JimboJones123
Well-Known Member
Be glad it isn't DL dining plan. You can EASILY lose money here. I think the best you can do is barely break even with that plan.. It is a HUGE scam!
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Dining Plan - Why is it a deal?
- Thread starter justavisitor
- Start date
kachow
Member
Dagger got it right. Honestly, anyone considering the plan should do what she's done. I know my wife and I did. You're going to have to make your sit down dinner plans ahead of time anyway since the good places fill up so fast, and if you find that a drag, then stop considering the plan right there, because to have dinner at a nice place at a normal dinner time, you're going to need a reservation. The main thing you want to avoid, is having the plan dictate what you do. Like Dagger, know what you want to do before you even look at whether the plan will save you money.
dandaman
Well-Known Member
$1560.01 over the course of 8 days last August... that evens out to about $195 per day ($48.75 per person).
Add in the fact that it was free, and we saved a LOT 'o money.
Using some saved-up CAA/AAA dollars, our tickets and accomodations this August are costing $1200. Over 6 days, and if we eat about the same as last trip, our entire WDW vacation will cost a grand total of...
$30. :drevil:
Add in the fact that it was free, and we saved a LOT 'o money.
Using some saved-up CAA/AAA dollars, our tickets and accomodations this August are costing $1200. Over 6 days, and if we eat about the same as last trip, our entire WDW vacation will cost a grand total of...
$30. :drevil:
slappy magoo
Well-Known Member
To me, the whole argument is moot. Go to allearsnet.com, look at the menus (and the prices) and you can determine for yourself whether or not the plan is worth it. Sounds to me like, if you save your table service meals for dinners, and you intend to eat most (if not all) meals on-site you can't not save money, or at least you'll break even, using the plan
JimboJones123
Well-Known Member
Plus, if you don't want the DDP, DON'T GET IT! Complaining about it doesn't solve anything. Anybody will agree it is Awesome for some and a Complete Waste for others. So, do the math and decide. If you aren't willing to do the math, you probably aren't willing to keep up with the points or make the reservations anyways. So don't sign up. Nobody makes somebody take the DDP. DDP is one of those rare Disney things that "can" be a great deal for people, but if you aren't willing to put the work in, than don't do it, and don't complain about it.
Computer Magic
Well-Known Member
Dining Plan has worked for us. I was skept skeptical when the new plan was introduced a few years ago. I have used the plan twice and have saved money by using the plan.
Someone state it very well above by saying the restaurants are as important as the rides, show and resorts. That goes for us, we look forward to trying different restaurants and revisting our favorites restaurants. The Dinng plan allows us to do that for one fixed cost. :sohappy:
and we have the free dining plan in Sept.....even bigger savings for us:sohappy: :sohappy:
Someone state it very well above by saying the restaurants are as important as the rides, show and resorts. That goes for us, we look forward to trying different restaurants and revisting our favorites restaurants. The Dinng plan allows us to do that for one fixed cost. :sohappy:
and we have the free dining plan in Sept.....even bigger savings for us:sohappy: :sohappy:
PSU_Princess
Member
I have a question about sharing food. I know that everyone in the room has to be on the dining plan if you chose to get it. And I know that you could easily share counter service meals without anyone knowing any different...but can you share a table service meal?
Tiggerfanatic
Well-Known Member
For a family the three kids under 10, probably not a good value. But for adults, or traveling with a teen (like me), a pretty sweet deal. I figured it this way - take out the tips and taxes and the plan drops down to about $30.00 a day. Allow $3 for a snack, $7-10 for lunch and $10-20 for dinner and you're there. Am I going to be able to eat all the food allowed (I.E., appetizers and desserts with every meal?) Probably not - but we have made reservations for places that we wouldn't normally pick simply based on prices of the entrees so we shouldn't have any problems meeting or surpassing the $30 daily cost.
The biggest plus for me was the fact that this will be that much less cash I have to carry with me. It was a relief knowing that all the big ticket items for our trip were paid for before we even left the house.
The biggest plus for me was the fact that this will be that much less cash I have to carry with me. It was a relief knowing that all the big ticket items for our trip were paid for before we even left the house.
Lucky
Well-Known Member
Yes, you can share a table service meal. But not of course if it is all you can eat. With an appetizer and dessert, as well as the entree, we plan to use 1 adult credit and 1 child credit for the 4 of us at Rose & Crown, and again at Coral Reef. Our other reservations are all at buffet-style restaurants, and we'll be able to do one more of them (or, thinking of it differently, spending 2 credits eacg at Cinderella's Royale Table) by saving credits at those two restaurants. It's no hardship: we rarely order 2 kids' meals when we go out at home, and when we order an appetizer we never order 2 adult meals. I'm a 6-2 180-lb male and can't imagine eating an appetizer, entree and dessert without being very uncomfortable afterward, given the usual portion sizes.
mouselvrmom
Well-Known Member
Ok, on another note about the dining plan being worth it. I just saw that epcot is dropping about half of its eating places in 2007. I am so upset! We are going in January and had planned on doing a lot of eating in epcot since we are staying at the bcv. Counter service wise, we would probably have gotten something at both the Lotus and Cantina, but they have both been dropped. Also, we were planning on eating at restaurant marrakesh (sp?) and they have been dropped. We might cancel that one now. At least Le Cellier is still available!
mouselvrmom
Well-Known Member
Thank you so much ypcat, I am so relieved. I hope they do add them back on before 2007!
shoppingnut
Active Member
JP Von Drake posted on another thread that they are in negotiations with those restaurants now.
tommyboy12099
Member
This post has some great information but Im still not sure what to do. Im going to look at menus tonight and try to figure out if it would be worth it for us. We have 2 adults 3 kids(7,5 and dreadful 2). We are going with another family with the same number of adults\kids(same ages as mine). Has anyone successfully completed several table services with young kids? If it was just my wife and I it would be a definite. Thanks everyone
DisneyBride94
New Member
I would never squander my counter service meal on breakfast.... we have breakfast in our rooms... Mousekeeping provides coffee service and replenshiments daily, and I usually have yogurt, fruit, milk, and cereal stocked in my room... saves money, is healthier than eating a counter service breakfast, and most importantly, save me time so that I can get to the parks early before the post breakfast rush.
As I see it... I would average around $10 per counter service meal for lunch... maybe a little more, maybe a little less... The meal includes my beverage. I don't purchase a resort mug... that just encourages me to drink soda which I try to avoid as much as possible... Having the meal plan allows me to order anythign I'd like rather than trying to get away with the least expensive option... if I don't feel like desert, I can request a nice piece of whole fruit at most places to stash away for later (such as breakfast the next morning!)
Most of the sit down places I like to eat would average about $25 for dinner...without desert...and without factoring in a tip...
These days, there are many more snack options that Disney allows guests... in many cases you can get something up to about $4 in value... One could use their snack credits to purchase a bakery item, suitable for breakfast... During the Food & Wine Festival one can also use the snack credits to purchase a tantalizing array of foods form the various countries exhibiting at that time of year.
So, as I see it... the dining plan genearlly covers the costs of your AVERAGE counter service LUNCH and table service dinners...it's easy to max these out at a higher value if you select some of the higher end venues... For instance, I stayed at CSR last year where one could EASILY spend $20 on cooked-to-order counter service meal... they have a food "court" that is unique among Disney counter service restaurants and I find the choices and the quality of the food to be vastly superior to any other counter service establishment you might eat at on Disney property.
Any way you figure it... your snack generally comes out as a "freebie" at the very least... and if you factor in gratuities for your table service CMs... that is an additional savings to you...
Additionally, I like the convenience of the dining plan... It's nice to have it prepaid and not to have to worry about ordering an economical item of the menu to stretch your dollars... It is especially nice for mixed groups where everyone is going "Dutch" and you always have the mooch who never ponies up his or her fair share of the bill... of if you have someone in your party who tries to argue against eating at a particular restaurant because (in their words) "it's spendy."
In my family's case... we are a family of 5... one of us is only 2 years old and therefor will not have the meal plan... But there will be MORE than enough food for him... and he's a pretty good little eater!
The plan is not for everyone... but we've found it to be helpful to our lifestyle...we enjoy the sitdown restaurants and try to schedule as many as possible anyway... Some guests prefer to leave the Disney parks to go elsewhere... THat's fine.. they shouldn't get the plan...
I think it is a stroke of strategic genius for Disney to have worked out this plan.... Not only does it help retain guest dollars by incenting them to remain on Disney property rather than taking their wallets off property to Kissimee or Universal/Seaworld/Etc., it is also extremely useful to Disney management from an operational standpoint, it allows restaurants to planMONTHS in advance based on strong projections regarding the volume of guests expected for a given time frame...which allows them to forecast better and maximize economies of scale when ordering supplies and in scheduling CMs as waitstaff. It also let's them know if perhaps they should schedule additional hours to accommodate guests during peak periods... I'd LOVE to do a case study on the program from both a marketing and operations management standpoint!!!
As I see it... I would average around $10 per counter service meal for lunch... maybe a little more, maybe a little less... The meal includes my beverage. I don't purchase a resort mug... that just encourages me to drink soda which I try to avoid as much as possible... Having the meal plan allows me to order anythign I'd like rather than trying to get away with the least expensive option... if I don't feel like desert, I can request a nice piece of whole fruit at most places to stash away for later (such as breakfast the next morning!)
Most of the sit down places I like to eat would average about $25 for dinner...without desert...and without factoring in a tip...
These days, there are many more snack options that Disney allows guests... in many cases you can get something up to about $4 in value... One could use their snack credits to purchase a bakery item, suitable for breakfast... During the Food & Wine Festival one can also use the snack credits to purchase a tantalizing array of foods form the various countries exhibiting at that time of year.
So, as I see it... the dining plan genearlly covers the costs of your AVERAGE counter service LUNCH and table service dinners...it's easy to max these out at a higher value if you select some of the higher end venues... For instance, I stayed at CSR last year where one could EASILY spend $20 on cooked-to-order counter service meal... they have a food "court" that is unique among Disney counter service restaurants and I find the choices and the quality of the food to be vastly superior to any other counter service establishment you might eat at on Disney property.
Any way you figure it... your snack generally comes out as a "freebie" at the very least... and if you factor in gratuities for your table service CMs... that is an additional savings to you...
Additionally, I like the convenience of the dining plan... It's nice to have it prepaid and not to have to worry about ordering an economical item of the menu to stretch your dollars... It is especially nice for mixed groups where everyone is going "Dutch" and you always have the mooch who never ponies up his or her fair share of the bill... of if you have someone in your party who tries to argue against eating at a particular restaurant because (in their words) "it's spendy."
In my family's case... we are a family of 5... one of us is only 2 years old and therefor will not have the meal plan... But there will be MORE than enough food for him... and he's a pretty good little eater!
The plan is not for everyone... but we've found it to be helpful to our lifestyle...we enjoy the sitdown restaurants and try to schedule as many as possible anyway... Some guests prefer to leave the Disney parks to go elsewhere... THat's fine.. they shouldn't get the plan...
I think it is a stroke of strategic genius for Disney to have worked out this plan.... Not only does it help retain guest dollars by incenting them to remain on Disney property rather than taking their wallets off property to Kissimee or Universal/Seaworld/Etc., it is also extremely useful to Disney management from an operational standpoint, it allows restaurants to planMONTHS in advance based on strong projections regarding the volume of guests expected for a given time frame...which allows them to forecast better and maximize economies of scale when ordering supplies and in scheduling CMs as waitstaff.
It also let's them know if perhaps they should schedule additional hours to accommodate guests during peak periods... I'd LOVE to do a case study on the program from both a marketing and operations management standpoint!!!
Lanipie
New Member
We got our deal through AAA. We got 4 adults, on Disney property for 5 nights, 6 park days, and the dining plan for every single day was included. We did not have to pay extra for it. It was part of the deal.
We got all of that for FOUR adults for a little under over $1200, so for us the dining plan is AWESOME! It means we get to eat for free, because we didn't have to pay to add the dining plan to our package because it already WAS part of the package. We are so excited because we get to eat at some really neat but expensive places that we would have never been able to go if we didn't have the dining plan.
So I guess to sum up my post....Hooray for the dining plan. LOL
BTW, I'm new here, so Hi! :wave:
We got all of that for FOUR adults for a little under over $1200, so for us the dining plan is AWESOME! It means we get to eat for free, because we didn't have to pay to add the dining plan to our package because it already WAS part of the package. We are so excited because we get to eat at some really neat but expensive places that we would have never been able to go if we didn't have the dining plan.
So I guess to sum up my post....Hooray for the dining plan. LOL
BTW, I'm new here, so Hi! :wave:
shoppingnut
Active Member
While you make think that using your CS on breakfast is "squandering," I do not, for the simple reason that I don't eat three meals a day. I can have breakfast and dinner with a snack or two in between and be perfectly happy. I have no desire to sit my hotel room and eat meals. Remember what works for you doesn't always work for someone else.
I agree that Disney is incredibly smart by offering this plan either paid and/or as a free promotion. It is better to keep you on property 100% of the time and it does help with their planning and buying food in large bulk quantities at a lower cost. I think there are many people that don't understand how and why this could benefit them. It's a loss leader.
DisneyBride94
New Member
I used the word "squander" in relation to the value of the meal credit... If you're not going to eat lunch... by all means, use it for breakfast... It just stretches farther for lunch purposes...
In addition to the value, for us, it is just faster to have something in the room... Some day when we don't have small kids, we can enjoy a more leisurely breakfast... but the kids wake up hungry and don't have the patience to wait until everyone is up and dressed and ready to go in search of nourishment... Giving them something to eat in the room keeps them occupied and happy whilst mom and dad shower and dress... and doesn't take any time away from our schedule...
couchpotatooo
Well-Known Member
The savings for the Dining Plan does save you alot!!!
I hear everyone talking about saving money for breakfast and for lunch but this dining plan really kicks in for the dinners. The resturants that WDW lets you eat at are all places that most people couldn't afford to eat every night. Steak and lobster, I know I can't afford that normally but on the Dining Plan I can. Also I think I haven't heard anybody mention how you can use your points to have a character dining experience or Dinner show these are very expensive, but you can get them with your Dining Plan. There more than just food these plans save for you specially if your traveling with children. Eat breakfast late at chef Mickey and meet the character's and the meal will get you pass lunch. The Character Dining experience are great for kids and some of them are only one TS point. So you really need to look at what the plan actually offers before saying it's not worth it.
I know I much rather have a nice steak then a hot dog, but that me:slurp:
will be heading to WDW in May!!!:sohappy:
I hear everyone talking about saving money for breakfast and for lunch but this dining plan really kicks in for the dinners. The resturants that WDW lets you eat at are all places that most people couldn't afford to eat every night. Steak and lobster, I know I can't afford that normally but on the Dining Plan I can. Also I think I haven't heard anybody mention how you can use your points to have a character dining experience or Dinner show these are very expensive, but you can get them with your Dining Plan. There more than just food these plans save for you specially if your traveling with children. Eat breakfast late at chef Mickey and meet the character's and the meal will get you pass lunch. The Character Dining experience are great for kids and some of them are only one TS point. So you really need to look at what the plan actually offers before saying it's not worth it.
I know I much rather have a nice steak then a hot dog, but that me:slurp:
will be heading to WDW in May!!!:sohappy:
Lanipie
New Member
I totally agree. We will be eating at a lot of great places on this trip that we have never been able to afford to eat before and we are also doing some dinner shows!