advice on dining plan math wanted

[sddis]

Just doing some math to try to convince myself that I want the dining plan...

So for 7 adults, 1 kid, a 2 year old and a 1 year old its $3100 for dining plan for 7 days. I want to add gratuity, so i'll guess it will be $400. Let me know if that sounds reasonable. We are interested in doing 2 character breakfasts and 2 or 3 sit downs dinners. So $3500 or about $430 per person (not counting the 1 year old). That is $61 per person per day.

Normally we don't eat anywhere near $61 per day. But it sounds like disney is expensive food wise. I don't know what their prices on meals are. We are driving in so we could stop at a grocery store before hand and stock up on some things. I believe there is a refrigerator in each room, so we could easily get milk and cereal to last 7 days. We can get some cold cuts to last a few days for lunch. And we can lookup some disney quick service restaurants with big portions that can be shared. But how much would that cost us?

Lets say we get down to $30 per person per day. Is that reasonable? That is what, two sandwiches and drinks? Or is it less? But if we do that, we can save half the costs of dining plan. So we save about $1550. But we don't get any of the fancy meals. Like CRT which I priced to be $550 without tip. I haven't been there but it sounds totally overpriced to me. But the kids would enjoy it.

So lets say we want to do CRT and 1 character breakfast. I'll assume the breakfast is $200. So about $800 extra for two character meals. Now our savings is down to $700. At this point, the dining plan seems worth it. So it sounds like for my case, unless we take no character meals or don't go to CRT, the dining plan is worth it. Do you agree or did my math/assumptions go wrong somewhere?
TIA

 

[supersnoop]

Distripplanner.com

 

[canadiandisneynut]

If you had breakfast food in the room, and based it on two quick service meals per day, you could eat or 30 dollars per person per day. Throw in some sit down meals and it is all thrown out the window. Our last CRT bill for DH, DD7 and I was $198- we had the dining plan.

 

[sddis]

Distripplanner.com

Good tool. Already used it before asking. But its nto a substitute for other people's experience.

If you had breakfast food in the room, and based it on two quick service meals per day, you could eat or 30 dollars per person per day. Throw in some sit down meals and it is all thrown out the window. Our last CRT bill for DH, DD7 and I was $198- we had the dining plan.

What do you mean, you had the dining plan and still had to pay $200?

 

[clambert1273]

Good tool. Already used it before asking. But its nto a substitute for other people's experience.


What do you mean, you had the dining plan and still had to pay $200?

Yes because the dining plan will NOT cover every meal unless you stick very strict into that plan... CRT is 2 credits I believe. That is why that tool is way better than people's experience because if you put every location you are planning to eat at (including any quick service), then it will tell you whether the dining plan is better for you or not. It will also tell you what meals you should pay out of pocket instead of with the dining plan.

 

[scrappinginontario]

For tips I budget for $12-$15/table service meal for 1 adult and 1 child. I don't drink alcohol so tips for others might be higher.

 

[sharonabe]

Having breakfast stuff in your room is a great idea and time saver. Everyone can eat as you get ready and not take away from park time.

The dining plans MIGHT be a good idea for you if ALL seven adults want their own dessert at your TS meals, you want dessert at every QS meal, you prefer tea/soda/coffee with your meals. Your 2 yr old and baby will not have to pay at any AYCTE place, but if you order something for them at an a la carte place, you'll need to pay for that with or without the dining plan.

By the way CRT price includes your tax AND tip, so no extra gratuities are needed. It is pricey, but if eating in the castle is important to you, it may be worth it.

 

[supersnoop]

Good tool. Already used it before asking. But its nto a substitute for other people's experience.

What did it tell you? I can't imagine any scenario where seven adults and one child come out ahead on the dining plan. My bet is your save $600-$900 by paying out of pocket.

 

[senadler]

I don't think you save much if anything on the dining plan unless you intend to order the most expensive items for most meals, and always order dessert. We have had dining during a free dining offer and at the last time upgraded it to the Deluxe plan. That was a treat for the kids (8 and 12) to order anything they wanted, Lobster, etc. but without the plan we would not have ordered those items and probably paid less.

We have DVC now and use TIW, but if we didn't I probably would not get the Dining Plan without a free dining offer.

 

[sddis]

I looked at the prices at restaurants we would like to eat at and the dining plan is more expensive by a lot. Something like $220 per person, whereas dining plan is close to $500. Of course this doesn't count the snacks and other meals at quick servive/food trucks. I guess we would not maximize the value of the dining plans. It sounds like no dining pans for us as I'm trying to look into how to spend all that money when we wouldnt normally eat that even on vacation.