2008 Dining Plan - we may do it...

[vtwep]

OK, after reading the changes, I admit I wasn't too thrilled with the new plan. On the 2007 plan, we "saved" about $230 over what we would have spent had we done the exact same meals/restaurants out of pocket (granted we wouldn't have ordered as much, but still).

When I put together our tentative dining schedule for our next trip, it included 6 TS meals (one of which is a 2TS if on the plan). So, it got me to start thinking of value. So, here is a brief summary of what I thought...if anyone sees any glaring mistakes, please let me know.

All numbers below include estimates for an entree, dessert and beverage at each meal and I did pricing from the main menu and children's menu. All include taxes.

7 park-days in this trip.

On trip "eating age": 2 adults, 1 child

TS planned:
Coral Reef dinner: $83.07
Chef Mickey's breakfast: $62.80
Boma breakfast: $46.83
Kona breakfast: $40.47
Narcoosee's dinner (2TS): $149.10
1900 Park Fare dinner: $79.84
TOTAL TS: $462.11

Counter service:
Estimated $10 per day per person
TOTAL CS: $223.65

Snacks:
Estimated $3 per day per person
TOTAL Snacks: $67.10

TOTAL food estimates if paying out of pocket (only for parts included in the meal plan): $752.86

Cost of meal plan for the three of us if we get it: $601.79 (not sure if I need to add any type of tax to this total??)

Savings: $151.07 / 20.07%


Does that all look right? I understand I could actually get an even better deal by trying a few of the nicer and/or more expensive dinners instead of breakfast buffets, but another reason we thought about avoiding the DDP was to avoid a set schedule. But the way it was working out, it seemed like we could save money AND hit the schedule we wanted to.

So, if this accurate, I"ll call up and add the DDP to our vacation. That's $150 I can use somewhere else...or just flat out save!

Let me know what you think of my calculations.

Thanks!

 

[bblanch]

I'm in the same boat and your calculations seem right to me.

I initially planned to avoid the 2008 Dining Plan, but after making my ADRs and finding out that June is now "Holiday Pricing" ,I'm kind of thinking that this plan may offer us some savings.

Our ADRs are mostly character breakfasts (Ohana, Cape May, Crystal Palace)(beats waiting in the line in the parks to see the characters) + Ohana and WCC. "Cheaper" places in the grand scheme of things. I haven't done the math yet, but at $23/adult holiday pricing for each 3 breakfasts, I'm thinking the 2008 DDP may provide a savings for us.

 

[septbaby]

TS planned:
Coral Reef dinner: $83.07
Chef Mickey's breakfast: $62.80
Boma breakfast: $46.83
Kona breakfast: $40.47
Narcoosee's dinner (2TS): $149.10
1900 Park Fare dinner: $79.84
TOTAL TS: $462.11

Thanks!

Those meals are exactly the same as what you would have received on the 2007 plan and now you're getting them for $3 less ($37.99 vs $38.99 and $9.99 vs $10.99). So you save $18-21 vs the 2007 plan, enough to pay for a couple of appetizers, maybe one each a Narcoossee's and Coral Reef.

No way to get the gratuity back, so good for you for not adding that $ to your calcs. You'll pay them on or off the plan.

Your cost for the plan is $37.99 per Adult and $9.99 per child per NIGHT of your stay. If you're staying 6 nights you get 6TS at a price of: $516 or its 7 nights your $602 is correct. There are no additional taxes of fees to be added to the DP price, they are included.

Once you do the math and remove the emotion you see that its just a business decision, one that can enhance your vacation.

 

[Katiebell]

Yes, your calculations look correct to me as well.

Bottom line, really: if you are going to do a TS meal every day anyway, especially you are likely to order a beverage and dessert with your meal, then the plan is probably going to save you money. If you tend to order the least expensive entrees, drink only water, don't order desserts, share meals, don't do character meals or buffets, eat mostly CS...then the plan probably won't benefit you.

The break even point is if you average at least $25 per person for a TS meal (including tax and beverage), $10 per person for a CS meal (including tax and beverage) and $3 per person on a snack (including tax)...then you haven't lost anything. And it's very easy to spend much more than that at Disney, even if you stick to the more moderately priced restaurants and menu items.

 

[vtwep]

Great - thanks for the replies! After figuring it all out and thinking I had it correct, I just started doubting the numbers for some reason. Glad to see you all agree with the calculations. Given that, I'm definitely doing the dining plan.

 

[marvin12]

Just a thought, but I don't think it's worth using 2 credits for a sig resturant. We have also decided to use the ddp, but for our sig resturant we are going to pay out of our pocket and use one of the other credits for a character breakfast. Don't forget that even using the 2 at the resturant you still don't get the app.

 

[Katiebell]

Just a thought, but I don't think it's worth using 2 credits for a sig resturant. We have also decided to use the ddp, but for our sig resturant we are going to pay out of our pocket and use one of the other credits for a character breakfast. Don't forget that even using the 2 at the resturant you still don't get the app.

This is a good point, and I think a lot of folks miss it. A 2 TS credit restaurant is only "worth it" (dollar value, not talking about convenience of the plan) if the meal would cost you over $50 per adult.

Using the average value of $10 per CS meal and $25 per TS meal, 3 days on the DDP:
DDP for 2 adults -- 227.94

Day 1
Lunch CS -- $20 ($10 x 2)
Dinner TS -- $50 ($25 x 2)
Snack -- $6 ($3 x 2)

Day 2 (No TS, saving one for signature)
Lunch CS -- $20 ($10 x 2)
Dinner CS -- $20 ($10 x 2)
Snack -- $6 ($3 x 2)

Day 3
Lunch OOP
Snack -- $6 ($3 x 2)
Dinner 2TS -- $100 ($50 x 2)

The total OOP value $228. No savings, that's your break-even point for purchasing the plan. And you have to pay additionally OOP for lunch on Day 3 -- or you could skip snacks Day 1 and 2 and use all three snack credits on Day 3 for lunch.

But if you look at the menus, it's really very easy to exceed $25 per adult at a 1 TS restaurant, a bit harder to top $50 at a signature.

Flying Fish 2 TS:
Potato-Wrapped Red Snapper -- $34
Pecan Tart -- $8
Beverage -- $3 (guess, can't find price on the menu)
$45
tax: 2.70
total 47.70
Value per TS credit: 23.85

Jiko 2 TS
Pork Tenderloin -- $26
Chocolate Cheesecake -- $8
Beverage $3 (guessing again)
37.00
tax: 2.22
total 38.22
Value per TS credit: 19.11

PT 50's Cafe 1 TS
Pot Roast -- 16.99
S'mores -- 4.79
Coke -- 2.00
23.78
tax: 1.43
total 25.21
Value per TS credit: 25.21

Crystal Palace 1 TS
Adult buffet meal -- 27.99
tax 1.68
total 29.67
Value per TS credit: 29.67

But...if you go to CP for breakfast instead, the value per TS credit goes down to 20.13, including tax. But it's still a better deal than spending two credits on that meal at Jiko. And if you have brunch at CP and go to Cosmic Rays for dinner:

Rotisserie Chicken -- 9.09
Carrot Cake -- 3.59
Coke -- 2.39
15.07
tax .90
total 15.97
Well, you are back up to 36.10 for your daily average for 1 CS and 1 TS.

Kinda funny, isn't it? And this is not to say that it's not worth it to go to the signature restaurants, not at all. The quality, selection, and service, definitely provide a superior dining experience. It's just to show that it's not the best use of 2 TS credits, and you might want to think about budgeting for them OOP. Or if you want a lot of signature restaurants, look into the Deluxe plan and see if it would be better for you.

 

[asmit4]

I think some 2TS credit places are more worth it than others financially that is, also depends on what you order. For instance- At Narcoossees, I order the surf/turf- I think it's 58 now. Plus I like the smores dessert which is 5.00, and I order a soda- perhaps 3.00.

That gives me 66 bucks. Each credit is worth 33. (not including tax)

 

[Letsbgoofy]

This thread has really made me think about our plans for 2009 (this year I got the free DP so no ? there!). If they don't offer the free DP (8/30-9/7/09), I don't think we will purchase the DP. I would not typically order dessert for either CS or TS (of course on the DP I am forced to ). We are traveling with my brother's young kids, so we will probably do a few character meals but not any of the nicer TS places. If I could get a good room discount, I think it would be cheaper to pay OOP for our meals and pay less per night for our room.

I never really broke it down to $25 TS, $10 CS and $3 snack. We might break even purchasing the DDP or paying OOP, but a room discount would make it cheaper not to do the DP for us.

Now, if they have a bounceback offer this September I just wasted all that time thinking about this didn't I?

 

[asmit4]

This thread has really made me think about our plans for 2009 (this year I got the free DP so no ? there!). If they don't offer the free DP (8/30-9/7/09), I don't think we will purchase the DP. I would not typically order dessert for either CS or TS (of course on the DP I am forced to ). We are traveling with my brother's young kids, so we will probably do a few character meals but not any of the nicer TS places. If I could get a good room discount, I think it would be cheaper to pay OOP for our meals and pay less per night for our room.

I never really broke it down to $25 TS, $10 CS and $3 snack. We might break even purchasing the DDP or paying OOP, but a room discount would make it cheaper not to do the DP for us.

Now, if they have a bounceback offer this September I just wasted all that time thinking about this didn't I?

I hear ya! If they don't offer free DDP for 2009, we probably won't go to DW that year actually. I know that might sound stupid to some, but for us, a value room with free DDP makes the trip super cheap. Adding in even 300 bucks more for food, makes it not as cheap of a trip.

 

[vtwep]

Good points on the 2 TS meals - however for us, we had all our restaurants picked out BEFORE we even looked at the dining plan for 2008. So, we will be able to stick to the schedule we wanted to begin with, eat at the places we wanted to, AND now save approx $150. If it was all about "value", then NOBODY would EVER use a TS credit for a character buffet.

But in the end, we'll stick to our schedule, not have too many "nice dinners" that restrict our time in the parks or elsewhere, and end up saving money.

Win / Win.

 

[Katiebell]

I think some 2TS credit places are more worth it than others financially that is, also depends on what you order. For instance- At Narcoossees, I order the surf/turf- I think it's 58 now. Plus I like the smores dessert which is 5.00, and I order a soda- perhaps 3.00.

That gives me 66 bucks. Each credit is worth 33. (not including tax)

Exactly...as long as your 2 TS meal with beverage, dessert, and tax exceeds $50, then you will at least break even. The menu items I gave in my examples weren't the most OR the least expensive on the menus. I think the surf and turf at Narcoossees is one of the most expensive single dinners at WDW, isn't it? And that's a great example of a good value for a 2 TS meal.

Good points on the 2 TS meals - however for us, we had all our restaurants picked out BEFORE we even looked at the dining plan for 2008. So, we will be able to stick to the schedule we wanted to begin with, eat at the places we wanted to, AND now save approx $150. If it was all about "value", then NOBODY would EVER use a TS credit for a character buffet.

Ah...but in the examples I gave, the highest value for a TS credit was at CP for dinner -- almost $30 value for that single TS credit But actually, it can be quite a bit higher for single TS restaurant. The filet at Le Cellier is now 34.99. Add in a $7 or $8 dessert, $2.50 beverage, tax...that could make up for using another TS credit for a breakfast buffet.

 

[vtwep]

Touche! When typing my reply, I was simply looking at my list which contained the breakfast character buffets. Didn't even realize that one of my dinner character buffets was on there and is in fact over $25 per person (1900 Park Fare)!