Just a heads up that Disney updated the 2014 Dining Plan brochures on its website today: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/planning-guides/in-depth-advice/disney-dining-plan/ including a list of restaurants that accept the Plans in 2014. Look for the PDF files on the right side. The website has an overview of the various Dining Plans and an article on Figuring Out If One of the Disney Dining Plans Makes Sense For Your Group.
I am not a big Dining Plan proponent.
- The Dining Plans are expensive – $59 per night for adults and $19 per night for kids ages 3 to 9 for the regular plan. It’s only possible to come out “ahead” if you plan to eat at the most expensive single credit restaurants and order the most expensive entrees and desserts at each restaurant. It’s virtually impossible to come out ahead on the $40/night quick service plan, particularly with Disney only serving the more expensive entrees beginning at 4pm. Quick service desserts might add $4.50 to the “value” of a quick service meal, but they’re largely mass produced, dense, flavorless gut bombs.
- The Dining Plan is less convenient than paying with cash or a credit card, particularly with the new MagicBand scanners that don’t always work and are in short supply at many restaurants. Pay with your credit card and dine when you want, where you want without having to think about how many credits you have left.
- It forces users to pre-pay for their meals and ties them to Disney property. Disney management will tell you straight up that MyMagic+ is designed to keep guests on Disney property. The Dining Plan was the precursor. Have credits? Use them on property or lose them.
- The Dining Plan forces users to eat in a specific way according to the structure of the plan. One quick service, one table service, and one snack per day, for example. You can use them in any order, but be careful – two credit meals are always less of a value compared to two of the more expensive single credit restaurants.
- Light eaters are paying an awful lot of money to eat a little food. Disney charges full price for everyone over the age of nine.
- Paying more for the Dining Plan than you’d pay out of pocket isn’t helping anyone’s budget. Don’t fall for the “We’ve already paid for it, now we can go enjoy it” trap. It’s just as easy to pull out your credit card, close your eyes, and sign the bill at the end of every meal than it is to to watch the same amount of money deducted from your checking account at the end of the month. Trust me. I do it several times a week.
Most of the positive reviews of the Dining Plan come from people that received it complimentary as part of a full price package. Relatively few people that pay full price for the Dining Plan elect to pay full price for the Dining Plan again. There was a time when it was a great value, but Disney has taken away the second snack in recent years and has not covered the tip or appetizer for many years before that.
It is possible to save a bit of money if you plan out dining at the most expensive restaurants and everyone is on board with ordering the most expensive items at each single credit restaurant. It’s also possible to save money if you have two kids between the ages of 3 and 9 and eat at a lot of character buffets. But more often than not, going to all that trouble detracts from the overall experience instead of enhancing it.
Agreed. There was a time when the dining plan was a great value. Now it’s mediocre at best and doesn’t suit the way we actually prefer to dine on vacation.
The only reason I’d even bother buying it anymore (assuming they didn’t throw it in if someone bought a package) would be to keep price-obsessed relatives we brought along from whining about meal prices every single time we have a meal. With the dining plan they only whine once.
I guess I’m in the minority here. I have calculated food costs for our 5 day/4 night trip at least 10 times using menus. Even without the extra appetizers and desserts, because we want to eat at character buffets, Ohana, and some nice restaurants, we end up paying more out of pocket. Basically, the deluxe dining will give us appetizers, desserts, and a snack for free. Do we want these? Yes, we do. Trying a variety of foods is a big part of vacationing for us. Will we “waste” a bunch of time in restaurants? Well, dining is a break for my family, and I don’t plan to spend more than about 6 hours in a theme park each day anyways. My son is 4. Over stimulation and lines in the afternoon/evening are more likely to cause a meltdown than to be fun. He loves restaurants too. So for a foodie family that likes to order steak and fish off the menu with a husband who will have no problem finishing my dessert as well as his own if I get full, the deluxe dining plan is a good deal. Of course, I had already chosen some of Disney’s most expensive restaurants, so this helps make it a good deal, and we are not big fans of fast – counter- service food. In general, I would not recommend it for most families, but if you are into crunching numbers and exploring restaurants, a dining plan could add value and even save money in some cases.
When we initially used the Dining Plan, it was simply because of free dining. Now that we are DVC members, I will probably never buy the dining plan again for all of the reasons Josh listed. We found on our last few trips a great freedom by not having the Dining Plan and we were able to enjoy some of the cheaper restaurants rather than trying to ‘maximize’ our use of credits. I must admit it was fun using up all of the snack credits on the last day at one of the candy stores but we just found 4 year old boxes that we never got to eat. It was a great idea in the beginning but just like the original Fastpass program, its time has pasted….
We usually estimate how much our food will cost throughout our stay and then buy Disney gift cards in advance. Our local grocery store will have double or triple fuel points on gift cards so we get some money back in gas savings. Once at Disney we charge everything to our room and use the gift cards to pay off our food/souvenir balance the night before checkout. Everything is paid for before we get there and if we don’t eat as much as planned we can always buy a few extra Disney bargains to use up the gift cards.
I have never gotten the dinning plan because I always thought it was a waste. If you are not hungry one day for a large meal, you lose money. I have always paid out of pocket and even split entree plates with people I go out to eat with
It’s also worth emphasizing that the Allegedly Free Dining Plan generally comes with paying full price for a room, and is usually offered at a time when room discounts are available. You need to calculate the difference in room price vs. what you would spend for food without the DP. I have actually run spreadsheets to see what the true costs are.
POB – I see that pointed out all the time, how the dining plan “isn’t really free” because it means you pay full rack rate for your room. I have three boys. If the four of us go down and stay at Pop Century and get Free Dining, we don’t need to run a spreadsheet to see that the $125 -$150 we don’t pay for food (and drinks at the resort) each day is a better savings than the $25 or so a day we could save on our room (usually 20% off a $120 room). That said, I agree with Josh’s assessment and wouldn’t get the dining plan if it wasn’t free.
I’m pro Dining Plan not for the financial part. If you’re worried about the dollar signs than you’re going to the wrong part of Florida. I’m also not saying to ignore ways of pinching pennies. The reason I enjoy the Dining Plan is because when I purchase my package Disney is saying that I am guaranteed one snack, quick, and table service meal every day. They are not saying I will get $35 worth every day. Why is that important for ME!? Cause Disney raises their prices all the time so if I look over all the menus today and see that I’ll end up $23 in the hole by going Dining Plan this month then there is a GREAT chance I’ll end up breaking even or better by the time my trip arrives (it’s happened 2 our of the last 3 trips) purchasing the same items but with the “new” prices.
Also, we look at it as food insurance. Ever get to the last couple days of a trip and find out that those Mickey hats, Goofy shirts, and snow globes used up more money than you planned so now you’re stuck with no money for that precious table service you’ve already reserved?! That’s right, the dining credits saved your bacon (pun intended) because you can only us them on food! Just budget them smart and you’ll never go hungry. Dont forget leftovers too.
Finally, if you really want to save money than don’t tip the suggested amount of 18%-20%. 12%-14% is accepted and appreciated everywhere else in FL. Does the staff deserve 20%? Most of the time, yes. But would you rather look cheap to one wait staff you’ll never see again or your friends/family that see you skimping every step of the trip? A good wait staff deserves a good tip not a GREAT tip because they print it on your receipt.
Overall… pinch your pennies in the right areas.
We have only used the DP when it has been offered as “free” with the understanding that the package was simply the inclusion of an incentive for booking during the value season. Having seen the changes in the plans and calculating the “value” of the CS and TS credits I agree with Josh’s points all the way down to the “better to avoid using them for the 2 credit signature meals” statement.
Disney clearly has the plan tweak so that it is difficult to break even let alone get any saving from it by paying full price for the plan.
Paul, honestly I could not believe what I was reading! Are you kidding me!? Do you realize how rude you sound? You clearly have no clue how hard servers work for their tips. You should be ashamed of yourself… If you are so cheap that you “save money” by skimping on tipping the server that “deserves” an appropriate tip then maybe you shouldn’t go to a sit down restaurant!
I guess you’d really hate me then. when my family went to Disney we bought the deluxe dining plan and didn’t tip one penny. poor people + tax return + happily enduring the servers looks of hatred = fun.
Sure you did, horrible person, sure you did.
*rolls eyes*
The dining plan used to work for us, but it doesn’t anymore unless it’s free. The cost is silly now, and it’s even getting iffy when it’s free because we stay value when we stay onsite and have to pay extra to upgrade to the regular plan from the quick service plan. And, as someone else mentioned, you’re paying rack rate during free dining and the plan doesn’t include tip, appetizer, or alcohol.
I’m not kidding. I didn’t tip once. askershus garden grill tusker house yak and yeti crystal palace crt Hollywood and vine brown derby and ohana. I saved quite a bit. good thing too since we “literally” had no money in the bank till the day we left. have a care for the less fortunate when you talk about tipping being a requirement. if it were my kids would have eaten burgers and fries 3 times a day
soap box removed. I hate our tipping culture. can you tell?
I enjoy the dining plan. I know my food is paid for and don’t have to worry about it. We can also order whatever we like.
DDP used to be able to save like 20% of the total food. Now it get less than 10% provided you order wisely.
I only been to WDW twice since they invented DPP, and so far I had them in all my 2 trips.
I was ahead by a little as well using them.
Next trip, I will do OOP – cut down on the characters meals, buffets… the DDP is really alot of food.
LOL correction I mean “NOT do DPP”.
I have never, not once, spent as much just eating what, when and where I want vs. what it would cost to buy the appropriate dining plan and pay for the “extras” it doesn’t cover. Usually, that is because we don’t have exactly the right number of sit down meals. But, even when we do, we tend to visit a mix of more and less expensive restaurants, don’t order exactly the way the plan requires, etc.
*To Liz* Read what I said “Does the staff deserve 20%? Most of the time, yes.” I didn’t say I don’t tip 20%. I said if you are looking to save money. Have I tipped 10%, yes… have I tipped 25%, yes. Each time the service EARNED it. What I was trying to point out was that if everyone is so worked up about “breaking even” by purchasing the Dining Plan (btw, which is often how travel planners make a commission. Have you ever tipped your travel planner?) why dont people instead focus their money saving efforts in places where they decide the price. In today’s society tipping is the only place that happens, plus, 12% is not a bad tip on a $30 plate to a family of 4 ($14.40 per table served?! At that rate they’d take home WAY more than the average income for Orlando on just tips!).
@Renee if you’re a “foodie family”, Disney restaurants and character buffets are the last place you’re gonna want to be eating!
“I enjoy the dining plan. I know my food is paid for and don’t have to worry about it. We can also order whatever we like.”
I never understood this and I’ve seen this many, many times on Disney boards. We just charge the meal to the room, order what we want, pay for it when we get the VISA bill. What’s the difference?
The folks on The Dis podcast same to the came conclusion as Josh did about a year ago when they reviewed all the various plans/packages. They also thought that the QS plan was the worst value since it was extremely difficult to just break even.
I would hate to have to worry about getting my money’s worth if paying full retail for a dining plan.
And yet another no-tip justification … Guess what about that “more than enough” 12% you left? The server was taxed as if you left 20%. Most waitstaff get weekly pay checks for $20, or less after taxes are removed, so tips are, in reality, 100 percent of their take home pay. They also usually have to “tip out” the other staff (bus boys, hosts, etc.) at the end of each shift, as if they received 15-20% on the check total, no matter what you actually gave them. In the end, if you’re tipping 10-12%, they could actually be serving you for free. But, hey, you’re on vacation, what do you care about someone else’s hard work and family … Or how much of their spit you consume?
I totally agree with your assessment. We paid for the DDP as an experiment on our last trip. We booked the most expensive single-credit table service restaurants, ate the most expensive counter-service items and snacks, and generally did our best to make it a good value. The upshot was: we “saved” less than 10% over what we’d have paid out of pocket, but we were forced to order things we didn’t want (sometimes I’d rather have a burger than a steak) and stuff ourselves with more food than we cared to eat. Had we gone with out the DDP and simply ordered as we usually do (few desserts, water as our beverage, less expensive entrees when they were what we truly preferred), we’d have saved at least 20% by paying out of pocket.
Again, it all depends on families’ individual eating styles. I think we actually eat a little more than most, so I think the majority of families would be hard-pressed to save money on the DDP.
I’m sure you’ve all seen some of the threads on other websites regarding Disney’s inability to empty the trash cans in a timely fashion. To me it has been great, I just eat other people’s left overs! Nobody finishes their food at Disney. I also sneak into sit-downs and chow down before the tables are bused.
I’m going to assume “horrible person” is nothing but a troll looking for some drama.
That said, I think it should be a requirement to have everyone live on a service industry job at least once in their lifetime. I believe we’d see a lot more respect and understanding, and a lot less entitlement from restaurant patrons.
Skimming 3 to 5 dollars off a tip for a family of four isn’t going to save your vacation (“Yay, kids! Now we can afford that antenna topper!”), but it will make your server’s day just that much less magical.
Do unto others, etc, etc…
Forgot to sign the above comment. :-p
Also, I’d like to add that the lesson you should be teaching your kids isn’t, “We skimp on tips to save money,” it’s “We don’t eat at places we can’t afford.”
If you can’t budget in a tip, then eat at a quick service. Sunshine Seasons is really quite nice.
I agree. I will have the dining plan next month but only because Stay Play Dine ended up being a good deal for us. I will never pay full price for DDP. I think it’s expensive, locks you in to ordering a certain way, and now that you have to cancel all ADRs 24 hours in advance or pay a penalty, locks you in too much. I don’t mind a cancellation fee for character meals. But I refuse to risk a cancellation fee to eat at Tony’s or other places.
With no Dining Plan, I have no reason to get a Mickey-head ice cream bar every night and THAT is a vacation ruined.
We had the dining plan way back in 2007 when we had 2 kids under 9, when we got an appetizer as well as dessert with each meal, and when gratuities were included. It was an awesome deal and we decided to do it again the next time we went to WDW. Well, we’ve been 3 times since then (and are going again this year) and we haven’t purchased it since. the value seems to go down and down and down.
This year we actually have Premier Annual Passes (due to a strange storm which means we were visiting Disneyland 3-4 times within a year, plus the WDW trip, which made it all worthwhile) so I looked into getting Tables in Wonderland for this upcoming trip. Over a 7 day visit, I worked out that ordering what we wanted from the restaurants we would visit (to be fair, a couple of them don’t qualify for TiW) we would spend about $450 before tax and tip… thereby not making the $500 breakeven point for Tables in Wonderland. If we can’t do that, then there’s no way we would ever make money on the dining plan!
The WDW dining plan is now *almost* as bad as the DL dining plan… and that’s saying a lot!! At least at DL the annual passes give a 10%-15% discount right off the top at all TS and QS locations. Wish they’d do that at WDW… but of course, they make more money selling TiW and DDP.
Bwahahaha Ordering fish and steak off a menu doesn’t make you a “foodie”.
The DDP used to be a good value. It hasn’t been for three or four years. It is much easier to eat when/where/how we want to eat and not worry about restrictions and limitations.
I think whether DDP is worth it or not depends on your eating habits:
* If everyone in your party always orders dessert, always orders their own entree, always has at least one snack a day, never orders an appetizer and never orders alcohol, then DDP may be worth it.
* Otherwise, I would say no.
For us, losing the appetizer was the big deal. I don’t care for desserts but love appetizers. Additionally, sometimes at dinner we will get two or three apps and one entree and split them. DDP doesn’t work for us but TIW is perfect.
If you’re an AP there is no reason to not have the Tables in Wonderland card. With that the DP is never worth it for my wife and I, probably for most as well. We typically split meals as we aren’t huge eaters, but rather huge drinkers and Tables saves you 20% on both! It seems that if you are a family that likes to eat alot then the DP is for you. I don’t know many that could eat all the food that the plan provides.
@Helen B at $450 you really are making that break even point because TiW includes tip. So you’re $450 becomes about $531 (@18% as is included with TiW) whereas with TiW you’ll be at $441. So a difference of $90. Nearly at that break even point, just buy an extra drink or two at a bar and you’d be there. Obviously if you tip more or less that changes a bit.
Also consider your kids eating habits/age. On our last trip my son had literally just turned 10 and would have had to pay adult price on DDP. We did OOP and he almost always ordered kids menu which was more to his liking in taste and size. No one ever asked his age when ordering off kids menu, I really don’t think the servers care. I kept my receipts and it would have been significantly more money to do DDP just on that one issue. Plus, by doing OOP I could do salads instead of desserts on most meals which was better for me.
For Gluten allergy’s, the dining plan makes a lot of sense, especially with kids. When you order a kids meal at a lot of the places, but want gluten free, they charge you the adult price, or you get a very small portion, either way you lose out. I noticed a few places have an upcharge for the GF option as well, which you don’t pay on the dining plan. While on the dining plan, you are only paying the kids prices and a lot of times you get a adult portion since they only buy the gluten free choices in one size fits all. Good for big appetites or for sharing. Especially at Pizza Planet, a kids GF pizza is a full Amy’s Frozen pizza which can be shared. Not the best food, but for GF not bad. While a GF pizza at Pinocchio is a tiny little piece of cardboard at an adult price without dining plan!
I guess it’s for the same folks that love lay-away? (Which I thought went away in the ’80s but, apparently, not so much.) You actually pay way more than just buying it up front, but do it slowly, and or, ahead of time, which some people deem a “convenience.” It’s also probably catering to a similar crowd. One that doesn’t have, or can’t get, credit.
Also, time and again, studies have shown that people will pay a lot for things they are told are “free,” no matter how obvious an untruth it is.
Honestly, our experience is that even if Disney food were ACTUALLY free, it’s probably still not really worth it. In general, it looks or sounds appealing, but the best you’re gonna get, taste-wise is, “not terrible.”
Sorry BD, we pay cash for our vacation, so paying for it up front is easier for us.
I have to agree with Jill. The “free” dining plan really does save a lot of money if you stay at a value. We do not upgrade it, we keep the CS plan. The way I look at it is the 15% discount on the room would be around $20/night. I can’t feed a family of four for two meals and a snack each for $20 – so it’s really a good value. I would not pay for it out of pocket though. It’s not a good value anymore.
Paul: “12%-14% is accepted and appreciated everywhere else in FL”
On what planet?! I consider 18-20% the minimum for decent service. I would only tip 15-18% if the service was really bad, and I’d feel guilty about it. As someone said well above, if you can’t afford to tip then you can’t afford to go out! Good grief.
Like some others have pointed out, there’s no way I could ever eat enough to justify the dining plan. I’ve gotten it in the past and it was WAY too much food. I don’t need a dessert with every meal or a snack every day. I’ll order these items sometimes, but sometimes I won’t and I don’t want to feel obliged to order them just so that I won’t lose money on the dining plan.
Also, DH and I have discovered that we like to do some table service meals, but not one every day, and not at signature restaurants. Therefore, none of the dining plans make sense for our touring/dining style.
I’m one of the people that doesn’t understand the “it’s paid for up front” mentality. I’d rather pay less later by ordering what I want, when I want it than pay more and have it already paid off.
Oh…and I tip my servers 18-20% unless the service was really, truly awful (and I think I’ve only done this once in my life, and not at Disney). To do otherwise is just rude. Those servers depend on tips for their income.
It’s silly for anyone to say, “it’s worth it” or “it isn’t worth it”– the value of any DDP depends entirely on a family’s individual planning, and for some it is a giant rip off disguised as convenience, and for others, it does actually save money. We have little girls who love doing the princess dinners, and character dining. Knowing that we’re doing those things with or without the plan, it’s not difficult to calculate how the DDP does save our family money. Once the kids are out of the character dining phase, it probably won’t be a value for us anymore. (Especially as they add more restaurants to the 2 credit “signature” list…) Math works!
If you ask me, it is worth it if it is just adults vacationing who enjoy fine foods. We’ve done it that way.
However, of my two kids, one loves new foods from different countries (The more obscure, the more likely he is to try it). My other has had a dinner of one cracker because she didn’t like what my wife cooked, and she lived to tell the tale the next day. So essentially, for our trip next month, I’ve flushed a good portion of money in the toilet. Will re-examine the dining plan next time we go in about 3 years.
Since everyone is discussing tips, what is your norm for tipping at a buffet in Disney? Such as Biergarten? Where the servers are bringing you drinks, but not serving your food. Do you still consider 18-20%?
Cheryl – it seems based on reading message boards that people do indeed pay the 18 to 20 percent tip on buffets at Disney. I know that my family did. But at home we would do less, so I guess it is up to you.
Our last trip we did not do the dining plan and my DH was panicked the whole trip when we went to TS restaurants. I did buy gift cards instead of the dining plan and we had money left over and we didn’t waste food we didn’t want (like the deserts at each meal for everyone). We used the DDP sometimes but only when I knew we would be spending time eating and we did maximize it. Now 2 of us don’t drink soda (refillable mug included) and we don’t eat deserts so it is n’t a money saver.
I did buy the TIW card for the valet parking and it will be used well. It was nice to have a bill that was complete when we gave the payment since the tip is included.
I love discussions about the Disney Dining Plan. It is the only time we obsess over value in the context of Disney. You can crunch numbers all day long (not too much or you might cancel your trip) but the Disney Corp has realized that some people just don’t want to think about the amount of money they are spending. For some, It’s like a neon sign in your room at the Poly reminding you’re paying $981 a night for the MK view.
My husband is one of the most pragmatic people on the planet- you can tell by looking at him that he’s an engineer. We got Free dining our first trip and when I started planning again, he wanted the DDP again. I handed him spreadsheet upon spreadsheet detailing why we didn’t want it to no avail. For whatever reason, it gives him a level of relaxation.
And to a certain extent, it does for me too. We live in a rural area where menu prices at Disney give us a bit of sticker shock. Wherever we dine, I instinctively head for the lowest price item on a menu that sounds appealing. When we are on the DDP, I go from the top down. And for some, THAT’S a real vacation.
To be fair, we have always received “Free” Dining and have always made sense vs room only discounts. I would probably push back harder if I thought I was paying full price for the meal plan….
I worked as a server for 4 years. Not in Disney World, but I was a server. Our hourly pay from the company was 2.13 per hour. Basically enough to cover the taxes on your tips, nothing else. All the money I made, that I took home, came from tips. We work hard for those tips. Not just serving the people, but doing prep and clean up in the back, restocking, cleaning our sections before and after our shift to make sure section was clean, and much more. I actually tip a little much when I go out to eat. Mostly because I remember how hard that work is. One time we actually tipped 30% because we heard a table next to us, that was a party table of 8. saying they will not tip, servers get enough money, obviously not knowing about the 2.13 per hour. So we left extra because they were running her to death and was not going to leave a tip. Now I don’t think someone should automatically tip 20%, it should be adjusted for type of service given. I have only 1 time tipped under 15%, and that is when our server took our order, brought our drinks, and disappeared. Someone else brought out our food and no one was refilling our drinks, we had to wave someone down and ask for a refill. And you can not count on the amount of tables they work per night to say they will get enough. What if they were having a bad night and their section all night was filled with nothing but non tippers or low tippers. They would walk away with barely anything.
I know this discussion is about Florida, but do remember that the minimum wage for servers does vary by state. I live in Washington state and our minimum wage is $9.32 for everyone – wait staff included. I don’t feel quite so bad about leaving a tip of less than 20% because I know the employees are getting paid by the restaurant. I still usually leave between 15-20% tip, but this difference may explain some of the varying attitudes regarding tipping.
HAY I LOVE THE DINNING PLAN BECAUSE I CAN GO TO PECKOS BILL’S AND THE FIXINGS BAR AND POUR CATSUP ALL OVER MYSELF AND ROLL AROUND ON THE GROUND SCREAMING “I AM A FRENCH FRY, MOTHERF*CKERS!”
Piss off, son
‘Free’ dining worked well for us on the two trips we’ve taken to WDW so far, but only because we cram our family of five (four of whom are ‘adults’ at Disney) into a moderate room. If there’s no free dining offer on our next trip, I will gladly take the room discount and pay OOP for food – no way I’d pay full price for the dining plan.
The DDP has worked well for us when we did a lot of character meals for lunches or dinners. The price of one dinner at most character buffets rationalizes the plan for me. Yes, I do eat more with the DDP, but it’s vacation and I’m entitled to a Dole Whip or Mickey ice cream bar daily.
I don’t understand people who turn down free dining for a 20% discount on their room, unless you’re staying at a deluxe.
My family of 4 will take our 4th annual trip to WDW next month. For our 3 prior trips we had the “free” DDP. And while we enjoyed it well enough, my hubby and I were both looking forward to a trip sans DDP where we had more flexibility with our meals without worrying about maximizing the DDP and getting our monies worth. So this year we intending to scrap the DDP and go OOP with meal expenses. I had our advisor work up the numbers both ways – Discounted room w/ no DDP and Rack Rate room w/ free DDP. For our 7 night stay at a moderate the difference was only $500 (about $70/day). While I’m sure we COULD eat for less than $70/day OOP, I knew we WOULDN’T given we fall in that category Josh referenced (kids in the 3-9 bracket) where a character meal or two is a given. Truthfully, each of our table service meals for 4 alone, character or not, will likely cost >$70. So, yes, the DDP is way too much food and yes, what I wouldn’t give for an appetizer vs a dessert, etc but apparently that will have to wait for another year as for us it’s another year w/ the DDP. I would concur with the majority though….. I would NEVER pay full price for the DDP. I see no value in it at full cost for the majority of visitors. I still hope our next trip will be sans DDP!
Wonderful consice summary. I’ve always wondered if the DDP would be worth a try, but have never crunched the numbers. As a party of two adults, who mainly only visit during the F&W Festival, you have answered by curiosity with a big resounding NO. We will stick with the room discount with tickets. Thanks for punching the calculator for us!
I am sorry but this tipping thing is really making my blood boil! I am in a profession where I have my masters degree, but I did wait tables for a few years when I was younger. I would never do it again. It is very stressful and hard work as others have stated before. I still wake up in the middle of the night from serving nightmares. My sister is nearing 60 years old, and she has waited tables her whole life. She actually has to work three jobs, seven days a week in order to make ends meet. Not only does a waitress have a minimal check per week ($20 per week was high for me), but they have no other benefits! They have no insurance or retirement. All of that has to come out of their tips. My sister will have to work forever. I am shocked at the amount of ignorant, cheap people in this world.
Btw, I looked it up, a waitress’ hourly wage in Florida is $4.91 per hour.
We are a family of four Disney Adults on the dining plan, when we travel in April the dining plan will cost us $3,284.96 for 14 nights. We will get the mugs, 14 QS, 14 TS (credits), and 14 snacks each. $76 for the mugs if they are 17.99 for length of stay, $980 for QS avg ($70), $280.00 for snacks, and about $80 in addt’l waters that we normally would save from our QS meals for later. We are dining at 1 buffet, 1 dinner show, 1 signature meal, 9 regular ‘sit down’ meals..for a total of $2356.00, so if I’m doing this right if we pay out of pocket we would save $928.00!!…????
Gosh, nothing much that I can add other than we also do the DDP while staying at Pop during the Christmas time. To us, it’s the icing on the cake called ‘our family vacation’ where we can eat and enjoy our meals like we hardly ever do at home (busy schedules and all). The DDP also allows me to step off my ingrained ‘frugal-DNA’ treadmill, and actually, for one week a year, order what I want without calculating how much I am actually paying per shrimp.
And for those of you who don’t tip a decent and kind/caring amount, don’t worry…I’ll pick up your slack. Giving makes me a better person, and is so much worth the cost of admission (15-20% tip).
No way I’d ever get the dining plan, except when it’s “free”. Going during the time when they try to lure people to the parks with free DDP, is nice because then the the total savings get compounded for however many stay in the room. Even with just my wife and I, saving 25% (I believe) for the Moderate rooms translated to about $45 a night in January a couple years back, paying full price for the room and getting free meals? Win all around since we easily ate more than $45 worth of food between the two of us, and we didn’t need to order the most expensive stuff. And if we had two kids with us, then the $45 gets splits 4 ways and even more win!
However at $60 per person, no way. Although I will say I tend to be a real cheap skate when I pay out of pocket for food “oooh I’d like steak… but no way I’m paying $35 for a 6oz NY strip, I’ll stick with with the $24 chicken instead” is something I’m ashamed to have said many times in the past.
oh well I suppose my children dont deserve to go to disney world because their dad (who works harder than ANY wait person at Disney and probably for less annually) can afford to pay for the food but not the stupid 20%. Judging by the number of times I saw a “tips aren’t included in the ddp” I’m not the only one who doesn’t know their place.
….it’s says tips aren’t included in the DDP because they used to be. If dad works that hard and makes so little he might need a better career. In true disney fashion, its the circle of life. The cast members make your trip a magical one, why not do the same to them? Maybe the cast members who work as wait staff do get a decent wage maybe they dont. I don’t care I’m always going to tip them. I even tip well on bad service. At the end of the day , tipping is not just the server, it’s your respect to the enitre team that made your dinner. To the early prep work to busing the table after you have left. It’s really about respect. I feel bad if you have to justify not tipping, I don’t care how hard you work. Watch the tipping scene from Reservoir Dogs, might teach you something.
@horrible There is an easy solution to this: eat at quick service where tipping is not expected. If you cant tip, then you cant afford to go to table service restaurants. We have had plenty of great trips to wdw without stepping foot in a table service restaurant. If you cant make it work with your budget, you have other options.
We are off to Disney for two weeks for our honeymoon and initially I had some heartache about skipping DDP, but this makes me feel much better. Generally on short trips I bypass it and just pay everything out of pocket, but for a lot of days, I was really worried about bills racking up. So this is very reassuring.
Josh, as an annual passholder who is likely moving to the great state of Florida by the end of the year, do you recommend a Tables in Wonderland membership? If I recall, the membership fee is around $150 (??), but the savings can make up for it — We’ve hemmed and hawed at the idea for awhile now, but where we’ll be in the parks more often, maybe it’s finally worth it? Have you written an entry or review of the TIW program that I’ve overlooked? Thanks, sir!
we never did the DDP, but we got a Tables in Wonderland card last year (we’re DVC members) and we saved about $200 plus we’re using the card again this year. Added bonus: My dad kept calling it the “wonderful magical tables card”
@”horrible” – if you literally have no money in the bank on the day you leave for vacation, perhaps you should not be spending your last pennies on VACATION. Vacation is a luxury, just like going out to eat. Tips should be included in your calculation of the cost of a vacation (or dinner at a restaurant) and if you can’t afford that cost, you have no business going there. Maybe start a savings account or something. Call me crazy.
But back on topic, we do the dining plan and enjoy it, I think for the fact that it gives us that “all inclusive” feeling. We love cruises and all inclusive resorts because it’s all paid in advance with little worry while there. You’re free to indulge. To me, that’s worth the extra money I am probably spending by doing DDP. Some people would rather not “waste” money that way, but since it’s a vacation (a luxury, got that “horrible”?), then we’re ok with it.
@ Lissy – thank you for the insight! I asked some other friends and have found out that, much like high school gym class, I’m the last person to be picked for the TIW team, lol. They’ve all had it much longer than me and are singing the same praises you are. I think this’ll be the trip where I finally make the cool kids table.
Guys…please stop acknowledging @horrible person
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolling
I used to work as a waitress and do did my sister so we are generally a decent tipper. I start at 18% – if I get better then expected service I go up to 20 and worse then expected down to 15. I have tipped very little once (Some resturant in Mall of America) – our waiter spent the entire time hitting on a table of girl one table over form our party and pretty much blew us off and was rude the few times he did make an apperance. We did leave his a bonus tip – we wrote a note saying if he would spend more time doing his job vs hitting on the other table he would have gotten a better tip. I actually complained to the manager – service was that bad. Side note – he asked for their numbers – and they turned him down!
I think it all depends on what you find to be a “value” for your money. It is all a matter of individual opinion and value. When my boyfriend and I went in 2012, I wish we would of had it because we spent $1,200 in food for the 8 days that we were there! If we would of had the DDP, even at 2014 prices, we would have saved $240 at least! I am going to be using it for the first time next month and very anxious to try it out.
@J’aimie My wife an I have been TiW members for 3 years now and its great! For APs is only $100. That includes valet during your meal at all resorts and restaurants. It takes 20% off the bill, including alcohol, and adds 18% gratuity. You can use it at most bars on property which is great and limited counter service(just at the value resorts). A change that is set to happen in August is that Victoria and Albert’s will no longer take TiW and instead of just the holiday day being blacked out it will now be the week(s) for a handful of popular restaurants. It’s a must have as an AP I’d say.
@ Andrew thank you so much – we’ve decided we’re going to buy a membership once we arrive, for some reason I was always under the impression that this membership cost way more. We’ve got reservations at some more expensive restaurants this time, including Cinderella’s which I was told they’ll reimburse the 20% for, so I’m pretty jazzed. This is great, thank you for sharing!! 🙂
I was looking at the Disney site that Josh had a link to and it mentions that photo packages are extra everywhere except CRT – does this mean Akershus is no longer including the photo with Belle in the cost of the meal? That was one of my justifications for the price of lunch there…
@J’aimie, One thing to note about the benefit calculation for the TiW card is the other discounts that you may be eligible for, including AP or DVC. The TiW discount is higher, and is is the only one that includes drinks, however most of these restaurants offer 10% off for AP and DVC. This raises the break-even point a lot, unless many of your meals are of the liquid variety (not judging 🙂 ). Valet is not included, but parking is (always for AP, with a villa reservation at DVC). There are a few lists out there comparing discounts (I Googled to find this one: http://allears.net/pl/disc_dining.pdf). Many locations only offer the TiW discount, so if you’re only eating at these places it’s a simple calculation. But if you’re attending a mix, or your liquor bill is small to non-existent then the numbers are a little more complicated.
@Jill Mac- on the 2014 dining plan brochure it says photo packages are included in the price at CRT and Akershus.
Josh not everyone has a credit card i pay for my trips with Disney gift cards so it is easier for me to get the dining plan ahead of time
We typically plan our trips around the availability of free dining plans or if we get a pin code in the mail for one.
This past trip we bumped our tickets up to annual passes as our return for this year will be within the time frame, so we opted for tables in wonderland. We will be using that in lieu of a dining plan this year.
I always found it to be a ton of food, and being someone that doesn’t drink soft drinks and hates throwing away perfectly good food, even if I’m full, I find it gives me anxiety but an easy source of bottled water.
@Olga- Thanks for that! I have learned something new!
We’re doing the DDP when we go to WDW in 12 days (!!!), but it’s only because we got such a discount on it. We’ve done it 3 times so far — the two previous times for free, and this time for way less than we’d pay even if being cheap. We do have many kids in our group, so we’re doing several character meals. If we didn’t get the DDP, we’d probably only do one table service meal our whole trip, we’d have water (tap, not bottled) instead of pop/soda for our drinks, we’d almost never get desserts, and we’d survive and still have a great time, but we were all excited to have the chance to try several different restaurants.
I do appreciate the honest review of DDP, because we all agree (even those of us who love it the best) that if we were paying full price, it just wouldn’t be worth it.
I just discovered this website last week, and I love it! Thank you for having such great and helpful information!
I have to disagree with you on this one Josh. Yes I get disney dining. And yes it’s that much better when I get the free disney dining discount. And yes I eat a steak every night at the nicest restauraunts on property. Disney Dining is definitely worth it when you make those reservations 180 days out and go to the quick service restauraunts that are worth going to, like Mexico in Epcot. Your definitely not paying as much if you were to pay cash or credit.
@Jenn M., I used to be a server as well…and I too sometimes have waitress nightmares, nearly 25 years later. Too funny, I guess it left a lasting impression on us! It’s no surprise to me that there are cheap people who don’t want to tip. But it makes me sad. I’m picky exactly because I WAS a server, but it’s been rare in all my years of dining out that I’ve met a server that doesn’t deserve a tip. Even at WDW, where I often feel the service is not great, I tend to tip at least 20%, which is what I do everywhere else too. Only a few times has a server been blatantly rude or blatantly ignored us, in which case I might tip less and tell the manager.
The Disney dining plan is a bad investment and anyone that tells you otherwise is either lying or bad at math.
I don’t tip because society says I have to. All right, if someone deserves a tip, if they really put forth an effort, I’ll give them something a little something extra. But this tipping automatically, it’s for the birds. As far as I’m concerned, they’re just doing their job.
I’m gonna torture you anyway, regardless. Not to get information. It’s amusing, to me, to torture someone on the dining plan. You can say anything you want cause I’ve heard it all before. All you can do is pray for a quick death, which you ain’t gonna get. You ever listen to K-Billy’s “Super Sounds of the Seventies” weekend? It’s my personal favorite.
When staying at a value resort, (all stars for example), free dining is a much better value than the 20% off (saving maybe $25 night). With the refillable mug at $17.99, we get
way more for our money with free dining, even paying full price for room. We get way
more than $25 a day worth of food for 2 people, and the mug included. Probably not the case with moderate or deluxe, but with value resorts, free dining is a better savings. I
have done it many times, and kept track of what I would have paid for meals, they would
cost way more the $25 a day. Thanks for all you do Josh, you’re the best. Always follow your crowd calender and touring ideas, and have a great trip!
just in case anyone actually read my post and is using it to ‘decide’ .. I re-figured my numbers and in actuality we will come out ahead by a few dollars by using the dining plan…so we’re still going to use it.
@ larie – thanks! I do see that listed now on the pdf. It was the Disney website that stated just CRT. I should know better to take that without reading the fine print (or full brochure in this case).
@Amanda M. that resource is awesome, thank you for the insight!! 🙂
Wow… I clicked on EasyWDW, and a Disboards thread broke out. Whoa.
In any case, count me in with the folks who say that it really depends on your family and your individual situation. I only go to WDW during FD, but that discount (which is what it is when paying the full rack rate for the package) is better for my family, which includes 2 boys 3-9. We include several character meals (CP, Tusker House, H&V, Akershus, Chef Mickey’s), which accounts for triple-digit bills sometimes on their own.
That being said, that’s not the biggest reason we get the DP. It’s me and my wife. Like Mary commented previously, if left to paying OOP, I would be ordering the cheapest thing on the menu everywhere. Why? Because I was not raised with money and that’s the way I was brought up. My wife is the same way. We both are pretty darn successful child welfare attorneys, and we have the money to buy the steak and ribs, but we tend to start on the other end of the menu with the salad or hamburger. That’s just who we are. So, in a way, my vacation from reality – where I clip coupons and eat a bunch of dollar menus – is, in a way, not having to think about that. Getting to start at the top of the menu with the steak, ribs, or mahi mahi. Ordering the Coke instead of the water with lemon. Not confining my boys to what they should eat instead of what they want to eat. Probably the best part of my vacation (besides the excitement of my boys) is getting to throw my self-imposed shackles off and just let it ride.
@Dawn H I do have to ask, how do you go from nearly $1000 ahead OOP to a little ahead using the DDP?
Great break down!! I remember paying something like $35 a day for the dining plan about 10 years ago…we pass on it these days
For us, it makes sense for to buy the DDP, however, we’ve had it for “free” our previous 2 trips. My husband and I have, however, decided that for the time being, we would purchase the plan if it was no longer offered for “free”. We fall into the category Josh listed, we have 2 children 4 and 6 years old and LOVE the character meals.
For our 7 day/6 night stay this our breakdown:
$930.00 for the meal plan for a family of 4-2 adults/2 children divide $930.00 divided by 6(nights)=$155.00 per night
$155.00 divided by 3 meals=$51.66
$51.66 divided by 4 (people)=$12.92 per person per meal
For example:
We spent roughly $90 before tip at Crystal Palace for a character breakfast
approx. $120.00 before tip at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall for lunch
approx. $56.00 for 1 adult, and 2 kids to eat at QS at PORFQ for dinner where my kids ate kids’ meal’s
We ate at Sci-Fi for dinner, Cape May for dinner, Chef Mickey for breakfast, 1900 Park Fare for dinner. For QS, we ate mostly at PORFQ for dinner, and had lunch at Harbor House, and a lunch at Wolfgang Pucks. We had about 17 snack credits left over and spent them all on the last day at Downtown Disney for treats for the coming weeks after we got home.