Reviews of Disney Dining Plan
Reviewed by Villeguy Review Date: 04/12/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
Would not make a trip to Walt Disney World without purchasing the Disney Dining Plan. My spouse and I are true fine dining fans. I must admit during our 10 days annual trips we usually leave with 14 to 16 counter service meals left over (we really have no need for them). During our trip we have our must do dinners: Ohana, Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Kona, the Yak and Yeti, LeCellier and Cinderella's Royal Table. Though we end up having to pay for at least one meal and for at least 2 days we are off property dining with family and friends who live in the Kissimee area, the Disney Dining Plan is the best thing ever. For 20 years we've been eating at the same restaurants, paying for a cocktail or two, appetizer, entree and dessert. The money we save is so great that during our October 2012 vacation I was able to purchase 9 new Mickey Mouse watches.
Pros:
Great Value, Ease of Use and Peace of MindCons:
NoneReviewed by Rfren Review Date: 04/05/2013
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
We vacationed at WDW the week of March 25th 2013 and paid full price for the Disney Dining Plan. The kids enjoyed the character meals, but that was the only thing we liked about the meal plan. For breakfast, it's basically the same food wherever you eat (especially buffet style). There is not a good variety of choices for the kids and There is way too much food, in fact we didn't use up all of our counter service meals and were unable to get compensated for them. You get the refillable drink mugs with the dining plan, but still get a beverage with each meal...what a waste if you are dining at the resort.
Pros:
Character MealsCons:
Way too much foodReviewed by maze4 Review Date: 04/01/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
This is the 2nd time we used plan. Back in 06, you got an appetizer dessert and included tip. Not this time. The price increased and you got less. After researching total costs, we felt it was still the way to go. You get so much food that a lot of it is wasted. I think there should be more options with plans so you can chose different packages. I hated figuring tips in my budget and actually didn't budget enough so had to dip into spending budget. Not sure if will use next year or not.
Pros:
convenient saves moneyCons:
doesnt include appetizers or tipsReviewed by jame8608 Review Date: 03/31/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
Used this again during a March 2013 trip. We love scheduling dinner in advance, so this factor is not a deterrent for us. More than a value from our perspective. You do need to remember to bring lots of $1's to cover all the tipping. I do wish they would give the option to select either an App, or dessert, as most entrees do not include a salad. Understanding that Apps are pricier- maybe add a $3,surcharge to you plan if you select that flexibility.
Pros:
Hassle freeCons:
No flexibility on appetizerReviewed by DisneyDad61 Review Date: 03/21/2013
Rating: (6) Recommended
When the dining plan was first introduced in 2005, we were huge fans! At that time, our family of 4 included an 8 year old and a 2 year old. My wife and I paid about $35 each per day and we paid about $10 a day for our 8 year old. Our 2 year old was free. With taxes included, we paid about $80 a day. It allowed us 1 table service (TS), 1 counter service(CS), and a snack each day. We were thrilled that we could dine at restaurants that we would not normally dine at because of the prices. We saved hundreds of dollars. Disney has obviously discovered they were not charging enough for the plan. 8 years later, the plan now costs about $58 a day. Now that both of our children are over 10, we all have to pay the adult price (interesting since you have to be at least 14 to be admitted to the parks as an adult). The Dining plan would now cost us about $230 a day bringing the total dining cost for a 6 night stay to about $1370. The $1370 cost is not your final total on the dining plan-don’t forget it does not include tips which could easily total $150. You do each get a refillable mug, but when you already get drinks included with the your 2 meals a day, then they really expect you to drink a lot! It is also important to note that just because you purchase the dining plan, don’t be misled to think that you will have no more food costs. There are a few more incidental snack and breakfast costs to consider. It is very likely that a 6 night stay would cost us around $1600 for food only. It is also important to note that each CS and TS meal comes with a dessert. Our family rarely orders a dessert with our meal.
The DDP is a fixed cost for convenience. It is for those who want to pay a premium and is also nice for less frequent visitors who are not familiar with all the restaurants and prices to know what they like and how much it will cost. When visiting the parks, you are captive, so Disney knows that it is inconvenient for you to dine off site.
We are planning a trip to WDW in June and have made only a couple of dining reservations and will dine at some of the CS restaurants. We will have the option of sharing meals and and not be “forced†to order a dessert at any restaurant. We plan to take breaks from the parks during lunch and go back to our room for sandwiches or something simple. We have calculated our dining costs to be around $600 to $700 which is still expensive for a week of vacation, but far less than $1600. I cannot see paying another $900 to $1000 for convenience.
The best advice I can give is look at the menus on this website to estimate your costs for each meal and then compare it to what you would actually pay if you were not on the plan. It is almost a sure bet that you will dine at different places if you are not on the DDP however, if you plan on dining at expensive TS meals anyway, the DDP may fit your needs.
Pros:
ConvenienceCons:
PriceReviewed by MarLL55 Review Date: 03/20/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
It is so nice to just take "tip" money and not to worry about a meal budget. This concept is easy and you dont have to worry about how much each meal is.
Pros:
Just hand over you cardCons:
noneReviewed by jnscook Review Date: 03/11/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
One thing that we must have at the end of a long day of running around the parks, standing in lines, and darting through crowds is a nice sit down meal. It is a highlight of our day and it is always nice to know that we got a discount on our food by purchasing the plan and that all I have to do is hand them my room key to hand over my "entitlements". Beware, if you have not done this plan before or recently...you do still have to pay tip. And the table service meals are pretty expensive...therefore tip runs you about $20 for 3 people at best. That is for Liberty Tree type of meals. There are plenty that would cost you a lot more. So, do your homework on AllEars.net by looking at the menus and ratings. Then make reservations. You can find a lot of really good food for your table service meals. You have to work a little bit to find quality food for your table service...but it can be done. My only other complaint...the refillable mugs are ridiculously small in capacity. Not usually even worth the time to stand in a line to get the small amount. My favorite table service : Liberty Tree Tavern, Rainforest Cafe. Decent food on the counter service: The Cantina in Mexico and the cafeteria style place right outside of Soarin.
Pros:
convenience!Cons:
counter service mealsReviewed by SimplyGoofy Review Date: 02/16/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
We got to take advantage of the free dining plan during our last trip, and it saved us a substantial amount of money.
The dining plan works very well for us. We spend over a week in Disney, so we treat the trip more like a marathon than a sprint. So, we like to take our time and enjoy table service meals. The character meal experiences are wonderful and save us from standing in line to meet characters in the parks. Also, we don't get burned out on all counter service meals which is probably how we'd handle it if we didn't have the DDP. We really enjoy that we get to have desserts with our meals, and we find it more enjoyable that we don't have to constantly be worrying about how much money we have with us to cover meals. The DDP is convenient for us that way.
We use snack credits for pastries and muffins for some of our breakfasts.
We have purchased the DDP three times now, and my husband swears we'll never do it any other way. 2 meals and 1 snack per day is plenty of food for us. Our family was never hungry!
Pros:
Convenience, Try lots of different restaurantsCons:
Table service meals take timeReviewed by momof3inMadisonAL Review Date: 02/16/2013
Rating: (2) Recommended
We got DDP for a week long vacation in Feb. We have had TiW over the past year but like the (perceived) convenience of having everything prepared and we were planning several TS. For breakfast we had Akershus, Tusker House. Lunch we had Mama Melrose Fantasmic package, Tony's. Dinner we had Ohana, WCC. It was not convenient. Being a party of 6, we were in 2 rooms at Pop so instead of having all the credits together, they were split. (my card had 3 kids with it but DH only had his credits.) When my DH card didn't work, they had to rebook everything and ended up giving us 7 credits too many. We didn't want to spend what wasn't ours but it made it difficult to remember whose card to charge meals on. When we ordered, we had to use multiple cards. It was a complete pain. Went to concierge at start of trip to see if they could be combined but were told, "no".
We didn't save any money. We had too much to eat. I hate that they got rid of the appetizer/salad but I get a dessert with every meal. The desserts are not always great and we didn't always eat them. I would rather have an option for salad or let kids get fruit for "dessert" (true at some places but not BOG).think we will stick to paying oop from now on.
Pros:
Don't have to worry about price of mealsCons:
Limited choices, increased costReviewed by lizzie1974 Review Date: 02/11/2013
Rating: (6) Recommended
We've just returned from our 5th trip to Disney and it is the 1st time that we opted out of the Dining Plan.
We saved about $300 by not using the dining plan this time. Basically what we have found out (and it's no secret) is that the portions are too large for each person to get their own meal each time.
The table service restaurants don't mind at all if all you'd like to get is an appetizer and 1 entree to split. You can't do that on the dining plan. We never felt hunger or too full. It was just right.
The best time to utilize the dining plan is if you are basing your trip around the food. We did that a few years ago and were able to eat at Le Cellier, Coral Reef, Akershus, Rose and Crown, Crystal Palace, and several others. Out of pocket these would have been outrageous. It was worth it but the downside is that you must plan your whole day/trip around the table service. Minimum you dedicate 2 hours to each table meal between getting there and the meal itself.
If you prefer a more relaxed trip, skip the dining plan and you'll open up so many more options for yourself.
