Dining Plan

[nicolet]

We are trying to figure out if we should purchase the dining plan or not.
We have 2 adults and 1 child age 4 in our group.

Can you tell me how much you saved using the plan?

Did you have any negatives experiences?

Thanks,
nicolet

 

[indigoxtreme]

We have used it two times now. Once for free and the last in Feb we paid. It is well worth the cost, if you want to be relaxed and not worry about how much the meals are etc. Everyone can get what they want even the kids. Myd dgd age 4 had plenty to eat and some time for counter service I would order 1 adult meal and get her meal, then my MIL and I and DGD would share the two counter meals. We always had plenty and this gave us extra counter meals to eat for breakfast a few times. We always ordered the child meal for her and never used her credit for an adult credit.

 

[monymony3471]

The first time we used it I felt we saved about 700. I saved all of our receipts. When we got home I totaled all the food bills and what we would of been charged for the food had we been paying the difference came to about $700.00. Also figure in we picked entrees that we probably wouldn't have if we were actually paying. Plus you do get a lot of food at the sit downs and counter service. More food than what I would have bought if I was paying at that point.

I'm sold on the dining plan. Totally.

 

[lholt70]

We are going during the free dining in August, and this will be the first time using it. It will obviously save us money this trip, however I don't think it would save my family any money if we were to buy it, if we followed our normal dining patterns.

We normally eat at counter service mostly, and throw in a couple of character meals each trip. The reason more often than not is because we were trying to do everything in the parks and the counter service was faster.

If you like to sit down and enjoy a table service meal every day, then you will probably save some money.

Go over to allearsnet.com. They have menus with prices from most of the resaurants. You will be able to do the math yourself.

 

[bicker]

Actually, there's a bit of work involved in doing the math. I've done it a few times (just for fun?) and almost every scenario comes up a winner. The only folks who seem to have difficulty at least breaking even with the plan are folks who plan to do only Signature restaurant meals, folks who will not eat at least one table service meal each day, and folks with two 10 year old children, who are too picky to order off the regular menu. With younger children, it is still a winner for everyone, as far as I could tell.

 

[jpmom]

We had the DP for our recent trip (just returned) but then cancelled it at the last minute. I thought it may be too much food for us given that the forcast was for hot weather. (Don't like to eat much when it's very hot....)

That being said, I wish I had kept it. We still went to nice, sit-down restaurants at night and spent about $750 on all our food (not counting our cocktails)

The dining plan would have saved us about $300 -- and we would have gotten even more food -- as we don't normally do all those snacks per day.

Next time, I think I will do the DP

 

[bicker]

Yup: Keep in mind that there is no requirement that you eat everything you're entitled to.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Given that it will cost you $87/night to feed the family, I think that it will be a good value for you. It's especially good if you plan to do any character meals, where the cost of one character buffet will run you $60+ before taxes and tip if you pay OOP. You can check out menus at WDW at these webpages:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm#disneydining
and
http://allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm

 

[patsal]

In December we saved about 40%. If you are planning on a TS per day and eat a CS in the parks when you are there it is easy to better than break even. Even if you are not using all the food that you are allowed. At $37.99 per adult including tax and tip basically if you spend at least $25.00 pp adult for TS per day and about $10 for CS before you get to the snack you willhave broke even.

 

[lholt70]

The math for me was simple. My family of 5 spends about $40-$45 for each counter service meal we have. So if we have 3 counter service meals per day that is $135. The DDP would cost me $190 per day. So the DDP plan would cost me $55 more per day.

Now, that being said. The DDP is a far better value when you figure in TS meals. One TS dinner for my family w/ tax and tip would run anywhere from $140-$190. So if you throw on another $45 for a CS meal and $20 for a snack, the DDP plan would save me $65 a night.

People also talk about how much food you get with the DDP. This is true, you get a ton. But personally, I'm not going to make myself sick eating just because it is included with the DDP. If your family has a lot of big eaters or you like to sit an enjoy a TS meal everyday, The DDP is by far the best way to go.

 

[LUVMICKEY]

I called today to get the DDP put on our ressie for December. We said we were not going to do it at first, but then changed our mind after we went over all the ADR's we have made. We know that we'll save quite a bit of money by being on the plan for that trip. We also have the DDE card to suppliment the breakfasts we have booked. We want to use our TS for dinner. I think things will work out great.

Michele

 

[mherb]

We got the dining plan for our trip last week. Money wise it was worth it. We each saved about $50.00 however, if you aren't into eating huge meals I wouldn't do it. I actually am thinking about not doing it next time we go. I tried to eat as healthy as possible, walked miles and still gained 5 pounds. I normally never eat dessert with lunch or dinner and with the plan you get one with each. When I deleted all the desserts, I still ended up saving about $15.00. It is nice to know you have the dessert option if you are hungry and that you can get an expensive entree if you want it. In my opinion they should get rid of the lunch dessert and add an extra snack for the day or get ride of both desserts and add breakfast.

 

[cdntourguide]

for the past fifteen years, I have budgeted the a same amount for food each day: $50.00per person, this would cover breakfast, lunch at a CS, dinner at a CS and one ice cream snack. Some days I spend a little more, some days I spent alittle less, but by the end of the trip, my cost was always nearly $50.00per day per person.

Now with the Disney Dining, cost is $38.00 per day: I can get lunch at a CS, dinner at a TS and an ice cream snack, if I plan wisely I can even manage to have something left over for breakfast the next day. Occasionly there might be a second snack but nothing really big.

So I figure that at a minimum I am saving $12.00 per day per person. I get more to eat, but I probably would not have bought the extra in the first place.

Figure your savings on what you would normally buy, not what you can maximize the plan for. If what you normally purchase in one day is less than $38.00 the plan is not for you.

 

[kcashner]

If you will eat a TS meal each day, the DDP is well worth it. The cheapest TS restaurants are the character buffets--cost $28 per adult plus tax and tip. The DDP is $38 per day and includes the tax and tip. You only have to spend $4 on a CS meal or snack item to break even. If you eat anywhere other than a character dinner it is more expensive.

We had several bills from Le Cellier, Les Chefs de France, Coral Reef, etc. that were in the $110-115 range while the plan cost us $76 for 2 adults. So, we "saved" $35-40 without counting our counter service or snack meals that day! However, reality is that we would never have ordered 2 appetizers and 2 desserts except that they were part of the plan. But...the entrees alone were in the $28 each range and more.

So...financially it is a great deal IF your family will eat one TS and one CS each day. It is easy to do a little sharing and have more than enough food on the plan for all meals. If you like only signature restaurants or if you want a character breakfast and a TS dinner each day, the plan may not work well for you.

The other big advantage to us was the freedom/flexibility. Since it was part of the plan, I didn't cringe when my teen wanted some really expensive stuff. She could enjoy herself without the old cheapie mom (me) worrying about it.

 

[heather360]

We had the dinning plan this past December and loved it. We used most of our TS credits for the signature restaurants. We were there 8 nights and ended up using 6 of the 8 TS credits on the signature restaurants. We were 2 adults with no children. We ended up saving about $350 for the week. As other people have stated we wouldn't have ordered as much if we didn't have the dinning plan so that savings is inflated. I love the plan because it's like staying at an all inclusive resort. We didn't really have to pay anything additional for food.

I will say that we enjoyed using so many credits on the signature restaurants because it allowed us to eat lighter on the days that we weren't doing any TS. I never felt that we had too much food.

 

[Caitsmama]

We too, are 2 adults and one 5yr old child going, and i just decided to add the DP too. I figured i like the convience of not having to think about where i eat, or watching pennies.. at least you know you can have one great sit down expensive dinner a day! To me, alone that is worth it! LOL

 

[KimberlyC]

My family just returned and I didn't get the DDP because I thought it would be a hassle and we would just break even given the ADR's I had selected. We are 2 adults, a 12 yr old (Disney adult) and a toddler, short trip. Ohana breakfast was $60.68 with tax but without tip. CP (hard to say exactly because I ordered a cake and can't find the receipt but I want to say $84 for 3 adults without tip OR tax (and the waitress was amazing so I tipped her extra well and would have even if we were DDP). We also ate at Kona one night and 3 entrees ONLY (no apps or desserts since my son was cranky and we ended having to get it boxed to go), plus 4 beverages was $70.54 with tax but without tip. These are some of the less expensive meals but I chose based on characters and convenience (Kona and Ohana at our hotel). CS cost about $10 each. We also had snacks. I would guess we would have saved probably $30-$40 for a short trip with the DDP. Had we gone to other TS (e.g. Jiko, Le Cellier, Teppanyaki - it would have cost much more). This trip we ate whatever and wherever we wanted (as always) but I did keep track somewhat just to see if the DDP would have saved us and I really think it would have.

We had a nice time so plan to add a Sept trip. Its during free DDP but I would buy the DDP if it weren't free because I think its a good deal since we do TS/character meal for dinner (and sometimes for breakfast) and CS only for lunch. I guess I'll know better how well it works in September.

 

[disneyjunkie]

People also talk about how much food you get with the DDP. This is true, you get a ton. But personally, I'm not going to make myself sick eating just because it is included with the DDP.

ITA

You don't HAVE to order everything that's included with each meal.

My son and I used the plan last year. Many times we skipped dessert and/or appetizers. We only ordered what we knew we could finish. Even without maxing out the plan, I still came out ahead $$$ wise.