Dining Plan

[EmmaC]

Our first Disney trip was 6 years ago. We had the quick service plan, to be honest I think we wasted it not checking where it could be used properly an mostly felt like we ate junk food most nights.
Next year, our second trip, we have upgraded to Dining Plan, we are going in November so I just want to make sure we make the most of it.
Any ideas?

 

[tor29c]

Narrow down the list of TS restaurants you want to eat at. Check the menus to determine what your family is likely to order. Check the pricing. Calculate if the dining plan is actually saving you money. Be sure to make ADRs at 180 days so you are sure to get seating at the restaurant of your choice. Have a great time researching!

 

[LuvtheGoof]

Our first Disney trip was 6 years ago. We had the quick service plan, to be honest I think we wasted it not checking where it could be used properly an mostly felt like we ate junk food most nights.
Next year, our second trip, we have upgraded to Dining Plan, we are going in November so I just want to make sure we make the most of it.
Any ideas?

Ditch the plan, and put the money on a gift card. Eat like you normally would, and you'll be shocked at how much money you have left over for souvenirs - well, unless you enjoy eating steak or nothing but buffets your entire trip. The plan is nothing but convenience, and will cost you more than out-of-pocket in 99% of cases. Good luck!

 

[matt9112]

the DDP is more of a convenience than any sort of savings. with that said we go when its offered as a special with our stay and we enjoy eating like kings...but i agree with luvthegoof

 

[LuvtheGoof]

the DDP is more of a convenience than any sort of savings. with that said we go when its offered as a special with our stay and we enjoy eating like kings...but i agree with luvthegoof

True, when "free" dining is offered, it isn't a bad deal then. You have to pay rack rate for the room, but it is still a savings.

 

[ArielLover]

As we (just me and the wife) enjoy the buffets ( I am a very picky eater), the DP seems to work for us and is a savings. If we go non buffets, I will almost always order a steak.

So with the convienence it offers as well as I believe we make out with the DP versus paying out of pocket, it makes sense for us. Probably doesn't work for everyone though.

 

[LRnascarfan]

We like the Deluxe Dining Plan. I have to factor my dining in to my plan because it takes me a good 10 months to a year to pay off my Disney trips. There is no way I can also save up enough to put back to pay for meals while there so we just add it in. We do look at restaurants and menus ahead of time to try and make the best of what we spent. We also like being able to do 3 table service meals instead of quick service. We just spread our meals out usually eating breakfast at 8 a.m. and dinner around 8:30 or 9 p.m. Which eating that late usually isn't a big deal cause we are out in the parks late anyways.

 

[Weather_Lady]

If you Google "best values on the Disney dining plan 2016" you can find scads of recent articles with advice. In general, if you want to ensure that you'll get the most bang for your DDP buck, you'll want to:

- Be aware that the approximate "value" of the DDP components (adding up to the $63/day cost of the plan) is: TS credit - $37, CS credit - $18, Snack credit: $5+. With that in mind:
- Avoid 2-credit TS restaurants unless the cost of the meal would otherwise be $74 or more. Good uses of your TS credits are expensive 1-credit restaurants, particularly those offering all-you-care-to-enjoy or family-style meals, character interactions, or especially expensive entrees like steak and seafood, where meal costs easily and routinely can exceed $37.
- Avoid using TS credits for breakfast or lunch unless the restaurant has an all-day menu that is the same price all day. Dinners are typically priced higher.
- Avoid CS restaurants with an average meal cost below $18, and definitely visit the best-rated and most expensive CS venues (e.g., Be Our Guest in the MK for breakfast or lunch).
- Don't let a single credit go to waste. If there are snack credits left at the end of your visit, use them on candy or other items that can be wrapped and taken home. Make frequent use of your refillable mug throughout your stay.
- Don't forget to ask about substitutions and alternatives. The new DDP "rules" allow for, where available, the substitution of soup or salad instead of dessert at some TS restaurants, and sometimes things that you'd think would cost extra (e.g., a milkshake as your beverage) are included on the DDP.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Ditch the plan, and put the money on a gift card. Eat like you normally would, and you'll be shocked at how much money you have left over for souvenirs - well, unless you enjoy eating steak or nothing but buffets your entire trip. The plan is nothing but convenience, and will cost you more than out-of-pocket in 99% of cases. Good luck!

Agreed! We've only saved money by using it when it was "free." (Of course, it wasn't really free, because by the time we upgraded our room and ticket package to make ourselves eligible for the free dining promotion, more than half of the value of the DDP was eaten up by the increased room/ticket costs! Saving a few hundred dollars is still better than a stick in the eye, as my grandmother would say, but if it wasn't "free" we'd always end up paying more for the DDP than out of pocket, because we don't order or eat as much as the plan offers when left to our own devices.)

 

[LuvtheGoof]

If you Google "best values on the Disney dining plan 2016" you can find scads of recent articles with advice. In general, if you want to ensure that you'll get the most bang for your DDP buck, you'll want to:

- Be aware that the approximate "value" of the DDP components (adding up to the $63/day cost of the plan) is: TS credit - $37, CS credit - $18, Snack credit: $5+. With that in mind:
- Avoid 2-credit TS restaurants unless the cost of the meal would otherwise be $74 or more. Good uses of your TS credits are expensive 1-credit restaurants, particularly those offering all-you-care-to-enjoy or family-style meals, character interactions, or especially expensive entrees like steak and seafood, where meal costs easily and routinely can exceed $37.
- Avoid using TS credits for breakfast or lunch unless the restaurant has an all-day menu that is the same price all day. Dinners are typically priced higher.
- Avoid CS restaurants with an average meal cost below $18, and definitely visit the best-rated and most expensive CS venues (e.g., Be Our Guest in the MK for breakfast or lunch).
- Don't let a single credit go to waste. If there are snack credits left at the end of your visit, use them on candy or other items that can be wrapped and taken home. Make frequent use of your refillable mug throughout your stay.
- Don't forget to ask about substitutions and alternatives. The new DDP "rules" allow for, where available, the substitution of soup or salad instead of dessert at some TS restaurants, and sometimes things that you'd think would cost extra (e.g., a milkshake as your beverage) are included on the DDP.

And this is one of my many issues with the DDP. If you have to work at making it work, then convenience flies right out the window. If there has to be multiple web sites with information on how to maximize the value, then there is no value. Yes, I will agree you can pretty much break even by only going to expensive buffets and eating steak everywhere else, but is that really what you want to do your entire vacation? And of course, I am talking about a "general" you, not you personally.

There are many times that we share a few appetizers along with a few adult beverages for many TS locations. You can never do that on the DDP and save money. Not too mention not including alcohol.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

Agreed! We've only saved money by using it when it was "free." (Of course, it wasn't really free, because by the time we upgraded our room and ticket package to make ourselves eligible for the free dining promotion, more than half of the value of the DDP was eaten up by the increased room/ticket costs! Saving a few hundred dollars is still better than a stick in the eye, as my grandmother would say, but if it wasn't "free" we'd always end up paying more for the DDP than out of pocket, because we don't order or eat as much as the plan offers when left to our own devices.)

And I think that the vast majority of people that go there would eat completely differently if they weren't worried about saving a few bucks on the DDP. They just like the convenience, but usually spend a lot more money, even while talking about saving money. The two are at cross purposes to each other.

 

[Darth Figment]

We always get the deluxe dp.. any credits we have left over we spend on snacks and trail mix at the gift shops or in parks, load them in the suitcase and have a lil disney snacks for the house

 

[LRnascarfan]

One year when we went a two of my kids and their dad got the "disney flu". We ended up having 3-4 meal credits left so our last day through Pop filling up on snacks we used our 4 meal credits on the family behind us and they got their dinner on us. I didn't want to waste them!! They were very greatful.

 

[Cowboy Steve]

Excellent tips above and I would reinforce several of them:

• Make your ADRs as early on your 180 day out day as possible! Even jumping on the website at 8am the morning of ours, there were still one or two reservations I couldn't get.
• If you don't get the ADR you really wanted, keep checking back. A time may open up. On this trip, we really wanted to have dinner at BOG in the MK (we have had lunch, but never dinner). All the reservations were gone for the days we were in the MK at 180 days out. But, by checking a couple times a week, within a month I was able to pick up an ADR on one of our days in MK.
• We could 'stretch' our CS meals by sharing. If you aren't big eaters, 2 people can share a breakfast and a lunch. On our last trip, we spent the entire week at Coronado Springs, but spent half the time at Universal, so we only did the basic CS meal plan. We split a CS breakfast at the resort, split a CS lunch in the Disney parks, and splurged for a couple TS dinners out of pocket.
• If you have an ADR at another resort, and don't have your own transportation, don't waste time trying to get there by resort buses - just Uber it! Last trip we stayed at Coronado Springs, and had an ADR at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We spent over 2 1/2 hours round trip just on traveling lol. This trip we are staying at the CBR, and have an ADR at Sanaa at the Animal Kingdom Villas. We can probably Uber that round trip in 30-40mins...

We have used the DP the last three trips (and we are using it again this trip), and for us as most have mentioned, we like the convenience. It is also nice to just relax and order whatever off the menu without having to worry about the price. True, you don't really save anything by using the dining plan. But by paying for it 'up front', we don't fret over what we are paying while actually on vacation... or the guilt over getting the steak instead of the chicken lol. We are by no means so poor as to have to squeeze every dime out of every paycheck... but it is still a distraction to spend a lot more on meals on vacation than you would spend at home. Using the dining plan just let's us get what we want when we want it (most times). When we go to Disney, the only thing we truly spend out of pocket money on is tips and shopping. Much more enjoyable than sweating what the CC bill will be the following month... lol.

 

[Raegansmommy]

We have been to Disney and got the Dining Plan for free and paid for it. For myself, I like the convenience of not having to carry around all that cash and worry about how much is left for food. (We like to pay for our trip 100% before going, which includes food. When we go on vacation we take X amount of money to be spent on food. Sometimes we make it, sometimes we don't, as an unexpected expense may come up.) The dining plan allows us to enjoy our vacation and not worry about how much we are spending, because we already paid for it! I also figured it out and with a family of 4, we are saving $250 paying for the dining plan. Some people like it, some people don't. We are still spending less than what we spent on food during each of our last 3 vacations in Ft. Myers Beach.

 

[BlackCauldron]

Don't forget to ask about substitutions and alternatives. The new DDP "rules" allow for, where available, the substitution of soup or salad instead of dessert at some TS restaurants, and sometimes things that you'd think would cost extra (e.g., a milkshake as your beverage) are included on the DDP.

On my last trip a few weeks ago, I tested out the new substitution rules with mixed results. Every CS meal allowed me to swap out my desert for another snack option. Sometimes you had to remind the cashier of the rule, but the transaction always allowed it. Note - this is a great way to swap out a boring cupcake for some french onion soup at BOG for lunch.

Trying this at TS dinners - not so much luck. Pay extra attention to that caveat "where available," because it seemed very limited. Over the course of 10 sit down dinners, I was able to swap my dessert for a soup/salad exactly once, at BOG, and they would only swap it for the salad trio, not the soup.

 

[Caroline Treacy]

I've really tried not to get fixated on this but I've calculated that the 4 of us will eat about $2800 of food over 2 weeks, I've booked the most expensive table restaurants, found the nicest quick service and most substantial snacks all on the free dining plan we got... I'd feel really reluctant spending so much every day if we were paying out of pocket. I've never spent that much in my life on food, I can't believe how expensive it is!

You can definately research the best return for your plan, has tables to help pick best value restaurants and I like Disney tourist blog for reviews and allears for menus... it's been fun researching and reading menus but I guess it's all down to personal choice. Happy eating x

 

[Caroline Treacy]

That's wdw prep school! Rules are made for breaking X