Best Dining Plan for a family of 5

[moonsandmarshmellows]

We have been to Disney two times now and never done the DDP before. But we will be going again sometime next year and I want to include the DDP in our package. We typically are out from opening til about 6-7pm. So I would need it to include three meals per person per day. We prefer quick service but wouldn't mind having a sit down dinner a couple times while there. Also, are there any stipulation on kids ages? We will have a 7yo, a 4yo, a 2yo and possibly a 3-4 month old.

THANKS!

 

[jthornton94]

The likely isn't a plan that will fit you well. The quick serve plan is only two meals I believe. The regular dining plan includes one quick serve and one sit down per night of stay. The deluxe is three meals, but would only be a good deal if you were doing three sit downs a day.

 

[smiths02]

Agree with PP...

I am thinking maybe you should skip a plan


For your needs-meaning usually quick service but a few times a sit down...I am thinking that the QSDP would be the best bet if you must have a dining plan. That would be two Quick Service meals per night per member of the family 3 years old and over. (Under 3 can share food with you but don't have their own plan). Then you can pay out of pocket for the rest of your meals.

DDP-would be one quick service and one table service per night---it doesn't sound like you want to do enough table service to make that cost effective

DxDP is 3 meals per night---you decide quick service or table service BUT if you use most of the credits for quick service meals, then you are wasting money.

 

[moonsandmarshmellows]

Thanks for the input! After talking to DH about it, we are going to go with the QSDP and then pay OOP for dinner.

 

[sharonabe]

Thanks for the input! After talking to DH about it, we are going to go with the QSDP and then pay OOP for dinner.

If you do this, then you are spending more money on the plan than you are getting in value.

If you use a QSDP meal for breakfast, you only get the entree and the drink. They don't give you anything in lieu of the dessert. The most ex*****ve breakfast is around $8.50 and a drink for maybe $3. That's $11.50. Your lunch will be around $15. Add a snack for $4, and you've only spent around $30. You pay $34.99 per night for the plan.

Most kids meals are $5.00 for breakfast and $5.50 for lunch, so their snack per day is free, but you're still at high risk of paying more for the plan than you would OOP.

 

[ajpa]

If you want to do a lot of character meals it might be worth getting the DDP for that, since you can use 2 TS for some places.

If you look at the ADRs you might do if you were on the plan, and figure out how much that would be OOP, it could help you make the decision.

 

[Cafeen]

If you do this, then you are spending more money on the plan than you are getting in value.

If you use a QSDP meal for breakfast, you only get the entree and the drink. They don't give you anything in lieu of the dessert. The most ex*****ve breakfast is around $8.50 and a drink for maybe $3. That's $11.50. Your lunch will be around $15. Add a snack for $4, and you've only spent around $30. You pay $34.99 per night for the plan.

Most kids meals are $5.00 for breakfast and $5.50 for lunch, so their snack per day is free, but you're still at high risk of paying more for the plan than you would OOP.

^^^ Completely agree...and wondering what got starred out? (Although, I think I can guess )

The plans, while convenient, are certainly not for everyone and typically most breakfast uses are really going to tank the value down (especially repeated breakfasts). If you're looking for the pre-pay aspect of it, you may want to look at picking up gift cards and placing money on those throughout the year. It's a good alternative to the plans when they don't fit into a particular group.

 

[moonsandmarshmellows]

^^^ Completely agree...and wondering what got starred out? (Although, I think I can guess )

The plans, while convenient, are certainly not for everyone and typically most breakfast uses are really going to tank the value down (especially repeated breakfasts). If you're looking for the pre-pay aspect of it, you may want to look at picking up gift cards and placing money on those throughout the year. It's a good alternative to the plans when they don't fit into a particular group.

If we decide to go the route of GC's, those can be used anywhere in Disney, to pay for anything we want? If so this might work better for us!

 

[mom2of2]

When you go to make your ADRs make sure you put in for 6 people because the infant will count.
Have a great time!

 

[sukhakuli]

You're family sounds a lot like us. 3 kids and another LO OTW,

I disagree about the regular dining plan not being a good fit for a family with young kids. We had the DDP for the first time on our last trip (kids were 8, 6, and 3) and we all LOVED it. We did character meals almost every day, and I loved being able to get the kids snacks whenever they wanted (are snacks still included?). And drinks with the meals, too, that was huge. We're major cheapskates when we have to pay OOP right then, I just feel like I'm being nickle and dimed all the time. So dh and I share meals and go hungry, never ever buy drinks or snacks, and so on and so forth. So our dining costs are not that high, but we're not having a lot of fun, either.

Anyway, what worked best for us was to give the kids something quick in the room before we headed to the parks, then we had a slightly late TS lunch, and then QS for dinner, and a snack while we waited for the even parade or fireworks. Of course, some days we had TS dinner or TS character breakfast. But we mostly had late lunches. It would have been better if we could get a plan that had 2 QS meals and one TS meal everyday and a snack. Because you know how kids are, they need to eat all the time. We would often save our QS dessert if we could, and then that was another snack for the kids when they needed it.

You have to kind of think about how it is going to work for you since little kids need 3 meals and 2 snacks a day, but once you get that figured out it works out fine. And since we did a character meal or dinner show almost every day, we got a great value out of it. Although I did pay OOP for the Luau.

 

[Cafeen]

If we decide to go the route of GC's, those can be used anywhere in Disney, to pay for anything we want? If so this might work better for us!

Pretty much. There may be a few individual restaurants that don't accept them, but the bulk should.

However, I typically would recommend to charge to the room, and then use the GCs to pay off the room balance. This would save a bit of hassle trying to remember which card had how much money left on it when you're looking at the bill at the restaurant.

(Caveat: I have never done this myself, but others who have had recommended the same thing)

You're family sounds a lot like us. 3 kids and another LO OTW,

I disagree about the regular dining plan not being a good fit for a family with young kids. We had the DDP for the first time on our last trip (kids were 8, 6, and 3) and we all LOVED it. We did character meals almost every day, and I loved being able to get the kids snacks whenever they wanted (are snacks still included?). And drinks with the meals, too, that was huge. We're major cheapskates when we have to pay OOP right then, I just feel like I'm being nickle and dimed all the time. So dh and I share meals and go hungry, never ever buy drinks or snacks, and so on and so forth. So our dining costs are not that high, but we're not having a lot of fun, either.

Anyway, what worked best for us was to give the kids something quick in the room before we headed to the parks, then we had a slightly late TS lunch, and then QS for dinner, and a snack while we waited for the even parade or fireworks. Of course, some days we had TS dinner or TS character breakfast. But we mostly had late lunches. It would have been better if we could get a plan that had 2 QS meals and one TS meal everyday and a snack. Because you know how kids are, they need to eat all the time. We would often save our QS dessert if we could, and then that was another snack for the kids when they needed it.

You have to kind of think about how it is going to work for you since little kids need 3 meals and 2 snacks a day, but once you get that figured out it works out fine. And since we did a character meal or dinner show almost every day, we got a great value out of it. Although I did pay OOP for the Luau.

It's less about the party make up and more about their intended travel plans. If they're primarily doing breakfast & lunch rather than lunch and dinner, and mostly doing QS instead of TS, it's going to drive down the value they get from any of the plans pretty quickly.

Your typical QS breakfast costs around ~$8 or so, and that's a large amount to "make up" to insure you're getting value for the plan overall. Once or twice in a longer trip won't hurt much, but every day will (see follow up post about QSDP and paying OOP for dinner).

Now, that's not to say that getting QSDP won't work overall for the OP. If they focused the credit meals on lunch and dinner, and paid OOP for breakfasts, it should come out alright. Of course, this also depends on the eating habits and how much/if any sharing will be going on.

Since they have some time before the trip, there's plenty of time to figure it out (and remember that plan prices are likely to increase yet again for 2013).

For the OP, if you can spend some time going through the menus and figuring out what you may like to order, you can get a general idea of the cost of food OOP vs QSDP (vs DDP). It doesn't have to be 100% accurate, but it may help with the final decision. (I still agree that going no plan is far better than using QSDP for breakfast and lunch, then OOP for dinner though, breakfasts tank the value received for the credits pretty quick.)

 

[nadira36]

We're a family of 5 2 adults, a 5 yr old, almost 4 yr old, and a 15 mos old.

We get the DxDP every trip.

First, we like the time to sit down in a quiet, ACd area for the kids, we like the characters, we like the food better.

I know most ppl say if you use it for any QS it isn't worth it, but no matter how i plug the numbers in, we save a heck of a lot more getting the DxDP than we would on any other plan or paying OoP, or TIW etc.

We do usually get an appie and a dessert. Not for every person, but to share (and even doing that we come out 'ahead').

We dine at 2- signature restaurants per trip (or dinner shows). We also do most of the character dining experiences. Our children are NOT picky eaters so are happy trying ostrich, quail, duck, various seafood etc.

We buy a lot of snacks while on vacation whether water (gotta stay hydrated), icky BArs, Dole whips, or fruit.

We tend to have fruit in the room for BF most days just to tide everyone over until we sit down to eat, or get to the parks or whatever. Also if the kids wake up early we'll pop fruit into them, go swimming before BF.

The question is: do you like to eat? Do you tend to try new foods, or stick to 'American' fare? Do you want a break front he hustle and Bustle?

Oh when figuring in what's better for us we look at QS - we'd end up eating almost the exact same meals every meal/every day. With DDP we'd end up having to pay OoP for at least 1 meal and would be limited on our snacks (no way I'm paying $4 for a water, but certainly need to drink). There wouldn't be an appie - thus the girls would get more antsy waiting for food. there would be less tips.

With DxDP - we have higher tips, but higher quality food, more variety, more snacks, we can eat what we want, when we want, even if that means nothing at all for lunch one day, or just a single personal pizza for ally o share (it happens). But we can dine at Jiko, SoA, CRT, and Citricos all in one trip without having to pay OoP for them. We do have to plan our meals a bit more, but we're pretty good at knowing when our girls like to eat. We usually take that time, push it back an hour and make our ADRs accordingly. So they eat lunch at 1, we make ADRs for 2. Then at noon we stop for a good snack and head toward our ADR location. This way they're ready, but not ravenous. We get there just early enough to be seated on time, and get our meals. They relax, and we talk about the day, and what we want next.

Certainly there are times when they're hungry NOW vs in an hour when our ADR is, but we find a QS wouldn't actually be that much faster since we'd still have to wait in line, but snack carts are usually pretty easy to grab something in a hurry. And then the appies come out and they're good until heir food comes.

So time vs money vs amount of food = DxDP for us.


ETA: with a toddler eating off our plates we also find it's nice to have large quantities of food.