Dining plan VS no plan.

[disneygal2007]

Hello
My family and I have just decided to go back to DW. We haven't been since 2009. Our boys were very young at the time, and now they will be 16 and 12. Do you think we need the dining plan? If we don't get it it will save us 1500. Do you think it will be beneficial?

 

[FFMickey]

We really only saved a few hundred dollars after tallying up all our receipts. It all depends how you dine and what kind of touring you are doing. We had a few ts meals, but the majority was CS meals. We don't really do desserts, but sometimes I like soup or an appetizer. We don't really snack a whole lot. What we did was charge all meals to our resort and paid the balance with gift cards that we got from Target. Made us feel like we were on the dining plan, lol.

 

[disneygal2007]

Thank you. I forgot about the gift cards. I think we will do that instead of the plan.

 

[WDGPCFR]

When we went we found the savings was in the deserts. If we didn't have deserts it would have been the price of the plan. Then again the plan was part of the package so we didn't lose. Free plan yes, pay for it no.

 

[monarchsfan16]

If you're planning on doing a lot of buffets (Boma, etc), the plan may pay for itself. But if you're planning on eating at more standard table service and not getting dessert every night, it probably won't pay to get the dining plan. Look at some menus on allears and price out what you would be likely to eat. That may help you decide.

Personally, even when traveling with my boyfriend who can EAT, the dining plan has never been the most cost effective option for me. But YMMV.

 

[Hockey6657]

Don't meal plan not worth it. It is overpriced. I would suggest only getting it if u get a deal like free meal plan ect.

 

[OZMom]

I actually made a spread sheet that I can plug in the cost of the meals we want to do and what we would most likely order, vs what we would eat / spend on the dining plan. When it is 4 of us traveling together for a long trip, its usually worth it. This upcoming trip is just DH and I for a few days and it's not really worth it. It broke even, or the plan was a little more. I think it really depends on your family and how you vacation. If you're frugal diners, you can absolutely spend a lot less then the dining plan. If you want to do a bunch of character meals and you like desert, it might save you some money. You're really paying for convenience in the end.

 

[mousehockey37]

It depends on how much you're going to eat and WHERE you want to eat. You said the kids are older now, but is character dining still in the picture? Are you going for the big places that cost a lot or are you going to hit a lot of table service and such.

I would try and map out your dining (it's not always exact, but a plan can help) and then try and price it out. If it seems at that time that the DP is better, then add it.

 

[nkereina]

I don't think the dining plan is meant to be a savings as much as it is meant to be a convenience/budgeting tool. If you order the most expensive entrees, you can save money. But most people order what they want and don't go out of their way to do that. And you do pay for an entree, non-alcoholic beverage, and dessert with the plan so if this is not the way you normally eat, you'd likely do better paying OOP.

As far as the free plan goes, you get the plan free because you agree to pay rack rate on your room. Rack rate is the highest possible rate the hotel charges for that room that time of year. When the free plan is not being offered, NO ONE pays rack rate. So keep that in mind. If you're staying deluxe and maybe even moderate, you may do better with a room discount since rack rates can be high.

 

[laughinplace199]

Look at the menus on Disney's website or allears.net and estimate how much you'd spend per day for food. Then compare that to what the dining plan would cost for your family. For my family of 5, it isn't worth it. We don't do a lot of desserts, especially at CS places. Also, my two teens will often share a meal at CS places, and sometimes my 13 yr old will order from the kids menu at TS places. We're better off paying OOP.

 

[mountdew1]

Run the numbers. That is all you can do. Look at the menus online, guess what you may eat, and see if the DDP saves you any money. For instance, if your family doesn't normally all get a soda and dessert with a TS meal, you would be paying for food you don't want. Or if someone in your party might want a kids meal (PB&J for instance) instead of a burger/chicken/whatever, once again you pay for food you don't want/need.

 

[greentea]

If you are there during free dining, you might be better off with the plan with a party of 4 rather than the hotel discount, especially if you are doing buffets. Otherwise I don't think it's worth it. Using gift cards to budget for food is a good way to make sure you aren't stressed about the costs piling up since you'll know it's already paid for.

The dining plan was definitely not worth it for my family, as we don't usually get soda or other drinks, we don't usually eat dessert at quick service places, and we like appetizers (sometimes instead of entrees). I'm vegetarian, so my meals are usually the cheapest. We also tend to split a single dessert instead of each getting our own. There are situations where it could save you money, but you'd have to do the math, like others have said.

 

[loves to dive]

Back when the plan was 3 table service and included an app instead of dessert and included a tip, it was worth it for us. I have a son that could eat his meal and mine and still be hungry. When they changed it to a TS, QS and snack with dessert instead of app it didn't work for us since we preferred app to dessert. We ended up paying for an app and half the time not eating dessert. Now, I find it less for me to get the room discount and pay op for my food. I tend to eat less as I've gotten older and usually eat a child's meal for bfast and lunch and an app and soup or salad with a glass of wine for supper.

 

[csmommy]

I just found this. Haven't used it yet, but will to see if it is cost effective or not.

http://www.distripplanner.com/

I used this last trip last trip, but I am not sure if it has been updated since 2013.

 

[MammerJammer]

I ran the numbers and it looks like we could save money by paying out-of-pocket. My HB wants to do the plan, though, for the convenience factor. We can't do GCs because we're coming from out of the country.

We could charge the meal to our bands, no? And then we could pay at the end?

 

[eliza61]

Hello
My family and I have just decided to go back to DW. We haven't been since 2009. Our boys were very young at the time, and now they will be 16 and 12. Do you think we need the dining plan? If we don't get it it will save us 1500. Do you think it will be beneficial?

another thing to think about is how you eat. on the plan you get desserts.my family prefers appetizers so that was an oop cost. secondly, there were days when we simply did not want big TS meals. we go in August which is usually very hot. on the plan we forced ourselves to eat big meals when all we really wanted was an appetizers and/or salads.

Lastly, I hate how the plan forces us to revolve our vacation around our meals. we focused on getting the biggest bang for our credits instead of what we really wanted to eat.

 

[eliza61]

I ran the numbers and it looks like we could save money by paying out-of-pocket. My HB wants to do the plan, though, for the convenience factor. We can't do GCs because we're coming from out of the country.

We could charge the meal to our bands, no? And then we could pay at the end?

Yes. you would leave a cc number on file and it would give you charging privileges

 

[nkereina]

We could charge the meal to our bands, no? And then we could pay at the end?

You can do that. But do keep in mind you'll still need to budget for food, whereas the plan allows you to pay off your food before you even go. That is one thing we like about it, and we're willing to pay a few extra bucks for it. This way, we order the $45 steak without hesitation rather than relegating ourselves to burgers and fries to conserve the budget.

we focused on getting the biggest bang for our credits instead of what we really wanted to eat.

This is why, with the plan, you have to be ok with paying a premium for convenience. We choose not to pinch pennies over OOP vs the plan and just go with what's convenient for us, even if that's at an additional cost.

 

[tinkerbell216]

I think it depends on how much you typically eat and if using a different promotion makes more sense financially. For example, my sister and I could either do 30% off our resort or free dining when we went. We chose the hotel discount just because we barely eat compared to a lot of people and frequently shared meals since the portion sizes seemed big to us. We ate at the restaurants more for the atmosphere vs the actual food (although most of it was delicious)! I would do a comparison of how much you think you would eat and the places you would eat at and then go from there.

 

[wizneather78]

We are deciding against it for this trip. We just aren't soda people and don't always want desserts. Sometimes we'd like an appetizer instead. I've been spending time researching places we'll eat and planning out what I think that we'd most likely order and get an estimated cost of that meal. I've got an idea of what food will run us and will just plan on that amount. I've also budgeted about $100 in snacks for our week....the random Mickey bars, Dole Whip, popcorn, pretzel, etc. For us, we'll come out a tad cheaper and not be tied down to the dining plan's stipulations....of a drink, entree, and dessert. Plus, our 4 year old may not always want a full meal....she can be just fine with some meat off my plate and a couple quick bags of grapes, apples, and carrots offered at places.