Making the most out of the dining plan

[sharonabe]

Convert to snacks, or QS. I can see her getting the $13 dollar flat iron steak. THats the same price as most QS meals. Or snacks she can eat in the park. She LOVES her popcorn!

Okay, but you would have to get 3 bags of popcorn all at one time, and at $4.50/bag and 6 bags (2 different times), you're at $26 or so, but still you have to get 3 bags all at the same time. If you choose the flat iron steak, she gets that, a dessert, and a drink, so that meal is now around $22.00.

If you use the credit for two adult QS meals or at least one adult and one child, then you'll do a little better, but do you have meal times where you need more meals?

 

[DisneyDude71]

Thank You for the clarification on that! Its a 8 night 7 day trip so 2 qs meals could come in handy somewhere! Never really know when shes ready to eat! Maybe have to go to the candy store, or resort store if wanting to convert to snacks! that way there can be a variety of things I guess.

 

[Nancyg56]

Eat better meals than you would have selected for OOP, savings is prevalent. If you are accustomed to eating lower cost food to save money, then the plan does not work. We prefer to eat more expensive food so it works for us, and we save money.

This is true for me. I have a very difficult time not looking at teh menu prices, so after a day or two I would forego my steak and chose chicken, even though my preference would be the steak. I know how I roll, and no "tricks" like gift cards change that.

I also suggest that people be very honest in their dinign preferences and touring styles. We like breaks, and use the restaurants as a way to refresh. CS restaurants work up to a point, and if I was paying OOP I woudl go to more just to save money, but that would not be fun. I look at menus, figure what my family woudl most like like, and run math from there. We never try to max the plan.

 

[dis_guy]

Whether the DDP is "worth it" or not will never really be settled...Lol. Just the way people are, I suppose.

We just got back and had the regular DDP. In the past we would usually have a glass of wine or two on occasion with our dinner and simply put the alcohol and tip on our magic bands. With the included alcoholic beverage we were usually just having a single glass of wine with dinner this time. In 8 days, only 2 servers even asked if we wanted a second and we were fine with that. With just DW and myself, we are pretty consistent on what we spend while at WDW but we did notice our room charges were a coupe hundred less this time- mostly from the included beverages that would otherwise have been an extra cost.

So in the end, the included beverages actually reduced our overall spending on alcoholic drinks.

 

[DJFan88]

Whether the DDP is "worth it" or not will never really be settled...Lol. Just the way people are, I suppose.

.

Also funny is how off topic Dining Plan posts get and they always come down to worth it. OP wanted top 5 restaurants to make the most of it, LOL, not asking if its worth it.

 

[dis_guy]

Also funny is how off topic Dining Plan posts get and they always come down to worth it. OP wanted top 5 restaurants to make the most of it, LOL, not asking if its worth it.

So true...but you *know* that it'll aways come around to that, sooner or later! Lol.

 

[Lovetherodent]

Also funny is how off topic Dining Plan posts get and they always come down to worth it. OP wanted top 5 restaurants to make the most of it, LOL, not asking if its worth it.

And even funnier, although "it" typically has no antecedent when people ask if the ddp is "worth it," poster assume a financial reference. In this case, the OP said the issue wasn’t monetary. She was looking for experiences! People still keep talking about money.

 

[crabbygal902]

My DDP Top 5 TS:

‘Ohana Dinner
Akershus Dinner
Cape May Dinner
Boma Dinner
Chef Mickey’s Dinner

Top 5 CS:
Boulangiere Patisserie
Tangierine Cafe
Wolfgang Puck Express
Polite Pig
Flame Tree BBQ

When using the DDP, we really try to maximize those credits. We like places with interesting alcoholic beverage choices for the adults and speciality bev options for the kids.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We no longer do the ddp because it doesn't make financial sense for us.

That said, when we used the plan, I felt it was "worth it" if we ate where we wanted and what we wanted. I was happy to use my credit at 50's PTC for fried chicken because I like their chicken, if that makes any sense.

Since you asked for 5 TS, I would choose:
'Ohana
Whispering Canyon
Teppan Edo
Boma
Garden Grill

CS:
Columbia Harbor House
Tangierine Cafe
Flame Tree (we like the huge platter, I think it is like $19)
Pecos Bill
Sunshine Seasons

 

[John-DVC]

Recently did the DDP. Tried out:
OhAna - good service. Food was ok.
Hollywood and Vine - characters were good. Food was ok. Would do it again.
Tusker House - didn’t like the food much prob because it has some hype. Characters are ok.
Cinderella Royal Table - food was average but good characters and girls enjoyed it
Teppan Edo - Best meal all week would do it again next time we go

We did the DDP bc we were doing a lot of character dining. Best part of the plan was doing all the pavilions and snacks at Epcot. We had a lot of snack credits and it was a great way of using it.

 

[John-DVC]

Breakfast at be our guest was a really good deal. It is Quick service and you get into the park early. Can do mine train right after without fast pass if you time it right.

 

[RmeDad]

Here's how we spend our credits and some cash. Arriving late afternoon on 1st, departing late evening on the 8th.

And the evaluation of worth.

 

[RmeDad]

And here are the details. Most MARA breakfasts will be Snack Credits not OOP cash.

 

[sharonabe]

I guess I'm not very good at reading spreadsheets. When I add up your total cost with tips in your breakdown, I get $1136.91. When I add up the costs in the little boxes on the right that don't include the tip, I get $991.91. So where is the $1090.45 OOP cost coming from?

Also, it appears you did not add the Boma breakfast to your DDP cost, and the breakfast is now $28.76 per adult, so if you add that to the DDP cost, your total is $1114.38. Using the $1090.45 that I can't figure out, you're now at a loss of $23.93. But if you use the $991.91 from your little boxes, you're at a loss of $122.47.

 

[Fern]

For data points, we are a family of three, one child who is a tween girl. Sort of grown up, but is still a kid, so she still likes the occasional character meal We are die hard foodies, and pretty finicky about quality.

Top 5 TS this trip ( assuming 1 credit), no particular order:
Boma
1900 Park Fare breakfast buffet (character)
Breakfast buffet at the campsites (no characters)
Homecomin'
Biergarten for the great show!

Top signature:
Morimoto Asia
Boathouse
Jiko
Narcoossee's
California Grill

QS
Sa'tuli
Katsura Grill in Japan
Sunshine Seasons
Kringla in Norway
Tangeriene Cafe in Morocco

 

[Fern]

For data points, we are a family of three, one child who is a tween girl. Sort of grown up, but is still a kid, so she still likes the occasional character meal We are die hard foodies, and pretty finicky about quality.

Top 5 TS this trip ( assuming 1 credit), no particular order:
Boma
1900 Park Fare breakfast buffet (character)
Breakfast buffet at the campsites (no characters)
Homecomin'
Biergarten for the great show!

Top signature:
Morimoto Asia
Boathouse
Jiko
Narcoossee's
California Grill

QS
Sa'tuli
Katsura Grill in Japan
Sunshine Seasons
Kringla in Norway
Tangeriene Cafe in Morocco

I ldon’t be the atmosphere at BoG, but I think we are outliers in that I find the dinner there to be terrible. The lunch and breakfast are fine, worth it for the castle. We did it a few times when you didn’t need ADRs for lu ch, but last time scored a dinner ADR and it was so disappointing.

 

[sharonabe]

I ldon’t be the atmosphere at BoG, but I think we are outliers in that I find the dinner there to be terrible. The lunch and breakfast are fine, worth it for the castle. We did it a few times when you didn’t need ADRs for lu ch, but last time scored a dinner ADR and it was so disappointing.

In case you haven't heard, BoG DINNER is going to a signature meal and the menu is changing completely to a prix fix meal.

 

[RmeDad]

I guess I'm not very good at reading spreadsheets. When I add up your total cost with tips in your breakdown, I get $1136.91. When I add up the costs in the little boxes on the right that don't include the tip, I get $991.91. So where is the $1090.45 OOP cost coming from?

Also, it appears you did not add the Boma breakfast to your DDP cost, and the breakfast is now $28.76 per adult, so if you add that to the DDP cost, your total is $1114.38. Using the $1090.45 that I can't figure out, you're now at a loss of $23.93. But if you use the $991.91 from your little boxes, you're at a loss of $122.47.

The ($1090.45 in error due to SS error, s/b $1175.64) includes the meal costs in the boxes on the right (tips not included because they are paid in either method OOP or DDP) and to equalize the value of the DDP, + (7 NightsStay x $10 (2 @ $5) Snackprice x 2 Guests) + (2 Guests x $18.99 Mugprice)

I used a price of $25.88 for the Boma breakfast that I got off of a website somewhere, and that is an OOP payment included in the OOP total, not DDP.

If I change the Boma Breakfast cost to $28.76 as you quoted (Allears shows an average of $26.86) and correct the SS error, the plan shows a savings of $118.78.

Sorry for the confusion.