Is the dining Plan worth it ?

[Gayle C]

Hey fellow Disney addicts do you think the Basic dining plan is worth it ? We are Dvc owners and for some reason on this upcoming XMAS trip it seems expensive to me ! I never really paid attention but now I am.

 

[Wild4Walt]

For us, the dining plan never made sense. When I map out where we want to eat and what we would probably choose for our meal that day, the plan just comes up so much higher. We do OOP unless we can jump on one of the 'free' dining specials.

 

[flexoidar]

Hey fellow Disney addicts do you think the Basic dining plan is worth it ? We are Dvc owners and for some reason on this upcoming XMAS trip it seems expensive to me ! I never really paid attention but now I am.

Try one of the Disney dining calculators. There are a bunch of them, but I like the Touring Plans version.

 

[Allison]

It is circumstance specific. For me, no.

 

[Nancyg56]

It is for my family. You should do the math. Build a sheet with the restaurants you booked and add up what your family is likely to order.

 

[shocker]

Gave it up a long time ago. Moved to Tables in Wonderland instead.

 

[Lewisc]

Generally not.

 

[marikujawa]

Never made sense for us. We just don’t eat that much.

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

It's a no for me. Disney makes money on everything they sell and that includes the Dining Plan. I have done the calculations every year and we did use it the first few trips, but the last two I just paid out of pocket. I budget what I think we will use and have that available to spend on the trip. That way we just eat what we want, when we want and we don't worry about getting our money's worth out of the Dining Plan. I felt so much less stress just paying out of pocket and not worrying if the snack my daughter wants qualifies as a snack credit. If we eat 3 meals a day, great. If we eat snacks and share meals, fine. If we fill up on a buffet and don't eat the rest of the day, wonderful. FWIW, I budget $100 per day for food for myself and DD13 and we do get the refillable drink mug.

 

[lorenae]

No for me. I just don't eat often enough or spend enough to make it worth it financially. I know many people like to have long TS meals every evening- but I'd rather be doing "park things" during park hours. I go off season, though, and sometimes MK closes at 6 PM for parties, so when the hours are only 9-6, I am not spending dinner time sitting through a mediocre dinner. I'd rather either have something quick or have maybe one or two nice dinners during my stay (on my own schedule at my desired time).

I hate the idea of ADRs and planning meals/food every day. I'm doing a couple of character meals this time, because my friend is 64 years old and never been to WDW- but even then we're not doing the DP because it just isn't cost effective.

 

[holden]

I'd also vote no.

 

[randumb0]

Almost always no

 

[Brett Wyman]

Going to do a character meal, buffet, or expensive non-signature meal each day? If so the DP can save you money. But if you’re eating at the cheaper table service restaurants you won’t get your moneys worth.

If you plan right the DP almost feels like cheating the system. But if you don’t you’ll almost certainly come out behind.

 

[marikujawa]

And if you’re eating at the signatures, they’re 2 credits.

 

[gharter]

We had it once when it was "free". We realized quickly that it didn't work for how we eat.
It didn't cover some of the restaurants we want ed to eat at. It also didn't cover how we eat.
I understand how many people love it. But for us , it doesn't work well.

 

[DisLiss]

It's definitely not worth it for my family. At all. But if you use a calculator online or just write out a mock up of your groups' typically choices at the restaurants you want to try, you can see for yourself if it will or will not work for you.

 

[Someone28624]

I personally love the dining plan. You have to think about where you’ll be eating and what you’ll want. For me, I like an excuse to order drinks and desserts when I normally wouldn’t otherwise.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Sometimes a dining plan makes sense to us, other times, not.
Depends on the ages of the people in the traveling party and where we want to eat.
On trips with children I come out ahead or breakeven doing the deluxe plan.
When it's adults only and there's less interest in structured meals better off using discounted gift cards and AP discount.
Never done the regular dining plan but it's the same no matter what plan you look at: do the math.

 

[Nancyg56]

It's definitely not worth it for my family. At all. But if you use a calculator online or just write out a mock up of your groups' typically choices at the restaurants you want to try, you can see for yourself if it will or will not work for you.

You have to be careful using the online calculators. Most are not updated in terms of prices or alcohol and specialty drink inclusions. Quite frankly, if you add in the cocktail or glass of wine, the DDP will generally be a winner for a lot of families. Before you just calculated food, now you need to think about that beer or wine with meals, or a specialty beverage. For my family it makes a difference becuase we like a hard beverage at lunch and dinner, and my DGD likes fancy pants drinks. For others, it is a non issue, so all the more reason to break out the spreadsheet.

 

[sharonabe]

Hey fellow Disney addicts do you think the Basic dining plan is worth it ? We are Dvc owners and for some reason on this upcoming XMAS trip it seems expensive to me ! I never really paid attention but now I am.

Sorry, but you have to do the math for YOUR family to make this determination. Decide where you WANT to eat and then go from there.

If you want to do just a quick estimate, the break down for ADULTS is: TS meal needs to "cost" around $44, QS meal $21 and each snack $5
If you enjoy an alcoholic beverage with all your meals, you should have no problem hitting those numbers.
If you have kids aged 3-9 in the mix, then the plan is even more in your favor.