2018 Disney Dining Plan Prices & General Discussion

Status
Not open for further replies.
Just got back a few weeks ago. We did the regular dining plan, and while I loved the convenience of paying ahead, it was just way too much food and we ended up at Goofy's Candy place on our last day getting like 25 snacks. It really sounded like a good idea at the time, but we were so full from our meals and drinks we couldn't ever really get any snacks.

For our next trip we are going to put money on a gift card and use that to pay for our meals and we are going to share stuff!
 
Just got back a few weeks ago. We did the regular dining plan, and while I loved the convenience of paying ahead, it was just way too much food and we ended up at Goofy's Candy place on our last day getting like 25 snacks. It really sounded like a good idea at the time, but we were so full from our meals and drinks we couldn't ever really get any snacks.

For our next trip we are going to put money on a gift card and use that to pay for our meals and we are going to share stuff!

If it wouldn't be free/discounted (we go in the winter and the play/stay/dine deal works for us), we wouldn't get it either. We agree that putting the money on a gift card and using that is just as good. I did find it funny about you buying all the snacks on your last day. Last time we got the dining plan for the first time in many years (when it was just 1 snack a day), and I was being conservative with the snacks the first few days. The last night, we were in the resort food court, buying a bunch of candy and such to bring home too. I didn't want to waste a snack credit on water/drinks during the trip, so I paid for them. On the last day we had around 10 credits left, and I wished we would've just used them for stuff we actually used instead of things that we really didn't want but wanted to use them up.
 
We did DxDP in Sept, not really sure why as we really wanted to eat F&W food. Holy cow. Will not even do that again. 2 adults, 2 kids, brought home I dunno 68 snacks. It was ridiculous. We cancelled at least 8 reservations because we were just not hungry. Next June, my mom wants to try DDP, simply because she doesn't want to cook. So we were working it out, and that will probably work better for us. We have the little one on now too, and working the QS credits and snacks for 2 meals per day between the 5 of us, should work out perfectly. Usually the 3 and 7 year old share a chicken nugget meal, heck sometimes there is enough for the 8 year old too.

We are doing a split stay. My mom is mad that we cannot use our 2nd stay credits during the first. She's calling Disney now to see about this. But either way, calculator says we will save 485 dollars since we have 3 littles. Really we do 1 character or buffet and it's paid for the day, and then with QS meals being able to order anything, this will work out nicely.
 
I picked all our meals at where we'd like to eat for our dinners, without looking at prices, and then went to check the cost. Then I checked the resort prices on breakfast and just figured an average of $30/day for the 3 of us. Figured in $10/day each for snacks, and then the 3 refillable mugs thrown in (which I'd buy regardless). I was trying to get an idea what it would cost OOP without worrying about budgeting while there. It looks like the DDP will save me over $200 without even taking into consideration the included alcoholic beverages/specialty drinks; which could easily add in another couple hundred in value. :teacher:
 


I posted on another thread discussing sharing credits, and decided to copy over here since it speaks to the dining plan. We came back from a week with DxDP, 2 adults and 3 children on reservation. We were traveling with 7 other adults and went in with the intention of using our 15 daily pooled credits to pay for one table service a day for all 12 of us.

We had absolutely no questions asked and actually seemed to please the waiters when we told them it would be all one check at: T-Rex, Crystal Palace, The Wave, Teppan Edo, Liberty Tree Tavern, Tusker House, and 1900 Park Fare. They scan your band and they/you can see the makeup of your party, and your specific dining plan when you go to put in your pin.

Our first hiccup was 50's Prime Time, our waiter told us that sharing credits was technically not allowed and it was going to be enforced after the first of the year, but he checked with his manager and we were able to do it. He specifically said that credits could only be used for those parties on the room reservation and indicated it would be enforced by everybody system wide. After going to “check” with his manager, he said they had checked with our resort and got approval and mentioned they were surprised that we had no trouble at T-Rex, Crystal Palace, or the Wave. (They found this out I guess from the resort as we did not tell them)

Next hiccup was Hollywood and Vine, where the manager eventually allowed it and same for the Edison. The manager at H & V said that on all DP brochures, websites, etc, it specifies that credits are non transferable.......that’s probably going to be the technicality they use. We said we were under the impression that we could use our purchased credits anyway we wanted to. If they had really tried to take a strong stance, I would have said that they could just refund the money I paid to add the DxDP to my room only reservation and we would just pay out of pocket for our meals.
 
I posted on another thread discussing sharing credits, and decided to copy over here since it speaks to the dining plan. We came back from a week with DxDP, 2 adults and 3 children on reservation. We were traveling with 7 other adults and went in with the intention of using our 15 daily pooled credits to pay for one table service a day for all 12 of us.

We had absolutely no questions asked and actually seemed to please the waiters when we told them it would be all one check at: T-Rex, Crystal Palace, The Wave, Teppan Edo, Liberty Tree Tavern, Tusker House, and 1900 Park Fare. They scan your band and they/you can see the makeup of your party, and your specific dining plan when you go to put in your pin.

Our first hiccup was 50's Prime Time, our waiter told us that sharing credits was technically not allowed and it was going to be enforced after the first of the year, but he checked with his manager and we were able to do it. He specifically said that credits could only be used for those parties on the room reservation and indicated it would be enforced by everybody system wide. After going to “check” with his manager, he said they had checked with our resort and got approval and mentioned they were surprised that we had no trouble at T-Rex, Crystal Palace, or the Wave. (They found this out I guess from the resort as we did not tell them)

Next hiccup was Hollywood and Vine, where the manager eventually allowed it and same for the Edison. The manager at H & V said that on all DP brochures, websites, etc, it specifies that credits are non transferable.......that’s probably going to be the technicality they use. We said we were under the impression that we could use our purchased credits anyway we wanted to. If they had really tried to take a strong stance, I would have said that they could just refund the money I paid to add the DxDP to my room only reservation and we would just pay out of pocket for our meals.

We were at WDW from Dec 6th-14th with the DxDp for 3A 1c (myself, husband, 12yo and 8yo). My family joined us on the 10th making our party 7A 1c. We had 7 meals as a party of 8 (‘Ohana breakfast and dinner, Jiko, 1900 breakfast, Cali Grill dinner, Cape May dinner and Chef Mickey breakfast) I informed each server that we would be on 1 magicband with 1 dining plan. None of them ever acted like they cared or could see our actual plan except for the server at Cape May. She rather rudely said I’m only showing 4 people on this room reservation, I confirmed and she then cut her eyes at me in disgust and never said another word about it. Every other server acted thrilled because it made it easy on them only having to deal with 1 ticket. We paid tips in cash for 5 of the meals and the last 2 meals my parents had the tip charged to their magicband. It was definitely a lot of food with everyone getting an app and dessert. It saved us a ton of money, our Jiko and Cali Grill dinners were both over $800 before the tip.
 
Heading with our kids/grandkids soon. They are doing more days than us and we will not be with them all the time as this is THEIR trip - not ours. They have meal plan. I was going to get it for us, but we do not eat deserts, and try to avoid junk - with marginal success.

But we do like our wine (desert for us). Does not seem to be a good idea to buy the plan to me. There may be a day we do not even go to the park, but assume we can use those credits another day?
 
Last edited:


But we do like our wine (desert for us). Does not seem to be a good idea to buy the plan to me. There may be a day we do not even go to the park, but assume we can use those credits another day?

Yes you can. All of your credits are available for use as soon as you check in. You can use three meals in one day and none on another day if you wish. The credits are good at all Disney resorts and Disney Springs, so even if you don't go into the parks, there are plenty of places to use them.

You probably need to go look at the menus and do the math. You only get dessert with your TS meals, and you can get them boxed up to take with you, so grandkids could eat them for you. But you will have 2 snacks per person per night too, and those might be hard to use as well. Even with a glass of wine, you'll probably be better paying OOP for what you really want to eat instead of trying to make the plan work for you.
 
I have a question about when credits start. If we drive in early and arrive before check in, but we do online check in, are we able to park at hotel and go in MK and eat?
 
I have a question about when credits start. If we drive in early and arrive before check in, but we do online check in, are we able to park at hotel and go in MK and eat?

Yes you can, but if you're going to park at the hotel, might as well go inside and check-in and make sure all is set just to ward off any unforeseen hiccups.
 
Just booked free dining and upgraded to the regular DDP for our family if 4. My boys will be 10 and 12 at time of travel, so disney adults. They both enjoy getting adults meals, so that is great, but their appetite is not huge. Is it ok to use three credits at a meal and share?
 
Just booked free dining and upgraded to the regular DDP for our family if 4. My boys will be 10 and 12 at time of travel, so disney adults. They both enjoy getting adults meals, so that is great, but their appetite is not huge. Is it ok to use three credits at a meal and share?

Just about anywhere other than Via Napoli and, of course, buffet or all-you-care-to-eat, you should be fine. Via Napoli won't let you use fewer credits than people unless those not using credits also order something OOP.
 
Just about anywhere other than Via Napoli and, of course, buffet or all-you-care-to-eat, you should be fine. Via Napoli won't let you use fewer credits than people unless those not using credits also order something OOP.

I was just going to ask this same thing. Not adults, but I have 3 kids, 3, 7 and 8. If they 3 year old isn't so hungry at a table service, can he just have a few bites of my food, or do I HAVE to order him food. So at Buffet, the answer is yes, he uses a credit, but at a normal sit down I do not have to technically order him a plate? That might be nice to save a few credits and do another table service towards the end of the trip perhaps?
 
I was just going to ask this same thing. Not adults, but I have 3 kids, 3, 7 and 8. If they 3 year old isn't so hungry at a table service, can he just have a few bites of my food, or do I HAVE to order him food. So at Buffet, the answer is yes, he uses a credit, but at a normal sit down I do not have to technically order him a plate? That might be nice to save a few credits and do another table service towards the end of the trip perhaps?

Again, except at Via Napoli, you'll be fine. However, if you're on the regular DDP, you'll end up with leftover child TS credits which can only be used to buy a child's meal. You'll have to pay OOP for the adults OR use the child's TS credit for a QS meal.
 
Hi, I'm so sorry if this has already been asked but if I'm on the regular dining plan (1xqs & 1xts per day), is it just 1 alcoholic drink per day as well as a soft drink for the other meal or can you have an alcoholic beverage for the qs & ts?
 
Hi, I'm so sorry if this has already been asked but if I'm on the regular dining plan (1xqs & 1xts per day), is it just 1 alcoholic drink per day as well as a soft drink for the other meal or can you have an alcoholic beverage for the qs & ts?

You can have an alcoholic beverage with each meal, so both QS and TS. Enjoy!
 
It's been a few trips since we used the DDP, but it looks like it might fit for our next one... I cannot seem to find a definitive answer to this question though: can a child order an adult entree at a QS restaurant? I am specifically wondering about BOG, Flame Tree, San Angel? Thanks in advance.


Technically according to Disney your child needs to order of the child's menu when one is offered. But they rarely enforce that. I'm letting you know so that if you run into a place that does you are not caught off guard.
 
I have never done deluxe dining before and I am a bit confused. If I decide to to a signature dining place does that take 2 of the 3 credits I get per night?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!






Top