There are many decisions to make when you are planning for your Walt Disney World vacation. Where do I stay? What parks do I need to visit? Where should I eat? Do I need the dining plan? If you aren’t sure if you need it, here are 5 reasons you shouldn’t get the dining plan at Walt Disney World.
It’s a lot of food. Do you normally eat dessert after a big meal? Do you eat a big meal at a sit down restaurant everyday? If you don’t normally do this at home, doing it on your vacation in the Florida heat is not always a good combination. That much food can make you feel sluggish, tired and overheated.
You lose park time. The average table service meal takes about 2 hours when you factor in travel time, your wait at the restaurant when you arrive (if you book during the busier part of the day, you will wait even if you have a reservation) and how long it takes to be served and eat your food. If you want to spend the majority of your vacation enjoying the parks, the dining plan isn’t for you.
You spend more money. It is so drilled in our heads that the dining plan is a great value. I hear so often “It saves me so much money! I would have spent 25% more if I didn’t have the dining plan!” But my question to you is would you really have spent that much? Would you have booked a table service meal everyday? Would you have gotten dessert after your big meal? Would you drink soda or tea with every meal? Would you buy the most expensive entree on the menu to ‘get your money’s worth’ or would you have picked something on the lower end of pricing? These are the questions you have to ask yourself when determining if the dining plan is a good value for your family.
You have to drink soda or tea. The dining plan includes a beverage for a Quick-Service or Table-Service meal entitlement. They also give you a refillable mug so you can drink as much as your heart desires while you are at your resort. But is that what your body needs in the Florida climate? If you don’t normally drink alcohol or milkshakes (or other pricey drinks) with your meals the dining plan may not be worth it. Would you order those if you weren’t on the dining plan? That is something you have to consider.
You should tip 18-20%. Each table service you book on the dining plan is going to cost you an 18 – 20% tip (and unless you get bad service and talk with a manager, don’t skip out on the tip). The character meals are all buffets and they are fairly expensive. A family of 2 adults and 2 children is looking at tip of about $25 per character meal. If you are there for 7 nights, that adds an additional $175 on the cost of your dining plan. But would you have picked all of those table service meals if you weren’t on the dining plan? That is something you have to think about when determining if the dining plan is worth it.
And a bonus tip…Kids are treated like adults. When your child reaches 10 years of age, they are considered a Disney adult and that extends to the dining plan. You’ll now have to pay the adult rate for each day of the dining plan. If your child isn’t a big eater, you are going to waste a lot of money if you get the dining plan and dine mainly at restaurants where you order off a menu (I will admit the dining plan is still a good investment if you plan to mainly due character meals). They either won’t like anything on the adult menu (and if they do, they might not eat it all) or they will want to order off the kid’s menu (the restaurant can make them adult portions of the kid’s food, but it won’t cost you as much as an adult entree on the menu).
Whatever you choose, just do your research. Here are 5 Reasons You Should Get The Dining Plan.
Learn more about Walt Disney World Dining and get suggestions for where to eat, how to use the Disney Dining Plan and more.
How do you feel about the dining plan that is just quick service? I have a 16 year old son who eats a lot and a 9 year old who eats a little…
I have to disagree with most of the five points. Some of the issues are true if you plan poorly or don’t understand how to make the best use of the plan. But not worrying about your food budget as much during the trip is a great thing. You may be able to get away with not spending as much on food, but you will have to do a lot more planning, and will probably not take advantage of as many very nice dining experiences. If planned properly a sit down meal is a great time to relax and kind of recharge before a evening in the parks. If you view a table service meal as a single event were you have to travel from park to park, it may cost you 2 hours of travel time, but that is just because you may need help in the area of planning.
Everyone else here may disagree, but I todally agree with everything you said. I have really enjoyed our troops with the dp, but I much, much prefer going without.
I disagree with a few things on this post, but the one that stands out to me is that “You have to drink soda or tea”. That’s not true. One the dining plan, you can swap out your drink for any eligible snack at the place you are dining.
The meal plan does have a lot of food. But if you go for 7 days or more it’s worth it. Tips and all. Plus if your child eats small portions pay out of pocket and share a counter or table later during your trip..plus you can tell your server to no give you a desert and use it later as a snack (they can change this at the time of dining). There are more options and ways around to feed your family not just at a sit down.
While I don’t agree with everything in your post (we do book a table service meal every day and wouldn’t give up those experiences both for the food and the little bit of down time that we get), I do agree that the Dining Plan isn’t necessarily a great value. My husband and I ran the numbers again and again and came down to it being close. We opted not to get the Dining Plan, but decided to keep our receipts to see how we did. I didn’t want to feel bound to eating dessert at both lunch or to feel as though I had to order the most expensive thing on the menu to get my money’s worth, but at the same time, we agreed that we would never let the menu price keep us from ordering something that we would have wanted had we been on the dining plan. I also wanted the flexibility to order an appetizer for dinner if I chose to. We did get refillable mugs and had snacks (or used them for 2 year old’s breakfast). When we got home I ran the numbers on our receipts, only adding in things that would have been covered by the dining plan. We ended up saving about $50. At several meals, my husband and I shared a dessert (because neither of us wanted to have a whole dessert, we were too full) and we only occasionally got desserts with our lunch. Had we wanted two desserts with each meal, we would not have ended up saving money, but for what we wanted, we were able to save money. We had ADRs at Chef Mickey’s, Biergarten, Boma, Tusker House, Marrakesh, Sanaa and Coral Reef.
We go to disney every two years would not go without the dining plan. There are seven adults and four children. We have down time when we foist down meals.it is a time to discuss our day and plan our evening. We schedule our meals ahead of time and plan as n our trip to the park see around them it gives you a focus for all the hectic days and nights. Plus the food is great
I have to respectfully disagree with this post. What’s the point of going on a great vacation if you’re going to skimp on one of the best parts – the food! We are a family of 6 and get to WDW every third year. One of my kids’ favorite things about coming here is the nice restaurants. How often do you get to take 4 kids out to a nice dinner during the year? Not often enough! My kids love ordering expensive items off the adult menus ( 3 are 10 and over) like steak and seafood ( and dessert’s included!) and since it’s already paid for in advance I don’t have to worry about the prices and can enjoy my meal! The tips are a pain but a small price to pay for the chance to dine like rock stars in the happiest place on earth!
I agree with the tipping. It is getting ouy of hand. The person bringing me a $5 burger is no different than the one bringing me the $59 burger. Service is the same in most cases. Everyone gets a flat top with me of $5 as that would bring them still above minimum wage per hour.
I really like this website and the information you share on here. I do disagree a little with some of the things said in this article however. One thing I disagree with is the idea that you have to tip 20%. I never ever tip that much at a buffet, since the waitstaff does less work, sometimes much less. If I’m getting up every few minutes and getting my own food and carrying it across the restaurant, then I get to share the tip, and they get less. How much less depends on what the staff has to do for me, if they’re taking away plates and bringing drinks, then they get more than a completely self serve place. Also, if you are a foodie or semi-foodie like me, and trying foods you don’t normally get to eat is a big part of the fun for you, this is definitely worth it to get the dining plan, because you’ll talk yourself out of eating at the park’s nicer restaurant’s once you see the menu prices.