Worth the Upgrade Dining Plan?

cursivesailor

cursivesailor

Active Member
We are thinking about going during the free Dining Plan in September. We always stay at Value Resorts because we would prefer to save the money there... We arent going for the hotel. But the Value Resorts are only offered with the Quick Service plan. Which is fine for lunch because the hubby is obsessed with the alien in Cosmic Rays, but we usually like to do a few sit-down dinners. I am trying to decide if it is worth the $170 upgrade. Given that we usually only do one or two sit down meals... I am trying to debate the upgrade.

Also, we would be staying 5 nights but only doing the parks for 4 days. How does the meal plan work with that? It says "per night"... We usually drive in the first night and do Downtown, go to the parks for 4 days and then drive home after the 5th night. I dont wanna waste a nights worth of meal plan if we are leaving first thing in the morning. (Even though, I know its a free meal plan, I just dont like being wasteful)

Thanks in advance!
 
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minnielaw

minnielaw

Well-Known Member
For only $170.00, I would most definitely upgrade!! You would easily spend $170 on two, if not one, table service meals.

The number of meals you have depends on the number of nights you spend, so you would have 5 TS credits to use. There are many TS restaurants in DTD that you could visit on your first night. T-Rex and Portobello were just added this year.

If you aren't familiar with the TS options at WDW, be sure to research on here and check out the menus. Don't forget the resort restaurants as well. Many of the best WDW restaurants are found in the resorts.

Good luck and happy eating!
 
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wendysue

wendysue

Well-Known Member
We used to go in September because it was not as crowded and the weather is great, but since they started free dining in September and raised the prices on all the food, we eat offsite more. We almost always stay at Pop, which we love, but upgrading to the dining is not worth the much larger crowds and congestion at the food court and other places. We did enjoy DTD and the Earl of Sandwich, though.
For us, the dining plan isn't worth the extra money, as we don't eat that much, and frankly, the food quality has declined a bit.
 
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W

wdwfan317

New Member
Do it.

$170? OK. for 4 days? right? Just do the math. Look at some of the menus and note that even if you pick THE MOST EXPENSIVE ITEM on the menu, it is COVERED under the dining plan. So if you order the chicken and rib combo platter for$27.99 and your husband gets the Filet for $29.99, um...oh yeah. It's FREE, (except for tip and alcoholic beverages). DESSERT is also included, but not appetizers or extra side dishes. So, ok, with Dinner for the 2 of you, PLUS dessert(about $5 each), plus tax would come to about $75. That is for ONE meal. Ok. Then you have a counter service meal for that hypothetical day. Right? Let's say you're in Downtown Disney and you stop by Wolfgang Puck's counter service restaurant. you get a flatbread pizza for $10 and your hubby gets the glazed pork chop for $14. add drinks(included in DP). add dessert(included in DP). you're looking at roughly $50 here. So that comes to about $125 total that you would be spending on food. OH! I forgot! You ALSO get a snack a piece with the regular dining plan. Some snacks available on the dining plan can cost up to $4.50(I believe?) so that's about another $10. $135.00 total just for ONE day of dining. BUT if you spent that $170 to upgrade, all you would be spending is gratuity for your table service meals only. GO FOR IT. you will not be sorry, my fellow Disney friend! ENJOY! :wave:
 
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dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
The easiest and best solution, do the math. Look at menus online and pick what you think you would eat. Not what you would eat if it was "free" but what you would eat. And then tally it up, and see if it comes out in your favor.
 
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