Budget question, DDP or No?

[Airb330]

I'll be in Disney from 2/21-26th with my 2 grandparents. The dining plan would be $569.85. I'll be upfront, I did the free dining in 06 and loved it (also gained weight!). It was nice not worrying about meals, but I feel the 08 plans aren't the best value. My question is, can I do these 6 days for less than 569.85? I plan on having breakfast at POP Century a few times, and the other times having donuts and coffee in the room (brought from home). Lunch will most likely be a snack, or us three sharing 2 CS meals. The following are our ADR's:

2/21 (Arrive around 11 @ MCO). Dinner at Plaza @ Magic Kingdom

2/22 Coral Reef @ Epcot

2/23 50's Prime Time Cafe @ MGM

2/24 Tony's Town Square @ Magic Kingdom

2/25 Fantasmic Package Hollywood and Vine @ MGM

2/26 Breakfast at Crystal Palace @ Magic Kingdom. Leave MCO at 4pm

I purposely picked mostly cheap TS locations, in fact I changed Tutto Italia to 50's PTC when I saw the prices! My grandparents are not picky eaters. I feel maybe $30 will be spent on breakfast and lunch each day, plus the TS meals. I think that can be accomplished cheaper than the dining plan, don't you? I guess I won't truly know until 2/27 when I look at my Discover bill . But at least that way I can pay it in February instead of January. Thanks all! -Joel

 

[dreamscometrue101]

We went to WDW in September and unfortunately missed out on the free dining. There were 3 of us and the price for DDP was beyond my budget at the time. We ended up spending about half of what the DDP would have cost. With the DDP we would have had more desserts and such but I didn't miss any of that as the portions for the meals themselves were large enough. I don't see the savings for the DDP but others live by it.
If you are planning on having small meals and snacks anyway, then go without the DDP. You can always have a more expensive meal if you want, but it's obviously not one of your priorities.

Either way, enjoy!

 

[LSchrow]

imho, i think you might be better off going OOP.
without the DDP:
you can eat CS some meals (for a lot less $'s)
skip dessert

as much as i like the DDP, i don't think the 2008 plan is as cost-effective. & a suggestion: buy disney GC(s), & add $'s to them every so often before your trip. i do that, & love not coming home to huge bills.
& btw, have a wonderful trip! i think it's sweet that you're taking your GPs ~ they'll prob be so thrilled jut spending the time with you, that they'll be happy with mickey bars for dinner!!

hth

 

[Hootch]

list on Mousesaver.com of the highest price meal for different restaurants. You can also look at the menus on this site. I hesitate to give a definitive answer because people eat so differently.

 

[mickeystoontown]

We purchased the DDP in 2006 and in 2007 and absolutely loved it. When the 2008 DDP came out, I wasn't sure if it would still save us money to purchase the plan.

We like to eat light breakfast in our room (things we brought from home like Pop Tarts, muffins, etc.), a counter service lunch, a mid-day snack and a table service dinner.

So, when deciding whether or not to purchase the DDP, I headed over to www.allearsnet.com. I clicked on Dining and then scrolled down to Menus.

I, literally, got a notebook and, for each day of our ten day stay, I wrote down what park we would be in. Then, I searched the menus on www.allearsnet.com to see where we would want to eat for that particular day. I wrote down what we would order for our counter service meal and the prices. I budgeted about $10.00 to $12.00 a day for snacks (there are 3 of us and most everything $4 and under are considered snack credits). Then, I planned our dinners the same as lunch.

After completing our 10 days, I totaled up each day and, finally, the total for all 10 days.

I also kept in mind that nothing I wrote down was set in stone so I could be either a little high on my totals or a little low on my totals. I also knew that the tips wouldn't be included in the 2008 DDP and I would have to budget for those.

Either way, the notebook totals came up to about $300.00 more than what the Disney Dining Plan would cost us.

I like purchasing the DDP because I know that everything is already paid for before I even get to WDW. We are more apt to try new dishes and new restaurants when on the DDP too.

I hope this helps in your decision making process.

 

[kaytieeldr]

So, when deciding whether or not to purchase the DDP, I headed over to

No need to 'head over' to anywhere. Menus are available right here http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm#disneydining on the DISBoards main site - AND if you don't see a menu, or one is older than you're comfortable with, there's a link at the bottom of each page to e-mail the Webmasters and request a new/updated menu. That other site relies primarily on menus submitted by Guests.

 

[byoung]

IMHO the DDP is still a good deal in 2008 even with the changes.

 

[robinb]

I just put together an analysis of the 2008 DDP here:
http://personalpages.tds.net/~rb/DIS/MYW Dining/DisneyDiningRanking2008.htm

If you tab over to "Table-All" you will see calculations for the most expensive meal at a particular restaurant and the average meal at the same restaurant. These prices include entree, dessert, beverage and tax.

Here are the averages for the restaurants you have planned:
The Plaza - $17.95
Coral Reef - $34.92
50's Prime Time - $36.31
Tony's - $31.36
Hollywood and Vine (the character lunch, dinner is a bit cheaper) - $26.63
Crystal Palace - (dinner, breakfast is cheaper) - $29.82

Total - $166.99 per person
Total, 3 Adults - $498
Remaining Amount to "spend" on 18 CS meals and 18 snacks = $72

My averages are a little bit higher for H&V and the CP. You could probably take about $10-$15 off the total to make up for the cheaper meals. Even so, you will spend more than $100 on CS meals and snacks for 3 people for 6 days. The DDP is still worth it, IMO.

 

[TDC Nala]

Moving to Dining Plan board.

 

[Krmrr]

Thanks to Robinb for making the tables and doing all the hard work!

If you look at the tables

The AVERAGE dining plan meal is just over $30 at the top 25 TS.
The AVERAGE CS dining plan meal is about $14 at the top 25 CS.
If you consider the snack at $3.50. (We sometimes get water bottles)

Total is $47.50 per day add in tax/tips ($7.50 for TS and $1.00 for CS) and we get to a total of $56.00 per adult per day.

If I splurge because of the DDP and get the most expensive items (even if I don't like them), the AVERAGE tip would be $8.50 based on a 20% tip (I can't do 18% in my head) and $42.50 for the average of the highest top 10 meals.

So cost of DDP $39.00 + $8.50 = $47.50. Surprized me. Same as the OOP before tax and tips. In effect, the DDP saves me the cost of tax and tips, plus it's prepaid so I don't have to worry about it. And that is PRICELESS.

If you ONLY did CS, it would be possible to get your money's worth out of the DDP, the top 10 CS meals average over $18.50. So 2 X $18.50 = $37.00 + $3.50 snack = $40.50 + tax.

Have fun

 

[robinb]

Thanks to Robinb for making the tables and doing all the hard work!

You're welcome! I hope that people find them helpful. I also added averages for the top 25 restaurants since that seemed to be helpful .

 

[angelmav]

Did the budget for a week of meals with 7 of us and the 08 plan would save a little over a $100 on our projections. Now if you go OOP, dont always get dessert, maybe the 10 yr old orders an occasional kids meal then that hundred bucks is no longer a savings at all. Plus if a meal get missed, you change yor mind, whatever its not to our families advantage so I am still on the fence. Way too close to break even for us IMO.

 

[Airb330]

I just put together an analysis of the 2008 DDP here:
http://personalpages.tds.net/~rb/DIS/MYW Dining/DisneyDiningRanking2008.htm

If you tab over to "Table-All" you will see calculations for the most expensive meal at a particular restaurant and the average meal at the same restaurant. These prices include entree, dessert, beverage and tax.

Here are the averages for the restaurants you have planned:
The Plaza - $17.95
Coral Reef - $34.92
50's Prime Time - $36.31
Tony's - $31.36
Hollywood and Vine (the character lunch, dinner is a bit cheaper) - $26.63
Crystal Palace - (dinner, breakfast is cheaper) - $29.82

Total - $166.99 per person
Total, 3 Adults - $498
Remaining Amount to "spend" on 18 CS meals and 18 snacks = $72

My averages are a little bit higher for H&V and the CP. You could probably take about $10-$15 off the total to make up for the cheaper meals. Even so, you will spend more than $100 on CS meals and snacks for 3 people for 6 days. The DDP is still worth it, IMO.

THanks, that really does help. I can knock off some $ because we'll get cheaper options (think chicken, not filet haha). No dessert either. So I'd guess we'd save around $200. I am sure we can spend that on CS and snacks. However, I can pay this off in March on my Discover, instead of January when my balance is due. I guess I'll just stick with the flexibility of OOP. The 2006 Dining plan, I would have done in a heartbeat. Sure the 08 version may be some sort of deal, but I agree with Angel.