When you visit Walt Disney World, do you purchase one of the Disney Dining Plans???
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When you visit Walt Disney World, do you purchse one of the Disney Dining Plans?
- Thread starter JMAN8675309
- Start date
Schneewittchen
Well-Known Member
I don't. The plans don't seem to match my family's eating pattern.
Granola bar breakfasts are common for us. Maybe we'll have 1 or 2 table service breakfasts. Lunches are almost always quick service. Maybe we'll have a table service lunch at EPCOT. Dinner is over the top. Always a dinner show, character dinner or signature dining. We want to snack more (Dole Whips!!!!) but don't always get around to it.
If we did use a plan, I suspect it would have to be the Deluxe plan, and I'm not sure we can eat that much.....
Granola bar breakfasts are common for us. Maybe we'll have 1 or 2 table service breakfasts. Lunches are almost always quick service. Maybe we'll have a table service lunch at EPCOT. Dinner is over the top. Always a dinner show, character dinner or signature dining. We want to snack more (Dole Whips!!!!) but don't always get around to it.
If we did use a plan, I suspect it would have to be the Deluxe plan, and I'm not sure we can eat that much.....
belledream
Well-Known Member
We only do it if it's part of a promotion, aka free or discounted. Otherwise, it's difficult to come out ahead, and we're big eaters.
The_Jobu
Well-Known Member
To echo the other comments, when I ran the numbers, the plan didn't make sense for my family and all that money can be better spent elsewhere, with the benefit of flexability.
But for some people it works. My advice would be to sit down and calculate how much you would spend per day based on your family's eating habits and see how it compares to the plan.
But for some people it works. My advice would be to sit down and calculate how much you would spend per day based on your family's eating habits and see how it compares to the plan.
DisneyJunkie
Well-Known Member
I do - if we're getting another great deal in another part of the vacation package. Otherwise, I tend to book the package that includes "free dining" thrown in. My wife and I love the DDP, it works so well for us and gives us the opportunity to eat in places we never normally would.
Disnee4Me
Well-Known Member
We had the free dining plan this past December and while I enjoyed it, I'm not sure I would buy it, simply because you have to schedule everything so far in advance. I miss the "old days". In 2002, we wanted to do something at MK that we hadn't done before and my then 12 year old soon, looked at our guidebook and suggested Liberty Tree Tavern --- the day before we wanted to go there and we got resevations, no problem (and how much fun with the characters dressed in colonial costumes). And so on our last night in the parks (my mother-in-laws 75th birthday), we had an absolute blast and as we finished dinner, came outside just in time for the fireworks. I could not get LTT six months out, except for an odd hour when I booked my dining reservations last June.
Mawg
Well-Known Member
The only way it seems to be worth it is, one you get a promotion, two you plan on doing an expensive character meal/buffet almost every day, 3 you plan on eating everything it offers and don't deviate from this, 4 you typically order the most expensive thing on the menu. A lot of conditions to meet to get this to work. Typically, when free dinning is offered you also have a choice to get a room discount. Take the room discount and then look for ways to save on food. Groceries to the hotel for breakfast (Saves time too, don't give up valuable morning park time on a sit down meal at breakfast). Dinner sit downs have a lot of food, kids can share or eat of parents plates. Sometimes a snack to sub a quick service. Sometimes an app. How often do you order desert anyways?
Belle_MTL
Member
We had the free dining one year when we were a group of 17, and we loved it. However, we would never pay for it. We didn't come close to using all the credits. We also stay in the cabins with full kitchens. We've run the numbers before and find we save money by doing all our own cooking and only eating at 2 restaurants per trip.
Goofyque'
Well-Known Member
We nearly always have the DP, especially if they are running free dining. It is not that we can't eat cheaper, but for the price, we can't eat better. Then there is the sticker shock. On the DP, we can order whatever we want, and not stress over the cost. As far as pre-planning, we made ADRs either way, so never find that to be an issue. The choice in the poll of ALWAYS or NEVER doesn't quite fit us, but I guess we are MORE OFTEN THAN NOT. 
rob0519
Well-Known Member
You're survey is missing an option, "Sometimes". We have five people, all adults. Some trips we bought 3 dining plans, others 5 dining plans and others no dining plans. We buy them for two reasons convenience and Character Meals. Character Dining has, in my opinion, gotten waaaay overpriced. So if we want to do multiple Character Dinings on a trip we get the plan.
Rsj88
Well-Known Member
We always try to plan our trip during free dinning because it's a huge help for us financially. I don't think we would pay for it. Although, it is nice to not worry about what we are spending on food and get what we want! We would order a lot differently if we were not on the plan. We would rarely get dessert and probably share more meals. I feel like I am really on a vacation when I don't have to think about how much we are spending on food.
glvsav37
Well-Known Member
always. we buy the mid range plan, 1QS, 1TS and a snack.
biggest plus for me...i don't have to worry about paying for anything. Its all bought, and paid for before i leave and I'm not concerned about spending/not spending money while i'm there. Sure, you can run numbers all day long, but for me, I can't beat the peace of mind of just showing up, eating and leaving.
biggest plus for me...i don't have to worry about paying for anything. Its all bought, and paid for before i leave and I'm not concerned about spending/not spending money while i'm there. Sure, you can run numbers all day long, but for me, I can't beat the peace of mind of just showing up, eating and leaving.
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
The only time I have the dining plan is if free dining is the only discount I can get for the length of my stay. We save $ paying OOP and getting the food we want. We do much better with a room discount when it comes to deals and throw away $ actually paying for DDP. I know some people swear by it, but it includes a lot of things we don't want, doesn't cover a handful of things we do want, and I can't help but feel like I'm some kind of sucker if I use TS credits on breakfasts instead of dinners or ordering chicken vs. steak when I know I should be going for the priciest meals and entrees to see any significant advantage.
Tinkerfan4ever
Well-Known Member
I think our family is pretty much just like yours. I have run the numbers - and we have come out within $50 of the dining plan price. Sure it might be cheaper by $50 bucks to pay out of pocket, but when we have the dining plan we just order what we want. If we didn't have the plan I know my husband would always order the cheapest thing to just save money. When we have the plan - sometimes we order the most expensive item and sometimes we do not, but we are always ordering what we WANT to eat - not just based on the price. We have also looked at the Tables in Wonderland card, but again, it was very close dollar wise for us (we don't drink while on vacation, so we may think differently if we did), so we still chose dining plan over TIW.
JIMINYCR
Well-Known Member
As a family there were a few of our trips we were there during the free dining promotions but all of the other times when it wasnt offered we purchased the dining plan. There was one trip when I went solo that I purchased a DDP and one solo trip when I decided not to go with it. I'm one to compare and price things out and it always saved us some money doing it, not much.... but there was a saving.
surfsupdon
Well-Known Member
Never.
We use room discounts and our TiW card and always come out way ahead.
EDIT: to add that when a restaurant is "full" on the app, we will walk up and ask for a table, say we are paying in cash, and they will almost always get us a table. Cash is king.
We use room discounts and our TiW card and always come out way ahead.
EDIT: to add that when a restaurant is "full" on the app, we will walk up and ask for a table, say we are paying in cash, and they will almost always get us a table. Cash is king.
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EvilQueen-T
Well-Known Member
We did back in the early days of the dining plans for special occasion trips like we'd do the deluxe plan and book all two credit dinners and use any left over credits to book a few breakfasts or lunches at single table credit venues and use the snacks the rest of the time but back then they hadn't jacked up the prices of everything, it included an appetizer, and the plan included the tip (2006-07 ish). I also did it the year I took my sister for her 40th birthday. She's a single mom and I was paying for everything so with the meal plan done ahead of time as an all inclusive gift she wasn't ever in a position to feel weird when it was time to pay for a meal or get a snack kind of thing. We never did it when we traveled with kids because of the cost. We didn't really eat enough to justify the cost and the kids never did for us. We've been passholders for quite a few years now so now we look for room only discounts when we book a stay and use tables in wonderland for meal discounts. We just don't eat enough and almost never eat desserts so the way the dining plan is set up now it costs us more. TIW just works for us and includes alcohol and tip, plus you order what you want and don't automatically have to order things like a dessert or x number of snacks like on the dining plan.
StarDarlingsFan
Member
I know some people love the DP because it gives that "all-inclusive" feel which makes their vacation more relaxing. No sticker shock or guilt about ordering the most expensive item on the menu is a big plus.
But to us, it just isn't worth the hassle. I consider it a hassle because,
1. You have to plan your eating schedule around the dining plan, especially if you are trying to maximize the savings.
2. There are items that don't meet the "requirements" of the plan, like specialty drinks and many of the street vendor foods.
3. At TS restaurants, kids are only allowed to order from the kids' menu. (This is also supposed to be true at QS restaurants, but is not enforced.)
By my calculations, the savings on the plan amounts to 1 free meal for our family of four. Why put up with all the restrictions mentioned above just for a free meal? I feel like we have way more freedom without it.
But to us, it just isn't worth the hassle. I consider it a hassle because,
1. You have to plan your eating schedule around the dining plan, especially if you are trying to maximize the savings.
2. There are items that don't meet the "requirements" of the plan, like specialty drinks and many of the street vendor foods.
3. At TS restaurants, kids are only allowed to order from the kids' menu. (This is also supposed to be true at QS restaurants, but is not enforced.)
By my calculations, the savings on the plan amounts to 1 free meal for our family of four. Why put up with all the restrictions mentioned above just for a free meal? I feel like we have way more freedom without it.
G00fyDad
Well-Known Member
We used to use it all the time. It saved us around $1200 when we got the free DDP promo and around $400 when we had to pay for it. However, we still do what I tell everyone else to do when trying to decide to use the DDP or not. We get a (very) rough calculation of what we may eat at each park for each day. Add it up and compare it to what we would get if we had the DDP. We go with the cheaper option. For our last two trips the cheaper option (by a LARGE margin) has been to pay out of pocket.