Dinning plan

[Jose678]

Not sure if the dinning plan has returned, but if you have used it is it worth the money?

In addition to the original post. If you have used it in the past how many people did you pay for and depending on the number of people was it worth it?

 

[romanr27]

Dining plan has not returned. Whether it's worth the money is hard to say until we see any changes to the inclusions or the price increase. Having alcohol included in the plans makes it easier to get your moneys worth if you usually have a drink with your meals anyways. But no guarantee they will continue to include alcohol.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

In it's old form it was very rarely "worth" the money. Unless you drink at least one or two alcoholic beverages per meal and order the most expensive thing on the menu, it was pretty difficult to even break even much less come out ahead. The real perk of the dining plan was convenience. Paying in advance and not having to budget or think about meal costs. It really was never intended to save the customer money, it was a huge money maker for Disney.

 

[romanr27]

For us (just me and my partner), our must-do list includes Boma, Ohana and Topolino's breakfast. On Ohana alone, dinner plus a cocktail is ~$70 pre-tax (the old standard plan was $78.01/night/person with tax). Boma's and Topolino's are slightly less expensive, but if these are the kinds of places you're planning to frequent then it may be worth it if you're going to have a drink with your meals anyways. When I priced everything out (even with a conservative value of $4/snack credit) the new price of the dining plan would need to be close to $100/person/night for it to not be worth it for us. If we weren't going to have a drink with our meals, I don't think it would be worth it.

 

[Jose678]

In it's old form it was very rarely "worth" the money. Unless you drink at least one or two alcoholic beverages per meal and order the most expensive thing on the menu, it was pretty difficult to even break even much less come out ahead. The real perk of the dining plan was convenience. Paying in advance and not having to budget or think about meal costs. It really was never intended to save the customer money, it was a huge money maker for Disney.

Thanks for your feed back I was on the fence on it.

 

[DVCKev]

IMO, I don't agree. I've saved money on the dining plan in the past without getting the most expensive meal every time. I believe that your dining plan results will vary according to how you plan to dine and what you like to do, very seldom are families the same.

 

[romanr27]

Now is probably a good time to go through menus and see what you'd order (ignore the dining plan completely). Then if the dining plan is announced, see what is included with it and whether it'd be worth it. For example, if you like appetizers with sit-down meals but aren't a dessert person, the table service credits on the standard plan only include dessert. It really varies widely.

 

[Jose678]

IMO, I don't agree. I've saved money on the dining plan in the past without getting the most expensive meal every time. I believe that your dining plan results will vary according to how you plan to dine and what you like to do, very seldom are families the same.

If you don't mind me asking how many in your family? I've heard that if it's a couple then it's worth the money. But for a family of 4 or more it's 50/50.

 

[MillauFr]

It hasn't come back so there is really nothing to be on the fence about.

 

[Aela]

Other then the year we got super sick in our trip…. The DP has always been worth it for us. We enjoy eating at nicer places and by paying OOP on breakfast and using our QS smart, it has been a excellent money saver for us.

 

[Jose678]

Other then the year we got super sick in our trip…. The DP has always been worth it for us. We enjoy eating at nicer places and by paying OOP on breakfast and using our QS smart, it has been a excellent money saver for us.

How many people did you pay for?

 

[Jose678]

In it's old form it was very rarely "worth" the money. Unless you drink at least one or two alcoholic beverages per meal and order the most expensive thing on the menu, it was pretty difficult to even break even much less come out ahead. The real perk of the dining plan was convenience. Paying in advance and not having to budget or think about meal costs. It really was never intended to save the customer money, it was a huge money maker for Disney.

Thanks for your feedback

 

[Aela]

How many people did you pay for?

Three

 

[Jose678]

I've heard that a family of 4 or more it's worth the price.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I've heard that a family of 4 or more it's worth the price.

It depends on the ages of the kids though. If they are under 10, maybe. But over 10 are paying adult price and obviously not ordering alcohol, which is where you can really find value. Also a lot of 10 year olds still want to order from the kids menu at QS locations, which isn’t really possible using the DP (you can still order the kids meals but you’d be using an adult credit… terrible value).

 

[Jose678]

It depends on the ages of the kids though. If they are under 10, maybe. But over 10 are paying adult price and obviously not ordering alcohol, which is where you can really find value. Also a lot of 10 year olds still want to order from the kids menu at QS locations, which isn’t really possible using the DP (you can still order the kids meals but you’d be using an adult credit… terrible value).

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[romanr27]

I've heard that a family of 4 or more it's worth the price.

The dining plan is charged per person, it is not a flat rate regardless of the size of your party.

 

[Aela]

The dining plan is charged per person, it is not a flat rate regardless of the size of your party.

I suspect he is thinking of “free dining” vs “room discount”. We have 3 in our family and the room discount was usually a better discount then free dining.

 

[_19disnA]

There are lots of older (and often contentious) discussions about the dining plans. If they are worth it for your family depends on factors such as: 1) how many character meals you are planning, 2) if the adults plan to drink and 3) where do you like to eat. Those answers will determine if the math works for you. Check some sample menus and run the prices to see what you might spend vs. the cost of the various plans offered. Disney isn't currently offering the dining plans and there is no way to know if/when they might offer in the future or under what format.

 

[loves to dive]

What PP said. The only way to know for sure is run the numbers. Look at menus and be honest with yourself. Would you really normally want the most expensive thing on the menu or are you more of a chicken type person. Would you normally always eat at least one QS and one TS plus one snack per day? It's a lot of food and a lot of people find themselves struggling to use all their credits unless they are using some for signature.

For us, no it was not worth it. We just don't eat that way. There are days we just sort of snack all day but not always on things that would be considered snack credits. There are days at TS restaurants I'm just going to order a couple of appetizers and maybe share a dessert with my son and we are both going to have more than one refreshing adult beverages. We rarely, if ever snack between meals. The snack credit can be used for some smallish type QS breakfasts but would be the only reason we would use a snack credit. I don't drink anything but water during the day (except for the afore mentioned refreshing adult beverage) so the drink with my meal would be a waste. We do not now, nor have we in the past done character meals. We don't eat at buffets, didn't in the before times either. If I'm eating out I want someone to serve me, I can serve myself at home. I'm not a big meal eater so they are waste of money for me.