To do the dining plan or to not do the dining plan?

[mamamarie]

About to book my trip for Presidents' Week in February. I can't decide if we should get the discounted dining plan or not. We know we want to do some table service meals/ character meals. We are staying at a value resort but if DON'T get the dining plan can probably stay an extra day. (7 days rather than 6 days) I am not sure if it is worth to do a dining plan although it sounds like a great idea. We do not get park-hopper so where ever we make reservations will have to be the park we go to that day. Any thoughts, experiences, etc that will help me make my decision?

[Chaos]

We love the dining plan. DH and I got it on our honeymoon in 2007 and it was wonderful.

Even though there have been some changes since 2007 we are still getting it for our upcoming trip. We loved not having to worry about paying for our food because it was all prepaid.

[Butters]

If its between DDP and an extra day, I would always choose the extra day.

As far as the dining plan I've tried tons of calculations if its worth it or not, I finally realized its almost a break even for us so I get it just so I don't have to worry about food costs... Strictly a convenience for us!

[Strmchsr]

We save money without the DDP, even eating a TS every day, simply because we don't eat the amount of food that comes with it. We don't like desserts, we can share meals, etc. So it really depends on your eating habits as to whether the DDP is worth it. Some folks save money with it, some folks, like my family, save without it. Talk to Magical Journeys about the room-only discounts, too, and you can see which would save you the most.

[mamamarie]

Here are the totals with just room discount/ dining plan/ etc.

6 days at POP w/ table service= $2646

6 days at POP w/ quick service= $2368 ($300 less but we will want to do at least 2 character meals and probably 1 or 2 other table service so we will do that on top of paying for dining plan)

6 days at POP w/ no dining plan and room discount will be $1938. (this would give us about $700 to use on food if we do this compared to the table service plan)

Do you think that a family of 4 (kids are 5 and 9) would use $700 for food with 2 character meals and probably 2 or 3 other table service meals!?)

Need advice.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I'm a DDP fan. We save a bit of money with it, and I love not having "pay" as we go.

If you're planning on eating a TS meal each day of the trip (and you're getting close to that with your plans), especially if they are buffets or all-you-can-eat meals, I'd get the plan. The daily costs for the kids is low, and you'd get your money's worth with them, and then you don't have to worry about it.

Once your kids become Disney adults, then it would most likely be not cost effective.

[1DisneyNut]

We have done the dining plan one time when we got it free with one of the free dining promos. We didn't care for it much at all. The main thing we disliked was having to make reservations for our dinners months in advance and then having to worry about making them each day and planning around them. After the second day we cancelled our remaining table service reservations and just winged it the rest of the week. We would walk up to a restaurant when we were ready to eat and if they could get us in within 30 minutes, great if not we moved on. We ended up eating counter service instead of table service a few days because we didn't want to waste time on table service.

In my opinion, most of the restaurants at WDW are mediocre. We now go off site to nice restaurants a couple times during our vacation and on our last vacation we actually stayed at an off site hotel on International Blvd. where we could walk to restaurants. It was one of our best trips.

Keep in mind that some of the character meals require 2 table service credits so you may end up having to pay out of pocket for dinner a couple of nights anyway if you select any of those for your character meals. I personally would never pay for the dining plan. We have never spent close to what it would have cost us to buy the dining plan on our dining. With a discount you may break even but without it, no way.

[PlutoPlanet]

We tried the Dining Plan, but don't do it anymore. We end up eating more dessert than we should. We like to have a Table Service dinner, but we don't need a dessert for each person.

Would a Tables in Wonderland card work for you? With an annual pass or DVC membership you could do that.

[Gator]

Do you think that a family of 4 (kids are 5 and 9) would use $700 for food with 2 character meals and probably 2 or 3 other table service meals!?)

Need advice.

Without a doubt, you'd spend that much. My first trip 10 years ago, my wife and I spent over $700 in food on a 8 day trip. 10 years ago mind you.

We love the dining plan. It means we get to eat someplace nice everyday, and it saves us money everytime. We started using it in 2006, and I can't see us doing a trip without it. At least until the kids are adult age.

[EJS-Houston]

Another idea if you like the idea of prepaying everything about your vacation but don't necessarily want to do the Dining Plan: buy Disney Gift Cards and use them for all your dining. You can find them at any gift card kiosk at grocery stores or any of the big pharmacies like Walgreen's. It's also a pretty decent way to impose food spending limits on yourself. I have a $50 Disney Gift Card for each day I'm there.