Dining Plan Returning

[jf256]

I basically do what you did to figure out dining costs. I assume the price of the QS dining plan and then add a little bit more depending on how many TS meals we plan to do (usually only 1 or 2). That total is the amount I budget (I use that term loosely -- it's really more like a "guesstimate") for food. We drive to Disney so we bring breakfast stuff for the room, though we do usually eat breakfast in the resort food court at least once or twice during our stay. My guesstimate is always more than enough to cover all of our meals at Disney *plus* the food I bring for breakfast in the room. But I *totally* understand people wanting everything pre-paid (though I always recommend just putting the cost of a dining plan on a gift card or keeping that amount set aside in a bank account to pay off the credit card (might as well earn some rewards! ) when the trip is over.

Another note, I've seen some people say they never use the refillable mugs that are included with the dining plan; so when they go to the QS restaurant to claim them, they get them activated and then give them to a family looking at buying mugs.



I'm wondering, too. But I'm pretty sure the answer will be "yes", because some people are willing to pay for convenience. I'll admit our family is willing to pay for convenience some times (not with the Disney dining plans, though. ). There's an amusement park a few hours from here that doesn't charge admission. You pay for rides with tickets or by purchasing an all-day ride pass. You really need to get on a lot of rides to break even with the all-day ride pass (especially if you pay for the more expensive one that includes all of the roller coasters), but when our kids were tweens/teens, we always bought them the all-day pass so that they could just go and do what they wanted for hours at a time, while DH & I would buy a book or two of tickets and go do our thing (which mostly consisted of sitting on a bench somewhere and people watching...and eating snacks). We know we always lost money on the all-day passes (I always did a cost analysis when we got home), but it was worth it for the convenience for the kids.

PS. I love your tag line! I feel like I need to say that to someone every single day. I also used to like to do the, "let me Google that for you" links....like this: Disney Dining Plan. Those were fun.

Is it convenience or stress though. I'm willing to pay for convenience.. but surely a gift card, charging to the room or similar is just as convenient? Maybe with teenagers sure you can just give them a magic band and send them on their way.

But anyone else i would argue it is actually less convenient - as you are placing restrictions on all of the bars and lounges in disneyworld. Now if they made the bars and lounges DDP eligible.. then i think they could solve a lot of their problems. Can't get a reservation at Hollywood Brown Derby - no worries you can always try for the lounge. Staying at port orleans where there is no restaurant... scat cats could take a QS for a non speciality + an appetiser. Or a TS for 2 appetisers?
I doubt if i ever go that i would do anything other than a mix of onsite + offsite hotels with perks (eg Swolphin, Hilton etc) so it might be worth calculating it. But the lounges were without a doubt - the best meals we had in disney and i would not pay for the DDP long term and miss out on those.

 

[Beer Me]

I get that some people feel are ok with paying more so they don’t have to think about it while on vacation.

My solution is to pay out of pocket and still not think about it

I’m only half joking because I really don’t worry about costs but that is because I’ve analyzed our spending on several trips and can be almost 100% certain we spend less - eating and drinking literally anything we want - than the dining plan costs.

 

[bluezy]

Is it convenience or stress though. I'm willing to pay for convenience.. but surely a gift card, charging to the room or similar is just as convenient? Maybe with teenagers sure you can just give them a magic band and send them on their way.

But anyone else i would argue it is actually less convenient - as you are placing restrictions on all of the bars and lounges in disneyworld. Now if they made the bars and lounges DDP eligible.. then i think they could solve a lot of their problems. Can't get a reservation at Hollywood Brown Derby - no worries you can always try for the lounge. Staying at port orleans where there is no restaurant... scat cats could take a QS for a non speciality + an appetiser. Or a TS for 2 appetisers?
I doubt if i ever go that i would do anything other than a mix of onsite + offsite hotels with perks (eg Swolphin, Hilton etc) so it might be worth calculating it. But the lounges were without a doubt - the best meals we had in disney and i would not pay for the DDP long term and miss out on those.

Personally, the dining plan is absolutely not a convenience for our family. It's a pain in the butt for us (or at least it was when we had tweens/teens with us. One day when it's only DH & I on the vacation, it might not be as bad.) to make sure everyone is eating at the right places and getting the correct elements of a "meal". God forbid a kid only wants french fries and a cupcake for their "meal" -- we're either using snack credits, paying out of pocket, or using a meal credit and throwing away a bunch of food they're not eating. It's waaaay, easier (for us) to give them a magic band and send them on their way to eat what they want rather than stressing about whether they're using the dining plan properly.

I get that some people feel are ok with paying more so they don’t have to think about it while on vacation.

My solution is to pay out of pocket and still not think about it

I’m only half joking because I really don’t worry about costs but that is because I’ve analyzed our spending on several trips and can be almost 100% certain we spend less - eating and drinking literally anything we want - than the dining plan costs.

We are exactly like that. Exactly. We pay OOP and don't even think about it. We know we have the money to pay for it. Like you, no matter how much we eat at Disney (and we typically eat 2 meals a day and *all* of our snacks and water in the parks or at a resort.), we've never come close to spending what the dining plan would have cost us. And that will especially be true with only one snack/drink included with the dining plan. We'd be paying OOP for at least 1 snack/drink per person every day *on top* of the dining plan. None of the dining plans fit the way we eat. And we're really not willing to follow the rigidity of a dining plan to falsely convince ourselves that it's saving us money...because it's not. We don't go to Disney to save money at every turn. We don't throw caution to the wind and recklessly spend money constantly, we just do what works for us.

 

[Dakota731]

It wasn’t any more convenient for us than having a credit card on file at the hotel. But I think gift cards are a pain to remember to use as well. We did actually save money with the plan when we used it for four or five character meals during our stay. But I will have to wait and see the prices this time to make a decision.

 

[crazy4wdw]

Additional Information released on upcoming Disney dining plan

https://blogmickey.com/2023/05/disn...e-details-about-return-of-disney-dining-plan/

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

Additional Information released on upcoming Disney dining plan

https://blogmickey.com/2023/05/disn...e-details-about-return-of-disney-dining-plan/

For anyone that remembers, it said meal credits are not transferable between party members. I thought previously you could let anyone in the party use them that was on the room?

 

[gmi3804]

For anyone that remembers, it said meal credits are not transferable between party members. I thought previously you could let anyone in the party use them that was on the room?

It's always said that, but they never had a problem with accepting credits for others. Whether or not they still will remains to be seen.

 

[Mle8308]

For anyone that remembers, it said meal credits are not transferable between party members. I thought previously you could let anyone in the party use them that was on the room?

I was questioning that, too. We didn't always use all our meal cedits (late arrival day) so we would get meals for family who were with us (locals) with our credits. It says unused credits roll over until departure day, I was wondering how that will work. Before, if you wanted to use all your dining credits in two days, you could.

 

[Jrb1979]

I was questioning that, too. We didn't always use all our meal cedits (late arrival day) so we would get meals for family who were with us (locals) with our credits. It says unused credits roll over until departure day, I was wondering how that will work. Before, if you wanted to use all your dining credits in two days, you could.

It sounds like that was they are getting rid of. You can't use credits for people that aren't in your party.

 

[Mle8308]

It sounds like that was they are getting rid of. You can't use credits for people that aren't in your party.

I thought so, too... I'm thinking, by their verbiage, if you have a party of 2, you can only order 2 QSR meals at a time, not 3??? Not sure why they would care as long as you had the credits available (well, I kind of do, it's $$$). I wonder what happens if you have left over meal credits on departure day?

 

[Jrb1979]

I thought so, too... I'm thinking, by their verbiage, if you have a party of 2, you can only order 2 QSR meals at a time, not 3??? Not sure why they would care as long as you had the credits available (well, I kind of do, it's $$$). I wonder what happens if you have left over meal credits on departure day?

I'm guessing you lose them. Which would be no different than in the past where guests had all these snack credits to use.

 

[Mle8308]

I'm guessing you lose them. Which would be no different than in the past where guests had all these snack credits to use.

We never lost them, we'd go to the resort gift shop and load up on Goofy Candy Co candy and the shortbread cookies!

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

I thought so, too... I'm thinking, by their verbiage, if you have a party of 2, you can only order 2 QSR meals at a time, not 3??? Not sure why they would care as long as you had the credits available (well, I kind of do, it's $$$). I wonder what happens if you have left over meal credits on departure day?

Sounds like this will be a purely prepaying situation for some people. No money will be saved based on what I've read so far. I'm not surprised I guess, seems to be the trend. Now, if they offer priority booking, that's going to sell me a little more LOL

 

[chuff88]

The removal of appetizers from Table Service entitlements has taken the DDP entirely out of the conversation for me.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

I never had any doubt the dining plans would be back. They're a huge money maker. Disney wasn't going to let that cash cow get away. It will be interesting to see what the prices are. I'm guessing $95 for the standard plan and $62 for QS. I'd guess higher amounts if the plans still included dessert with every meal or 2 snacks.

I'm happy the plans are back for the people who like to use them. I have several friends who won't do Disney without them (usually because someone in the family is always counting every penny spent at Disney and has a meltdown every time they look at the food prices on the menus at the Disney restaurants). That's not our family, though. We eat what we want and where we want (a combination of mostly QS with a few TS thrown in) and buy all of our snacks and drinks in the parks and we still spend less than what the dining plan would cost us. And we waste far less food. We prefer to focus on rides and attractions at Disney. We can focus on food at home where we have far better restaurants.

This! My favorite guests are the ones that don't look at the cost.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

The dining plan will always have a place when bringing guests to stay at DVC. I HATE the uncomfortable feeling of guessing if my guests want to spend the same $$ as I do on dinner. The anxiety is through the roof!

 

[reddog21]

This! My favorite guests are the ones that don't look at the cost.

Not everything is strictly about cost

 

[stitchfan75]

If anyone is interested. I booked a stay with standard dining and for 3 people it came out to about $80/pp/nt. After looking at prices of our favorite places to eat it came out a wash and I decided I’d rather just prepay food and move on.

 

[katyjeka]

We have been going for years and remember the Food & Fun package. It was quite a deal!! Move ahead to December 2020, our first trip without any dining plan. 4 kids and a husband who love to eat equalled a big food bill. I loved the dining plan which made it easy for the kids to understand how much they had available each day. I've just started planning our September 2024 trip and the return of Disney dining made my day!! I know it's not the bargain it once was but I'm willing to pay for the convenience. I'm one of the crazy ones who can't enjoy a trip if it's not paid ahead. When the day comes and it's just the two of us I'll probably skip it but for now I'll take any little bit of "the good old days" of Disney I can get. Even if it's not as good a deal as before.

 

[Narcoossee11]

We have been going for years and remember the Food & Fun package. It was quite a deal!! Move ahead to December 2020, our first trip without any dining plan. 4 kids and a husband who love to eat equalled a big food bill. I loved the dining plan which made it easy for the kids to understand how much they had available each day. I've just started planning our September 2024 trip and the return of Disney dining made my day!! I know it's not the bargain it once was but I'm willing to pay for the convenience. I'm one of the crazy ones who can't enjoy a trip if it's not paid ahead. When the day comes and it's just the two of us I'll probably skip it but for now I'll take any little bit of "the good old days" of Disney I can get. Even if it's not as good a deal as before.

It is not a saving plan any more. Disney is even advertising that fact now,
Purpose is to prepay for meals.
It sounds like you realize that so you will be happy.