Which (if any) Dining Plan do you choose?

[Brer Shay]

I see lots of discussion about which if any dining plan people intend to purchase. I'm wondering what most people end up deciding.

 

[homedad]

basic has worked fine for free and when we have to pay

 

[TDC Nala]

Last time I used the dining plan was December 2007. I do not anticipate using it again.

 

[NMW]

We used the deluxe dining plan in May 08 and have it booked for our May 09 trip. We love it!

 

[catne]

have mostly used the basic and really liked it...we tried DxDDP for a 2 day trip in January. Was kind of fun doing 3 TS a day, but we decided if we'd done it more than 2 days they would have been taking us out of there in an ambulance. Too much eating for us (and we didn't even use any of the 8 snack credits we got for those 2 days!)

 

[WDWAtLast]

If it were just DH and me, we probably wouldn't do a plan. But with two daughters who LOVE princesses, we will be doing many character meals, and after pricing it out, will save money using the basic dining plan!

 

[ctaci]

Its just DH and I and I chose the DDP not knowing even how much it cost before I clicked that I wanted it. I didnt really think about it but its nice to have most of the meals paid for upfront. We like our drinks and appetizers so we will be paying OOP for a lot but still, its nice to have the CS and the TS meals paid for.

 

[hannah_03]

I chose the QS plan this time because it was a last minute trip or else it would've been Deluxe for lots of character meals.

 

[Dani C]

I split mine up to have part QSDP and part DDP. That way, I have all the benefits of both.

I get the mugs with the QS and have more snack options which I can either utilize to have extra treats during my stay or to take away with me when I leave. Also, this plan keeps me from spending too much of my time at long meals with too much food.

I also get the TS options with the DDP to enjoy those TS restaurants that I or my family really want to visit during the stay.

The best of both worlds!

I never would do the Deluxe though, way too much wasted food, time, and money. I don't eat much for breakfast and there are very few times that I would go to a 2TS meal or show.

Now if I had a few teenage sons rather than a daughter, I might look at this one differently.

 

[shebaxric]

I think it depends on your family size and how much you like to eat. My husband and I love to try new sit down restaurants every time we go to WDW, and this is a great way to experience those. The plan we use is the one table service, one counter service, one snack per person per night. We have always felt that it's a great value and it's also a good way to control your spending because you are essentially paying ahead of time. The only thing that bugs me about the dining plan now is that gratuity is not included. It used to be, and then they took it out. You should really take a look at your budget, how many people you have, and what your expectations are for the food you want to eat. If you know you are going to want a character dining experience or two, get the regular dining plan that has table service. If you don't want to have a sit down experience, try the counter service plan. I hope this helps!

 

[Buzz2001]

I've never done a dining plan but I think I would consider the QSDP at CSR for our next trip.

 

[ancestry]

We choose the DxDP at DH's request. He wanted our trip completely paid for in advance and he was pretty insistant that we do the DxDP. He isn't exactly the biggest fan of Disney so he is looking forward to spending time each day during the meal process.

 

[DawnF]

We like the basic plan.

 

[DisneyTabby]

We do the basic plan. It's enough for us and the Deluxe plan cost to much for us as a family of 4 since we always stay at least 7 nights. I would rather put that money toward a better hotel and souvenirs.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We did the basic plan on our January trip and it was a GREAT value for our family. We would not hesitate to purchase it for any future trips.

 

[2Monkeys]

We did the basic plan in May 2007 and really liked the fact that most everything was paid for in advance. At that time, the appetizer and tip was included, and I don't think we paid for any meal out of pocket. We spaced the meals out so that 2 a day was enough, and filled in with snacks and breakfast in our room. The only thing we did not like about it, was having to be very scheduled. There were a couple of occasions where the kids were like 'it's time to eat AGAIN???' There was even 1 or 2 days where we were not even hungry at our ADR time, but still went to 'get our money's worth'.

For our May 09 trip, we have chosen the QSDP, mainly because of the schedule thing. QS works great for us, and there are many great options that we found last time, such as Wolfgang Puck Express. We are doing 4 TS meals OOP during our 8 night stay, which is plenty for us. The other great thing is that we get our refillable mug, and plan to use our meal included drink for water, so there is less we have to bring with us and less to lug around in our backpack. We think our credits will last us all week, b/c we will do some sharing. We won't have to bring a bunch of breakfast stuff, and we get 2 snacks a day on the plan, so won't have to bring a bunch of snack stuff either.

All in all, we like having as much as possible pre-paid, then we can order what we like and not think about the cost.

 

[Mickey and PSU]

We have never used the dining plan before. In June, we are planning on the DxDP for 7 days. With 2 teenage boys we felt that this would be the way to go. This trip is for our older son's graduation and Eagle Scout achievement so we wanted to go all out. My husband and I usually share a breakfast and the eat 2 healthy meals the rest of the day. Our younger son will eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and several snacks a day while working out daily. Our older son will eat at 11, 2 and then 6 and be looking for food around 11. With working out for football and baseball this has been his norm ever since he started high school. We felt that the DxDP would be best because we felt that we would have to pay too many OOP expenses for him alone.

 

[sonyuq]

never done dining plan before but in May we are doing QSDP just found out sil and family will be at WDW the same week and staying the same place. And they are doing QSDP also.

 

[Merilyn]

We have used the basic for several years and thought about the QSDP but when we added in the required character meals, it made since to go with the basic again. With several children in our group, we couldn't do WDW without one or two character meals. I did like it better before we had to add tips. I would have preferred to add on to the cost rather than have to pay OOP for tips. I also would have preferred to be able to chose between desert and appetizers. Oh well, Disney will do what they want. I know the desert thing saves them money because some won't order the deserts. I know all is about money!

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

We did the dining plan once, it really wasn't for us. We just use our DDE discount for meals.