The Disney Dining plans are convenient and useful methods of managing your money when traveling. After all, if you know ahead of time that you will be eating almost all your meals on property, it may be worth it to purchase one of these because you will not have to worry about added food costs while traveling. However, these plans aren't for everyone. Here's a few things I've picked up that might help you make a decision whether these are right for you.
Here is a link to the dining plan site.
For 2011, the three plans and their costs are:
Quick service dining
Adults (Ages 10+): $34.99 per day
Children (Ages 3-9): $ 11.99 per day
Dining
Adults (Ages 10+): $45.99 per day (regular season) / $47.99 per day (peak season)
Children: (Ages 3-9): $11.99 per day (regular season) / $12.99 per day (peak season)
Deluxe Dining
Adults (Ages 10+): $78.99 per day
Children: (Ages 3-9): $21.99 per day
First of all, when choosing a dining plan option, it important to plan ahead and know how your family eats and vacations. If you are going to stay in the parks all day every day, then you might want to consider a dining plan option. If you plan on leaving the Disney resort area at all, then this may not be your most cost effective option. So, ask yourself this question when planning
Is my family going to spend the overwhelming majority of our time at the Disney parks and on Disney property?
There are many dining options on Disney property that are not in the parks, at various resorts or Downtown Disney. If you do not plan to leave Disney property much, then you might consider a dining plan. However, if you are the kind of family that will leave Disney property for breakfast because you get up early or for dinner because you just can't stay out too late, then you will certainly find cheaper options off property. Only you can answer this question though because only you know how your family behaves when on vacation. Finally, even if you do spend a lot of time on property, you may be a family who tends to share their meals a lot at dinner. If this is true, then you may find that a dining plan is not cost effective.
So, you will spend most of your time on property and you do want a dining plan? But which one?
The Quick Service Dining plan offers 2 meals and 2 snacks a day. Obviously, this leaves out one of your meals...doesn't it? You'd think so, but most of the food in Disney is very filling and you may be the kind of family that shares your food a lot. If this is true, the quick service plan may be right for you. After all, if you are a family of 4, with 2 kids, the adults might wish to share their breakfast and lunch amongst themselves and that leaves them each with dinner. This tactic can also be used with the kids. Also, remember that you will have 2 snack options with this plan, so if you love popcorn and ice cream and you are busy (often happens), then you may discover that one of the meals ends up getting skipped anyway.
This is a popular plan because it offers a lot of flexibility and is the most cost effective for families that aren't interested in the more elegant dining experiences. It does limit you to only the quick service places, so no fancy restaurants.
The main dining plan offers 2 meals and 1 snack per day. This still seems to leave out one meal as the above option does and it has one less snack option so there will need to be sharing with this plan as well. It is more expensive and allows you to eat at one of the nicer sit down restaurants. It basically allows you one quick service and one table dining experience per day. A good scheduler who plans ahead could make this very cost effective. Most table dining will require reservations ahead of time and you don't want to find yourself in the wrong park or on the wrong side of a park when you reservation time comes up. After all, who likes to run to make a reservation? So, you have less flexibility, but good planning can overcome this. If you don't plan on eating at a nice restaurant on property or you think you will only do it once or twice, then I suggest you go with the quick service plan and just plan on paying for the table service meal out of pocket. It is important to not that tip and alcohol are NOT included in the dining plans. So, if you don't want to pay tip, then the quick service option is probably better for you.
Finally, the deluxe dining plan allows you to have 3 meals and 2 snacks per day. This has the same reservation limitations as the regular dining plan but more of the flexibility of the quick service plan. Each quick service and table seating restaurant counts as one meal so you are not limited to 1 quick service and 1 table seating as you are with the regular plan, but can mix and match how you want. Be very aware that some restaurants count as 2 meals. The brochure at the link above can tell you which ones, but basically, if it is a character dining, a signature restaurant or a dinner show, it will count as 2 meals. So, added flexibility, but also more need to plan well and plan in advance.
If you are not an advance planner but you want a dining plan, the quick service plan is probably your best option. Cost of the plans differ, but it comes down to whether you think you can share food or go off property to save money. If this is your plan, then the dining plans probably don't make sense for you. For instance, the quick service plan costs 35 dollars per adult and 12 dollars per child. If you eat at a quick service restaurant, then each adult will pay about 10 bucks and each child will pay about 7. Therefore, after the two meals, you children will have paid for their plan and they haven't even had their snack yet. However, the adults will have paid only 20 bucks if they are frugal. Their snacks costs about 2.50 each which will bring their total up to 25 dollars. Add in the 2 snacks for the kids and you will spend about $88 a day. The dining plan will cost you $92 dollars a day. I've found that even though we try to be frugal and save money that we always end up overspending our budget. Therefore, that $88 is ideal, but not typical. If you go to a sit down restaurant or have a character dining experience, then your overall costs go up even more, which is why the other dining plans go up so much in cost. I can't speak for whether this is a cost effective option, but hopefully, this information is helpful in figuring out if you want a dining plan at all and which one most fits your family.
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