Christmas - dining plan or no? Pros/cons

[Madhattermad]

Hiya

Would you booking the dining package for a Christmas trip? Is there surcharges for Christmas Eve/Day anyway?

I’d like to hear pros and cons!

Best

K.

 

[Miffy]

Taking Christmas out of the equation, the dining plan is only good if you would've spent the same or more anyway. The only way to figure this out is to look at sample menus, add up the costs, and decide.

In general, if you are going to a lot of character meals and buffets and also drink alcoholic beverages, the plan will probably either pay for itself or come very close. If you eat appetizers, share dishes, don't drink alcohol, and/or have no desire for refillable mugs, then the dining plan isn't for you.

You are going to get every opinion possible and if you look around even a little you'll find maybe 100,000 threads discussing this issue into the ground.

You will get posters who'll say it doesn't matter if it pays for itself, they like having their meals paid for in advance even if they've overpaid for them. On the other end of things, you'll get posters like me, for whom the dining plan (any of them) has never even come within chewing distance of what I spend on food at Disney, which has always been way way less than any of the plans.

I don't know if there's a premium for dining on Christmas Eve/Day. Others will certainly respond and let you know.

 

[KayaWildfire]

The meals where there is a range of prices like character meals are at the highest end of the range during Christmas week. We like the dining plan, but we do a lot of character meals and price fixe places like Ohana so it pays for itself easily.

 

[Madhattermad]

Thanks for your replies. I usually think the dining plan is a good idea personally just wondered if the holiday period changed things a lot.

 

[Bamaclan4]

We went at Christmas a couple of years ago. It was a good deal for us because we did several meals that do have a higher price during the holidays. As a pp said if there is a price range the holidays -season not just the official day - will be the highest listed. There may be some restaurants that offer just Christmas Eve and day special meals but those should be listed in the menus.Hope this is what you were asking.

 

[Briannacase93]

The meal plan pricing doesn’t change for Christmas time but some don’t find it worth it. Definitely try to equate how much you’d spend ca the cost. We used it last year and it was totally worth it, especially because we drink alcohol.

 

[julietsstars]

We found that we came out even during the holidays while on the Deluxe plan. That said, we had character dining every day for our 5-day trip (including Cinderellas castle). I have yet to get the value from a dining plan without doing character dining. But if anyone else has, I'd LOVE to hear your recommendations on how to do this lol

 

[LadyNia]

The last time I went around the holidays it was just me and my husband without kids. We ate table service meals twice a day and spent less on food than a dining plan would have cost. So, I wouldn't recommend it but if you have kids and do a lot of character meals it might be worth it. Regardless, it is really busy that time of year (not sure about this year) and having reserved tables to sit at will help you avoid the really packed quick service places.

 

[Madhattermad]

thanks everyone

 

[WDWTRAVELLER]

I would not buy the quick service plan. i dont see any value in it as to if you were just going to buy every meal. the only reason I would buy it is if I wanted to pre pay for all the meals before i arrive.