# DVC  - Dining advice please.



## SDKath (Mar 16, 2008)

We are going to BCV in October and are thinking of doing the Dining Plan.  It has changed a lot since our last visit so I am wondering if it's worth it.  We have 2 DD's (3 and 8).  The 3 year old eats nothing practically.  The 8 year old can eat a horse.  DH is a vegetarian and eats light.  I eat just about anything in small portions.

So my question is this -- should we even bother to buy the Dining Plan?  We really don't eat in restaurants much in general but I know even the fast food in the parks can be pricy.  I am just not sure if it's worth it.

Katheirne


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## arlene22 (Mar 17, 2008)

Did the math for my family with only one who's considered a child by Disney and it didn't make sense. We will, however, be buying the DDE card which gives many discounts at a lot of different restaurants.


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## mabelline7 (Mar 17, 2008)

I personally don't think it save you money at all, especially with  young children.  It's a lot of food, and tips are no longer included.  AND lets say you are going for 4 nights 5 days, but you're arriving the first day late, it just doesn't pay out.


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## Whirl (Mar 17, 2008)

I wouldn't do it. You have light eaters and picky eaters. You will waste alot of food and it is ALOT of food.  We ended up just "shopping" at the hotel shop buying $2 sodas and juices ( regular small bottles just to eat up unused sncak credits.  We could ahve done that better, though. We had groceries delivered to our room so we had juices and things like that on top of the plan...too much.  It may be worth it however, if you plan on doing alot of character or signature dinner meals that require 2 dinner table service credits.  We ate at California Grill, , Cindy's castle, chef Mickeys( that's just one) the polynesian for Ohana breakfast....and those can be costly. For big eaters it is a plus, but I don't think we would do it again. If you buy just a certain number of days worth, like 3-4 for a 7 days stay it would be better. 

How many times can I say...too much food. AND...all the disney establishments serve practically the same eggs, waffles, pancakes, sausages, ( even the Ohana breakfast was the same stuff and breakfast at cindy's) mediocre hamburgers and sandwhiches. We got sick of the food. Blehhh! I am sick just thinking about it.....The more I type the more I realize we will NEVER do that again.....Don't do it. Unless what I described sounds particularly appetizing to you. 

Oh...Wolfgang Pucks was the best meal we had...quite good actually, a refreshing change, independant, quality ( service was slow though) and also covered on the plan.  Ha, I did find a positive!  We really like good food and enjoy great restaurants and innovative chefs. 

California Grill---Had I paid cash for that bill, I would have been sick! Totally overrated. ( Desserts were pretty good, though). GREAT view though and I did my research, I knew what to expect. Made my reservations the day the booking window opened specifically so my daughter  could watch the fireworks over the castle in a nice peaceful atmostsphere. It was the one early night for the month ( like 6:30) for the fireworks....well, guess what...CANCELLED for the first time because of the new Pirates and Princessed party!!!! bummer, but not really relevant to your question, except that it might be important for fair disclosure about what may have colored my viewpoint.

OK. I've said to much.
Cheryl

Disney Dining planned out!!!!


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## andrea t (Mar 17, 2008)

A different point of view...somewhat.

We used the dining plan the last 2 visits and it saved us quite a bit.  I have it all logged in a little memo book, but of course I can't find it because I'm looking for it! My favorite restaurant, Flying Fish cost a fortune, but even with the extra points it needed, it was a true bargain. Anyway, we are a family of 3 and my son was 13, then 14 on our trips.  I swear he eats like a well oiled machine!  We bought breakfast foods with some of the "snack" credits to keep in the room. We always eat lunch and dinner at a sit down restaurant, and I must finish every meal with dessert. Whatever food I left, my son demolished!

 It is a lot of food and with the age of your kids, probably not worth it for you.  For us, it was great.  Each family really has to evaluate their family's eating style to decide if it's right for them.


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## Mom Poppins (Mar 18, 2008)

We like the Dining Plan.  We are a family of 7.  Kiddos range from 4 to 17!  You might think of doing some buffets.  With the kiddos only costing 9.99 a day the buffet alone is more than that price.  I know you have to pay tips but we enjoy a table service restaurant once a day.  

As stated above about arriving late on your first day.  You can use those credits on your last day before midnight if you like. 

We really enjoy the dining plan.  Your cost would be 95.96 a day.  I would look at the numbers and where you want to eat and see if it works for you.  I think your kiddos would love the character buffets and maybe Coral Reef at Epcot.  There are so many choices with the DDP. 

As you stated you have done the DDP so you know the value of the plan.  Even with the tip we think it is still a good option for our family of 7.  We like having our meals taken care of.

 Happy planning!


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## tomandrobin (Mar 18, 2008)

To really know if the DDP works for your trip, you really have to chrunch the numbers. Look at menus where you are planning to eat, take into account character meals (buffets). Are you an AP holder? If so, take a look at the DDE card, 20% of table service meals, including alcohol.

We love the DDP, even with the changes. But we don't always use it. October might no be a good to have the DDP, if you plan on spending alot of time at the Food and Wine festival.


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## janej (Mar 18, 2008)

How long is your trip?  I would say go for it if it is less than 5 days.  

We went for four days this January and had to spend 3 days at BCV and 1 day at BWV.  We had the regular dinning for the first 3 days and last day on Deluxe dining.  Deluxe was too much for us.  We end up using our table service credit at Earls Sandwich.  But it was great not having to worry about cost of the food, only where to eat and what to get.  My boys enjoyed picking their snacks too.  With two kids under 9, you probably will not save much paying cash unless you cook.


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## KforKitty (Mar 18, 2008)

I would say the old plan definitely saved us money as we like to have one table service meal a day and if you like to try some of the nicer restaurants I'd say go for it.  We ate at Le Cellier, Kona Cafe, Coral Reef, Hollywood and Vine, Princess Breakfast at Akershus, Liberty Tree Tavern and Spoodles.  Le Cellier, Kona Cafe and Spoodles were excellent, Coral Reef was disappointing for the cost if we'd had to pay in full and H&V, Akershus and LTT were OK.  I would probably do less buffets if we were doing the dining plan again as I think the greater value comes from the nicer TS restaurants.

Kitty


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## Whirl (Mar 20, 2008)

Okay. I've given this some more thought after reading responses and contemplating. I also sat down and did the math on where we ate and what we spent. Ok....

The answer is NOT black and white, but I will provide the brief analysis and some personal observations FWIW

For where and what we ate, including tax...we would have  spent approximately $254 per adult on items included in the plan for the week. Our actual cost was $273 for the plan for 7 days (38.99, right?), so about 19 went unused ( arguably). We still spent more money than the plan because of drinks and appetizers and add-ons not included.   For my 4 year old, a small wasteful eater...it was actually quite a deal. $10 per day is 77 dollars for the week and her meals were about $168 and far more food than she could ever eat.  

We made some mistakes. We were traveling with 2 14 month olds and so I also stocked the room with groceries upon arrival ( gardengrocer.com, if anyone is interested....great service) so that I would be sure the babies had food that they like and quality that I was comfy with..... We overstocked...babies were fine finding food SOMEtimes at the restaurant ( pasta, fruit salad, bread, cheese , veggies ( and usually this was at no cost that was in addition to the DDP, since we always had too much food anyway)

Con- you eat more than you otherwise would. We actually got tired of eating. We felt forced to sometimes because we would risk wasting credits. 

For us, character and signature dining ( usually requiring 2 credits) was both good and bad.  Bad in that it is not the most economical use of your credits. you only get one meal for 2 credits, but GOOD in that it used up 2 credits so we didn't have more huge meals we felt compelled to eat. 

All that eating is exhausting. We had so many leftovers that we always had dessert in the room for later or snacks or whole meals.  Wolfgang pucks seved a whole chicken ( 18.95) as a meal and it was a WHOLE full sized roasted chicken. My nanny was so shocked when she saw it she lost her appetite and had it wrapped to get home. Well guess what? That chicken she shared with us the next day and was a whole lunch for the whole family!

Food was a bit mediocre, but not sure we would have eaten anyplace much differently..except breakfast. We prefer to eat fruit and cereal in the room in a liesurely fashion, generally and not have to schlep out to the restuarant. 

In any event, we could have done some things better and I have to say, with older teen kids it is probably worth it. We just all consantly felt like we were on food overload, but we just took unwanted desserts and snacks to our room, put them in the fridge and ate them later when you didn't feel like going anywhere, so we made it work.

So I retract my vehement recommendation against it with small kids.  10 makes it pretty economical for them and if you enjoy eating out everyday and accept that it it s alot of food. You could even share entrees at the restaurant and take one to go for later.  Then with one dinner credit you could also be taking home a lunch. You could really make it VERY economical.

The key to me after crucnhing the numbers is dinner. If you sit down for a table service dinner every night ( well maybe one lunch) then you will be well ahead.   With a conservative entree of $17, plus drink $3, plus dessert $7. That is 29 ( if you include taxes) daily and you could easily spend more than that, but trying to be conservative, you have 10 left for a $2-3 snack each day and  quick service lunch or breakfast. 

QS meals I find are mostly in the $12 range ( entree $7, plus drink $2, plus dessert $3). 
So to total: 

$29 Table Service 
$12 Quick service
$ 2 Snack          
$43 total

Conservatively marginal. But this I think would be an average experience. So you could really stretch it and remember...if you are a light eater, you are taking alot of snacks and desserts home for later, so you may not have much additional spending outside the plan.


Just some thoughts. spent too much time already and have to run. 

Hope this is helpful for soemone who is contemplating the plan. 
Cheryl


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## OnMedic (Mar 22, 2008)

Everyone is considering the tangibles here.... How about the intangibles?

How about not worrying about which restaurant you eat at and what you order off the menu.

It is also about the experience... eating at themed Disney restaurants that serve very decent food. (vs. MacDonals at DTD or all Quick Service restaurants)

I have been witness to families bickering over what to order and the price, at all levels of restaurants. Not the case when on the DDP. If we weren't on the DDP, we would probably be eating 75% of evenings at a Quick Service location instead of a $80-$100 sit down meal at a nice table service location as 2 Adults and 2 Children.

Just my 2 Cents.


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## DeniseM (Mar 22, 2008)

Do you think there will be a dining program at the new GCV Disneyland?


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## bobcat (Mar 22, 2008)

DeniseM said:


> Do you think there will be a dining program at the new GCV Disneyland?



We are going in August. We took the plan for 7 days. However, I changed it for our needs. Two credits for a signature meal, also two credits per show. Now 6 credits used. Last credit on a steak house. However, we still have 7 lunches and snacks left. We can have a late lunch on 3 days.  This works for us.


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## Transit (Mar 23, 2008)

Ng in my opinion. The decent restaraunts will need resevations during any busy times . You'll be locking into an Itinarary to eat. Even with reservations I see people with winey and tired children waiting for tables. I wouldn't want to be locked into that for the whole week.


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## Whirl (Mar 24, 2008)

*Intangibles, yes, key consideration. Not just about the numbers!*



OnMedic said:


> Everyone is considering the tangibles here.... How about the intangibles?



Actually, those intangibles  were a pro that I neglected to mention but quite important...my reply was just getting verbose and ran out of time. 

It WAS nice to not have to worry about the price of anything. For me travelling with my whole family of 5 plus nanny and grandma...things can get expensive quickly which is an important reason why we chose it, to cap the upside. However, given the size eater we were, we often ate just to eat so it may ahve been a , as stated, marginal proposition for us. 

Si , in the end, it is not just about the numbers...there is a degree of ease to it. While my group was not prone to do so, it could serve to keep chronic "over-orderers or eaters" in check by telling them what they are entitled to and that's that.



We certainly could have eaten more cheaply as we certainly would never order a drink, entree and dessert twice a day!


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## arlene22 (Mar 25, 2008)

Transit said:


> Ng in my opinion. The decent restaraunts will need resevations during any busy times . You'll be locking into an Itinarary to eat. Even with reservations I see people with winey and tired children waiting for tables. I wouldn't want to be locked into that for the whole week.



That is one of the reasons why we went for the DDE this time around. We have a couple of sit down character meals planned, but in general, we like to eat & run. Have you looked at this: http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/discounts.htm
They used to have it in a handy chart format, but I couldn't find that. But all the discount info DVC/AP/DDE is here.


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## luv2vacation (Mar 26, 2008)

arlene22 said:


> That is one of the reasons why we went for the DDE this time around. We have a couple of sit down character meals planned, but in general, we like to eat & run. Have you looked at this: http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/discounts.htm
> They used to have it in a handy chart format, but I couldn't find that. But all the discount info DVC/AP/DDE is here.



What is DDE?

  Thanks


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## Jason118 (Mar 26, 2008)

*DDE*

DDE stands for Disney Dining Experience.  It is a discount membership program that is available only to Florida residents ($85/year) and Annual Passholders ($65/year).  DDE members enjoy a 20% discount on food and beverages (including alcoholic beverages) at most full-service restaurants and lounges in the Walt Disney World Resort theme parks and hotels.

In addition to the 20% discount on food and beverages, membership includes:

1.  Complimentary resort parking (including valet parking) anytime when dining in a restaurant at that resort 

2.  Theme park parking after 5:00 pm when dining in a restaurant at that theme park 

3.  Invitations to special member-only events 
half-price admission to Pleasure Island (member and one guest, excludes special events) 

4.  Free admission to Atlantic Dance Hall on the Boardwalk (member and one guest) 

For more information, please check out:

http://www.mousesavers.com/diningexperience.html

We have joined it for a couple of years, and it was great!  We are going to DWD in September 2008 for a week at OKW and in December 2008 for another week in Marriott.  We definitely will be joining it again.  

Jason


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## Amy (Mar 26, 2008)

We thought the old Dining Plan was worth it, but barely.  But with the new one implemented this year, it is definitely no longer worth it.  For our next trip we also plan to look into the DDE.


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## timeos2 (Mar 26, 2008)

Best advice about Disney dining? Eat someplace else.  With only a few, high priced exceptions it is not very good. Why spend more and waste park time to get so-so food?  There are many good to great restaurants around Orlando that are much better value and far better meals.  The few good (and maybe one nearly great) Disney restaurants are way overpriced by comparison.  Universal has a much better on site collection but even there I would choose off site over most of them.  Food isn't what theme park operators do best by any stretch.  Give your money to the hard working restaurants that do it for a living and really do it well.


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## Carl D (Mar 27, 2008)

timeos2 said:


> Best advice about Disney dining? Eat someplace else.  With only a few, high priced exceptions it is not very good. Why spend more and waste park time to get so-so food?  There are many good to great restaurants around Orlando that are much better value and far better meals.  The few good (and maybe one nearly great) Disney restaurants are way overpriced by comparison.  Universal has a much better on site collection but even there I would choose off site over most of them.  Food isn't what theme park operators do best by any stretch.  Give your money to the hard working restaurants that do it for a living and really do it well.


Disagree again. Most Disney resataurants are good, and they are themed.
The general rule of thumb is to dine at the resorts rather than the parks. There are more than 7 great restaurants at the resorts, even if you don't include Victoria & Alberts.

Let's face it... You won't find places like Jiko and 'Ohana off site.


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