WDW Dining Plans

[Mystic]

Hello,

Has anyone used the dining plans? Which did you like or would use again? What is the best advantages when using the dining plans? Feedback appreciated.

Thanks!


Have a super Day!

[denlo]

DH and I have used the Disney Dining Plans. We tried the Deluxe (DDxP) once, and the regular DDP a number of times. We've never tried the Quick Service DP as we prefer to have one table service meal a day.

What we liked the best about the DDP was that we knew our food was paid for in advance. Lots of restaurants to choose from. And if you have young children and are planing on doing a character meal(s), you DPP really saves you money. The kid prices are great. The cost of DDP for a child is low enough that one TS meal often covers the cost of the DDP.

However, if you are only adults or have kids that are charged the adult price, I'm not sure the DDP saves you that much money. And I think I had the tendency to eat more than I normally would--like desserts. I paid for that dessert so I'm going to eat it! Also I often would prefer an appetizer and skip the dessert but that's not an option. The DDxP gives you the appetizer in addition to the dessert, but three large meals in a day was way too much food. We thought we'd get around the excess food on the deluxe by dining at Signature restaurants every other day, but instead day four we were canceling reservations. It was too much rich food.

Also we still have to pay an 18% tip and for any alcoholic beverages.

We been using the Tables in Wonderland card instead. Eating more like we want too and even have a glass of beer or wine with dinner and it's discounted too. And we spend less money overall. http://www.tablesinwonderland.com If you are an AP holder the cost of the TIW card is $75 for a DVC member it costs $100.

But my DSIL absolutely loves it. The money isn't a factor for them. It's the convenience, prepaid food and each member of the family has a KTTW that covers their meals and snacks except for tips and adult beverages.

I think you need to do the math for your individual family. Or think about how your family will dine, together or apart, TS meals or QS meals, character meals or special dining or signature dining. You might find that there is a Disney Dining Plan for you. And you could try it once and see what you think.

[bigeasy]

Everything the previous poster said I agree with. We enjoy the dining plan because our children are young and want character meals. I enjoy sitting with the family for a TS meal every day as well. The price works due to the children price, average the total price per day and it does put us ahead. However, this will be the last time being able to use children prices and as such will not be such a good deal.

I am an obsessive compulsive trip planner and love having reservations made way in advance. Being tied to a reservation may bother some but not me. Everything is planned and while the DW pokes fun before the trip, she appreciates the smooth and easy flow of the planning.

So to sum up, we loved the dining plan only because it works for us now. I can't see using it once the Dkids pay adult prices. Also remember that it is a lot of food and by the end of the trip one may not want to eat much.

I am looking forward to our meals this year and hope this helps.

[Ranger275]

I do think you can save a lot of money with it especially if you end up at Signature restaurants.

1. We don't usually get dessert and like the other posts say you end up eating more food than normal. The kids love being able to get dessert though.

2. The biggest issue is that you end planning your vacation around your dinner reservations. If a restaurant is at a park you have to go that day to that park. If you plan enough far in advance and can work extra magic hours into that as well then it will work. If it is at another resort you have to plan on how to get there and probably over an hour to make sure you get there in time. With kids you need to think about do you need an early dinner or later dinner and how that will effect the kids.

The restaurant selection is really good and with the plan it makes it far easier to take advantage of the different choices. While I am a planner it does frustrate me at times to have to plan my vacation around dinner reservations and you can't change plans very easily. Almost impossible to change reservations once you are there or if the kids are tired. Ties you to your reservations pretty tight.

We didn't use it in Feb and we aren't going to this trip in April either. But it is more to save money than anything so we are going to eat more in the room. We aren't planning on eating out, if we were we would get it.

[Mkeef]

So because I am a huge nerd and always planning in advance I thought I would do a pricing situation to see if the DDP was worth it for us on our next trip (Me, DW and son born March 24, 2012!!!!!!). I've always considered it but never knew if it was worth it. As I priced it out I didn't try to max out the best potential savings only priced it out as what we would normally eat when we go to WDW. (So some days I may only get a cheeseburger instead of the rib platter.) I priced it out for an 8 night trip and for table service I included Crystal Palace, Whispering Canyon Cafe, 50's prime time cafe, O'hana, T-Rex Cafe, Chef Mickey's x 2 (breakfast only), Garden Grill. I'm not sure what tax is on food so I included 7% tax then rounded down to the nearest dollar for each full meal as not to over price the meals. THis is what my costs came too

An 8 night trip on DDP for 1 person based on $51.54 per nght (according to DVC website) came to a total of $412.32

Based on the full use of each meal allotment and including the $14.00 for the refillable mug the total cash price for all the meals came to $450.00 (remember I did some rounding down)

That means for one person I would save about $38.00. It's not bad once you start adding multiple people to the plan. And I'm sure you can max out the savings if you are always getting the most expensive thing on the menu.

All these TS restaurants are also included in the TIW card. Since I only calculated for one person I subtracted the discount value and included the cost of $50.00 for the card. My total for that came to $445 for the exact same meals as the DDP. so not much of a discount for 1 person but again will add up for more people.

After looking at it this way I think the TIW is better for us because it includes alcohol and can be used for anything on the menu. DW and I would much rather get an appatizer and salads with dinner than a dessert. Plus on some days we may get more food and others less. With DDP if you don't get dessert with your meal then you lose it. And we never get a dessert with counterservice meals so it's just extra food that we wouldn't normally be getting......

Pretty basic calculations but hopefully helps some people with their decisions

[lllovell]

Congrats Mkeef!!!

[Maturod1]

Personally for the trip that my wife and I have taken I love the deluxe plan. We like to eat at a lot of two credit places like Narcoossee's, Cali Grill and Spirit of aloha. Now take in mind I'm a big guy and sometimes the sheer amount of food you can get can be overwhelming. To completely agree with denlo it is really nice to know that your food is taken care of and at the begining of the day you don't to either plan the cash or at the end of the trip have a huge charge to your room. So I guess main things you need to consider is what type of TS do you want, if you're thinking Le Cellier, Narcoossee's and other similiar two credit places I would highly recomend the deluxe. If you're looking at 1 credit places prolly DDP would be good for you. For myself as I can be scatter brained it's also nice to know if I go through and make all my ressies that it gives a little structure to the day and it makes sure (esp if I book something at every park) that I visit all the parks as well as view some of the other resorts.

[icekats]

We've done the QS, last two times, family of 6, know the older girls can run off and they will have a decent meal, we don't plan around eating, just pick the best spot at the place we were at. Feel we saved money. Refillable mug was great for morning/night coffee and drinks for the 4 girls as well

[Meriwyn]

I'm using the DDP for the first time this October. Hopefully all goes well!

[Maturod1]

Big key is if there are any TS restaurants that you want to eat at put in an ADR.