Is The standard Disney Dining plan worth it? It’s stupid

TrexTrav

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Apr 9, 2020
Hello Y’all. I have My first Disney Vacation planned for early September. Right now I don’t have a dining plan. Should I get one? Btw I luck out and got reservations at Be Our Guest and Tuskers House for Breakfast one morning.
 
I wouldn't pay for one, but it's really dependent on how you eat and your own preferences. I find it's way too much food and I come to dread eating by the end of a trip (we've done the free dining promotion quite a few times).
 
Worth it is totally subjective and requires math. The best thing to do is look at menus of places you think you are going to eat. Be honest as to what you would order, don't just take numbers of the highest things on the menu if that isn't what you really would eat. Then do the math. Don't forget that even with the DP you are going to need to add tip.
 
It depends on your family and what and how you want to eat. For us, it is totally worth it. We generally eat breakfast in the room or with a snack credit, quick service lunch, and a table service dinner. Having the dining plan and ADRs forces my husband to stop, rest, and eat because it is paid for already and we have a reservation. When we haven't had one, he just wants to keep going, grab snack type food or something he can eat fast, and everyone ends up hangry and unhappy. We don't always save money, but we usually do if we were to eat the same way oop. For us, even if we don't, it is worth it because of the benefits we get to a happy vacation.
 


I wouldn't pay for one, but it's really dependent on how you eat and your own preferences. I find it's way too much food and I come to dread eating by the end of a trip (we've done the free dining promotion quite a few times).

Forgot to add, this is us as well although we don't even do it with "free" dining. It's just way too much food for us, not how we like to eat. I prefer to look for room discounts instead of paying rack rate for a room that comes with the free dining. If there is a festival going in, historically Sept. would be F&W, at least one if not two meals most days come from the festival booths and special meal events there. We also spend some days just eating things like Guac and Queso at La Cava or small plates from Nomad Lounge or HBD lounge.
 
Forgot to add, this is us as well although we don't even do it with "free" dining. It's just way too much food for us, not how we like to eat. I prefer to look for room discounts instead of paying rack rate for a room that comes with the free dining. If there is a festival going in, historically Sept. would be F&W, at least one if not two meals most days come from the festival booths and special meal events there. We also spend some days just eating things like Guac and Queso at La Cava or small plates from Nomad Lounge or HBD lounge.

We went for a room only over free dining on our last trip with no regrets, even though free dining was a bit better of a deal. It was so freeing after at least 5 trips in a row with free dining.
 


Most people do not come out ahead financially. We also seem to feel like we eat much more on the dining plan because it's "paid" for and we should use it. Every time that I do the math with what I usually eat without the plan and then with it, it always comes out more expensive and more food with the plan
 
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It depends on your family and what and how you want to eat. For us, it is totally worth it. We generally eat breakfast in the room or with a snack credit, quick service lunch, and a table service dinner. Having the dining plan and ADRs forces my husband to stop, rest, and eat because it is paid for already and we have a reservation. When we haven't had one, he just wants to keep going, grab snack type food or something he can eat fast, and everyone ends up hangry and unhappy. We don't always save money, but we usually do if we were to eat the same way oop. For us, even if we don't, it is worth it because of the benefits we get to a happy vacation.
I don’t tend to like proxy food like Calimari. High priced Steaks. Exotic foods. I’m good with Pizza Hamburgers and Chicken Nuggets and sometimes steaks. I do like fancy desserts though. I’m at 150 days mark so lot of places filled
 
I don’t tend to like proxy food like Calimari. High priced Steaks. Exotic foods. I’m good with Pizza Hamburgers and Chicken Nuggets and sometimes steaks. I do like fancy desserts though. I’m at 150 days mark so lot of places filled

Sounds like it's probably not for you. Most of the time it's people who do things like buffets and character meals that come out at least even. I wouldn't worry about places being filled. ADRs open up all the time. We actually don't make ours until day of. It's me and my adult son, we always have PHs so if it's at a different park it doesn't matter, time doesn't matter so if it's late at night no biggy and we like trying different places.
 
We have done it before in big family trips, and the family members with kids/teenagers came out ahead with the plan.
BUT, if it is just you and your mother? I would definitely not do it. It is so much food, and if you are a lighter eater with age (all of us usually are), then it would be a waste. We eat what we want and when we want without it. Sometimes we don't eat a meal at all, just snacking. We share meals and I get kids meals sometimes as I can't eat a full meal anymore. We also come out ahead on the spending too. But if you are foodies and complete meals at every adr is important, then I don't know. Guess it depends on your eating style and appetites.
 
For us it is... we do mostly character meals at this point in my life (2 kids, one 8 and one 4). Whether or not we come out ahead with money is another story, but for us we like going down and knowing everything is paid for, saying "yes" anytime the kids want a pretzel or ice cream, etc.

When my son is 10 and is a Disney adult we may skip it bc he barely eats. We are doing the new plan for our next trip (the DDP+) bc we can do a character meal a day, plus go to places we've wanted to try for dinner without sacrificing my kids desire for character meals lol.
 
We are DVC so when we get DDP we pay full price for it. But we have been very successful getting our moneys worth. Depends on how you like to eat and how good you are at planning.
 
The dining plan helps us make the vacation feel more all-inclusive. Everything is already paid for (minus gratuities), so we dont have to worry about paying for things on vacation.
I just think the price for The dining plan is high and with Us going in early September I’m not Sure how much We will eat.
 
If your goal is convenience (not having to think about budgeting for meals - then yes for a lot of people the "all inclusive" feel is worth the price of the dining plan.

if you're considering it from a dollar value/money saving aspect - you really have to do your own math on that. Figure out how you and your mom would plan to eat every day (how many sit down meals, how many quick service meals, snacks, etc). Whether you'd want to do character meals/buffets. Look at the menus for each place you want to visit, and pick what you'd most likely order including drinks, appetizers and desserts. Calculate out the cost of what you'd most likely spend. Then look at the dining plans and see if the cost makes sense.

Unfortunately nobody can give you a pat answer as to whether or not it's worth it. You'll get 1000 responses with 1000 different answers. the only way to be sure is to do the math for yourself.
 
I don’t tend to like proxy food like Calimari. High priced Steaks. Exotic foods. I’m good with Pizza Hamburgers and Chicken Nuggets and sometimes steaks. I do like fancy desserts though. I’m at 150 days mark so lot of places filled
I used to be able to live on food like that (when I could get my husband to stop and eat) but now that I am diabetic, not so much. Having a table service gives me better control over what is available for me to eat and no sugar added desserts give me the sweet I crave and less guilt when I say screw it and have the creme brulee.
 
I used to be able to live on food like that (when I could get my husband to stop and eat) but now that I am diabetic, not so much. Having a table service gives me better control over what is available for me to eat and no sugar added desserts give me the sweet I crave and less guilt when I say screw it and have the creme brulee.
I am diabetic. Have been for 11 years and YOLO.
 
I am diabetic. Have been for 11 years and YOLO.
I have only been dealing with it a couple years and still can't figure out how to keep my numbers relatively flat and have found that things I love spike me terribly. Sushi!! Who would have thought Sushi would be bad! I can eat potatoes at every meal, but if I look at a grain of rice my numbers climb like crazy.
 

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