Reviews of Disney Dining Plan
Reviewed by Wanda Review Date: 08/18/2015
Rating: (1) Recommended
Was at WDW last week. My husband prices out the cost of the dining plan and what we eat. It costs us about $600 less without it. However, we used to get it in the past. Way too much food. I was very observant of this plan. First, due to the 9 and under rule, the amount served to 10, 11, and up year olds is just wasteful. I must have watched a ton of food be thrown away last week. Also, Disney has the healthy kids meal on the menu so I guess if a child is over 9 yrs old Disney does not think they need to eat healthy. I watched a girl of about 11 at Prime Time eat one piece of her four pieced fried chicken meal, and two bites of her huge sundae. The rest went in the trash. Such a shame. I saw this happen many times. I think if the parents want to be in the plan, the kids should not be forced to be on it just because they are in the same room. Food is so expensive there, and also, the dining plan is so expensive that it goes to waste. Half the women waste half their food. We order what we want and usually not dessert or appetizer because the amount of food in an entree is usually more than enough, and I love to eat.
Pros:
Way to much food and wastefulCons:
Everything from what I saw and readReviewed by mawdryn Review Date: 06/26/2015
Rating: (10) Recommended
My family of 4 enjoyed the dining plan for our 5 night stay at POFQ. We dined at BOG (lunch), Yak and Yeti, Chefs de France, The Plaza, Katsura Grill, Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory and Narcoossees. Out of pocket, we paid for a few appetizers, alcoholic beverages, and tips. We didn't have room to fit in 4 counter service meals, so we were able to trade them for 12 snack credits instead. This worked out wonderfully, because we wanted to bring a bit of Disney back home with us. So we were able to pick up gummy candies, rice krispy treats, cookies and pretzels.
Narcoossees, although 2 credits per person was well worth it, because 2 of us had lobster.
We either do the regular dining plan or the deluxe every trip. We saved our receipts, and found this was a definite money saver, as always.
Pros:
Money SaverCons:
NoneReviewed by mcmouse Review Date: 03/31/2015
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
First off let me say that this is the first time in all our years visiting WDW that we haven't purchased a dining plan of some sort. We did like the convenience of not having to worry about how much money we were spending as the plan is pre-paid. You get plenty of good food to eat, but many times we said to ourselves "We never eat this much food at home. We could probably split some of these meals and at times skip a meal altogether." There were 2 of us traveling this year. Well we decided to not purchase a dining plan for this visit and see how we made out. We saved every receipt and did the math. We did eat at several sit down restaurants and on those days we ate lightly for our other meals. We never felt hungry or like we had eaten too much either...just right. We purchased 2 refillable mugs for length of stay at our resort. That cost us $35.98. We will rethink that on our next trip. Those mugs were figured in on our tally with the food we purchased. We found that we SAVED $478.00 by buying our own food instead of purchasing the dining plan. We stayed at WDW for 10 nights. We would have had to pay $1212.80 to purchase the dining plan. (2 people) No brainer for us. Had the dining plan been free we would have considered it, but we were offered the choice of a free dining plan or a percentage off our resort stay so we chose the percentage off. Glad we did. That's the route we'll take again if possible. When we started buying the dining plan years ago it was like $32.00. The cost has gotten way out of control and not possible for families with children who are planning a longer stay. Do your math before you buy it.
Pros:
lots of foodCons:
priceReviewed by rak2418185 Review Date: 01/18/2015
Rating: (10) Recommended
This is a must have! If for anything ,the fact that I didnt have to worry about cash or credit cards for meals. We got anything we wanted. We've been SIX times with the plan and cant believe people go without. This year we are trying the deluxe. We like to go to character meals and to different restaurants so this enables us to do so. The free refill mug is great! There is no problem finding a place to eat,all you have to do is carry the map or brochure.You can now even use the DISNEY PARK AP to find places. Last year we have regular dining spent 300 "out of pocket" the plan covered another 950. We paid 750 for the plan- so worth it if you plan it out.
Pros:
EVERYTHINGCons:
NOTHINGReviewed by Conte Review Date: 12/04/2014
Rating: (7) Recommended
I purchased the Disney Dining plan for our latest trip. Since we are a family of 5 I thought it would save us money. The problem is that when you have a sit down meal you are limited to what you can order. Usually it is a main entree which is normally fine but there were times we would have liked to get just a salad and soup or an appetizer for the meal. The food was good but I felt that the variety was limited it seemed like we had more to choose from last time we used the dining plan 5 years ago. Plus the dessert is a waste. Most of the time we barely ate it and yes we did bring some back to the room only to throw it out untouched. I feel instead of entree and desert they should give you the option of either an appetizer or dessert and entree. Since the tip is not included we spent around $35 in tips for every sit down meal. Next time we go I won't bother with the dining plan because our family would not spend $1500 for meals in 5 days. By not being on the dining plan we will have more menu options during a sit down meal. I have to say the snacks and counter service meals were fine.
Pros:
Huge PortionsCons:
Limited menuReviewed by Disney_Dreamz Review Date: 11/26/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
Ever since we started going in 2005 we always went with the basic dining plan. We (my mom and I) love it. We get the basic which comes with 1 QS 1 SNACK and 1 TS per PERSON + The Refill Mug.
We split the breakfast (usually the Bounty Platter w/ French Toast) and split lunch, that way we both have something. They give us a lot of food so splitting is not hard.
The Table Services are AMAZING.
Pros:
Everything...Cons:
noneReviewed by mochridh Review Date: 11/18/2014
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
The first time we went to Disney World in 2008, the Dining Plan was different and we loved it.
Back then, we had the choice between appetizer or dessert and as I am not a big dessert fan, the option was very appreciated. It also included a gratuity, but we always tipped more on top of it.
We also noticed that the restos were waaay emptier than they now are.
Since then, we've become incredibly disenchanted with the DDP and will give Tables in Wonderland a go in a few weeks (DVC members). Being that we would rather share an appetizer and I enjoy a glass of wine with my meal, our calculations (on a detailed spreadsheet based on our usual trends) show that we will not be spending more for TIW, may even save some $$, but will enjoy flexibility and not feel pressured into cramming in 48 snacks because we paid for them.
If more people dumped DDP, they would likely revamp it to make it more attractive.
Pros:
You'll try more restos than usualCons:
Too much food, very little flexibilityReviewed by CinCin Review Date: 11/15/2014
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
This is a peace of mind deal only. You won't save any money and you will have a lot of food to eat, but still end up buying more as it does not include a third meal, appetizers or alcoholic beverages. This does not include tips either so you still have to tip your server at the sit down restaurants. I had free dining with my package, but I did pay to upgrade to the regular dining plan. While I enjoyed my meals, some of them were 2 credits and it would have been a better deal to pay for them OOP. (out of pocket). I am not one to order dessert at all when I dine out and rarely eat dessert at home unless it is a holiday or birthday so that part of the plan is a waste. The entrees were always plentiful enough that I didn't even finish them much less have spare room or appetite for a dessert. You also do not get a choice of appetizer or dessert, it's dessert only. On the plus side: I had some fantastic sit down meals that I otherwise might not have tried had I not been on the dining plan, and some great desserts that I definitely wouldn't have tried had they not come with the plan. This does not save any money but it does give you peace of mind and it is a nice option if it works for you. I feel mixed about recommending it, as it is helpful in a way and the POM is all it really offers, but is it worth it? I'm not sure, as I can do my own math and keep track myself of dining expenses. I just don't want to have to on vacation. Now with charge to the room on the magic band, you don't even feel the sting of handing over money. The better choice is to use your room charge/credit card to pay for everything and only pay for what you'll really eat. I put cash down on my room card and then used out of my pre-paid bank. I still had a table service credit remaining when I left and because my flight out was so early I could not use it on departure day. Although it was convenient, I would not pay for the plan again.
Pros:
peace of mind for prepaid mealsCons:
too pricey, limited options, rigid rules on use, comes with dessertReviewed by MM from Connecticut Review Date: 10/02/2014
Rating: (6) Not Recommended
Disney Dining Plan was free during our recent stay, and we received 1 counter service, 1 sit down and 1 snack per day. Several issues: meals came with dessert only. We would rather have a choice of salad/app OR dessert, instead of just dessert (not exactly health conscious of Disney). Another problem is the sit down dinner took way too long at many of the restaurants (we were at Mama Melrose for 2 hours), and we had to book reservations months in advance, and we were pretty much locked into the restaurant. Too much planning for lengthy, heavy meals that our kids didn't care about at all. It was convenient and easy, and the refillable mugs at the hotel were a nice bonus, but if we had to purchase them, it would have been $17/per person, not sure if it is worth it.
Pros:
Easy, and refillable mugs a plusCons:
Time ConsumingReviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 08/23/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
I'm a Type A planner, and spend a lot of time perusing menus and figuring out what I'm going to eat to see if the meal plan is worth it. I have spread sheets to compare options. As I'm an AP holder, I compared purchasing Tables in Wonderland, or using the regular DDP, which was available to me for $48.99/night. Even at that rate, the DDP was still a better deal than TIW or completely out of pocket.
I saved about $75 and didn't eat anymore than I normally would. Since it was so hot, I was happy to have snack credits for frozen lemonades and other cold treats. I enjoyed all you care to eat meals for dinner at Garden Grill, Boma, 1900 Park Fare, and Chef Mickey's, as well as a breakfast at Tusker House.
While I do agree that the option of an appetizer or dessert would be nice, I think that if you are willing to do some planning ahead of time, the DDP can be a great deal.
