Tell me about Dining Plans at DL About This Page:

[Angieo]

Hi, I'm wondering how much of a deal the dining plans at Disneyland are. Are the vouchers per day or per plan? Do we only get $35 for the entire 3 day plan for meals or is this per day? I know this ? must sound stupid, but I want to know what exactly I'm getting into. WDW dining is much clearer.

Thanks!

[HeatherD]

As far as I knew, DL didn't have a "dining plan". Where did you hear about vouchers? Is it part of a package? If you could steer us to where you heard it, those of us who frequent DLR more than WDW can probably shed a bit more light on it.

[Tink and co.]

You can purchase vouchers as part of a package. They are named by character and number of days. It's a dollar amount per day (although you get your vouchers all at once, so you could spend them all at once if you wanted), and the vouchers spend like cash at food establishments, but you have to plan a little bit, as no change is given.
We only used them once. There's no savings in food cost, it's just a way to pay for meals ahead of time. We kept forgetting them, or a meal would cost less than the voucher, and we'd actually lose some money on the transaction.
You can pre-pay character meals as well, and you're given a voucher as well. This type cost the same as the meal would cost, but tip is already included, so that's a bit of savings.

[Angieo]

Oh, this was helpful! I had no idea you didn't get change back! Most meals on the menus only cost $7-9 at the quick service counters.
Tink & co., I just want to be sure I understand the vouchers and character meal stuff. The website (DL) listed 1 character breakfast, 1 park breakfast, 2 $10 vouchers and 1 $15 voucher per person. Is this per day?? I'm assuming it's for the entire 3 day period (Donald's 3-day plan), not for each day.
In addition, you can only get this plan if you're buying a package deal? I guess I didn't realize that either!

Thanks for your expertise and help.

[HeatherD]

The website (DL) listed 1 character breakfast, 1 park breakfast, 2 $10 vouchers and 1 $15 voucher per person. Is this per day?? I'm assuming it's for the entire 3 day period (Donald's 3-day plan), not for each day.

That is one I can answer. There is no way that's for one day, so that is a description of the entire plan (so all 3 days). It could still be economical, but you need to figure out what your meals would be. Add up what your character breakfast would normally be (Storytellers, Goofy's Kitchen or in park), add up what a regular park breakfast would be and figure what you would normally spend for the other meals. Also, consider whether you'd normally do these things and if it will really save you money or if you're going to spend more money simply because it's discounted.

Even if you only spend $9 of the $10 vouchers, it could still be a money saver. But I recommend doing the homework to find out.

[Tink and co.]

Originally Posted by Angieo

Oh, this was helpful! I had no idea you didn't get change back! Most meals on the menus only cost $7-9 at the quick service counters.
Tink & co., I just want to be sure I understand the vouchers and character meal stuff. The website (DL) listed 1 character breakfast, 1 park breakfast, 2 $10 vouchers and 1 $15 voucher per person. Is this per day?? I'm assuming it's for the entire 3 day period (Donald's 3-day plan), not for each day.
In addition, you can only get this plan if you're buying a package deal? I guess I didn't realize that either!

Thanks for your expertise and help.

Like Heather said, that's the entire package. I've only seen it offered with packages, but it could be offered a la carte, and I just don't know.

[Pooh Fan in AZ]

Where do you get these dining vouchers? I am particularly interested for the ones at the specific restaurants like Goofy's Kitchen.

[HeatherD]

I found them (after reading this) in the packages portion of disneyland.com - so you have to purchase some sort of package to get them and they are pre-determined. But I do think I remember that they offered different voucher packages (or costs, at least) based on which character meal you wanted and how many days....

[Meggera]

We didn't use them either. It didn't seem to make sense since we didn't save any money.