Is it worth it to pay for the dining plan offered at Disneyland? I can find a lot of information on the plan at WDW, but not much on the DL plan.

Thanks.

Don't think (or least I don't know of any) dining plans available at Disneyland. What you talking about and where did you see it?

There is indeed a dining plan available if the package is booked through Disney.

I'm sure a search would yield older discussions, but the issue with this plan is that it doesn't really save you any money like the WDW plan. Essentially you're just pre-paying your meals.

I suppose it's nice if you want to pay for everything together up front and not have to worry about budgeting money for food in addition to everything else you spend money on while on vacation. But on the other hand, one could just buy Disney gift cards to take care of this I guess.

A friend of mine who went around President's Day did the prepaid meal & snack vouchers... I don't know the exact details but she wasn't impressed... something about the amounts of the vouchers really didn't end up matching amounts for snacks... they still ended up paying more for their character meals, etc? I can try and ask her more... but I'd look carefully before doing it.

nvmom

people are divided on the dining plan at DLR; some people like it because they can prepay and not have to worry about paying for meals on holiday. however, there is no value-added component to the dining plan at DLR - it's a package of meal vouchers that all add up to exactly the amount you pay. In addition, because you can't get change from the vouchers, in order to maximise value you need to actually overspend (ie buy more than the voucher is worth) most of the time (ie if a snack is 3.50 and the voucher is 5 dollars, you either need to give up on the 1.50 or buy two snacks for 7 dollars and pay the extra $2. also, if you are not into character meals, the plan is not good value because it includes several of these and you have to use them or lose their value. hope that helps.

I've used them many times and they work out great for us. On our last trip in October '06, we were right down to the last voucher and probably only made up around $10-15 dollars over the course of a four day trip. That's not too bad given the denominations of the vouchers and what the actual cost of the food/snacks are.

They require a bit more planning, but to me, not having to run to an ATM and pay the additional fees are worth it. They also causes you to make dining reservations where appropriate and actually sit down and have a meal vs. eating on the fly.

I've used them many times and they work out great for us. On our last trip in October '06, we were right down to the last voucher and probably only made up around $10-15 dollars over the course of a four day trip. That's not too bad given the denominations of the vouchers and what the actual cost of the food/snacks are.

They require a bit more planning, but to me, not having to run to an ATM and pay the additional fees are worth it. They also causes you to make dining reservations where appropriate and actually sit down and have a meal vs. eating on the fly.


We've used the meal plan twice before, and will be using it again for our trip this summer. We're buying a 4 day plan for a 5 day trip just so we don't have extra vouchers. It does help by getting some meals paid in advance. We also use it as a tool to teach the kids about butgeting, planning, etc. We have the kids figure out the total cost of the meal/snack, and then choose the appropriate combination of vouchers/cash to use.

Depends on your situation, really. It's dollar for dollar what you purchase, but I feel like there's a benefit to have things pre paid. The drawback is that you don't get change back so my daughter had churros instead of 1!

To each his own I say but if you don't save ANY money what's the point??? The whole point of being on vacation is going with the flow and having fun. If there is a restaurant you really want to go to (NAPA ROSE, BLUE BAYOU) of course you should make reservations ahead of time whether you use the plan or not. I mean, I am a very organized person but that sounds way too regimented to me and I think the reason most people have a rotten time at DIsneyland is that they HAVE either too much planning or no planning.

I am MAD after all and I think EVERYTHING IN MODERATION INCLUDING MODERATION!!!

We have used the meal plan several times and I still have mixed feelings about it. It is helpful to prepay and they do allow you to combine your AP or AAA discount with the dollar amount vouchers but, they do not allow this on character meals. Since those are the most expensive vouchers, I find I am paying more by not being able to take advantage of the additional 10% discount.

In addition, you are suppose to be able to use some of your vouchers in a few different ways. For instance, the character lunch at Ariel's Grotto can be used at any sit down restaurant for a certain fixed value. This is helpful since I have one girl and three boys. We use all the boys' coupons at Blue Bayou or Cafe Orleans. Although this option is listed in the coupon book we sometimes run into cast members who know nothing about it. You then have to spend time explaining the dining rules with the manager. It can be a pain. My advice is when you are making your reservations, let Disney Dining know what you are planning to do and they will note it on your reservations.

We like them because we have prepaid for our entire vacation and don't need to worry about budgeting. We are doing this again this year. We have never had leftover vouchers but we like the more expensive restaurants so it works out for us.

We got the dining plan for our family trip in October since we were staying a few days and wanted to rty it out. For me its a forced savings plan that just doesnt have enough flexibility. You get a voucher for breakfast in the park, which can only be used at what like 1 or 2 places, and personally I like to have breakfast before I get to the park so I can enjoy things.

We had vouchers left over after that trip for breakfast and a snack I think, so it wasnt worth the money to me, and I doubt we would ever do it again.

Next time we do a stay overnight thing and I want to have money saved up for food I will start going to the disney store and stocking up on disney dollars. Its a better savings plan for me at least.

Next time we do a stay overnight thing and I want to have money saved up for food I will start going to the disney store and stocking up on disney dollars. Its a better savings plan for me at least.

We get the kids the Disney "credit cards" and when they are spent thats the end of it. They have to watch what they spend that way and I'm not nickle and dimed to death ( or is it $10 and $20'd to death) They can also be saved for thr next trip reloaded with more money too.

Next time we do a stay overnight thing and I want to have money saved up for food I will start going to the disney store and stocking up on disney dollars. Its a better savings plan for me at least.This is what we have done. I go to the Disney Store and get DIsney dollars. Then I have enough for what I want, and don't have to worry about buying extra churros because the snack voucher is $5 and the churro is only 3... I get change back!!

We have done this twice before, and are doing it again for our trip in April. I really like the convenience of having my food prepaid and then all my money is for fun stuff!!

We usually drive from Utah to So.Cal so if we have extra vouchers before we leave we hit the convenience store in the Grand Californian - and get stuff like breakfast or munchies. Of course, the first time we didn't know about this trick so we gave our vouchers to some friends who were going soon after we got back. I believe they used them to help augment the cost of a Character meal.

We weighed the options and obviously we would spend less on food anyway if we hadn't prepaid, because we would be holding every buck for our fun stuff and this way we can eat a little bit more upscale than we would usually.

Bottom line, after all is that it is all in how you plan your trip... I highly recommend the dining plan - but I can't argue with the folks who have their recommendations against it...

Thanks for listening to this board-newbie's opinion.
Sherry

The only benefit we see to buying the plan--if we book a vacation through WDT--is that we can put it on the 0% interest for 6 months on our Disney Visa. Okay, so I know that this is bad--not to prepay the trip--but there have been times that the extra few months to pay off the trip came in handy.

Plus, I am cheap and the cost of character meals kill me. But, if all I have to do is hand them a little card, I am okay. I don't think about the cost because it was all rolled into the cost of the vacation package.

Just my thougths.

we do the dining plan each time. though like people have already stated, not to save money, just for the ability to prepay for stuff and pay off in payments. it works just fine for us.

we usually only buy a 3 day plan for our 5 day trips.

Has anyone done this?
Give me pros and cons please.

I have never done it and figure it might be somethig to look into.

Pros - It is prepaid

Cons -

Too much food, the plan vouchers provide more food than most people eat

No real discount

Losing the voucher is like losing money

No change given back from the vouchers value

Limited choices of where to eat (such as not being valid at the Downtown Disney restaurants).

IMHO, much better to just use your credit card and pay as you go.

I read somewhere else (on another post) that someone had tried it but thought buying Disney Dollars was better because the $$ amount was not used fairly and you were restricted as to where you could eat. I hope that is clear (I have never tried it)

You mean there is a meal plan for the Disneyland resort? I knew WDW had one, but didn't know there was one for Disneyland.

You mean there is a meal plan for the Disneyland resort? I knew WDW had one, but didn't know there was one for Disneyland.Its not a deal like it is at WDW. It is basically just prepaid. If you have an AP, a Disney VISA, or AAA, you lose money on the deal.

If you did not not go for the plan- what would be better disney card or disney dollars?

If you did not not go for the plan- what would be better disney card or disney dollars?Personally, I prefer the dollars for part, and card for part. The reason? ODV carts don't take cards, but do take dollars.

Ok- that is good to know :) Do all of the other dining places accept the card?