Poll: Overall Experience With Dining Plan?

[letterdavidman]

Hi. DW and I are planning on making our next trip to the World in September of 2007 and, as there is a decent chance that the free dining plan may be offered, we are definitely considering utilizing that option. My question is for those of you that have already used free dining: Was it an overall positive experience (e.g., did you feel that it was worth the extra money and the hiccups in the system, if any, were few and minor in nature?), or was it an overall negative experience (e.g., being made to feel like a second class citizen by the restaurant CMs because you were on the dining plan; just not, in the final analysis, worth the considerable extra trouble)?

I would love to hear details about your experiences, and any tips you'd care to share.

TIA!!

 

[MOMOFMNM]

Jeff

I don't see your poll anywhere...


do you have a poll or is this just a thread w/ answers??

thanks!

Jen

 

[letterdavidman]

Jeff

I don't see your poll anywhere...


do you have a poll or is this just a thread w/ answers??

thanks!

Jen

Hello! The poll is (finally) up. It's my first poll, and it took me a sec to get it posted.

 

[ktink]

We had a wonderful experience w/ the free dining plan. We ate at several restaurants that I wouldn't have tried otherwise. And I can't wait to take advantage of it again this year.

 

[CindyKansas]

We loved the Free Dining plan. We have been to WDW many times so we were not on a time table of any sort so eating at a table service restaurant isn't that big of deal for us. DD and I shared many table service meals since she's not a big eater. We stayed at CSR for a week last fall and I really liked the Pepper Market. I really wish we could go again this fall but DD wants to go back for Spring Break 2007 with friends and besides this summer we plan on going to Oregon/Washington for a non-Disney vacation.

 

[Mickeefan]

I got the free dining plan last October and am getting it again this year when we go in September. Because of the free dining plan, we will be paying for it when we go as a family in January of next year.

In October we ate a several restaurants I would never go to without the dining plan (either free or paying for it), like Le Cellier. I'm looking forward to my trip in September, going to Le Cellier again.

 

[BuzzAndWoodyBoy]

I cannot think of one single negative to the dining plan. Oh wait, there is one - we ate way too much food!

The biggest positive is that I can order what I want and not worry about the cost. I am very budget conscious and the plan takes that away. You will definately spend more than $38 a person for food if you eat at a sit down restaurant (with tax and tip) so the snack and counter service meal are bonuses. If my kids want icecream they can have it. If I want steak or my husband wants shrimp, we can get it without saying, "the pasta dish is $15 less, maybe we should get that." It's a great stress reliever for me.

Every CM was very nice. They were all helpful with what was included and what wasn't. Some even included stuff they probably shouldn't have.

There was only one cart that had a machine down so couldn't scan the card and she repeated the message every couple of minutes so no one would get on line who was using the plan.

Overall it was an excellant experience and one worth repeating this year!

 

[maslex]

Is this free dining plan offered all the time? Only certain times? Where would I find more info on this? Never heard of it before. We're heading back to Disney again in October '07 and I'd like to read up on it. Seems like a great deal.

 

[Magical JenK]

As 2 adults, we LOVED the DDP & loved it even more that it was free! Were going to pay for it this year, but then they offered it for free again! Woo Hoo! We tried places we probably wouldn't & now have new favorites.
HIGHLY recommend it!
Jen

 

[momandseandodisney]

Is this free dining plan offered all the time? Only certain times? Where would I find more info on this? Never heard of it before. We're heading back to Disney again in October '07 and I'd like to read up on it. Seems like a great deal.

No, it is not offered all of the time.

 

[NYMomof4]

We can't wait to do it all over again this year!! It was really nice not saying no to desserts or limiting the kids (due to budget restraints w/4 kids!). We were treated well at all the restaurants, and some CMs were very helpful. The dining did become part of our planned day though, so it took some careful planning to get to where we needed to be for our ADRs.

 

[jj1403]

We participated in the "Free dinning in September 2005. It was great! It gave us the opportunity to eat at restaurant we might other wise not have tried. And there was soo much food!!! Sometimes we could eat everything but it was nice to try new things!! Highly recommend it. I'm hoping for free dinning in Sept 2007 also. Maybe we'll see you there!