Dining plan not worth it unless you get it for free (examining the costs)

[kreckl]

Thanks for the clarification. Every little bit helps!

 

[sharonabe]

What's DVC's contracted prices mean?

DVC members get a small discount on the dining plan. For adults, the discount works out to $3.35 per person per day on the DxDP, $1.86 per person per day on the DDP, and $1.29 per person per day.

And the PP who talked about the contracted prices booked BEFORE the DDP prices went up, so she is getting the discount plus the cheaper price. After DDP prices went up, food prices at almost all Disney eateries also went up, so she has a GREAT deal!

 

[tlmadden73]

Has it ever been worth it from a cost perspective?

For me it was easy math on my last few trips to know that I would not spend that much (per day) on my own meal and drinks .. not even close.

 

[kreckl]

Was definitely a big savings when our son was a child price and we were doing buffets.

 

[Lisa F]

And the PP who talked about the contracted prices booked BEFORE the DDP prices went up, so she is getting the discount plus the cheaper price. After DDP prices went up, food prices at almost all Disney eateries also went up, so she has a GREAT deal!

I booked my room before prices went up but haven't added DDP yet - it doesn't change for DVC members for the contracted period, which is through the end of the year. Now that I was able to get all of the ADRs I wanted, I will purchase the dining plan (just wanted to make sure before committing to deluxe that i could get what i wanted)

regular DDP is still $61.84 for adults and $20.96 for kids
DxDDP is still $111.75 for adults and $32.56 for kids.

It is pretty easy for me to break even on the DxDDP (if you are going to do all of those meals anyway that is) with a value of about $34 per TS credit for the adults and $8 for the kids. A breakfast character meal for 1 adult and 1 child is $51.11 with tax at most places, and it's about $42 with DxDDP. with breakfast being the worst value, you can imagine the savings at dinners. I am doing some of the better value dinners as well (that I really wanted to do but might choose not to do for budgetary reasons).

I am doing the DxDDP for 4 nights but spreading the credits over 10 meals in 5 days, with a character breakfast daily and a mix of 1TS and 2TS dinners. The cost is $577.24 for me and kiddo and I will get about $830 worth of meals for that cost - many of them (but not all) fixed price/aycte. These are all restaurants I really WANTED to do but am basically getting the 5 character breakfasts for free with the purchase of the 5 dinners I have planned. That is a deal any way you look at it!

And yes I am pretty sure what I would order at the TS restaurants - where I wasn't sure I used the lower priced options of the things that appealed to me to make my calculations. But I am doing narcoossees for shrimp and grits, lobster and almond cheesecake and it is a tremendous value on DDP. Ditto at CA Grill when you add sushi as an appetizer.

I'm doing the following:
Tusker house Breakfast
Yak and Yeti or Boma dinner (depends on RoL situtation)

Sci Fi Dine in early lunch
CA Grill dinner

Cape May Cafe Breakfast
Coral Reef with CP package dinner

Ohana Breakfast
H&V Minnie's Holiday Dine with F! package

Garden Grill breakfast
Narcoossees Dinner.

I bought into DVC 16 years ago and broke even a decade ago - there is no way I can do better than the $800 I pay in dues a year for my split stay at BWV and the Poly. Free dining will never be a "deal" to me.

I know it is not worth it (from a purely monetary perspective) for some people but I hate the blanket statements that say it's not worth it at all. Clearly for me, it is very worth it.

 

[Barbanellie]

Disclaimer: I am not saying everyone is like me, but I thought I'd join the conversation about how the DDP, and explain why, for me, there's no way I'd pay for it. And how you need to do the math based on how you and your family/traveling party eat.

We returned from our WDW 10-day trip a few weeks ago. We didn’t buy the dining plan. We hadn’t on our previous trip two years ago, and I didn’t think we needed to this time either. Coming home, Mr. Barbanellie started asking me if, maybe, it would’ve been worth it this time, because we did a couple buffets (Crystal Palace and Tusker House), and he felt maybe we had spent more than in 2014. So I looked at our final folio, we charged everything to the room, so it was easy to check what we’d paid vs. what the DDP would have cost us. I did all sorts of calculations, trying to see what, from what we’ve eaten, would’ve been included in the DDP, and what wouldn’t. But in the end, without making any kinds of convoluted calculations it’s a no brainer for us and for how we eat. The DDP would have cost us $1,146.60 (9 nights and two adults at $63.70/night/adult) Including EVERYTHING, so that’s including tips, alcohol and all the things that would not have been a part of the DDP, we paid a total of $1,100 (and did 9 TS, 6 CS and bought 14 snacks each). So if you remove the tips, the alcohol and the non-snack-credit things, we saved at least $300. (I've seen people say they liked the DPP, and that it maybe only would've cost just a little more than OOP, "like $200 or so". For us, $200 (or in this case $300) is a lot of money.)

Why this turned out that way for us is quite simple: we rarely had desserts at our TS meals, or at CS, or we would share one, and we also often shared CS meals. Not because we wanted to save money, but for desserts we were usually just too full after our entrees and preferred to buy a snack somewhere else later on, and sharing CS entrees because the portion sizes were often quite large, we weren’t very hungry, or we wanted a lighter meal to eat more snacks

Now, I'm not saying we couldn't have "made the plan work" if we'd had it. We probably would've eaten those desserts we didn't get, we might have had more ADRs at more expensive places, and I know I would've felt compelled to buying the more expensive entrees to "get my money's worth" (whereas we chose what we wanted, we never stopped ourselves from choosing something that was more expensive), we would've used our snack credits differently, etc. We might have broken even, I don't know, and I'll never know. Because that would've been too much thinking for me on my vacation, and I wouldn't have liked thinking "ooh, I'd like a LeFou's Brew! Oh, but it's not a snack credit, I should get something else". That's what the DDP would be for me.

Is it worth it for you? I don't know, but you need to think about what you look for on your vacation. I know a lot of people like for it to be prepaid, and I respect that. However, for myself knowing how we vacation, I'd just get one of those Visa Prepaid cards (can't get Disney gift cards in Canada) with the amount the DDP would cost, and I know I'd have cash left over for extra souvenirs. Now if for our next trip we go during free dining, I'll have to do the math comparing that to the room discount, but I have a feeling even "free" it wouldn't be worth it to us.

 

[kreckl]

We plan a lot of resort/pool time, so for us a tipping pint is the mugs. Expensive for 4 people, and included in the DDP. For our split stay we will likely do the DP for one resort stay. We have a one night stay then 3 and 3. It would be crazy not to do it just for the first night if thats all we decide to do- for $60 some odd dollars we can get mugs and dinner at BOG ( steaks for all) and a Cs for the next day....

 

[mikeyg1479]

Amazed to see how long this little thread of mine has lasted!! One thing though, let me make it clear- I intend no ill-will towards anyone's decision to buy in or not with the dining plan. Do what you feel right for your family.

After seeing all of the thoughts/opinions/experiences- it seems to me one can conclude.

1. It seems in most cases, you probably aren't going to spend what you actually pay for the dining plan EXCEPT in cases where you intend to do a lot of character meals and buffets as the majority of your table service plans- then it becomes worth it.

2. If you prefer piece of mind of having food paid for ahead of time, and think being handed a check with a total each meal would stress you out, then go ahead and buy it.

3. FREE dining plan is great- if you are getting it and are happy with your package price, more power to you. Just know you may be paying more for your package to get the free dining plan, which may eat into actual savings.

Again, for me, I fully believe we will be able to order whatever we want and are truly hungry for, and I know we'll pay less. We won't always be hungry for desert at both lunch and dinner. I don't always want an expensive entre. Maybe I want an appetizer one day, to share among family instead of desert- I still have room to do this. There is only one buffet in our plans, and its breakfast which should be $30 range, and fall well into my illustration in the first post. Everything will go to the credit card attached to my room account and I know the total will be less than what my travel agent would throw on the trip bill if I request the DDP.

Thank you all!

 

[2pinwheels]

I priced a discounted moderate room rate with the PH and meal plan, and it cost the same as the deluxe with the included meal plan. Apples to apples, the deluxe was the same price.

Without the meal plan, but with the PH, it was close. Knowing how expensive food is, I could imagine eating that delta in three days.

So, we could save going to the moderate and skipping the meal plan and PH.

Thing is, my husband is a big advocate for the park hopper. We don't get max value, but he likes the flexibility and we use it a few times per trip.

As for the meal plan, I'm on the fence.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

My brother always wants the dining plan because he likes not having to pay for food while on vacation. However because him and his wife often share meals and the two kiddos NEVER eat a full meal each, I have done the math and the dining plan of any variety is more money than just pay as you go, even with some character meals thrown in for us. So in order to appease my brother I took the cash he would have prepaid for the Disney Dining plan, loaded it on a Disney gift card and we used that the whole trip. At the end we had about $100 left on the card, which we used from some great souvenirs.

Nice!

 

[12disneybee]

We always upgrade to the DxDP from the free dining.. We are 5 adults. We stay 2 weeks. Hubby loves bass fishing so we make a trip of it! (Thats a whole other explanation how he does this on the Premium package)
We book bounce back. We book 5 in one room upgrading from free dining to DxDP...but there is no way in hell we stay in one room...
We score a 3 Bedroom 2 bath condo at Windsor Hills for $249 week! Much cheaper and everyone gets DxDP for $45 per day! We normally eat very nice breakfasts... $25+ per person, (Boma, Cape May, Olivia's etc..)
We eat signature dinners (Boathouse, Narcoosees, YC Steak house, California Grille) $125+ per person. We also eat 1 credit meals at Trex, Olivias, Turf Club, Cape May...
Lunch..we use snacks . $10 per person if we are even hungry
With the new sharing rule...4 additional family members came down at one point for 3 nights and at another time 2 more family members joined us for 8 nights..
we had enough credits to feed them dinner too! Well worth every dime! We ate better than kings!

 

[barbaraann]

Let me make sure that I have my facts straight. I was told by my travel agent that in order to get a free dining plan at Pop Century, I had to pay full price for the room, and purchase park hopper tickets. I never knew about the park hopper part of the equation. I never buy park hoppers anymore, because that saves me money. In fact, I have no problem with just doing one park each day. In fact, it makes my vacation much more relaxed. Adding park hoppers to a ticket/package is just about equal to a cost of a Quick Service Dining Plan, so what's the savings? I can't get a discount on the room, and I must purchase park hoppers, so free dining is not free at all.

 

[celina14]

Let me make sure that I have my facts straight. I was told by my travel agent that in order to get a free dining plan at Pop Century, I had to pay full price for the room, and purchase park hopper tickets. I never knew about the park hopper part of the equation. I never buy park hoppers anymore, because that saves me money. In fact, I have no problem with just doing one park each day. In fact, it makes my vacation much more relaxed. Adding park hoppers to a ticket/package is just about equal to a cost of a Quick Service Dining Plan, so what's the savings? I can't get a discount on the room, and I must purchase park hoppers, so free dining is not free at all.

Yes, to get the current FD promo you need to add either park hopper or water park option to your tickets and your room is at full price. So that's why a lot of people say you need to examine it from your own personal perspective. If you don't care about having the extras on your ticket and you can get a discounted room instead then it may not make sense for you to do it. For me, there is FD offered for our dates but no room only discounts (at least not at this time) so for us to add the PH option on was only a couple hundred dollars extra to get the free dining for 9 nights. And we were considering adding PH anyway but were going to wait until we were there and see if we would have ended up needing it or not. Now, I've already told my TA that if room only discounts end up coming out for our dates then we may decide to go that route instead of the FD, I'd have to look and see how much cheaper the room would be for us and factor in the food cost to see which ends up being a better deal.

 

[sharonabe]

We book 5 in one room upgrading from free dining to DxDP...but there is no way in hell we stay in one room...
We score a 3 Bedroom 2 bath condo at Windsor Hills for $249 week!

So you pay full price for a room for 2 weeks that you don't use AND an offsite place that you do use, and that's still cheaper? I don't understand.

 

[babesboo99]

We have been booked since November since that is our 11 month window at BCV. We got the DxDDP March 5th right before the prices went up and I am glad we did all though it really didn't effect us since we are DVC .

 

[BookGirl305]

q

 

[wdw4rfam]

Let me make sure that I have my facts straight. I was told by my travel agent that in order to get a free dining plan at Pop Century, I had to pay full price for the room, and purchase park hopper tickets. I never knew about the park hopper part of the equation. I never buy park hoppers anymore, because that saves me money. In fact, I have no problem with just doing one park each day. In fact, it makes my vacation much more relaxed. Adding park hoppers to a ticket/package is just about equal to a cost of a Quick Service Dining Plan, so what's the savings? I can't get a discount on the room, and I must purchase park hoppers, so free dining is not free at all.

Exactly, sometimes it works out, sometimes not. We didn't do it this year for the first time because we want to try deluxe. But had we gone to CBR, it would have been a savings. We have all over 10 in our family now, so that's 4 adults. In a moderate room if I take the would be room discount plus cost of hoppers, we still come out better with free dining because we spend about $200 day on food (which is $2000 for our 10 day trip). so it's still better. But in a deluxe, no, the room discount we got was substantial and we don't have hoppers, and paying OOP for food. I tried it with free dining and it was $1200 MORE!! Just depends on situations. But with all the new stipulations, no, to some it's not free anymore. Unless you were going to buy hoppers anyways.

 

[barbaraann]

Now that I am older, I rarely ever park hop. Park hopping is great when I am planning a shorter trip, and I want to do just four days in the parks. Then I can do 1/2 days, and catch the night time entertainment that I like, and the rides that I must ride in the mornings. The switching of the parks allows a bit of a rest period in the middle of the days. Most of the time, in the past, my trips have not coincided with the free dining offering. When it has happened, we have always passed. You have to do the math, that's for sure. I planned a trip back in 09, during free dining, and I don't remember park hopping being a condition. Full price for the room always was. The trip I am planning now is a long one with lots of people, and free dining added lots of money to our costs. I can't even afford more than a value hotel anymore. I have stayed at Pop on my last three trips, and we are staying there again in late August. I love that resort. I have only paid for the dining plan once, and that was because the friend I was traveling with, she wanted to have it. That was back in 2007, and the plan was different then. It was the regular one. I don't think there even was a quick service plan back then. I am not a big eater at all. I don't mind paying OOP for food, in fact, I prefer it. I always chuckle a bit, when guests are running around on departure day gathering up there leftover snacks from the dining plan that they did not use. They think of it as,"they are owed". I think of it as a nuisance.

 

[12disneybee]

So you pay full price for a room for 2 weeks that you don't use AND an offsite place that you do use, and that's still cheaper? I don't understand.

Yes! 5 adults get PH tickets, our DxDP meals and snacks, our mugs (which we use at the boardwalk (we spend lots of time there, we use the mugs when we are visiting all the resorts). To avoid being scolded, the hotel gets used.....hypothetically, just not by us. I mentioned in my post, my sister and her family come down for 3 nights and my brother in law and sister in law come down for a different 5 nights. We (the original 5 adults) have a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath condo rented in Windsor Hills for $249 per week. We can see the MGM fireworks from the balcony! We always rent a car, we stopped using buses long ago. It comes out much cheaper with FD having 5 adults in one room upgrading to DxDP. There is no way we would ever stay in one room so instead of spending money on 2 separate rooms, its cheaper to rent a condo in Windsor Hills and have everyone "in one room" at Disney for the FD benefits, upgrading to the DxDP. We also get another discount..here in Pittsburgh, PA...our Grocery chain has a fuel program, for every $50 in Disney Gift Cards we buy, we get $6.00 in free gasoline. So, for instance, if our package is $5,000, we will get $600 in free gasoline, we have 3 months to use $600 in free gasoline. Plus, I charge the $5,000 on my Southwest visa to pay for the Disney gift cards and I get a $50 gift card for Walmart, just for using my southwest card... We don't allow any interest charges so we pay our trip off when the bill comes in, so that's $650 off our trip....a huge savings. $4350 2 weeks DXDP for 5 + $500 for the condo and sharing all these credits with other family members is a good deal, we have done it several years..........Our family members visiting pay all the tips and always give us money for sharing our credits..........................................

 

[Huff]

The OP's initial analysis failed to include tax.
That said, a diner who typically eats smaller or less expensive dishes will not save on DDP. For us, we often order steaks and seafood dishes and don't dine at the buffets at all except Boma and eat counter service at some of the more expensive restaurants. I see others on the DDP grab a hot dog, or use a TS credit for counter service meals. May as well pay OOP if thats all you need for meals.