Best Way to Save Money on Dining?

[shannonstar]

Okay, so I've seen a lot of different suggestions, so I am going to ask which one is the best. We are planning a trip from November 15-25 this year. The 15th is the Thursday before Thanksgiving, which is traditionally the last day you can arrive for free dining. I am waiting to see if this will be offered this year. If it's not, which one of these would be best?

1. Get the dining plan (I know we will have to pay out of pocket for some meals)
2. Get the deluxe dining plan (We have done this before and had no credits left over)
3. Get an annual pass for one person in the party and then a TIW card. My extra question with this is can it be the child, or does have to be one of the adults in the party?

I am really trying to maximize our savings this year as my son is 9 and turning 10 the week after we get home. We are planning to hit Disney w/ PH, Disney Quest, Universal Studios, and LegoLand.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[nickymaria]

I think it's really hard to determine whether the DDP or TIW is the best deal - so much depends on what you would order, where you would go, do you get alcohol, etc, etc. You probably should do a day or two estimate by going through menus and see what your savings will be for the various options. I do think the DDP (or DxDDP) can be a very good deal, but for us personally I never get dessert and always sort of feel pressure to get the more expensive menu items (often beef) when I don't actually want those things - we're more appetizer and wine people so the 20% off with TIW is preferable. One thing though - I'm pretty sure an adult has to get the TIW card because that person has to pay for all the meals to use the discount card.

I know that's not exactly an answer, but it really will depend on what's best for your family. Either way we went those dates this past year and we had a great time - make your ADRs though, it was busy!!

 

[minnie mum]

Have to agree with nickymaria. Your question just has too many variables and is too complex for any of us to answer. We don't know what your preferred dining pattern is, the types of food you like to eat, the types of restaurants you would go to, etc.

It's definitely a lot more work for you to do the calculations yourself, but I think you need to do as nickymaria suggested. Do a couple of days worth of sample meals for your family and price it out. This will give you a pretty good idea of whether a dining plan, annual pass+TIW, or just OOP would be the most economical for you.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We don't do the dining plans of any kind....doesn't save us any money....

As for the TIW card, you start getting savings after you eat 375.00 of food and drink.....that covers the card purchase....I can see it for an extended trip, or 10 people or multiple trips in a year.....

We go to Disney for everything but the food....TS do not interest us.....

We do enjoy a good breakfast....we usually share most meals as they are huge.....lunches are usually pool picnics with sandwich fixings we picked up in route along with beverages we purchsed at the grocery store....dinner...nothing fancy for us, just about any counter service is fine and again we might share......so based on that, DP is not worth it and we do prefer the room only discount over dining....we also like not having ADR's...plus, counter service requires no tipping which can really add up for a week of dining at TS restaurants....

 

[chartle]

I think it's really hard to determine whether the DDP or TIW is the best deal - so much depends on what you would order, where you would go, do you get alcohol, etc, etc. You probably should do a day or two estimate by going through menus and see what your savings will be for the various options. I do think the DDP (or DxDDP) can be a very good deal, but for us personally I never get dessert and always sort of feel pressure to get the more expensive menu items (often beef) when I don't actually want those things - we're more appetizer and wine people so the 20% off with TIW is preferable. One thing though - I'm pretty sure an adult has to get the TIW card because that person has to pay for all the meals to use the discount card.

I know that's not exactly an answer, but it really will depend on what's best for your family. Either way we went those dates this past year and we had a great time - make your ADRs though, it was busy!!

Have to agree with nickymaria. Your question just has too many variables and is too complex for any of us to answer. We don't know what your preferred dining pattern is, the types of food you like to eat, the types of restaurants you would go to, etc.

It's definitely a lot more work for you to do the calculations yourself, but I think you need to do as nickymaria suggested. Do a couple of days worth of sample meals for your family and price it out. This will give you a pretty good idea of whether a dining plan, annual pass+TIW, or just OOP would be the most economical for you.

+1 since we have no idea how or what you eat there is no set formula for whats best.

Sorry you really have to do the math and figure it out by figuring where you would be eating (lots of two credits or lot of CS, etc) and what you would eat (get apps, drinks, desserts, etc).

Some people think they will always save with the DDP but if you maybe don't always get dessert but now you have already paid for it so you have to get it.

Also they now think everyone in their party has to get the most expensive entrees because they "have to get their moneys worth" when they only really wanted the salad.

 

[shannonstar]

Thanks guys. I know it's a complex question. I just figured that since there are so many hugely passionate one way or the other people out there, that they would know offhand.

I am not a huge eater, my husband is, my son can go either way depending on mood.
My husband takes the DXDP as a personal challenge. I am more of a breakfast buffet and then whatever after that type person. I do feel you get a good deal at the buffets when your 9 year old eats like a 16 year old.

If I don't get free dining, we will probably just go OOP. Thanks!

 

[sanapp]

I would say if it is free dining then that is the way to go. Depending on where you stay is the variable to figure out if it will be QSDP or DDP. Depending on what you like to order is the question whether or not it is worth it to upgrade to Dlx. I am thinking of upgrading to Dlx this year as it is the last year for DD to be considered a child and we would really enjoy trying some signature dining. Once she is considered a Disney adult it isn't worth it for us as she is not a very big eater and wouldn't be interested in most of the food, so we will stick to OOP once she is 10.

 

[neffernie]

If you are going to be offsite 2 days (assuming you eat at Legoland and US instead of Disney those days), then the DP might not even make sense. You don't want to end up with a lot of unused credits.

 

[Belleandtinker]

For our family, the dining plans don't work.

Since you have 11 months, try to save a little more or gift different.

I just went 2 weeks with not buying main course food (for example - meat). We ate what was in our house. Yes, we had to buy milk, fruits and veggies.

For every holiday, give a little gift card. For Valentines, we give a card, small gift and a small gift card to the Disney. If asked gift ideas for our son, we ask for gift card to use on the trip. For my DH and I's anniversary, we swap/save gift cards. It's amazing how it all saves up.


What to bring - bring snacks and simple breakfast items. We pack up everyone favorite snack item to take with us to either eat in the resort room, by the pool or in the park.

What to eat - for me, I was on a diet (still am watching my weight) during our lat trip so I ate many meals off the kids menu.

It's great that you are planning early. You'll have a wonderful time.

 

[minnie mum]

One more thing to consider, since you are staying on site and free dining has been brought up. Depending on the level of resort that you are staying at, a room only discount MAY actually save you more money than free dining would. This is particularly true if you are staying deluxe and can get a 30% discount or better. If you are staying moderate and have a similar discount, then you really have to crunch the numbers to see which offer is better for you.

Just one more thing to factor in. Sorry.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We do not like schedules....that's the ADR's that are a must with dining plans....

We don't want our vacations run by a clock...being in such in such place at this time or that....if we're having a ball in the MK, lines are non existant and we have some ADR to be at.....we rather stay at the park...or if we're having a great time at the resort pool, grab some counter service food and enjoy the water and relax, don't want no ADR hanging over our heads....plus we found that being in Florida, doing all the walking and such that we don't eat 3 meals a day....don't eat 3 meals a day at home....so dining plans are not for us.....we also stock up on our in route grocery stop and have assorted lunchmeats and cheeses and rolls and after a couple of days of restaurant food, those home made sandwiches look better to me than anything else in WDW.....plus others say they prefer the plans knowing their meals are all paid for....either way you paid for them, up front or oop it's still paid for with your money, but oop I can cntrol and DP i have to use....DP requires you to pay all tips, counter service use requires no tipping.....and as for the DP snacks...I can buy all the snacks I want on the grocery stop and get cases of water for that the cost is on the DP...