Just can't decide...Dining plan or not?

[Anne]

I just keep going back and forth on this and don't know what to do. I've heard so many bad things about the plan this year, but part of me would just love to go and not worry too much about the cost of food.

Here are the details...there are 4 of us so the plan would be $96 a day. I am figuring that without the plan we would have 3-4 TS meals, Regland Road, Chef Mickeys, Sci-fi and maybe Planet Hollywood. The rest would be CS and since we are driving, I plan to have most breakfasts and snacks in the room or quick take along stuff.

Now if we did the plan I would obviously plan a couple more TS. And to be honest, the fact that we can have dessert at every meal, sounds awfully enticing. But I also don't want to be tied down to all my reservations, and my kids getting sick of the kids menus, which i have heard are often lean in choices. I also have a 4yo which I don't know how she would do sitting down at a restaurant everyday.

So I guess, it is worth it, even with the changes?

[wilsonfamily4]

i was havingthe same problem. So I decided to figure out our restuarants and see how much it may cost me. When I cpmpared it to DDP it was better for us to get the plan. Kids on the plan only cost 10.99 and most meals cost that for a child. They still get a CS adn snack. It is just such a good deal for kids that it makes the plan good for us. But if it was adults I am not sure there would be the savings. So I think we will get it this next trip. It sure was a great deal for us when we went in 2007 with the tip included!

[Mom2aPrincess]

I agree. Actually look up the menus for the restaurants that you are for sure going to and decide what it would cost you versus the cost of the dining plan.


As far as being tied down to them, I always just look at it as a nice break for us each day. I approach the parks kind of commando style - one ride to the next and so this is like a nice relaxing break each day to have one sit down meal. My daughter was 5 our first trip so not much older than your dd and she did fine at all the sit down meals - just make sure to choose the more kid friendly ones like Chef Mickeys and maybe a princess meal. My dd is going on 8 now and we still do about 3/4 character meals. The atmosphere is so great.

I've done the math and even the new plan is cheaper for us and I just really like knowing that everything is prepaid when I get there and that's one less thing for to budget for or keep up with. I'm just going to cash out my SR earnings before our trip and use part of my earnings for the tips.

[jenvance]

The Dining plan is definitely worth the money even when they took the tip out. I figured it out and we still saved money. And the kids loved the dining plan.

[andrea2289]

We did it both ways last year and it really just depends on A) The type if food your family enjoys and B) If it is going to save you money:

On our first trip last May we stayed 6 nights and did the dining plan. It was me, DH, DS, and DD - We loved it! Our bills at each restaurant was in excess of $250 and at Narcoossees it was $382 - It was so much fun to be able to tell the kids 'order what you want' LOL - And our family are huge FOODIES so where and what we eat is a huge part of any vacation!

The second time we went it was for 3 nights and it was me, DD and her boyfriend. I did not get the plan, ate breakfast in the room, did a counter service lunch (shared twice) and I had budgeted a TS lunch at Whispering Canyon and dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express (we got pasta and pizza). We did not order extra appetizers and desserts, but we usually don’t anyway. We snacked when we wanted to (churros, pretzels, etc..) and my food budget was very low for the 4 days.

You can definitely eat well on a budget, but we loved the dining plan and now have our favorites that we will want to go back to. I don't mind not ordering appetizers because we usually can't finish our meal anyway when we do. Even without the tip and appetizer, it can still be quite a deal. At many of the TS restaurants, just the entrees and desserts can still run you in excess of $200.

I was a server for years, and I have read a lot about the service lacking. For me it is very simple: If I get bad/snotty/attitudy service...guess what? The server will not get a good tip if one at all, AND they will know why. And being an ex-server for many years, I feel I can say that. I would have never given bad service and expected anything in return. Their job is to make your dining experience a great one. So, if they are having a bad day, they need to chuck it at the door, slap a smile on their face and do their job. Bad service can ruin an entire meal experience for an innocent customer. However, if my service was so bad that I felt it justified not leaving a tip, I would also speak with the manager and they would clearly know why.

[luvdisney00]

I love the freedom of not having to worry about how much the meal is going to cost and letting everyone order whatever they want. We did the plan in 7/07 and it worked out really well for us. It's a shame that the tip is no longer included, I would rather that they raised the price a bit and paid the server 18% 0r something, but Disney is in it to make $$$. I don't care about the appetizer, we can't eat that much food anyway. When I eat out, I usually don't do appetizers unless there is something that I HAVE to have. I love being able to order a dessert for all of us. We all have a sweet tooth!! I think you have to figure what you would spend on food without the plan, and see if it's a savings for you. If you kids are both under 10, it should definetely be a savings. How can you go wrong for $11.00 a day? We brought some simple breakfast/snack foods for the room, and never needed any extra food other than what the dining plan covered. We only ate early in the morning (granola bars/cereal etc..) on our way to rope drop, we never ate any extra food l;ater in the day or at night because we were too full.

[eaglesdare]

isn't the childs price 9.99?

for us, we like the ddp. it is a matter of not having to worry about how much a meal costs. we always do a sit down table service once a day, that is part of my vacation. i know i will miss the appys, as i love trying new things. so i know i am going ot be paying out of pocket on those.

anyway, i think you could save money if you are on a budget by not having a table service meal every day. but for us, that is not an option, i want that as part of my vacation.

good luck in your decisions. oh i would also think about if you are able to get your adr's that you want, if not, then i might consider passing on the ddp.

[3dog2kidmom]

You all are making me rethink my decision to go sans dining plan this time. Does anyone know how close to your trip you can add the dining? My TA is out of town so I don't know if I can even add it at this point.

[linanglab]

If my kids were all under 10, it would be a no brainer and we would do it. But having an 11 and 13 year old, it isn't worth it for 4 adults. Too costly.

[eaglesdare]

i believe you can add the ddp at least 48 hours ahead of time.

we are a party of 10, 6 of us are paying the adult price, 3 childrens prices and 1 infant. it still comes out cheaper and less worry about getting the ddp. we do not have to carry cash (at least not a large amount). it is already paid for, so we do not have to charge it. and once we get there, we do not have to worry about trying to add up all those various meal prices in our heads and then telling someone they can't have it because its too expensive.

we will just go and say, order whatever you want.

yes 37.99 per adult is pricey. i know once day we are at eating at flame tree in ak, price for just the meal is 8.99 this does not include the drink or dessert. then for dinner we are eating at chef mickeys $29.99

here is my breakdown:

37.99 - 8.99 = 29.00
29.00 - 29.99 = -.99

so with the plan, i save the .99 cents and i get the drink and dessert at lunch included (instead of paying out of pocket)

i have done this with most of our meals. so even for adults, while the cost up front seems pricey, it still comes out we save money in the long run, and no stress.

i just wished i did not have to worry about that 18% tip though.

i still think the first thing you need to think about is whether or not you will have the counter service and a table service per day. some people just don't do this, so the plan would more than likely not pay.

however, if you are like us, which we do have an early cs, and a later ts everyday, (because it is part of my good time on vacation) then the next thing would be to see if you can get adr's. if you are at the 180 mark, you should beable to. if you are days away, you may not beable to.

when i went in december with lacy, i was lucky and got 3 adr's. but it did not pay for me to get the ddp, so i paid out of pocket on those 3 meals.

so if you are able to get the adr's, then i would for sure get the ddp.

and don''t forget you still get a snack per person per day also. when i am in mk my snack is the dole whip float.

but you can look at the prices on menus while in the parks, and if it shows snack on it, you can get it. like at some of the hotel stores food courts, you can get a box of donuts for one snack credit. donuts = breakfast.

don't mean to write a book, but i just wanted to let you know my reasoning for why i get it, even with lots of adults.

and just think of all the fun you can have planning everything!