Is the Dining Plan worth it?

[gallolp]

Trying to make a decision if I should use the plan or not, I will be with 3 adults and 1 child under 9. your thoughts?

 

[njbeachwx]

Trying to make a decision if I should use the plan or not, I will be with 3 adults and 1 child under 9. your thoughts?

Three adults and one child, no. Its a great deal for the kids but not for the adults.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I won't do the dining plan again because I ate too much. I was so preoccupied making my meals so I got my quarter's worth that I felt like the whole trip was spent chasing ressies and overeating. LOL! Even with all the walking and activity I gained 10 lbs on our last trip.

 

[NewfieFan]

Depends on where you want to eat and how much. My family is not big eaters but the dining plan was still a good deal for us. We booked a lot of character meals and nice restaurants to eat at. I added it all up at the end of my trip and sometimes we spent more on one meal then the dining plan cost us for the whole day. Now one could argue that my meals would have been cheaper if I was paying for them b/c I would have ordered less food. While that is probably true, we would still come out on top! I enjoyed being able to eat in restaurants that I would not normally pay for otherwise. Now, the value of the dining plan has gone down some since it doesn't include an appertizer and gratutity for your Table Service meal. But it's still a good deal for us. I've added up what I would probably spend on meals and it's more than the price of the current dining plan. Now don't get me wrong here, you could definitely spend less money on food if you wanted to. But I enjoyed eating at nice restaurants, giving my family a variety of foods, and of course the character meals were great for my kids. So while I could spend less on food if I wanted too, I chose not too. Eating in the restaurants has become part of our vacation. We looked forward to some of the characters meals more than some of the rides. Plus, eating in an air conditioned restaurant is heavenly in the hot Florida sun. The dining plan is part of my vacation - I enjoy picking out my favorite restaurants (and trying some new ones) and then planning my trip around our reservations.

It would also depend on how much time you're spending at Disney. If you're only going for a few days and what to get in as much as possible than you're probably not interested in spending alot of time eating. Our last trip was eight days with two small children. I personally wouldn't do it without the dining plan. I loved the little break eating gave us and I liked the fact that I could give my kids something different to eat other than the chicken fingers, hot dogs, etc.

Basically I haven't given you an answer. You need to figure out where you want to eat, how much you want to eat, and how much time you want to spend eating, and then see if the dining plan is right for you! Good luck with your decision and have a great trip anyways!:wave:

 

[bcornette]

It really depends on where you want to eat.
If you eat one counter service and a buffet everyday then it's not worth your money. But if you want to eat at a true sit down resturant for half of your table service meals then it probably is worth the money. Or if you just want to pig out and have it prepaid then it is also nice.

 

[MIDisneyFamily]

We sat down, and remembered (roughly) how we ate while we were there. We dont do many "sit down" meals, we usually grab a small bite avery few hours, so the Dinining plan was not worth it to us. We would have to go out of our way to alter our plan/habits we kind of have devoloped over the years.

 

[amccrazgrl]

I'm going for two days come March. My gf and I decided to do it for the fact of not really having to carry much money around and also not having to charge it on a card. Make sure to make some/all ADR's.
It takes a little bit to figure out where you want to eat and what times but I think it will be worth it in the end.

We are going to eat at:
EPCOT
Breakfast @ Riverside Mill Food Court (Quick)
Lunch @ Le Cellier @ Canada (Table)
Dinner @ Garden Grill @ Living land (Table) (characters)

Magic Kingdom
Breakfast @ Riverside Mill Food Court (Quick)
Lunch @ Cosmic Rays @ Tommorowland (Quick)
Dinner @ Crystal Palace Buffet @ Main Street (Table) (characters)

 

[santa's surpriz]

Agree with it depends on what you eat, if you are big on fast food no. I am prefer restaurant/sit down meals so for me it was worth it. It also gives you chance to eat places you normally would not think of. Peace of mind also made it worth to me. I worried about taking enough spending money and having meals paid for really took the stress out of budget planning. I compared the pricing of the meals I wanted and where using allearnet.com with and without the plan. I saved money using the plan.

I used it in December and was quite pleased. We had one sit down meal per day. It was a lot of food and always felt like I always overate...the strange thing is it was the first vacation I did not gain 8 extra pounds on! Must have been all that walking!

 

[disneytopdog]

Add a vote for the Dining plan. It allows you a great break from the park crowds, to sit down and have a good meal. The ability to eat at a different table service resturant everyday just adds to the whole Disney experience. If we did not get the plan we would just eat hamburgers and junk every day and that gets old and more expensive than the plan costs.