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View Full Version : Dining Plan or No Dining Plan



BugsGrama
01-25-2012, 11:59 PM
We are questioning whether we should buy any of the Dining Plans. We have previously gotten the premium DP. Way too much food. We are wondering if the regular DP or or the QS DP might be better. We are even toying with the idea of no plan at all. We will stay 7 nights and do a couple of shows, so the DPs value are being questioned. Any thoughts and/or suggestions.. :mickey:

mom2morgan
01-26-2012, 12:06 AM
I think the only way to REALLY know for sure is to look at the menus and plan out what you think you'll eat, and then compare prices. It's the long way, but the only reallly accurate one :-) For us, it is always a good deal.

brivers222
01-26-2012, 12:07 AM
it all depends on the places you will eat at.

I would suggest that you should look menu/prices for various places.

Then add them up and compare to the price that the dining plan would cost and that should give you an idea if you will save or not.

remember snacks are included in the plans so thats like $3.75 a credit ;)

wickedgin
01-26-2012, 01:04 AM
I think the only way to REALLY know for sure is to look at the menus and plan out what you think you'll eat, and then compare prices. It's the long way, but the only reallly accurate one :-) For us, it is always a good deal.
Agreed--I pre-plan our meals down to what we're likely to order and then compare the price to the cost of the DDP. DDP saved us a lot when we wanted to do character buffets every day, but it didn't save us any money when we went to regular old TS places where we were likely to split entrees.

btharvey
01-26-2012, 07:44 AM
We gave up the dining plans the last couple of trips ... we brought our own snacks, and ended up doing counter service for just about everything, which worked out great, as we didn't all get dessert or what have you.

The plans always made me feel like I had to make reservations, had to nail us down to a given place and time that we might not want to be. This way, we eat when we like, where we like, most times getting the meals we want (even table service) in little or no time.

For us, it just doesn't make sense. But for others who wish to have three squares and a snack and don't mind being tied to a time and location, it's great.

MississippiDisneyFreak
01-26-2012, 07:57 AM
I think its something each family should determine based on what's best for their needs. We love the convenience of having everything prepaid and not having to worry if we want the most expensive thing on the menu and whether we can afford it. We also find it does save us money. Sometimes it does seem like a lot of food with the desserts for both CS and TS but its nice to get it if you want it. If you are very light eaters it may not be the best deal for you.

sorcerer fan
01-26-2012, 09:14 AM
the only bad thing about the full dining plan is you have to plan your whole vacation around where you are going to eat for the day. you can just go to one park and then leave for another. meals dominate you whole schedule

PlutoPlanet
01-26-2012, 11:54 AM
We did the dining plan for a few years. Now, as long as we can get the Tables in Wonderland card, we are going with that instead of the dining plan.

We don't like each person getting a dessert with a table dinner. It is just too much.

disneynarula
01-26-2012, 12:05 PM
We usually do the dining plan but I don't think it saves money. We do it because I don't like to think about what each individual meal costs when I am on vacation. We only go out to eat once a month and every other month eating out is fast food. Going to Disney and eating out at a table service establishment is a huge treat for us.

Even though I know in the back of my head that we paid a lot for the dining plan I don't freak out when I see how much each dinner cost. I also know my husband would be less inclined to want to indulge in snacks every day if we were paying out of pocket.

The dining plan helps me enjoy my vacation more.

We sometimes opt not to get the dessert. That saves money on the bill total and that makes the gratuity less.

If I want the dessert but I am to full sometimes we will ask for it to go and enjoy it later.


I still think the kids dining plan is a good value and it kind of makes up for the fact that the adult dining plan costs so much. We have more kids than adults in our party so it works out for us.

cer
01-26-2012, 01:29 PM
the only bad thing about the full dining plan is you have to plan your whole vacation around where you are going to eat for the day. you can just go to one park and then leave for another. meals dominate you whole schedule

If you enjoy the parks often and are very familiar with them, meals become a part of the experience, not a dominate your schedule thing. I hear this as being one of the big arguments against the dining plans, but for us, it is an adventure to embrace the many varied restaurants the resorts have to offer. Of course for people who are new to Disney World, I would not recommend any dining plan greater than the Regular Dining, but on my last trip, we enjoyed the Deluxe Plan and we went places we had never been before. The dining was as much a part of the vacation as strolling in the parks and it helps experience the World in a whole new way.

cer
01-26-2012, 01:40 PM
For us, it just doesn't make sense. But for others who wish to have three squares and a snack and don't mind being tied to a time and location, it's great.

It really is a personal preference thing, but just because you get a Deluxe plan does not tie you to "three squares"...there are a lot of folks who use the Deluxe plan to take advantage of Signature Dining meals. So instead of eating 3 table service meals at 1 credit each, they may have a TS breakfast or early lunch (1 credit) and a signature dining dinner (2 credits). We had our first experience with signature dining at California Grill last trip. We will definitely be back and look forward to trying more signature dining restaurants. Oh yeah! :thumbsup:

KatrinaJ91
01-26-2012, 04:09 PM
We have used both the QS and DDP plans and loved them! It depends on the trip as to which we use. Normally when we go, we use the QS. You get 2 meals and a snack every day. PLus you get a refillable mug. We would use the mug when we ate at the hotel and pick up a milk or oj as well. We would save one of our snacks for morning and use the milk/oj and the snack for breakfast. Then we would have a QS lunch and dinner. It works out really well!

Someone mentioned that it is just really convenient to have everything paid for in advance. We agree! It's so nice to not have to worry about how much everyone is spending at each meal. Actually we try to order the most expensive thing on the menu!! lol

When we were there at Christmas, we did the regular DDP. We planned on a few TS meals and decided this would be a better deal for us. We liked it as well!

We pretty much have decided if we are going for more than a day or so, it is so worth using a dining plan.

Deciding on restaurants and checking out the menus ahead of time is part of the fun for us! :blush:

DANAM
01-27-2012, 12:01 AM
We have used the regular DDP on every trip. And honestly I don't think I would want to go without it. We like knowing everything is paid for and I normally make envelopes of cash for the tips. I have keep all my receipts from past trip and we have saved money BUT we normally pick places that I know I will get bang for my buck. Honestly, I don't see how you can lose money (unless you don't plan at all) but does it save you a ton? NO, not anymore. You pay way more for the DDP plan than you did 10 years ago and back then it was all inclusive. Long story short I agree with everyone else. Look at the menus and do the math and see if it would work out better for your family to get the plan then not.

MouseHouser
01-31-2012, 12:32 PM
I treasure flexibilty in a schedule. Who knows when you'll be hungry, or even when you'll feel like being in a particular place at a particular time. So I'm a bad candidate for DDP, right?

Truth is, we love it. We get excited just planning our meals, and Disney meals are almost always accompanied by great service and atmosphere. I look forward to each one.

Because we find dining at Disney to be fantastic, we embrace DDP and often book a full lineup. You can always build-in room for adjustments.

kcrc
01-31-2012, 01:08 PM
We have done trips boths ways.

When we don't have the dining plan, we do find the flexibility of no reservations is nice, but we also find we don't eat as well. We end up grabbing what is near because we suddenly realize we are starving! The good thing is we find ourselves trying some snacks or small meals we would not on the dining plan. We may also eat at places that are "less expensive" when we pay out of pocket (such as the Plaza or ESPN Zone). We wouldn't do them on the dining plan because we'd feel like we were not getting our money's worth.

For trips with the dining plan, we always map out our park plans long before we go, so we make our dining reservations accordingly. On the nights or mornings that are "open" with no definitive park picked, we just make sure we use a counter meal then, so we can eat wherever we end up.

I guess you'll just have to plan two vacations, so you can test out both ways and decide your favorite way!!! ;)

joonyer
01-31-2012, 01:30 PM
We don't purchase the DP anymore (we tried it a couple of times) because we are light enough eaters and budget conscious enough (we couldn't afford to go otherwise) that we spend a lot less on food if we don't buy the DDP. We usually eat breakfasts in our room with food brought from home (we drive to WDW) and take snacks in the parks with us. If The DDP is offered free when we are going, I'd consider if it was worth the package savings it might give us. But don't fool yourself into thinking that you are saving a ton of money either way (free or paying for it) when its offered free you'll pay more for your room. Disney makes a lot of money off the the DDPs, because most guests, like us, who buy it would not spend so much in food if they were paying OOP for each meal. That's why they offer it. It may be "worth it" to you for the convenience (it is) or because that it "forces" you to try restaurants your wouldn't visit otherwise (it does). But it was a better deal financially when appetizers and gratuities were included in the cost. Now, not so much. They cut those out and still raised the price.!

Bottom Line: you can "save" using the DDP, if you would have bought the exact same meals and snacks without using the DDP, that is you can spend less for the same meals using the DDP. But if you are like us, you have to compare the cost of the DDP, with what you actually would spend on food if you did not purchase the DDP. We spend less without the DDP, but your mileage may vary.

MstngDrvnDsnyLvr
01-31-2012, 01:31 PM
I love the DDP because once it is paid for, all I have to do is bring one envelope per day for cash tip. Also, we tend to order steak and salmon, typically the more expensive dishes on the menu. But honestly the convenience of the plan for us far outweighs the cost. A trip to Disney, for us, isn't a frequent vacation, so we choose to spend a bit more and use the dining plan.

But we also view the TS as part of the entire experience of that is the Wonderful World of Disney!