pros and cons of dining plan

[MarkinNM]

Just love answers like this.....
"We used it only once when we got it "free". Would never pay for it. "

But you do pay for it!!!

Look at what you are paying for the room, NOTHING is free, expecially at Disney, that huge empire AKA WDC did not build itself on anything "free", so to say one would never pay for it then bite on the free dining, just paid for it!!!

 

[disneygolfer1985]

We used to get the dining plan in the beginning but about 5 years ago stopped getting it. Out of my family, I’m really the only one who would eat 3 meals a day and I’m not a huge dessert fan, so eating dessert with every meal was not fun. Also, I’m a DVC member, so I’ll eat breakfast in the room and depending if we are in a 1BR, we may have stuff for sandwiches for lunch. I think I crunched the numbers the first time we didn’t do it and for my fiancé at the time (now wife), we saved roughly $250 for a week. The one thing I never liked about the dining plan was the feeling like I had to get the most expensive item, which is usually a steak and I’m not a big red meat fan. Thus, for my family, I don’t see it as a huge savings.

 

[Disneypro1]

Well we never do the dining plan unless it’s free. And we get the room discount. Which has happened. You literally have to eat your way to make it worth it. We eat a lot of kids meals and if we had to pay for the dining plan. There is zero chance it would be any savings for us.

 

[Disneypro1]

Just love answers like this.....
"We used it only once when we got it "free". Would never pay for it. "

But you do pay for it!!!

Look at what you are paying for the room, NOTHING is free, expecially at Disney, that huge empire AKA WDC did not build itself on anything "free", so to say one would never pay for it then bite on the free dining, just paid for it!!!

Not always In 2015 we went in May. Got free dining and all star music discount codes. So free dining was free. The room was also discounted. Usually I would take the room discount over free dining. But that trip we got both. Well always I would. I would never pay for the dining plan though. Ever

 

[Farro]

Giving two adults that drink and have no kids point of view:

$78 a day each.

quick service - 12.99 plus alcohol 10.00 - $23
two snacks - $11
table service - entree $25, alcohol $11, dessert $8 - 42
total for day - $78

And that's with prices on the low end, no tax included and most entrees we order will be more.
For us, saving money on this plan is a given. Snacks alone we will be able to use at Flower/Garden kiosks.

Sure we have to pay tips and maybe an appetizer here or there, but this works for us.

 

[Disneylover99]

Just love answers like this.....
"We used it only once when we got it "free". Would never pay for it. "

But you do pay for it!!!

Look at what you are paying for the room, NOTHING is free, expecially at Disney, that huge empire AKA WDC did not build itself on anything "free", so to say one would never pay for it then bite on the free dining, just paid for it!!!

It actually can be free if there are no room discounts out when free dining is offered.
But Disney is counting on you to loosen your purse strings since you got such a great deal with free dining. That’s how they get you.

 

[DisOrBust]

I have "beaten" the DDP but doing a split reservation at the same resort. Did the DxDP for 3 days and planned our meals accordingly. With that being said we also had the DDP in 2006 when it was a good value but we had the stomach flu go thru our entire family. I was scrambling at the end trying to use credits from the dinners we missed.

 

[Jacq7414]

For whatever reason my husband ALWAYS wants to do the dining plan. I just try to book meals in the way that will get the best value for it because he doesn’t really care about much else. Well except we ALWAYS have to go to Crystal Palace for breakfast. He wants his puffed French toast.

I did the calculator and we did make out ahead. But we mostly did character meals and let our daughter get a snack whenever she wanted. Oh and always got alcohol at a table service meal. We probably would not have gotten as many snacks had we not been on it, but whatever

 

[Christine]

It actually can be free if there are no room discounts out when free dining is offered.
But Disney is counting on you to loosen your purse strings since you got such a great deal with free dining. That’s how they get you.

Again, not free. The majority of the time "free" dining is offered, you are paying the full rate for the room. True free dining would be if it was given along with the room discounts. I guess that's happened to some people before.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

Back years ago, when a stay at a MOD Resort got you a sit down restaurant ( and there were 4 of us adults) meal daily, it was absolutely worth it. And WDW had already cut out the appetizers and gratuity. There wasn't any resort deal that was going to give me $160-200 off PER NIGHT so free dining was great for us. Things changed, the benefits are not as good and its never offered when I can go, and resort discounts aren't offered when I can go either

 

[Disneylover99]

Again, not free. The majority of the time "free" dining is offered, you are paying the full rate for the room. True free dining would be if it was given along with the room discounts. I guess that's happened to some people before.

There are times when there are no room discounts through Disney, such as over Christmas/New Years, but FD is available. If you are going anyways and had planned on purchasing the Hoppers, it’s free.

 

[mbdavidson]

We did the dining plan once and while it did not save us any money, not listening to my DH complain everytime we paid for a meal, was worth it. It was much less stressful for him to have the cost worked into the package.

 

[ttintagel]

We usually save money on the dining plan because we're a bunch of adults in one room. For one three-year-old and one adult who eats like a bird, I really don't think it would do you much good.

 

[North of Mouse]

im wondering if getting a dining plan is just too much money. i have a 3 year old that only ever wants chicken nuggets and mac n cheese. i could just pack those for the trip and fend for myself eating. i really only eat a small breakfast and something for dinner. I GUESS IM CONVINCING MYSELF ITS NOT WORTH IT LOL

You are correct! A lot of people do it for the convenience and to have amnesia on the prices!! Disney is making money on them or they would not offer them!

 

[goodeats]

We did not have the dining plan last trip and ate how we wanted. We ate at a few character meals and several buffets (CRT, Tusker House, Trails End, Biergarten) and some signatures (Artist Point (before Snow White change) and Narcoossees). We spent (including tips) $2,400 over 8 nights for family of 4. Now all of that would not have been covered by the dining plan - i.e. wine flights from territory lounge, appetizers, second alcoholic beverages at dinner, etc. If we had the dining plan we would maybe have come out ahead, but we certainly would have had to tweak the way we eat.

I do think that if you don't plan to do character meals or many sit downs then it just doesn't make sense. The QSDP can make sense though.

 

[MarkinNM]

You are correct! A lot of people do it for the convenience and to have amnesia on the prices!! Disney is making money on them or they would not offer them!

PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST.....................................Disney is making $$$$$$ no matter whether ones buy the DDP or not......just saying......

enjoy the sticker shock................

 

[shellyj]

You really have to do the math for your family.
If you are planning to do a lot of character meals or are drawn to the more expensive ts entrees, it might be a good deal for you. Menus and prices are on the website, so take some time to scroll through, come up with an estimate food cost, pad it a little for safety, and compare it to the cost of the plan. Then remember that you've got to pay tips on all the ts meals.

For my family, the plan never works out. We did it twice and regretted it both times.
First, it ends up costing us way more. We do character meals and date night meals. We buy snacks in the park. We don't pinch pennies. And when it's all said and done, we're always under our food budget. I think it's because we don't always need or want a full meal for each person. Most of the time, when we each have a full entree, we end up throwing some of it away. We don't want to be stuffed walking around the park. We're actually happier eating smaller portions/sharing meals and eating a little more often. Or grabbing extra snacks instead of a meal.
Swapping a qs meal for snacks can actually come out as a good value, though, I will say.
I will also say, I have an autistic son who is a very picky eater and we often have to bring his food. But even with his cost taken out for comparison purposes, the plan still doesn't work for us.


Second, and worst for us - It isn't as flexible as we want to be
We find ourselves looking at the most expensive dishes so we get the best dollar value, instead of the meals we'd actually prefer. Sometimes we'd rather order apps or order a la carte instead of the entrees, and there's not way to swap. Sometimes we might want to change plans and cancel or move around meals towards the middle or end of our trip, especially if park hours change or new FP come available. But downgrading from ts to qs is such a poor value, it stings!!

I would only do the dining plan again if we did a short, adult on visit or if it was free dining. But we usually rent DVC points for 2 bedroom villas, and the discount we get on the room cost is much larger than the savings of free dining in a rack room. So it's just not for us.

My sister's family, on the other hand, LOVES the meal plan and she doesn't care that it probably costs her a little more. We often travel together and eat most ts meals together, but she really prefers being on the plan.

We put our vacation savings in a separate bank account so it still feels all inclusive to us. A few days ahead of time I'll get Disney cards at Target for the 5% savings, just enough to cover our known expenses. So that saves us a tiny bit, too. I don't do it in advance because I don't want my money wrapped up in a gift card that I can only spend at Disney.

 

[Toolulu22]

We tried the DP on our recent trip. We stayed 5 nights and had 6 full days to use the allocated meals and snacks. We also stayed in a one-bedroom Villa and made a light breakfast on a few days and a refrigerator to store leftovers and the few items we purchased at Target (case of water, cold brewed coffee, eggs, fruit) participated in 2 EMM that came with breakfast, and one After Hours that had unlimited drinks and snacks.

We got a bounce-back room offer and paid for the regular dining plan. We enjoyed the refillable mugs while we ate at the resort or sat by the pool, but are neutral as to their benefit. I would not pay for them if I didn’t have a DP.

The DP was way to much food for us and you seem to have a similar diet as I do. We used all our TS and QS credits but only had dessert at one restaurant and brought it back to our refrigerator to eat another time. Our bills tallied to more than the $750 we spent on the plan, but we ate when we weren’t really hungry.

I. gained 7 pounds (luckily its coming right off), but felt stuffed and bloated after about day 3 on. For snacks we mostly got Powerades in the parks because we were never hungry for snacks, except at Epcot- we had to have one snack there. I had one Mickey bar at the After Hours event. Even my husband felt like he had to shovel food in. We did appreciate being able to order alcoholic beverages (in some places up to $16 a drink) on the plan.

We felt that we easily could have shared many of the meals we ate.

We did enjoy pre-paying for our meals and as someone mentioned, it made our vacation feel all-inclusive. We came with gift cards that were used for souvenirs, so we didn’t need much cash- except for tips and a few other things. We talked about possibly doing the QS plan when we return, but will have to see what options exist at that time. I still think it is too much food.

Hopefully, this information helps you. From what you describe and my recent experience, and what others say- I’d probably skip the plan and pay out of pocket.

 

[gillep]

We don't usually do the meal plan because we find it very inflexible and restrictive. We sometimes get the Deluxe plan, but only for a night if we are doing a split stay, any more than that would be way too much food and way to restrictive for how we prefer to eat and drink. We are two adults who enjoy alcoholic beverages and don't find much in the way of sticker shock when we eat at WDW, we would rather pay oop for exactly what we want to eat, where we want to eat, than deal with trying to conform to one of the plans.

 

[DisLiss]

I have no real pros about the regular or deluxe dining plans. They just are not for us. I get that they work for others, but they are not made with my family in mind at all.

If we talk about the QS only plan, then IF there is free dining, then my family could save approx. $100 per day on food using the free QS plan. That's pretty much the only Pro for us.

A quick list of why we don't do well with the regular or deluxe dining plans is as follows:

1. We don't eat dessert every day, never mind with every sit-down meal. We do, however like to eat only sides or appetizers, which would be OOP for us. (The only good thing is that then we could accumulate credits for a 2 credit meal, but see #3 & #4 to see why we don't want too many of those, either. )

2. Likewise, we don't drink much more than water or hot tea. Sue, the occasional alcoholic drink is fine, but we wouldn't have them with every meal.

3. Our youngest hates long sit down meals. Really hates them. He behaves during them just fine, but it's still not fun for me to be there knowing he's miserable.

4. DH starts to cringe after a couple days of devoting hours to sit down meals. He likes leisurely meals at home. Not so much at Disney.

5. We're vegetarian, which is short for "We will never ever save money on a paid dining plan."

6. We're grazers...me especially. We like to eat a tiny bit of food many times a day. An all snack dining plan would be the best for us, LOL!

7. We eat less when it's hot, no matter how much walking we do, and we always go in late summer...so yeah, pretty darn hot.

8. We hate scheduling ADRs and having to work around them. We like to be able to change our minds about our plans at the last minute and do something different. And ADRs mess that up.

9. We don't use the refill mugs. So we lose that value immediately.

10. Between us, we're hard to feed. I have a lot of food intolerance issues. My youngest is just fussy. DH tries to avoid all foods with artificial anything. My oldest will eat anything---that's vegetarian, that is. It's easier to let one or two of us eat here and one or two eat there than to keep finding places where we'll all be happy. So QS works best for us. (Combined with food we bring with us.)