Is the Disney Dining Plan (pdf link) a good deal?

If you go to Walt Disney World and purchase a WDW package, one of your options is the Disney Dining Plan. Adding this will cost just under $40 per day for adults (age 10 and up) and about $11 per day for children (ages 3 - 9). Children between the ages of three and nine must order from the child’s menu. The plan includes one table service meal, one quick service (counter service) meal and one snack per day per person.

This can be a good deal if you are spending most of your time on Disney property. The out-of-pocket cost for just one table service meal can exceed your cost per day for the DDP if you order the appetizer, entree and dessert that the plan allows. When the exits for many of the most popular rides is through gift shops (with or without kids, it’s hard to get through these without buying something…I blame it on a combination of savvy marketing by Disney and post-ride adrenaline high), it’s nice to sit down to a meal and not worry about the cost. You can order the most expensive thing on the menu or try something new without the pressure of worrying about the price of the meal.

You can divide up the credits among the people in your package group as you wish. For example, two parents with two teenage children who are staying for 5 nights would have a total of 20 table service meal credits, 20 counter service meal credits, and 20 snack credits. If the parents enjoy a leisurely break and the kids see eating as something that should take as little time as possible, the parents could use a larger share of the table service credits while the kids use more of the counter service credits. This means you won’t be spending every meal together but I’ll let you decide whether or not that’s a good thing.

You do not have to use one of each type of credit per day. You can have a couple of table service meals on one day and then a couple of counter service meals on another. My only warning here is that the table service meals give you so much food that if you have two or three of these in one day you won’t feel like doing much else.

It’s a good idea to make advanced dining reservations for the table service restaurants. During the busiest times of the year and for the most popular dining locations, you’ll need to do this before you leave home because some book up weeks or even months in advance. If you would rather squeeze in meals during your park touring rather than schedule your park visits around your meals, the DDP may not be a good option for you.

The table service credits can also be used for Character Dining but if you’re not interested in this or don’t want to spend the extra time required for any table service dining you might be better off skipping the DDP option.

We used the DDP on our last trip and I thought it was worth it. If our trip had been shorter or my kids younger, I may have decided against getting it.

Questions to ask yourself if you are considering the DDP:

-How long is your trip and how much time do you want to devote to meals?
If your trip will be for four or fewer days and you want to spend as much time on the rides as possible, skip the dining plan and buy counter service meals. On the other hand, a table service meal makes for a nice relaxing break in the day and if you plan on averaging one of these per day the DDP will probably save you some money.

-When are you going and do you prefer to plan ahead or be spontaneous?
How eager will you be for a filling table service lunch in mid-summer? Sure, the restaurants are air conditioned but if you have the appetizer, entree, and dessert you might be more interested going back to the hotel to rest than back to the parks. If you wait for dinner for your table service meal, will you feel too hot and tired to take full advantage of the plan or would you be happier with a lighter meal? I don’t think this is as big an issue if you are traveling during cooler pleasantly warm times of the year.

If you don’t want to decide in February where you will have a meal in August, then skip the DDP. If you are traveling during a slower time you can still get the DDP and have some spontaneity. Our trip was in October and we made most of our reservations the day before or the day of the meal. If you want to go to any of the most popular restaurants or character meals you will need to make reservations further in advance whether you have the DDP or not.

-What are the ages of the people in your group?
If you have young children or teenagers, they may not want to spend an hour in a restaurant. For the younger kids, this time might be better spent on a mid-day nap. For the teenagers, it’s just time that could be better spent waiting in line for one of the rollercoasters.

One advantage for those with children old enough to tour the parks without parents is that the DDP is on the same card as the hotel key/park pass. This means they can just use their cards to spend the meal/snack credits and don’t need to worry about carrying extra cash. (Since they need the cards to get into the parks and to get Fast Passes, you know they aren’t going to lose them!)

-How much are you likely to spend on meals if you pay out-of-pocket? (see menus on All Ears Net)
Browse the menus and compare the prices for the things you and your family would be most likely to want. Remember that the dining plan covers the tax (I think it’s about a gajillion percent in Florida but I could be wrong on that) and an 18% gratuity.

- Are you on a diet?
Unless you have amazing will power and are traveling with someone with a high metabolism who will “help” you with your appetizer and dessert, you may want to skip the DDP. (You aren’t required to order the appetizer and dessert but when you know it’s part of the plan and you’ve already paid for them, it’s hard to pass them up.) If you think that diets shouldn’t be a part of a vacation or that eating well is one of the best parts of a vacation, then go with the dining plan.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 31st, 2006 at 12:07 pm and is filed under Restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.