Dining/ Entertainment Package worth it??

[haircrazee]

Hi all, wondering if paying an extra 800 for the dining/entertainment 2 quick meals and snacks per day per person was worth it? Will it really cost us more than 800 to eat 2 meals a day for 4 people?
Approx how much is a quick meal at WDW??
thanks!

 

[Debbie]

You can check out the menus at Deb's site to have an idea of what is available, what you will (likely) order, and determine if it is the dining plan is a good plan for you. HTH

 

[mtmbyck]

You need to define who the 4 people are adults vs children. My DH and I and 2 DDs dining on kids meals easily drop $40-$50 at any counter service meal. My guess is you will end up saving around $10 a day.

 

[neonurse]

Do you have a rental car? Will you be eating off property at all? Can you go shopping before you get to the hotel for cereal bars, water etc.? We save a bunch by on eating an occ. hotdog/hamburg in the park but most of the time we bring water and snacks and a sandwich. We go out of the park everynight to eat out. If you are only staying in the park for meals I think the $$ could add up quickly with a bottle of water $2.00. If I didn't have access to a car to shop and leave the park I would get the dining plan. The food is expensive and it adds up quickly.
hth

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

Hi all, wondering if paying an extra 800 for the dining/entertainment 2 quick meals and snacks per day per person was worth it? Will it really cost us more than 800 to eat 2 meals a day for 4 people?
Approx how much is a quick meal at WDW??
thanks!

FYI......Disney Dining Plan is only available if you are staying on-site.

Are you 4 adults or 2 adults, 2 kids? I know the serving sizes can be quite large at some restaurants, so you may not need to use all 4 credits for each meal if are willing to eat a smaller portion size. That can allow you to use these unused credits to eat additional meals on a day when you might want to have a breakfast - assuming you use the credits for lunch and dinner.

From what I can recall, the average cost per meal was approx $10 while each snack can run you $2-$4 on average. That amounts to $25-$30 per person per day. So doing the math, if you are spending the money OOP, you can expect to spend $100-$120 each day for a family of 4. But I will tell you this - I can manage the counter service meals for a few days, but after eating my fill of burgers, hotdogs, chiken and pizza - I'm ready for a "real meal" and the table service restaurants are considerably more expensive that the counter service restaurants and food courts

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

Here's a link that's a good read.....

http://www.courant.com/travel/hc-disneydining.artdec14,0,3619633.story

 

[haircrazee]

Hi I'm trying to figure out the cheapest way to do this(as I'm sure you all are), and am trying to figure out if staying on site is in our budget, and with the cheapest meal plan it still comes up to C5000.00+ for 2 adults and a 10 and 14 yr old.(this is including everything, flight, disney resort, tickets etc but no car rental)...thought this would be a nice idea.
I'm starting to lean more towards staying off site, as we will have more eating options in walking distance, we didn't plan on staying the 7 days at WDW and would like to do some site seeing etc. To me (moneywise), staying on site seems to be better for those using their 7 day magic your way passes and not leaving the resort for anything..I may be wrong?

Thankyou all for the input.. it's exactly what I was looking for
I'll be checking that link out thanks a bunch!

 

[mtmbyck]

did you investigate renting a home? This way you can prepare meals also - breakfast and lunches to take to the parks is a great way to save a few $$$. The rental homes and condos cost about 1/3 the price of the on-site hotel rooms. I also saw some great rates on Bonnet Creek Resort (right on property but not Disney owned or operated). I actually think 5K for flight, meals and accommodations in is a good price! I am basing this on my family of 4. Our passes alone will run us close to 1K and this is just for 3 day hoppers. Our flights were $1600.

Good luck with your budgeting ........

 

[neonurse]

Hi I'm trying to figure out the cheapest way to do this(as I'm sure you all are), and am trying to figure out if staying on site is in our budget, and with the cheapest meal plan it still comes up to C5000.00+ for 2 adults and a 10 and 14 yr old.(this is including everything, flight, disney resort, tickets etc but no car rental)...thought this would be a nice idea.
I'm starting to lean more towards staying off site, as we will have more eating options in walking distance, we didn't plan on staying the 7 days at WDW and would like to do some site seeing etc. To me (moneywise), staying on site seems to be better for those using their 7 day magic your way passes and not leaving the resort for anything..I may be wrong?

Thankyou all for the input.. it's exactly what I was looking for
I'll be checking that link out thanks a bunch!

When I checked out the prices staying at the value hotel on site was cheaper than a flea bag hotel anywhere. Once you consider that the tickets for the parks would cost $200 per person.

My total was $1200 for 3 of us adult, ds13, ds9 getting the 4/3 deal
minus $200 disney gift card for going before the end of march(food and souv)
thats $1000
minus $600 the park tickets would have cost
thats $400 for the hotel for the week that is $57 a night.
I am renting a car (I always do) for $190 and we will eat out of the parks alot. Bringing in our own snacks and sandwiches and go out to eat. We will still have the occassional mickeybar, dole whip, popcorn and hotdog!!! I find we save alot of money with everyone carrying a small backpack with their waters/jc for the day and a few snacks, that way I am not the pack mule. Its nice that the kids are old enough to do that!!

I usually stay offsite but with the 4/3 deal I couldn't beat it.
Good luck!!