Dining Plan - Is it worth it ?

[MissT]

We just booked the 4/3 deal vacation package but are leaving in 3 weeks. I was unsure about dining and thought I would post this to your expert advice Do you think it is worth it to purchase? We will have a rental car so eating off site is possible. Do you see any draw backs for buying the plan? & might it be too late to make all ADR's? Thanks for any help.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

That's a loaded question, because depending on who you ask you are going to get a wide range of opinions...for us, we love the convenience and it does save us money....at this point I would say don't count on getting extremely popular restaurants ex. LeCellier, but you will have places to eat if you are flexible with your times....if you are a light eater and tend to order sandwiches or burgers even at TS restaurants you may choose to not have the plan or go with the CS plan. Why don't you look over the menus in the info central section to see if its likely to work for you

[yourmagicalguide]

My husband and I booked our WDW trip last week, and we went around and around with the pluses and minuses of the dining plan. We even went to the library and checked out as many 2009 WDW guides as we could to read the authors' thoughts on the dining plan.

For you (and anyone else considering it), the decision is really going to depend on what types of food you would like to purchase. For example, if you intend on living off of quick service for the length of your stay, the quick service dining option would most likely work well for you. If, however, you want at least one table service a day or are planing on leaving the park to eat your lunches or dinners (as mentioned), you should consider your options carefully.

After creating a 3-day mock menu of places we would like to eat at (including breakfast and snacks), what we would probably order, and how much everything cost, my husband and I decided it was best to go without the dining plan. We were typically spending under our alotted amount, and when you added in tips and meals/snacks that wouldn't be covered by the dining plan (breakfast is not included in the plan unless you upgrade to deluxe), it just was less expensive to do it on our own.

If you are REALLY wanting to eat at particular table service restaurants (on the dining plan or not), I would highly recommend making reservations very soon to ensure a table for you and your family

[Luv Eeyore]

Looking over the menus is a great idea. It does take a little work (math is not my favorite), but we looked at the menus, picked the places we'd like to eat at and what we would order and did the math. For us, the DDP doesn't work well, but I believe it does work for a lot of people.

[disneyfan328]

I think a lot of it depends on how many are in your party and what your interests are in eating. We had the dining plan for our trip last september (2007) and that was when the appetizer and tip was included. While we loved being able to eat at some places we would normally not have eaten at it used up a lot of time doing one TS per day. We are headed back to the world in April and decided this time to go with the QSP. We looked over the menus and what we would likley order and what we came up with was that for the kids - with 2 CS meal, 2 snacks per day we would definetly be saving money for me and DH we will save a few dollars or break even most days (that is my initial findings). For us we went ahead and booked the CS plan and I am going to keep track just for the heck of it to see how much we would have spent out of pocket. My thoughts are more that it is the convenience of paying for it ahead of time and having it be one less thing to worry about having funds for. When the kids want a snack I will be much less likely to say no since we get 2 per day per person. Also we get the refillable mug and since we are staying in a preferred building we will got lots of use out of those cups. For us I think it will be worth it but I will have to post the actualy findings when we get back in May.

[btharvey]

And, yes, you'll get a lot of opinions! We've done the dining plan for years, and while it does save money overall, we've found that when we have to plan around the sit-down reservations, we get tied up and not really able to be flexible in what we want to do at any given time.

So this time, we're just going to use our Disney Visa dollars to pay for food, make only one reservation (for DD's birthday), and catch as catch can for the rest.

For us, it did save money but the reservations tied us down to times and places we might not want to stay in. For others on different schedules, it might be fantastic!

Depends.

[Figment!]

You can also use the INTERCOT Disney Dining Plan Estimator to help in making a decision.

[katzctkpt]

We have not ever done the ddp until this upcoming trip we decided to give it a try. Before, the cost and the food we ate was way under the ddp cost but, as our children have grown and we don't do a lot of plate sharing anymore we went for the ddp. So, as of now I don't have any comparison. Before we decided to do the ddp we looked at the restaurants and menus and figured what we were gonna eat and cost and that made the decision for us.
Best of luck and hopefully with the time frame your going you'll be able to get the reservations you want. Oh, and you have to try the Yak and Yeti at AK it is really good.

[LarryBoy]

For us the DDP was a natural fit. We have always loved the WDW restaurants and almost always ate a sit-down dinner every night. We have not been since they took away appetizers and tip, but I still think it's worth it for us. We are going to use it again on our upcoming trip. I especially like paying for everything ahead of time, and being able to order anything I want off the menu without worrying about price.

[wire0monkey]

breakfast is not included in the plan unless you upgrade to deluxe

The Dining Plan can be used for breakfast. Most people don't use their Dining Plan credits for because breakfast is cheaper than lunch or dinner, so it's the best meal to pay for out of pocket if you have to pay cash.

For this trip, we ran through the variety of dining options for our trip in May 2009 and the best option for us was to go with the quick service dining plan. We'll pay out of pocket for our breakfasts (Boma, Cape May Cafe, Chef Mickey's, Kona Cafe), and use the quick service dining credits to eat in the parks. We also have one adults-only TS meal planned and one family TS meal planned that we'll pay for out of pocket.

[yourmagicalguide]

The Dining Plan can be used for breakfast. Most people don't use their Dining Plan credits for because breakfast is cheaper than lunch or dinner, so it's the best meal to pay for out of pocket if you have to pay cash.

Sorry for not clarifying. I meant that the two dining choices that fall below the deluxe package do not include all three meals for the day - so I inheritantly thought breakfast was excluded. Sorry for the confusion and thanks for the clarification

[paragon]

DW and I used it for the first time this past September. I used the calculator to see what would work for us.
We used every credit, except one counter meal. What we did get out of it was that we actually ate better meals than we would have eaten without it. No fried chicken strips or burgers!
We ate at Cape May, Yahchtsman grill?, Cindy's table, and several other places that we wouldnt have gone if we were paying out of pocket right then. So ultimatley, the savings on the better meals was worth it for us.

[CU Tiger]

If you add up what you would have spent on what you ordered, it probably would be worth it. But, I order more on the plan than I would if I was paying out of my own pocket. We like it because it is a fixed expense that you can plan for.

[JavaDuck]

Before our trip this past August, I debated about being on the dining plan. We finally went with the dining plan mainly because it meant our meals were paid for in advance.

After our trip, I figured out what we would have spent out of pocket and what we actually paid for the plan. We did save money there. Of course, if I was paying out of pocket I would not order dessert with each QS lunch I had. With dinner, I would not have ordered a dessert every time as well. I can't imagine being on the plan with the appetizer, that would have been way to much food. The other added bonus, was being able to order anything from the menu without worrying about the price for a change.

Overall, I think the plan is more about convenience and having your meals paid for in advance than saving money.

Like other posters, you may have to give the plan a try yourself so you can find out if it works for you.

[tannermansmom]

On our last trip we had the Deluxe DP. This year we have just the basic plan since I now have to pay for a 3 year old. We will probably not eat at as many TS restaurants next trip simply because we will not have a many credits. We did get our money's worth because we ate a TS breakfast most mornings as well as a TS meal every evening. I am just going to pay out of pocket for some of our TS meals this trip b/c it will be cheaper for us. This might be an option for you to consider. Good luck!

[hardingella]

For us, 2 adults, 2 kids DDP was great. The best part for us was having TS meals and choosing what we wanted off the menu, instead of looking at the prices first. We could order chicken or lobster, it didnt matter.
One thing I would say is research as much as possible, it will save you time when you are there, and allow you to get the most out of it.

[Ksmith75]

My husband and I do the dining plan. We love that it is paid ahead of our vacation, and we have no problems getting the restaurants we like. We are going this year to the Crystal Palace, Le Cellier, Biergarten, Yatchmans Steakhouse, the Whiskpering Canyon and a few others. I like the quick service meals for lunch (even though it is alot of food). The dining plan is a savings - last year our dinners were at least $68.00 - $140.00 a night - so it was like getting lunch and more for free. You just have to use it right....