We usually get deluxe if we have xtra money so we can use two of them for certain meals that call for two but don't forget most of these places you have to add your tips into
. When we went in 95 tips were included

The last time we were on the deluxe plan we did a character meal every day and signature dining in the evening. Our favorite signature restaurant is Narcoossee's at the Grand Floridian. We used snack credits for a salad, soup or even chili cheese fries for lunch or a yogurt or pastry for breakfast. If we go during the Flower and Garden or Food and Wine festivals we use snack credits at the outdoor kitchens. Quick service doesn't have to be burger & fries or chicken nuggets! The Flame Tree BBQ at AK has great food. Sunshine Seasons at Epcot has salmon with potatoes and green beans or Mongolian beef.

The title of this article is terrible. This is 1 way to potentially save some money while eating at Disney. It is stretched into 5 separate points, but it is not 5 ways. DDP works for very specific guests, and not for others. Implying that eating quick service at the parks will somehow put you in the hospital is ludicrous. For example, cosmic rays had rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans, and it is delicious and filling. There are many options for quick service meals. And they are plenty to sustain life without wanting up in the hospital.

Read what you people are typing you are saving so much money not buying the dining plan because you are eating salads and pizza and chicken nuggets and bringing your own food to the park and making shakes and so forth. That's good for you if that's what you think of a vacation is and that is your budget don't knock the dining plan. I have been going to Disney since 1982 and I am 42 years old. I have been there more times then I can count but one trip that stands out was a 10 day trip to Disney where we flew from NY with airfare park hopper passes for 10 days in the Contemporary Hotel at Christmas time with the meal plan with 2 meals a day including dinners which included character meals and dinners at the best restaurants in Disney including Wolfgang Puck, seafood restuants in Downtown Disney including Appetizer, entree and Dessert for 4 people for 10 days for under $4000 everything included with lobster and filet mignon if we wanted every night or a 15 Creme brûlée. Disney has some of the best food and chefs on earth. So I don't know if the Food Plan is worth it for you but when I'm on Vacation I'm on Vacation!!!

Does anyone know if there are just two of you going, can you buy one Disney Dining Plan and split your meals? I go with just my daughter and when you add in appetizer and dessert, we can easily split every meal. We're not big eaters.

It's too bad the dining plan doesn't offer the choice of appetizer or dessert. We always get the dining plan. I bring baggies and will eat some of main meal and save the rest and always eat dessert. Later when I'm hungry I have something to eat. My kids use to laugh at me until one night they were starving. Everything was closed and I was the only one w a snack. Now they want those baggies. We usually go nov/Dec so I don't worry about the food spoiling.

It's too bad the dining plan doesn't offer the choice of appetizer or dessert. We always get the dining plan. I bring baggies and will eat some of main meal and save the rest and always eat dessert. Later when I'm hungry I have something to eat. My kids use to laugh at me until one night they were starving. Everything was closed and I was the only one w a snack. Now they want those baggies. We usually go nov/Dec so I don't worry about the food spoiling.

U have to go to the nice resorts to use ur counter services to get the best bang for your buck. Contemporary, boardwalk,beach club etc. ..... had some of the best food at these resorts, much better then using it for
hamburgers

I would never PAY for the dining plan: you can eat much cheaper just going and buying a counter service main and drink. We never have desserts normally.

This year we stayed on site with the QSDP thrown in free. I paid to upgrade us to the DDP but we didn't have a restful time of it - we were always clock-watching and stressing trying to make our reservations on time (and failed several times due to Disney buses not turning up). It was far more food than we wanted to eat - and I'm a fairly big eater at home. It was the first holiday where I didn't lose weight while we were away (all that walking is good exercise), and by halfway we were literally forcing ourselves to eat. If you're not hungry you won't enjoy what you're eating.

Next time is for 14 nights, and we're having the QSDP only. So, we'll be able to eat when we want, where we want and not worry about having to be somewhere. I'll also save well over $100 in mandatory tips!

We like the Disney dining plan for most trips for one reason. I don't have to feel any anxiety every time wait staff hands out menus. We can eat what we want, and not worry about the prices. Here's an example. We were six people on one particular trip...all on the dining plan. We chose Yak and Yeti, one of my favorites in Animal Kingdom. Without a dining plan...my kids would likely not even look at appetizers...they would choose something that was as inexpensive as they could while selecting something they actually would like to eat, and dessert? Not an option. At this restaurant with the plan, we chose appetizers, whatever we wanted for an entree, AND desserts. There was one dessert in particular that was spectacular! Fried won ton with strawberries and pineapple drizzled in the best sauce I have ever tasted. This was at the time a $15.00 dessert. (They have since lowered the price) This dessert was a memory in and of itself. We all raved about it and couldn't wait to have it again on another trip. The truth is...being a $15.00 dessert, had we NOT been using the dining plan, no one would have tasted this awesome dessert. The dining plan frees you up to explore the menu like you would really choose to.

my husband and I have been at walt Disney world now from Saturday nite to now , which is Wednesday afternoon. We do not do the dinnershows or the buffet meals. So far we have had yogurt parfeits and a banana for dinners plus a small desert, we have had pizza two times along with salads, we had a chicken cesear salad at one meal, and either waffles with fruit and bacon and sausage for breakfasts or an omlet with fruit and once a bagel a piece of fruit and yogurt .We have bought a total of 3 bottles of pop and the rest of the time have asked for glasses of water at restraunts or used our mugs from our hotel for coffee or pop when there. we have had slushies at Dumbo's tent and icecream a couple of times and popcorn once and yes a bag of pecan carmel candies also. We have managed to spend less than 200 dollars so far with two of us. Its too hot to drink much more than water for meals in my opinion and too hot to have lots of heavy meals.I think we have done very well, and haven't deprived ourselves of anything we wanted so far. If I want big fancy heavy meals I will go home and cook some, but wont till winter.

For the past three trips, we have purchased the Disney Dining Plan and kept track of the amount of money that the food would have cost us if we paid cash. We find that every trip, we save around 30% vs. what we would have paid. On top of that, we use the Tables in Wonderland card to help us save 20% on alcohol and appetizers, if we feel like adding to our table service meal.

During our 12 day honeymoon at WDW, we saved over $300 by using the dining plan, and $131 by using Tables in Wonderland (More than covering the $100 we paid for the card)

I go every year, alone, for 9 days. I don't purchase the dining plan and think I come out way ahead. I bring a protein drink for breakfast, and buy a half-gallon of milk at the resort to mix with it. I sometimes return to my room at noon and have another shake that I make, and then head to a new resort. I will eat quick service if I stay at a park for lunch, and in the evening I will do quick service or a "nice dinner." By nice dinner I mean Tony's, Chicago Grill, Be our Guest, Biergarten, and some night's I'll just hit Backlot Express, Taco Paco, or Norway for a sandwich. Keep in mind that the dining plan requires tips at sit-down meals and those quickly add up.

I go every year, alone, for 9 days. I don't purchase the dining plan and think I come out way ahead. I bring a protein drink for breakfast, and buy a half-gallon of milk at the resort to mix with it. I sometimes return to my room at noon and have another shake that I make, and then head to a new resort. I will eat quick service if I stay at a park for lunch, and in the evening I will do quick service or a "nice dinner." By nice dinner I mean Tony's, Chicago Grill, Be our Guest, Biergarten, and some night's I'll just hit Backlot Express, Taco Paco, or Norway for a sandwich. Keep in mind that the dining plan requires tips at sit-down meals and those quickly add up.

5 ways to eat like a king? More like 1 way, with 5 reasons why.

My husband and I always get the deluxe dining plan. We do a buffet character breakfast in the mornings and then a two point dining in the evening. The two snacks a day that comes along with this meal plan is a great way to bring home souvenirs for the kids or just to have. We like to go at halloween, so we are able to bring fun candy back to our boys as fun gifts. When we take our kids it's a fun way for them to pick out what they want to take home, rather then buying candy they will want anyways. I have found that we spend way less with the deluxe then paying out of pocket for the same thing. At the Hollywood Brown Derby my husband and I would spend $150 alone. Plus we really enjoy Hoop-de-Doo Musical Review, The Spirit of Aloha luau and Fantasmic! Dinner option. These three revenues are pricy paying out of pocket. If done right you will never be hungry and get to enjoys the more expensive meals at a lower price.

I have never used the dining plan. Last time I went I used the tables in wonderland card and received 20% off of the meal and drinks, alcohol not included.

Best time to do a dining plan is when you book and they r offering free dining. Normal this is during the off seasons end of September - December or January - til the end of February. With the dining plan you can use towards character dinning which can be extremely pricey... we had a character dining every night of our 6 night stay. For 5 ppl

I love the Disney Dining Plan. I do think even the quick service meals are too much food (especially being forced into dessert) so my daughter and I share a quick service meal twice a day - then we each get a light/normal breakfast and a light/normal lunch and our table service is our main meal for the day. My daughter is 17 now, we started doing this when she was little and it's always been the perfect amount of food.

we have gone to Disney and not bought the dining plan and at times we have gone and bought the Disney quick meal plan. Most of the time U get way too much food even with the quick service, and if U do your homework , there are restraunts at each park where U can get food other than burgers and fries. The thing I do not like about it, ( and this year with just two of us going, without the plan) is U HAVE to get a desert , drink and lets say burger and fries or pizza and salad or a big salad. I can go in a place and if I'm not hungry for a full meal, just get a burger and a glass of ice water for a meal without the plan and for a lot less, Most of the deserts they supply with the meals are ones U cant carry around with U till later when U want one ,or something I do not li ke or cannot eat because of an allergy. if I want a snack later I can get one that if I don't finish it right away I
can carry around . Snack points are ridiculous, one per person per day. Normally I don't even use mine. who needs another desert when U have had two that totally stuffed U earlier in the day. There is usually so much food on a plate that m y husband and I can split the plate and be totally satisfied and that makes it half the price of a food plan. Now the last few years we have gotten the food plan, one year we took my granddaughter and her wrestler boyfriend, who would eat half my pizza and half my granddaughters pizza along with his own in a meal, plus fries, large drinks and desert. Last year we took 3 grands that liked going and buying their own meals so it was fun for them to have the plan. This year its just the two of us going, we will be keeping track of what we buy to eat and mostly will get water to drink(at no charge) My hubby can get his mickey icecream and maybe I will get something or maybe not, I think we can buy all 3 meals a day and a snack and extra drinks for less than the dining plan. We will soon see as we are going to Disney this weekend for 8 days.