Dining Plan Value spreadsheet calculator

[ironpig70]

Thank you for the link. I really enjoyed looking at it and using it.

I went towards the high side,with 75% drinks and 50% dessert and got a $350 difference using the plan.

For my family I found a couple problems. First we will be there 7 nights yet taking a late flight so 8 days which is an extra meal. Also wanna do Hoop and Royal table so I eneded up with 9 tables and 8 counter services.

Thing I have is I am new to the World so I dont know portion sizes and such and I dont know what I want ntil I get there. Also may be nice to get a dessert here and there and live it up a bit.

 

[ironpig70]

Thank you for the link. I really enjoyed looking at it and using it.

I went towards the high side,with 75% drinks and 50% dessert and got a $350 difference using the plan.

For my family I found a couple problems. First we will be there 7 nights yet taking a late flight so 8 days which is an extra meal. Also wanna do Hoop and Royal table so I eneded up with 9 tables and 8 counter services.

Thing I have is I am new to the World so I dont know portion sizes and such and I dont know what I want ntil I get there. Also may be nice to get a dessert here and there and live it up a bit.

 

[NotThatKevinSmith]

So I'm still somewhat new to the boards but I saw a post on the Touring Plans blog today and it seemed so cool I wanted to know if anyone has any experience with it. It sounds like a spreadsheet that you put in where you are going to eat and it tells you if you should get a dining plan and how much to budget if not. Anyone have any experience with this? I don't have Excel so I would need to go to my library. Should I???!?!

Here's the link http://blog.touringplans.com/2013/03/15/disney-dining-plan-calculator-spreadsheet/

I'm the one who wrote that blog post and created the spreadsheet. I think you should give it a go. It is a lot more accurate (as long as you know where you want to eat) than people think. Since I created it a few months ago I have gotten a lot of feedback and many have said that they budgeted what the spreadsheet said and were within 10 or 20 dollars at the end of their trip. Unless you have the time to sit down and look at all the menus, this is a very helpful tool in my opinion.

 

[LovesTimone]

Just want to add in here.

We prefer the dinning plan, and love it. We prefer DDXDP as we are foodies, and enjoy the 2 tS credit meal, and character meals. Even when the DD's were little we did DDP, as they got older we moved up to DDXDP, and will con't to use it. DH and I both like know that everything is paid for upfront, except for tips and adult beverage. I just love knowing that everyone can order whatever they want, appetizer, entree and dessert. We normally all get something different with appetizer and dessert, and share that way we all get a little taste.

I suggest looking at the menu's, look at them with what you really want, and not at the cost of the entree. When paying oop, you tend to look at the cost. When on the dinning plan you just look at the options. It's your vacation so splurge a little bit, isn't that what vacations are all about.

No matter what you decide, have a wonderful and magical trip!!!

 

[goofyintoronto]

That spreadsheet also helps determine whether or not Free Dining is a good value for you.

If there's a room discount OR free dining deal....i will always take free dining because we normally stay in a value resort. The room discount amount for values are so MUCH LESS than free dining. So free dining will always be the winner.

 

[JKMJ441724]

I played around with that spreadsheet today and it was fun. We have loved the dining plan in the past because it was convenient and I like that my husband didn't freak out about costs. But now all three of our kids are "Disney adults" and no one drinks soda in our family. Plus last trip we were so full most of the time we had about 20 snack credits to burn on the last day. It was very helpful to see the comparisons side by side.

I used the link and tried to get to the spreadsheet, but it said that I had to login before I could access it. I couldn't find the place to login....

 

[NotThatKevinSmith]

I used the link and tried to get to the spreadsheet, but it said that I had to login before I could access it. I couldn't find the place to login....

There is a button right in the middle of the page that says "login/signup" or something

 

[BlackMagicWoman]

That's a good spreadsheet. I work in Finance so I'm super anal about my trip expenses and I've been using a spreadsheet to calculate my OOP costs for the last 5 visits. We were within $20 of one another.

 

[TeddiBarra]

Yes, you should. It's fairly easy to use. And it was pretty darn accurate (within $50 adding up my reciepts, which was for a 10 day trip with a split stay and up to 8 of us). I love that spreadsheet.

BTW, as far as "not saving money" it wasn't true for us. We did save $250 by using the DDP.

 

[TeddiBarra]

For my family I found a couple problems. First we will be there 7 nights yet taking a late flight so 8 days which is an extra meal. Also wanna do Hoop and Royal table so I eneded up with 9 tables and 8 counter services.

Use Mike's spreadsheet. You can put in each place you want to eat at for both TS and QS. Click on the 2nd tab and it will give you a breakdown of approx cost for each meal. Given that you want to do 2 TS places you will end up paying out of pocket for an extra meal but this can help you see which places are the cheapest to cover OOP.

Meal portions in general are pretty good. I never left one meal feeling like I needed to order extra *except* at Teppan Edo where I did order an appetizer. Everyplace else I was quite full (both TS and QS)

 

[bdklein]

Also may be nice to get a dessert here and there and live it up a bit.

And by not being on the plan you can have it whenever you want, and not feell ike you have to have it right after you have eaten (and may be full).

 

[Wendy5055]

Use the spreadsheet!

Having gone to WDW without a dining plan, with basic dining plan (1CS & 1TS) and deluxe dining plan, I can honestly say we love using the Deluxe dining plan. However, we are a 3 meal per day group of gals (mom, me and dd11) who need to keep the blood sugar levels even. We also like the break from the heat to sit down and be served in air conditioning.

Being a planner, I already know what park we are going to be in on what day (we only get the base tickets so I plan ahead). Knowing that, I am able to plan where we go for breakfast (not always at a park) then lunch at the park we are in followed later in the day by dinner at either a resort restaurant or park restaurant. We NEVER feel too full and I always end up paying OOP for something like CS while at the resort pool (kids get hungry after swimming!).

Having said all that...I liked the spreadsheet as it came within $20 to $50 of what I would spend per day on the Deluxe Dining Plan. It does make me question whether or not I want to go without a ding plan...wait to see if free dining comes out (which would possibly push our dates to August) or just do it!