Reviews of Disney Dining Plan
Reviewed by EpcotMom Review Date: 07/23/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
We love the convenience of the dining plan. We eat at places we wouldn't normally eat at. But who needs a dessert at lunch? And the options are often the same thing - carrot cake or chocolate cake, anyways. And for the table service I find it hard to believe that a small cup of soup or small salad would cost that much more for Disney to substitute for some of the more involved desserts.
Pros:
Easy, convenientCons:
Too many desserts!Reviewed by FlamingoGirl Review Date: 07/20/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
We thought the plan was an amazing deal. There was just my husband and I and we stayed in our travel trailer at Ft Wilderness. Even though we had the capability to cook for ourselves, we decided, it was our vacation and we saved for 6 years and we were going to enjoy it.
We planned ahead. We sat down about 7 months out and looked at all the menus and made our choices for were to dine. We made our reservations at the 180 day mark. We even looked at the counter service meals and had an idea where and what we would like to try. We did our homework. It was so worth it. We had fantastic meals everyday.
We were there for 12 nights, on day 11, the lady asked us if we knew we had 22 snacks still on our card. We did. We had eaten so much that we waited until the last day and bought snacks to put in the trailer for the rest of our trip. It made the Disney Magic last that much longer.
The only thing I wish would change is that the camp ground does not have a special dining offer in Sept. We went in Sep and the hotels have free dining but there is nothing if you are camping. Even a 1/2 price deal would be great. (We camp because we have furkids that go everywhere with us.)
We loved it and would recommend it to anyone vacationing at WDW!
Pros:
Easy to Use, Great VarietyCons:
Wish there was some kind of a deal for campers at Ft WildernessReviewed by Time2Talk Review Date: 06/15/2014
Rating: (7) Recommended
My group had the dining plan with one quick service, one table service, and one snack per day. After reviewing our trip, we decided that we will get a quick service only plan for our next visit. We will pay for two table service meals out of pocket for our next visit. A table service meal each night ended up being way too much food.
The tips for a group of four really add up and you need to take this into consideration. Tips added about $10 for each person for a table service meal.
Pros:
PrepaidCons:
TipsReviewed by BabieO Review Date: 05/18/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
I highly recommend getting the dining plan. On average our dinner for three adults would have been $120 per night with out the dining plan. We use the quick service for breakfast in the am & sit down meal for dinner. We have tried restaurants I never would have tried with out the plan & all of my meals are prepaid before I arrive at the parks. On the last day of our trip we decided to see if we could change reservations 5 hours before dinner & were able to get into another restaurant with no issue, with the help of guest services
Pros:
Love it! A real bang for your buckCons:
noneReviewed by DisneyStrong86 Review Date: 05/15/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
I really LOVE the Disney Dining but hate the recent change of being unable to cancel without penalty.
I recently found out that it will cost you $10.00 per person! So if you have a family of 5 and want to cancel, you will be paying $50.00 for absolutely nothing.
What happens if you have a kid who gets tired and cranky the last minute? You will have to waste $$ to skip the reservation to take care of your child for a nap etc.
Despite the new 24 hour cancellation debacle, I would really recommend getting the dining plan. One of our restaurants bill came to $109.00 but all we had to pay for the meal was tip of $15.00
Pros:
Great ValueCons:
Unable to Cancel same day reservationsReviewed by WDWDad1974 Review Date: 05/14/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
My family of 5 just got back from WDW. My kids are all 7 and under. We got the basic dining plan (1 table service, 1 quick service, 1 snack), and I think it was worth it, and even enhanced our experience.
Here's the main value: I did not once hesitate to buy my kids any food because of the cost--in fact, because the plan incentivizes the purchase of costlier items, I actually encouraged my kids to get the fancy things they wanted. This was, for me (I do have a tendency to be a tightwad, and to worry about letting spending get out of control), well worth every penny. I did not have a single argument with my wife or kids about spending money on food. And that meant that an argument about food did not turn into an argument about souvenirs ("you got the Dole Whip, so you can't have the mouse ears!"). Maybe that's what your every day is like, but if you're like me, go for it.
Some details: you really pack the value in on counter service. Some of the options (Cosmic Ray's at MK, Tangierine Cafe at Epcot) are just fantastic, and you can actually get more food than the average value of a counter service entitlement. Table service is a little less valuable for the food I think, but we used all of ours for character meals, which I think ended up balancing out--especially when we chose the buffet meals. And we had breakfast every morning on our snack entitlements--bagels, muffins, fruit, etc., at the resort.
Some people complain that it is too much food, and I get that. My girls want chicken nuggets and hotdogs at each meal, and that does not always beat the bottom line. But if you're savvy, you can get a big meal to split among your light eaters and reserve your entitlement for a later time. When you factor in all the desserts, fruit, drinks, etc., that you can get and the carry with you for a later snack that come even with the chicken nugget meal, I think it balances out. And my girls tended to eat more than they even knew when they ordered because they were exerting themselves a lot more than usual.
It is worth noting in this context that although table service restaurants require that kids order off of the kids menu, counter service restaurants do not! So the Mediterranean Slider Combo at Tangierine (highly recommended) comes with 3 pita sandwiches, any one of which will feed a kid (if they'll eat falafels, that is). This is a value that no one explained to me, but which I quickly realized represented real value, and which I wish I had known on day one. I would have done some version of the following each day: have the girls split a counter service breakfast, table service (character meal) for lunch, have the girls split a chicken breast nuggets and fish meal at the Columbia Harbour House. That would have saved us an additional six counter service meals that we could have used to feed adults later, and which would have allowed us to have two counter service meals on most days.
OK, so there's the downside. To really maximize value, you have to know what you're going to eat. I found some good websites that laid out some of the most valuable eateries, so no matter where I was, I knew a $14.95 counter service meal could feed three people within a 100 yard radius. This is not rocket science, but it could be another source of argument if your kids are hungry and you're making calculations about dinner locations based on value.
A couple of other things:
*cast members are very knowledgeable and help explain the system to you.
*you also get these nifty travel mugs. You can only fill them at your resort (or at park water fountains). They're RIFD-embedded, so you literally can't use them at other resorts. But if you're having breakfast at your resort using your snack entitlements, there's your drink--coffee, lemonade, etc. We carried them to the park (use a "mommy clip" to clip them to your stroller), and left them with the stroller for hours at a time. I was sure they'd get stolen, but they never were!
Pros:
Convenience, valueCons:
You must keep track!Reviewed by lw Review Date: 03/16/2014
Rating: (6) Recommended
Prepaying for meals are an excellent option when dining at Disney.
However, after 5 days so much dessert and so many less than stellar snack and quick serve choices you become so full!
Perhaps, a Baggie of carrots or a garden salad instead of dessert or a bottle of water.
We were very surprised with the additional gratuity added to each meal.
Pros:
Prepaid mealsCons:
A lot of food; pay for tip over 6 peopleReviewed by BacksideOfWater1971 Review Date: 01/26/2014
Rating: (7) Recommended
My recent trip I was given a free quick service dining plan so I paid a small up-charge to get the standard dining plan.
The standard plan allows you 1 Table Service meal, 1 Counter Service meal, and 1 snack per night of your stay as well as a refillable mug you can use at any resort during your stay.
After 5 sit down meals, 5 counter service meal, and 5 snacks I never felt so full in my life.
All the food (with one notable exception. See my Chef Mickey's review for that) was very good but it got to be to much. I had to force myself to use all my counter service meals and snacks to keep them from going to waste and ended up bringing a lot of food home with me.
The refillable mug is nice if you spend a lot of time at the resort, but I don't and you can't fill it at the parks. Also when you come home what are you gonna do with it? I have 4 of them just sitting around now.
Also keep in mind appetizers and tips are NOT included and reservations are required for the table service meals so plan ahead.
The dining plan is not for everyone, but something nice if you eat a lot.
Pros:
Prepaid MealsCons:
Almost to much food, no appitizers, tip not includedReviewed by kretzklan Review Date: 01/15/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
We love the dining plan. It saves us a decent amount of money (we figured it up and saved about 20%)...plus we wouldn't normally splurge for some of the meals we get to choose and certainly not dessert! It's the best time of day when we sit down for a meal and have a chance to talk about the day! Even quick service meals are wonderful. It just really takes a lot off our minds - not constantly price watching...it's prepaid!
Pros:
Allows us to have great family timeCons:
noneReviewed by JerseyShoregirl13 Review Date: 01/10/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
I love that meals are already paid for. But have to make sure have money for tips; which I have been told should be 18% even for buffet meals. Also, I would rather have appetizers than dessert or even have the choice of either dessert or appetizer.
