Do you feel the dining plan is worth it? I'm trying to decide whether to use it or not. I don't think we'll have or take the time every day to do a sit down dinner. What is your advice and experience? Thank you!
No matter what you decide, make dinner reservations.
At one point I had all 3 meals scheduled. I didn't realize reservations could be later than I selected, especially character meals.
I chose the one quick service and one sit down meal plan. I knew we would not use 3 meals a day per person.
It is very nice to HAVE to sit down at a nice place to eat and relax (and a lot of the places are very entertaining too!). When you've been rushing around the park for hours it is so nice to have a table and a waiter. There are some great places to visit, O'Hana (sp??) in the Polynesian Hotel is by far my favorite, there is a German resturant in Epcot that has great food and entertainment, there are a lot of places with Characters, we thought it was worth it. We went with the plan that gave us 1 sit down, 1 fast food and 1 snack.
We have used both the Quick Service plan with 2 quick service meals and the regular Dining Plan with 1 sit down meal and 1 quick service meal. I definitely felt both were worth it. The quick service one is nice if you don't want to take the time to do the sit down meal every day. The sit down meals are nice to have the break to stop an unwind a bit. If seeing characters is a priority, the character meals are a great way to have character interaction without standing in lines. So while the meal itself may take a little longer, you might make up the time later not having to stand in line to see Mickey. If you decide to do the sit down meals, make your reservations as soon as possible.
We have gone to Disney twice in the past 4 years. The first time, we got the dining plan with 3 sit down meals. The second time we did not. We actually preferred not using the dining plan. Several of the restaurants aren't on the plan. We were still able to book character experiences which you need to do before you go! We spent less because we are one big meal a day and two small meals kind of people. We found the quick service dining anywhere was always the same choices... chicken strips, burger, salad... very little variety. So that is my 2 cents... :-P
We've been onver 8 times and we never used the dining plan. It is not worth it in my opinion. I prefer not to be told how and where I can eat when I am on vacation. We don't buy into things like this presented as a discount but really it isn't.
VERY well worth it! There is only 1 "sit down" meal per day and you can take it at any meal you choose or you can use two of them in one day. For example when our family went in November we had dinner in Cinderella's Castle. That meal used two of our "table service" credits for each of us. We had breakfast with Donald in Animal Kingdom (The Tuskar House) that used one of our "table service" credits.
One hint...take a box of quart size ziplock bags with you in your suitcase. The portion sizes are HUGE! Often times we would get two meals out of one quick service meal.
If you really want to see the value of the plan, go to the Disney World website and look at the menu prices for the various restaurants. You will see what a value it is!
Financially it did save money I think. It was kind of stressful though to have to worry about making our reservations. Also, the sit down restaurants can take a lot of time away from play time, but the food was good. So, to me, it's about what's important on your vacation. If you want to ride as much as possible and go go go, don't do the sit down plan, quick service would be good. If you want to just relax and enjoy the atmosphere not trying to definitely hit certain rides or shows the sit-down plan is nice.
Definately do the dining plan. If you were to buy the same meal w/out it, it costs you more. Also, the "sit down" meal can be used for the character dining too. Definately do the meal plan!
We LOVED the dining plan! It was so easy to have everything planned out and done and our kids loved being able to just stop and get a snack whenever .We did the deluxe dining that had 3 meals a day and two snacks but we only used two meals on most days and saved the rest for the day we checked out that did not include the dining plan, if that makes sense. I wouldn't go back without doing the dining plan. We used a combo of sit down and quick service too. I guess it depends on what kind of person you are but it was a huge stress saver for us.
We love the dining plan but my family does like to "dine" at dinner. Besides the food however it is fun to sit in a nice restaurant and watch fire works at Magic Kingdon or to see a show with dinner (2ticket option) or to dine with the characters at Chef Mickeys.
My family saves a lot of money by using the meal plan.
One other consideration is that you may want to go to a nice sit down dinner after a long day at the parks.
I think there are a lot of variables. Do you like to have a sit down meal once a day? Or are you more of a park commando and go all the time to see everything? How many days will you be there and how old are your kids? We did the (free) quick service plan the last time we went (kids are 8 and 5) and it was great. My kids just wanted to go all the time and don't care as much for characters as they do for rides. And they like the typical kid food you see at the quick service places. Also, do you like to plan ahead? If you get the regular meal plan, you have to plan out your meal way ahead of time. We like to go with the flow a little more.
We didn't do the dining plan, but we definitely will do it next time. For 6 of us, we could easily spend $80+ just for burgers, fries and drinks in the park...food was very expensive. The dining plan can be used at QSR establishments too, and they included a huge amount of food. We noticed a lot of people on the dining plan would get all the food that it included and take part of it with them for snacks. Definitely seemed like a good deal.
Now see we did the opposite of what JC is saying,
We did not use the dining plan and we were close to 600$ under budget.
If you like to preplan all your meals then yes go a head and do it, we do not like to do that. We had one meal in the parks , for breakfast we had stuff in our room, breafast bars, etc. Ate at the hotel a couple of times, even with that we spent less. I didn't like the restrictions that come with the dining plan.
Always do the dining plan. It is nice at the end of the day, to have a sit
down meal. Over the years, we gone to many, many of the wonderful
restaurants. Definitely worth it. Just make sure to make your reservations
early. I am a planner. My husband and I sit down and figure out where
we want to be on what day and plan dinner accordingly. Would not do it any other way, because now we are spoiled! Enjoy.
One of my friends has gone twice and got it and another friend went once and got it and they both totally recommend it. It may can be used anywhere in the Parks. I would get it if I was going.
