Check menus, do math, etc. BEFORE buying the Dining Plan!

[kimberh]

I've taken a gander at the menus prices through wdwinfo and I've decided that anything that I know that the check will be more $30-$35, I will use a T/S credit for, otherwise, I will just pay out of pocket. I'm going to save my T/S credits for the character dining and places like Le Cellier, Whispering Canyon, Teppan Edo & O'Hana.....

what do you guys do?? How do you know what to pay for OOP versus using a dining credit?

You get the best value at dinner. If you are eating character breakfasts, then maybe pay for those. Remember you still have those counter service meals every day of your stay. What we do, is use some of those for breakfast and some for lunch. You can even split some of those if you have a early dinner. We have done this to make some stretch. I use my TS credits for my sit down dinners. Are you having more than one TS meal per day?

 

[mdoc]

I've done the math using what we would NORMALLY eat at WDW, and the Dining Plan would cost us more; it's not even close. If we were to eat in a totally different manner, making ADRs for the priciest restaurants, ordering the most expensive things on the menu and having desserts that we otherwise would not have eaten, then we might come out a little bit ahead. I have the opposite problem from the OP - two of my kids are over 10 but would prefer to order from the children's menu, so they won't be ordering big expensive meals. We also find that we only need 3 CS meals for our family of 5; the meals are so large that we prefer to share them. Also, my kids eat more snacks than the plan allows (they prefer snacks to meals), so we'd be coming OOP for snacks, too. For us, not getting the dining plan makes more sense, and using the TiW card makes the most sense.

 

[Disneylvr]

I completely understand you want the convenience. But here are a couple things to consider: if you are using the QSDP you are staying onsite, which means you can just as easily charge meals to your room - nothing extra to carry vs. the QSDP. Also, if you end up paying quite a bit more using the plan, is it really worth the supposed convenience? One final thing, WDW is getting your food money at least 45 days (usually more) prior to your trip, and you are paying for future meals (possibly paying finance charges) that far in advance too.

Again, not saying what you're doing is wrong, just making a few points.

We booked our package in November, have been paying on it ever since and we are nearly paid off. The trip will be paid for before we even go.... If we charge all meals to our room the bills will come AFTER the trip. Last year we were overcharged by the Polynesian and we had to dispute the final bill. There is something more comforting about having the trip nearly paid for in advance. It just works better for us.

 

[rentayenta]

The DDP is one of the reasons I am so excited about our split stay. We like to try a few new TS and a character meal or two and so by doing a split stay we don't have to have the DDP for all 10 days, just the first 5!

We'll be doing the DDP this May and our TS choices include: 'Ohana, Crystal Palace, Restaurant Marrakesh, Le Cellier, and Boma.

 

[Christmas-in-Disney]

I started asking for fruit instead of a dessert at CS (and had the better dessert at TS!).

I completely agree about doing the math. Pick your TS restauarants, and do the math. I've found with kids 3-9 eating of the kids' menu and buffets (a few, not all), it is worth it (so far). But I will do the math every time.

In my opinion, part of the "math" is how the plan works for your family. If your family doesn't like eating a TS meal/day or your kids don't like kids' menus, then it isn't worth it.

We just used the DDP the past 2 weeks. And we often ordered a side item instead of a dessert at our CS meals. Like a bag of chips or something that we could save for later. At one place we ordered chili cheese fries instead of a dessert. We just asked when we wanted to and they always said yes.

 

[Momto3Girls&Max]

Our next trip won't be dictated by free DDP if they offer it. We will go during the time of year that we prefer, week after Thankgsgiving and pay cash for food.

We also found that having to pay tip for our 2008 DDP was a bit pricier than it would have been if we paid cash for our meals. Reason being, the bill would have been smaller because we would have ordered less than what the DDP meal provides.

When DDP included appetizer and gratuity, it was a more convincing sell for us. Meals required no cash out of pocket and we got to try appetizers and deserts that we usually never order.

I agree 100%. We just returned from a spur of the moment Free Dining trip last month and while we definitely enjoyed the cooler weather (and escaping heavy snowstorms in Chicago) this trip, we just didn't feel the value was there -- even with free dining. The only GREAT meal we had was at Kona. The others ranged from very good (Maya Grill) to downright nasty (Cape May). As a family of 6 gratuity was automatically added and averaged $30-$45 each meal. That's about what we usually spend when we go out to eat at home (which isn't very often).

We really did enjoy the cooler weather so we're hoping to make a yearly December trip, but we'll probably stay offsite, do more CS meals especially on park days because TS meals took up so much time, and focus more on the parks than the meals.

 

[eandesmom]

we are doing it, even though it isn't free, even though we will get hit with the 18% gratuity each time as a party of 6.

For us, with 6 good eaters, it makes sense. We are not counter service people for dinner, we just aren't. If it was F&W time at epcot, maybe, we could eat there everynight. But it's not when we are going.

And, while we could make dinner back at the cabin, one or 2 nights, it just isn't the vacation we are looking for this go round. Lunch out, for us, can kill our budget really quickly and with the dinner choices we've made we feel strongly that outside of some basic breakfast groceries for the room, and whatever adult beverages DH and I have (and the occasional salad at dinner) all our food is prepaid for and we are essentially getting lunch and snacks for free. It will mean more "fast food" for lunch than I'd like but...it will also mean getting to the parks considerably faster as I'm not packing 6 lunches, drinks and snacks and for the kids will seem like a HUGE treat over our normal vacation dining. I'd get sick of packed sandwiches every day as much as I'll get sick of the counter food and that at least has more options!

Dinner out for us, normally, with no desserts at all runs us about $120, a lunch out easily $60, both before tip. So to me, it's what we would have spent anyway and it is a ton more food than we'd have purchased. That's at normal home prices, everything gets inflated at disney (or any resort vacation area) so the same things would cost more at Disney. I went through the menu's of where we are eating and figured that we will end up bascially getting all of our CS and snacks for free compared to what we would have normally ordered at those TS restaurants. Doing it was a bit of a PITA but, it confirms our choice.

Even if we break even, having it paid for, planned and not stressing about getting 6 of us in somewhere or arguing about what kind of food each person wants just makes the trip so much easier.

But, we like sit down dinners, we'd have done it most nights even if we weren't on the plan. A sit down lunch or breakfast eats into our day and so for us, not using the TS for those, makes a ton of sense and thanks to all the information out there I do feel good about the snack and CS options that will really make this pay off for us.

Yes, the tip thing is annoying but, being a party of 6 it happens most of the time anyway so.... oh well!

We will see, it is our first time on the plan. Free would have been amazing but considering our original reservation was for OKW 2 bedroom, then a FW cabin, and now a FW cabin on the buy 4 get 3....I've saved more than enough with the changes to pay for the plan!

 

[Momto3Girls&Max]

Dinner out for us, normally, with no desserts at all runs us about $120, a lunch out easily $60, both before tip. So to me, it's what we would have spent anyway and it is a ton more food than we'd have purchased. That's at normal home prices, everything gets inflated at disney (or any resort vacation area) so the same things would cost more at Disney. I went through the menu's of where we are eating and figured that we will end up bascially getting all of our CS and snacks for free compared to what we would have normally ordered at those TS restaurants. Doing it was a bit of a PITA but, it confirms our choice.

Even if we break even, having it paid for, planned and not stressing about getting 6 of us in somewhere or arguing about what kind of food each person wants just makes the trip so much easier.

But, we like sit down dinners, we'd have done it most nights even if we weren't on the plan. A sit down lunch or breakfast eats into our day and so for us, not using the TS for those, makes a ton of sense and thanks to all the information out there I do feel good about the snack and CS options that will really make this pay off for us.

Yes, the tip thing is annoying but, being a party of 6 it happens most of the time anyway so.... oh well!

We will see, it is our first time on the plan. Free would have been amazing but considering our original reservation was for OKW 2 bedroom, then a FW cabin, and now a FW cabin on the buy 4 get 3....I've saved more than enough with the changes to pay for the plan!

It sounds like a very good fit for your family. Enjoy your trip!