Dining plan a loser for our family

[kimdvm]

We went to Disneyworld this time without the Dining Plan. We decided to eat and drink exactly what we wanted, without much regard for budget.
We kept everything on our room charges so that we could track it at the end of the trip.

We had 3 adults (2 of whom are big eaters) and 2 kids. We had at least 1 character meal or sit-down dinner each day, sometimes 2. We drank alcohol with most of our evening meals. With all this, our total was far less than it would have been with the dining plan.

I saw people on the "Plan" around us constantly worrying about which snack they could have, or a waitress warning them they couldn't get their kids the drink with the decorative cup... etc....what a pain.

I am not arguing Disney's example of what the food value comparisons are, just that their comparison doesn't fit with everybody's eating habits, certainly not ours. Here are some reasons why it didn't work for us, and maybe you can use this to help you decide:

1) We had a kitchen at OKW, so breakfast was cheap and easy; we only ate breakfast out once at a character meal. We were also able to save dinner leftovers
2) We stayed 10 days, so I bought an annual pass and a DDE card for 20% off at many restaurants (though even without this our food bill would have been cheaper than the DDP)
3) Though I am a pretty big eater, I could eat comfortably without stuffing myself every meal. If we ate a buffet for one meal, the other meal was usually light. Sometimes a large sandwich was easily split with another adult for lunch. The kids meals with carrots, etc are sometimes a pretty adequate adult meal also.

At the opposite viewpoint are some of the special meals (like Cinderlla's castle, that would have taken 2 meal credits on the DDP.) Not a good deal in either circumstance,
4) Our evening meal drink is often a glass of water and wine or beer. So I suppose I wouldn't use up the available soft drink. I sometimes eat dessert with dinner, but other times get it later while I am walking around the park.
5) DDP makes you pay for the plan for each night you stay. If you want to eat off-property you are going to have to use up extra credits on a different day.

The bottom line is that we ate what we wanted, when we wanted, including 4 character meals, a sit-down restaurant every day, all the snacks and alcohol we could stand... and it as cheaper than the DDP. If the dining plan fits your eating pattern exactly, then go for it. Otherwise it is like using a coupon for an item that you wouldn't have otherwise bought at all.

 

[TisBit]

I am with you on this one. We don't eat like the DDP, we often eat light one meal and sit down second. We do breakfast in the room and I am usually just a Mickey Premium bar snack person, no huge expense there (has also been called lunch...lol). We don't mind splitting things between us, its not a cut back for money, but rather because we don't want to gain 20 pounds or throw the rest away.

I will probably do DDP next year on a short trip where the kids can do the Character meals and not worry about the price.

 

[Tricia1972]

I'm excited to read this post. We did DDP twice last year, and after two weeks on it we cried "Never Again"

I ran the numbers and it looks like we'll come out ahead, doing the same thing you did. Part of the reason may be because we too will have a kitchen at SSR. We can have a pretty decent breakfast - cereal or a waffle, before hitting the parks. Also, we have the DDE card so that will increase our savings.

I am so glad that the people who love the plan have the plan, but after we spent two weeks on it the rest of my family (the non paying part ) said that even if it was more expensive that they wouldn't want to use it again. It's just not the way we eat. We eat more like you kimdvm!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

We have been on the dining plan 3 times. Twice we have paid for it and once we got Free Dining (receiving free dining on our September trip saved us almost $1000). We are a family of six and it has saved us money everytime we used it. The value is especially good for the kids, there is no way we could feed them on $11.00 per day without the plan. We even used snack credits for breakfast items on our last trip. You could get a whole carton of Entimens donuts and a half gallon of milk for two snack credits. That was a quick breakfast for the kids before we left for the parks. We had a character meal everyday of our trip. I can't remember the price of every single item at every single meal (part of the beauty of the dining plan, not having to worry about prices), but I know the buffet at Crystal palace is about $28.00 per adult and $13.00 per child (the child's price on the plan for the entire day with cs meal, ts meal and snack was on $11.00!) so our bill was about $107.00 (before tip, which was included on our last trip), with tip about $127.00. The dining plan for our family for the whole day was only $120.00. We came out $7.00 ahead just on dinner, then you throw in lunch for the six of us that would have cost about $40.00 out of pocket and say $3.00 each per snack for each of us ($18 total), that has us saving about $65.00 per day. We also like the convenience of the plan. We have never had any trouble with it. You just hand them the card and they swipe it. No big deal. That's my husband's favorite part of it all, the ease of the plan and not worrying about the money.

Now, I must say I agree that people will not be saving as much money with the new 2008 plan because it does not include the tip. (I also don't think the revamped plan will last past 2008 either, just my opinion.) Even without the tip and the appetizer we would still come out ahead. So, as you can see we are "Fans of the Plan!"

 

[mstew99]

Yeah, the DP is unique in how it will work out for each group. I had visited with family in 06 and really enjoyed the DP. Though we didn't keep track of receipts, most of our table service meals met or exceeded what we paid for the day for the DP. I saw them advertise for the free DP for 07, and I had a friend I had told about it who really wanted to be able to eat at all the top Disney restaurants, so we went. We stayed 7 nights, and kept track of our receipts to check out the deal. With all of our TS, CS, and snacks, our week total came out to $895. I assure you too, that we didn't just go in and pick out the most expensive things we could find. So for being a free add on, it was quite the savings. Even if we had to pay for the plan, it would have saved us a good $350-400. So yes, I am definitely a fan of the DP!

 

[GrammyJudy]

We liked the DDP. We had our adult son, adult daughter and her husband and our 7 year old grandson. It was good cause when we seperated everyone ate what they wanted. We did CRT on enight, Epcot TS 2 nights, CP one night and one night everyone was on their own. We used all our credits but did not need to pay out much at the end. Definitely it helped with budgeting.

 

[patsal]

kimdvm
That is exactly what I was planning on doing and your results were what I had anticipated--glad that it worked so well for you. I'll be doing the same in April and July.

 

[MeggerasMa]

DH and I used the dining plan in Jan '07 and loved it. We didn't love the weight gain associated with it, however. This January we included our 3 grown children on our vacation (special treat) and did NOT do the new '08 dining plan. I saved every receipt because DH was hoping I'd cave and all the eats would be pre-paid. He just enjoys vacations if they are paid prior to going. If my math is correct the plan would have cost us $38.00 per adult (5) per day or a total of $190/day x 5 nights stay or about $950 plus tip. My food receipts totaled $568.00. We just ate like we normally would. Some of us like breakfast, some don't. Some can eat lots and ride anything, some can't. We did have a fabulous meal at the Rain Forest Cafe. We also enjoyed Planet Hollywood and the 50's Prime Time. Obviously, for us, we would not have followed our usual eating style or saved $$$ using the plan for "08. I think you just have to know your own groups eating habits and make your decision from that.

 

[TLSnell1981]

DH and I used the dining plan in Jan '07 and loved it. We didn't love the weight gain associated with it, however. This January we included our 3 grown children on our vacation (special treat) and did NOT do the new '08 dining plan. I saved every receipt because DH was hoping I'd cave and all the eats would be pre-paid. He just enjoys vacations if they are paid prior to going. If my math is correct the plan would have cost us $38.00 per adult (5) per day or a total of $190/day x 5 nights stay or about $950 plus tip. My food receipts totaled $568.00. We just ate like we normally would. Some of us like breakfast, some don't. Some can eat lots and ride anything, some can't. We did have a fabulous meal at the Rain Forest Cafe. We also enjoyed Planet Hollywood and the 50's Prime Time. Obviously, for us, we would not have followed our usual eating style or saved $$$ using the plan for "08. I think you just have to know your own groups eating habits and make your decision from that.

I don't know how five people ate on under $114 per day . I guess we have different eating habits. I have a party of 2 adults and 2 kids and spend that much for one meal!

 

[AnninIowa]

We did the DDP once, and vowed never again. Too much food, too much worry about credits, too much stress trying to be somewhere to eat at a certain time. I figure if we come out even or a little more paying OOP, the freedom and relaxation are worth it!!

 

[Princess April]

My family loves it because '06, '07 and '08 it has been / will be free. Hey, ya can't beat free!!!!!!

 

[creativeamanda]

By my calculations, and since we eat large dinners anyway, the ddp will save us about $230. I crunched the numbers today.

 

[MeggerasMa]

Just to clarify. Although we stayed, and therefore would have paid for, 5 nights, we arrived very late at night on a Thursday and left very early on the following Tuesday. So we really only had 4 days of meals to pay out of pocket, except for the departure day breakfast. My daily b-fast at Disney consisted of a decadent chocolate chip muffin and some coffee from a little shop at MGM that actually brewed ground beans in Bunn coffeemakers. Yeah, not healthy, but in my mind a little piece of heaven! Sorry some folks find my numbers incredulous, but every family is different.