Dining plan cost effective?

[twanner]

I've done the traditional dining plan twice now and really enjoyed the "no stress" aspect of it. BUT... my family and I are doing an extremely budget conscious trip in December--got a great deal at the Value Resorts and we thought we'd forgo the DDP. I was wondering if anyone has used the new Disney Dining counter-service plan. I think you get 2 CS and 2 snacks/ day plus a refillable mug. I'd be purchasing for myself, my husband and my 8 year old. Works out to be something like $70 a day for the whole family. In addition, we'd probably book 2 or 3 sit down meals as well. Do you think we'd save any money with this? Or could we realistically eat cheaper than $70 a day. (and I do mean EAT...not nibble on granola bars and cheese sticks for the day! )

 

[ajk912]

The CS plan seems like a ripoff to me for $30 per person per day. I could eat MUCH cheaper than that eating counter service everyday. I don't really need all that soda and dessert, I could just do the entree and be fine!

To me, it's only a value with the full dining plan. For $40 a person, especially with the character meals, it's WELL worth it.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Remember with the DDP you still have to pay the tip, so factor in that additional cost to determine whether it's a good value.

 

[delmar411]

well...it really depends. I'm not an adventurous eater so I normally just ordered a cheeseburger or bacon cheeseburger. Those come with fries and are around $9. The prices have gone up...

Then a large soda say after tax is close to $3...

bottled sodas are what $2? $2.25?

a pretzel is $3-4 (many snacks are in this range)

refillable mug is about $13 after tax

desserts are a rip off so I can't see ppl buying them w/o being on a DP but they range from $2-4 each

I did lunch for $15, dinner for $18 plus 2 snacks around $8 total and we always get the refillable mug anyway and breakfast was around $12-13.

Anyway it works out to a cost savings for me and wasn't too much food, well it was with the desserts but w/o those it wouldn't be.

ETA~ the day I did breakfast the total 'spent' would have been $35, still a savings w/o the lunch dessert
the day I did lunch/dinner total was $41 and even taking out $8 for desserts, still a savings.
Plus the mug value of $13

so 'spent' ~$89 and paid $59.98

 

[SarahKate]

I don't feel that it is quite as cost-effective as it used to be since they took out the appetizer and tip.

If you are used to eating BIG meals every day and need to have a sit-down meal every day, then yes, it is still pretty cost-effective.

It is a value to many (myself included) because of the fact that it's all paid for ahead of time and you just have to worry about the tips.

But with all that in mind, I think when we go again (we just went at the end of November) we may really think twice about the DP unless they either lower the cost or add stuff back to it. I think if you're relatively careful, you can definitely eat on a budget there w/o having to counter service everything.

 

[kittychatalot]

and loved it! Cosmic rays alone with like $25 per person for us so we really got our moneys worth out of it!

 

[DisneyDreams21]

For me it would be more of a break even, but I rarely rack up more than $10 at the counter services. The regular plan is better for us because we like one sit-down each day. For your situation I believe the regular plan would be around $92 (if the kid's plan is $11.99) and yours are $39.99 each. That excludes tip, but compared to the CS plan, it's only about $20/day more and if you planned on adding sitdowns anyway, it might be worth it. I find that when we do one of the big buffets, we tend to eat one counter service and a snack.

 

[bartleby1]

I've done the traditional dining plan twice now and really enjoyed the "no stress" aspect of it. BUT... my family and I are doing an extremely budget conscious trip in December--got a great deal at the Value Resorts and we thought we'd forgo the DDP. I was wondering if anyone has used the new Disney Dining counter-service plan. I think you get 2 CS and 2 snacks/ day plus a refillable mug. I'd be purchasing for myself, my husband and my 8 year old. Works out to be something like $70 a day for the whole family. In addition, we'd probably book 2 or 3 sit down meals as well. Do you think we'd save any money with this? Or could we realistically eat cheaper than $70 a day. (and I do mean EAT...not nibble on granola bars and cheese sticks for the day! )

Why don't you go to allearsnet.com and use their menus to "order" from. Add it up for your family and see if it is worth it for you. We decided that it wasn't worth it for our family. Plus, we have our car so we will go offsite a couple of times for dinner.

and loved it! Cosmic rays alone with like $25 per person for us so we really got our moneys worth out of it!

Holy cow! What did you guys order at Cosmic Rays for $25 per person!?! You can get a half chicken with mashed potatoes and a veggie for $9.09. And that is a lot of food.

Personally, I find the food prices to be pretty reasonable at most places in disney. Considering what other theme parks charge, I've always felt it was a bargain!

 

[Mom23Disneybelievers]

Staying at the value resorts (no fridge or coffee maker) makes it more difficult to come in under the cost of the DP.(Hard to keep food in room for breakfast, etc..) I think that if you are considering doing even a couple of TS meals OOP you might as well get the regular dining plan. The CS dining plan is only $10 less a day....you would be paying more.

 

[jcarter29]

For us it will be very cost effective because we are doing 5 different character meals plus 2 more table service. The dining plan cost covers those alone plus our counter service and snack each day. I always thought I would never bother with it, but it makes it very easy for us. The first time we ever used the plan was during a "free dining" promo and we loved it. Granted it now does not include tip or appy.

Thanks
Kim

 

[CarrieR]

It depends largely on how you eat. I had a $25 gc and put everything else on room charge -- the total for four days (including a sit-down at the plaza) was $86. So about $110. We did have a fridge in the room (from a swap) and had some granola bars etc, and got a case of water, but I really just got what I wanted when I wanted and it came in much less expensive than I realized.

One important point for me is that when I do a park, I don't usually do three square meals a day -- I'm more of a snack eater or someone who eats at unusual times. But I did indeed EAT, what I wanted and when I wanted, and it was way cheaper than any dining plan would have been (free dining excepted.)

I like the PP's idea of going through the menus and adding it up -- that seems like a good way to do the math.

 

[Elvis1515]

I agree with CarrieR it all depends on what and how much your family eats. My family (DH, Me, DS 6, DD 3) eat for about $65 a day eating counter service at Port Orleans Riverside.

For lunch and dinner, my kids split an adult chicken nugget and fries and my husband and I split the huge pasta meal. Then we have our mugs to drink anything we want. At the parks we usually split meals also. We do this with two goals in mind - 1) To fit in our pants when we get home 2)Stay longer on our trips. We do eat a sit down 1-2 times.

The meal plan would not work for us for a variety of reasons.

1) My kids split an adult chicken nugget meal (White meat) b/c the chicken looks better then kids meal of nuggets- MIckey Mouse nuggets

2) We don't eat dessert and again would like to fit in our pants

3) We eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and you only get 2 CS a day.

4) If we decide to sit down, we don't want to pay for CS meal plan.

5) Snacks we only spend $10 a day. We buy a bucket popcorn, 3 ice creams a day, & a piece of fruit. This is just want my family likes.

I would love to have the dining plan but then we would have to cut our stay in half.

Hope this helps.

 

[prncess674]

The dining plan just doesnt' do it for me. The strict offerings aren't what I would eat. We did much better just ordering what we wanted without regard to price. How often does your entire family order individual desserts. I like to eat, but none of the dining plans did it for me.

 

[beansmom]

we have decided against the DDP because we spend about $80 a day anyway. The two of us usually split a meal and the DDP would just make us MISERABLE. We're gonna see how much we spend outta pocket next week and go from there for future trips.

 

[crisi]

It really depends on how much you eat. We can do counter service for less than that, but we can often split meals, forgo fries, and share a large soda. Dessert is skipped at CS meals, and snacks are packed in. I've never thought about a CS dessert except when we did the dining plan. But if the idea of cutting a double cheeseburger in half or feeding three people from one rib platter at Cosmic Rays isn't appealing, then you can probably save money on the dining plan.

 

[TheLittleRoo]

Those who split meals between your DH and yourself, how does that work? Because my DH would definitely not be happy to share more than a taste with me. Do your spouses not have big appetites all the time, or is it the Florida heat that knocks it down a bit?

For us, the regular dining plan is the only one I think makes $en$e because for only $10/more p/p per/day you can have character meals or other TS meals. That alone seems to be a better value, because with small kids, we're always doing a bunch of character meals. Plus, we buy tons of Dt Pepsi to stash in our fridge, so the LAST thing we need are mugs...

I have come at this conundrum 112 different ways, trying to do w/o the DDP, and it always comes back to within $40 either way. And paying OOP at TS/CS restaurants means ordering water sometimes and most times no dessert in order to be competitive with the DDP. So, we tip the scales (no pun intended) toward using the DDP when we go, we just wait for a big discount on the room or we can't afford the trip. Well, we can "afford" it, we just choose not to part with that much $$$.....

 

[NeverBeen2DW]

I have always done the DDP. This next trip I am leaning towards not doing it. I was in shock the last time because I paid out so much in tips! When the tips were included I was all for the DDP. Now I am not sure.

When we travel it is my son and I. We normally split CS meals. Typically the double burger. We order an extra bun for .80 cents and make 2 meals out of it. Not because we are cheap but because it is all we want to eat! We actually end up with credits on our last day which we do not use. I think if I do the DDP in the future I will book a 2 credit meal. Because we do not even use all of our TS. My son often ends up not hungry when we sit down to eat. Probably from over stimulation and he just nibbles on my meal. I always keep in the room; water, diet coke for me, granola bars, indivigual yogurts for my son, ceral, milk, apples and in the future I may also keep peanut butter, jelly and bread. FYI, I order from Garden Grocer. To be honest we are not big food eaters. We eat because we have to not because we want too. We both could go all day until we were finally starving. Food is not something we think about until the next meal. We eat when hungry. Our last trip I took my mother and my niece for their first trip and to be honest they were grossed out by how much food everyone ate. Like I said we are not a "foody" family.

However, we we do eat we like quality foods. Our favorite place to dine is Teppanki (sp) and we go there every trip! We really do not enjoy buffets, Sci Fi.... you get the idea. So is the dining plan for us any longer???? I dunno!

My next trip on the 4/3 we plan to go to Chef Mickeys (because we always do), I think we will do the Hoope de do (sp) because we have never done it before and maybe a princess meal. I have a son so......? He loves pretty girls. What can I say ... he may enjoy it, he may not. We realistically could skip that. Our trip is in April and we plan to make it more of a trip to enjoy the water parks, relax, and of course do the other parks as well.

Anyways, my question is this. If I did not do the dining plan can anyone offer ideas on how to do your own meals for 7 days! I mean realistically can I pack a lunch for the park every day? If I bring those blue freezer ice things will they freeze over night in those small frigs. in the room? I could pay out of pocket for Hoop de doo and skip Chef Mickey. Not sure what to do. Help!

 

[hannah_03]

Last year I didn't do the dining plan and worried the whole time. I was pleased to see the quick service option this year and we will use that for our future family trips.

I'm using the Deluxe plan in May for our mother-daughter trip because of several character meals that my husband and son wouldn't enjoy as much. If it weren't for several of those, I would do the quick service option in a heartbeat!

I would check the menus and prices of where you want to sit down and eat and go from there. If you are on a really tight budget. We did last year on about $100/day for the four of us and it was stretched IMO. We didn't go hungry but I'll never do it again if I can help it.

 

[twanner]

Thanks everyone for your detailed replies! I think I'm more undecided than I was before!! When we do the "regular" DDP we end up scheduling our trip around eating and it can sometimes complicate our schedule a little. But...for $10 more a day...gah! I'm going to have to do some serious number crunching. Good thing I have 9 months left to figure it out!

 

[mybabesuz]

The quick service dining plan is definitely worth it.
Especially if you have kids...
ONLY $8.99 for 2 meals at $4.59 plus two snacks $5... That's like $15 right there...
Unless you're someone who doesn't like to eat much...
or If you never get dessert and don't buy snacks and bring your own drinks...
We have 3 kids under 9 and wouldn't go with out it...
I have done multiple spead sheets on the subject.
We didn't realize just how expensive CS really is...
With tax and a drink even without dessert it comes to $10-12 easy.
At POP their entrees run between $6-$10... $2.50 Drink... $3.50 dessert...
It could be $15 a person for dinner easily...
Then you get TWO snacks... Cheapest snack is $2.50.. thats $5
And you get the refillable mug for free too...

Just a sample...

adult CS meal... $7.59
Drink... $2.50
Dessert... $3.59

That's... $13.68 before tax...