me and DH for 14 nights!! At an average of $90 per TS restaurant bill for the 6 of us, we couldn't resist.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I am still on the fence about the ddp. I LOVED it back when app and tip were included. I would even be happy w/ choice of app OR dessert like OP mentioned even if tip wasn't included.
This time we are probably going to try the QSDP and pay OOP for our 3 TS meals. I broke down the prices and it comes out the same as OOP would and we get extra CS meals and snacks that will feed DS2. I will re-evaluate again next year when I have to pay for his DDP.

 

[JenSop]

Yes - the DDP works for some and not others!

We ALWAYS get the DDP. But for us, part of the fun of the trip is the dining! We don't eat out a lot at home, so on vacation, it's a big part of the experience.

We often combine credits and eat at the Signatures, so the DDP saves us a great deal of money that way.

Besides, I AM the kind of person who would carefully disect every menu item and find the cheapest if I was paying OOP. On the DDP, I can order whatever the heck I want!

And we tend to like the restaurants that AREN'T standard American fare. Our faves are Jiko, Sanaa, Boma, Kouzzina, California Grill, Chefs de France. OOP really is'nt a good option for us.

We save money on the DDP. Some don't. Plain and simple! Choose what works for you!

 

[LindaBabe]

We traveled with a family who was on free dining, so we opted to buy the regular dining plan. It worked out pretty well except - since i'm on a carb restricted diabetic diet, I ended up spending quite a bit out of pocket on salad appetizers, and my desserts were mostly wasted.

Also, vegetables seem to be pretty limited on TS menus except buffets. Often they come as "extra charge" sides, rather than included with the entree.

 

[smalfitano]

QS includes 2 CS meals(entree, dessert & drink), 2 snacks, and a refillable resort mug per person per night.

Are you wanting to do some TS restaurants? Are you 2 adults and a child? If you aren't big eaters then it may be cheaper to just pay OOP for any TS meals. Check the menus on allears.net to see what you'd like to eat.

This was an easy decision for our 2011 trip since we have 2 adults and 3 kids plus an "infant". Kids in 2011 don't cost more to upgrade to the regular plan, so it cost us $308 to upgrade me and DH for 14 nights!! At an average of $90 per TS restaurant bill for the 6 of us, we couldn't resist.

There are 2 adults and my son who is 11yrs. We normally do 2 Character meals and maybe a couple of TS meals too. Our Disney package comes with a free QS plan so we still get to try it out. I'll have to do the math to see if it's worth it for my family. Thanks!!

 

[ccgirl]

There are 2 adults and my son who is 11yrs. We normally do 2 Character meals and maybe a couple of TS meals too. Our Disney package comes with a free QS plan so we still get to try it out. I'll have to do the math to see if it's worth it for my family. Thanks!!

Keep in mind that in Disney pricing your son is considered a junior adult so you would be paying the Adult price and he can eat from the adult menu so it should be plenty of food. We are staying at ASMo during free dining. It was supposed to be quick service as we were just going to do counter service places. Plus, two snacks are a huge plus for us. Considering one snack is a huge coffee roll, fruit cup etc so could be substituted for a meal. The refillable mugs are normally $12 each so that was a great bonus too. However, when we made ADR's we ended up having 1 TS meal each day so it was cheaper to upgrade to the standard DP (1TS/1QS/1Snack) rather than paying for the TS OOP each day. Plus, my son is still under 3 so he is free at the buffets. So, we upgraded for $10 a night per adult and I think it was $3 a night to upgrade my daughter. Well worth it since the TS bill would be over $100 each. Good luck with your decision.

 

[catne]

good for you finding a food plan that works. That's what we like about having the dining plans as an option...if you're not into the dining experiences then cash probably is your best bet. We've done the regular plan & the deluxe plan and have always come out way ahead, money wise. But we like the sit-down restaurants for dinner. We rarely eat restaurants breakfasts and do very few buffets (both of which are not good values on dining plan credits.) On our last trip (September 2010) we paid $287.96 for the deluxe dining plan and our cash receipts for what was covered by the dining plan was $470.03. So yes, it was far less expensive to buy the deluxe dining plan. We do not purposely maximise our use of credits...but we tend to like the higher-end entrees (love steak!) and we want apps & desserts. Everytime we go, I check the menus & add up what I think our bill will be at the places we want to eat. So far, it's always less expensive to choose a dining plan...and I save receipts & do the math to check my estimates later. So for some of us, the dining plans are wonderful value...just depends on how & where you want to eat on vacation.

 

[canoe86]

I really like the fact I can pay in advance. When I get there, I don't worry about price, I get what I want.

Is it a good value? Don't know, don't really care. It doesn't seem to be a bad value, so if I lose a bit of money, it doesn't seem like it would be a lot, but I enjoy the trip more with it.

 

[2Tiggies]

I will add up our totals from our trip with the QSDP and a few OOP TS meals and see how we came out. I didn't bother to add it up last year and as with some of the previous posters, I don't want to be constantly price checking so we will probably do it again. Incredibly, we managed to use our CS credits this trip although we did cancel 2 TS ressies and I knew that from day one the only way to spend our credits (we also share quite a lot) was to make sure we got a breakfast to share each morning. Even a kids breakfast of pancakes plus a fruit bowl as a snack is plenty for us and it was better than leaving unused credits lying on the table again. Had we not done this, we would have come back with a lot of unused CS credits though and because we used our meals, we had a ton of snacks to get rid of, but these are easier to spend on take home items than CS meals. I learnt from last time.

 

[eliza61]

The only time the ddp was advantageous for us was when tips were included. we always come out better just oop especially since we have a TIW card.

 

[beatlesblonde]

I'm with some of the other posters, it all comes down to your family and your eating style. For our upcoming trip we're using the DDP like we did last year. DH is a big food lover so knowing that our food is paid for in advance and he can order whatever he wants is big plus. We don't care about appetizers or salads as they fill me up and I'd rather save room for dessert. As far as scheduling around our ADRs, we pick our park days first then book our ADRs, even with free dining filling up availability, we can always find something we like or are willing to try. That's the great thing about Disney, no two vacations are exactly alike yet we all have a great time!