Disney dining plan yes or no?

Sarbear1989

Sarbear1989

New Member
Original Poster
Hey people

Need some advice on the Disney Dining Plan. We r staying with family at disney this year who r DVC members.
Previously when we have been we have stayed on international drive and always bought food as we come and go.
My questions is... Would it be cost effective for me and my wife to buy separately a basic dining package for the length of our stay or just pay cash when and where we eat?

Any advice out there is a great help.
Thanks
 
Monty

Monty

Brilliant...and Canadian
In the Parks
No
If you're staying with them, you all have to buy the same plan.

I'm a firm believer that the Dining Plan does not save you money. I think a lot of people like the convenience of pre-paying for their food and that's fine if it works for you. The TiW card is a much better deal if you like TS dining, whether you're eligible or your DVC family are members.
 
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Monty said:
If you're staying with them, you all have to buy the same plan.

I'm a firm believer that the Dining Plan does not save you money. I think a lot of people like the convenience of pre-paying for their food and that's fine if it works for you. The TiW card is a much better deal if you like TS dining, whether you're eligible or your DVC family are members.
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Ditto to this! The dining plan buys you a small amount of convenience, not bargain dining -- it will generally not save you money unless you pick all the most expensive things at the most expensive 1-credit restaurants, AND unless you would eat the same amount and types of food (dessert with every meal, no appetizers, etc.) without it.

There is a wonderful tool here that you can use to put in your dining preferences and preferred restaurants and see whether/how much you'd save on the DDP: http://www.distripplanner.com/

And as @Monty said, everyone in the room has to get the DDP if you want it.
 
cw1982

cw1982

Well-Known Member
The other thing about the dining plan is that, in a way, it can be restrictive. We didn't do the dining plan on our last trip, but I noticed that at several of the restaurants, when servers would ask if we had the dining plan and we'd say no, they seemed relieved to be able to say that we could order anything off the menu. Could have been coincidentally mainly the restaurants we chose, but imo if I have prepaid for my food, I want to be able to order what I like and not be dictated by what's on the approved list.
 
HRHPrincessAriel

HRHPrincessAriel

Well-Known Member
cw1982 said:
You suck! If I wasn't hoping to be pregnant by then, I would totally be trying to buy someone's registration for that ;) you must promise to come back and tell me all about it! :)
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I may die and not come back. I don't run. Ever. lol My assistant is coming with me so it's a girls trip!
 
Disvillain63

Disvillain63

Well-Known Member
HRHPrincessAriel said:
You have to have an AP or be a Florida resident I think. I upgraded to an AP since I'm going back in Nov.
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We upgraded for the first time last September, because we planned a second family trip with our grandkids. Since we have the passes, we have made two additional trips ... and our AP finale will be in September. It has been fun, but I don't think we will enjoy APs again for awhile. We'll go back to our annual trips and maybe some Disney cruising.

Good luck in your half marathon.
 
Dwarful

Dwarful

Well-Known Member
We have done the dining plan in the past. The most recent trip May 31 - June 8 we did not do the dining plan. We did price out the dining plan...for our family the reg. plan would have been over $1600.00. I budgeted that amount of money for the trip. Then I kept receipts for all of our meals. We ordered what we wanted, sometimes having two snacks a day and not having a dessert at dinner. We saved just under $500 not doing the dining plan.
 
Jennifer66

Jennifer66

Well-Known Member
We did the DDP once, and did not like it because it didn't fit the way we eat/drink. We like to order apps, maybe share an entree and dessert, and we hardly ever drink soda. It did not save us any $. Now if it covered cocktails...
 
Kevin_W

Kevin_W

Well-Known Member
Similar to most people, we don't think paying for the DDP is worth it. It's been a nice discount when we went on "free" dining, but this past trip it was almost a relief not to have it and just order what/when we wanted.

I compared the costs after the trip and we spend about the same amount of money as we would have on the DDP, but we ate the equivalent of 31 TS meals instead of the 18 we would have had on the DDP so we came out way ahead in quality.
 
Daxiegirl

Daxiegirl

Active Member
cw1982 said:
The other thing about the dining plan is that, in a way, it can be restrictive. We didn't do the dining plan on our last trip, but I noticed that at several of the restaurants, when servers would ask if we had the dining plan and we'd say no, they seemed relieved to be able to say that we could order anything off the menu. Could have been coincidentally mainly the restaurants we chose, but imo if I have prepaid for my food, I want to be able to order what I like and not be dictated by what's on the approved list.
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What's up with this?
I've read some posts that say there are "special"menus (read: not so special) for the "Free dining DDP" and others that have not. Am I just searching in the wrong place? I'm going to be that problematic guest if I'm told I have to order off a 'special' list when I've been led to believe that I can choose from the entire menu. Especially since it doesn't even happen work out as a cost saver in the long run.
 
cw1982

cw1982

Well-Known Member
Daxiegirl said:
What's up with this?
I've read some posts that say there are "special"menus (read: not so special) for the "Free dining DDP" and others that have not. Am I just searching in the wrong place? I'm going to be that problematic guest if I'm told I have to order off a 'special' list when I've been led to believe that I can choose from the entire menu. Especially since it doesn't even happen work out as a cost saver in the long run.
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At Coral Reef, 50's PTC, and one other place that we went (can't remember off the top of my head, but I'll come back and update if it hits me), the servers literally said, in no uncertain terms, "Okay. Since you're not on the dining plan, you can order whatever you like." It may very well be that this is only true at certain restaurants. I think this must be the case, because we only had that happen a few times, and we ate TS five out of the six days that we were on property. I never saw a special dining plan menu; it could be that they only bring those out if you are on the dining plan, or it could just be a conversation the server has with guests who are using dp. Either way, I didn't like that, and it makes me think that even if I hadn't had weight loss surgery, I wouldn't have liked the dining plan. I'm too picky of an eater to be dictated by those kinds of restrictions.
 
Daxiegirl

Daxiegirl

Active Member
No kidding, wow! Obviously it's not something they make obvious when they advertise...well, obviously :arghh: (Let's rip people off aaannnd then do it again.)
My TR in the Fall may be an interesting one...
 

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