Buying Dining Plan??

[gayles]

Opinion Please::: My 2 GS will be 10 yrs. & 12 yrs . Old . I understand we buy Adult Tickets for them . They are not the Biggest Eaters & 1 is Pickie . Should I just pay for our Food . So I can buy kids meals ? Any Hints will Help . tyia

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Opinion Please::: My 2 GS will be 10 yrs. & 12 yrs . Old . I understand we buy Adult Tickets for them . They are not the Biggest Eaters & 1 is Pickie . Should I just pay for our Food . So I can buy kids meals ? Any Hints will Help . tyia

You can find multiple threads on this on the restaurant board. The dining plan works for some people, but not for everyone. I used to buy it but haven't since 2010 because we come out ahead by paying OOP for meals.

Check out the online menus and the pricing thread for the buffet/character meals from the restaurant forum. Price out what it might cost to.buy your meals based on what you are likely to order. Then compare to the dining plan. My guess is with 2 "Disney adults" you'll likely save money paying OOP for meals.

 

[Ambehnke]

We just picked up the dining plan. I literally went through every menu and priced what we would probably order. This was figuring my 3 & 5 year olds would share meals. We came out $20 better with the dining plan and now we'll have extra snacks and no sharing meals. I'd say do something similar. Look at menus and see what they'd eat and what you'd pay. They might not want the kids meals that are offered since many are something like corn dogs with applesauce and grapes or broccoli. Might rather have an adult entree that is more appropriate for picky eaters. Better desserts too.

 

[Disney_and_Wine]

Disney is not stupid. They do not price the dining plan so that guests can work it to their financial advantage. Likewise, they do not price it such that guests will get cheated either. As the post above states, they came out $20 ahead. It is rare that after doing all the calculations you will find that you are ahead or behind more than an insignificant amount of money. To my way of thinking, if the cost is going to come out the same no matter what you choose, there is no disadvantage to turning down the dining plan and ordering whatever you want whenever you want. Paying out of pocket provides the maximum amount of ordering freedom. As long as that freedom does not come at a significant cost, I see no reason to turn it down.

 

[Corbie]

I think that's an individual decision. Our trip was originally to be in December 2014. Then medical problems happened, and we rescheduled. Back then we had planned on using the DP to 1) get the entire "Disney experience" for us first-timers and 2) not have to mess with it. (Yes, we're lazy.)

This time around, we talked about it and decided to pay OOP instead, but still hit up at least one TS restaurant each day of our stay. We enjoy eating out. We did leave out the signature restaurants for monetary reasons. It felt a lot more freeing for me come ADR time when I didn't feel the need to lock in every single restaurant. It also makes our trek through the parks easier (IMO). We decided to divide the amount of money for the DP between the number of pay checks before our trip and deposit that amount into a savings account so everything is still pre-paid. I'll either buy gift cards or (more likely) a prepaid credit card to pay for our meals or simply take the cash out of savings and apply it to our travel CC when we get home. (I doubt we spend as much money as we would on the DP. We're pre-saving the amount to compare after we return home.)

 

[Candris79]

If your kids aren't big eaters and you don't get the dining plan you can order for them off the children's menu at quick service locations. This would save you some money. Often times I order off the kids menu! It's plenty of food for an adult.

 

[Disney_and_Wine]

If your kids aren't big eaters and you don't get the dining plan you can order for them off the children's menu at quick service locations. This would save you some money. Often times I order off the kids menu! It's plenty of food for an adult.

Yes. Another thing to consider when weighing options is "kid's meals for adults" and "splitting meals". People can complain about Disney pricing but it is difficult to complain about portion size. When every person gets their own meal, that can be a lot of food. And desserts. And snacks. Four people can often dine comfortably on three meals. Or add in a kid's meal for an adult every now and then. But when buying the DP, every person has to partake. By paying OOP, you can re-allocate your food more appropriately and perhaps save money.

 

[Senk]

We skipped it and I did the math when we came home. We definitely saved by not doing it. We did TS and everything other than signature. Ibthknk if we dis more TS or charchter meals it would have been a different story.

 

[Smittolis]

As many other threads point out, its not necessarily designed to be more cost effective (although it can for some i guess), it is designed to create an all in one package whereby you don't have to worry about when and where or the added costs that accrue while there. I did a quick cost analysis for our family and it works out much cheaper for us to purchase our own meals when and where we like. With the added benefit of charging things on a magic band the issue of keeping money or a wallet isn't that important. Now getting it for free? that's a bonus! but for me it would just never pan out as being anything close to cost effective.

 

[Disney_and_Wine]

it is designed to create an all in one package whereby you don't have to worry about when and where or the added costs that accrue while there.

It is actually designed to keep your wallet on property and not on 192.

 

[Smittolis]

It is actually designed to keep your wallet on property and not on 192.

Well there is that too lol

 

[OThopeful35]

Based on the information you provided about your family, I would go OOP. The DDP is a lot of food and if they are not big eaters...a lot of it will go wasted.

 

[Chrelaine]

I agree with prior post...if they are not big eaters, pay OOP. My only change to that would be if you are planning to go to more than 1 or 2 buffets/character meals. The price of those meals tend to make the DDP plan more cost effective.
Also, the way you like to eat is important. For instance, we like to have an appetizer and an adult beverage with dinner and don't necessarily care for dessert so the plan doesn't make the most sense for us.

 

[Faldred]

Yeah, with no kids ages 3-9 in the party and them being light eaters, I can't see how DDP will get you any benefit other than the prepaid "peace of mind". You'd be much better off going OOP - if you want the pre-paid aspect, put your food budget on a prepaid card like a Disney gift card.