Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

I am so up in the air about doing this or not. First time we are traveling to Disney with my Son & Step Son (4 and 13).

We are staying in a Villa that has a full kitchen, so my plan is to just have breakfast in the room before we head out, bring some snacks along with us as well, but do plan on eating lunch out & of course dinner. I def want to do maybe 1 or 2 Character meals at most.

I hear mixed reviews, some say it's way too much food, some say it's worth it so you don't have to worry about always paying as you go.

Thoughts?

Re: Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

DH and I always do the dining plan. Yes, it's a lot of food and sometimes we don't eat it all, BUT DH likes prepaying for everything in advance.

I don't think we save a tremendous amount of $$$, but we don't over pay either.

You really need to take a look at the menus for the places you are interested in and see how the prices compare.

Re: Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

We figured out it one time with the "bills" we would have gotten if we didn't have the dining plan and we saved $1,000.

Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

We personally found it didn't pay for us. Find out how much each restaurant you want to eat in is and add it up. We don't drink soda, so we didn't use the mugs, and we don't normally get dessert.

Re: Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

It depends. We skipped it recently bc it wasn't worth it for our current habits. You need to sot down and work it out. If you plan to eat at the more expensive character meals, and restaurants with expensive items (think fish or steak) it could be worth it. If you plan to eat at cheaper places, or not a lot of TS places skip it. Also you can only get an entree and dessert. If you want apps of salads then it definitely is not worth it.

Re: Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

Message edited 5/2/2014 9:58:02 PM.

Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

With the recent price increase of the dining plan, you truly should look at where you want to eat, review the menu for what you would "likely" order, and calculate the cost. You can search disney dining plan calculator and will get a bunch of results that will help you estimate real costs.

Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

The only part that drove me nuts was working around the reservations. Otherwise it was a great deal. We did the dining plan that included two meals and a snack. I didn'.t have a strict schedule. We headed to the parks once the kids woke up. I wanted them rested and not cranky, lol. Sometimes we had our snack as breakfast, such as bagels, muffins and coffee. The days we had a breakfast reserved we ate an early dinner and saved our snack for the evening. It was perfect for us and we went to restaurants that we normally would not have. It was plenty of food and we were never hungry. My kids don't really eat a lot but they definitely do not want to eat what we are eating, so sharing wasn't an option. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I think it was definitely worth it. Some people think otherwise but it worked well for us.

Re: Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

Thank you for all your input.

I am going to start looking at the menu's. I would say we are more app/salad people then desert for sure so in the end might be worth it to just pay as we go.

Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

I would say no. It's nice to have things pre-paid, but when they took out including the gratuity years ago, the value went down.

If it's free, then yes, a good deal maybe (rooms are rack rate...p.s.free dining for fall opens Wed.)

Re: Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

Re: Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

Posted by Mrs-D-Girl

Posted by BargainMama

I would say no. It's nice to have things pre-paid, but when they took out including the gratuity years ago, the value went down.

If it's free, then yes, a good deal maybe (rooms are rack rate...p.s.free dining for fall opens Wed.)

Since I am using DVC, I heard I can't get free dining

Re: Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

Posted by Mill188

Posted by Mrs-D-Girl

Posted by BargainMama

I would say no. It's nice to have things pre-paid, but when they took out including the gratuity years ago, the value went down.

If it's free, then yes, a good deal maybe (rooms are rack rate...p.s.free dining for fall opens Wed.)

Since I am using DVC, I heard I can't get free dining

Are you renting points from someone? Then, no, you cannot get free dining. You will pay the lower rate for the meal plan though. DVC dining rates are currently $58.86 per night per adult and $18.88 per night per child. DVC dining plans are also not subject to any seasonal upcharges.

If you are booking the Villas directly through Disney, it's just like booking any other hotel room onsite and if "free" dining is available, you would be able to get it.

Re: Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

Posted by Mrs-D-Girl

Posted by Mill188

Posted by Mrs-D-Girl

Posted by BargainMama

I would say no. It's nice to have things pre-paid, but when they took out including the gratuity years ago, the value went down.

If it's free, then yes, a good deal maybe (rooms are rack rate...p.s.free dining for fall opens Wed.)

Since I am using DVC, I heard I can't get free dining

Are you renting points from someone? Then, no, you cannot get free dining. You will pay the lower rate for the meal plan though. DVC dining rates are currently $58.86 per night per adult and $18.88 per night per child. DVC dining plans are also not subject to any seasonal upcharges.

If you are booking the Villas directly through Disney, it's just like booking any other hotel room onsite and if "free" dining is available, you would be able to get it.

I am renting from David's Vacation Club.

Re: Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

Posted by Mill188

Posted by Mrs-D-Girl

Posted by Mill188

Posted by Mrs-D-Girl

Posted by BargainMama

I would say no. It's nice to have things pre-paid, but when they took out including the gratuity years ago, the value went down.

If it's free, then yes, a good deal maybe (rooms are rack rate...p.s.free dining for fall opens Wed.)

Since I am using DVC, I heard I can't get free dining

Are you renting points from someone? Then, no, you cannot get free dining. You will pay the lower rate for the meal plan though. DVC dining rates are currently $58.86 per night per adult and $18.88 per night per child. DVC dining plans are also not subject to any seasonal upcharges.

If you are booking the Villas directly through Disney, it's just like booking any other hotel room onsite and if "free" dining is available, you would be able to get it.

I am renting from David's Vacation Club.

You won't be eligible for any "free" dining then. Disney only offers "free" dining on full price rooms. Like I said though, you will get the benefit of the lower dining plan price though.

Re: Disney Dining Plan -Yes or No??

its never FREE imo. When they are running those free promos, you need to pay the non discounted room prices, so you really dont save that way.

Anyway, I love the dining plan, because its nice to have that all inclusive feel. We have done disney 2x with the dining plan. However the last time we went we stayed off property and didnt do the dining plan (not eligible of course) but for this time, for our current habits we did much better just paying as we go.

In the past with just our older ds, he is a doll in restaurants. So sitting for 2 meal a day is no biggie. MY younger son is much more active, So it was much better for us to only plan 1 meal in a restaurant, and then use the kitchen in our rental for the other.

Allears.net has hte menus so if you make a list of where you plan on eating then you can make an educated decision as to what is hte better option.