meal plans

I've never personally had one because I've only stayed in a Disney hotel once...but they seem to save lots of money!

I love 'em! I think you'll find differing views but it really depends on how your family likes to plan and how they like to eat. One reason why I love it is because the price is fixed and paid for. I know exactly how much to budget for food and there won't be any surprises along the way. I don't have to worry about having cash on hand for food (we don't use cards in the parks..it's too easy for us to get sucked in to the...oh just charge it philosophy and an $800 bill later....yeah..).

Another reason I love it is simply for the ease and the amount of food. I love knowing that no matter what we can order WHATEVER we want (other than appetizers and alcohol of course) and it's covered. Lobster and Steak meal? Yes please! I don't have to worry about spending too much when dining out. I'm not sure it really saves much money. One year we did it and I saved all my receipts and tallied it up and I think we saved about $35.00..but that was back when tip and appetizers were included with the plan.

Overall if you have a family of eaters who like to plan I highly suggest it!

I love knowing my whole cost before I go and not having to deal with bringing more cash. I'm a fan!

I love the Deluxe plan. I love not having to carry cash on me and the Deluxe plan has the most to offer with the least restrictions. With the Deluxe plan we can have 2 one credit meals a day sometimes three and still have table service meals for the last day since we drive and don't leave until the last minute. It also allows for the signature meals and dinner shows without feeling like you are giving up so much. With the deluxe plan we normally don't spend very much out of pockets for any kind of food or drinks in the park or at the resort.

As an international guest, not having to worry about budgeting for 2 weeks worth of meals, and snacks, is a great idea!! I know my fiance and will still buy extra snacks, as we eat our way around WDW ( Epcot, most likely!!).

I love the whole idea of not having to worry about buying food and of course everything is all on one card...park ticket, room key, charging privilages, and meal plan. I know each time I go for a meal I will get an entre, drink and desert and I know I will always have enough to eat. Without the meal plan I don't think my husband and I would dine at the restaurants that we do. Also the snacks are fantastic! We share our snacks which are enormous and then end up having one in the am and one in the pm. The best thing about the meal plan is you can eat anywhere in the world with it!!!! It is fun just trying out the different restaurants that are out there

Love them! We frequently do the Deluxe Dining Plan when we travel. That way we can always hit a table service when we want to, and sometimes we'll eat a late buffet breakfast then do an early signature restaurant for dinner. It makes it so easy for us as a family because I don't have to stress out about how much cash I have and what everyone is ordering. Less stress always makes for a better vacation in my book!

The first (and so far only ) time we had the DDP, we had the "basic" plan - 1 CS, 1TS, 1 snack per person. I loved it! My latest trip (oh hi bestie posting just before me!) I was crazy worried about my food budget and was trying super-hard not to let it show and harsh other people's mellow. It's just so much more convenient; no worries about how much it's costing you, do I have enough money on my credit card to cover this, etc. I've heard some people feel constrained or limited or that they spend all of their vacation feeling like they are running to get to an ADR. I can see why some may feel that way but we typically do a TS or a buffet every night, so we're hustling to an ADR anyway! Next time we're staying on property, I'm putting my foot down - Disney Dining all the way!

I'm a big fan of the dining plan.

I have never been on any meal plan, I have always relied on Tables in Wonderland. Unless TiW is considered a meal plan?

ADR's you make regardless of being on a meal plan or not. You pretty much need them if you want to be guaranteed a seat at any sit down restaurant. We always did the Deluxe Dinning plan & loved it, but it is a lot of food, unless your doing signature dinning every night and using two credits at a time. We are going to try out the Tables in Wonderland in May though just to see the difference because we hit the wall a lot with the Deluxe Dinning Plan & we don't want an appetizer & a dessert with every meal. We may very well go back to the Dinning plan when it is all said and done just for the convenience.

The Disney dining plan can save you 20-25% off the cost. It will of course depend on what you select for dinner. It also is a convenience and less worries of spending while you go. I like using AllEars.net. Check out http://allears.net/din/dining.htm and then look at some of the menu's and the prices. This is a great way to plan your dining ahead of time. Especially if you have a child that is a fussy eater, like we do.

When looking at the web page, think of the mid dining plan to start with (counter service, sit down dinner and a snack). Think of the price you then pay, you will pay $51.54 (adult, age 10 or more) and $15.02 (kid 3-9) per day.

When you have this meal plan, look at places that you or your kids might like to go. I'll pick two for you as an example, in Disney Hollywood studios, my daughter loves the Toy Story Pizza Planet. You have only pizza for lunch to choose from. Look at the most expensive pizza (veggie pizza, $8.49) a rice krispie treat ($3.49) and a drink (bottle water $2.50). You are already at $14.48 just for lunch for an adult.

Now lets look at going to dinner at the Coral Reef in Epcot. Say you are in the mood for Grilled New York Strip Steak($31.99), want cheesecake for dessert ($7.99). Now dinner just cost you $39.98.

On the way back to your hotel, you decide to get a snack (diet coke, $2.50).

Lets add up the meals and snack of the day.

$14.48
$39.98
$ 2.50
Total $56.96

Here you can see you are a little above the daily price of what you paid for an adult for the day. If you look at some others, I am sure you can spend more than that. We have found that the two times we have went with the kids, the meal plan was the way to go. It does save you 20-25% in the long run.

Just remember, you NEED TO BOOK DINNERs as soon as you can. We went last time to Disney and I tried to make reservations 6 months ahead of time for dinner and there were still some place I could not get into for Dinner.

I will tell you . . dinner reservations will drive you nuts. Also when doing the dinner reservations, make sure you look at the number of points the dinner place uses. Some places like the Brown Derby are a 2 point dinner place.

Note: Points are used for the dinner plan. You get a point a day for your plan. So if you have 5 days, you have 5 points for counter service, 5 points for dinner and 5 points for snacks. If you don't use each, they carry over and you can use them later all at once. So you can buy mulitple snacks if points are left or multiple lunches, etc. Read the plan options and what it is all about. It is confusing, until you read.

Again, check out http://allears.net/din/dining.htm. This portion of allears is really informative and helps you make sense of the plan. Please remember, the plan I talked about is only one option. There are other dining plans that you can also buy. But the pricing and services are different. It will all depend on what you want for food and how much food you want to eat. I have heard from many friends that the deluxe plan has TOO MUCH food to eat.

After all this, we believe in the dining plan and it has saved us money. Just don't get discouraged with trying to plan and book the meals. It can be frustrating . . just be flexable and make sure you plan your park visits and food selections places together. Yes, this is a pain in the butt. For example, if you plan on going to Epcot for the day, see what lunch and dinner choices are available there. Then plan on the food there.

I will tell you, we were in the Magic Kingdom one day and then had plans for dinner in Epcot. It isn't a real issue, but you have to keep track of your time and plan on getting from one park to another. For example, we were on the train in the Magic Kingdom by Splash Mountain and a thunderstorm came through. The rain came down so hard, the water was running off the roof of the train depot and over the gutters. We had to wait 30 minutes for it to slow to a trickle, before my daughter and wife would walk. The train was then shut down due to weather. So we had to walk from the back of the park to the front entrance. Get the monarail to the transfer station and then get the monorail to Epcot. This took about 45 minutes in total. SO PLAN time to get from one park to another. Weather can play a factor in transportation.

If you stay in one park for dinner, it can make life a little simpler.

Sorry for being so long winded, but the planning is important. Let me know if you need anything else or have any questions. Be glad to help in anyway further that I can.

Jay

P.S. Yes, I am a Disney fanatic and I do all the planning and deal finding for the family. Disney is NOT a vacation that you can just go and have a good time without any planning. The more planning / organization you do ahead of time, the more relaxing your vacation will be.

I love the meal plans. Ive had nothing but good experiences with it. Really really helps the vacation out.

Can you get the dining plan while staying at Shades of Green? I know you can't get it if staying at the Dolphin or Swan. Even though they are on Disney property, they are not Disney resorts. I thought the same would be true for Shades of Green, but I don't know a lot about the resort. Or do they have their own plan?

I love the dining plan

I love the dining plan.... and especially because the week we booked was FREE dining! So we had 1 ts, 1cs, and 1 snack every night of our stay! We added up all the tickets from our meals and ended up saving over $1,000 on just the two of us. Imagine what it would be like if we had kids or other adults with us! I know I will be waiting for the specials from now on for FREE dining every time we book in the future!! It was nice knowing all our meals (we could use a snack credit for breakfast or just a soda in the park) were paid for!

Thank you for that. I'm sending to everyone making fun of my OCD planning for our trip in June. lol.

When I go out I sometimes get too focused at staring at the prices... I may be in the mood for a nice filet mingon but I will order a pasta dish because it is cheaper... With the dining plan you dont look at the prices at all! its nice knowing you are gonna get so much food that is already paid for! (feels like the meal service at college )

Never used DDP. We use TIW, as we always have cocktails or a bottle of wine with our TS meals. Dessert not so much. Also, we prefer the Swan/Dolphin restaurants for dinner, and they aren't on DDP. With TIW, you pay for what you order, and the discount(20%) covers your automatic tip(18%), though we usually give additional tip to make it at least 20%.

I'm not a dining plan advocate. I used to be, then they took away the appetizer and the gratuity while raising the price. We always get at least an appetizer but rarely get dessert. For my family, it's just not a value. We do, however, use and are very happy with the Tables in Wonderland card.

Everyone's situation is different. You've got to see what works best for you and sadly, that involves math.

The only time me and hubby do the dining plan is when we go with my sister and her family. They love the dining plan and absolutely must have it! You do save money for what food you end up getting, but would you ever order that much food to begin with? We wouldn't. So, in the end, it's not really a money saver for us.

I get them if I can get them for "free," since I usually stay at the value resorts and free dining usually works out better then a room discount, but otherwise I don't bother. I don't think the savings are that great if paying for the plan, and none of the plans really work out that well for me personally. The basic plan I always use up my TS credits within a couple of days, and am stuck with too many CS credits that I feel I need to use. The deluxe plan I like in theory, but I feel like it's a lot of work to make sure I get my money's worth.

I love the dining plans. I also use the TiW which saves on apps and drinks.
Dee

As someone on a medical diet, and having disney do so well with medical diets I love the meal plan. Going on vacation can be very frustrating when you have to consider food options.

Hubby and I are thinking the same thing so we're going with a DDP this trip and see how well that works out. Our biggest issue was that we're not HUGE dessert people so being "forced" to have dessert at each of our table service meals not only really over-did our meals but then we never got to experiance some of the other awesome desserts/treats that we actually WANTED to try elsewhere. We ended up having so many chocolate shakes that I haven't had/wanted one in the last year since we've been there!

Lol! I know that feeling! My hub and I ended up substituting desserts for fancy herbal teas or coffees a lot on our last trip. It was actually nice to relax with a warm drink after a meal.

A lot of times we end up taking our dessert back to the room and having it for breakfast the next day. Especially if it's one of the little cakes from a counter service place.

I love the dining plan, we usually get the deluxe. But I'm not the type of person who gets it for "savings". To me it's about having everything paid for up front, and not having to mess with adding up the cost what everyone is eating in my head all vacation long. It's just so much easier to me when we have a dining plan.