5 replies to this topic

[Dianna]

Here's my experience with the dining plan:

 

The dining plan (whether free or not) isn't as much of a bargain as it used to be. You currently have to pay for a 2-day park ticket now in addition to paying for our group tickets, and you have to stay at a Disney deluxe or moderate to get the regular dining plan (paying full price for your rooms). You can stay at a value resort and get the quick service plan (paying full price for the rooms) and upgrade to the regular dining plan for an extra fee per person, per day, but that just increases the cost of the "free" dining.

 

Also keep in mind that the dining plan (whether free or not) doesn’t include gratuity. Meals at Disney restaurants are very expensive, so their gratuity is also very expensive. (In some cases, the gratuity we paid for a Disney "free" meal was the same or more than what we paid for a meal for our family of 5 off-property.)

 

We did the math and found that we could get our discounted tickets, pay out of pocket for our dining, and come out with a better deal. We've done this for the past two years (after doing the free dining for 4 or 5 years prior to that), and found that we actually ate better, and enjoyed our meals more. Why? Because we could park in the off-property restaurant's parking lot and walk right in, with no reservations, and were seated immediately. The atmosphere was always better - quieter, less hectic, and more leisurely paced. And the food was better than comparable Disney restaurants (the quality and portion sizes at Disney have decreased over the years at Disney's restaurants due to the free dining).

 

Every family is different, though, so I encourage you to check out your options and do the math. The dining plan has changed so much now that it may not be the best deal for your family, either.

 

Warmly,
Dianna

[Dianna]

Also, forgot to add - we went to restaurants like Olive Garden, a great Japanese steakhouse, Outback, etc. which give you bread and salads with your meal. With all the extras, we were able to eat half the meal at the restaurant, and take the rest back to our room, to be eaten as our second meal for the day. We also brought along breakfast stuff (pop-tarts, donuts, cereal, milk, etc., etc.) and snacks that are bad for you that we never eat otherwise.

 

Between the one big meal, and the food and snacks we brought with us, we only paid for one meal out a day, and it was always much less ($100 or more) than a comparable meal at Disney. This won't work with buffets, where you can't bring food back with you.

 

If you'd rather not bring food back (don't have a microwave or fridge in your room), think about sharing meals. Like I said, with all the extras, you might be able to share plates more than you'd think. That will cut your food cost in half.

 

Of course, you can always bring your own food and cook meals there (if your accommodations include a kitchen). I'm really spoiled, though, and won't cook while we're on vacation.

 

Dianna

[Amanda Eadens Marksbury]

We have done the free dining plan, and done Disney without. The Disney YES tickets increased in price this year compared to last year. Although since I'm new I'm not sure if you get the same pricing as the regular YES programs? For families that are dead set on staying on site, have no intention of going offsite, either due to not having a rental car, or just no desire to leave property, taking advantage of the free dining is likely going to be beneficial for them. Families with 4-5 members per room, or children that are considered Disney 'adults' sometimes come out ahead on the dining plan as well in my experience. I agree with you that the Dining plan is not nearly as good as it was as when it first came out. I want my gratuities and appetizers back!  One of the huge markets the dining plan attracts is the people who want to just pay everything up front and be done with it. There are so many ways though to save money on meals and snacks at Disney, several that you listed (eating breakfast offsite, bringing back the rest of the meal to eat later). There are also so many places even onsite that serve huge meals for a somewhat (by Disney standards) reasonable price that 2 people can easily share. If anyone wants any tips I'd be happy to share some!

[Dianna]

Amanda, yes, please do share your tips. Anything that will help people cut costs and make it more affordable will be very appreciated by my families.

 

Regarding the YES tickets - they're going up a little more than usual this year for us, but not as much as the Homeschool Days tickets (the last time I checked, and from what Disney told me), and definitely not as much as Individual Enrollment, which has changed so much that it's not that great of a deal anymore, either. Our Universal group tickets are projected to go up a little (but I'm going with 2-day tickets this year to accommodate the extra time needed for the educational tours). Our SeaWorld discounts are an amazing deal, and they think they'll stay the same price, too.

 

Edited to add: I meant to also say, for families who choose the free dining, I would recommend not going with my group because you'd have to purchase 2-day tickets (without my discounts), in addition to our discounted tickets, in order to qualify for the free dining. It's just not a good deal. You would save a lot of money by skipping the free dining and going with our group, but you would need to have transportation. (I believe a rental car would still be cheaper than paying for the free dining, but I may be wrong. It would be best to do the math for yourself.)

 

Dianna

[Lisa Schroeder]

Everytime we have done the math, it never works out. We are not dessert people as a rule, so if we skip dessert, we have already lost money. Sometimes we eat one sit down, and snack the rest of the day. You really need to eat the more expensive meals at most places to get your money's worth. \

The only time it was worth it for us to get the dining plan, was our first year, when our kids wanted to go to character meals constantly.. which can get pricey. 

Now that our son is 10 and an "adult" it does not pay for him... and my daughter is often happy with a yogurt for lunch, so paying for a full day's worth of food for her never worked out!

[hsmama]

well,I've done Disney both with and wothout the dining plan in the past....I plan to NOT use it this trip,and join up with this groups disounted homeschool deals. I looked at it this way, when we had the free dining, it was fun,and we ATE a lot, but our trip was organized around that food. With the discounted h.s. tickets,we can organize our trip around a more leisurely, hang out wherever we feel like it ,use thos park hopper tickets kind of pace. ANd pay out of pocket for quick service? No problem,I think I could keep it under 100.00 per day,onsite only,at QS places. (4 people)There are some excellent quick service choices on property!

  FD did save us some $$$,but we had to use less 'tickets' as in I couldn't afford to upgrade too many days in parks, or hoppers,etc.

  And it seems to me this group rate is a FAR better price than average yes programs.......so what is the focus,eating,or touring? For us, this trip it'll be less about food I think. (not so bad for my diet LOL)

I'm looking forward to eating when and where we feel like it,instead of worrying about credits/plans/times.