Disney Dining Plan: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[JoseyDisney]

Thought that since a lot of people seem to be asking wuestions about how DDP works, is it worth the money etc on seperate threads it might be a good idea to have a communal thread with all the info they might need with reviews of it, and what all the micechatters think are the good and the bad points of it!

So lets get going what do you think of the DDP (any version of it - Quick Service, Normal and Deluxe)? Would you recommend it? Is it worth the money? How does it work?

[mikelieman]

This past April, we didn't have DDP, and didn't miss DDP.

Part of that was the hotel having continental breakfast setup for the morning, so the few times we DIDN'T have character breakfasts, that was taken care of...

And IIRC, almost every night was some Character Dinner or Dinner Show... Maybe we could have saved a few bucks, maybe not... It's not worth the time playing with a spreadsheet to figure it out, myself...

[Barbaraann]

I have done the Dining Plan, and I personally think it is worth the money, if you like to eat a lot of food on your vacation. It is roughly $40 a person, a day, and that means that each day you can choose to eat at a sit down restaurant. If you want to sample some of Disney World's sit down restaurants, and character meals, this part of the Dining Plan can save you a lot of money. Keep in mind though that your tip is not included in the price of the Dining Plan, so you will actually be paying more than that $40 a day, per person.

Besides the sit down meal, you will get a counter service meal. You can make that breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever, your choices are numerous as far as places to eat.

In addition to that, you get a snack. Snacks are numerous different items ranging from bottled water to food items. Most of these are labeled very well in all the food courts, and other eating establishments of Disney World.

I eat two meals, a day, when I am on vacation, so that part was ideal.

The drawbacks are: do you want to lead a structured existence while dining at Disney World? Those sit down meals must be arranged ahead of time. As far out as 90 days. If you wait too long, you may not get to eat in the places that you would like to. The whole process of dining can take an hour or longer, so are you willing to give up that amount of time out of your day to eat one meal?

Of course, many people like the fact that their meals are paid for ahead of time. Well almost, except for the aforementioned tip.

You can check out menus at allears.net, and see what prices you would be paying for food without the dining plan. It can better help you decide what you would actually be saving. Only you know your eating habits while on vacation.

[yoyoflamingo]

I have never used it, and I am perfectly happy with that. This summer, we had the opportunity to chose either free dining or 3 nights free, and we chose the latter. For someone like me who only eats maybe 1-2 table service meals during my vacation, it seems like a waste. Also, I don't always want a dessert with my meals. It just warrants over eating, and the food I eat during the vacation is more than enough for me, so I pass on it, and it never bothered me.

[NeverNeverland]

FTR, we picked 3 days free for several reasons, the dining part was a small portion.

I have used the dining plan before, the old one, a few years ago. Getting it for free is SO worth it - it allows you to eat at the nicer restaurants you might not eat at daily. I'd say that is still true under the new plan.

Paying for it... I'm not sure. I think that it'd be more of a cost vs. what I want. Would I still WANT to do a sit-down place everyday? I'm not sure. So far, I've been ok not having it all the time.

[SusieP.]

We are taking our first trip to WDW next month, so I can't say how much I liked it/disliked it yet. However, as first timers, I can say that it's giving me an "anchor" for planning the trip, helps me divide up my time, and ensures that I will make the rounds properly.

[dsnylndmom]

We've done one trip without it and one trip with it. The first trip without it, we only did a few table service restaurants so we didn't miss it. The second trip was during a free dining promotion, back when appetizers were still included. It was a lot of food, we rarely ate the desserts but we came out ahead money wise. The issue was due to free dining it was impossible to have "wing it" nights. The nights that we didn't have an ADR we couldn't find a place to eat. So if someone is going during the free dining promotion make sure that you get your ADRs lined up!!

This year we're doing it again, since we have two teenage boys with us, moneywise it make much sense to do the dining plan. Plus, I love eating at WDW. It's part of the trip to me and there are so many good table service restaurants! I had a hard time narrowing it down

I don't think I could handle the deluxe dining plan though, three table service restaurants is too much for me, one a day is perfect.

[Barbaraann]

It definitely does help you schedule your time. I would always decide which restaurants that I would like to eat at, before, I would decide which parks I would be visiting each day. I would then have to make a few concessions either in favor of a favorite dining place, or a particular park on a particular day.

A definite positive of having an ADR on each day of your trip, is that you have a built in rest period. I always used those as a way to get out of the sun, and hydrate myself, and I was usually ready to finish out my day with more energy. Or if my ADR was for breakfast, it was a good way to start out the day, with a good meal. Touring takes energy, and a good meal gives you that.

[dsnylndmom]

Barbaraann, that's about what did. We used our ADR schedule to schedule our park time. It worked out really good with the EMH for each evening also.

I downloaded the WDW Dining app for my iphone for counter service meals.

[Barbaraann]

Is their anything that an iphone doesn't do?

[SusieP.]

Originally Posted by dsnylndmom

Barbaraann, that's about what did. We used our ADR schedule to schedule our park time. It worked out really good with the EMH for each evening also.

This is how I did it as well, based on where the evening hours were for each day, and tried to get us in the right park for meals on those days.

[Barbaraann]

I always had fun planning the dining for our trips. There are many wonderful places to eat at Disney World. The Dining Plan gives you the opportunity to try some new and different restaurants, and with good planning, you will indeed save money.

[dsnylndmom]

Originally Posted by Barbaraann

I always had fun planning the dining for our trips. There are many wonderful places to eat at Disney World. The Dining Plan gives you the opportunity to try some new and different restaurants, and with good planning, you will indeed save money.

I agree. I'm a huge planner, it's part of the fun of vacation! And for our family going to WDW is more than just the parks, the restaurants are included. And there are just so many fun, tasty and wonderful dininig experiences to try!

[mikelieman]

Originally Posted by Barbaraann

Is their anything that an iphone doesn't do?

iPhones don't run Rockbox, so they're useless for playing real digital audio ( i.e.: Things not encoded in AAC or MP3, such as FLAC, SHN, OGG, etc... )

[Mel-]

I just got back from a trip and we did the regular dining plan. I have to say, I probably would not do it again, or if I did, I would do quick service.

As many have said, for you to eat table service, you have to make reservations. Forget walk-ups. And because of that, you are tied down and many days, we honestly weren't hungry yet at our reserved dinner time.

Yeah, it saves you money, depending how you work it and what you order. I got so very sick of dessert with every meal though. I'm not a dessert eater...and often the thing that made it worth it was the dessert pushing the price up. I wouldn't ever order dessert anyway. So I guess it just depends. And you do have to pay tip.

If I were to do it, I'd go Quick Serve from now on. I just got sick of being tied down and way sick of dessert.