Dining Plan or Opt Out?

[GatorMama]

Flippers pizza is offsite and freaking delicious!

 

[luvsJack]

For anyone thinking about or considering it, I would seriously suggest making a sort of estimated list of the restaurants you think your family might like to try. Some are 2 credits so be watchful of that and make sure you stay within your allotted credits for TS and CS. Now go to allears and look at the menus and decide what your family may order at each one and add it up. Don't forget the drinks. (if you normally drink water with meals then don't add anything for drinks. If your family doesn't normally drink water, don't suddenly decide they are going to on vacation) And dessert--if you wouldn't normally order this, leave it off. Add it all up, not just one day or a few meals.

Remember when some people save money oop (not everyone), its because they share meals. If you are not going to do that, then don't plan for it. My family would not do it. Our tastes are different.


Now, compare that amount to the cost of the ddp. Do not assume that you will need more food than is on the plan. Some people may of course, but the two meals and one snack were plenty for us every day. The only thing we ever bought was a turkey leg or two over the 6 days. Portions are big, especially if you are not sharing meals.

One sticky part that comes in for parents is whether their child is a "child" eater or "adult" eater. Disney's idea of when to charge for an adult and our kids' ideas of when to eat like an adult can be very different. Buffets of course are going to charge you for an adult like the plan. Look at the kids menus for your 9/10 year old and decide if you really think they would order off the child's menu or if you would end up buying them adult meals anyway.

Whew! Sounds like a lot of work for food! LOL This first time I did all this, after that I can speed through it and just add it all up as I go. FOR US, DDP has always come out better. For YOU it may be very different. And it may be very different than anyone else here.

 

[powellrj]

I am also trying to decide on the DDP. We would probably do QS plan for a family of 4 (kids are 13) adults x 9 days. We will have a car...what are some off property eating choices? We don't mind some fast food but we like to eat a "meal" for dinner.

Just about any chain is available in the area. We have a list of places that we always try to eat at that we don't have at home. Some of the more popular ones are Sweet Tomatoes, Steak and Shake, Fuddruckers, Joes Crab Shack, Giordanos just a few off the top of my head.

 

[loves to dive]

I've done it both ways, and go OOP now. When my son was little the plan was three sit down meals a day and included an appetizer and not dessert, which is how we eat. They have scaled it down since then and it's just not worth the money for me now. If "free dining" is offered I usually check to see if there are room only discounts at the same time and I tend to save more money with the room discount. I'm not a huge eater during the day and often get a kids meal for myself and can't always eat that. I don't drink tea or soft drinks with my meals, I only drink water so it just makes sense. I do eat at some of the sit down restaurants, especially if I'm with my son and his wife, and again I tend to get an appetizer for my meal and then a dessert and am full as a tick. I do drink alcohol during supper at the sit downs, which isn't included on the plan anyway. I saved all my receipts and added them up the first time I did it and did come out a little less than the dining plan but the freedom of just eating a snack for a meal if I wanted it, or an appetizer was worth much more than any savings.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

We usually go during free dining, but I would never pay for the dining plan OOP. Some of our favorite restaurants are the less expensive places like Sci Fi or LTT (lunch only.) We don't do very many buffets or character meals anymore. Our son is now considered a Disney adult, but he doesn't have an adult appetite so we don't really save any money there.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

We don't do the dining plan, for several reasons. One is that several in my family are vegan, so our entrees tend to be the cheaper ones on the menu. Also, we are more likely to want appetizers (salads) rather than desserts (and the vegans among us only get a bowl of fruit at most places anyway). Another is that the kids don't care for most of the kid's meals and want adult items at many places. We save money by paying OOP and feel free to choose the things we want rather than what's on the plan.

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

We have done dining plan once when it was free and once when it was not, and we will not be paying for it next trip. I did the math last time. I looked at every menu of every place we would eat, chose what I thought the three of us would choose, added tax, and ran the numbers. Dining plan worked for us on the last trip, but ONLY because we did character meals. It was a hot May last year and we felt like we were stuffing ourselves to eat food we didn't want. Since we are no longer first timers, the time we waste (arriving 15 minutes before adr, waiting 5-40 minutes for a seat, ordering, waiting, eating, waiting to pay) made me INSANE. We will select a few table service favorites for ADR's and see what happens next trip, no dining plan. I expect to come home with lots of mouse ears as I will spend my savings on memories!

 

[luvsJack]

We have done dining plan once when it was free and once when it was not, and we will not be paying for it next trip. I did the math last time. I looked at every menu of every place we would eat, chose what I thought the three of us would choose, added tax, and ran the numbers. Dining plan worked for us on the last trip, but ONLY because we did character meals. It was a hot May last year and we felt like we were stuffing ourselves to eat food we didn't want. Since we are no longer first timers, the time we waste (arriving 15 minutes before adr, waiting 5-40 minutes for a seat, ordering, waiting, eating, waiting to pay) made me INSANE. We will select a few table service favorites for ADR's and see what happens next trip, no dining plan. I expect to come home with lots of mouse ears as I will spend my savings on memories!

Thats another difference everyone needs to consider in their family and others. Your family doesn't like to take the time it takes to eat at a TS, we like the break! Or we like the early morning breakfast to get us started. Neither wrong just a preference difference. And an important consideration in getting that particular dp.

 

[penguin087]

My husband and I went in November without the dining plan. We are not big budget followers on vacation and don't deny ourselves anything. We spent almost exactly what the dining plan would have cost. However, that includes tips, meal time cocktails, sometimes appetizers instead of dessert, sometimes both. So we really saved without getting the dining plan and got what we wanted instead of being dictated by the plan. I would take it if it were free of course and I think it works out better for a family but for 2 adults I wouldn't pay for it.

 

[ValpoCory]

The counter service plan provides the least potential savings, and the adult price (which you'd pay for your 13-year-olds) makes it a terrible value. No matter if you'd eat on-site or off, I'd skip the plan.

Yep. The most potential savings is on the Deluxe Dining Plan, but so few get that.

 

[ValpoCory]

I would take it if it were free of course

I wouldn't. In order to get it "free", you have to pay a higher price on your hotel. It's never "free".

 

[ThistleMae]

We "create" our own pre-paid dining plan by buying a Disney gift card and loading it with the money we anticipate we will spend for food. In that way, our food is pre-paid and yet we do not feel we have to buy a drink or dessert unless we want drinks or desserts. If we have money left over then we just reuse the card on our next trip.

Kate

Great idea!

 

[ThistleMae]

I agree that it is usually cheaper to pay OOP. The food and drinkis wonderful at WDW so sometimes we get the meal plan to have a wonderful, relaxing, eating vacation. I also consider how much time we want to spend eating.

Indeed! I've been looking at menus and am seeing some great appetizers that can be shared at lunch, or late night treats like chicken wings and bread pudding that you could not get on the dining plan. Definitely sharing lunches is a great way to eat a smaller meal without waste. And...I'm still able to go to those fabulous buffets at the resorts! I can eat what I want, wherever I want.