Disney Dining Plan

Karolena

Karolena

New Member
Is the Disney Dining Plan worth it? And how much does it cost? I'm guessing it's different depending on what you get, but I can't find any definate numbers.

Also, is the Photo Pass worth the money. What do you get for it and how much does it cost.

Do these things really save you money in the long run?
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
tooltime

tooltime

Member
i haven't tried it yet but will soon.

what sounds really good is it includes sales tax and gratuity (you can always tip additional). you'll save money.
 
Upvote 0
k.hunter30

k.hunter30

New Member
It's worth it for me and my family. However we have some friends who go to WDW just to ride the rides and meet the characters and they're definitely able to eat on less than the cost of the DP per day. So I guess it depends on how you'd like to spend your vacation.
 
Upvote 0
pinkrose

pinkrose

Well-Known Member
I have used the dining plan and I think it's an excellent value! We also liked knowing that everything was paid for before we arrived (except for the little extras and our souvenirs).
 
Upvote 0
pinkrose

pinkrose

Well-Known Member
k.hunter30 said:
It's worth it for me and my family. However we have some friends who go to WDW just to ride the rides and meet the characters and they're definitely able to eat on less than the cost of the DP per day. So I guess it depends on how you'd like to spend your vacation.
Click to expand...

I agree. It really depends on your eating habbits. If you plan to do mainly counter service. No, it's not worth it.
 
Upvote 0
S

sherylemomof2

New Member
Dining Plan

We just used the dining plan for our family of 10 and loved it. We bought very little extra besides the plan. Drinks and ice cream mostly. We feel we got a great deal for the money spent.
The photo Pass was quite expensive for one picture 5x7 it was 13+ and they went up from there. If taken with our own camera these pictures 12 cents each. Hope this helps
 
Upvote 0
ThinkTink721

ThinkTink721

Well-Known Member
Karolena said:
Is the Disney Dining Plan worth it? And how much does it cost? I'm guessing it's different depending on what you get, but I can't find any definate numbers.

Also, is the Photo Pass worth the money. What do you get for it and how much does it cost.

Do these things really save you money in the long run?
Click to expand...
The DDP definitely saves us money! :D
:wave:
 
Upvote 0
Karolena

Karolena

New Member
Original Poster
Thanks for all the information.

The tips being included would be a major help.

Any other additional information is welcomed. :animwink:
 
Upvote 0
lilclerk

lilclerk

Well-Known Member
If you like the chance to slow down and have a nice sit-down meal every day, the dining plan is definitely worth it. I loved it, it was so nice knowing everything was paid for before we left.
Just remember to make reservations before you go!

Getting your picture taken is free. They give you a little card, and the photographer scans it, takes your picture, and you're on your way. You can either get prints made or buy a CD of all your photos in the parks, or you can do it online at home. The CD of all your pictures is $125 which seems expensive, but it's really not THAT bad considering you're buying the copyright and can have the photos printed anywhere, while Disney's prints are at least $13.
I really hope they're planning to include all the ride photos in Photopass at some point.
http://www.disneyphotopass.com
 
Upvote 0
Cinderella1976

Cinderella1976

New Member
I think the dining plan is worth the money. We use it every year. We are a family of five and we save a lot of money and it is nice to be able to sit down and have a nice meal once a day.
 
Upvote 0
jjgoo

jjgoo

Member
My wife and I found the dining plan to be a great value because it gave us a chance to eat at restaurants for dinner that we might not have done otherwise.

My normal plan for eating before was to pack things for breakfast and eat in the hotel room, eat table srvice for lunch if I wanted a table service because the menus are very similar and cheaper at lunch and then do a light counter service dinner.

The dining plan opened up flexibility in where we ate and when we ate. It also made me less concerned with what I was ordering. I denefintely enjoy it and will use it again, but you can be careful and still eat in the parks and pay less.

Photopass is great if you get a lot of use out of it. We made sure every opportunity we got that we had our picture taken. Then when we ordered our CD and some photos on-line after the trip it made it worth it (we used a discount code we got at MNSSHP and it applied to all the pictures we ordered not just the special event). If you only get a couple of pictures it is not worth it at all.

Have fun!
 
Upvote 0
Sleepy01

Sleepy01

New Member
My family and I have used the Dining Plan on past visits. As others have mentioned it was nice having everything taken care of (paid for), and it also gave us an opportunity to try restaurants we would have never tried without the plan. We could probably eat for less without the plan but we liked the convenience.

The one thing I will say is that it is A LOT of food. One table service meal four our family was 4 full appetizers, 4 full 'dinners' & 4 full desserts. The first day or two I remember thinking 'Oh my goodness it's almost time to eat again. I don't know if I can do it.' Once we got adjusted we realized you don't have to get 4 appetizers or it was okay to pass on dessert.

At first we were trying to squeeze every penny out of the plan, but after I'd say breakfast of day 2 we started being okay with 'leaving meals' on the table. I think when we left we each had at least a counter service meal left & we used 2 sit down credits at Chef Mickey's.

I don't know if anyone else ran into that issue but you certainly get enough food!
 
Upvote 0
atterris

atterris

Member
The photo pass thing is great. We bought the cd and it had about 140 pictures on it. We split the cost between 4 people so it wasn't that expensive and the pictures are great.:)
 
Upvote 0
AEfx

AEfx

Well-Known Member
atterris said:
The photo pass thing is great. We bought the cd and it had about 140 pictures on it. We split the cost between 4 people so it wasn't that expensive and the pictures are great.:)
Click to expand...

For family trips we find the Photopass CD great too. We did it once right after it was introduced, and are doing it again on our next trip this fall, even though the price has gone up.

We found it a value because we worried a lot less about getting the right pic ourself. We still took many of our own, but we avoided taking several cameras out every time. That way we had one of our own and several of Disney's to choose from for each "event", and always had at least one good one.

It is quite a bit of money, but if you break it down over your stay, it's not much per day to have a little less to worry about, and a larger selection of photos to do projects with when you get home. For full disclosure, I think the individual photo prices are crazy - I don't think I'd every buy one - but for the CD and the license to make my own any way I choose (in a calendar, any way I want) I think it is great.

Oops. Sorry for the thread drift. ;)

AEfx
 
Upvote 0

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom