Why I love the dining plan.

[3gr8boys]

I understand wanting to feel like everything is paid for and not wanting to look at the prices. Before our last trip (pre covid), I put what the dining plan would have cost (we were 4 adults by disney dining standards) in a savings account. During the trip we just charged everything to a cash back credit card (a little bonus $)....ordering what we wanted and not having to consider dining plan terms (we prefer appetizers over dessert, DS 11 sometimes preferred kid meals, we rarely ordered alcohol). Knowing the money was waiting to pay the bill gave me that same paid ahead feeling...and it turned out to be enough to cover the bill and then some. (Our meals included one TS meal each day, several were character meals.)

ETA this approach is not just about saving money, it is more pleasant for us to eat without fitting our selections into the dining plan parameters. We've gone with and without the dining plan and without just works better for how we eat.

 

[heather70]

We love the dining plan and our trip this past December was the first without it. I am one of those people who don't like to think about meal cost but I did this trip. So even though I'm sure we saved money, I missed the "all inclusive" feeling. I hope it comes back.

 

[Ariel620]

I missed all the snack credits a lot too. Festival of the Arts was a first for us, but it was painful to pay $9 per snack when that little purple symbol was right next to it!

I missed the yummy snacks elsewhere as well (I think this is the first trip we didn't get one of those huge homemade ice cream sandwiches in some park). We got a few snacks out of pocket, but snack credits make it more fun, and feel more free to get any snack any time.

We tried some different places this trip, and enjoyed them, but as soon as the dinning plan comes back we will use it again!

 

[holden]

The value of the dining plan is different for every family. It's not worth it for us. We sometimes just order appetizers for dinner. Sometimes the kids just want a kids meal. Without the dining plan, we have more flexibility and actually save money.

 

[Bonnie1222]

I miss not having the dining plan right now. DH and I get the deluxe and it is well worth the cost. At least we did before Covid.
We do 1 night stays regularly (we are local)
We get the deluxe plan for the 1 night. We would do a 1 credit dinner - Kona was our favorite - dinner would usually end up at about $250 (more than the cost of the plan for the 2 of us) We would do the Ribeye steak, large sushi appetizer, drink and dessert.
Then on the Sunday we would do CG brunch - another $220. (or if it was a non-brunch day we would do another 2 credit restaurant or 3 actual meals)
Then add in your snacks and the mug...
We would average $450-500 in dining etc that only cost us $240.

WTS - we only do it for 1 night stays. Doing a deluxe plan for more than that was a complete waste of time for us because it is just way too much food. For longer stays we pay as we go and eat much lighter meals, and pack snacks for the room for breakfast or lunch breaks.

Question - in your opinion, do you think Disney will bring the dining plans back someday? I sadly don't think they will.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Yeah, I've never truly understood the "convenience" of the DDP. We never look at the price when we order at any restaurant. I would think if one is on the DDP you would tend to order expensive meals to make sure you got your money's worth.

This would be amazing but unfortunately that is not reality for a lot of people. I live my life on a budget counting every single penny, often to help pay for our Disney trips. When you live life that way it's very difficult to turn it off. I now that is the challenge for me. I love the DDP because I pay for it before I go and eat anything I want which is not an option I have at any other time.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Question - in your opinion, do you think Disney will bring the dining plans back someday? I sadly don't think they will.

I changed the dates of our trip a couple of weeks ago and was happy to see the DDP still listed on the reservation page. It couldn't be selected because it's not currently available but I was hopeful to see it even still listed!

Bring back the DDP!!

 

[supersnoop]

I figure there are three different approaches to the dining plan:

1. Analytic people who do the math, stretch the plan, and make it a better use of their money
2. Emotional people who don't care that it probably costs more to get an "all-inclusive" feel without having to worry about prices
3. Analytic people who do the math and realize they can eat the way they want for a whole lot less than the plan

We all have different priorities, and that doesn't make any one else's opinion wrong.

 

[crazycatstacy]

We always get the deluxe dining for the two of us. We love the all inclusive feel of it. Even though it is probably a waste of money, I don't mind having extra credits leftover to order snacks to take home. I always have a ton of snack credits and sometimes even dining credits that I turn in for snacks in Germany, Main Street Bakery or wherever else has things that appeal to me. I then take the snacks to my office to share with everyone. Without the dining plan my husband (and probably me but not as much) would probably flip over spending the money on snacks for my work but since they are "free" that day it doesn't impact us.

 

[DeutscherDon]

We did the dining plan for a few years and at the end of each trip we lots of snack credits left over. Can’t do anything with them but buy
Overpriced candy and snacks at the hotel store. We started buying Disney’s gift cards for 500 dollars for each person on the trip at SAMS CLUB. You get them for 484.00 each. That way you don’t feel any guilt about paying what ever the price is For your meal just like ddp. You buy what you want not what you feel you should to get the most for your Disney dining plan bucks.
Our plan was for over 100 dollars per day Per person, and we had 22 snack credits left over. With the Disney gift card you can spend it on food, gifts and What ever else or save it till the next time. It just makes more sense.
we have done it ever since and totally love it plus you can buy a Disney gift card months ahead and budget them out for your vacation plans. Targets also sells discounted Disney gift cards With your red card.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Haha, I had the exact same thought. I’m on vacation—I’m definitely having a mimosa at breakfast, a nice steak at dinner, an overpriced snack from an epcot booth, and dessert!

As for signatures, we love em! It’s called the deluxe dining plan and last time we used it we saved $1,700 (I itemized every meal not including tips.)

That's awesome. We've done the Deluxe Dining Plan a couple times, but I never was organized enough to keep up with our receipts to see how much we came out ahead. I do LOVE the freedom of being able to get what you want without worrying about the price. I probably wouldn't get anything from the Food and Wine booths if I was paying OOP for it.

 

[sethschroeder]

its so pricey

And you think the dining plan is what?

Sorry a majority of people lose money on the dining plan its why they continue to offer it.

 

[Blondie58]

The dining plan is too much food for us. I can't throw food out and servings are usually large. However, we plan ahead and use gift certificates for our meals. We don't eat expensive everyday.

 

[gharter]

Never a fan of DDP. I understand why some do. It was too much food and things we didn't care about. More importantly, several of our favorite restaurants were not part of it.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Other than those the swolphin and v&a, what other restaurants were not participating?

 

[gharter]

It has been a few years since we got the DDP. I know Monsieur Paul was not on the list, as well as the ones at swolphin. I don't recall which ones, but several Signature restaurants were not on the list at that time.

 

[lubob]

I really hope the DDP comes back. We love knowing that we have already paid for our meals. We also catch ourselves looking at the prices and are careful of what we order when we don't have the dinning plan. The DDP also lets us go to restaurants like the california Grill that normally would be way out of of price range if we did not have the dinning plan

 

[Moliphino]

That's awesome. We've done the Deluxe Dining Plan a couple times, but I never was organized enough to keep up with our receipts to see how much we came out ahead. I do LOVE the freedom of being able to get what you want without worrying about the price. I probably wouldn't get anything from the Food and Wine booths if I was paying OOP for it.

I was never hungry enough to use all my snack credits when using the DDP. It's hard to snack around the world during a festival when you also need to eat a QS and TS meal that day, at least for me.

 

[Mazz519]

Last trip we didn't get the dining plan but we ordered whatever we wanted whenever we wanted....I kept record and it came out cheaper for us this way...we didn't skimp on anything.... I was never a huge fan of the dining plan alway keeping record and getting unwanted snacks towards the end of our trips... Will never get it again if it comes back

 

[Pumbaa_]

It is now and always will be a math exercise