Worth getting dining plan or not?

[PrincessSylvia]

My fiance and I love to eat but for the most part, we're pretty spontaneous. The day after arriving to WDW for our honeymoon, we'd like to have a nice sit down dinner but for the most part would just eat as we go. So Im wondering if the dining plan would be worth getting?

 

[bellamama]

 

[PrincessSylvia]

ok...what am I missing cause youre killing me here with that popcorn....

 

[TDC Nala]

Depends. Are you willing to give up the spontenaety so you can possibly get a discount?

 

[PrincessSylvia]

Depends. Are you willing to give up the spontenaety so you can possibly get a discount?

At the moment, I do know I want to do at least one character meal *possibly lunch* and then the one sit down dinner....the rest of the time we'd just be eating as we go. See how confused I am?

 

[havoc315]

How long is your trip?
If you only want to do 2 table service meals over a week, then the regular dining plan would make absolutely no sense.

If you want to primarily eat counter service meals, you *could* use the QSDP, but the QSDP is not a significant money-saver. In fact, it's a loser for many people. It costs $35 per night, for 2 CS meals per night, plus 1 snack. Though there is a tiny handful of more expensive exceptions, most CS meals are $10-$17, which can make it hard to even break even on the QSDP.
($10 breakfast and a $17 dinner, plus a $4 snack--- And you have lost $4 for the day; $15 lunch and $15 dinner, $4 snack, and you still have lost $1 for the day).

 

[LJSquishy]

If your only sit down meals are a character meal plus one other, you will either want to pay entirely out of pocket, or you will want to consider the QSDP and paying OOP for your two sit-down meals.

Do you like to eat 3 full meals a day? Meaning, a real breakfast vs just grabbing a muffin, plus lunch and dinner? If you got the QSDP you could still be spontaneous since CS meals don't require reservations. Any TS meal plans will need to be made way in advance with reservations. My husband and I will have the DDP when we go in Feb and I planned all of our TS meals for dinner so we can still have our freedom during the day. We are content with quick grab-and-go breakfasts so we will be using some of our snack credits for breakfast.

Ultimately, the best way to determine if any of the dining plans are right for you is to go through the menus that you think you might possibly eat at and add up the cost of items you would potentially order for your entire trip...then compare that total with the price of the dining plans. Remember to add tax to your meals when paying OOP. The dining plans include tax already in the price.

The DDP should work great for my husband and I as it will allow us to splurge on items we might not normally spend the money on, and all of those tasty desserts are calling my name! But, we are getting free dining...if I had to pay for the DDP I would be better off paying OOP per meal (since we would just stay with our normal eating habits of not ordering dessert, etc).

 

[sharonabe]

The saving/not saving money doesn't really seem to be your concern. What would be difficult for you is your desire to just "eat as you go." With the regular DDP (1 sit down, 1 counter service, 1 snack per day), you will have to make reservations for your sit-downs and then be where those are at that time. That will definitely mess up the "eat as you go."

However, even without the DDP, if you desire to eat at sit-downs, you will need ADRs. A table for two can be had as a walk-up at some restaurants, but not always.

So, before you can decide about the DDP, you need decide if you want to eat at TS or CS for most of your trip.

 

[Dreamer2012]

We will be there for the Princess 1/2 - arriving Thursday 2/23 evening will grab on the go dinner - Friday 2/24 attending the expo and the Pasta in the Park dinner - Sat - a park and either nice late lunch or very early dinner to get ready for the race on Sunday - Sunday race day! Hopefully celebratory dinner @ either LeCellier or Yaghtsman Steak houses! Monday would like to do Chef Mickeys breakfast - and play by ear (or should I say sore muscles!) - another nice restaurant dinner might be nice (Italian? Suggestions?) And we have all day on Tuesday before catching our plan around 8pm. Would the dining plan make sense for just her and I (NO kids/No husbands!) or just paying oop as we go? I am not sure I am understanding the whole way it works with some restaurants using different credits? We dont mind the grab and go style for breakfast and lunch most days, but would enjoy some finer dinners along the way....Right now we are staying at the POP and have made a room only reservation since we booked our flights on our own - not sure if that makes a difference....thanks for your help

 

[sharonabe]

We will be there for the Princess 1/2 - arriving Thursday 2/23 evening will grab on the go dinner - Friday 2/24 attending the expo and the Pasta in the Park dinner - Sat - a park and either nice late lunch or very early dinner to get ready for the race on Sunday - Sunday race day! Hopefully celebratory dinner @ either LeCellier or Yaghtsman Steak houses! Monday would like to do Chef Mickeys breakfast - and play by ear (or should I say sore muscles!) - another nice restaurant dinner might be nice (Italian? Suggestions?) And we have all day on Tuesday before catching our plan around 8pm. Would the dining plan make sense for just her and I (NO kids/No husbands!) or just paying oop as we go? I am not sure I am understanding the whole way it works with some restaurants using different credits? We dont mind the grab and go style for breakfast and lunch most days, but would enjoy some finer dinners along the way....Right now we are staying at the POP and have made a room only reservation since we booked our flights on our own - not sure if that makes a difference....thanks for your help

First things first. You would need to change your room only reservation to a package reservation that includes park tickets to even consider getting the DDP. If you already have your park tickets, then you can't add it on to a room only reservation.

Assuming you can still add it on, you would have 5 TS Credits, 5 QS Credits and 5 Snack Credits each.

Your celebratory dinner and Chef Mickey will take 3 TS total. That leaves you with 2 TS to use on your other days for either 2 separate meals or 1 signature dining 2 TS credit meal.

You would also have your 5 QS credits to use for lunches and dinners at a quick or counter service restaurant. And your 5 snack credits.

 

[Dreamer2012]

We already have park tickets leftover from a previous visit, so I guess we are out of luck as far as a dining plan - we will just pay oop for our meals and pare it down to just a few "splurges" - thanks for the advice! I will have to get busy online checking out some of the prices for the places we want to eat....and then start saveing!!
Also does anyone know if the tix we have leftover from our honeymoon 32 years ago would still be good? It was back when they were books that had coupons to each land...........

 

[alfwhoa]

I totally think it's worth it if your wanting to eat at a nicer establishment rather than going the cheaper quick service route your entire trip. The food tends to be really good, and filling so the basic dining plan worked out great for us.

 

[sharonabe]

We already have park tickets leftover from a previous visit, so I guess we are out of luck as far as a dining plan - we will just pay oop for our meals and pare it down to just a few "splurges" - thanks for the advice! I will have to get busy online checking out some of the prices for the places we want to eat....and then start saveing!!
Also does anyone know if the tix we have leftover from our honeymoon 32 years ago would still be good? It was back when they were books that had coupons to each land...........

Your 32 yr old tickets would probably have greater value over on ebay!

Seriously, I'd post that question over on the theme park board. Cheshire may have an answer for you.

 

[angieoatman]

Is the dinning plan a good idea if you have 2 adults and 2 small children?? I am thinking that it would be cheaper to only buy what we needed and not what we have included in the dinning plan.

 

[sharonabe]

Is the dinning plan a good idea if you have 2 adults and 2 small children?? I am thinking that it would be cheaper to only buy what we needed and not what we have included in the dinning plan.

It depends on what you want to eat and where and how old your children are.

If you think you'll do at least one sit-down meal every day or more than two character meals, then you might be better off with the DDP.

However, as you said, you will need to eat the way the plan dictates (dessert and drink at every meal) to try to be sure you get the monetary value out of it.

 

[angieoatman]

It depends on what you want to eat and where and how old your children are.

If you think you'll do at least one sit-down meal every day or more than two character meals, then you might be better off with the DDP.

However, as you said, you will need to eat the way the plan dictates (dessert and drink at every meal) to try to be sure you get the monetary value out of it.

Thanks for the information!

 

[amylock]

My fiance and I are like you - spontaneous. We have done the QSDP twice and LOVED it. We saved a lot of money with it - and we had the peace of mind knowing that we weren't spending money on food while there. We also had the DxDP for one night. Also saved a ton (close to 50%). However, we both agreed that we are not up for "scheduled meals" every day. We may do it for our wedding/honeymoon in May, but that is purely for convenience.

We are debating the QSDP in 2012. I don't think it is worth it anymore. That may be because I don't like my options taken away (1 snack credit per night). I just don't know that I would order soda and dessert at every QS meal - I carry water into the parks and the portions are so large that I can rarely take more than 2 bites of dessert. So I am not sure that I am going to do it again, but my fiance LOVES dessert. LOL! I am also not too thrilled that it looks like many restaurants are not on the plan anymore.

Just my $.02....

 

[DisneyDee27]

I am also not too thrilled that it looks like many restaurants are not on the plan anymore.

Just my $.02....[/QUOTE]

Which restaurants are no longer on there?
Dee

 

[sharonabe]

My fiance and I are like you - spontaneous. We have done the QSDP twice and LOVED it. We saved a lot of money with it - and we had the peace of mind knowing that we weren't spending money on food while there. We also had the DxDP for one night. Also saved a ton (close to 50%). However, we both agreed that we are not up for "scheduled meals" every day. We may do it for our wedding/honeymoon in May, but that is purely for convenience.

We are debating the QSDP in 2012. I don't think it is worth it anymore. That may be because I don't like my options taken away (1 snack credit per night). I just don't know that I would order soda and dessert at every QS meal - I carry water into the parks and the portions are so large that I can rarely take more than 2 bites of dessert. So I am not sure that I am going to do it again, but my fiance LOVES dessert. LOL! I am also not too thrilled that it looks like many restaurants are not on the plan anymore.

Just my $.02....

The restaurant list for 2012 is NOT complete yet. They usually don't get all the contracts signed until close to the end of the year. Look for the completed list some time in December, but don't expect it to change much from this year's list.