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Disney dining plan yes or no?
- Thread starter Sarbear1989
- Start date
cw1982
Well-Known Member
Yes, thank you. The below quote from earlier in this thread already clarified that for me
I was just going off of the fact that the servers kept asking us about whether or not we were on the plan and then would follow it with "if not, then you can order whatever you want." And like I said, even just not being able to order an appetizer is a restriction in my situation, as I often order an appetizer for my meal if DH and I aren't sharing a plate (which is what we do 90% of the time anyway). Glad it works for you... clearly everyone is different lol.
wdwmom2+1
Active Member
I also does not think it saves any money. Maybe if you ate all that it offered but we used to get it because when it first came out it was always free or discounted esp for fl residents. but now ive done the math many times and it would always cost more then what we pay for food.. now we don't eat as much as what we would get on the plan so that may be the difference but i'm not gonna spend the money on it if we aren't even going to need that much food.
SAV
Well-Known Member
On our 2012 trip, we did have the dining plan. As we were getting each meal, my wife took down the amount that we would have paid for the meal. When we totaled up everything, there wasn't a savings for us. Most days I found myself just having to eat a meal since I "already paid for it" even though I wasn't really hungry. On top of that, each meal came with a dessert and by the 5th day, I wasn't really wanting those either. It seemed that I was too full to enjoy the snacks that I really wanted(Dole Whip, Chocolate cookie Ice Cream Sandwich, etc). On our last park day, we actually had 2 meal credits left that we weren't going to use. So my wife grabbed 2 portions from the Yak & Yeti take out to bring with us to the beach portion of the trip. We ended up throwing one of those away.
The trip we just returned from last week, we didn't do the DP and what we actually paid/ate vs what we would have paid on the DP was several hundred less.
The trip we just returned from last week, we didn't do the DP and what we actually paid/ate vs what we would have paid on the DP was several hundred less.
Monty
Brilliant...and Canadian
- In the Parks
- No
If you've paid any attention to my posts on DDP, you'd know it most certainly does not "work for me". LOL!Yes, thank you. The below quote from earlier in this thread already clarified that for me
I was just going off of the fact that the servers kept asking us about whether or not we were on the plan and then would follow it with "if not, then you can order whatever you want." And like I said, even just not being able to order an appetizer is a restriction in my situation, as I often order an appetizer for my meal if DH and I aren't sharing a plate (which is what we do 90% of the time anyway). Glad it works for you... clearly everyone is different lol.
You are not barred from ordering anything on the menu when you are on the Dining Plans, you just have to pay out-of-pocket for anything you order that isn't included in the plan. I was pointing out that servers generally dislike the plan because of the backlash they get from people who want to deviate from what the plans cover but don't want to pay the extra costs or they want to substitute an appetizer for a dessert that's the same "value". The Plans only provide the specific items advertised, nothing else, but you can separately purchase whatever you want that isn't included.
I haven't used the Dining Plans in any of their forms in years. They simply don't meet my needs at all.
In my experience, the only value to the Plans is if A) you have a number of people sharing a room and you get the "Free Dining" package at a Value resort or there are no room-only discounts available when you're there or B) you don't care about savings as such but want to "pre-pay" for your vacation. Otherwise, you save more with room discounts than the full value of the paid DDP. I prefer to buy the Tables in Wonderland dining discount card. It saves me much more based on my son and my own eating and drinking preferences than any plan could. When people keep their receipts and say they "saved" $X using the plan I'm more than happy for them, but I ask myself if they would have eaten what they ate at the places they ate if money were no object and they were ordering what they wanted. I order what I want to eat and never have to worry about whether I'm "maximizing" the value of a dining credit.
cw1982
Well-Known Member
I wasn't saying it worked for you
I was using your quote to show the other person I quoted in that same post that you had already clarified the rules, that there was no reason to keep "proving me wrong" lol. Sorry for any confusion.
Monty
Brilliant...and Canadian
- In the Parks
- No
Gotcha, so I was unnecessarily proving you right!I wasn't saying it worked for you
JillC LI
Well-Known Member
We're fans of it as well. We might receive more desserts than we would otherwise order, but even putting those aside, it still saves us both money and convenience. Glad that others have clarified for the OP that there is not a restricted menu for people on the DDP. It's just that it will only cover the cost of your entree, non-alcoholic drink, and dessert. You can order anything else you want to pay for though. I can see how this wouldn't be a cost-saver for those that like to make a meal of appetizers or the like. For us, it works. Everyone should calculate it for themselves.
I wish the DDP gave the option of an appetizer or dessert, but I'm sure it's a business decision that it is much easier to sell you an upcharge appetizer while you are hungry than an upcharge dessert after you are stuffed. The DDP makes servers groan for a number of reasons... I've seen some guests argue about substitutions or trying to redeem entitlements for additional people not on the DDP, things like that. Some servers are also easily flustered by the new iPod MagicBand readers and visibly dread them. But perhaps the biggest concern servers have is that some DDP users don't realize that gratuities are not included (minus dinner shows and CRT). I could make a case that the whole American custom of tipping is madness, but that is for another forum.
harryk
Well-Known Member
Tip not included. The purchaser of the DDP should know this. I have been advised of this when I purchase the DDP each time.
sbkline
Well-Known Member
The last time we used the dining plan was in 2011. On that trip, I made sure to write the dollar total on the back of the receipt, before it got zeroed out with the DP credits. I did this with our snacks, our counter service and table service meals. I wasn't feeling good for most of the trip and we ended up leaving a day early and missing our last set of meals. But I estimated approx what they would have been and added them to the total as I was adding up all the meals. What I found was that it did not save us that much money. Maybe a little, but not enough to make me feel like we really "saved money" by using the DDP.
Plus, we always like to go off property for different things during the trip, such as Sea World, the Beach, a shopping day at the malls, etc. It gets to be a pain in the butt trying to keep track of all the meal credits to make sure they get used by the end of the trip. For example, if we go to Sea World, then not only are we spending money out of pocket to eat lunch there, but now we have another counter service credit on the DDP floating around that we have to make sure to use in order not to waste our DDP credits.
Then there is the hassle of feeling like we have to order certain things in order to make it add up. I eat like a hoss, but my wife has a tendency to order a chicken wrap and a glass of water, which doesn't really get you your money's worth on a prepaid meal plan.
So I have personally found that the Dining Plan isn't really for us.
Plus, we always like to go off property for different things during the trip, such as Sea World, the Beach, a shopping day at the malls, etc. It gets to be a pain in the butt trying to keep track of all the meal credits to make sure they get used by the end of the trip. For example, if we go to Sea World, then not only are we spending money out of pocket to eat lunch there, but now we have another counter service credit on the DDP floating around that we have to make sure to use in order not to waste our DDP credits.
Then there is the hassle of feeling like we have to order certain things in order to make it add up. I eat like a hoss, but my wife has a tendency to order a chicken wrap and a glass of water, which doesn't really get you your money's worth on a prepaid meal plan.
So I have personally found that the Dining Plan isn't really for us.
dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
The only answer to the DDP question is to run the numbers. Look at the menus online, and don't pay attention to the prices. Select the food you think you would want to eat. Then go back and total it all up. See how it compares to the cost of the DDP. Typically, you need to order the most expensive item on the menu to break even/save money. Want a $13 pasta dish instead of a $23 steak? The DDP just "cost" you $10.
Also, if you don't eat to the plan, you won't save money. If you don't normally get a snack during the day, or share drinks at CS locations, or eat of the kids menu, etc. And as pointed out, everyone on a reservation needs to partake. If your hosts are DVC members they can buy TiW even if they don't have an AP (the AP rate is cheaper though), so that may work out better.
Also, if you don't eat to the plan, you won't save money. If you don't normally get a snack during the day, or share drinks at CS locations, or eat of the kids menu, etc. And as pointed out, everyone on a reservation needs to partake. If your hosts are DVC members they can buy TiW even if they don't have an AP (the AP rate is cheaper though), so that may work out better.
HRHPrincessAriel
Well-Known Member
That one MADE sense. I can't remember what we paid per day but I think it was around $40 a day vs nights... I'm looking at my invoice from 2007. It doesn't break it down but we paid for 3 nights at POFQ with 4 day park hoppers and 4 days of meals for 543 per person.
Much-Pixie-Dust
Well-Known Member
This is my family's situation to a T! We found it wasteful when we didn't use it completely, and we never used it completely. I don't need or want multiple daily meals with desserts, plus snacks too.
Now we just load a bunch of gift cards onto our account at the beginning of the trip, and that all goes for food and anything else we choose to buy.
I like buying a room-only too because then I don't have to buy the trip insurance. With the DDP package you have to pay for everything 45 days out, and thus I feel like I also need trip insurance.
Dwarful
Well-Known Member
HRHPrincessAriel, that is the plan we had when I took my daughter's girl scout troop to WDW from Illinois. We had 36 in our group...Pam from KK made all the arrangements for our meals. For most of the girls in my troop it was their first and only trip to WDW...AND for all but three it was their first time staying in a hotel! We worked so hard to earn that money and yet it was within reason for us to get to ASMovies, use that dining plan and have money for all the girls to get a tshirt to remember the trip. These girls just graduated high school this year. I didn't even attempt that same trip with my youngest daughter's troop because of the significant increase in prices...hotel, dining, tickets, etc., it just wasn't feasible which is too bad. But man....that old plan was awesome!