[iluvwdw]

Awesome news, everyone! I just found this on another board!

Beginning April 2006, the Dining Plan will be made available to DVCers staying on points. You can start booking the Dining Plan January 2006 for DVC stays April 2006 and later.

Details:

-- cost is $37.99/Adult & $10.99/Child (ages 3-9)

-- the Dining Plan must be purchased for the entire length of your DVC stay

-- all persons registered in your room must take the Dining Plan

-- it is NOT tied into ANY ticket purchase

OK, my questions are these:

- Can people who RENT points participate in the meal plan? I'm thinking YES, but I would love clarity

- What exactly does this $37.99 include per day? (how many meals)

- Does the $37.99 include tax and gratuity?

- Are there any exclusions on the meal plan?

- What restaurants/counter service places are included?

[BuzzLightyear]

This is just the news I have been waiting for!!

We are renting also, so hopefully someone can lets us know about that.

The meal plan gives you one "counter" service meal, one "table" service meal, and one snack per day. It also includes the gratutity for your table meal.
I don't have the rest of the dining plan info at my fingertips. I am sure there still are some exclusions and some place that aren't included.
We used the plan last May and it was amazing.

[brumcg]

Awesome news! I won't even whine that it's starting the day when we leave this year. It'll be fantastic for future trips.

Bruce

[DisneyTeacher]

That is awesome news! Thanks for sharing the good news, Kim.

[lawwin]

My mother will be so glad. This is just the news she has been waiting for. Now when we stay on our points, the food won't cost nearly as much. Hooray!!!!

[Boss Mouse]

This is dark news indeed. DW lives to spend her vacations cooking meals for the family. Now she will have all this free time with nothing to do.

[mickey]

Uggg! I am happy on one side, and upset on the other, since our trip is in March, we won't be able to do this.

The dining plan is the same as what is available on the packages, one sit down meal, one counter service meal and one snack per person per night of your stay. All meals include tax and gratuities, so you have no other costs for the meals you eat, unless you order someting in excess of what you are given, though I find that hard to imagine, since you get plenty of food. For sit down meals, it is either a buffet or you get an appetizer, entree, dessert and drink. Counter service is a an entree, side, drink and a dessert. The snack can be used for a drink, popcorn, ice cream or fruit.

You can see the restaurants included on the plan here:

http://www.disneycentral.com/images/diningplan.pdf

That is a big PDF file, so it might take a little while to download.

Guests who rent points from other DVC members should be able to participate. I am not sure how payment is to be made, I am sure they are working on that now. I would guess you would have to pay when you add it to your reservation.

The only exclusions I saw were some desserts, as most restaurants have one big dessert, kind of like a trial size of all their desserts that is usually about double the cost of a normal one. Those were excluded, though I believe you could pay extra and still get it. Other than that, everything on the menu would be an option for you.

When I receive something official, I will post it on the front page.

[Boss Mouse]

Seriously, Does this constitute a big savings? There are 7 of us so this adds up to $266/day; over 8 days = $2128. That is a lot of cockles.

We usually stop at the grocery store on the way in so that we can fix meals in the room.

[iluvwdw]

Originally Posted by BuzzLightyear

This is just the news I have been waiting for!!

We are renting also, so hopefully someone can lets us know about that.

The meal plan gives you one "counter" service meal, one "table" service meal, and one snack per day. It also includes the gratutity for your table meal.
I don't have the rest of the dining plan info at my fingertips. I am sure there still are some exclusions and some place that aren't included.
We used the plan last May and it was amazing.

I heard great reviews on the food plan. I think it's a GREAT deal, considering I like to eat nice meals out a lot. This way, I can make an ADR every day and DEFINITELY come out ahead! Dinner alone is probably more than $37.99 per person at many places.

I can't wait!

[ingamba]

I'm still a little on the fence about the DVC. This might just be the news I need to push me over the edge.

I'm doing the dining plan this coming January, and I'm already glad I purchased it, I'm already rejoicing in my potential savings. If I can make this a regular thing by using DVC points and the dining plan, I'll be quite happy indeed!

[iluvwdw]

Originally Posted by mickey

When I receive something official, I will post it on the front page.

Thanks, Mickey. I can't wait to get all the details!

[Boss Mouse]

DVC is worth the invesment. But part of our attraction was the ability to prepare meals in the rooms (to save $$).

[mickey]

Originally Posted by Boss Mouse

Seriously, Does this constitute a big savings? There are 7 of us so this adds up to $266/day; over 8 days = $2128. That is a lot of cockles.

We usually stop at the grocery store on the way in so that we can fix meals in the room.

I think it depends on your family, and how they eat. For many people, it is a huge savings. I have two teenage boys that we usually force to share an adult meal, and they come out starving. It sure would be nice to just let them order what they want and not have to worry about cost or if they eat it all.

The plan is based on the number of nights you stay. If you normally eat one nice meal per day, whether it is a character meal or nice dinner, it will work for you. We stay in a 2 bedroom, and usually just have cereal or whatever for breakfast. We would then have a counter service lunch and a nice dinner. Figure it as such. Our family would be 4 adults (10 and older) and 3 kids, so a total price of $185 per night of our stay. Here is a sample day in our family:

Lunch, Columbia Harbour House
4 adults: $51
3 kids: $24
Total with tax: $80

Dinner, Rose and Crown
4 adults: $131
3 kids: $41
Total with tax and tip: $211

7 snacks: $21

Total for the day: $312

So, we would save about $127 for that day alone. Now, we normally wouldn't order and appetizer and dessert for everyone in the family, so that is a little skewed. I also didn't chose an expensive restaurant for dinner. Le Celler, Alfredo's or Spoodles would have been much more. Dinner at Akershus with the Princesses would have been $185 for us, so the rest of the food that day would have been free, in a way.

If you normally do a lot of your meals in your room, and you like spending the time doing that, it probably won't work for you. For us, we like doing one nice meal per day.

One other thing to think about is that you have to look at other things besides the cost savings. Most of your meals are pre-paid, so you can budget almost to the penny. When we used to go, we had no idea what the costs would be on food, I would just figure $1,500 for a week, and it usually ended up around that amount, but sometimes it was $500 higher. This way, everything is done, and I know exactly what it will cost. You also have time savings, not having to go back to the resort, prepare meals, clean up, etc. You also don't have to worry about what the kids are ordering, they can do what they want, it won't change the price.

There are so many pluses to the plan, and so few negatives, I find it hard to see many situations where this wouldn't work well.

[Boss Mouse]

Thanks Mik! I'm gonna cut and paste that to an email for DW.

[lawwin]

I have to say that I am ecstatic about this. With lil brer not being considered a child for meal purposes, my costs have skyrocketed and it is more difficult to budget. This way I know that it will cost us approximately $80 per day for both of us. For a five day trip that's $400. We spent way more than that on food when we went in May/June. plus this means that going on DVC points takes care of the room, APs take care of the tickets (thanks to DVC discount), and now the food will be taken care of prior (with the meal plan), so all we will need is money to spend. I love it - there is no way that this is bad for us.

My parents were cutting back on places to eat for or Dec. trip, because of the expense for both of them to eat at the sit-downs. This will make it so much easier for the four of us from now on. With all four of us, it comes to around $160 per day for food, even with us eating breakfast in the room, this is big savings.

Next time lil brer and I decide to go by ourselves, I'll have to consider buying points, so we can get a meal plan. Instead of a moderate room only on a reduced rate. We would come out ahead.