Comments on: Our Disney Dining Plan Experience

By: Trisha

Trisha — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:54:01 +0000

It’s been 15 years since I went to Disney World. I was 17 and went with my family. My parents were on a SUPER TIGHT budget, and the food was so expensive. So for the entire vacation we ordered kids meals – either a burger or chicken nuggets, neither of which were good. And we were starving!! It was a real downer for the vacation. I don’t care if the dining plan is the best deal or not – I want to be able to order whatever I want – I want it to be delicious and I don’t want to be hungry!
Nevertheless, really helpful info! Thanks!

By: Whitney

Whitney — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:09:47 +0000

While I completely understand that it seems that it may be cheaper not to get the meal plan, I have bought it the last 3 times I have been. When thinking about the cost of the meal plan, it makes you think, well if I eat a big breakfast in the room, and pack a sandwich every day, then maybe get a quick service dinner, I will save big! However, the downside of this is that you are really cutting out one of the best parts of the Disney experience, the great food! Also, this is counting in getting a bigger room with a good kitchen/kitchenette, and grocery shopping on vacation, which is unneccessary. Not only does the dining plan give you the option to eat at any one of their 100+ restaurants, but it is also giving you a huge amount of relaxation which is priceless. When planning for the trip, it is so much easier to do the standard dining plan where you make all of your reservations for dinner and it is taken care of. You simply have to give your key for your meals and snacks. Personally, one of the best parts about this is that once you are on the trip you don’t have to be pulling money out and keeping track of spending and keeping within budget. It is all paid for, and to me, that makes it wonderful. Another benefit is simply sitting down and enjoying the company of your family, because when you are on the go all day, it is nice just to reflect in the comfort of air conditioning. I completely understand the argument that you get much more food than you would have otherwise ordered, but when you think about it, even if you went to these restaurants and ordered what you honestly want for a meal, it would end up costing about the same. So essentially, as you said, the extras are where the savings are. But think of it this way, it is like going to dinner, ordering whatever you want on the menu for a meal, and getting a drink, and then getting dessert, a quick service lunch, and a snack for free! When you go to these restaurants, the meals are usually atleast $20-30, so you are also getting quality. I know I have gone on forever, but I don’t have enough good things to say about the meal plan. But lastly, as far as nutrition goes, all of the restaurants do have low-fat options that are still delicious, and they have low-fat desserts as well. So to anyone considering the meal plan, it is worth it. You may find that you cannot eat everything you get, but the fact that you can order anything off of the menu and it costs the same to you, you get a break from the craziness of the parks, and you get awesome dining experiences with characters, it is absolutely priceless. And if you break down the costs, I bet you will see the benefits in price as well.

By: Gayle

Gayle — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:54:11 +0000

We went to Disney the first week of May, stayed at Pop Century and got the quick service plan. There were 4 adults, 3 teenagers and 1 toddler. One breakfast at the resort let us know that we had made the right choice. We were allotted two meals and two snacks a day. The nice thing was while you were in the park you could get an ice cream or something and it was a snack.
I think that if you throw diets out the window and go with older kids, the meal plan is the way to go. We had a lot of snacks left so we got some snacks for the plane. I will always use the meal plan.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:58:45 +0000

We are going in August 2009 with the “free” dining plan for 7 days family of 4 (one who is under three and one who is 5). I have read on various websites that we can order an “adult” counter service for my daughter? Can anyone explain as the Official Disney brochure says they have order off the kids’ menu -if available?

thanks.

By: Travis

Travis — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:09:14 +0000

they do as long as you don’t order a buffet or all you can eat selection

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:06:02 +0000

Do they allow you to pack and take back the dinner leftover ? My wife,kid and I will be traveling there in April and we also bought the meal plan and so am curious to find out what others experienced…

By: Seasongs

Seasongs — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:44:26 +0000

I would LOVE to try to meal plan! I think Disney has delightful parks, and it just takes the burden of food planning off – another way to enjoy more of the day. It sounds like a fun adventure if you budget for it.

Do you know if the California parks offer a food plan? You probably have to stay at one of their hotels, though. We always do a Priceline room when we visit Disneyland/California Adventure. We have never had a bad experience, and we get great rooms at a great rate.

Enjoyed your post very much.

By: Travis

Travis — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:26:10 +0000

I did the meal plan for my wife and myself our 2 year old son ate off our plates. As far as a bargain I agree that we saved minimal and maybe spend a little more than we would have. But the convenience of only having to carry my room key to the parks added to the “deal”. I could buy items say the Pluto stuffed dog for my son and then walk over and use my snack for whatever i wanted and only use one card. There are heathly snacks you just have to look a little harder. My son an I shared melon or pineapple a lot. I do agree that the savings is a little inflated i do think the meal plan is worth it.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:43:14 +0000

The question I have about the meal plan is how the cost/extra food issues weigh against going into the park with a fixed cost? The knowledge of how much your food will be per day, and hence being able to be budget that much more efficiently, seems like a big plus.
P.S. – Sorry, forgot to tell you great post!

By: Shawn

Shawn — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:36:08 +0000

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:27:10 +0000

The downside of splitting meals is that you still have meals allotted, so you have to spend the meals anyway.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:53:52 +0000

Yes you can split the meals, but only at the counter service meals. We took two of our kids last year and they split the counter meals each time as there was plenty of food. The table service meals cannot be split but are usually a more relaxed meal and they tended to eat more.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:22:56 +0000

I’d skip the meal plan but I think staying at the resorts is awesome… that’s another post.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:17:58 +0000

Yeah, but it made for an interesting post!

By: Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:17:34 +0000

My fiancee and I went a few years back and went to the same hotel as you Jim and got the meal package plan. We both were completely satisfied with the plan and never felt hungry. I agree with you that it might have been too much food for us as well. For how much stuff costs at Disney, we felt it was a decent deal and we got to eat at such a variety of restaurants every night. If we go again, we are not sure if we would stay at the resorts again, but I’m not sure when we would go back yet.