Dining Plan Cost Analysis

[Cedarmom]

We were at Disney Jan 30-Feb 4. We got the dining plan because I tend to freak about money and won't enjoy myself when I'm counting every penny and gasping at $80 for hamburgers, so this way it is all paid for ahead of time. Savings or not, it is worth it to me. However, out of curiosity I saved receipts and added everything up. Here is the breakdown.

TL: DR version: The plan saved us $100.

We are 3 Disney adults and 2 Disney children, staying 6 nights and using the regular dining plan.
We ate whatever we wanted, without regard to getting the best 'value' from our credits. In total, we used 28 quick service meals and all 30 snack credits. We got 4 snacks from the food court with our two leftover QS credits. That is not included in the total, but they were used as souvenirs for friends. I also did not include the 5 refillable mugs, as we would not have gotten those and really only used them for a morning coffee/hot chocolate run.

Total cost of the dining plan: $1311.48

Our receipts totaled $1532.01. That broke down to $135.97 for snacks, $498.88 for quick service and $897.16 for table service.

Straight up, the plan 'saved' $220.62. But wait. I would not have ordered a drink or dessert with every meal, and I would have stopped my 11 year old as well. So, I subtracted out all of the drinks we would not have ordered, plus many of the desserts we would not have ordered. My husband would have ordered a coke with every meal, so I didn't subtract his, and we usually get 2 desserts to share as a family, so I kept those in. So, playing with the numbers, that is approximately $120 we 'spent' but wouldn't have without the plan, meaning the plan still saved our family of 5 approximately $100.

Table service meals were at dinner at Akershus, 1900 Park Fare, and Sci Fi Drive In, lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, and we did the Hoop Dee Doo Revue.

 

[Mikie]

Thanks for the breakdown! For my family of 3 adults and 2 kids with lots of character meals it also comes out like you describe. An "on paper" savings of a couple hundred dollars, then less but still a savings if I subtract some desserts we wouldn't have ordered (we pretty much all would order tea of soft drinks all the time too, so no subtraction there).

Id also have to see how to treat our refillable mugs for a true analysis - we'd use them twice a day regardless, but make a point to get more refills sometimes "because they're free" - I think at 2/day, they still are a savings I Can attribute to the plan even if I don't count those extra refills.

Can you save by eating differently entirely? Of course! We could still eat table service, but choose the menu locations and that would save us, and we could always skip desserts. We could go even further and really save by doing mostly counter service or eating offsite. But character meals and splurges are how we like to eat at Disney and the Dining Plan is a financial savings when we do.

 

[stampinmom]

I too have saved the receipts and compared. The dining plan saves us around $100-$150. That said, we normally would share a dessert (it is nice to be able to try a few differ tones though) and don't usually order a soda or tea with every meal. I do get coffee to go with my dessert so I feel that's a good use of my "included drink". Like you, I feel it is worth it because it's all paid for and I don't have to worry about what we are spending. I order what I want and not think about getting a cheaper meal just to save the money.