Debating the Dining Plan

[Mintycake]

So I created a spreadsheet and put in all of our "must do" restaurants at Disney, filled in the gaps for the rest to try and assess whether or not the DDP was a good idea for our family (me, DH, and DD6). Because of the character meals we are doing I was leaning towards it. (we are not eligible for free dining).

Turns out we save $100 on the DDP. However, I calculated this by estimating a snack was worth $5 (I know most days the snack we'll get will be less), my DH would order steak, I would likely get seafood or veggie dishes, and we can get the Mama Melrose Fantasmic package (which seems like a screaming deal on the DDP for 1 TS credit!). My DD is super picky so for a lot of QS meals I plan to swap out my dessert and drink and get her a couple of sides or DH and I will split 2 QS meals and we will eat them together. It seems like a lot of food but I've figured we can use all the credits up with our food preferences. I'm just thinking for the value to be $100 saving it's awfully close if our plans change for some reason (i.e. we decide to skip a TS meal etc). I'm asking if you would get the plan if you knew the savings amount was $100 and that you'd need to really max out the value of your credits. FYI I KNOW my DH will order steak

Does anyone else plan like this and if you do, how closely do you follow your plan once you get to WDW? We've never used DDP before (1st trip to Disney as a family). Thanks!

 

[jeepwreck]

For us we always do the DP only because I don’t like to make a budget and stay to stick with it. Plans always change. Yes one day you may want to skip a QS but another day you may want to eat a bit more.

We usually deluxe plan but last nov. we did the regular plan. 1 QS, 1 TS, 1SN per day did work out for us how every we did end up buying breakfast every day and we were there for 11 days. I never did the math to see if it would have been better to the a better DP. So I am not sure if we save money or lost.


I would say do the DP because then you don’t have to worry about the cost of a snack which many of them are more the 5$ and when it comes to dining or lunch and your Husband wants a steak or ribs you can let him knowing that in the end it will all be covered.


Even with the TS 1 drink, entre and desert it can add up quickly so being on the DP some times just gives you that peace of mind knowing you don’t have to be watching every penny


That’s just my thought

also our last trip was our first time as a family too before this it was my me and me wife going

 

[cassie58]

We have been lucky on most trips to be able to take advantage of FD, but definitely think it's worth it to get if you are using the TS meals as you have planned, so that you don't have to think about what to order based on cost. It is nice to order whatever you like without figuring out what total will be for your budget. DH and DS love steak, so when we do Le Cellier meal they can order their favorite steak w/o thinking that they really shouldn't due to the price. DH especially is very budget conscious, and I am the one who always brings a coupon when we go out, so on vacation it's nice to just enjoy. We also like having the snack credits, so when DD wants a Mickey bar or funnel cake, we say sure, feeling like you are not taking extra money out of your pocket. Refillable mugs are another thing we wouldn't buy, but take advantage of when we are on DDP.

 

[sharonabe]

Will your husband let himself order the steak if you're paying OOP or will he look at the price and order something cheaper? On the flip side, will he want steak at EVERY TS or by the end of the week will he be wanting to order something that lacks "value"?

 

[BusyP76]

This will be our third trip to WDW and our second trip on the deluxe dining plan. It is a lot of food but we enjoy TS meals and especially many of the signature restaurants which take up 2 credits. No other vacations that we take (and certainly not in real life) do we eat like we do at WDW. Dining at the World is part of our vacation experience. My kids are adventurous eaters and they never seem to want the same dish. My husband eats too much for me to split a meal with. And we love bringing Disney snacks home with us. The deluxe plan allows us to have more cost effective meals at would otherwise be very pricey meals considering the places we enjoy and Disney's tendency to put a premium price on those restaurants. This is not the case for all families. Some people like the ease of just grabbing most meals on the fly and possibly sitting down once or twice. The deluxe plan would be a horrible idea for those people. Some families have small kids that don't eat much or like to breakfast or lunch back in their rooms. Dining plans don't make sense for those people either. I kind of look at the dining plans as a way to better budget your food dollars ahead of time and possibly save on pricier meals than a way to truly save considerable money on my vacation package. Both times we have done deluxe we were fortunate to get FD so we just pay the difference to bump up to Deluxe.

 

[Lisa F]

So I created a spreadsheet and put in all of our "must do" restaurants at Disney, filled in the gaps for the rest to try and assess whether or not the DDP was a good idea for our family (me, DH, and DD6). Because of the character meals we are doing I was leaning towards it. (we are not eligible for free dining).

Turns out we save $100 on the DDP. However, I calculated this by estimating a snack was worth $5 (I know most days the snack we'll get will be less), my DH would order steak, I would likely get seafood or veggie dishes, and we can get the Mama Melrose Fantasmic package (which seems like a screaming deal on the DDP for 1 TS credit!). My DD is super picky so for a lot of QS meals I plan to swap out my dessert and drink and get her a couple of sides or DH and I will split 2 QS meals and we will eat them together. It seems like a lot of food but I've figured we can use all the credits up with our food preferences. I'm just thinking for the value to be $100 saving it's awfully close if our plans change for some reason (i.e. we decide to skip a TS meal etc). I'm asking if you would get the plan if you knew the savings amount was $100 and that you'd need to really max out the value of your credits. FYI I KNOW my DH will order steak

Does anyone else plan like this and if you do, how closely do you follow your plan once you get to WDW? We've never used DDP before (1st trip to Disney as a family). Thanks!

what is this "skip a TS" of which you speak? LOL I can't imagine giving any of mine up.

I'm doing the DxDDP for 4 nights (5 full days) of a split stay and am saving about $200. I think $100 is enough of a savings to justify doing that - if you skip a TS you have just pretty much burned your savings but you would still break even. If you can't eat all the snacks bring some home to make the magic last. If you were going to just about break even I'd say no, but with $100 in savings to me that's worth it. That pays for most of my tips!

 

[Mintycake]

Will your husband let himself order the steak if you're paying OOP or will he look at the price and order something cheaper? On the flip side, will he want steak at EVERY TS or by the end of the week will he be wanting to order something that lacks "value"?

He would most definitely order something cheaper. We are very money concious.

 

[Mintycake]

what is this "skip a TS" of which you speak? LOL I can't imagine giving any of mine up.

I'm doing the DxDDP for 4 nights (5 full days) of a split stay and am saving about $200. I think $100 is enough of a savings to justify doing that - if you skip a TS you have just pretty much burned your savings but you would still break even. If you can't eat all the snacks bring some home to make the magic last. If you were going to just about break even I'd say no, but with $100 in savings to me that's worth it. That pays for most of my tips!

Just worried if dd who is not a great eater to begin with will want to bail. Not likely as we have let her choose almost all ts meals (character meals). Probably won't happen tho.

 

[loves to dive]

It's really just a personal preference, $100 is $100 and you could certainly use it for souvenirs or for the tip that isn't included. I don't do the dining plan any more just because it's not cost effective for the way we eat any more, my son is grown and even when he was small we didn't do a lot of buffets, because I don't like them. We were lucky when he was small that the characters were just out roaming around so if he wanted to see them, there was no issue of doing so. (we did stand in line at HS one year for him to see TMT the first time they were out for about a hour in August.) We have also found we just don't like being tied down to having to eat TS every day if we aren't in the mood for it, yes we would eat at signature restaurants but even then we would end up with more credits then we could spend. We find now there are days we don't want a formal meal at all, we just grab things at WS or eat ice cream. We aren't big snackers between meals when we do eat meals, I don't drink anything but water or an adult beverage. I prefer an appetizer and a salad and maybe a dessert at a TS restaurant, not because I'm saving money, that is just what I want to eat. We never worried or even thought about maximizing the plan, that would have driven me batty, if I wanted the cheapest thing on the menu I ate it. We eat that way off plan too, if he wants steak, he orders it. You just have to decide if it's the way you want to eat and if it is, go for it and enjoy that extra $100.