Disney Dining plan question..

[BuddhasHomeGirl]

...or Table of Wonderland....or whatever they are calling it. :lol: Do you have to have length of stay park tickets to be on the Dining plan? We usually do not go to Disney parks the entire time we are there, we split it between different things, but the dining plan is worth it to us since we usually eat every night at a Boma or Ohana type restaurant.

 

[fosse76]

...or Table of Wonderland....or whatever they are calling it. :lol: Do you have to have length of stay park tickets to be on the Dining plan? We usually do not go to Disney parks the entire time we are there, we split it between different things, but the dining plan is worth it to us since we usually eat every night at a Boma or Ohana type restaurant.

You have to buy a Magic Your Way package to have the dining plan...but it's based on the length of your stay at your resort, not the park tickets (though you have to buy AT LEAST a one day ticket). So if you're staying five nights at Wilderness Lodge, then you have five Table Service credits, five snack credits, and five Quick Service credits (on the basic plan, anyway). You can use them all in one day if you wanted. Like I said, it's only based on the length of your hotel booking.

 

[Monty]

Any MYW ticket package works for the Disney Dining Plan [DDP]. A one-day base ticket up to a 10-day Hopper with Water Parks and More and the No Expiration Option.

Tables in Wonderland is a different program [formerly the Disney Dining Experience DDE card]. It's a discount card for dining that is available to AP holders or Florida residents. It takes 20% off the dining bill of a party of up to ten, including all food and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages as well.

EDIT: I personally don't believe DDP is worth the cost. To benefit from it money-wise, you need to avoid buffets and eat at high-end single credit table service restaurants and order the more expensive dishes almost exclusively. That said, many people find it worthwhile just because they can pre-pay their meals and feel like they're dining for "free". I only use the DDP when it's offered for free and even then only if I can't get better discounts otherwise.

 

[Rob562]

EDIT: I personally don't believe DDP is worth the cost. To benefit from it money-wise, you need to avoid buffets and eat at high-end single credit table service restaurants and order the more expensive dishes almost exclusively. That said, many people find it worthwhile just because they can pre-pay their meals and feel like they're dining for "free". I only use the DDP when it's offered for free and even then only if I can't get better discounts otherwise.

I agree. After doing the calculations for being an AP holder eligible to buy Tables in Wonderland, the only time the DDP is a better deal is if it's free. (We were lucky enough to get a Free Dining PIN code email for our trip in June, but even then the B4G3 deal was better for all except Value resorts)

Plus, in the past our dining style was to only have 2 or 3 Table Service meals over the course of a week. It was a first for me to have 7 of them back in September.

Now if only they'd give out the Deluxe Dining plan for free. :lol:

-Rob

 

[betteratmk]

:shrug: Help me out here!! We have 6 in our party for March. All are considered adults by Disney standards.(4-adults and 2 kids 11 and 13) The basic dining plan is 38.99 right? Now most buffets at Diney are 28 or 29 dollars for dinner plus one snack, say $3.00 and a counter service that is at least $9. or $10.? And if you break even there some places are even higher Chef de France, Coral reef ect. Which way would you suggest we go? Even with the counter service meal , if we add on 3 buffet style meals CM,O'Hanna's, and GG that's $115. per family per meal at almost $700. plus $1260.

 

[Computer Magic]

:shrug: Help me out here!! We have 6 in our party for March. All are considered adults by Disney standards.(4-adults and 2 kids 11 and 13) The basic dining plan is 38.99 right? Now most buffets at Diney are 28 or 29 dollars for dinner plus one snack, say $3.00 and a counter service that is at least $9. or $10.? And if you break even there some places are even higher Chef de France, Coral reef ect. Which way would you suggest we go? Even with the counter service meal , if we add on 3 buffet style meals CM,O'Hanna's, and GG that's $115. per family per meal at almost $700. plus $1260.

If you plan to use all the credits available, then it is a good deal. So I would purchase the plan. Disney makes it that way by inflating the menu prices. What I mean is they sell it on the menu for $40 knowing that they will still make a profit if someone uses a TS instead of out of pocket. This gives Disney the money upfront.

We enjoy our TS, CS and snacks, so we use every single credit. We have always came out ahead.

Now, if the kids only want Mac n cheese, then you might have an issue.

I will end by saying Disney has water down this plan for more profit. In addition, Disney is starting to use a cookie cutter approach on the menus. This meaning the selection is mostly the same where ever you go.

 

[BuddhasHomeGirl]

Thanks everyone, I am diffidently going to have to do the calculations before committing.

 

[Computer Magic]

Thanks everyone, I am diffidently going to have to do the calculations before committing.

I use to review the menus from here and other Disney sites for prices and see what I might purchase. That would give me a ballpark of cost. Remember tax is included but tip is not.

Good Luck and let us know what you decide and how you came to that decision. I really enjoy other peoples plans after doing their homework

 

[Carebee21]

:shrug: Help me out here!! We have 6 in our party for March. All are considered adults by Disney standards.(4-adults and 2 kids 11 and 13) The basic dining plan is 38.99 right? Now most buffets at Diney are 28 or 29 dollars for dinner plus one snack, say $3.00 and a counter service that is at least $9. or $10.? And if you break even there some places are even higher Chef de France, Coral reef ect. Which way would you suggest we go? Even with the counter service meal , if we add on 3 buffet style meals CM,O'Hanna's, and GG that's $115. per family per meal at almost $700. plus $1260.

I think the disney dining plan is an ok option for some but for most I really think it's trying to entice you to spend more money than you normally do but still think you're getting a deal. But I think these are a couple of the question you need to ask in determining if it's a good deal for you.

1. Are you going to eat table service every night for dinner in Disney? Everyone says, oh you can break even or make a deal out of it by eating here or doing this. But think about where you'll really be eating if there was no dining plan. Then look at the cost of those meals and figure out if it's worth the cost. For example, we won't eat table service every night and we'll be eating off of property a couple times. Plus we want to do 2 breakfast and 1 lunch character meals (which only cost about $18) So for us, it's actually cheaper to keep what we want to do. Sure, I could make the dining plan work by changing my breakfast and lunch meals to dinners and always eating in the park instead of out of the park, but I'm spending extra money on things that I really don't need to.

2. Think about your familys appetite. Do you really eat that much food? I know when we do counter service, I will either get a kids meal or I can usually share a big meal with my 5 year. So therefore there would be no reason for us to need all of those counter service credits. Sure, if we had the plan we could use them, but we normally wouldn't.

3. Are you really going to eat that many snacks included in the plan? We just plan on going to the grocery store and keeping snacks in our room and backpack, so we won't really be buying snacks for all of us everyday. So sure, we could use the credits, but in reality it's a lot cheaper to just buy your own from outside.

4. What is your adult to kid ratio? The kids price (3-9) is only $10.99, whereas the adult price is $38.99. Say you're a family of 5 with all adults. Your price is $194.95/day. But say you're a family of 5 with 2 adults and 3 kids under 9. Your price is $110.95. So if you're planning on doing lots of character meals despite the time of the day and you have smaller kids, this is one of the few times I think the dining plan would probably be a good option for you. But run the numbers.

So yes, you can make a deal out of the dining plan and make it worth your money, but was that money you were going to spend or needed to spend anyways???

 

[betteratmk]

:shrug: This trip we are taking the other family as a Christmas gift. Their son is a huge eater , ours is not! They have never been to Disney before and this may be their only opportunity to go. We usually stop every night for dinner, but don"t mind having a large lunch instead. We always have snack credits left, they i imagine will not! I have been over the menues, Tyler would be satisfied with the kids menu sometimes but he is too old(11) Our nephew is 5'8 and 250. lbs!! (13) No kids menu for him.

 

[heliumalias]

As someone previously said will you be having a table service meal every day? If not then I wouldn't bother with the plan. Then If you go counter service your son could have the kid's meal (if he has a smaller appetite) or at table service you could get the dish split. Don't forget that the DDP doesn't give you unlimited food and it seems silly to pay extra for it if half of you won't be taking full advantage of it.

 

[Computer Magic]

As someone previously said will you be having a table service meal every day? If not then I wouldn't bother with the plan. Then If you go counter service your son could have the kid's meal (if he has a smaller appetite) or at table service you could get the dish split. Don't forget that the DDP doesn't give you unlimited food and it seems silly to pay extra for it if half of you won't be taking full advantage of it.

It is not necessary to have a TS every. You could go to a Sigature Dinning and use a 2 and skip a TS for each Signature Dinning you use. We did this and allowed us a few times to eat light.

 

[lbrad]

Any MYW ticket package works for the Disney Dining Plan [DDP]. A one-day base ticket up to a 10-day Hopper with Water Parks and More and the No Expiration Option.

Tables in Wonderland is a different program [formerly the Disney Dining Experience DDE card]. It's a discount card for dining that is available to AP holders or Florida residents. It takes 20% off the dining bill of a party of up to ten, including all food and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages as well.

EDIT: I personally don't believe DDP is worth the cost. To benefit from it money-wise, you need to avoid buffets and eat at high-end single credit table service restaurants and order the more expensive dishes almost exclusively. That said, many people find it worthwhile just because they can pre-pay their meals and feel like they're dining for "free". I only use the DDP when it's offered for free and even then only if I can't get better discounts otherwise.

Smart shopper...I do the exact same thing:sohappy:

 

[MichWolv]

I've done the dining plan four times, all during a free dining period. Not sure if I'd pay for it in other situations, but the decision hasn't really ever arisen.

Regarding the Dining Plan, in my opinion, IF you are the type to always eat at least one table-service meal per day, and you would often get dessert and drinks anyways, the DDP will be worth it, monetarily. A dinner buffet is around $30 with tax (which is included in DDP) and before tip (which is not included in DDP). At any table service restaurant, the combination of dinner, dessert, drink and tax would likely be more than $30. A quick-service meal, dessert, drink and tax is likely to run at least $12, more likely $15. Plus a snack with anywhere from $1-$3 or so, and you're at around a $45-$50 value for $39.

My wife and I find that this is still too much food, so we often save the desserts to use as breakfast or lunch (whichever we are "skipping" in terms of using credits). Plus, when there are four of us (my parents as well), we will often use three table service credits to feed the four of us. This works at the non-buffet TS restaurants -- with the desserts it was plenty of food. That allowed us to have a couple of "2 credit" meals without running out of credits.

 

[meatloafsfan]

Also, if you are going at a time of year where the buffets and AYCE meals have the "holiday surcharge" - that's an extra $2 - $4 per meal - the DDP could be beneficial since the cost of the DDP doesn't go up, but what you would be paying OOP does.

If you like to eat at Table service meals once a day and plan your meals on property and don't already have an AP (and don't need one), the DDP can save money.

I'd recommend making your ADR's in advance (at or around the 90 day mark) so you can enjoy the great variety of dining that Disney offers at times that best suit your plans.

Have a great trip!

 

[wannabeBelle]

Just to throw a wrinkle into the planning here, are you aware that you can purchase the Dining plan if you are an Annual Passholder?? If you have an AP we can add any dining plan ( Quick service, regular, Deluxe etc) onto your room reservation. This allows you to purchase any dining plan without the purchase of a MYW ticket, but it does make the room reservation into a package which has diffferent cancellation policies. Hope this helps! Belle