Ok, I searched and didn't find anything that really helped so.... Is the dining plan really worth it or would we be better just paying for fodd as we go? We will be staying on concierge so that will cover breakfast and a lot of sncks during the day when we go back to the room to rest. So along that line it seems that the dining plan will perfectly cover the rest of the meals. Any input will be appreciated, it will just be 2 adults in WDW for the first time. Thanks.
Only if you are plannning on eating a heavy dinner every day would it be worth it imho. You are paying for an appetizer(for each person) and a dessert not to mention the meal itself........At lunch(counter service) you also get a dessert. With all that the concierge has plus the snack that is included in the plan you will be doing a lot of eating in order to get your monies worth(if you look at it that way).....
If you are doing it just so you don't have to worry about the food budget(which is why I do a similar plan at Disneyland all the time) then the less stress on your vacation might make it more then worth it
~Jeff
Assuming that you will be going back to your room mid-day, and/or will be there in the early evening, you can make a light meal from the concierge food, and would also have access to bottled water and other drinks, and also that you will be eating breakfast there every day, you don't need two substantial meals a day, on top of that. Therefore, you would probably either only eat one big table service meal a day or else just eat a counter-service meal. The only way it would make any sense to do the dining plan is if your daily meal out would be a nice sit-down meal, and if it would cost more than $70 for this meal (the cost of the dining plan for two adults, which is going up slightly next year), not counting alcoholic drinks. If you are making AR's, check the menus and prices at allearsnet.com, and you can quickly see if it would make sense to do the dining plan, even if most of your snack and counter credits would go to waste. If you are planning to be in the parks almost all of the day, and would only be eating breakfast at the hotel, the dining plan makes more sense than concierge (food-wise). When planning a family trip last year, for this past July, I originally considered concierge, just to cover our breakfasts and snacks (we were paying for family members, and I wanted to cover most of their food, as part of the package, rather than picking up the tab all the time), and for the occasional light meal. When the dining plan came out, it made a lot more sense to do that, rather than concierge-we could eat in the parks and resort areas, not just at the hotel-it was also about $1,000 cheaper for the two rooms. It probably does not make sense to pay the premium for concierge, and then pay for the dining plan also.Originally Posted by Leash
We used the dinning plan but it was WAY too much food. We don't eat dessert at every meal, much less appetizers. The only way I would get the dinning plan again is if another couple went and we got it and they didn't....it would work great then! Best of luck and have a great time
It is just me and DS12 who go. We just got back and had the free dining. I found we averaged about $70 to $80 a day if we had paid for it - which is about the cost of the plan. We got more food than we would have if I was paying (like dessert with every meal, more expensive beverages like Powerade, etc). We did Sci Fi twice, 2 character breakfasts, LeCelliar for lunch, Mama Melroses, and CRT for dinner.
So, if I was paying for it, I would have just broke even. I would be cheaper for me to just pay as we went. Part of that is that DS usually eats off the kids menu, and part is that we didn't do many of the real expensive restaurants. With just adults, especially if you are wanted to sample several of the nicer restaurants, it would probably be worth it.
Lisa
LeCellier would have been $105 if we had not had the plan and in my opinion its a don't miss! However, that could have been a treat. I wasn't as impressed with anything else -other than Sci-Fi...it was cool, had the best waiter.
From our experience, it was really worth it! To elaborate, we did plan some real nice dinners and some character dinners which made it pay for itself. (Teppanaki Dining would have been $140 for three adults without it - big savings right there!) On top of that, we did use the counter services as well for a late snack. (Dinners were early in the evening.) The snack credits were also a wecome touch.
So, when it comes to figuring out if its worth it, look at what you want to do for your meals, concentrating on dinner costs. I think allearsnet.com has sample menus with prices on it as well. Compare with/without meal package costs. From our experience, it can save my family $20/per person/per day. That adds up.
Next time, we would do things differently.... Like use counter service for breakfast, snacks for lunch, and elaborate dinner. We would get even more value out of it than we thought we got this time.
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