Are we really saving money???

[robinbutterfly]

Ok so I booked the dining plan. It added about 400 to our total package. I added up the dinners we are getting- it is 4 buffets. They total 300 dollars.
Are the Counter service foods really going to add up to over 100 dollars???
Do you think the dining plan really is a good value??

[HayGan]

How many people are in your party? I usually figure about $10 per person for counter service meals plus $3 per snack credit. So if you are a party of 4, 4 days worth of counter service (16 credits) would be an additional $160 plus another $78 for snacks so yes the dining plan is definitely worth it.

I think in most cases the DDP can be worth it. One situation where I think it isn't as good of a deal is when you have kids in your party that are considered to be adults but stil eat like kids.

[lurkernj]

How many of you are there? and ages? $100 for counter service comes to $25 per day, plus snacks. I am guessing 2adults/2kids? 2 adult counter service alone would definitely add up to $25/day (2 entrees, 2 drinks, 2 desserts), plus you get 4 snacks which could add up to $16 per day. So it looks like a little bit of a deal, plus the convenience of not worrying about cost. I say go for it.

[zoie101]

we would had spent 2120 out of pocket but dining plan can out to 1700ish
I say yes! including tix and room

[cyberbox2]

We are giving the DDP a try next month for the first time. We'll see how it goes, but I anticipate saving a good deal of money and like another poster said, its great not having to worry about the food cost because that has already been paid for in advance.

We are a family of four with our children being 13 and 11.

[TDC Nala]

It is a good value for many guests if they intend to use table service dining.

If your intention was to eat exclusively at counter service, you're not going to save anything on the dining plan, but you will probably feel better about table service since you've prepaid for it.

[robinbutterfly]

we are 2 adults and 2 kids under 9.

[ilovebassets]

no, i don't think the DDP is really worth the money--only if you're going during free dining time :)

sure, if you add up the price of the food you're getting and compare that to the dining plan, then you may seem to be getting good value. But how many times would order dessert for lunch and dinner every single day in addition to a daily snack (which seems to usually be ice cream or something else sweet?) THREE sweets a day? Plus, we usually like to drink water with at least one or two meals a day and wouldn't always be ordering sodas. (you get an awful lot of sugar on the dining plan!)

plus we simply wouldn't eat at TS as often if it weren't for the DDP. we'd just do more CS.

so if you always eat that many desserts and sweets and you never drink plain old water with your meals and you always do at least one TS a day, regardless of whether or not you have the DDP, then yes, you would be saving money. I think most people just end up changing what they typically eat though to justify the cost of the DDP in the first place.

[HayGan]

no, i don't think the DDP is really worth the money--only if you're going during free dining time :)

sure, if you add up the price of the food you're getting and compare that to the dining plan, then you may seem to be getting good value. But how many times would order dessert for lunch and dinner every single day in addition to a daily snack (which seems to usually be ice cream or something else sweet?) THREE sweets a day? Plus, we usually like to drink water with at least one or two meals a day and wouldn't always be ordering sodas. (you get an awful lot of sugar on the dining plan!)

plus we simply wouldn't eat at TS as often if it weren't for the DDP. we'd just do more CS.

so if you always eat that many desserts and sweets and you never drink plain old water with your meals and you always do at least one TS a day, regardless of whether or not you have the DDP, then yes, you would be saving money. I think most people just end up changing what they typically eat though to justify the cost of the DDP in the first place.


I respectfully diasagree. We do not factor desserts into our calculations when comparing the value between the two. The DDP still comes out as a better deal.

As for the sugar aspect, you don't have to injest that much sugar. We have water delivered to the resort so we use our snack credits on various items. There are PLENTY of items that aren't sugary that are great uses of snack credits. There are an unbelievable amount of things you can use a snack credit for! We hardly ever eat the dessert with CS credit. We do tend to like the dessert with TS meal ;) At meals we often drink water and unsweetened ice tea (the kids drink white milk - their choice.)

It is all what you make of it. The DDP works great for some and not as well for others. I think anytime you have kids (under 10) and plan to eat a number of TS meals, it is hard not to come out ahead using the DDP.

[srdipert]

we are 2 adults and 2 kids under 9.



You did not say which 4 dinner buffets so I just chose 4 for example I choose some of the more popular places and some with cheaper prices.

Chef Mickeys
Adult Price 29.99 X 2 = 59.98
Child Price 14.99 X 2 = 29.98
Total 89.96 + Tax 95.81

Crystal Palace
Adult Price 27.99 X 2 = 55.98
Child Price 12.99 X 2 = 25.98
Total 81.96 + Tax 88.46

Hollywood and Vine
Adult Price 23.99 X 2 = 47.98
Child Price 11.99 X 2 = 23.98
Total 71.96 + Tax 76.64

Boma
Adult Price 25.99 X 2 = 51.98
Child Price 11.99 X 2 = 23.98
Total 75.96 + Tax 80.90

Grand Total 341.81 The DDP Cost 383.84

So the difference between 4 buffet dinner and the dining plan would be 42.03. We found that with 2 adults and 2 kids that most CS were about 30$ so that would be 120 and than everyone gets a snack so that would be about 3 per person so 48$. So you could save about 120$ using the dining plan probably more maybe a little less. Buffets are not typically the most expensive TS meals but with 2 children and the price of the buffet being more than the total for the day it is normally a good deal.

[srdipert]

no, i don't think the DDP is really worth the money--only if you're going during free dining time :)

sure, if you add up the price of the food you're getting and compare that to the dining plan, then you may seem to be getting good value. But how many times would order dessert for lunch and dinner every single day in addition to a daily snack (which seems to usually be ice cream or something else sweet?) THREE sweets a day? Plus, we usually like to drink water with at least one or two meals a day and wouldn't always be ordering sodas. (you get an awful lot of sugar on the dining plan!)

plus we simply wouldn't eat at TS as often if it weren't for the DDP. we'd just do more CS.

so if you always eat that many desserts and sweets and you never drink plain old water with your meals and you always do at least one TS a day, regardless of whether or not you have the DDP, then yes, you would be saving money. I think most people just end up changing what they typically eat though to justify the cost of the DDP in the first place.

Actually we get fresh fruit with most of our CS dessert credits and save it for a little later for the kids snacks. We use our snack credits for things like pretzels, bakery items, popcorn, occasionally ice cream for the kids but never for me b/c I don't eat ice cream. We bring our own bottled water so we don't use our credits on that b/c we typically drink several a day.

I never drink tap water with my meal so I choose bottled water or diet coke most often.

I really do not think it is too much sweets unless you make it that way. We use our snack credits on the basic dining plan for Breakfast so typically bakery items or fruit. I think Disney always has great fresh fruit and my kids love it.

We always do at least 1 ts a day so the dining plan doesn't change that for us. We probably wouldn't typically eat dessert with every TS but we might want to but not b/c of cost. So I do think the dining plan give us that opportunity.

[septbaby]

So you could save about 120$ using the dining plan probably more maybe a little less. Buffets are not typically the most expensive TS meals but with 2 children and the price of the buffet being more than the total for the day it is normally a good deal.

Bottom line you have to decide if saving $100, being able to order whatever w/o regard to price and having meals pre paid are worth it for your family. I know my vote, but it is a personal choice.

[sherabby]

How many of you are there? and ages? $100 for counter service comes to $25 per day, plus snacks. I am guessing 2adults/2kids? 2 adult counter service alone would definitely add up to $25/day (2 entrees, 2 drinks, 2 desserts), plus you get 4 snacks which could add up to $16 per day. So it looks like a little bit of a deal, plus the convenience of not worrying about cost. I say go for it.

Our counter service was running around $35 a day for a group of 3. Don't foget that you get drinks and dessert with that lunch.

[MissMagnolia]

Here's the link to how I figured it on another thread. It tends to be a good deal in the long run.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1890852

Check it out - I have it very detailed.

[imthatgirl]

so heres my thoughts on the dining plan, FWIW anyway.
is it a "deal" no of course it isnt. most people going to disney who want to stick to a budget would never eat at that many expensive restaurants in one trip. my family for instance is a family of 5 and we would have spent about 600(if it wasnt free, and we have bought it in the past) on the meal plan (one child under 3) we are staying for 6 nights. could we eat for less than $600, damn right we could. but do we want to, no. we want to eat in the disney restaurants.
and, btw, im fully aware of how hyped it all is and how disney does its best to keep you on proerty. if you were to leave for lunch, you might spend your money else where. same goes for the magical express, genious on disneys part. dont let people leave and they are almost forced to buy the dining plan, brilliant!

but yes in the end we will still buy it becuase we like eating in the park and know that we wouldnt if we didnt have it. so really you have to decide if thats really what you want, did you rent a car? can you get off property to get a meal? would you get sick of eating Cs all week? those are the things to really measure. forget about comparing costs, compare convienence.

[srdipert]

Our counter service was running around $35 a day for a group of 3. Don't foget that you get drinks and dessert with that lunch.

You are right it can be a lot more I was figuring on the cheap side saying that might be what you order OOP if you were not on the DDP.

[robinbutterfly]

so each day we have to pay 1 meal out of pocket, right?

[imthatgirl]

so each day we have to pay 1 meal out of pocket, right?

we do, we always go to ihop or cracker barrell for breakfast. but ive heard some people say they have poptarts in the room, or they use the snack credit for a muffin or bagel. we choose for a full breakfast because i think its important for the kids to get their protein in the morning, and if they dont get a hearty breakfast they will all be hungry an hour later.
i never use any of my credits for breakfast because it is the cheapest meal of the day and i dont feel its the best use of credits.

[ReneeA]

so each day we have to pay 1 meal out of pocket, right?

We don't. We pack granola bars, pop tarts, and assorted meal replacement bars in the suitcases for quick breakfasts. I am ordering bottled water through Costco (you don't need a membership and they have free delivery), and I will use a few snack credits for pastries, etc from the food court in the mornings.

The one time we had a character breakfast, we ended up being full until later in the afternoon, and so then we used snack credits to tide us over until we could grab an early dinner (around 4 or so) at a CS place.

We've always had a few credits on our card our last day - we normally grab sandwiches from the food court to take with us to the airport. Last time, we used our last snack credits in the morning of our trip, so we didn't have to worry about any remaining on our card.

As for whether the DDP is worth it, it depends on your family. I used various menus on the web to add up what we would spend out of pocket without the plan, and it came out to about $85 a day - that's with mostly CS, a snack per person every day, and maybe 2 TS thrown in for the entire week we are there. The plan cost our family $94 a day. It was worth it to me to spend the little extra so that we could have a nice, sitdown, cool meal with good food everyday.

[LizinSTL]

so each day we have to pay 1 meal out of pocket, right?

No. We share a couple CS meals at breakfast and then a couple more at lunch time in our family of 4. The CS breakfast platters are certainly big enough to share. Add the snack and desserts from lunch in and no one ever felt deprived. If we needed to pay OOP for anything, we did it at the end of the trip.

eta: You'll rarely have a loss on the DDP if your party has children under the age of 10 AND you are doing TS fixed price dinners.

[Crystal_27]

We paid OOP on our last trip and I found that we spent the cost of the DDP on just our TS meal. When we factored in our CS meals and snacks for the day, we were way behind what we would have spent on the DDP. This year we are trying the DDP, so it will be interesting to compare the two experiences. One *great* thing about the DDP is that since it's added to the price of your package up front, you get to pre-pay all of your meals instead of forking the money out during the vacation. To me, it's nice to have an "all inclusive" vacation and know that we will only need a few hundred dollars in spending money (and tips) during our vacation, opposed to another thousand (or so) when we're not on the dining plan.

[iluvpluto27]

We share CS in so the DDP covers 3 meals a day. Sharing a breakfast platter a CS meal at lunch, then a TS for dinner, with a couple of snacks thrown in is fine for me and DH.

[chell]

so each day we have to pay 1 meal out of pocket, right?

First of all, when are you going to WDW? It looks like you will be there when we are there. What part of NC are you from? I'm about an hour from Charlotte. It's always great to see other NC DISers. When I first joined there weren't many.

Anyway, like others said you can simply do a snack in your room each morning. Sometimes I like to get a pastry from Main Street for breakfast. It is a special WDW treat. I don't know why I usually get the pastry for breakfast in the MK. :confused3 A few times I have done this at Epcot.

MissMagnolia did up a great example in her thread if you want to use that to help guide you.

[TDC Nala]

On the basic dining plan you get one counter service meal, one table service meal and one snack allotted for each night (NOT DAY) of your WDW resort reservation. These credits are pooled and you can use them in any combination. Two adults staying two nights would get 4 TS credits, 4 counter service credits and 4 snack credits, therefore over the two nights of their stay they could plan to order two 1-credit TS meals each, 2 counter service meals each, and 4 snacks between them.

If you eat three full meals a day, you may have to plan to pay for another meal unless you can use the snack as a meal, or arrange to eat one very large table service meal and a counter service in one day, or provide breakfast items to eat in your room, all of which people have reported doing.

Or, you can book the deluxe dining plan, which gives you 3 credits per night that you can use for either TS or CS meals, 2 snacks per night, and a refillable mug for use at the resort. Two adults on the deluxe plan for two nights would receive 12 meal credits and 8 snacks. If they wished, they could purchase six 1-credit table service meals each.

The deluxe plan costs nearly twice what the basic plan costs.

[LAS321]

:wizard: We were not going to do the DP this year. It's me and my DD (23 yrs. old) and we figured we could save a lot by splitting meals and desserts and really watching what we ate. But when I started figuring it out it was still pretty close unless we ate very little or did all CS meals. And I like knowing what I'm spending up front. So we went with the DP in the end and I'm happy knowing that my package is all paid for before we go. We booked mostly signature (2 TS) which we wouldn't have been able to do without the plan and will use our CS meals on the other days. We'll be there in 19 days!!:banana:

[robinbutterfly]

First of all, when are you going to WDW? It looks like you will be there when we are there. What part of NC are you from? I'm about an hour from Charlotte. It's always great to see other NC DISers. When I first joined there weren't many.

Anyway, like others said you can simply do a snack in your room each morning. Sometimes I like to get a pastry from Main Street for breakfast. It is a special WDW treat. I don't know why I usually get the pastry for breakfast in the MK. :confused3 A few times I have done this at Epcot.

MissMagnolia did up a great example in her thread if you want to use that to help guide you.


Thanks. We are from the Raleigh area!

[abish19]

I have heard that next year's comparable dining plan price will increase to $45 a person per day, but will again include the appetizer and gratuity. This may affect whether the DDP is worth it to you in 2009.

Additionally, I found that being more or less "required" to eat at a table service restaurant each day (in order to get your money's worth and not waste credits) took up a lot of our park touring time. We had a 1 year old and a 3 year old, who aren't crazy about sitting and eating for an hour or more anyway.

It depends on your family dynamics, I think, and how you want to plan your meals.