ilovejr71292
Member
I have read up on the Disney dining plan some but not a ton and i really DO NOT get it. Can someone please explain it to me!! Any info will be appreciated and should i get it or not?? Thanks :veryconfu
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Dining Plan or Not
- Thread starter ilovejr71292
- Start date
kasey1988
Well-Known Member
the disney dining plan is around $37 a person per night (adult) it includes 1 tabel service meal (sit down resturant), 1 counter service meal (like at your hotel food court or cosmic rays in in MK for example of course there are dozens more) and 1 snack per night. The snack is generally anything under $4 now. So if your were staying for 7 days 6 nights you would recieve 6 of each. You could use them all in one day or how ever you choose. If you choose to use all 6 snacks in the first day thats your choice. All your points are on your key to the world (park pass generally your room key) and when you pay they just swipe the card and you are given a recipt with your balance that remains. All your dining points expire on your last night at midnight. Also dont forget that some signiture dining experiance requre 2 sit down meal points such as the dinner shows. If you want to enjoy the sit down resturants and character dining throughout your trip it will pay off but if you generally stick to counter service meals then it will not be worth it. But only you can work the out!
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peters
Member
We've used the dining plan twice now and the best part of it is getting to try nicer restaurants at a great price. It's wonderful not having to worry about the cost on the menu or the tax & gratuity(which is included). I agree that if you stick to counter service restaurants, it's not worth it... but just about every sit-down restaurant is included, so you really can't go wrong.
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thanks for the help i think were gonna try it cause the last time we did sit down meals at disney was 12 years ago so we wanna try it just so we can have a couple sit down meals.... does anyone suggest any good sitdown resturaunt for all/any ages??
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GoofyMom2
New Member
Everyone over the age of 3 staying in the room must be on the same plan so not just 1 person can get it.
Sit-down restaurants also include the buffets. Tax and tips are included. You can use your meals any way you wish as stated above. For example, you can use a sit-down credit for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. This is great if you like to do the character meals/character buffets. Sit-downs include appetizer, meal, dessert and non-alchoholic drink. Counter service includes combo-type meal, dessert and non-alcoholic drink.
Only you can decide if it is worth it to you and your family. If you like to eat at sit-downs, then it can easily be well worth it. If you have picky eaters, usually eat mostly counter service, eat off-property etc then it is not. Just sit and do some math. Table service meals can really add up!
Sit-down restaurants also include the buffets. Tax and tips are included. You can use your meals any way you wish as stated above. For example, you can use a sit-down credit for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. This is great if you like to do the character meals/character buffets. Sit-downs include appetizer, meal, dessert and non-alchoholic drink. Counter service includes combo-type meal, dessert and non-alcoholic drink.
Only you can decide if it is worth it to you and your family. If you like to eat at sit-downs, then it can easily be well worth it. If you have picky eaters, usually eat mostly counter service, eat off-property etc then it is not. Just sit and do some math. Table service meals can really add up!
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frankd1962
Member
I plan on using the preminum version where my breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks are covered all day. Yes it will cost a bit more but it will take a bit of the money off the food bill. It will cover a Fantasimic meal which is one I'm going to do.
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Monty
Brilliant...and Canadian
- In the Parks
- No
Have a read through the pamphlet. It explains what you get and where you can eat.
The simplest way to look at it [for me anyway] is if you enjoy a nice sit-down meal every day, you can't really go wrong. The $37/day each [adult price] is easily covered by just your Table Service meals, DS10 and I ate at great restaurants every time and the bills were well over $74 for the two of us every time [usually well over $100 for the two of us]. So we ate fantastic meals at our sit-down dinners, cheaper than we would have paid for them paying cash and beyond that we also got a snack and a counter service per night that was to all intents free!
I saved bundles, particularly since we would have eaten the same food anyway.
The simplest way to look at it [for me anyway] is if you enjoy a nice sit-down meal every day, you can't really go wrong. The $37/day each [adult price] is easily covered by just your Table Service meals, DS10 and I ate at great restaurants every time and the bills were well over $74 for the two of us every time [usually well over $100 for the two of us]. So we ate fantastic meals at our sit-down dinners, cheaper than we would have paid for them paying cash and beyond that we also got a snack and a counter service per night that was to all intents free!
I saved bundles, particularly since we would have eaten the same food anyway.
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SallyShine
New Member
We did the dining plan on our last trip and we loved it. Our meals were so much better due to the fact that we ate a table service meal everyday. Normally, we would eat mostly counter service meals. We have three boys (2 teenagers) and we really felt like we saved money with the plan. I did feel a little bad about throwing food away. But if I paid for a desert, I'm going to take it, even if I only eat a few bites. Do it, you won't be sorry.
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monorailguy01
New Member
i would deff. get that Its like 35 dollers a person per day but its so worth it. in the end you will save a butt load of money... I was thinking of getting it for my trip in May but I didnt hear anything about it, so I didnt get it but next time I go down that is going to be a must...
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bgraham34
Well-Known Member
After what I was looking at I see that it does not work for us. Alot of times we have more than 1 sit down meal a day and we usually never get a meal at counter service. And the places we like to eat are usually two meal points and that is not worth it for us. Not too mention I have the Dining card which gets you 20% off meals.
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KnK
New Member
I have to agree with alot of what's been said on both sides.
My husband and I decided not to use the plan, but had tried it in the past. We also like to eat at the high end choices that took up 2 choices, that meant several of the days we still had to come up with meals. Also, we like to share items and don't always get 2 full meals.
Even with counter service options it just was not worth it. One of our favorite lunches is to share a turkey leg (yummm) and share an order of cheese fries. Then in the afternoon we could have a Dole Whip or ice cream. We would still have to pay for this on the dining plan.
The other issue is those of us who have AP's. When I did the math, we still saved a lot more by using the room discount as well as the Disney Dining Card.
I am one of those folks who records every cost of Disney vacation. I make a chart that list each of the days, record where we ate and how much we spent. Overall, still came out cheaper to feed ourselves and not use a plan.
My husband and I decided not to use the plan, but had tried it in the past. We also like to eat at the high end choices that took up 2 choices, that meant several of the days we still had to come up with meals. Also, we like to share items and don't always get 2 full meals.
Even with counter service options it just was not worth it. One of our favorite lunches is to share a turkey leg (yummm) and share an order of cheese fries. Then in the afternoon we could have a Dole Whip or ice cream. We would still have to pay for this on the dining plan.
The other issue is those of us who have AP's. When I did the math, we still saved a lot more by using the room discount as well as the Disney Dining Card.
I am one of those folks who records every cost of Disney vacation. I make a chart that list each of the days, record where we ate and how much we spent. Overall, still came out cheaper to feed ourselves and not use a plan.
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sleepybear
New Member
I guess it really depends on where you want to eat. For me, part of the appeal of WDW is their fantastic restaurants, many of which count as two table meals even though you're only having one dinner there.
I did the math yesterday based on where we planned on eating, and the plan would save us about $15 per person for the entire week. In my mind, that's not enough savings to justify getting the plan. But if we weren't eating at, say, Artist Point or Jiko or Le Bistro de Paris, then I'd definitely use the plan. I suspect that for people who aren't foodies like me, the plan is very useful.
I did the math yesterday based on where we planned on eating, and the plan would save us about $15 per person for the entire week. In my mind, that's not enough savings to justify getting the plan. But if we weren't eating at, say, Artist Point or Jiko or Le Bistro de Paris, then I'd definitely use the plan. I suspect that for people who aren't foodies like me, the plan is very useful.
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Lucky
Well-Known Member
We'll be on the (free) dining plan for the first time this month (Aug 17-25). If we had paid for it on any of our three previous trips, it would have cost somewhat more than we actually spent on food. Keep in mind it can also reduce your flexibility, because making the sit-down reservations you want in advance basically dictates what park you'll be visiting. Sit-down dinners can also take time away from rides and attractions. That's OK with us this time, because we have 8 days and have been there several times before. I don't think I would recommend the dining plan though to people trying to cram in a lot of rides and attractions in a short period of time, or to people who aren't particularly interesting in consuming mass quantities of food.
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K&K said:
Dole whips at least I know are now included as "snacks" in the dining plan, we used it a few months ago shortly after they updated the snack options.
I can see both sides of the argument though. On the one hand, you're saving a lot of money and eating at sit-downs, but on the other hand you're having to make the reservations and plan around your sit-down meals sort of. If you don't mind it, great.
One thought I had though was, what if I booked a hotel room at Disney for just myself and got the dining plan, then brought my wife along for the trip and just "forgot" to tell Disney about it. I know it's against the "everyone staying in the room must have the plan" policy, but in theory wouldn't it work?
btw this is not something I've done or plan on doing, just a thought I had.
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dreamscometrue
Well-Known Member
frankd1962 said:
We've done the DDP and loved it, but haven't seen info on the 'premium' plan. Where can I get info on this?
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goofyfamily
New Member
We did the dining last year and are doing it again this year. We loved it One recomended Restaurant is the Beach Clubs Cape May Buffet my two kids even enjoyed it . We booked it again this year. We also enjoyed the Whispering Canyon, we did Cinderellas Castle, Prime Time 50s, Sci-Fi, Chef Mickeys, this year we are trying Liberty tree and LeCellier, and 1900 Park Fare. All were great meals our only meal we did not enjoy was Crystal Palace.
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goofyfamily
New Member
We loved the dining plan and are using it again this fall. My advice is make sure you look at the menus and prepick your restaurants ,some are hard to get in . We didnt like Crystal Palace at all . The food was soso, and the characters were Pooh and friends, and good luck getting them to spend a minute they took a very long time to come around and when they did you are not allowed to get up and approach them .The have to come to you, a little girl next to us went to hug pooh and the "bodyguards that walk with them" yelled at her and told her to sit down. It was so formal and rude. We love Chef Mickeys if you havent all ready made reservations make them there you will have a blast.
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ClemsonTigger
Naturally Grumpy
Thats a real loaded question. There are over 100 restaurants in WDW, some for all tastes and preferences. If you can narrow down the types of things you might be looking for, it would be helpful in making suggestions. Not only do you have restaurants in all four parks, but great ones in various hotels and at DTD.
For starters, you may want to check out the following site for examples of almost all current menus:
http://www.allearsnet.com/din/dining.htm
PS: Feel free to PM me with any specific questions, or I would suggest you open a new thread asking for suggestions.
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