Dining Plan vs OP?

[jweb20]

Okay so I tried to compile a list of what I think we may eat and where to decide if the dining plan is worth it. For a family of 3 the dining plan adds about $800 on to my trip.


THURSDAY - Trex- $50 + tip

FRIDAY -Roarin' Fork - $50
Whispering Canyon Cafe - $60 + tip

Saturday- Cosmic Rays- $30
Beaches and cream - $50 + tip

Sunday-
50s prime time - $50 + tip
Roarin Fork - $50

Monday - Chef Mickeys Breakfast - $105 ((We have a 1 year old...will she be charged at the buffet when not on the dining plan?))
Sunshine Seasons - $25

Tuesday-
Liberty Tree Tavern - $40 + tip
Be Our Guest - $40

Total: $625

Do these number look right to people? This is our first time going and I love the idea of having all of our meals paid for, but it looks like for my family our meals would actually be cheaper out of pocket? My one year old typically eats off my plate so I wouldn't order her anything. This of course doesn't include snacks...which i'm assuming you could easily spend $200 on? So maybe the dining plan would be breaking even...or I would actually be paying a little more since I have to tip?! .... Sorry typing as I think Any input would be great!

[tink_n_pooh]

If you looked at the menus and added up what you will be ordering and those were the numbers, looks like you will be better off paying out of pocket.

We seldom eat dessert and almost always have an alcoholic drink (or 3) with dinner. We have breakfast in the room (DVC so we have a whole kitchen) while we get ready for the day. Lunch is usually counter service and we either share or I order a kids meal since that even has more food than I want to eat for lunch. I did the number for us and it will be substantially less to buy a TiW card and pay OOP

With the new cost of the DDP you need to want to order quite a bit of food and the highest price items to make it a cost saving option

[DisneyZombie]

I agree with Pooh, Me and My fiance are doing the Dining Plan but we are aware we might not even out the amount of money we're spending but we're doing it more out of convince and to just try a lot of different food we usually wouldn't bother with.

[sharonabe]

$105 for Chef Mickey's breakfast seems a little high to me. Are you two adults, one child? If so, that should be closer to $80.

As for snacks, it just depends on what you get. With 3 people on the dining plan, you would get 3 snacks per night. Even at $5 per snack, that's $15 per night. Six times $15 is only $90.

So if you take the $25 off Chef Mickey's and add $90, you're still way under that $800 for the DDP. I say go OOP. Just start buying some Disney Gift cards to use for your meals, and you'll still have that "prepaid" feeling.

[jweb20]

I can't find where I found the price for Chef Mickeys... But they said it was just an adult price and no child price. Is that wrong? Also do you tip at Chef Mickeys since it's a buffet?

Also I was thinking i'm sure my husband will order beer... and we were gonna have to pay the t-rex meal OP anyways because its the night before our park tickets start so I would actually be paying over $800 to be on the dining plan.

I love the idea of it! But I just don't see how its realistic... I don't know anyone who gets dessert after every meal? I am always stuffed after the meal.

Although you do get those refillable mugs.... idk lol

[AngiTN]

Originally Posted by jweb20

I can't find where I found the price for Chef Mickeys... But they said it was just an adult price and no child price. Is that wrong? Also do you tip at Chef Mickeys since it's a buffet?

Also I was thinking i'm sure my husband will order beer... and we were gonna have to pay the t-rex meal OP anyways because its the night before our park tickets start so I would actually be paying over $800 to be on the dining plan.

I love the idea of it! But I just don't see how its realistic... I don't know anyone who gets dessert after every meal? I am always stuffed after the meal.

Although you do get those refillable mugs.... idk lol

Just so you know, the Dining Plan credits begin as soon as you check in to your resort, not when you use your park tickets. So if you have checked in you can use it at T-Rex.

Not that it makes a huge difference to your numbers.

I've found that if you have even 1 light eater in your group you are likely better OOP. Sounds like you are a light eater if you can get full on a kids meal.

Those who can share meals also rarely do well with the DP.

And your child is free. No charge at the buffet for 2 and under

[jweb20]

Well I don't eat a kids meal! But I don't usually get dessert either, neither does my husband. But he does tend to pick the pricey menu items, like ribs.
I am still trying to figure out it out but I'm thinking we might try paying out of pocket...will it save me any? I really don't know.

[dissybroad]

I looked up all the restaurants' menus, used a detailed spreadsheet from NotThat KevinSmith, read every blog and DP review on Touring Plans. We decided OOP because we'll never eat two desserts a day and many of us will order salads or appetizers. Plus I didn't want my DGD4 to be restricted to the kid's menu.

[jweb20]

Ok! So I just used the DDP calculator and it says i'm pretty much breaking even. So the number of TS and QS meals you get is by the number of days your at the resort? not the number of days you have park tickets?

[AngiTN]

Originally Posted by jweb20

Ok! So I just used the DDP calculator and it says i'm pretty much breaking even. So the number of TS and QS meals you get is by the number of days your at the resort? not the number of days you have park tickets?

Right. Dining plan credits are based on nights at resorts and are good from the time you check in till midnight the day you check out. You could in theory have a 10 night stay and only 1 day park ticket and still have 10 nights of dining credits per paying person. Free kids get no credits

We are break even people and we go with the dining plan because it makes for a happy DH. He can't worry we will end up broke half way through our trip when our bank fails. Yes, that is how his mind works. Bless his heart

[CaptainEIEIO]

Try this handy little thread here on the DIS site that has a great spread sheet you can use to figure if out of pocket is better or not. You have to download the spread sheet onto your computer. Its on the very first posting of the thread, just click on the link that has the video and it will take you to the you tube site and follow the happy couples instructions. They will even tell you when to pause the video and click on the link below them so you can download it before continuing. Its a great tool.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3050182