Confused about Dining Plan!

[taximom00]

We are going in Feb for 6 nights. I called and was told that it's $60pp/per night. So, $360 total. This is for the plan that is 1QS, 1TS and 1snack.

We plan on Crystal Palace one night (looking at the menu, it looks like $50/pp?)

Be Our Guest Dinner one night, Ohana another night, and either Chef Mickey's or Cape May Cafe another night.

Haven't booked any other table service yet.

We are staying at Caribbean Beach and it seems that ~$15pp for QS lunch is average and I'm guessing that is average for parks, too.

Am I missing something?

Because to me $360 seems like a bargain or at least break even? What am I missing?!!

 

[shell8558]

Everyone will have an opinion about the dining plan. You will just have to weed through them- lol. My family of 4 loves the dining plan- we won't do Disney without it. (With that being said- we have never paid for it, we always go during free dining or get a PIN.) I like knowing that our food is paid for and we can eat at places we normally would not because of the cost.

 

[taximom00]

Everyone will have an opinion about the dining plan. You will just have to weed through them- lol. My family of 4 loves the dining plan- we won't do Disney without it. (With that being said- we have never paid for it, we always go during free dining or get a PIN.) I like knowing that our food is paid for and we can eat at places we normally would not because of the cost.

Thanks! Sadly, it's not a free dining time!

It just seemed based on the quick calculations I did that it is a no brainer and will save money.

Which makes me think I'm missing something cause I can't believe Disney wants me to save money lol!!

 

[taximom00]

Everyone will have an opinion about the dining plan. You will just have to weed through them- lol. My family of 4 loves the dining plan- we won't do Disney without it. (With that being said- we have never paid for it, we always go during free dining or get a PIN.) I like knowing that our food is paid for and we can eat at places we normally would not because of the cost.

Thanks! Sadly, it's not a free dining time!

It just seemed based on the quick calculations I did that it is a no brainer and will save money.

Which makes me think I'm missing something cause I can't believe Disney wants me to save money lol!!

 

[NOLA_Tink]

The value of the dining plan all depends on where you plan to eat. Some trips, we save $100s of dollars by doing the dining plan. Some trips, we barely break even. It's very convenient, which is the main reason why we normally add the regular plan. I like knowing everything is paid for before we get there- especially when we're treating my mom to a vacation. (She tries to pay, which I won't allow, so I like knowing that she can't pay for anything when I've already taken care of all of our meals.)

 

[crysbryant]

We paid for the dining plan when we went to Disney World last June. It made sense for us. We are a family of 4, with our girls being under 10. Their dining plan price was $20 a day and most table service restaurants were over $20 for them to eat. So, in the end, we actually saved money by having the dining plan.

 

[hollypoast]

Thanks! Sadly, it's not a free dining time!

It just seemed based on the quick calculations I did that it is a no brainer and will save money.

Which makes me think I'm missing something cause I can't believe Disney wants me to save money lol!!

Depending on your plans, I think some people can save money with the dining plan. I have used this calculator in the past to see if it works out for me.http://www.distripplanner.com

Personally, I like the dining plan because I like to have everything paid for before we go and no surprises. Good luck!

 

[sharonabe]

Your prices are a little off.

Ohana and Cape May are $40.46 (includes tax)
Crystal Palace is $44.46 (includes tax)
Chef Mickey is the $50

If you stick with your buffet dinners, drink soda/coffee with your QS and want the dessert with your QS, then you will at least break even and MAY save a dollar or two.

For quick reference when you're looking at menus, a TS credit is worth about $38.00, the QS $17.50, and the snack $5.

 

[teller80]

Don't forget to add the cost of tipping. A tip on $45 (average dinner price?) is $8, $8 x 6 nights = $48, so your $360 is now $408.

Keep in mind that if you are breakfast, lunch and dinner people then you'll still need to pay out of pocket for one meal.

 

[taximom00]

Your prices are a little off.

Ohana and Cape May are $40.46 (includes tax)
Crystal Palace is $44.46 (includes tax)
Chef Mickey is the $50

If you stick with your buffet dinners, drink soda/coffee with your QS and want the dessert with your QS, then you will at least break even and MAY save a dollar or two.

For quick reference when you're looking at menus, a TS credit is worth about $38.00, the QS $17.50, and the snack $5.

Thanks for the quick ref tips. I've def figured QS about $15pp. I guess what we need to decide is how many FS meals we will want and the cost.

Re: prices…according to everything I've read, the prices are about $4 more than list as we are going over Presidents Weekend/week and that is apparently a higher season.

 

[taximom00]

Don't forget to add the cost of tipping. A tip on $45 (average dinner price?) is $8, $8 x 6 nights = $48, so your $360 is now $408.

Keep in mind that if you are breakfast, lunch and dinner people then you'll still need to pay out of pocket for one meal.

Thanks….I did notice that tips are added to larger parties at table service restaurants. As we are traveling with a group, we will keep this in mind.

 

[teller80]

Thanks….I did notice that tips are added to larger parties at table service restaurants. As we are traveling with a group, we will keep this in mind.

It doesn't matter if you're in a group or not, an 18% gratuity should still be factored in.

 

[Figmentmommy]

Don't forget to add the cost of tipping. A tip on $45 (average dinner price?) is $8, $8 x 6 nights = $48, so your $360 is now $408.

Keep in mind that if you are breakfast, lunch and dinner people then you'll still need to pay out of pocket for one meal.

The gratuity will come into play whether you have the dining plan or not. I don't normally figure this into the decision because it is paid either way.

 

[Airship Ariadne]

We've gotten free dining each time we went, but would pay for the dinning plan either way...yes, you can search the menus for the cheapest options, only drink water, and share meals and save money by paying out of pocket, but that doesn't work for us.

For the three of us, any of the buffets come to almost $160 before tip and even quick service can quickly escalate unless we watch it...so the plan has always been something we factor into the budget, then have lucked out to get the free dining offer after booking.

 

[Guatemommy]

We like to sit down for a meal every day to the DDP is good for us as it gives us that opportunity. My DD loves the character meals which tend to be a bit more as well. Free dining is always a deal, but even with paying, it does work out for us. if I was paying for each meal, i woud tend to order less expensive, forego a drink and dessert to save a bit more. But with the DDP, its like a splurge - i can order anything I want and we can have dessert with every meal!

 

[rapunzelmom]

We like to sit down for a meal every day to the DDP is good for us as it gives us that opportunity. My DD loves the character meals which tend to be a bit more as well. Free dining is always a deal, but even with paying, it does work out for us. if I was paying for each meal, i woud tend to order less expensive, forego a drink and dessert to save a bit more. But with the DDP, its like a splurge - i can order anything I want and we can have dessert with every meal!

Agree those character meals are pricey but so funhey I'm a Guatemala Momy too! DD is 8.

 

[3pletprincesses]

If you are doing characters meals and intending to do use every credit the dining plan will at least cost you as much as meals but more likely save you a few dollars. regardless I like the dining plan because if I lose money it`s not that much and I don`t look at the prices when ordering.

 

[ChloeH]

The savings on the dining plan really depend on what restaurants you like and what you order. Buffet/character meals are pricey so you will at least break even or save by doing those meals. We also went to other restaurants like Rainforest Café, Rose & Crown, and Sci-fi Dine it. The teenagers (who we paid the full adult price for obviously) were constantly ordering things like the Cobb Salad, or a Shepherd's Pie - all things that cost less than $20.00 and they could barely eat a few bites of dessert. They only ate half of the quick service lunch as well. So, it was obvious that the cost was not worth it with them!

Tipping should be a factor if you are planning to do all character meals and would not have done them without the dining plan. Tipping can add up on meals that cost $40/pp. I know when we went as a group of 10, the tips were around $70 for the character meals, but much less for non-buffet meals (because the kids ordered cheaper meals). So although you will tip if you get the plan or not, think about the ways the plan will change how you dine when you consider the cost.

Edited to say - the meals at Disney are very high calorie with a lot of fat so you tend to fill up faster and get less hungry.

 

[lisamarie12]

I am still debating on whether to do the Disney dining plan or pay out of pocket. If we pay out of pocket, we would probably eat a lot of QS and order cheaper things, so it would cost less. We would probably limit it to 1 character meal. But if we had the dining plan, we would probably do a few character or other TS meals. So it might be cost effective. Of course I would prefer to do at least one sit down meal every day rather than eating most meals at QS places, as I tend to prefer sit down meals to fast food. And this may be a once in a long time (probably not lifetime but it could be several years) so I would like to not worry about costs. But costs are a factor, whether its prepaid or paid after the fact. Its just easier to pay upfront than to shell out $120+ for one meal. Decisions...

 

[doubleosix]

I choose the dining plan for my family simply because I know we wouldn't pay the high prices if we were staring at them on the menu boards. I also carefully reviewed the menus/prices ahead of time and choose the places to get the most "bang for your buck" I think you can most definitely save a few bucks on the DDP if you really plan.