Disney Dinning Plan.....good or not ? ? ?

[Billy Bob]

Hello fellow Disney Lovers,

Today I changed my room res from the Swan to Port Orleans because today we received a flier in the mail that ended up saving us a total of $414 over the 4 days we're going to be there..........NOW I am wondering, is it a good idea to get the Disney dining plan. Here's our dinner reservation for now (can be changed since we aren't going until mid April)........

Day of arrive FLYING FISH
Day two LE CELLIER
Day three MAMA MELROSE'S

So, I really don't know much about the dinning plan and have never used it so I a referring to you Disney Guru's for advice.......hopefully I can pay you back sometime soon.

Bob

 

[Crush Dude!]

Hello fellow Disney Lovers,

Today I changed my room res from the Swan to Port Orleans because today we received a flier in the mail that ended up saving us a total of $414 over the 4 days we're going to be there..........NOW I am wondering, is it a good idea to get the Disney dining plan. Here's our dinner reservation for now (can be changed since we aren't going until mid April)........

Day of arrive FLYING FISH
Day two LE CELLIER
Day three MAMA MELROSE'S

So, I really don't know much about the dinning plan and have never used it so I a referring to you Disney Guru's for advice.......hopefully I can pay you back sometime soon.

Bob

Have a somewhat similar thread in dining forum, lookin 4 info myself

 

[Monty]

I personally don't bother with the Dining Plan. IMO It only saves you money if you work diligently at maximizing your orders at Table Service restaurants.

I can save a lot more with AP or regular room discounts and/or using the TiW card for dining and by doing so I'm not locked into paying for and feeling obligated to use a fixed number of credits.

There are lots of people who use the DDP as a way of pre-paying a fixed amount and thus being able to budget everything in advance. Others think it saves them money. On DDP you are paying rack rate for your resort room, if you factor in what savings would otherwise be available, it rarely saves money.

 

[JediMasterMatt]

If you are willing to put the time into planning your vacation far enough in advance to get reservations at the places you want, like you already have, then the only question is if you will get value out of the plan. The first part of deciding if you get value is if you will eat all of food provided. The second part is eating at places that provide the best cost advantage per meal towards the plan. If you order off the expensive end of the menu, you will always come out ahead.

My wife is retentive and keeps all of the receipts and at the end of our vacations we've always been well up on what our expenses would have been by going it alone. We never need to get additional meals while on the deluxe plan. We typically don't use all of our snack vouchers until the very end. If we get a snack item like a pretzel, we'll buy a drink with it because its a better value to save the vouchers for more expensive items. We usually bring oatmeal for the occasional morning we'll eat breakfast; but, we're never left wanting on the dinning plan. Thanks to it, we've sampled many more restaurants than we would've if we wouldn't have planned ahead.

 

[Billy Bob]

On DDP you are paying rack rate for your resort room, if you factor in what savings would otherwise be available, it rarely saves money.

Thanks for responding to my needs.......but I am confused.....I already have a great rate ($497 for 4 days at Port Orleans) so how would taking the Disney Dinning Plan effect that ? Can you please explain how the DDP works in my circumstances.

Thanks for your time,
Bob

 

[disneytopdog]

look at the menus online and see what you would order at your table services, and quick services add $4 for a snack to that total. If the price is cheaper than $40 a day the dining plan may not be for you.

 

[disney4life2008]

I think the DDP is good if its free. I am debating on going in September 2010 just for free dining and sampling different places. Otherwise, the DDP is way too much food and you have to plan your trip around eating. Which I would rather plan the trip and eat later, lol

 

[toolsnspools]

There is a pdf you can download that has all the details. Pick the one you need from here -

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/benefits/disney-dining-plan/

The Flying Fish will cost you 2 meals each, so for a 4 day trip, you'll still need to fend for yourself for one of the meals. For us, using the DDP changes the experience of the vacation. We slow down more and aren't afraid to sit for an hour and a half for a meal. We also try to hit more character dining, and experience meals like Hoop-Dee-Doo. Depends on your personal tastes.

 

[Monty]

Thanks for responding to my needs.......but I am confused.....I already have a great rate ($497 for 4 days at Port Orleans) so how would taking the Disney Dinning Plan effect that ? Can you please explain how the DDP works in my circumstances.

Thanks for your time,
Bob

To get DDP you have to have a "MYW Package" on the room, package rates are normally the full rack rate for the room. If you get a room-only rate and buy your admissions separately, you can often use discount or AP codes to reduce the room rate and save more than the "savings" of DDP.

My last trip was during the "Free Dining" promotion in August. The room charges at Beach Club for the package to get free DDP would have been more than a discounted room-only by more that $100/night. Getting "free" dining would have cost me a lot more than what I normally would spend on food at WDW in a day. :shrug:

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

Personally I like the dining plan not because I will end up spending less money but because I feel like I would get more for my money. I like paying for budget food but getting a great meal in a nicer restaurant.

If it's in your budget I suggest using it to experience some nicer restaurants so you get your moneys worth. I'm not a fan of Mama Melrosa's...enjoyed the food only 1 time out of my 4 visits. But the other choices I like.

 

[Billy Bob]

Thanks everyone for your time......I added it up the best I could using $13 for coffee, breakfast and juice each day then adding that amount to what we would have for dinner for the four days and came out with only $306 for the two of us.......now I added 6.5% sales tax (i think this is Florida tax amount) for a grand total of $325.89......where at $40 times 2 adults times 4 days = $320 so I don't see the much savings here........might skip this option.

Bob

 

[sxeensweet]

You can turn it into a package and still get a discount on your room or package. Just b/c you add the dining plan does not mean you pay full rack rate unless you choose a free dining promotion. Prices on everything all depends on what special you choose and what is best for you. Whether to take a package with free dining or a room discount depends also where you are wanting to stay as well. For example if you are at a deluxe resort you might save more with a room discounted package and at a value a free dining package is prob better moneywise.

 

[Fantasmic]

We had the DDP for 2 weeks and it worked out fantastically, and we got to eat at places I would never have been able to eat at normally (Artist Point, Cali. Grill etc)

 

[jakeman]

As other have said, it really depends on your eating habits.

You will need to use every credit to make it work, but if you tend to be someone who gravitates to the more expensive meals on the menu and don't mind interupting your day with table service and do't have any other discount options it will save you money.

When my family goes it very much depends on what type of trip we are going to take. If it is a relaxing "pool side" trip, or even an easy going park trip then we will use it. However, if we are down for an event (Food and Wine, Races, Star Wars weekends) where we don't want our schedule to be locked up, we will skip it.

 

[Figment632]

We like it because when we work the numbers out the meals we order usually cost more than the DP a day, so we usually get more than what we pay for.

Biggest problem with the DP imo is that you don't get an appitizer, we never get dessert so I think you should get to choose between an appitizer or a dessert.

 

[cblodg]

look at the menus online and see what you would order at your table services, and quick services add $4 for a snack to that total. If the price is cheaper than $40 a day the dining plan may not be for you.

That's how we figure it. We figure it needs to be at least $40 per day to make it worth it. The first time we used the DDP we used a few of our table service points on breakfast.... not smart. Breakfast food is always going to be cheaper. We did figure if we used them on Dinner then it made it much more worth it.

I found our DDP to be very easy to use and the selection of food I wanted to eat was fine too. Some days we used our snack option for Breakfast and just paid for our drinks. It can work if you know how to use it right.

 

[cblodg]

We like it because when we work the numbers out the meals we order usually cost more than the DP a day, so we usually get more than what we pay for.

Biggest problem with the DP imo is that you don't get an appitizer, we never get dessert so I think you should get to choose between an appitizer or a dessert.

Agreed! I'd prefer to have the choice between dessert and an appitizer. Even though we might not have been ready for dessert, we always ordered it and took it back to the room. Of course, this was for maybe the two TS dinners we had. Again, we didn't necessarily 'maximize' our plan the first time out. We learned though.

 

[Mouse Man]

We always get the Diney Deluxe Dinning Plan and love it. I have kept the receipts and figured what it would run me without the plan for Breakfast Lunch and dinner + resort mug. If you go to all the top line Dinner places and try to hit character to nicer breakfast buffets I feel the plan already paid for itself. Throw in the hoop dee doo review and even better. Why we take the plan is because when we get down to meals they have already been paid for and all I have to worry about is tip. The trick to making this plan work is to make sure you hit the top of the line restraunts. By day three we stop eating lunch due to being full and go to other places that requires two points to eat at instead of one.

 

[ligarced]

I don't think we will ever not use the dining plan. Its so nice going and already knowing that your meals are paid for. if it wasn't for the dining plan we would never be able to eat at some of the places. It works out well for my family and we save money by using it.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

The thing is your meals arent paid for in the true sense. You still have to add the cost of appetizers if you have one, drinks and tip. If you arent a great fan of desert your paying for something you may not eat.

You haver to also factor in the impact the DDP, especially when its free, has had on choice, quality and dining experience. Something that is average or worse doesnt improve just because its free. In my opinion of course.