Tell me your thoughts. Disney Dining Plan. About This Page:

[redkatrampant]

I just do not want to fool with it for our March Trip. Too large a group and too many variables. For my peace of mind and the fact that we will be leaving the parks around lunchtime for naps, it will be easier not to make this our first try.
We are going back in September, just the Hubby and I. We will be much more flexible just the 2 of us. Table Service will be used a lot more than with the motley March Crew.
So give me your thoughts. We are looking at 5 days. Park Hopping. Not sure where we are staying.
We will also have a better idea of where we REALLY want to eat.
Is it worth it?

[HiddenMickey]

If you are going in September and plan to stay on property, there is a good chance you might be able to get Free Dining (we believe it will be offered that month again). So, if you can get it free with your reservation, then yes, it will definitely be worth it!

[ilovedisney247]

IF you can score a free dining package it might be worth it--although you'll want to actually do the math to see if the room discount being offered at the same time is a better deal. This year's price increase makes it almost impossible to save money paying for the regular dining plan, but again you'd have to sit down and decide what you are going to eat at each restaurant to see if it makes sense for you.

[redkatrampant]

Originally Posted by HiddenMickey

If you are going in September and plan to stay on property, there is a good chance you might be able to get Free Dining (we believe it will be offered that month again). So, if you can get it free with your reservation, then yes, it will definitely be worth it!

Woo hoo! It's like Mickey is giving me an Anniversary Gift!

Originally Posted by ilovedisney247

IF you can score a free dining package it might be worth it--although you'll want to actually do the math to see if the room discount being offered at the same time is a better deal. This year's price increase makes it almost impossible to save money paying for the regular dining plan, but again you'd have to sit down and decide what you are going to eat at each restaurant to see if it makes sense for you.

Honestly, I think it would allow us to eat places I may not get my husband into otherwise. I know he will be doing the math when we return next month, but my theory is you don't know until you try!

[JKnott17]

Originally Posted by ilovedisney247

IF you can score a free dining package it might be worth it--although you'll want to actually do the math to see if the room discount being offered at the same time is a better deal. This year's price increase makes it almost impossible to save money paying for the regular dining plan, but again you'd have to sit down and decide what you are going to eat at each restaurant to see if it makes sense for you.

It really all depends on how you eat. Like Heather said,with the price increase it will be hard to save with the plan, but you might be able to break even. If the plan is free, then that would be worth it, and free dining is a good possibility for your travel dates.

I am currently trying to decide whether or not to add the dining plan for our November trip, right now it's not looking like any savings for us. We just about break even. My suggestion would be to scope out the restaurants you would like to eat at, then check the menus and pricing on Allears.net. Go through and choose everything you would order if you were not on the dining plan, add it up and compare to the cost of the plan. Good luck deciding!

[redkatrampant]

Originally Posted by JKnott17

It really all depends on how you eat. Like Heather said,with the price increase it will be hard to save with the plan, but you might be able to break even. If the plan is free, then that would be worth it, and free dining is a good possibility for your travel dates.

I am currently trying to decide whether or not to add the dining plan for our November trip, right now it's not looking like any savings for us. We just about break even. My suggestion would be to scope out the restaurants you would like to eat at, then check the menus and pricing on Allears.net. Go through and choose everything you would order if you were not on the dining plan, add it up and compare to the cost of the plan. Good luck deciding!

How soon would we know if they are offering the free dining? Also I read/heard somewhere that Poly was going to close for rehab? I really am looking at staying there.

[luvnwdwgal]

If it's free, go for it! I would never pay for it. Personally I wish they would offer an appetizer instead of dessert.

[HeatherD]

Well, I've recently changed positions on this. We don't usually do the dining plan, because what we actually would eat never adds up to the cost of the plan (even though what you get on the plan is a good deal). However, last trip (Aug 2010), we got free dining and I really liked going to a lot a different restaurants and DD really liked getting adult meals. (We'd also used the dining plan in 2007, but it included appetizer and tip and we didn't even use it to its full advantage.)

Last night, we booked a trip for this August. After it was all set, I approched my husband, handed him some money I had set aside (that he didn't know about ) and told him I wanted to add the DDP. I mean, are we really going to let a 12 year old order filet if we are paying OOP? Are we going to try Yachtsman if we are paying $40 for a steak? So, we did the math. This time, taking into consideration several restaurants that we knew we'd try anyway, the math added up!

Actually, the way we figured it, coming up with a daily amount we would average and the snacks, we got to $1360. When I added DDP to our quote, it added $1360 and change! I took that as a sign and we confirmed our ressie with the DDP!

Good luck with free dining! I've heard rumors about it starting in late August. But remember to be prepared to: 1) go even if they don't offer it, 2) alter your dates if necessary, or 3) cancel the trip if you can't go without DDP being free. (It doesn't sound like #3 would be the case since you were asking about DDP without the "free" in the original post.)

[mdobereiner]

I feel like I can legitimately speak to this now that we've gone without DDP.

In the past, we've always gotten the DDP because of the convenience for us. We like having 1 CS and 1 TS a day so it works with our touring styles. We also park hop so I don't ever feel tied down in terms of ADRs. This last trip we decided to go without (mainly because I felt like we could spend less money.) When I've done the math in the past, the DDP hasn't necessarily saved us big money, but we've never lost any money either, usually DDP ends up saving us $20-$30. We we eat out at home, we never order deserts or anything like that so I wanted to see how well we could do without the DDP.

Honestly, we probably will always add DDP in the future. Here's how things played out:
-We still ate at a TS everyday so we didn't save any money by "eating cheaper". We have a lot of TS's that we like and it just suits our touring style to break the day up with a sit down meal.
-We found ourselves wanting to order deserts even though that's not something we ever really do at home. I don't know if it's just because we are on vacation or what, but there wasn't a meal that we didn't order desert at.
-Our plan was to bring snacks/go back and eat at the resort in our room where we have normally ate a CS. Well, that just didn't happen. We ended up getting CS's most days anyway, and based on my calculations, this is where we would have saved some money had we been on the DDP.
-Handing over cash for each meal stressed me out! I don't know why, it's totally nutty, but for whatever reason, it did. I also found myself zeroing in on the price of meals instead of choosing what I wanted. For me, it's just easier on the DDP.
-I never realized how valueable the snack credits are- OMG we spent a pretty penny on ice cream cones, candy apples, popcorn, etc, etc, etc. I've never really thought twice about those things in the past because we just used snack credits.

That said, if we would skip the DDP in the future, here's how I think we would do it to maxamize each and save money:
-We will always probably book 1 TS a day, so instead of dinner, I'd do more lunches. I think you could probably cut the CS out by doing this way because you could eat something in your room for breakfast, having a solid meal late lunch, and then grab a snack in the evening.
-Book more family style/buffets- they tend to be pricer than a la cart but you can eat more (and dessert) without it adding up.

The hard thing for us now is DS is 10 and considered an adult so it's costly to add the DDP paying for him as adult (and he eats like a bird.) Even still, I'm pretty confident we will be using the DDP for the forseeable future. For us, it just comes down to convenince and it works nicely with our touring style. I know that's not the case for everyone though and it's not a great plan for everyone. I should also mention that I don't think the DxDP or QS would be good fits for what and where we like to eat coupled with our touring style.

GL!
Mel

[Straitlover]

Since you're doing 2 trips this year, will you be getting an annual pass? If so, you might be better off buying the Tables in Wonderland card and going for an AP discount on your room. Especially if you don't normally eat dessert at every meal.

[redkatrampant]

Originally Posted by HeatherD

Well, I've recently changed positions on this. We don't usually do the dining plan, because what we actually would eat never adds up to the cost of the plan (even though what you get on the plan is a good deal). However, last trip (Aug 2010), we got free dining and I really liked going to a lot a different restaurants and DD really liked getting adult meals. (We'd also used the dining plan in 2007, but it included appetizer and tip and we didn't even use it to its full advantage.)

Last night, we booked a trip for this August. After it was all set, I approched my husband, handed him some money I had set aside (that he didn't know about ) and told him I wanted to add the DDP. I mean, are we really going to let a 12 year old order filet if we are paying OOP? Are we going to try Yachtsman if we are paying $40 for a steak? So, we did the math. This time, taking into consideration several restaurants that we knew we'd try anyway, the math added up!

Actually, the way we figured it, coming up with a daily amount we would average and the snacks, we got to $1360. When I added DDP to our quote, it added $1360 and change! I took that as a sign and we confirmed our ressie with the DDP!

Good luck with free dining! I've heard rumors about it starting in late August. But remember to be prepared to: 1) go even if they don't offer it, 2) alter your dates if necessary, or 3) cancel the trip if you can't go without DDP being free. (It doesn't sound like #3 would be the case since you were asking about DDP without the "free" in the original post.)

Oh no we will still go! It is our last anniversary trip for a few years. Hubby has gone back to school and he is getting into graduate school and things are gonna be all kinds of crazy!
Funny that you mention that number because that is what we have guesstimated - $1300 - for our trip but that is with us eating breakfast and some lunches out of the park and my parents paying for a few meals.

Originally Posted by mdobereiner

I feel like I can legitimately speak to this now that we've gone without DDP.

In the past, we've always gotten the DDP because of the convenience for us. We like having 1 CS and 1 TS a day so it works with our touring styles. We also park hop so I don't ever feel tied down in terms of ADRs. This last trip we decided to go without (mainly because I felt like we could spend less money.) When I've done the math in the past, the DDP hasn't necessarily saved us big money, but we've never lost any money either, usually DDP ends up saving us $20-$30. We we eat out at home, we never order deserts or anything like that so I wanted to see how well we could do without the DDP.

Honestly, we probably will always add DDP in the future. Here's how things played out:
-We still ate at a TS everyday so we didn't save any money by "eating cheaper". We have a lot of TS's that we like and it just suits our touring style to break the day up with a sit down meal.
-We found ourselves wanting to order deserts even though that's not something we ever really do at home. I don't know if it's just because we are on vacation or what, but there wasn't a meal that we didn't order desert at.
-Our plan was to bring snacks/go back and eat at the resort in our room where we have normally ate a CS. Well, that just didn't happen. We ended up getting CS's most days anyway, and based on my calculations, this is where we would have saved some money had we been on the DDP.
-Handing over cash for each meal stressed me out! I don't know why, it's totally nutty, but for whatever reason, it did. I also found myself zeroing in on the price of meals instead of choosing what I wanted. For me, it's just easier on the DDP.
-I never realized how valueable the snack credits are- OMG we spent a pretty penny on ice cream cones, candy apples, popcorn, etc, etc, etc. I've never really thought twice about those things in the past because we just used snack credits.

That said, if we would skip the DDP in the future, here's how I think we would do it to maxamize each and save money:
-We will always probably book 1 TS a day, so instead of dinner, I'd do more lunches. I think you could probably cut the CS out by doing this way because you could eat something in your room for breakfast, having a solid meal late lunch, and then grab a snack in the evening.
-Book more family style/buffets- they tend to be pricer than a la cart but you can eat more (and dessert) without it adding up.

The hard thing for us now is DS is 10 and considered an adult so it's costly to add the DDP paying for him as adult (and he eats like a bird.) Even still, I'm pretty confident we will be using the DDP for the forseeable future. For us, it just comes down to convenince and it works nicely with our touring style. I know that's not the case for everyone though and it's not a great plan for everyone. I should also mention that I don't think the DxDP or QS would be good fits for what and where we like to eat coupled with our touring style.

GL!
Mel

Thanks so much for the great info! Honestly, we eat out a lot and I think that is part of the issue. That and hubby was in Food and Beverage Management for years. He hates to pay for food that is not up to his standards and he is concerned that they won't be met. He'll gladly pay 10 bucks for a hot dog though.
The touring style is at play here too. We don't really have one. And with all the people on this trip it just seems easier to say we will get most meals where ever we happen to be. Ya know? I am still trying to come up with a touring plan that will work for everyone. I am pretty much at the "This is what Dad and I are going to do - adjust accordingly."

Originally Posted by Straitlover

Since you're doing 2 trips this year, will you be getting an annual pass? If so, you might be better off buying the Tables in Wonderland card and going for an AP discount on your room. Especially if you don't normally eat dessert at every meal.

AP has yet to occur to me.

[sk8mom6]

You also need to consider how structured you want to be. Without ADRs, it's hard to get into sit down restauraunts. Having ADR's means you must be at that spot at that time. While we enjoyed the meals, we felt a litle restricted by having to be at this place at this time.

[Wolfy6688]

We've always had the DDP and I loved it. I love not having to worry about the price of entrees or what I want to eat. It allows us to get to restaurants we might not be able to try otherwise.

This year will be my first year without DDP because I'm staying off property (not by choice!) It isn't exactly a Disney vacation, but a different type of trip with some WDW mixed in.

Since we missed our yearly trip last year, there are a lot of restaurants I want to return to - but they're so expensive!! I mean, in regards to paying full price at a restaurant every single day. I'm severely missing the DDP. Even with the price increase, I'm confident DBF and I would get our moneys worth, but the biggest factor is the peace of mind in being able to order whatever we want!

[toony]

I got the free dining for our stay last week but I said to OH even if I hadn't got it free it would have been worth paying for it. It was nice to just zero in on the food items and not even glance at the prices.

OH kept track of the prices he'll crunch the numbers when we get home but I can't say we got a bad meal on the plan but Le Cellier was far too salty for us Aussies who never salt food when cooking at home and there was a quick service at DTD that was terrible.

We'll help you pick out your ADRs.

Here are the menus
Restaurant Dining Menus from Walt Disney World

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Best MK review
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No review for DTD they're done reviewed individually DD Table Service

We dined at TREX and highly recommend it, although it is noisy. Great theme and if you book a celebration the staff come out clapping and singing with your dessert. The theme is fantastic and the food was great.

We did: Crystal Palace, Rose & Crown, Boma, TREX, scifi dine in and Le Cellier. I'd drop Le Cellier next time round and scifi wasn't all that comfortable for my pooh sized hubby but the food was good and the restaurant was the quietest.

Good luck convincing your hubs to go on the plan.

[redkatrampant]

The March trip we are doing Trex on Friday the 2nd. Our first night in Orlando. We are going to check in,grocery shop, then head to DTD.
I know this trip we will do 50's Diner,Rainforest and Hoop De Dooooooooooo!
We have a Cinderella's Castle lunch also on BBB day.
The rest is up in the air and will probably stay that way day to day. We have 8 days in the parks so who knows what I will talk him in to. I am thinking about Teppan Edo BECAUSE although we have eaten there in whatever form it was at the time, We ate there on our Disneymoon. also my Nana ,who we lost in November,loved it. Actually she loved all Japanese food.
I really really want to surprise him with a nice sit down dinner but I may have left that to late for March trip. Ah well....

You guys have REALLY come through for me and hubby has enjoyed hearing your thoughts and wisdom.
toony you are so on to help me!

So what would ya'll recommend for a nice sit down dinner for 2? He has no desire to do a Chef's Table,etc ( even if I could book it this late in).He loves food and is really a gourmand. He can cook it too!