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T&Rshep
08-17-2005, 02:22 PM
I've never used any of the dining plans at Disneyland. What's the benefit? Does it end up being cheaper or not?

Malcon10t
08-17-2005, 03:10 PM
I've never used any of the dining plans at Disneyland. What's the benefit? Does it end up being cheaper or not?Its not cheaper, its just a way to prepay.

Hakuna Makarla
08-17-2005, 03:13 PM
I did it so I could pay ahead of time and not have to worry about having to much cash when I finally make it there, I am doing it again for my april trip. I am doing the 5 day dinning plan and using mine to go to blue byou and some of the nice resturants I may not have to much cash at the time to have. I want to use my cash on hand for gifts, and I LIke that I can pay for my dining plan as time goes by and not worry about it in the end. I am also paying my tickets with the dining plan :)

Shortiemetoo
08-17-2005, 03:22 PM
Smart way to do it Karla!!!! That's a good idea!!

hlbtimes2
08-17-2005, 05:11 PM
I did it so I could pay ahead of time and not have to worry about having to much cash when I finally make it there, I am doing it again for my april trip. I am doing the 5 day dinning plan and using mine to go to blue byou and some of the nice resturants I may not have to much cash at the time to have. I want to use my cash on hand for gifts, and I LIke that I can pay for my dining plan as time goes by and not worry about it in the end. I am also paying my tickets with the dining plan :)

That is exactly why we do it. Its a great way to budget.

I will say though, you need to use your vouchers carefully. They dont give change, so if it comes to an odd amount, pay the difference in cash, not another voucher. And they dont refund what you dont use, so make sure you use them before you leave the park! We used our last few dollars on cookies for the trip home. Also, they are not good in downtown disney, so I recomend buying a plan for less days then your trip to allow you to be flexible.

Hakuna Makarla
08-17-2005, 05:39 PM
or buy more then your trip so you can go to fancy places :) I love them and know that when I leave the park and have extra's I can get all kinds of goodies for the flight home. Of course 8 bags of cotton candy was a bit much but hey, my kids loved it LOL! the first time I used them I did not know anything about blue byou, or any of the nice places. I got a burger here and a burger there, yuck! Now I am having a monte cristo several times. ( oh man, I am just watering at the lips right now :)

PennyLane
08-17-2005, 05:42 PM
So Karla- where do you get these vouchers? I'm sorry to ask a dumb question, but I've never heard of them! I think they sound like a good idea- I normally put all of my food money in seperate envelopes for each day, but this sounds even better! :)
Plus, once the vouchers run out I will have to stop eating! :eek:
How sad...

Hakuna Makarla
08-17-2005, 05:50 PM
Hi Penny,
I went to my travel agent, and also purchased my tickets with them. He told me you have to either get a package to get the vouchers, or park tickets. I got the tickets. I think these are asome. I tend to have to come up with so much money to fly, for motels and tickets and food so this is a way for me to pay at least half of my trip over time and not be stressed abouttrying to come up with it all at once. ( now I wish I bought an AP, I have gone 2 times in a year, and now this next trip. :)

PennyLane
08-17-2005, 05:54 PM
Hi Penny,
I went to my travel agent, and also purchased my tickets with them. He told me you have to either get a package to get the vouchers, or park tickets. I got the tickets. I think these are asome. I tend to have to come up with so much money to fly, for motels and tickets and food so this is a way for me to pay at least half of my trip over time and not be stressed abouttrying to come up with it all at once. ( now I wish I bought an AP, I have gone 2 times in a year, and now this next trip. :)

I have an AP and my flight and hotel are already paid for, so I guess I won't be getting these :( . Too bad- they sound like a great idea!

hlbtimes2
08-17-2005, 06:04 PM
You didnt happen to book your hotel with Disney travel or AAA did you? If you did, you should be able to add it on.

We paid for a 3 day plan for our up coming trip. We'll be there 3 full days, plus the day we fly in and fly out. I'm sure the inlaws will offer to buy us at least one meal while we are there, and we have conc. at PP so that will cover us for breakfast, and some drinks and snacks. I love knowing that we have at least $300 worth of food paid for, and dont have to worry about it.

kisroo
08-17-2005, 06:18 PM
I will say though, you need to use your vouchers carefully. They dont give change, so if it comes to an odd amount, pay the difference in cash, not another voucher.

Really?? So, if the voucher you give is worth more than the meal you don't get change??

This is interesting to read~we thought about doing a meal plan for our upcoming trip, but figured we have concierge for bfast, snacks, and lite dinners. The other meals will be our "whim" meals. ;)

hlbtimes2
08-17-2005, 06:28 PM
Yes, really. So, you need to plan a little and be careful. Its not that big of a deal if you are aware of it.

pisces
08-17-2005, 07:12 PM
The fact that they're not refundable----that's my problem with the whole thing.

It makes sense to pre-pay so you don't have to worry about spending all your food budget in advance.....especially with the high cost of everything else...park hoppers, hotel etc.

However, I'm never sure of how much I'm going to feel like eating. My appetite comes and goes and I never know what I'll want.

Especially if I'm in poor health, I'd feel too much pressure to eat just to make use of the plan, even when not hungry.

If there were more flexibility and refunds, I'd do it.

minniemom
08-17-2005, 07:23 PM
I don't get how the vouchers work. Do you pay a certain amount and then get like disney dollars to spend or do you pay for certain levels of resturants?

Hakuna Makarla
08-17-2005, 07:57 PM
The are coupons in a book ( like a payment book ) when you pay for a meal say the meal costs 22.00 your vouchers come in different amounts from 5 dollars ten dollars, etc. there are no one dollar bills in it so you must pay your meal with 2 10.00 dollar meal vouchers and 2.00 from your own pocket. but you know what, most of the time my meals came out so close and we did only about 10.00 out of pocket total for our whole trip. there are 1 caractor meal with the 3 day vouchers, carector lunch and dinner I believe with the 5 day and so on. I love them but I want to be paid up and like I said to me there easy.

hlbtimes2
08-17-2005, 07:58 PM
They spend sort of like disney dollars. They have a $$ amount on them. Then there are some that say "breakfast in the park", and have an odd amount. I think its a meal, drink and tip. They are good at the snack carts and resturants in the parks/ hotels.

Malcon10t
08-17-2005, 09:00 PM
I have an AP and my flight and hotel are already paid for, so I guess I won't be getting these :( . Too bad- they sound like a great idea!You can go to the WDTC in DTD and pick it up. I've personally never liked them. For $87, you get $50 in vouchers, a character breakfast ($27.25 at Goofy's), and a breakfast in the park (I've never figured out the value of this). So, is this breakfast worth $10? For me, instead of spending the excess vouchers on cookies and cotton candy, I'd rather have cash in hand. To me (just my opinion) its not worth it. But, I also budget for food, and usually stay within the allowance (last trip, I came home $400 to the good, and thats set aside for the next trip.)

Maus
08-17-2005, 09:14 PM
They spend sort of like disney dollars. They have a $$ amount on them. Then there are some that say "breakfast in the park", and have an odd amount. I think its a meal, drink and tip. They are good at the snack carts and resturants in the parks/ hotels.

So then why couldn't you just buy Disney Dollars at your local Disney Store or online--a few at a time, it you're trying to stretch out your payments--and then spend them for meals at the park? What you don't use you can save for your next trip. :confused: How much are the vouchers per day?

hlbtimes2
08-18-2005, 05:57 AM
So then why couldn't you just buy Disney Dollars at your local Disney Store or online--a few at a time, it you're trying to stretch out your payments--and then spend them for meals at the park? What you don't use you can save for your next trip. :confused: How much are the vouchers per day?


You could do that. However, my husband gets a big bonus twice a year. We use one of them for our trip. I just pay for everything at once. This year we booked in April and are going in Oct. We had the money at that time. There was no reason for me to drive the 1/2 hour to the disney store to buy disney dollars. We are HORRIBLE at saving and setting aside money. We know ourselves well enough to know it isnt going to happen!

3 days is $86 for adults and $65 for children. We just combined them all and use them as we go.

minniemom
08-18-2005, 08:17 AM
3 days is $86 for adults and $65 for children. We just combined them all and use them as we go.


Wow I can see the use of $86 for adults, but my kids would never eat $65 each.

Earkid
08-18-2005, 08:24 AM
Wow I can see the use of $86 for adults, but my kids would never eat $65 each.Actually $65 is pretty easy to reach if you do a character meal, or two, in addition to the regular meals and snackies.

rfaljean
08-18-2005, 08:55 AM
I've used them before and plan to use them again for our trip in Nov-Dec. I think they are well worth the money, especially for the character meals. We purchased the 4 day plan and that includes a breakfast in the park (usually at Club Buzz), a character Breakfast and character Lunch. Since
these usually cost around $25-35/person I think these make the vouchers really worth it. You can also use them at any restaurant/cart/snack bar at either park and the hotels. If we are just going for a quickie weekend trip-I don't worry about it. But this is our big trip for the year so we decided to go for it.

As previous posters stated-you don't get change, so if you really want that $2.50 soda/water, buy 2 (usually isn't a problem for us as there are 6-soon to be 7- of us).

hlbtimes2
08-18-2005, 09:06 AM
Wow I can see the use of $86 for adults, but my kids would never eat $65 each.

We will be there 3 full days and 2 partial days. Thats really not all that much. A kids meal is about $5-6. If we ate twice a day, for 3 days that would be $30-40. Add a couple snacks, drinks, and a character meal and you are at your $65. It adds up fast!

jon80flt
08-18-2005, 09:07 AM
Here's a thought... instead of vouchers, use a debit card... they are accepted at all dining locations (except ODV).

I don't see the wisdom in trading real money for fake money... especially if you can't cash in the unused vouchers... unless there is a huge discount for using the vouchers.

If you open a checking account that has a debit card, all you need to do is put a few bucks in it every paycheck until you have your goal amount. Make this your "Special Disneyland Account"

Of course, if you think you can control your spending, you could just use a creditcard (maybe the Disney one, that will give you discounts)... then pay it in full before the second billing cycle.... depending on the card, you shouldn't have any interest tacked on. :D

EDIT: Forgot to point out that you could use the debit card to pull cash from an ATM, then you'll have cash for the ODV carts. :D

hlbtimes2
08-18-2005, 09:21 AM
Here's a thought... instead of vouchers, use a debit card... they are accepted at all dining locations (except ODV).

I don't see the wisdom in trading real money for fake money... especially if you can't cash in the unused vouchers... unless there is a huge discount for using the vouchers.

If you open a checking account that has a debit card, all you need to do is put a few bucks in it every paycheck until you have your goal amount. Make this your "Special Disneyland Account"

Of course, if you think you can control your spending, you could just use a creditcard (maybe the Disney one, that will give you discounts)... then pay it in full before the second billing cycle.... depending on the card, you shouldn't have any interest tacked on. :D

For some of us saving money is difficult. We arent good at setting money aside, and leaving it alone for 6 months. I'm almost 37 years old and cant save. I dont see that changing any times soon. Its a flaw in my personality. So, the dining plan takes care of that for me. I have about $300 prepaid in food for our trip. I cant use it for anything else before we go. It cant be spent on the power bill, school clothes, new tires, birthday presents, and the list goes on and on. It will be there for food on our trip. It works for us. I think Karla would probably second that.

I realize its not for everyone, and I would never try to convince someone it is. My inlaws are going with us on the trip. I didnt tell them to buy it because I knew it wouldnt be a good fit for them.