Dining Plan

[elmjimmlm]

I have read so much about the dining plan that I don't know what is what...I need experiences good and bad about this...any comment will help me decide if this is right for us or not...and if anyone can let me know if they feel their quality of service suffered with the discount dining plan or not...thanks

[Figment!]

Have you tried the INTERCOT Disney Dining Plan Estimator Spreadsheet ?

[Mnchknbrat1982]

another thing to consider before getting the dining plan is whether you want a counter service, table service, and snack each day. Also at the table service would each of you eat a appetizer, entree, and desert. Some times it is cheaper to pay out of pocket. It kinda depends on how many is going and what you plan on spending for meals.

[Katiebell]

There are a lot of things to consider:

How much does your family eat? The DDP is a lot of food, and that alone may be worth it for some families, especially with teenagers. If you are typically light eaters, the DDP may be a waste.

Does your family prefer to share, especially appetizers and large entrees? And does everyone have similar tastes? If one person loves seafood, another loves steak, one kid is super picky, and another is a vegetarian...sharing probably won't be all that successful. If everyone likes the same thing, it can work beautifully.

Do you have a fridge in your room, or are you willing to keep a cooler for snacks and breakfast foods? And are you willing to serve and clean up breakfast every morning (even just bowls of cold cereal or muffins and juice)?

Does your family normally eat only CS on vacation, and is constantly on the go at the parks? If you don't like to sit down for a TS meal every day, the DDP is a waste.

Do you intend to go to buffets and/or character meals? No matter how much or how little your family members eat, every buffet or CM is the exact same price for each person 10 and over. The cost of one buffet per day can be almost worth the price of the plan.

When you do order TS, do you typically order the cheapest menu items, even if it's not what you really want? If you would rather order whatever you like without worrying about the cost, then the DDP may be good for you.

Do you want to go offsite for food? Do you have a car, are you familiar with Orlando, will you be going to other places like Sea World or Universal?

Is "theme dining" an important part of your vacation experience? For many guests, the character meals and "theme restaurants" of Disney dining are part of the "entertainment" budget on their vacation.

[Goofy1060]

We did the dining plan last trip & yes, we saved a bunch of money over what the food bill would have been had we paid out of pocket, but it cost us probably 20% - 40% more that we normally would have spent overall dining for the week (we camp at Ft. Wilderness and I like grilling back at the campground). The problem was that it seemed like we spent the week going from one place to eat to the next, and since we had to have ADR's for the TS dinners we chose, it put much more structure to the trip than I liked. I can see where it would be a great plan for most, it just wasn't the best choice for us.