Cost of the plan for my family

[Gitts2008]

We are not going to WDW for another 11 months but I am so wacky that I had to figure out which if any meal plan would be good for us. I figured about 5 days worth of food and snack. We are a family of 2 Adults and 1 seven year old.

The Regular dining plan would be: 15 TS; 15 QS and 15 Snacks


The Deluxe dining plan would be : 45 TS and 30 snacks


Ok...here I go. All calculations are estimates with tax and tip included:

Day 1

Breakfast at Chef Mickey
3 TS credits = $55.00

Snack :
3 drinks and 3 chips = $14.00
6 Snack credits


Dinner at Tomorrow land Noodle Shop
Adult food: $14.00
Adult Drink: $7.00
2 desserts: $5.00
Kids mean: $4.00


First Day Cost about $100.00 -/+ D: 3 TS; 6 Snacks; 3 QS
DD: 6 TS and 6 Snacks

Day 2

Breakfast at POP

Adults: Waffles, coffee, OJ: $22.00
Child: $4.00
3 QS/ 3 TS meals

Lunch at AK Flame Tree
Salad, sandwich, drinks, dessert and kids meal: $30.00

3QS/ 3TS


Dinneer at Aloha Dinner Show
Category 2

$136.00


And a snack for us somewhere throughout the day: $14.00

Second Day Cost about 210.00 -/+
D: 6 QS; 6 snacks; 6 TS
DD: 12 TS and 6 snacks

Cost so far: $324.00
D: 9 TS; 9 QS; 12 Snacks
DD: 18 TS; 12 snacks




Day 3

Breakfast at Cinderella Royal Table $ 90.00
6TS

Lunch at Sunshine Seasons at Epcot
3 entrees, 4 sides, 2 beverages, 3 desserts, 1 childs meal: $35.00
3 QS/3 TS

Dinner at the Hotel Pizza delivered: 20.00
6 TS

And a snack for the day : $14.00

Third day cost about: $160.00
D: 12 TS; 6 Snacks; 3 QS
DD: 15 TS; 6 snacks


Total cost of food/drink/Snacks for 3 days: About $500.00
D: 21 TS, 12 QS, 18 Snacks
DD: 33 TS, 18 snacks
Dining plan: I have gone over by 6 TS, I have 3 QS left and have gone over by 3 snacks

Deluxe Dinning plan: I have 12 TS left, and 12 snacks.



(I hope that I added it all correctly)
The costs of the Hotel and Meal plans are:
POP- Standard room, 5 days Park Hopper and dining: $1510.33
POP- Standard room, 5 days Park Hopper and deluxe dining: $1806.33
POP-Standard room, 5 days Pakr Hopper and NO PLAN: $1166.45

The difference between the 2 plans is $295.67. And, the cost between no plan and the deluxe is $639.88. We are not big eaters but:

I have already spent about $500.00 and still have 2 days left. We did 1 dinner show and 2 character meals and still have enough for 1 more character meal. We probably will not be able to use all of the credits on the Deluxe Dining but I will have gone over on the regular dining plan. The Deluxe comes with a refillable cup so if we want ice cold water or lemonade it is “free” In the park we do not have to worry about snacks because the Deluxe gives us plenty. We could save money and get no plan and plan out meals in advance but I would rather plan out my “dining experience” knowing that the meals are paid for and just enjoy. And, since this is the first time to WDW with my daughter the character meals will be well worth the money. I am looking at it as I may not be able to eat all of the food, but I will save money by using the Deluxe.

I hope that this helps some people determine which plan would be best. I could be completely wrong and if I am someone please tell me

 

[mari360]

I love that you took the time out to do this. I did something similar to this and ended up with booking the DDDP... this way i will not be short on anything. Plus my DD is 2 and she just loves the characters so we are doing a lot of those this trip.

 

[Tricia1972]

I put together a similar chart for our family. We have the DDE card and came out saving money by not doing any plan.

For us, our variables (from your chart) are that we'd almost never order dessert with our CS meals. We rarely order more than one or two appetizers and one dessert for our party. We'll also probably opt to split a few entrees at CS meals and then get an afternoon snack in place of the unused CS meal.

I think that everyone who wants to figure out to the penny which works best for them needs to make their own chart based on the menus and figuring what they'd personally eat.

For us too, saving 20% with the DDE really affected our bottom line.

 

[Gitts2008]

Eventhough, I have taken the time to figure out the cost of the meals and which if any plan would be good. I am still so confused about which items are "included" in CS.....After going through all of the figures...I wonder if just buying our own meals would be better for our sanity.

It would nice if WDW gave discount to expat Floridians

 

[Gitts2008]

***I think that I misunderstood the number of Meals
4 nights 5 days would be 4 days of meals not 5 days???? Is the is right ??????


Please help

 

[Melissa_E]

Your meals are based on the number of nights you stay. So for staying 4 nights, each person on the DDP gets 4 snacks, 4 CS, and 4TS. For the DxDP each person gets 8 snacks and 12TS.

 

[Melissa_E]

I should say that you can use all of those meals anytime during your five days. You can use them the first and last day, so those credits spread out over five days.

 

[Gitts2008]

Well Golly

I spent so much time figuring out which would be better and I was wrong about the number of credits.



So if I go for 7 days, 6 nights, I get 6 "days" of credits to use for 7 day ?


Thank you so much Melissa

 

[angelmav]

I wont get into the dining plan thing because I dont know about your families dining habits, but you mention that you would save a 'ton of money' by not doing any plan, so you could always buy disney gift cards in advance to use for dining if thats more in line with how you eat. Also, I believe you have to prepay for the Lua even if your on a dining plan (I am sure someone will correct me if Im wrong). Lastly, unless your dead set on eating at the castle for breakfast (dining plan or not) You would get a much better meal for far less with Princesses at Akershus or 1900 Park Fare.

Oh forgot to add, anyone can get the Refillable Mugs, they arent that expensive and make a great souvenier!

 

[Cheap Trick Fan]

I don't understand the reasoning of people paying $300.00-$400.00 more than they'd normally spend for food, months ahead of time, for the sake of "convenience". If you don't want to carry that much cash to the parks for meals, then charge the meals to your credit card each day and pay off the bill when you get home. Would people pay their hairdresser $400.00 at the beginning of the year for a voucher good for "credits" for 12 haircuts and 3 perms that they might not need or want just for the "convenience" of not having to "pay as they go"?

 

[Melissa_E]

So if I go for 7 days, 6 nights, I get 6 "days" of credits to use for 7 day ?


Thank you so much Melissa

You are welcome, yes you are right. Your DDP is based on the number of nights you are there. We're going 8days/7nights. So everyone has 21 TS credits for the whole trip. Right now we have breakfasts and dinners planned, one lunch, 12 out of 21 meals. In there are a few 2TS credit meals. I made a spreadsheet that added up all of the meals based on what I think I would order and what my daughter would order (I didn't want to get DH into my madness), I'm already ahead by $8.

I don't understand the reasoning of people paying $300.00-$400.00 more than they'd normally spend for food, months ahead of time, for the sake of "convenience".

Why do you think people are spending $300-400 more than they will use at the park? Like I said above, I have 12/21 meals planned and I'm already $8 ahead. There is one day with no meals planned and another with only lunch planned. I figure I'll be WAY ahead by the end of the trip.

 

[Gitts2008]

I don't understand the reasoning of people paying $300.00-$400.00 more than they'd normally spend for food, months ahead of time, for the sake of "convenience". If you don't want to carry that much cash to the parks for meals, then charge the meals to your credit card each day and pay off the bill when you get home. Would people pay their hairdresser $400.00 at the beginning of the year for a voucher good for "credits" for 12 haircuts and 3 perms that they might not need or want just for the "convenience" of not having to "pay as they go"?

First: I am not sure if I was clear on what I meant by plannig out my WDW dining experience. It is me planning out where to eat with my DD so we get to see the characters and whatever dining place we want to eat at. If we got no plan I would probably want to plan out where the "eateries" are that could accommodate whatever "food budget" that I had in place.

I can only tell you my reasoning for thinking about laying a large sum of money in advance. I have tried to calculate what I would spend on meals and what I would save or not save by doing or not doing a meal plan. The main reason for my choosing a plan at all would be the Character Meals and Dinner Show. I would have to say that getting a haircut or perm is very different than taking a child to see WDW for the first time. Personally spending a 130 dollars on a meal for 3 is outrageous. But, if my dd will get to see and interact with Mickey, snow white, whomever than it is worth it. To me this trip is not a time to be frugal but to have fun. We would never spend $500.00 in 5 days to eat but this is a vacation and a time to have fun. People can go to WDW and watch every penny, thats fine. We watched every penny to save up for this trip, so we want to enjoy it.

Everyone is different: my sister buys Seven for mankind jeans and Hudson Jeans and UGG's...Shopping makes her happy and if it makes her happy than who am I am judge. Just like people who would lay out the money in advance to eat and people who think its crazy. Everyone is different.

Also, I think that I saw somewhere that you have until you begin your trip to purchase the dining plan, so people may not have to lay out money 4 months in advance.

angelmav: Thanx for the suggestion. I still do not know if I would save because I misunderstood the amount of credits...back to the drawing board.

 

[bunny]

To the OP, I think you would be much better off not ordering pizza delivered to your room. Is that really 6TS? You could call Pizza Hut and order a pizza for $20 or even just pick one up in the food court for a lot less. The 6 TS credits are worth a lot more money than that. That would give you the extra 6 TS credits.

 

[Melissa_E]

Dinner at the Hotel Pizza delivered: 20.00
6 TS

Because of the PP I just noticed this. Pizza delivery is worth 2 adult TS credits for a large pizza (or whatever size they say) and whatever it includes. So it isn't 2TS for everyone, just 2TS credits total. To use 6TS credits, you'd have to order 3 pizzas.

 

[Gitts2008]

I feel like understanding the dining plan is like doing my taxes...I pay and still do not understand what the heck is going on....Thank you so much Bunny and Melissa.