Dining Plan Help!

[Beccab0301]

Is there any advantages to getting the dining plan? Also is the upgrading worth it too?
Me and my husband are currently bickering about it.. He is against, I am very much for! We will be taking our son who will be under 2. I look forward to your responses

[Guest]

If I got it free then yes (DDP one). Wouldn't want the QSDP as we prefer a more relaxed sit down meal of an evening but that's just us!It is great not having to worry about expense of ice creams and snacks in the parks for the kids (and us ).

Personally we'd not pay for it, we'd eat offsite cheaper in the evenings however it depends how you tour the parks, if you have a car etc. We discussed (at length!) how this holiday was going to be and planned accordingly.

[Lucyjane45xxx]

If you are getting it free as part of a package - absolutely!

I wouldn't pay for it OOP I don't think as would be cheaper to eat offsite. Plus I would never eat the quantity of food that is included usually as you just get so much food! I love DDP though - we always stay onsite and get for free.

I would upgrade to DDP. There are so many brilliant places to eat (TS) and we love trying them all. We enjoy the sit down meal element and the break in the nice air con too.
I have had QSDP too and loved it but I enjoyed the mix of TS and QS on the full DDP.

Edit to include that I love knowing that all my food has already been covered and I don't need to worry about budgeting for it whilst there. My partner wasn't sure about DDP before we went but the food ended up being his favourite part! He has since said he won't go back without it!

[Pookie3101]

As pp have said, I wouldn't pay for it but if I was getting it free then yes. It's great knowing food costs are covered. We like DDP as like a table service meal and also like to do some character meals.
If you have DDP just remember to factor in cost of tips for your budget, although if you also qualify for the gift card this can be used towards tips.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Beccab0301

Is there any advantages to getting the dining plan? Also is the upgrading worth it too?
Me and my husband are currently bickering about it.. He is against, I am very much for! We will be taking our son who will be under 2. I look forward to your responses

See more...

Well I made sure I booked when it is free so we got it this year and next year too. If I booked at the wrong time, I think I would consider paying for it, because then everything is paid for up front and you just don't have to worry about managing the food budget. We had some snacks left over and I think we used a TS for a QS meal on last day but that is it. I don't think it is too much food at all, two meals and two snacks a day seems perfectly normal to me, especially as we would have an iced coffee or an ice cream as a snack most days.

If we go in 2020, it will be for a week we will hopefully get the free regular DP included and then we will upgrade to the DDP as we like fine dining and would like to get a few signatures in.

[jemima2]

Hi, we had just the qs plan on our last trip. This time we upgraded to ddp. We spent nearly the same amount on a couple of character meals and another ts meal so it made sense. In saying that we wont use all the table service credits and will probably convert some over. We dont want to be rushing all over the place trying to make adrs so i will just make a reservation wherever we plan to be !

[sha9]

If you plan on eating at Disney most of your stay then it's worth it and even if not free it's worth considering to have food paid for in advance. Disney prices are expensive! If you have a car though and would maybe only eat lunch in Disney then I wouldn't unless it was free as part of your package. That then becomes "is an onsite stay worth it".

[stormflm595]

I would absolutely go for it even if the offer wasn't on - I find it helpful to know that once the holiday is paid off, our food on the DDP is also paid for. We shouldn't really need to spend out of pocket for food aside from our days at Universal (meaning we have more credits spare for signature dining at Disney) so it's nice to know that the money we do take is used to treat us and family/friends.

Also I like the fact that the plan opens up more possibilities to book meals at restaurants you wouldn't have thought to book at before because of price, assuming you have the DDP or DDDP plan. You can just enjoy the meal for what it is rather than worrying how you're going to afford it.