Dining plan or no dining plan.. that is the question!

[momof2halls]

why not just go with no plan and pay out of pocket?

We are trying that at the end of June. We love the convenience of having it prepaid and no pressure to order whatever we want. We are eager to see how no plan works and hoping we end up ok without it.

 

[msb578]

6 of us went earlier this month. We ate what we want, when we wanted. We did several character breakfasts (because they work better for our touring strategy), including Cinderella's Royal Table, Chef Mickey, Garden Grill & Hollywood & Vine.

Before we went I did the dining plan calculator online estimating where/when/what we would eat and it had me coming out about even with or without it. I decided against the plan because I prefer not to be locked into anything. When we got home, I added up the total to see if we would have been better off. We saved $500 not doing the dining plan.

I think doing pretty much all character dinners is the only way to save any money with the plan anymore. I'm not sure I could ever justify doing it again.

 

[Juliet0778]

Are your kids going to want to do a sit down meal every day? It seems like a lot to me, with little kids. You know your own kid's best though, and maybe this would work well for your family. Just something to think about.

My little kid does. But he's a foodie and adores eating out and trying new stuff. I am fully aware most kids are not like him. That being said, we did the dining plan last time, but are not doing it this time despite doing TS every day. Sometimes we want apps, not dessert, and some days for quick service we may be less hungry or whatever.

 

[londontime]

We have little ones, and when I've crunched the numbers (both before and after) it wouldn't work for us. Too many sit downs, and not being able to pick what you want. I might be wrong, but I think it skews your view on what you should be ordering. You start to look at the menu in terms of payback for the plan rather than just ordering what you fancy, or I know I would. I'm on vacation, I don't want to be tracking credits. If we fancy a blow out like Narcoosees or CG, we do it. If we want to stroll down to the hotel QS and have a sandwich between us, we do that. Over the vacation I think it pretty much evens out.

 

[emsstacey]

I don't do the dining plan to necessarily save money... it just reduces the hassle of everything for us. My kids love ordering whatever they want including deserts. If I were paying out of pocket, there is no way we would eat the same way, but that is part of what makes it fun. If it's in your budget, and you are ok with the price, then I would do it. We have done the 1QS/1TS our last two visits and loved it-- we had a few credits left over at the end, but otherwise... it was perfect. We are going for Beta convention this June/July and won't have the time for all of the planned meals, so no dining plan. I can already tell that I'm more money focused and prepping the kids to eat less and not necessarily order exactly what they want. I don't think it will ruin our trip but it will be very different.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I don't do the dining plan to necessarily save money... it just reduces the hassle of everything for us. My kids love ordering whatever they want including deserts. If I were paying out of pocket, there is no way we would eat the same way, but that is part of what makes it fun. If it's in your budget, and you are ok with the price, then I would do it. We have done the 1QS/1TS our last two visits and loved it-- we had a few credits left over at the end, but otherwise... it was perfect. We are going for Beta convention this June/July and won't have the time for all of the planned meals, so no dining plan. I can already tell that I'm more money focused and prepping the kids to eat less and not necessarily order exactly what they want. I don't think it will ruin our trip but it will be very different.

Interesting. I'm the opposite. Back when I got the plan, I would order expensive things in order to feel like I was getting value out of it. Since I stopped getting the plan, I order exactly what I want and don't feel like I have to do a certain number of TS meals. I've saved money every time.

(If you have credits left over, it would surprise me if you didn't lose money.)

It's all in perspective, honestly.

 

[iadizfans]

We just don't think it's worth it anymore... I agree with previous postings that you should weigh the pros and cons and decide from there. If you are going to plan each day- parks & restaurants - you can look at menus ahead of time and get a feel for OOP costs. That might help.

It was a pretty good deal when they first came out with the program back in 2005 but unfortunately, they have whittled down the benefits and raised the daily cost to the point where we stopped participating. I think the last time we used it was in 2010.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

One option, if you are going to get two rooms, is to have one room get the dining plan. Then all 6 of you can share dining credits for 3 or 4 people. This might be plenty of TS meals for kids anyway. You can use your credits to hit the most expensive TS meals (character dinners, etc) and QS meals (anyone buying an entree over $13 uses a credit!) We did this last year and it worked out great - I think we ended up paying for one TS meal and one QS meal out of pocket. Sharing credits was plenty of food for us.

 

[Tk0021]

This is our second trip coming up in September and we are on the fence with the meal plan. I have not paid for it yet but we did make our ADRs. We got it for our trip last year ( just me my wife and two small daughters) but I didn't crunch the numbers. My parents have gone several times over the past few years and they just told me to get it so I did. Now with a little more experience I know better. Not including tip and tax and if everyone would order the most expensive item on the menu, we will be plus $11 for the 4 days. Anyone orders less then most expensive and we are loosing money. It very close call

 

[KrazeeK120]

This is our second trip coming up in September and we are on the fence with the meal plan. I have not paid for it yet but we did make our ADRs. We got it for our trip last year ( just me my wife and two small daughters) but I didn't crunch the numbers. My parents have gone several times over the past few years and they just told me to get it so I did. Now with a little more experience I know better. Not including tip and tax and if everyone would order the most expensive item on the menu, we will be plus $11 for the 4 days. Anyone orders less then most expensive and we are loosing money. It very close call

If you're on the fence and already made ADRs, I wouldn't get it. That way, everyone will feel like they can order whatever they want, rather than ordering certain things to "get your money's worth." Good luck with your decision!

 

[StraightToDumbo]

You have to be pretty devoted to your meals and EVERYONE must eat their fair share of meals for it to make sense. Often, my family of 5 can share 3 QS meals between us fairly easily. If your party can share meals at least a few times, you'll probably make out ahead with OOP.