2009 dining plan - still worth it?

[skifast22]

The last 2 years I've gotten the dining plan and loved it. The first year it was free. Last year I paid for it because it was still a great value. I've just booked my next trip for 2009 and added the dining plan. My questin now though, did I just rip myself off?

The cost of the plan went up, it's now $40/night. While the cost went up, the benefits were reduced. The TS meal no longer includes an appetizer, or the gratuity. I'm trying to run the numbers in my head, and I'm thinking an average price entree is $20, and the dessert $6? A cheeseburger basket at a CS is probaly about $8, plus $2 for a drink, and $3 for a CS dessert. Add in a $3 snack and brings the total up to $42. So, the days of the meal plan saving you "up to 40%" seem to be long gone. Even the newer days of "up to 30%" no longer seem possible. It seems like the new slogan may be "pay up front so you don't stress about money, just understand you may pay more for that luxury".

My example above shows me saving a small amount of money, but we are considering using TS for one or two lunches. Those entrees usually cost about $15. Coulple that with picky eaters...i dunno. I still like the fact I'll be able to order almost anything without thinking about the bill, just wish I still felt like I was getting a deal. Oh, but if I order the $28 steak, I'll be thinking about how big the tip is getting... Sorry for all the numbers, thats the downside of choosing life as an engineer instead of a

 

[patsal]

We just paid OOP when we were there in July. We are a family of four all considered adults. We ate where we wanted when we wanted and ordered what we wanted. I averaged about $35 per CS for the four of us--no desserts, I averaged $122.00 for TS including the tip (sometimes dessert, sometimes not, sometimes appy, sometimes not, etc.) As for snacks we had dolewhips twice, a snack from Goofy's once and popcorn once and frozen lemonaids once, and ice cream form Gherardellis. We saved money and agravation by not being on the plan. We also saved ourselves the furstation of counting credits and running around to use the snack credits all up on the last day. If I have to pay for tip anyway why bother, it really isn't a prepaid plan if I need to open my wallet again and again. We were able to eat anywhere we wnated sincewe didn't ahve to use participating locations--the ice cream wouldn't have been on the plan, the apples form goofy's would not have been on the plan, dinner at HOB would not have been on the plan,etc.

 

[cmaasfamily]

As with anything, your mileage may vary!

I have DDP booked for next year also, but my analysis (yes, I do have exhaustively detailed spreadsheet with with graphs and pivot table. Got a problem with that? ) shows best case savings of about 3.5% of our overall food costs for an eight day trip. While I grab for every penny I can, I'm not sure 3.5% justifies the restrictions that come with the plan.

The key ratio seems to be kids to adults. A single parent with three kids under 10 could make a killing with DDP. We are three 'adults' and one kid. I really don't see any way an all adult party (you know, like three 11 year olds!) could avoid going into the red with it. But someone can prove me wrong, I'm sure.

My 3.5% includes SIX buffets (three more than we'd normally eat), all dinners, which should tip the balance in favor of DDP. Also I assumed desserts with all meals to make the comparison as apples to apples as possible. We likely would not order all of them OOP.

Another observation: 2TS for signature dining is not worthwhile. Now, we drop way more than double at, say, Jiko than we do at a typical TS in the parks, but you don't get there on the entree, dessert, and drink; its all the other goodies that drive the price up. Plus you have to pay for the meal you give up!

Still, I haven't cancelled DDP. They reason: I think some of the tips on MouseSaver might apply to us (snack plus drink = meal, split large CS meals between two people, or two meals between three).

Bottom line: we'll have to work it hard to make it payoff, but it might!

 

[Katiebell]

For us, it works...

Our break even point is 25.00 for TS (including beverage and dessert), 10.00 for CS (including beverage and dessert), and $4 for the snack. Not hard to do that at all, and easy to exceed it.

If not on the plan, we wouldn't always order dessert at CS, but we would always order the beverage. And for the CS dessert, you can always ask for a piece of fruit or a bottle of water instead -- definitely would drink the water later.

Typical day:
AK
Breakfast -- snack Harambe Fruit Market
fresh pineapple 3.99
Lunch -- CS at Flame Tree
BBQ chicken -- 7.99
iced tea -- 2.09
frozen lemonade (dessert) -- 2.99
Dinner -- Yak & Yeti
baby back ribs -- 22.99
soda or iced tea -- 2.00 (estimating, can't find the menu price)
mango pie -- 6.99

total for the day: 49.04, with 6.5% tax 52.23

or Epcot
Breakfast -- snack Sunshine Seasons
oatmeal (I think you can use a snack credit, based on price) -- 2.49
Lunch -- CS at Tangierine
chicken sharwarma platter -- 11.95
iced tea or soda -- 2.09
baklava -- 2.50
Dinner -- TS Chefs de France
beef short ribs -- 26.95
iced tea or soda -- 2.95
dessert crepes -- 6.95

total for the day: 55.88, with tax 59.51

In these examples, I purposely did NOT select the most expensive menu items, I just looked at the menus and picked what looked good. Some cost less, some cost more. But if you use your credits wisely, the plan can still save you quite a bit -- in my examples, $15-$20 per person, per day.

 

[skjj2009]

Well I just calculated on average how much we'd spend and without any snacks and assuming we eat breakfast most days in our room (we are driving and will have food) our average OOP expense for the trip would be around $530 not including tips. So it would maybe save us a little to do the DDP. The only problem I have is that we are paying for my son to eat everyday and he eats next to NOTHING. He's 3 and super picky. When we go places generally I make him a PB&J sandwich and going to WDW will be no different. We probably could do CS for him and be able to find things he'd eat however TS dinner is a complete waste. He just doesn't eat chicken, mac n cheese, and I'm not going to feed him pizza for every meal. I think doing buffets at dinner for him would benefit us but I'm sure dh would like to sit down and have a good steak or seafood dinner but looking at the menus there would be NOTHING our son would eat and then what? Can I not use his TS meal since he won't eat or since he's technically at the table with us do I have to use his meal? My total is without spending any TS dinners on him at all. I did include lunch for him or buffets if I thought we'd do that. I didn't always pick the most expensive items on the menus either. I know people say its a savings and in some cases I can see it however I'm just not sure it will save us that much in the long run since we have a super picky eater.

 

[septbaby]

Well I just calculated on average how much we'd spend and without any snacks and assuming we eat breakfast most days in our room (we are driving and will have food) our average OOP expense for the trip would be around $530 not including tips. So it would maybe save us a little to do the DDP. The only problem I have is that we are paying for my son to eat everyday and he eats next to NOTHING. He's 3 and super picky. When we go places generally I make him a PB&J sandwich and going to WDW will be no different. We probably could do CS for him and be able to find things he'd eat however TS dinner is a complete waste. He just doesn't eat chicken, mac n cheese, and I'm not going to feed him pizza for every meal. I think doing buffets at dinner for him would benefit us but I'm sure dh would like to sit down and have a good steak or seafood dinner but looking at the menus there would be NOTHING our son would eat and then what? Can I not use his TS meal since he won't eat or since he's technically at the table with us do I have to use his meal? My total is without spending any TS dinners on him at all. I did include lunch for him or buffets if I thought we'd do that. I didn't always pick the most expensive items on the menus either. I know people say its a savings and in some cases I can see it however I'm just not sure it will save us that much in the long run since we have a super picky eater.

Seems you've made up your mind. The DP will cost you less but you are letting a "principle" drive your decision.

The numbers say do the plan. The nightly cost of a 3yo on the DP is $11. If you consider $3 for a snack and $4 for a kids CS meal the TS credit is costing you $4 a night. You save more then $4 when you take one of your other kids to a buffet so you're really not "paying" for the 3yo to eat.

The other truth is he's 3yo and developing daily. By the time you get to WDW he might have expanded his diet and eating more of the foods.

I just saw in another thread that the little one generally eats breakfast foods. You can use TS for some breakfast meals. Also a place like the Grand Floridian Cafe is a non buffet restaurant that serves B, L and D. Even if you go for dinner you can probaby get cereal or some of those items to satify the tike. On a day when you use the TS credit for breakfast you can use your CS credit for dinner at the Pepper Market at CSR, they do serve steak for a CS credit and reports are its pretty good too.

I had so much fun making our meal plans and we really enjoyed our meals and had plentry to eat. We are vegetarians (fish too) with a picky 6yo and we all ate well at WDW.

 

[skjj2009]

Seems you've made up your mind. The DP will cost you less but you are letting a "principle" drive your decision.

The numbers say do the plan. The nightly cost of a 3yo on the DP is $11. If you consider $3 for a snack and $4 for a kids CS meal the TS credit is costing you $4 a night. You save more then $4 when you take one of your other kids to a buffet so you're really not "paying" for the 3yo to eat.

The other truth is he's 3yo and developing daily. By the time you get to WDW he might have expanded his diet and eating more of the foods.

I just saw in another thread that the little one generally eats breakfast foods. You can use TS for some breakfast meals. Also a place like the Grand Floridian Cafe is a non buffet restaurant that serves B, L and D. Even if you go for dinner you can probaby get cereal or some of those items to satify the tike. On a day when you use the TS credit for breakfast you can use your CS credit for dinner at the Pepper Market at CSR, they do serve steak for a CS credit and reports are its pretty good too.

I had so much fun making our meal plans and we really enjoyed our meals and had plentry to eat. We are a fish eating vegetarian with a picky 6yo and we all ate well at WDW.

Thanks you've been helpful. I haven't really made up my mind. I'm still looking at menus. I've seen a couple of places that we could do TS and still find something for him. I"m hoping everyday he will expand his choices however it NEVER happens. Dinner is a battle every single night. We don't cater to him (unless ofcourse we are out to eat) so I make sure there is one thing on his plate he will eat (some type of fruit) and then he has what we eat. He runs to the dinner table nightly only to cry when he sees what's on his plate (unless ofcourse its one his staple foods ). We make him eat one bite of each thing which he fights and screams about then he holds the food in the side of his mouth sometimes to eat it by bedtime and other times I have to dig the food out to brush his teeht My pediatrician just laughs and says he'll outgrow it eventually. SOOOOOOOOOOO I'm sure we'll do the DDP...I just hate the thought of paying for him when he eats NOTHING. I plan to bring bread and pb&j with us because he HAS to eat so that will be in the backpack at all times.
I will look into the restaurant you mentioned and am so willing to take any other suggestions you or anyone else has. Feel free to PM me anytime...OP sorry to hijack your thread

 

[momofbcs]

I want to give you hope about your son! One of my twin boys used to eat NOTHING (except, cheese pizza McD chick nuggets, bagels and snack food like cheese puffs, chips & popcorn). I will admit that our first trip to Disney was not easy with him. Meals werent ever easy! But I think he has turned a corner! He is 8 and will now eat a McD cheeseburger (plain of course ) and grilled shrimp (shrimp???lol) he loves Japanese food and is getting better all the time.

He is following in my brothers footsteps exactly, that kid would only eat cheese slices & cheese puffs! oh and grilled cheese until one day he ordered scallops and that was it. Now he is a grown-up, healthy man (26 yo) and is an awesome cook.

If you have to order for him at a TS, but then you wont necessarily have to at CS then you would have some left over to use later for everyone else, right? Maybe Im not getting this whole DDP thing yet. We will be there right before you guys. and since my one son still isnt a huge eater besides breakfast foods I am planning all but one TS meal as a breakfast buffet. We will eat big in the am then grab a snack or CS and then have a CS for dinner.

 

[septbaby]

If he eats the Uncrustables PB&Js you can get those at your resort CS Grab 'n Go and in parks (Main St. Bakery for one). Those will cost you a snack credit. We got one in my nephew's CS meal at the Main Street Bakery. I think those things are just gross but he LOVED them almost did a dance when he found them in the reach in case at our Grab 'n Go! Ah the palette of a 6yo (or 3yo in your case). We were there 5 nights and he must have had 3 of them.

 

[odaddy!]

Next year our youngest of 4 is 10. 6 on the dining plan with kids as adults will never be worth it for us. We are going free this year, and figure about $45 in tips for every dinner. Yikes!! We will probably never pay for 6 to be on the DDP, free maybe?

 

[Katiebell]

Something else to consider: no matter how picky your child is, no matter how little they eat...if they are over 2 years old, you will have to pay full child's price for them at any buffet or character meal you go to. Dinner at CP is 13.99 for kids 3 and up, dinner at Chef Mickey's is 14.99 for kids Even if they don't eat a single pea or cracker I understand what you are saying about your husband wanting a nice regular sit down dinner, and I'd schedule at least a couple of those for his sake, but if your kids are little and picky, buffets are really your best bet. You are sure to find SOMETHING on there the kid will eat! They always have fruit, crackers, usually the kid's part of the buffet has chicken nuggets, fries, typical kid standards. They would surely have some kind of bread, and you could even ask the server if they have any peanut butter at all in the kitchen and could they bring a small cup for you. You might be surprised.

There is plenty of time for nice sit down dinners when your kids are older -- for now, you have the reality of vacationing with a toddler, and you have to do what works. We took my 3 year old granddaughter to dinner at Ariel's Grotto at DL -- I think she ate 4 bites of her meal, but she got to meet the princesses and that's all that mattered. Same thing at Goofy's kitchen -- she ate about .37 worth of food, but we have super cute pics of her with Pluto and Goofy and Aladdin

Trust me, my boys are 25, 22, and 17, I lived through this too -- the oldest went through a phase where he would only eat peanut butter sandwiches and sometimes yogurt. Your pediatrician is exactly right -- I've never seen a toddler starve themselves to death. As my mother would say: this too shall pass.

 

[JimMIA]

DDP was not worth it for us in 2008, much less 2009.

But it really doesn't depend on our math -- it depends on yours. It may not be the great 2005-2007 plan, but it's still a good option for many families. We can talk all we want about what used to be, but the issue is what will be in 2009 for your family...not mine.

I'd suggest two things:

One -- analyze how your family actually would eat if you were paying cash, and compare that number to the cost of DDP. That's a real comparison. Comparing Disney's price for DDP to Disney's price on the menus is the phony comparison they want you to make. Compare what you really would spend vs. what you really would spend on DDP.

Two -- calculate the TOTAL cost of DDP and the TOTAL cost of other options.

If you have to give up a room discount and buy tickets you don't need to get DDP, that's a cost. If you get the room discount and would buy those tickets anyway, it's not a cost.

Conversely, if you are going to rent a car you wouldn't ordinarily rent to eat offsite, that's a cost of eating offsite. If you would rent a car anyway, it's not a cost.

If the math works for your family, DDP is a good deal for you. It's not what it was a few years ago, but that's irrelevent. DDP will still be a great benefit for many families.

 

[Tbella]

We just paid OOP when we were there in July. We are a family of four all considered adults. We ate where we wanted when we wanted and ordered what we wanted. I averaged about $35 per CS for the four of us--no desserts, I averaged $122.00 for TS including the tip (sometimes dessert, sometimes not, sometimes appy, sometimes not, etc.) As for snacks we had dolewhips twice, a snack from Goofy's once and popcorn once and frozen lemonaids once, and ice cream form Gherardellis. We saved money and agravation by not being on the plan. We also saved ourselves the furstation of counting credits and running around to use the snack credits all up on the last day. If I have to pay for tip anyway why bother, it really isn't a prepaid plan if I need to open my wallet again and again. We were able to eat anywhere we wnated sincewe didn't ahve to use participating locations--the ice cream wouldn't have been on the plan, the apples form goofy's would not have been on the plan, dinner at HOB would not have been on the plan,etc.

I was under the assumption that the icecream and fruit aer on the plan.

 

[TDC Nala]

I was under the assumption that the icecream and fruit aer on the plan.

If I am reading the post correctly, the ice cream was from Ghirardelli's at DTD, which does not accept the dining plan.

I don't know about the apples - I am assuming they mean either caramel or fudge-covered apples from Goofy's Candy Co. which may be priced too high for a snack credit, or not included as a snack credit for other reasons.

 

[Condorman]

This is just my opinion, but the DDP no longer holds as much credence as it once did; other than the convenience of having pre-paid for most of your dining (with the exception of gratuities) it doesn't seem worth it. To some, perhaps, but the extraordinary value that was there years ago is gone.

The DxDP is worth it only if you avoid all CS locations, except maybe one or two times during your trip. If you eat (3) TS per day, or (2) TS and one of those includes a signature restaurant, then the DxDP still seems worth it.

On our next trip, we are doing the DxDP. We have only one CS planned and ADRs for all TS locations. We will save $150-$225 on the plan, even after springing for tips, alcohol, etc. One thing's for certain: If they keep trimming down menus, increasing prices and eliminating perks, this may be the last time we do the DP forever.

Everyone's view of the plans differs, and everyone is right based upon their own experience and expectations. It is in everyone's best interest to "do the math" prior to their trip, or you may end up spending more money by trying to save a few pennies.

 

[Tbella]

This is just my opinion, but the DDP no longer holds as much credence as it once did; other than the convenience of having pre-paid for most of your dining (with the exception of gratuities) it doesn't seem worth it. To some, perhaps, but the extraordinary value that was there years ago is gone.

The DxDP is worth it only if you avoid all CS locations, except maybe one or two times during your trip. If you eat (3) TS per day, or (2) TS and one of those includes a signature restaurant, then the DxDP still seems worth it.

On our next trip, we are doing the DxDP. We have only one CS planned and ADRs for all TS locations. We will save $150-$225 on the plan, even after springing for tips, alcohol, etc. One thing's for certain: If they keep trimming down menus, increasing prices and eliminating perks, this may be the last time we do the DP forever.

Everyone's view of the plans differs, and everyone is right based upon their own experience and expectations. It is in everyone's best interest to "do the math" prior to their trip, or you may end up spending more money by trying to save a few pennies.

I agree! After researching and spending alot of time reading about the dining plans I came to the same conclusion. I really don't see how the regular plan is worth it. I do however see the value in a deluxe plan if you use it to its full advantage. Meaning mostly TS meals.

My family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) are doing 4 signature dining meals, 1 dinner show, and at least 3 more 1 credit TS meals in a span of 6 days at Disney. We are not big breakfast eaters so a muffin or bagel in the morning using a snack credit is plenty. I checked the menues of all the TS restaurants we want to eat at and calculated appoximately what our meal would cost. For us the Deluxe plan is totally worth it.

 

[Condorman]

That's my other recommendation: Unless you have little ones who absolutely must eat breakfast and/or enjoy a character meal early in the day, you're better off skipping a sit-down breakfast and using your snack credits in the morning. Breakfast does not hold as much value when used on the DDP as lunch or dinner, i.e. there are no appetizers or desserts.

I'm not saying it isn't an important meal or that I don't enjoy it. I'm strictly referring to having breakfast when utilizing the DDP.

 

[wickywinn]

The main reason I will continue to get the plan is the fact I can pay on it with my package well in advance and not worry about saving the money for the trip. Which I wouldn't. I'd blow a little here, a little there and then would panic about what we'd spend everyday. If I only have to worry about tips and an occasional bite that's not on the plan, that's ok. Our TS dinners when we were there 3 weeks ago averaged about $28-$37 per adult and our lunches were around $10-$12 CS.

 

[SurfinTX]

DDP was not worth it for us in 2008, much less 2009.

But it really doesn't depend on our math -- it depends on yours. It may not be the great 2005-2007 plan, but it's still a good option for many families. We can talk all we want about what used to be, but the issue is what will be in 2009 for your family...not mine.

I'd suggest two things:

One -- analyze how your family actually would eat if you were paying cash, and compare that number to the cost of DDP. That's a real comparison. Comparing Disney's price for DDP to Disney's price on the menus is the phony comparison they want you to make. Compare what you really would spend vs. what you really would spend on DDP.

Two -- calculate the TOTAL cost of DDP and the TOTAL cost of other options.

If you have to give up a room discount and buy tickets you don't need to get DDP, that's a cost. If you get the room discount and would buy those tickets anyway, it's not a cost.

Conversely, if you are going to rent a car you wouldn't ordinarily rent to eat offsite, that's a cost of eating offsite. If you would rent a car anyway, it's not a cost.

If the math works for your family, DDP is a good deal for you. It's not what it was a few years ago, but that's irrelevent. DDP will still be a great benefit for many families.

Couldn't said it better myself. If you didn't I would have. Just because some say you will get a tremendous value out of DDxDP that might not be the case for your party. No doubt though, if you have 2 or more kids under 10 going the plan definantly looks better.

It's kinda funny. The kinds of plans you come up with when dealing with Disney's rules is kind of like the old pen and paper games you play as a kid. I remember spending nights Min/Maxing, planning, looking for grey areas in rules and then one night, you all get together and throw out all this garbage at the GM and see what sticks and what "unknown rule" would shoot your plan down in flames.

Saying that, the best plan for us is going to be complex to say the least. Our party of 11 will have 2 children under 10, 2 children right at 10 and 7 adults. We will be in 2 rooms. So, we will have one room with both children and three adults on the "plan". The other room will pay OOP. These 2 groups will only be dining together occasionaly and sometimes in as many as 4 different locations. For me and my DW, the dining plan makes no sense as well as the Jr's.

My figures are not done yet but I do know it will be a royal mess when I get done!

 

[skifast22]

The main reason I will continue to get the plan is the fact I can pay on it with my package well in advance and not worry about saving the money for the trip. Which I wouldn't. I'd blow a little here, a little there and then would panic about what we'd spend everyday. If I only have to worry about tips and an occasional bite that's not on the plan, that's ok. Our TS dinners when we were there 3 weeks ago averaged about $28-$37 per adult and our lunches were around $10-$12 CS.

This is the biggest benefit I see as well, and was why I'm going to keep it for this next trip. If the price does go up after 2009, or they cut more out of it, I suspect this could very well be my last time though. As others have mentioned, we can probaly work it so we save some money this year, but my girlfriend and I could very easily share 1 dessert if we were paying OOP, or skip it all together. If we weren't on the plan, we'd likely eat less (which probaly would be a good thing), and thus our bills would be smaller.