Dining Plan with AP

[PavelB]

Sorry, I have been off the boards for awhile. Do they let you get the dining plan with the AP room discount? as a courtesy?

 

[jjohnson]

No the dining plan needs to be included with a package which has to include at least a one day pass. So its either rack rate, tickets + dining plan or room only with your AP discount.

Do you have the DDE card? You are eligible to purchase one with your AP & receive a 20% discount on your table service meals.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

For AP holders, they offer the DDE which gets you 20% off all your meals. Depending upon your eating habits, it might even be a better deal.

 

[PavelB]

I got the DDE card last year and was just wondering if anything had changed. The DDE did save a lot of money but it would be nice to give the dining plan a try. I won't give up the AP rate however! (I would probably eat too much on the dining plan anyway.)

 

[MinnieAnn]

I did the math for our upcoming trip and it wasn't even close. The DDE discount combined with the AP discount on our room was a much better deal than the dining plan and package with a 1 day park ticket.

We're staying two weeks this time. It might be a little closer on a shorter trip. It is nice to have the meals paid for ahead of time with the dining plan, but you lose some flexibility on where you eat. Not all the restaurants are included (of course, they aren't all included in the DDE discount, either).

Have fun!

 

[Bete]

Most people if they stay at the deluxe got a better deal by using the DDE card and getting the room discount with AP. Another consideration is how many are in your party for your room.

If you stay value, it's usually better to forego the room discount and do the the dining plan with 1-day passes to qualify for the package deal. The 1-day passes can be upgraded in the future for new APs, etc. Also, if you are at the tail end of you AP time, you can use those extra passes for another trip, as long as, you get the no expiration passes. In that case, you may want to get more than 1-day passes.

The dining plan has to be utilzed in the right way to be worth it. If you go to cheaper restaurants or you skip meals it may not be worth it.

You have to do the math and plan your trip ahead of time and crunch the numbers.