Our family has decided to take our first trip to WDW in May, I think we have decided to stay POR...It seems like the best Moderate Resort. My question is on the dining package WDW offers, do you all think that for a family of 5 (2 adult 3kids,9,6,5) this would be the most cost effective way to go. I am sure the food at the park in pretty expensive, and I love knowing that its already paid for. I would like to hear any advice you have.
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Need some advice on our trip
- Thread starter kglass
- Start date
pinkrose
Well-Known Member
I've never used the dining plan, but from what I've heard, it sounds like a really good deal.
One thing you might want to do is go to www.allearsnet.com and look at the menus. This might help you to figure out an approx. amount that you'd spend without the dining plan, then compare to what the dining plan cost.
Sorry I'm not much help. Hopefully someone who's used the plan before will come along soon. :wave:
Oh, and you'll LOVE POR. Have a nice time!
One thing you might want to do is go to www.allearsnet.com and look at the menus. This might help you to figure out an approx. amount that you'd spend without the dining plan, then compare to what the dining plan cost.
Sorry I'm not much help. Hopefully someone who's used the plan before will come along soon. :wave:
Oh, and you'll LOVE POR. Have a nice time!
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Monty
Brilliant...and Canadian
- In the Parks
- No
It depends a lot on how much your family eats. DS10 and I used DDP and we certainly got our money's worth, but we tended to eat two meals and a snack regularly each day. We didn't actually eat all they provided, but that would happen whether we were paying cash or using DDP. For us, the nice thing was we could order whatever we wanted and eat what we chose of it. We also tended to order things that would normally be quite pricey.
During our trip, we used every credit on the DDP and still paid cash for CRT. The package was very much worth it for us. If you plan table service meals in advance and use them all, it should easily pay for itself. If you don't have ADRs, chances are you won't be able to use all your table service credits and would lose money on the package. A lot of the table serice restaurants are booked solid and simply won't seat walk-up customers.
As an added bonus, the DDP includes an 18% gratuity [we added a bit when the service warranted it] on whatever you order. If you want to make your server happy, order everything you're allowed to, even if you aren't going to eat it. It makes their tip bigger and doesn't cost you a dime!
During our trip, we used every credit on the DDP and still paid cash for CRT. The package was very much worth it for us. If you plan table service meals in advance and use them all, it should easily pay for itself. If you don't have ADRs, chances are you won't be able to use all your table service credits and would lose money on the package. A lot of the table serice restaurants are booked solid and simply won't seat walk-up customers.
As an added bonus, the DDP includes an 18% gratuity [we added a bit when the service warranted it] on whatever you order. If you want to make your server happy, order everything you're allowed to, even if you aren't going to eat it. It makes their tip bigger and doesn't cost you a dime!
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col
Well-Known Member
it depends on what you mean by expensive?
there are alot of places to eat at in disneyworld these range from counter service, table service, character meals, etc.all range in prices.
i always go to my fave places where there is food that i will eat. i eat breakfast then for a snack instead of lunch i get a frozen mocha and a cinnimon roll from main street bakery and that costs me something like $7.?? and i dont mind doing that coz i would then have my tea at 10pm or sometime like that.
character buffets are so much fun and there is a huge variety of food to choose from for a small price.
im my opinion i think the disney dining plan is a waste of time and money. if you where to look at what you would buy if you where on the dining plan along with its limitations it would work out better for you if you just paid for your food with cash $$. but thats just my opinion.:wave:
if you where to look at disney menus at www.allearsnet.com you could see how much stuff costs and see what would be better for you.
there are alot of places to eat at in disneyworld these range from counter service, table service, character meals, etc.all range in prices.
i always go to my fave places where there is food that i will eat. i eat breakfast then for a snack instead of lunch i get a frozen mocha and a cinnimon roll from main street bakery and that costs me something like $7.?? and i dont mind doing that coz i would then have my tea at 10pm or sometime like that.
character buffets are so much fun and there is a huge variety of food to choose from for a small price.
im my opinion i think the disney dining plan is a waste of time and money. if you where to look at what you would buy if you where on the dining plan along with its limitations it would work out better for you if you just paid for your food with cash $$. but thats just my opinion.:wave:
if you where to look at disney menus at www.allearsnet.com you could see how much stuff costs and see what would be better for you.
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HunnyPot
Member
As many have said, it depends on your personal tastes and how much food you would normally buy, how much you spend, and all that. We used the plan on our last trip for the first time, and LOVED it. We ended up saving about $200 on food, and ate great the whole trip! We had 6 snacks left on the day we left, so we got food from the food court for the road trip home. I will never go to WDW without it, as long as they are offering it.
Hope you enjoy your trip! :wave:
Hope you enjoy your trip! :wave:
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Teenchy
Member
kglass said:
If you can plan out your days now would be the time for May.
We like to be more flexible with our dining plans but we usually visit at off peak times and have that flexibility but if your going at a time when schools are usually closed and the parks are more crowded its best to plan now.
Worst case once you get there if you have a change in plans call Disney Dining and cancel.
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