News Disney Dining Plan Returns in 2024

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KateKirisit

New Member
TheMaxRebo said:
For using the DDP? Definitely do research to figure out where you are maximizing the benefit - 1 TS character meals, etc.

If you drink alcohol try to do so at your meals as they are included vs just getting a beer separate from the meal

Can use your snack credits at the Epcot festival booths (for food, not drinks)

Your credits are totals for your trip so you can use more or less credits each day (so could do 2 TS one day and then none the next, use multiple snacks credits on your Epcot day, etc
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Thank you so much for this! - SUPER helpful!
 
K

KateKirisit

New Member
cranbiz said:
Yes, don't buy the dining plan. It's designed to part you from your money and there is no value to it. Buy discount gift cards to pay for your meals OOP.
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Hi there,

How exactly is it parting me from my money? - My original OOP budget for food for 1 week for 2 people was $2000.00. Based on the Standard DDP pricing of $95 pp/per day is actually cheaper than my OOP budget. - so where is the negative? (remember, I have NEVER been to Disney so I cannot rate past experiences personally)

I know all about needing to maximize credits by getting "the most expensive" dish that's eligible etc.. but how is this bad? - I drink, my husband drinks, no kids are travelling with us, and were HUGE foodies.. how is the DDP bad?
 
TheMaxRebo

TheMaxRebo

Well-Known Member
KateKirisit said:
Hi there,

How exactly is it parting me from my money? - My original OOP budget for food for 1 week for 2 people was $2000.00. Based on the Standard DDP pricing of $95 pp/per day is actually cheaper than my OOP budget. - so where is the negative? (remember, I have NEVER been to Disney so I cannot rate past experiences personally)

I know all about needing to maximize credits by getting "the most expensive" dish that's eligible etc.. but how is this bad? - I drink, my husband drinks, no kids are travelling with us, and were HUGE foodies.. how is the DDP bad?
Click to expand...

To me it is more about how you think about it. If prepaying for it frees you to order what you want and not worry about cost, etc and gives you that more all inclusive feel, then it can work for you

Personally the way my brain works is I would have to maximize the value so would feel like I would have to order the most expensive option (whether it appealed to me or not) and we don't always eat aas the plan is structured - we might just want a few appetizers or split an entree, etc

Definitely isn't an automatic yes or no for everyone whether you should get it.

I do think as they raise the price it is harder to get full value as many options would come to well less than the $95/day but if you are strategic - and the prepaying provides a mental benefit to you - it can work
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Premium Member
KateKirisit said:
Hi there,

How exactly is it parting me from my money? - My original OOP budget for food for 1 week for 2 people was $2000.00. Based on the Standard DDP pricing of $95 pp/per day is actually cheaper than my OOP budget. - so where is the negative? (remember, I have NEVER been to Disney so I cannot rate past experiences personally)

I know all about needing to maximize credits by getting "the most expensive" dish that's eligible etc.. but how is this bad? - I drink, my husband drinks, no kids are travelling with us, and were HUGE foodies.. how is the DDP bad?
Click to expand...
The dining plan only covers 2 meals a day, no appetizers and signature restaurants are 2 credits. Did you figure that in compared to your budget?
 
K

KateKirisit

New Member
TheMaxRebo said:
To me it is more about how you think about it. If prepaying for it frees you to order what you want and not worry about cost, etc and gives you that more all inclusive feel, then it can work for you

Personally the way my brain works is I would have to maximize the value so would feel like I would have to order the most expensive option (whether it appealed to me or not) and we don't always eat aas the plan is structured - we might just want a few appetizers or split an entree, etc

Definitely isn't an automatic yes or no for everyone whether you should get it.

I do think as they raise the price it is harder to get full value as many options would come to well less than the $95/day but if you are strategic - and the prepaying provides a mental benefit to you - it can work
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Perfect! - Thank you for clarifying!

I appreciate your feedback! - it all goes into my "WDW Vacation Planner" LOL
 
K

KateKirisit

New Member
Figgy1 said:
The dining plan only covers 2 meals a day, no appetizers and signature restaurants are 2 credits. Did you figure that in compared to your budget?
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Hi There.

So according to every single updated communication I have read on the standard DDP - each person in the reservation per day gets 1 QS meal (call that a lunch in the parks or whatever) 1 TS meal (call that a buffet breakfast or a dinner of some kind) and you get 1 snack / beverage also. --so if we eat a small breakfast at our resort (that we get from a grocery store) and then use the QS meal as lunch and the TS meal as a dinner, then yes we should be fine.

We will be bringing some of our own easy to eat snacks/water, etc..

I am just trying to understand why everyone hates the DDP so much..
 
jefedelospollos

jefedelospollos

New Member
KateKirisit said:
I am waiting for the website to come back online to TRY and book my 2024 Vacation package. - We are going to Disney for the first time ever and are doing to standard DDP. - any thoughts, tips, tricks, advice for a newbie?
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Another thing to keep in mind - if your kid is 10 or older, congratulations, they're an adult in the eyes of Disney, so this can make huge difference in the cost for you (plus, very few 10 year olds eat adult-sized meals at Disney restaurants, in my experience). The last time we used the dining plan, my daughter was 10, and it was a disaster. All she wanted were the kid meals, so you're either paying for a plate of pasta with an adult dining credit, or paying out of pocket for the kid meal. I think we ended up leaving several dining credits unused that trip.
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Premium Member
KateKirisit said:
Hi There.

So according to every single updated communication I have read on the standard DDP - each person in the reservation per day gets 1 QS meal (call that a lunch in the parks or whatever) 1 TS meal (call that a buffet breakfast or a dinner of some kind) and you get 1 snack / beverage also. --so if we eat a small breakfast at our resort (that we get from a grocery store) and then use the QS meal as lunch and the TS meal as a dinner, then yes we should be fine.

We will be bringing some of our own easy to eat snacks/water, etc..

I am just trying to understand why everyone hates the DDP so much..
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It works for some but not others
btw tips are not included so you'll have to figure them into your budget. I'm not saying if it will or will not work for you
Do what is right for you
 
cranbiz

cranbiz

Well-Known Member
KateKirisit said:
Hi there,

How exactly is it parting me from my money? - My original OOP budget for food for 1 week for 2 people was $2000.00. Based on the Standard DDP pricing of $95 pp/per day is actually cheaper than my OOP budget. - so where is the negative? (remember, I have NEVER been to Disney so I cannot rate past experiences personally)

I know all about needing to maximize credits by getting "the most expensive" dish that's eligible etc.. but how is this bad? - I drink, my husband drinks, no kids are travelling with us, and were HUGE foodies.. how is the DDP bad?
Click to expand...
It's not the value Disney makes it out to be. Period. You get so many credits for each day. If you want to eat in the nicer TS restaurants (2 credit), you will run out of TS credits and you will need to pay OOP.

For that $2000 budget, you can buy discounted Disney gift cards and have money left over for other things or you can eat at 2 TS restaurants every night and have a great time.

What the DDP does is allow you to prepay for your food. It's a convenience that few get full value out of. If you can get full value, great. Then it makes sense to buy into it. I'm going to guess that you may come close if you always buy the most expensive dish and always have alcohol, dessert, etc. but is that what you really want to do on vacation? Figure out how to make your prepaid meal worth the money you spent on it?
 
K

KateKirisit

New Member
cranbiz said:
It's not the value Disney makes it out to be. Period. You get so many credits for each day. If you want to eat in the nicer TS restaurants (2 credit), you will run out of TS credits and you will need to pay OOP.

For that $2000 budget, you can buy discounted Disney gift cards and have money left over for other things or you can eat at 2 TS restaurants every night and have a great time.

What the DDP does is allow you to prepay for your food. It's a convenience that few get full value out of. If you can get full value, great. Then it makes sense to buy into it. I'm going to guess that you may come close if you always buy the most expensive dish and always have alcohol, dessert, etc. but is that what you really want to do on vacation? Figure out how to make your prepaid meal worth the money you spent on it?
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Very true. - Thank you for the insight. i will definitely keep this in my considerations on the DDP.

I appreciate your feedback! - It's nice to hear others opinions
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Premium Member
jefedelospollos said:
Another thing to keep in mind - if your kid is 10 or older, congratulations, they're an adult in the eyes of Disney, so this can make huge difference in the cost for you (plus, very few 10 year olds eat adult-sized meals at Disney restaurants, in my experience). The last time we used the dining plan, my daughter was 10, and it was a disaster. All she wanted were the kid meals, so you're either paying for a plate of pasta with an adult dining credit, or paying out of pocket for the kid meal. I think we ended up leaving several dining credits unused that trip.
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or kids who were under 10 and ate off the adult menu:banghead::banghead::banghead: Remy's palette, Emile's appetite:banghead::banghead::banghead: I never once complained about the price of buffets
 
DisneyDreamer08

DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
I’ve been in the virtual queue for 5 1/2 hours and my wait time still says “Recalculating”. This must be on purpose right? So everyone thinks the website is so crazy busy they MUST book today? 😂
 
K

KateKirisit

New Member
jefedelospollos said:
Another thing to keep in mind - if your kid is 10 or older, congratulations, they're an adult in the eyes of Disney, so this can make huge difference in the cost for you (plus, very few 10 year olds eat adult-sized meals at Disney restaurants, in my experience). The last time we used the dining plan, my daughter was 10, and it was a disaster. All she wanted were the kid meals, so you're either paying for a plate of pasta with an adult dining credit, or paying out of pocket for the kid meal. I think we ended up leaving several dining credits unused that trip.
Click to expand...
I dont have kids. This trip is for mine and my husband's honeymoon
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Premium Member
KateKirisit said:
I dont have kids. This trip is for mine and my husband's honeymoon
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Congratulations Congrats GIF
 
Jon81uk

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
KateKirisit said:
Hi there,

How exactly is it parting me from my money? - My original OOP budget for food for 1 week for 2 people was $2000.00. Based on the Standard DDP pricing of $95 pp/per day is actually cheaper than my OOP budget. - so where is the negative? (remember, I have NEVER been to Disney so I cannot rate past experiences personally)

I know all about needing to maximize credits by getting "the most expensive" dish that's eligible etc.. but how is this bad? - I drink, my husband drinks, no kids are travelling with us, and were HUGE foodies.. how is the DDP bad?
Click to expand...
How did you arrive at that budget? Was it based on the same structure as the DDP?
 

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