Dining plan cost comparison

[missmickey]

i was wondering if there was a thread where people have compared the cost of the dining plan to what they actually paid (or would have paid if they weren't on the dining plan). I would love to look at a breakdown of actual numbers with restaurant names and specific meals.

Is anyone aware of such a thread. Or even just one or two people's posts?

 

[momtwoboys]

dont have a breakdown but for us family of 4 who have been going since before the dining plan and then used it for years once it started we did a test. We put the exact cost of the dining plan on gift cards and ate the same way we always did. Breakfast in room, counter service for all 4 of us no sharing and a dinner TS each night same as always. plus the snacks per day well we came home with almost 700 left on our gift cards which rolled to the next year. So that was our experiment and we will never buy the dining plan again!

 

[riddlemethis]

There are a few Disney blogs that have this cost breakdown. In a nutshell, for the dining plan to be less expensive that out of pocket, you would need to order the most expensive thing on the menu with an appetizer, non alcoholic beverage and dessert. For our family we save money because I like chicken and vegetable dishes and my kids can split a meal- so out of pocket is cheaper. We're not huge eaters so this was the best option for us. On the Disney website you can look up prices and meals.

The main pull of the Dining Plan is that money is already taken care of and you can relax about paying at the table. That's really it.

 

[rwdavis2]

The plan is not designed to save you money except under very specific circumstance as mentioned above and also if you do a lot of character meals. Some people do it for convenience which I don't understand. You still have to scan a magic band and pay tips with the DDP. So it's just as easy to pay out of pocket. We used it once with a very steep discount ($100/person for 6 days). It's also a lot of food for some people.

 

[Pmlocke]

I have done a cost analysis based on my wife and I traveling down to WDW every year. When the plan is offered for free, of course we take it. Even if we have to pay to upgrade to get a sit down meal along with the quick serve meal. It is still a big savings. Now, when the plan isn't offered at a discount we DO NOT get it as we save a whopping 25.00 a day. Multiply that by the seven day trip we always take, we save 150.00. Not a big deal but I work hard for my money and as I am not wealthy enough top light my cigars with 50 dollar bills, I appreciate the savings. We still eat the same way, it is just cheaper for us to pay out of pocket as opposed to paying full price for the plan. We also get our refillable mugs and dine at CM, 1900 Park Fare, CP.

 

[tlmadden73]

I have never understood why people get the dining plan.

I would think that MOST people (unless you eat a LOT every day) can easily spend less in cash than what it costs per day.
I think a lot of people got "hooked" with free dining and/or just don't bother to do the math themselves.

There is no convenience with it (anymore). Magic Bands or gift cards (or just a plain old credit card) is way more convenient. Even if it saves you only a few dollars a day, I don't think the 'convenience' of it is worth that extra money.

All it is a way to hide the crazy high prices of the character meals and "lock" you in to hitting the Disney meals.

I am going to WDW in March and will be going the Gift Card route. With two reserved TS meals (Skipper Canteen and Garden Grille) for 2 adults and 1 child (and probably a QS meal each day as well), I don't see myself spending $326 over those two days. I will probably take $250-300 in gift cards for meals.

Plus .. not having the dining plan gives you flexibility. Not hungry (because it is hot and humid?) ..then you don't waste pre-paid money on a meal you won't be eating.

 

[RmeDad]

We find this works for my wife and myself. YRMV actually YRWV!

 

[Beer Me]

For my family of four with kids over 10 I added up all food, drinks and snacks for our last 6 night trip and it was about $300 less than what I would have paid for the dining plan. We eat when, where and whatever we want.

I don't have all the details but from memory we had 5 TS meals. Raglan road, Biergarten, Boma, Prime Time and Tusker. No meal splitting with any of those. I think Prime time was the only meal where we ordered dessert. Everything else was quick service. At least a couple of QS meals were shared because one or more of us wasn't very hungry. Quite a few Mickey bars, a couple of Dole whips. Miscellaneous other snacks. Lots of bottled water. We could not eat or drink any more without getting sick.

Just the fact that we skipped one TS meal probably dooms the math. Splitting even one QS meal is another strike. Finally not usually ordering dessert and sometimes choosing less expensive entrees because it's what you want.

To make the dining plan work you have to be eating every single meal to the fullest. That just isn't how I roll.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

We did do the dining plan last March due to a "stay, play, and dine" promotion as I had not planned on doing it for our trip with both kids being adults (according to Disney). When I had figured our room and tickets for a 9-night trip and added on what I would have paid for meals OOP (using menu's and based off past dining choices etc) it made sense to add the DDP as I was getting more TS meals during the trip (5 vs 9) compared to paying out of pocket and the cost was a bit cheaper. With all the data out there, you have to do the math. We have 4 Disney Adults now and a son who is a big eater. If the math makes sense to pay out of pocket, that is what is going to work for the majority of people and you will save $$.

 

[PK Disney Dork]

We booked the Deluxe dining this past trip and it worked out exactly how we wanted it to!

We had planned to hit as many signature and high end table services options as we would and utilizing the DDP we ended up spending WAY less than if we had gone out of pocket!

 

[fallonkendra]

This was from my 2016 dining report:

We paid ~$60/each for each night for the dining plan, so ~$840 in total. We had a total of 14 table service credits, 14 quick service credits and 14 snack credits. The total value of the snack credits we redeemed was $68.91, $280.15 for quick serve credits and $558.52 on table service credits - which gives a total of $907.58. Based on this math, we ended up saving over $67 by being on the Disney Dining Plan - so it is possible! to come ahead!

That said, the dining plan was way too much food for us, and didn't really fit with our style of eating. I don't always want to order an entree and a dessert at a restaurant, sometimes I just want to order an appetizer or two and call it a meal. I also didn't fully enjoy the 1 table service, 1 quick service allocation per day.

On our 2017 trip, we went the out-of-pocket route. We mainly did table service, so the regular dining plan would not have worked for us. Deluxe wouldn't have made sense either, since some meals we would split appetizers and dessert (no entrees), some meals we just ordered one appetizer and one entree and split that, etc.

Basically - you can come out ahead on the dining plan, but it really has to fit with you and your family's eating style. I can't see us doing the plan ever again.

 

[otterpop]

You can figure it out yourself....

http://www.distripplanner.com

We normally get the regular dining plan for 2 adults and 2 children and on average save about $150 to $250 dollars on a 7 night trip (plus we get the four resort mugs; which probably are a waste of money if we had paid for them...).

I think the dining plan for children is a great deal, but for adults not so much...

 

[Eastern]

We are average eaters and we usually skip a 'real' meal here and there, so the dining plan doesn't work for us. I think the meal plan price is a good gauge of what you will spend if you eat similarly. Look at the Disney Dining Reviews section of this forum for dining plan cost comparisons.

I did a short comparison here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/just-got-back-damages-and-mini-food-reviews.3516523/#post-55881445

Some people thought my suggested budget was too low ($50pp per day) but it's fine if you don't buy alcohol and avoid signature restaurant full meals (we sometimes do drinks and apps only). I also used TIW on this trip so factor that in.

 

[Realfoodfans]

There are a few blogs with information on this. For hubs and I it wouldn't be worth it (and sometimes we like to dine off site) but travelling with 3 generations we were pleased to get it free for our next trip. We will enjoy some extra paid for TS meals but with littlies it means we can be a bit laid back and not have to plan the costs on top of the trip.

 

[missmickey]

Thanks so much for all the input and links. I'm going to check out some Disney blogs now!

 

[pbb322]

I just prepared a spreadsheet with the math for me and my two kids (5 & 9) for our 5 night trip this summer, which includes 7 almost full park days ( arriving on 9 am flight and staying off site on night 6 near the airport for an early am flight the next day). We are doing five character meals all at dinner because my kids love them and we schedule them so they are an early dinner after we come back to the park from an afternoon break (well one is Chef Mickey at the hotel before we go back to the park for the evening) and between the 7 days of park visits we will use the quick service for sure. One of my kids has a food allergy so they never split meals. On the trips where my husband joins us we have never done the dining plan because we do sometimes split meals, but when it is just me and the kids, and we are doing so many character meals, even using my AP discount, we come off saving some $ with the dining plan, and that is without me pricing out all of our snacks and our refillable mugs. I do not count those because we rarely actually use the mugs (my kids only drink milk and water), and every time we have bought the DP we have leftover snack credits that we end up buying packaged treats with to take home because my kids just don't snack much between meals. IF you are the rare family that has our dining habits, you can save $, but if you are not going to do LOTS of character meals and you don't need a break each day to sit still at a TS meal like we do, you probably won't see the savings. This likely will be our last purchase of the DP for a while since my son will be 10 after this trip and we will have to pay adult prices, but he will still be fine eating off the kids menu for a while, so once he turns 10 we will go back to cash, and probably do fewer buffets because paying adult prices for my 10 year old's very light appetite is basically highway robbery.

 

[jcieutat]

We have done the DDP either free or on us the last decade or so. I was considering not purchasing it for our upcoming trip. I put pen to paper where we were eating and it is going to save us around $200 being on the DDP. Like others have said, it depends on where and what you eat. If you are steak eaters like us, you will save. If you are chicken eaters, you might be better paying OOP.

 

[Baklava]

We booked the Deluxe dining this past trip and it worked out exactly how we wanted it to!

We had planned to hit as many signature and high end table services options as we would and utilizing the DDP we ended up spending WAY less than if we had gone out of pocket!

We also loved the DxDDP- although it helped that part of our plan was to take lots of snacks home anyway. We were there 10 days and did something like 8 character meals.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

3 disney adults, 2 disney children
14 nights
Did the spreadsheet myself and displanner
Result of both was:
Saving over $600 with regular plan

Lots of character meals

 

[North of Mouse]

Disney does not push buying anything that doesn't save them money!! They're not interested in saving 'you' money!