Disney Dining Plan

[ImagineerWannabe]

If you simply save your odd change between now and November, you should have enough for both a cinnamon roll AND a Dole Whip

Very true. I can do that

[Sleepy90]

If all else fails Port Orleans Riverside foodcourt do cinnamon rolls up to 11am, but I would not leave it to late as these little critters are very yummy and go really quickly. I have missed out a few times

[Searlproudbottom]

When the Disney Dining Plan first came out I thought it was a really great deal. If my memory serves me right it was just under $40.00 for an adult. Each Table service credit came with an appetizer, entrée and a desert. Tax and the gratuity was also included. Our favorite restaurant is LaCellier and it was included in the dinning plan using only one credit. As I remember the only restaurants that weren't included was the dinner shows and the Yachtsmen Steakhouse which took two credits. The erosion of the Disney Dining Plan has been steady, deleting the appetizer, Gratuity and making many of the popular establishments two dining credits. The price has steadily risen and is now just over $60. Disney's Business plan is solid. Attract the customer then as time go bye give them less for more.

Bottom line . I am no longer a fan of the Disney Dinning Plan

If I offended anyone it was not my intent.
Searl

[Amy]

When the Disney Dining Plan first came out I thought it was a really great deal. If my memory serves me right it was just under $40.00 for an adult. Each Table service credit came with an appetizer, entrée and a desert. Tax and the gratuity was also included. Our favorite restaurant is LaCellier and it was included in the dinning plan using only one credit. As I remember the only restaurants that weren't included was the dinner shows and the Yachtsmen Steakhouse which took two credits. The erosion of the Disney Dining Plan has been steady, deleting the appetizer, Gratuity and making many of the popular establishments two dining credits. The price has steadily risen and is now just over $60. Disney's Business plan is solid. Attract the customer then as time go bye give them less for more.

Bottom line . I am no longer a fan of the Disney Dinning Plan

If I offended anyone it was not my intent.
Searl

All valid points ~ it definitely has become less of a value over the years, although I believe the character meals are included so those are probably a good value. Not sure if the dinner shows are included or not.

[cy1229]

When the Disney Dining Plan first came out I thought it was a really great deal. If my memory serves me right it was just under $40.00 for an adult. Each Table service credit came with an appetizer, entrée and a desert. Tax and the gratuity was also included. Our favorite restaurant is LaCellier and it was included in the dinning plan using only one credit. As I remember the only restaurants that weren't included was the dinner shows and the Yachtsmen Steakhouse which took two credits. The erosion of the Disney Dining Plan has been steady, deleting the appetizer, Gratuity and making many of the popular establishments two dining credits. The price has steadily risen and is now just over $60. Disney's Business plan is solid. Attract the customer then as time go bye give them less for more.

Bottom line . I am no longer a fan of the Disney Dinning Plan

If I offended anyone it was not my intent.
Searl

Agreed. When the girls were little, we went to WDW in Oct 2001, and got the dining plan. It even included Artist's Point at Wilderness Lodge! Best meal in a long time! Anyway, it was a good bargain then. Now, not so much.

Amy, character meals are included as long as it's not a signature dining location (such as at Akershus and Chef Mickey's), and I don't think any signature locations have character meals so that's moot. I don't remember if the dinner shows are included but if they are, it's definitely two credits and you don't get a prime seating location.

[theBIGyowski]

the only time the DDP is worth it is when it is free and when you also have 2 or more kids with you staying in your room

Now that everything can be charged to your room and you use the same way to pay (MagicBand) regardless of DDP or charging to your room, there is no real benefit to the DDP. Even the excuse of "it makes it easier" doesn't make any sense anymore because it's going to be rare that you end up charging more for your meals in a given day than the DDP would have cost you. Plus remember that you still have to pay a tip from your own pocket at the TS restaurants. So it actually complicates things making it more difficult and not more convenient. DW and I had free dining during our honeymoon and we knew that was the last time we'd ever do the DDP because it forced us to have to think about how many credits we had remaining every time we ate and it made us eat way too much food. We may try it again once our kids are old enough and Disney offers is for free...but I doubt it.

[Wizzard419]

Is it even worth it then? Presumably, the discount on the room would need to be greater if they weren't offering the plan as it the purpose of the promotion is to increase how much they bring in per reservation.

[theBIGyowski]

Is it even worth it then? Presumably, the discount on the room would need to be greater if they weren't offering the plan as it the purpose of the promotion is to increase how much they bring in per reservation.

I think, mathematically, you would need to have 4 people (2 adults, 1 teen, and 1 child) staying in the same room for the free dining offer to save you more. You would essentially be saving $200 per night versus paying for the DDP. Say you decide to stay at the Boardwalk during the beginning of September, and the rack rate averages about $440 per night. A 30% savings would only save you $132 per night. So the difference there is around $70 per night. Could you eat less and just charge food to your room and save more? Sure. But when you have kids, sometimes it's nice to know you have an hour or so each day where you can sit somewhere for lunch or dinner and know your meal is already taken care of.

The key is fitting as many people into your room as possible though. When it's just two adults in a room, the room-only discount is almost always the better deal.

[cy1229]

Is it even worth it then? Presumably, the discount on the room would need to be greater if they weren't offering the plan as it the purpose of the promotion is to increase how much they bring in per reservation.

I think, mathematically, you would need to have 4 people (2 adults, 1 teen, and 1 child) staying in the same room for the free dining offer to save you more. You would essentially be saving $200 per night versus paying for the DDP. Say you decide to stay at the Boardwalk during the beginning of September, and the rack rate averages about $440 per night. A 30% savings would only save you $132 per night. So the difference there is around $70 per night. Could you eat less and just charge food to your room and save more? Sure. But when you have kids, sometimes it's nice to know you have an hour or so each day where you can sit somewhere for lunch or dinner and know your meal is already taken care of.

The key is fitting as many people into your room as possible though. When it's just two adults in a room, the room-only discount is almost always the better deal.

So then if it's a family of 5 adults, like us (the kids are 20, 19, and 16. At least for now they are.) the room rate discount is better, too? We'd get two rooms, or a 2 BR condo at a DVC property.

[Wizzard419]

Unless you have figures for what the average discount would be if the concept of the dining plan did not exist, then 30% seems kind of low for the level of discount in the off-season. Even age of visitor is somewhat irrelevant, while caloric demands might be different, experience also grants people perspective into realizing that some offerings are pure horses$hit.

[theBIGyowski]

Is it even worth it then? Presumably, the discount on the room would need to be greater if they weren't offering the plan as it the purpose of the promotion is to increase how much they bring in per reservation.

I think, mathematically, you would need to have 4 people (2 adults, 1 teen, and 1 child) staying in the same room for the free dining offer to save you more. You would essentially be saving $200 per night versus paying for the DDP. Say you decide to stay at the Boardwalk during the beginning of September, and the rack rate averages about $440 per night. A 30% savings would only save you $132 per night. So the difference there is around $70 per night. Could you eat less and just charge food to your room and save more? Sure. But when you have kids, sometimes it's nice to know you have an hour or so each day where you can sit somewhere for lunch or dinner and know your meal is already taken care of.

The key is fitting as many people into your room as possible though. When it's just two adults in a room, the room-only discount is almost always the better deal.

So then if it's a family of 5 adults, like us (the kids are 20, 19, and 16. At least for now they are.) the room rate discount is better, too? We'd get two rooms, or a 2 BR condo at a DVC property.

DVC is a whole different beast...as you already save a ton because you don't pay tax and you don't pay an extra $25 per extra adult (first two are free and $25 for each extra one).

It really is an art to figure out the best discount. For me, it's almost always cheaper to rent DVC and charge all of my food to the room and pay it off at the end. Because adult beverages and gratuity are not included in the DDP, it really doesn't end up saving us that much money even when it is free. Plus, we prefer the layout and locations of the DVC studios over the moderate resorts anyway. We honeymooned at Riverside and decided that we didn't want to stay at another moderate after that. I've stayed at every moderate other than CBR and feel the same way...DVC is better and cheaper when you rent.

The biggest problem with the DDP for us is the amount of food. It forces you to eat a ton and it can actually be a little stressful making sure you are maximizing your credits. We'd rather eat where we want to, when we want to.

[Wizzard419]

Though, DVC is like all timeshares where you really aren't saving and have to have a massive up-front payment.

If it helps with the stress, just remember it is a sunk cost, if you eat all the food or none of it, you are still paying the same price.

[theBIGyowski]

I meant renting DVC...which is much cheaper in the short run

I've been having a discussion with a co-worker about the DDP and whether it is worth it or not. Essentially...if you are ok with overpaying for your food in order to not think about the prices of anything you are ordering each meal...then the DDP is for you. The effort it takes to make sure you always order the most expensive thing on the menu so you can maximize the value of the DDP is more than the effort to just charge every meal to your room.

[Amy]

I meant renting DVC...which is much cheaper in the short run

I've been having a discussion with a co-worker about the DDP and whether it is worth it or not. Essentially...if you are ok with overpaying for your food in order to not think about the prices of anything you are ordering each meal...then the DDP is for you. The effort it takes to make sure you always order the most expensive thing on the menu so you can maximize the value of the DDP is more than the effort to just charge every meal to your room.

Renting DVC points seems like the smart way to go, especially if you don't have the free money to toss into buying in.
Figment loved the free DDP, and although it might not have been the best deal, it gave her peace of mind knowing the food was already taken care of. I imagine there is a difference when you have the table service plan versus our quick service as then you have to deal with tips and other things, like drinks or appetizers or desserts that aren't included and you still want them. There will always be that little rush of thinking you are getting something for free, even if in the back of your mind you know the cost is really more or less already built in to the price of the vacation. Human nature to celebrate the free things I guess

[Wizzard419]

Though, remember that "renting" those points also means you are SOL if the deal goes south, Disney bans the practice, or any other reason. With a reservation, if your room suddenly vanishes the resort would attempt to find you a suitable replacement and at worst give you a full refund.