:confused:I have already made our hotel/ticket reservations, but decided not to do the dining plan. I am not sure I made the right decision. We will be there 10 nights/11 days. 2 adults/1 child (age 9 1/2). We probably want to do 3 character meals. We don't need to eat at a full service restaurant every night. Is it worth it to buy the dining plan? I tried to look at the restaurants and prices, but there are so many places it was giving me a headache!! Thanks for any advice!!

I know exactly how you feel. I am planning a 7 night trip and have gotten the free dining the last two years. Go to All Ears. Net have all the dining menus and information. I'm thinking I would come out ahed with the dining plan after looking at the menus. Check our All Ears.Net and you'll be able to make a good decision based on your familys needs.

Here is my take... if you dont want to eat at a table service restaurant every night, then no, you will not get your money's worth, for the most part.

Is it worth it? Yes - but only if you are going to actually use all your credits. If you think you are going to want to do TS meals every day after all, which includes character meals, then it could be an option.

However, if you think you would like to be more flexible and just do counter service meals and the like, and maybe a TS here and there, you will not get your money's worth.

One other observation - when we were there for 9 days in August, after about the 5th day, we just did not want to eat any big meals anymore. Partly because of the heat and partly because you get a lot of food.

When are you going? I ask because if you are within only a few months of your trip, your ADR selection may be limited as well, further limiting the ability to get the most out of the package.

You may also want to do a search on the term "dining plan" as this is a popular topic. You can possibly get some additional insight an assistance.

Even if you aren't doing the dining plan, you SHOULD make the few ADRs you want as soon as you can. Depending on when you're going, you still might be able to make it in (my sister and I did a walk up with very little wait last year, but it was a weekday in October) - but you may not, either - or you might have to wait a longer time than your moods would allow.

I fogot to say when we are going!! March 19-29. I know I will probably have a hard time getting reservations this late, but I am going to try anyway.

I fogot to say when we are going!! March 19-29. I know I will probably have a hard time getting reservations this late, but I am going to try anyway.

You should be able to get something (hopefully) - but you'll have to be a little creative on times and/or go for the slightly different locations. The time between 'normal' lunch and 'normal' dinner is often a good option.

Our family of 4 (kids 11&7) just got back from 4 nights and we did not do the DP. WIth the changes to the plan from last year it is pretty clear that it has gone from being a good deal to at best average. First the cost has skrocketed. Gratuity being extra menas you need to add 18% to the cost of each table service meal. That's 18% of what you actually order not the proportional cost of the meal. Add 7-10 dollars for the apetizer you no longer get and its now about $15-19 more than 2007. Also a lot of the "value" is in the "free" dessert. In doing their calculations people add in the 6-9 dollars on each from the menu. But honestly how many times does your entire family order one dessert each at both meals. Unless you really need dessert at lunch and dinner, and need your own your paying too much. Also without apps the two credit signature meals (except for fixed menu ike Hoop de) are an awful deal. Even ordering a $30 entree, $10 dessert and drink you basically pay $55-60 for a $45 meal.
One other note is that if you almost 10 year old actually likes to eat they will hate the plan. The kids counter meals are tiny and low quality. At cosmic rays my daughter ordered the kids chicken nuggests after seeing a plate come out of the kitchen. Problem was those were "grown up" meals. The kids were small, over fried and processed meat. Its worse at the non-buffet TS emals. One note, if you do all buffets and your kid likes grown up food it can become a good value as most kids prices at buffets are more than the one day on the DP.
BTW, if your kid is a bit adventuresome definitely try Boma. My kids loved the setting and the food.

I fogot to say when we are going!! March 19-29. I know I will probably have a hard time getting reservations this late, but I am going to try anyway.

Hey! Maybe I'll see you down there. :)

Is the dining plan a good value depends entirely on the equation you use. If the question is "can you get more food for less using the dining plan then if you don't have the dining plan" the answer is yes- if you mean a lot of food!!! You will have to spend a lot even with the dining plan, but certainly less than the cost of that same food if you payed in full. You will also have to pay for tip- which if you work the system to get 200$ evening meal bills will be 40$ on top of your dining plan...

However, for most people I know even who love the dining plan, they thought it was too much food to eat. We go to a table service restaurant for 5 out of 7 days as well as one counter service each day or two on the days we don't go to a table service. We spend about 100$ a day for two adults, one tween and a child, that includes tip and a bottle of wine and beer at times. Not only do we save over 50$ a day versus the dining plan (so an extra 350$ for our vacation), but we eat more healthy and spend less time at long meals and more times in the parks. We enjoy our special meals, but also our extra time in the parks. An extra 350$ goes a long way to an extra day or upgrade of a hotel.

How much food do you want to eat...

As far as making late reservations- make them now!! Even if it is a guess. Two of our favorites- the Plaza in MK and Rose and Crown in EP are often less crowded I think because they aren't as expensive as other table service choises.

Like many that have used the dining plan in the past....I am not happy about the tips no longer being included...however I think it is well worth the cost, which for adults I think is about $38 a day. This includes each day a snack, 1 counter or quick service meal and 1 table or sitdown meal. I know a lot of folks think what about breakfast...most days we would get to one of the parks when they opened or shortly after and found that some of the coffee shops have Wonderful sweetrolls or muffins...which are really BIG and then we would have a quick meal in a couple of hours which ment we would have PR for the table or sitdown meal....and wow they really pile on the food ....our last trip was for 10 days and by the time we were on day number 8 I was tired of eating...and I have never been tired of eating in my life...
If you ordered your package through the Disney Co. they will let you upgrade or add the dining plan if you decide you want to try it...
The other thing I like is that we have been to almost all of the dinner shows and eaten at a lot of the really nice restaurants that other wise we would not have done due the cost ....one dinner show can cost $100 or more a person..It will take some planning to go to them tho ...as they take two (2) of your sitdown meal credits.
To close ....we actually had meals left over that I scrambled to find things like muffins,sweet rolls, mickey suckers for grandkids and such to use on our ride home...

Ok, Ok, should we eat all that food? No. Do we? No! I didn't feel pressured to finish everything on my plate, even though I grew up in the Clean Plate Club household. It may be a waste of food, and that's certainly a point of discussion, but I LIKE having a sit down meal once a day and sampling some truly wonderful food.

Most times, I would eat the appetizer, eat some of my entree, and have them suggest a dessert I could take with me. Of course, that meant we had to tote the dessert, but it usually wasn't an issue. Lots of times, we were on our way out of the parks/resorts and going back to our room anyway!

With the new changes, I probably wouldn't do it, unless I had teens with me. Oh, how I WISH they would let the guest pick between the appetizer and the dessert. I don't like sweets that much.

I didn't mean that you shouldn't eat all that food-- I certainly do. I just find that I can eat my fill at a variety of restruants (The Plaza, Rose and Crown, Kona, Boma's Ohana's on our last trip). I just think for some people, if they look at the menus and see what they would order over a trip for a family (given that kids often are just as happy splitting an adult dinner or getting a appetizer) you might find that you would not spend as much over the trip as the dining plan is (especially if you had to pay tip out of pocket).

But a good part of the fun is eating- and it "should" be part of the vacation in my opinion.

we just had ten days at WDW and didn't use the dining plan. we ordered breakfast foods from garden grocer, and had breakfast in our room each day. we had a table service meal every other day - a couple of times it was at lunch, a couple of dinners. the rest of our meals were counter-service. all up, we spent about $35 each a day so it was pretty much a wash (ie we didn't save much by not using the dining plan). BUT we ate what we wanted, and didn't have to worry about using credits up. We found the meals enormous and only ate pudding once in ten days (and it wasn't actually part of our meal - it was an ice cream sundae a couple of hours after dinner) - and only one appetiser (which we shared). If we had been on the dining plan we would have had more table service meals obviously, and that might have been nice but we were both pretty happy with how things panned out. if we had been on the dining plan, we would not have used all our entitlements because we really were full after our main courses and didn't have room for pudding - let alone twice a day. we ordered lots of bottled water and some snack foods with the grocery order so we didn't have to pay park prices for those items either (the bottled water was 25 cents a bottle, cf $2 in the park!).

Em, "pudding" is any kind of dessert, right? Just checking....I assumed so, but you know what they say about assuming!

sorry.... we use the term 'pudding' to refer to the sweets course of a meal. it also has another more specific meaning - a boiled or steamed pud like christmas pudding, or spotted dick, or treacle tart. on topic: we use 'entree' to refer to what you call an appetiser, and call our main course 'mains'. the first time i ate out at an american restaurant i was completely floored by the menu!

Wow! I didn't know that about the appetizer/entree vs. main. Very, very interesting....and they say it is the same language! ha-ha! :)

Gratuity being extra menas you need to add 18% to the cost of each table service meal. That's 18% of what you actually order.

Okay, now I am going to allow my ignorance out for all to see and go on a mini-rant. I thought that a tip of 15% is the norm, and 20% is a nice little extra one can bestow if the service was really top notch. I am not opposed to tipping 18% or 20%, but is 18% really expected at all times? Why is that and when did that happen? Am I a complete clown with no class whatsoever if I tip "only" 15% for decent (just average) service? While I am being an insensitive oaf, I will also add that in the rare cases where I encountered a rude server I have left nothing in the way of a tip. (I don't leave the penny tip, like some people I know would do. That's just mean.) And I don't fail to tip just because the service is a little spotty and the server is trying, but is just having a rough time. But man-- I confess that I have a hard time when I am asked the question "Do you need change?" Is it necessary to ask the question? Maybe servers are stiffed so often that they have to remind patrons as nicely as possible to tip them, but for me, I can't help cringing when I hear that. Okay, rant over-- But back to the question: I still leave 15% tips in WDW. Am I really not meeting my server's expectations?

Am I a complete clown with no class whatsoever if I tip "only" 15% for decent (just average) service?
No, you have the right point as 15% is usually the standard for "average." At the same time, you will find that your table service dining experiences will most likely be better than average at Disney. (At least that is from our experience.)

lllmtz, I completely agree with everything you said. And I agree with my friend Gusman - 15% is fine for day to day, but a bit more in a really nice restaurant is cool, too. But I still don't like Disney forcing me to tip 18% if I used my DDE card. I think it's an arbitrary requirement, and takes the whole concept of tipping for good service out of my hands.

I usually tip 15%, but if service is good (which it OFTEN is at WDW), I tip 20% without a thought.

Last trip, we were on the DDP (which included tips at the time). We had SUCH a great server one night at Chefs de France, truly a wonderful experience due to HIM, that I threw in another $20 in cash. I can't believe I did it, but it was really nice to have a dinner like that.

Just to say there is variety- I always tip 20% unless there was something wrong with the service. I'm not saying that that is more correct, just what I have heard and done. Actually, I'm more likely to over tip or highly tip at a diner where I know the job it tough and the cost of the food is low (I was a diner waitress for a summer- can't go by my tips though as I wasn't very good :rolleyes:) then at an expensive high end dinner at Disney. Additionally, I don't tip as much at a buffet when service is involved (like at Bomas).

Oh and on another note-emmah said they spent about 35$ a day each and it was a wash- but one thing to add on is that any tip you spent or alcohol you bought wouldn't have been included on the plan anyway- so you probably came out ahead. I was just calculating my next vacation both ways and have it costing me about 200$ more for a 7day trip for the dining plan versus eatting the way we normally do (table service each day but one, breakfast in the room - groceries included in the calculation, and counter service each day). Still I would eat some more expensive, elaborate and or desert filled meals for sure on the dining plan- that has it's pluses and minuses!

:confused:We don't need to eat at a full service restaurant every night. Is it worth it to buy the dining plan?

Here is my take... if you dont want to eat at a table service restaurant every night, then no, you will not get your money's worth, for the most part.



My thoughts exactly, Gus. The reason the Dining Plan has made sense for us in the past is because we typically do eat a table-service meal each night, wherever we're on vacation, Disney or the beach or the mountains or whatever--and a "counter service" lunch is pretty much our speed as well.

Basically the only way to really get your "money's worth" from the Dining Plan is if you DO use all your table-service credits. But DON'T let the Dining Plan force you to plan your meals in a way that's different from how you normally eat. Don't plan your meals around the Dining Plan, but rather, plan your meals first, then compare that cost to the Dining Plan. :)

Don't plan your meals around the Dining Plan, but rather, plan your meals first, then compare that cost to the Dining Plan. :)

The one time I used the Plan a couple years ago, the above simply didn't work. I had booked up my usual spots, only to find out that they were almost all 2-credit restaurants! I had to shuffle around a bit, dropping a couple and paying cash for other meals, to make it all work. I think I came out a little better than even, but overall it wasn't worth the hassle for me.

And now that they've further reduced the value of the Plan, it's a no-brainer for me not to use it.

Oh and on another note-emmah said they spent about 35$ a day each and it was a wash- but one thing to add on is that any tip you spent or alcohol you bought wouldn't have been included on the plan anyway- so you probably came out ahead.

actually, when I discussed this with DH he pointed out that in addition to the fact that our $70 a day included tips, drinks at Epcot, far more water and chocolate (my bad) than we would have been entitled to under the DP, and a couple of bottles of wine from garden grocer (which would not have been included in the DP), it also included breakfast which is not included in the DP as far as we can see (from what I see the DP includes only two meals a day, and we both require three. The idea of facing the day on a pastry (is that what the snack credit is for?) and/or a cup of coffee completely confuses me).

anyway, just to say that when we added in the cost of breakfast, then we actually came out quite far ahead in the cost equation.