Cafeen's Disney Dining Plan Cost Analysis Spreadsheet - Reborn

[Cafeen]

What I like about what you've done is that it forces you to account for all of the OOP expenses you'd have on a dining plan. It's very easy to underestimate those costs if you don't go through things systematically. Plus, under this year's prices, I figured the DxDP would be about a break-even proposition for us which is exactly what it turned out to be when I plugged in the 2012 prices. I like the idea of the DP and the intrinsic value of knowing most things are already paid for. But for 2013, Disney has more or less made the DxDP a sucker bet. It might still make sense for shorter visits but for anyone staying 5 days or more, you can get everything you'd get on the DxDP and more for a lot less money.

Yep, when I created it I was keen on figuring out exactly what I'd be spending, including all the "hidden" extras. While it kinda ballooned out from the original intentions, I think the cost and credit analysis part of it is one of the strongest aspects.

Best thing about this spreadsheet is that its so professional. I can play around with it at work and to passerbys, it looks like I am really working!!!

I can develop it at work too! (Not that I ever would... no ... never...)

Wow. Your spreadsheet makes my spreadsheet looks like an early attempt at cave painting.

Thank you so much for sharing this!!!

Thanks!

Heh, if you worked on your spreadsheet off and on for ~3 years, I'm sure it'd be just as fancy and have all sorts of funky stuff. Unfortunately, I think I'm pretty much at the cap of Excel functionality on this thing (well, beyond putting the TiW "switch" in there to say Yes/No to using it per restaurant...I gotta do that real soon) so it's either going to sit as (almost) is, or migrate itself over to the web. (I've started on the back-end for the web version, but the scope is getting away from me again...)

Love this!

Thanks!

 

[Tinetine]

Do you know how good you are going to make me look ?! I am planning a trip for a friend and his family. A TA told them they could not do Disney under 10,000$ ! For 5 people ! So I'm going to present them with this chart to justify them food costs and the choices I'm making. They'll be blown away ! Thanks so much !
Oh, and i'll give you full credit , of course !

 

[Cafeen]

Do you know how good you are going to make me look ?! I am planning a trip for a friend and his family. A TA told them they could not do Disney under 10,000$ ! For 5 people ! So I'm going to present them with this chart to justify them food costs and the choices I'm making. They'll be blown away ! Thanks so much !
Oh, and i'll give you full credit , of course !

Glad I could help. Not sure what that TA was on, unless it was sniffing out a high commission? $10k for a trip for 5 seems awfully steep...

If you're good with Excel, you may want to simply add a tab at the start to outline rooms, tickets, and flights too. Keeping information all in one place in a nice, easy to read list will go far. Especially with the breakdowns spelled out for them . If you're not good with Excel, then...well...just do what you were going to do in the first place .

 

[denise5374]

I also want to thank you for this spreadsheet I am a complete novice with excel so I was using a calculator and paper (the horrors!!) to figure it out.

You are my hero

 

[PrinceOfPeace]

It's because I'm an idiot and completely forgot to actually upload the files.

You know, the whole basis for everything...

Minor details.

Both sheets are uploaded and I actually tried the download links this time to make sure they work.

Cafeen...you are the King! You are so sweet for putting such hard work and time into this and sharing it with complete strangers! Thank you! I look forward to using it....however I have open office....will it work?

[UPDATE: after downloading your spreadsheet....I realized you were not a 'queen' but a 'king'...lol...and I opened the spreadsheet into Open Office and it worked!]

 

[Cafeen]

I also want to thank you for this spreadsheet I am a complete novice with excel so I was using a calculator and paper (the horrors!!) to figure it out.

You are my hero

You're very welcome. I like getting praise! That's why I wro...erm...nm that

Cafeen...you are the King! You are so sweet for putting such hard work and time into this and sharing it with complete strangers! Thank you! I look forward to using it....however I have open office....will it work?

[UPDATE: after downloading your spreadsheet....I realized you were not a 'queen' but a 'king'...lol...and I opened the spreadsheet into Open Office and it worked!]

Heh, I was going to say something when I saw the email notification, but you fixed it so it's all good .

I have no idea if it's fully functional in Open Office. It SHOULD be, as it was originally designed in "Calc", but I've since picked up MS Office on my home computer (for other stuff) and haven't looked at Open in awhile so I can't guarantee that any of the recent changes are compatible (there's no reason they wouldn't be, I just haven't tested it yet... then again, it IS "beta" so that's not my job! )

As a note, I actually have started developing a web-based version of this sheet (for real this time, not just some flat html mockup and then leave by the side of the road that I did before!) so the Excel-based version may come to end of life sooner rather than later. But, given my normal development time, expect it sometime before the year 2038...maybe, unless I get delayed.

 

[ilovepete]

This is really awesome! Thank you!

 

[Steakgoddess]

Cafeen, thank you SO much for putting all the time and effort into this! It was fun to go through and plug in numbers and watch the savings add up. You are the best!

 

[Sheaboys]

Ok so I downloaded it, began filling in the resort section, we have 2 rooms, since we are a family of 7, will this matter?

 

[Cafeen]

This is really awesome! Thank you!

Thank you and you're welcome too!

Cafeen, thank you SO much for putting all the time and effort into this! It was fun to go through and plug in numbers and watch the savings add up. You are the best!

Thanks and you're welcome. I totally agree about watching the numbers add up. It's one of the things I'm struggling with on my web-based version (deciding between an "AJAX" analysis that triggers off of each field, or a simple calculate button... button is easier and less traffic... AJAX (basically, the panel would update automatically without refreshing the page) is more fun but much more difficult and tedious to program...DECISIONS!)

Ok so I downloaded it, began filling in the resort section, we have 2 rooms, since we are a family of 7, will this matter?

Nope, shouldn't matter. If the rooms are the same cost/available discount, just add them together. If they are not for whatever reason, then use the "Fixed Resort Price" field (or whatever I called it). If you're not using it to compare FD stuff, then it doesn't matter one bit...for now!

Now, if I ever get that web-version up and running, it might...it has a cap of 198 people (99 adults, 99 children), so if you're crazy or a leader of a Tour Group or that TV fakality overgrown family (Duggers is it? I don't watch that crap...it's mostly H2 for me these days, or Breaking Bad...), you may be out of luck! (However, it also allows for up to 99 nights (can you tell that I limited the database fields to 2 digits ), so if you want to move there for about 1/3 of the year while on the dining plan, you're set!)

 

[princessaloha]

THANK YOU Cafeen! You and your spreadsheet are amazing . Funny thing: I found it a few days ago in the middle of a post while searching for another subject. Was playing around with it and thought this needed to be bumped back up and here it is!

Have a question: when I apply "yes" to the apply the TiW card, it doesn't change anything (show the discount). Am I doing something wrong? Thank you in advance.

 

[Sparkie]

Hello from Tuscaloosa! (My family is from Daphne -just across the bay )

I tried downloading the spread sheet and I think it downloaded but then I had no clue how to use it..... alas, I am computer challenged....

Are you available for private consult? JUST KIDDING!

I have a variety of plans. My challenge is some meals are out of pocket, some are on Dining Plan, Some we will pay for with dining plan, Some we will use the DVC discount and some the TIW discount. (DVC is 10% for up to 8 people, and TIW is 10-20% for 10 people) My group is 11 adults, 1 child and 1 infant (well, a 20month old who will need to eat)

I am going to keep trying and see if I can figure out what I am doing wrong with the download. It keeps sending error messages.

 

[Cafeen]

THANK YOU Cafeen! You and your spreadsheet are amazing . Funny thing: I found it a few days ago in the middle of a post while searching for another subject. Was playing around with it and thought this needed to be bumped back up and here it is!

Have a question: when I apply "yes" to the apply the TiW card, it doesn't change anything (show the discount). Am I doing something wrong? Thank you in advance.

Thanks .

TiW is a little different than the others. The only "switch" with TiW is QS vs TS. QS won't apply the gratuity or the TiW discount, TS will. It's something I haven't had a chance to program into the sheet (didn't think about it until someone mentioned it). Hopefully, I'll get a chance this weekend.

Hello from Tuscaloosa! (My family is from Daphne -just across the bay )

I tried downloading the spread sheet and I think it downloaded but then I had no clue how to use it..... alas, I am computer challenged....

Are you available for private consult? JUST KIDDING!

I have a variety of plans. My challenge is some meals are out of pocket, some are on Dining Plan, Some we will pay for with dining plan, Some we will use the DVC discount and some the TIW discount. (DVC is 10% for up to 8 people, and TIW is 10-20% for 10 people) My group is 11 adults, 1 child and 1 infant (well, a 20month old who will need to eat)

I am going to keep trying and see if I can figure out what I am doing wrong with the download. It keeps sending error messages.

Phew, that's a tricky concept, and the sheet won't be able to handle all of that by itself. The closest you can do is collect the dining plan totals and enter those into the boxes, then figure out the discounted totals plus any non-discounted OOP stuff and enter that into the Misc box. Don't think it's going to give you as good numbers though and the analysis portion may get funky. No harm giving it a shot and seeing what comes up though.

As far as the errors, what browser are you using? And what does the error message say?

 

[Srbright]

I downloaded and used the spreadsheet this week. Based on our family of 4, 2 adult, 2 children, it says we will save about $1100. Based on the sheets calculations we are saving 50.1%. We are getting the free QS and we upgraded to deluxe. Granted most of our savings comes because we have 3 signature reservations for a seven day trip plus CRT.

Stacy

 

[debjk4]

I would not look at it because, well, I was a little intimidated! But I did, and while I am still a little intimidated , I really can't wait to fill it in!!

Thank you for the awesomeness that is that spreadsheet! Now I must go study menus and get to work!

 

[Cafeen]

I downloaded and used the spreadsheet this week. Based on our family of 4, 2 adult, 2 children, it says we will save about $1100. Based on the sheets calculations we are saving 50.1%. We are getting the free QS and we upgraded to deluxe. Granted most of our savings comes because we have 3 signature reservations for a seven day trip plus CRT.

Stacy

Sounds like a lot, is this using the FD calc? (It makes much more sense if so heh)

I would not look at it because, well, I was a little intimidated! But I did, and while I am still a little intimidated , I really can't wait to fill it in!!

Thank you for the awesomeness that is that spreadsheet! Now I must go study menus and get to work!

It IS a lot , but it's worth it in the end.

---
V5.1
I just updated the sheet slightly.

1. Found a bug with TiW - It was triggering off the selection of QS/TS on the first meal of each day rather than per meal.
2. Redid the TiW column to use the "Pay with Plan" dropdown (Yes/No) to select that you are using the card or not. (Which, of course, invalidates the first bug here... but that's ok, I fixed it TWICE so it's TWICE as fixed!)
3. Fixed a bug with DDP total cost if you selected that you'd buy the mug (it was adding to the cost, I forgot the 2012 change there )
4. Removed the mugs from the cost per credit calculations. They were doing some funky things and since all levels include them now, they're actually free! (For the sake of these estimates)
5. Added totals for each part of the meal (previously App and Misc). They aren't used anywhere, but, you know, just for consistency
6. Cleaned up fields in the TiW and OOP entries - Blanked/Blacked them out where they weren't needed.
7. Added a value notification if you are saving less than 10% on a particular plan (DxDDP, DDP, QSDP)
8. Added and cleaned up some assorted text and stuff to make it a bit clearer (e.g. "# Credits" became "# Credits (each)", added $0.00 into fields where money should go)

Ok, yeah, that's "slightly". I didn't mean it as a sarcastic "slightly" originally...it just grew.

An interesting find
I think I accidentally have proved Cheshire Figment wrong in something. For awhile now, we've accepted that TiW actually saves 21.30% because the tax is applied after discount. It makes sense right? Since on a $100 meal, you'd save $21.30 over not using the card. But that's post tax vs pre-tax. Post tax on the original meal would be $106.5 and $21.30 is ... 20% of $106.5. (Note, his ~$352 break-even number remains the same).

A word on the TiW savings percentage on the sheet
TiW savings will look a little funky though, since it takes the total savings vs the cost without TiW (aka OOP on the sheet). This is because of tipping (no Nala, I'm not discussing tipping on here ). Since you are adding the same amount to both sides of the calculation (Total Cost and If OOP), the savings value remains the same while the "If OOP" cost goes up (as does the Total Cost). This means that the savings value becomes a different percentage of the "If OOP" cost, and therefore the percentage of that number changes. For example, using the $100 meal above, an 18% tip would make the base costs rise by $18 changing that 106.40 number to $124.50, but your savings remains at $21.30 or 17.11%. Uppping this to 20%, we see a total of $126.50 while the savings value remains at $21.30, or 16.84%. Now, this doesn't mean you're saving any less value, just the ratio of the money saved to what it would cost is lower. It's just a heads up .

 

[princessaloha]

Again, THANK YOU Cafeen! Incredible job and incredibly generous to share it with everyone.

 

[Srbright]

Yes, it is using the FD calculation. Without it the savings is around 30%. However the calculations do not take into account a couple of breakfasts we are paying OOP to have dinner at HBD, CG and CRT.

We are not big breakfast people so $10 for breakfast is plenty.

Stacy

 

[princessaloha]

Hello Cafeen , sorry to bother you but I have a question regarding the spread sheet that I hope you can help me with. On the first page summary, under "apply Tiw***", it appears to me that you are saying we can use the TiW card in conjunction with the DxDDP. Is that the case? Because on the spreadsheet it shows double savings on that line.

TIA!

 

[Cafeen]

Hello Cafeen , sorry to bother you but I have a question regarding the spread sheet that I hope you can help me with. On the first page summary, under "apply Tiw***", it appears to me that you are saying we can use the TiW card in conjunction with the DxDDP. Is that the case? Because on the spreadsheet it shows double savings on that line.

TIA!

Yep, that's the case. It's meant to simulate using the TiW card to get savings on stuff that isn't covered by the plan. The display is a little wonky and I can probably clarify it in a future version, but that line itself is cost of the non-covered items OOP, plus tax, plus gratuity, plus the cost of the card (if you'd need to buy it). So basically, it would replace the "OOP Expenses" line.

Unfortunately, due to the limitations of Excel (well, really, it's due to the limitations of the UI of the sheet, I don't want to add yet another selection for each plan), this is triggered differently than the normal TiW itinerary. Only TS will be discounted, and further, if you decide to pay with the plan, the items that aren't covered by that plan will be discounted.