Disney dining plan -- is it worth it

[bmalina]

its been 3 yrs since our last trip to disneyworld. Looking at the pricing, the Disney dining plan looks more expensive than I remember. (Looking at the 1 sit-down, 1-counter, 1 snack).

Looks to cost about $180 day for 2 adults and 1 child (12). Is it worth it?

Any advantage in getting sit down reservations if you have the plan?

Thanks!

Brian

 

[Kevin355]

YES!!!!!! Save about $900 if you get the quick service and 1 table service package. Am waiting for it to see if we can get it in September. Did it last September at CBR. Well worth it. And yes, make dinner reservations as soon as you can. You will enjoy it better than just winging it.

 

[bmalina]

YES!!!!!! Save about $900 if you get the quick service and 1 table service package. Am waiting for it to see if we can get it in September. Did it last September at CBR. Well worth it. And yes, make dinner reservations as soon as you can. You will enjoy it better than just winging it.

Thanks Kevin!

 

[goofy friend]

I think it just depends on how much you plan to eat. I have purchased the dining plan my last 4 trips, and felt like I had to eat more than I really wanted in order to get my monies worth. Several nights, I really didn't want a desert but felt that I needed to eat it. My next trip, I am going to just order what I want, taking advantage of all available discounts. In my case, I have access to Disney Vacation Club and Annual Pass holder discounts .

 

[ElizabethG]

It really depends on how and what you want to eat. It also depends on where you like to go. Think about what you would eat otherwise. Would you eat dessert at every meal? Would you always purchase a drink at counter service? Do you like to split meals?

We found that after our kids turned 10, there wasn't a cost savings. I really didn't want that little brownie with my quick service meal. I'll drink free water. Several quick service places have big meals that we will split. If I'm not that hungry, maybe I want appetizers for dinner.

However, no matter what, I would suggest making ADRs.

 

[AliceIn]

It depends on where you like to eat, and how you like to eat. We like to do the buffets and character meals, and those add up pretty quickly. Right now we have the quick service plan, which works well for us. I've got 3 kids, two of whom are boys who are in growth spurts right now. They eat every scrap of their own meals, plus whatever other people don't eat. For us, the quick service plan more than breaks even. I'm hemming and hawing on moving up to the regular dining plan, as that is a bit trickier to know if you are getting a good deal or not.

 

[Turk February]

I think that all depends on how much your 12-yr-old eats since they're priced as adults at that age. Does (s)he still favor the kids menu over adult meals? If so, I can't see $60/day being a good deal. Right now, the dining plan works for us because our daughter is 5. But once she's over 9, I can't see us using it anymore.

It's insane to me that Disney charges $20/day for a 9-yr-old to eat and $60 for a 10-yr-old. There should be some sort of 10-14-yr-old price range.

 

[HotMama]

The price of the dining plan has gone up, especially for kids. It used to be a great deal for us. Not so much anymore. Really depends on where you are eating & how much you eat at TS. We snack a lot now, and don't eat at as many TS meals. Just depends...

 

[buzznina]

Like others have mentioned, it depends on how much you eat and whether you want to do TS and ADRS every day. The ONLY time it is worth it for us, is if we do a bunch of character meals, some will also be 2 TS credits. Remember, it is only 2 meals a day so you still have to do 1 meal OOP, so you have to factor that into your daily cost when comparing. We also do not want to do a sit down meal every day, it just takes to much time. We have had many days where we do not even come close to spending $180 in food and snacks. So determine if you want to do a TS every day and maybe check out the menus and prices and decide from there.

 

[bmalina]

I think that all depends on how much your 12-yr-old eats since they're priced as adults at that age. Does (s)he still favor the kids menu over adult meals? If so, I can't see $60/day being a good deal. Right now, the dining plan works for us because our daughter is 5. But once she's over 9, I can't see us using it anymore.

It's insane to me that Disney charges $20/day for a 9-yr-old to eat and $60 for a 10-yr-old. There should be some sort of 10-14-yr-old price range.

I think that is why the price seems so much more to me. Last time we went, he was 9.

 

[George4]

It does depend on how much everyone eats. We have used the dining plan in the past. However, two years ago, the prices jumped up, especially for kids, so we go the middle meal plan for one week of our vacation and just bought food as desired for the second week. We tend to eat breakfast in the room (cereal that we bring/buy) 2-3 days a week, and eat some meals (3-5 per week) in mid-priced restaurants but most in the quicker food service restaurants, and 2-4 drinks/snacks per day per person. For our family of 6 (at the time: 4, 6, 7, 11, 35+, 35+) we saved over $1,000 in one week just buying as we went. The meal plan just wasn't effective for the amount and locations that we ate. Last year, we did all food as we went, added everything up at the end, and saved more than $2,500 over our 2 weeks vs. the price of the dining plan.

 

[yooperfan]

I usually will decide where we will definitely eat table service meals, figure out what we would order out of pocket and see what it would run. If those meals will cost big chunk of the cost of TS dining, we go TS dining. One important point, with the cost of TS meals, you will probably drop $20+ per meal on tips, so if you wouldn't normally eat them, it's just another added expense.

 

[Jing]

hubs and I did DxDDP and we saved over 20% what we normally order. Now that we have Mr. Littles, who is still free, no way is DxDDP going to happen, just from a time perspective alone. I am doubtful regular DDP will work out either since we are not buffet people and character meals are where you see the big value.

 

[MrInfinity]

As everyone else has said, it depends where you eat. If you are doing lots of fixed price events or character meals, then it can be good. Generally speaking, it's better if you have more kids 9 or under than you do. But either way, it's not a huge swing. It's really +/- 10%. So it's not like it's going to save you or cost you a fortune either way.

You get no advantage in booking the sit-down restaurants for paying DDP vs cash. First come first serve, opening 180 days in advance.

 

[MystikaFaith]

It really depends on where you eat and what you eat. I highly suggest going through the menus of all of the restaurants, decide what your party would 'probably' eat and then compare the costs of both approaches. There will be variations when it comes to your pay per meal estimate, but it will give you a ball park figure to work with.

I now have two little adults (a 10 year old and a 14 year old) who don't eat like adults. The Disney dining plan for us is no longer worthwhile.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

We love the regular dining plan, but we always get it as a free dining bounceback plan. We love the feeling of allowing our kids to order whatever they want while on vacation. I do think that you could save money paying OOP and watching what you order, but to us a vacation is having the convenience of ordering whatever we want, regardless of the price. Now, this is just our opinion. To each their own
The one thing that I am starting to notice is the price of tips on meals! Yikes... it is getting expensive, so keep that in mind too.

 

[Babsy]

I have never found the dining plan to work for us. I keep checking and keep seeing that the room only discount along with paying OOP is significantly less expensive. I guess we just don't eat as much as some people. we never look at prices and order what we want while there. I keep receipts and have checked after the fact. We simply have never spent as much money on food OOp as we would save with a room only discount.

However, we have never done this with children 9 or under either. It is just the two of us these days.

 

[dansdad]

If Free Dining is offered, it ends up saving us about $800 over whatever room only discount and paying OOP. We also like to eat how the Dining Plan is setup, 1 QS and 1 TS per day plus snacks. However, paying for the Dining Plan would end up costing us more. We have gone 5 times with Free Dining now and being obsessive about such things, I have all the receipts from those trips. So I know what we spent on tips and drinks. So our first trip going when Free Dining wasn't offered, I took the money it would cost us to purchase the Dining Plan plus what we spent on tips and drinks the last 5 trips and put it on a Gift Card. We ate what we wanted, whenever we wanted, averaged 1 QS and 1 TS per day, and when we got home we had over $200 left on the Gift Card.

 

[SnackCredit]

If you order the most expensive things on the menu, then it certainly is a good bang for your buck! (although it's a lot of food, even with the regular Dining Plan)

Spend wisely. Try to order at least $35 worth of stuff for each TS credit, and use your snack credits on things that cost more than $4. (and remember, sales tax is included in the Dining Plan prices, but not in most listed menus, so factor that into account too)

 

[partigus]

YES!!!!!! Save about $900 if you get the quick service and 1 table service package. Am waiting for it to see if we can get it in September. Did it last September at CBR. Well worth it. And yes, make dinner reservations as soon as you can. You will enjoy it better than just winging it.

If Free Dining is offered, it ends up saving us about $800 over whatever room only discount and paying OOP. We also like to eat how the Dining Plan is setup, 1 QS and 1 TS per day plus snacks. However, paying for the Dining Plan would end up costing us more. We have gone 5 times with Free Dining now and being obsessive about such things, I have all the receipts from those trips. So I know what we spent on tips and drinks. So our first trip going when Free Dining wasn't offered, I took the money it would cost us to purchase the Dining Plan plus what we spent on tips and drinks the last 5 trips and put it on a Gift Card. We ate what we wanted, whenever we wanted, averaged 1 QS and 1 TS per day, and when we got home we had over $200 left on the Gift Card.

FREE dining and paying for the meal plan are obviously very different. I've found that if paying put of pocket, the meal plan really only is a value if you tend to always order the most expensive things...sounds easy, but you will find yourself in a 95 degree day just waiting a ceaser salad and not a steak. Appetizers are not included, but desserts are...I'd rather have the savory app over the sweet dessert. You find yourself taking a dessert just for a few bites, but then realize you are expected to tip on the entire price of the dessert, not just the 2 bites you took.....

Even if offered free dining- you need to carefully consider that against possible room discounts. I'd rathe race a 30% discount on a deluxe resort and pay for my meals as I go,,,,