Dining plan for family of four?

[charminnie]

Trying to decide if dining plan is a good idea for family of four, kids ages 7 and 5. We will be there 5 nights. My husband likes to sit down and eat a good meal, gets tired of QS. We will probably do 4 table services during our trip. If paying out of pocket we would not always order dessert, but we generally buy at least 2 refillabke mugs. Please help. Do you think dining plan is a good value for us?

 

[wishing4PA]

You'll probably have to look at some sample menus and price compare what you think you would purchase vs. the cost of the plan.

In favor of the plan - the kids' daily rate is not all that high and you have 2 kids.

But, kids' meals aren't all that bad out of pocket either.

The other issues, IMHO, are which meal you want to sit down for for instance, breakfast or lunch could be cheaper than dinner, and whether you want pricey meals such as character meals. If you're going to do character meals, especially dinners (and btw, you'll want reservations before you go, if so -- some places fill up around 180 days in advance), they can really add up, and the DP may make sense.

Disney has it worked out pretty well to where they aren't going to be losing money on you either way, lol.

My gut says you'll probably do well on the DP.

 

[eliza61]

Trying to decide if dining plan is a good idea for family of four, kids ages 7 and 5. We will be there 5 nights. My husband likes to sit down and eat a good meal, gets tired of QS. We will probably do 4 table services during our trip. If paying out of pocket we would not always order dessert, but we generally buy at least 2 refillabke mugs. Please help. Do you think dining plan is a good value for us?

check out allears.net and look at the menus and the prices.

For my family of 4 its is no deal, in fact its about 40/day more expensive then we normally spend.

The trick is to calculate how you eat naturally. take the price out of the equation. YOu say you don't order dessert is that because of the price or because you just generally don't eat dessert every night.

My family rarely eats dessert, free or not and definitely would not eat it 4 days straight so the ddp lost value for me when they took away the apps.

Also remember the ddp no longer covers tips.
Are you going to do character meals and buffets? Those are where the ddp may save you some money.

I would plan out 4 nights of menus, pretend that you are ordering and then compare the cost.

 

[brucerob62]

i do it out of convenience..so i have that expense paid for before i go..but with 2 kids its more apt to be worth it..since its cheaper..i have a 12 yr old who doesnt eat alot,,so its not worth it to me..since she is adult price. If you go with basic dining plan..eat a TS meal in the evening...it costs more so makes DDP more worth it ..as opposed to eating a TS meal at breakfast. But as previous poster said look at menus figure out what your kids will eat and if its worth it to you.

 

[charminnie]

Thanks for all your advice. I have started to look at menus and prices. Haven't finished yet but looks like DP will be worth it for us. We are planning to book at least two character meals, which are very pricy.

 

[robinb]

Trying to decide if dining plan is a good idea for family of four, kids ages 7 and 5. We will be there 5 nights. My husband likes to sit down and eat a good meal, gets tired of QS. We will probably do 4 table services during our trip. If paying out of pocket we would not always order dessert, but we generally buy at least 2 refillabke mugs. Please help. Do you think dining plan is a good value for us?

My first impulse is to say that is *is* worth it for a family of 4 with 2 "Disney Kids" especially if you plan on doing character meals or buffets. I don't know when you are going, but the cost for the DDP for 2 adults and 2 children is approximately $150 per day. Dinner at Chef Mickey's is $125 for your family, so you would only have to spend $25 on 4 QS meals and 4 snacks to "break even". Like the others have said, you will have to look at the menus and prices to see if it makes sense for you and your style of eating. If

 

[Deshawn27]

This has made me really evaluate it the Dp is right for our vacation. I will definitely go to allears.net to do some calculations. Thanks so much.