How much Saving with Dining Plan

[disneyvacalover]

I need to start working on my budget to see if I'm going to buy the DDE card. We are doing Chef Mickeys so that will be a chunk of it right there. Am I correct that the DDE card is only good for TS meals?

Yes the DDe card is good at TS meals, BUT IT IS GOOD at the value reosrt food courts as there no TS restaurants at those reorts. Great deal if you are staying at a value!!!!

 

[storybookstory]

So if you saved $350 why not do it again? I'm guessing because of what I said earlier... take off all of the extra food that you normally don't need (like the desserts for everyone (and in my case the soda) and you didn't really save any money. .

Question - can you only get soda with the dining plan? How about juice or milk? We just don't drink soda in my family.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I know the free DP isn't a sure thing, but we're thinking about going for this next year. What was the time period it was offered? Was it Aug./Sept./Oct.? We were sorry we missed out on it!

Seems like they probably will offer it again next year because it is such a hit. Hope so!

 

[noodleknitter]

It depends on how much you eat. We would never save money, because we aren't gorging kind of people. So there would be an abundance of waste.

 

[nicknamy1996]

Yea you can do juice, milk, etc... some places will even let you do milk shakes. But bottled water is an choice too, and a good one, you can get 4 of those and keep some for later.

 

[KelNottAt]

The DDP was a waste for us during our August trip. We are not big eaters plus we found the obligation of ADRs and limits on participating restaurants to be too restrictive. Money-wise, it was about break-even, but just not worth it.

We mainly purchased the plan because everyone else in our family reunion group had it. We thought it would keep meals simple when we were all together, and it did.

But, the meals were huge. We could have saved money splitting CS sandwiches, etc. TS took too long. We never ordered app AND dessert at the same sitting. Etc Etc.

In hindsight, DH and I both agreed that if there is ever a "next time" for us on the DDP we will only use TS for the double-credit restaurants. That will reduce the number of ADRs by half. For the rest of our meals, we can easily survive off of CS and cooking in the villa.

At least we didn't lose money on the deal...just flexibility and satisfaction.

 

[powellrj]

I have a question for all of you DP gurus. Not one person in my family likes dessert right after the meal but we love late night treats. If you have no room for the dessert are there to go options for it or do you just lose it?

It hit or miss. I know wolfgang pucks wouldn't do it for us, but it could of just been our waiter didn't want to. Several times at counter service most of the desserts were prewrapped, so we would ask the table next to us if they would like it. We would explain that we were on the dining plan and it was just too much food and nobody ever said no!

 

[disprincesspatty]

We will not be getting the DP for a few reasons. (1) My brother and his family were there recently and said they could never eat the amount of food it offers. (2) I just recently lost a large amount of weight, and even if I don't HAVE to eat that much on the dining plan, I am afraid if it is available I will. (3) I have looked at all the menus, and there are few TS restaurants where everyone in my family would find something they like.

 

[Wilsonfamily4]

I have a question for all of you DP gurus. Not one person in my family likes dessert right after the meal but we love late night treats. If you have no room for the dessert are there to go options for it or do you just lose it?

DO tell. I want to know too. We will have a fridge so it would be nice to take the dessert home. I did read somewhere where they got a milkshake for their dessert to go but has anyone else done real desserts?

 

[crisi]

Keep in mind that if you are willing to share, pack food in, eat counter service, and stick to a few table service meals for your trip, it is possible to eat at Disney for less than $40 a day.

Any old timers remember back before the dining plan when we'd have "how much do you spend per person threads?" Many of the same people who think the dining plan is such a bargain at $40 were formerly spending $25-30 a day, sharing meals, eating counter service - it was ludicrious in the minds of many budget boarders to spend $50 a day on food!

However, the dining plan is a great bargain if you like sit down.

 

[shirleyb]

We didn't do it, and it would have cost us money. DDP would have costed us about $160 per day, and we generally ate for about $100 per day.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Well said Crisi.

It all depends on how you like to eat, what other discounts are available, etc.

 

[LizinSTL]

DO tell. I want to know too. We will have a fridge so it would be nice to take the dessert home. I did read somewhere where they got a milkshake for their dessert to go but has anyone else done real desserts?

We did. We took our desserts with us at 50s PT and at Le Cellier. We were served plated dessert at Le Cellier and then asked for a box to take it back to the room.

 

[mousefanmichelle]

So let me ask a silly question - forget about the dining plan for a moment-how much do you allow for food for a 7 day vacation at other places besidesd Disney?

We went to the East Coast this summer and for my family of 5 I wouldn't even consider spending something like $1800 on food for us for the week. We ate breakfast in our hotel rooms brought lunchmeat and bread with us if we wanted a sandwich and ate out for dinner - not at bad places either (or what I consider cheap places TGI Friday's, Olive Garden) We spent like $65 bucks for dinner for the 5 of us there - but even then if we ate like that every night - which we didn't - it would only be like $400 bucks. So in my minds eye if you got free dining - which is awesome btw - your going to eat like kings and then some. If you paid for the dining plan - that's alotta dough to spend vs. being a little prepared. I mean how much does a 5 year old eat after all do they eat what it cost for the plan? No flames please I am just wondering. I am very cheap when it comes to food and eating out that is why I am wondering.

 

[cvrapclark]

subscribing

 

[nicknamy1996]

So let me ask a silly question - forget about the dining plan for a moment-how much do you allow for food for a 7 day vacation at other places besidesd Disney?

We went to the East Coast this summer and for my family of 5 I wouldn't even consider spending something like $1800 on food for us for the week. We ate breakfast in our hotel rooms brought lunchmeat and bread with us if we wanted a sandwich and ate out for dinner - not at bad places either (or what I consider cheap places TGI Friday's, Olive Garden) We spent like $65 bucks for dinner for the 5 of us there - but even then if we ate like that every night - which we didn't - it would only be like $400 bucks. So in my minds eye if you got free dining - which is awesome btw - your going to eat like kings and then some. If you paid for the dining plan - that's alotta dough to spend vs. being a little prepared. I mean how much does a 5 year old eat after all do they eat what it cost for the plan? No flames please I am just wondering. I am very cheap when it comes to food and eating out that is why I am wondering.

Not flaming... don't think you will be flamed for the post. Where does the $1800 come from. Assuming 2 adults and 3 kids for 7 nights it would be around $800 for the dining plan. Even with 2 adults, 2 teens, and 1 child it should be under $1000. So lets say $900. Still a lot more than the $400 that you can feed your familiy for a week for but not $1400 more.

I think the dining plan is only a factor if you plan to eat on property alot. They will add up fast.

The thing to factor in (and the reason each person should do their dining budget to figure it out-all the menus are on the web) it that just one trip to Chef Mickeys with a family of 5 will blow over 25% of your food budget. So even if you just plan on doing few meals on property you may get closer to that $900 than you thought.

 

[nicknamy1996]

Keep in mind that if you are willing to share, pack food in, eat counter service, and stick to a few table service meals for your trip, it is possible to eat at Disney for less than $40 a day.

Any old timers remember back before the dining plan when we'd have "how much do you spend per person threads?" Many of the same people who think the dining plan is such a bargain at $40 were formerly spending $25-30 a day, sharing meals, eating counter service - it was ludicrious in the minds of many budget boarders to spend $50 a day on food!

However, the dining plan is a great bargain if you like sit down.

Interesting point... I wonder if I chimed in on any of those.

Two points...1) It would really depend on if you are budgeting to get down to $30/day or if you are eating comfortably or normal to do so. If you are not missing anything or cheating yourself you might at well save the $7.99 per day. And 2) is the "per person" per adult or per person? A family of 4 (2a2c) at the low end of $25pp/day is at $100, or exactly what the dining plan would cost (cheaper if you are at the $30pp/day).

 

[crisi]

I remember lots of those threads - I'm on the high end - we eat a sit down meal every day and we drink with it - so it isn't uncommon for us to spend $75 a day per adult and $20 per day on the kids (currently 7 and 8), for a day total of around $200. For us, with the drinks and signature dining, I think we do better with the DDE. Dining plan cost would be $110 a day (or so) for our family - but that ignores the $20+ bar bill that comes with dinner or the extra out of pocket dollars from signature dining.

Disneysteve still gets buy for $20 a person per day - he does some offsite eating - two adults, but his daughter is old enough for dining plan purposes to be an adult. That's a little on the low side.

But lots of people would respond that they wouldn't spend half my $75 per adult per day - that was ridiculous and who would spend that! They were doing really well on around $25 per adult and $10 per child per day. They would maybe have a single character meal (which used to be considered a huge budget breaker) and maybe one other sit down meal - which they might split. They'd get a counter service double hamburger and two buns (for an additional $.20) and feed two adults. The family meal at Ray's was a big hit. They would maintain that they ate fine and always had plenty of food this way. That $100 2A2C family was eating for $70 - is the $30 upgrade worthwhile - probably. Did they save any money upgrading to it. No.

I'm glad that these people have discovered how nice sitting down for a meal can be and that the dining plan has made it affordable, but a little disappointed that more people aren't realizing that they are spending more now - that it is still possible to eat at Disney for less than $40 a day as an adult. Its like we measure our savings by how much we could have spent rather than by how much we would have spent.

 

[storybookstory]

Thanks for this thread - I had not considered the dining plan, but now I think its a good deal for us. We will always eat at a TS restaurant at least once a day. We don't gorge but we like to slow down and get the kids something besides french fries and hot dogs (even if it's just pasta).

 

[disneyjunkie]

My two cents: I was planning to do DDP, but the best room rate I could get was through AAA room only. It was cheaper for me to get room only at the AAA rate and pay OOP for meals as opposed to MYW+DDP.

You can add DDP onto a AAA room rate. In order to do that, you have to book with AAA not WDTC.

My son and I used the dining during our April 2005 trip. We skipped many desserts and appetizers, (just too much food.) Even without maxing out the plan, I still came out ahead.

mousefanmichelle, I'd much rather pay for the dining plan than eat cereal and sandwiches in our room. I had to do that during our first trip. It's an experience I don't ever want to repeat.

The dining plan doesn't cover all of our meals. I still pay out of pocket for breakfast and the snacks that aren’t included in the plan.