Dining plan or paying out of pocket?

[emnems34]

For only $100 more I'd definitely do it, especially if you're the type (like me!) to be double and triple checking menu prices. It's well worth the very small amount of extra money for everything you'll get plus your peace of mind that you can just use your plan, especially with kids who can out of nowhere decide they want dessert or a soft drink. We typically don't just because it's only my husband and I and we aren't big soda or dessert people, but that may all change once we have kids! Have fun!!!! : D

 

[verleniahall]

we've don eboth and would vote for dining plan 100% of the time

it is much easier and you aren't worrying abotu how much something costs - you cna jsut order and enjoy

 

[supersnoop]

At $100 more, that will still take an awful lot of desserts and sodas to make up the difference; like 30 desserts and/or sodas. Will you really order that many?

I'm a penny-pincher. I've resigned myself to the knowledge that, when paying out of pocket, no matter what I order, I'm always coming out ahead of the plan. I've learned to ignore the prices when we order and just go with it. You'll (most likely) come out ahead paying out of pocket.

 

[Stefecatzz]

I say give it a try as well. That way you'll know for sure whether it's for you & your family or not & the price difference might be worth it just to find out.

I tried the QSDDP once on a solo trip & would never do it again. I never order drinks or desserts because I prefer water & it's too much for me all at once. I much preferred the regular DDP because I'd use 2 credits for a show or signature that I normally wouldn't be able to do OOP so that turned out to be a better value for me (mainly it was a value because I was fortunate enough to be able to use a friend's CM discount for the plan..). But now having the choice to get DDP full price or go OOP, OOP always wins.

 

[maltdizzy]

At $100 more, that will still take an awful lot of desserts and sodas to make up the difference; like 30 desserts and/or sodas. Will you really order that many?

I'm assuming $100 total, not per person.

Personally, if dining all QS anyway, I don't see any way to make up the value of the dining plan. This isn't a "I can order the most expensive item on the menu without worry" situation. It's all counter service relative level price-wise.

I would go OOP. Give the kids gift cards for food. But I don't think $100 (total) is a deal breaker either way.

 

[addiln]

Yeah the $100 savings would come from us not drinking soda and not getting as many snacks. So I know we will be spending more but hopefully it will seem like more of a vacation for all involved. Not sure when we will do Disney after this upcoming trip anyhow. Even though I homeschool they still have lots of activities they just can't miss and it's hard to get away.

The one benefit of the meal plan is that the trip since more all inclusive. You have very little oop purchases this way.

 

[Roop]

For a 100 difference? Absolutely do the dining plan!!! You and your family will so much enjoy the drinks and desserts and freedom to choose whatever they want and it will feel so much more of a vacation without the constant worry of paying!!! And I have done both multiple times!

 

[Maddie2]

If you'd only save $100, I'd say go for the dining plan. We returned from our vacation to WDW just last week and faced this same thing. We have 2 boys - 21 & 19 and ordinarily good eaters too. Although with the heat, no one was as hungry as they would be at home. I went with the OOP option and saved $450-$500.

I did buy Disney gift cards at Sam's as a way to have meals pre-paid and this added to the savings. They sell $150 in gift cards for $142.XX. I paid off our trip this way too, thus more savings (combining the $50 gift cards online made it easier). These are additional savings to the $450-$500 face value gift cards vs. meal plan. We bought each boy a refillable cup at the resort and they were able to get soda whenever they wanted. That being said, they only "wanted" it twice. Ugh. Oh, well, I'd rather they drink water anyway! We each had at least one purchased snack each day - usually a slushy or ice cream and we ordered dessert a couple of times. We also carried a few snacks that we brought from home, but I think most of them came home with us.

I ordered bottled water and breakfast items from gardengrocer.com and we had free cups of water in the parks. We also had one table service meal. We have done the dining plan before (once for free and once, paid) and probably won't do it again. Just too much food and our vacation tummies were happier without it.

Have a great time! I always say (just ask our kids, it drives them crazy) that my favorite part of a Disney vacation is no cooking or meal planning, so I LOVE it!

 

[5kidsmommy]

Because I am always doubting myself, we sat down and looked at what food we will eat at Disney World. Pretty much planned every meal because my kids seem to eat at the same places every time, never the same place twice though. And we decided to add another table service meal. So yeah we decided to go without the meal plan. We just couldn't make it work, it ended up realistically being about $200 more. My 16 year old sons only concern was that if we didn't get the meal plan was that he could still order a soda with his meals. haha! He has his priorities. With the online calculators it said $100 but going into each menu and actually choosing the meals we would eat the cost difference was even larger. I think we will be safe budgeting $1500 for 7 full days at Disney World for the 5 of us, that is 3 TS meals and quick service for lunch and dinner, except on the days we are doing TS. Plus a snack everyday for each person. We never eat breakfast in the parks, always at our campsite.

Thanks for all the advice. You'd think I was a Disney noob and I'm not, just not a regular dining plan user.

 

[canadiandisneynut]

If it is your last trip for a while, do the dining plan and eliminate the thinking around meal time.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

What time of the year are you going (or I may have missed it) ? If it is summer, I'd do OOP, as I am never able to eat as much at WDW in the heat/humidity of the summer and something lighter sits better in me. With the ages of your kids, you can always give them charging privileges too on their magic bands, so you all can eat where you like too.

 

[wishinitwas]

We are doing it in Nov. I am like you and budget watching and dh is let's eat tons of snacks, soda, and lobster bc it's vacation. So it will be peace of mind for me to not worry about prices or have to tell the kids no all the time. My friends were there in Feb and highly recommend the DP.

 

[5kidsmommy]

What time of the year are you going (or I may have missed it) ? If it is summer, I'd do OOP, as I am never able to eat as much at WDW in the heat/humidity of the summer and something lighter sits better in me. With the ages of your kids, you can always give them charging privileges too on their magic bands, so you all can eat where you like too.

We aren't going until late February/Early March next year. It will definitely be warmer than back home in Ohio. Two of us are very light eaters, one is a moderate eater and two I would consider big eaters but considering we are a family that usually splits two chicken breasts at home between all of us none of us would probably be considered big eaters. My kids tend to graze a lot. They would be happy if they could just eat at the various countries in Epcot the entire trip.

 

[Merx]

For me, if it's even between paying OOP or dining plan, then I would NOT go with the dining plan. Without the dining plan I would be free to skip a meal if I'm filled on snacks on a day without having to think I've wasted a credit or I need to "make up" a credit on another day. And knowing me, I would feel that I need to spend $x per counter service and $y per table service to ensure I get the most "value" from the dining plan.

I understand the other side of the argument that there is a peace of mind that, with the dining plan, that you don't need to worry about cost as it's already paid for, but for me, if I want that peace of mind, I can set aside the same amount of cash in a safe or transfer it to another bank account equal to what the dining plan costs, and that would give me the same peace of mind. Not saying the other side of the argument is wrong, it's just how I would do it.

 

[Babsy]

i know that I am the odd ball here, but I find that I worry more about the cost of the dining plan being more than paying OOP. I don't need the pressure to eat more than I need - especially to eat desserts or drink sugary soda. The dining plan is way too stressful for me. So, I feel a lot more relaxed just ordering OOP, knowing that it saves me money regardless of what I choose (I compare before I go using the most expensive foods that I would order). I never even look at the prices on the menu, just order what I want. Keeping track of food credits is too much like work.

I always save the receipts and double check when I get home and I never would have saved money with the dining plan compared to paying OOP. We are not big eaters and never order soda or dessert, though. Also, I am not vegan/vegetarian, but I often prefer vegetarian or vegan meals. So, all these things make a difference. It depends upon what you find stressful and how you eat.

It sounds like the Dining Plan might make sense for the OP, though. If you find it easier, then I would go for it.

 

[Lisa F]

I know there are a gazillion threads on this issue but I am still so torn, luckily I've got plenty of time to decided.

We are camping next March at Fort Wilderness. I have only done the dining plan once and it was a for trip staying at CBR with just my daughter, we went during free dining so it was a no brainer.

Next trip though it will be myself, my husband, and our three kids. The kids will be 17 (DS), 16 (DD) and 14(DS). The kids aren't huge eaters but they are basically adults so it's like feeding 5 adults. We usually save costs when going by only drinking water and never getting desserts. We typically eat breakfast in our trailer before leaving for the day and then typically get two quick service meals and one snack daily, which is basically the QS plan but we don't do dessert and we don't get beverages. We also typically do only one table service per trip, next trip we will go to Teppan Edo.

I've ran all the numbers, it will be a little cheaper (like maybe $100 max) to eat out of pocket if we stick to our typical eating plan. But if we do the QS plan the kids will have the freedom to get a dessert each meal and order soda and honestly I won't have to worry about which meal is the cheapest. I tend to be very budget minded even while on vacation and this would allow me to relax a little more. I am not really worried about the extra food such as desserts because I am confident my sons will take care of those.

The reason I even thought about doing the plan was because my husband said he figured we'd spend about $1500 on food four our 7 day/6 night trip and with the dining plan and our one TS meal that is what it would amount to.

So dis-boarders, what would you do? Oh and I have input all this into the dining plan calculator so I know it's almost even.

if you've done the math and are ok with spending the extra $100 to let the kids have drinks and dessert and prevent you from having the twitches when they want the rib and chicken combo and not the hot dog then I'd say it is money well spent and I'd go for it. Also don't forget the ability to swap desserts for snacks which might make it possible to share some larger QS meals and stretch your credits further.

 

[Shanti]

I know there are a gazillion threads on this issue but I am still so torn, luckily I've got plenty of time to decided.

We are camping next March at Fort Wilderness. I have only done the dining plan once and it was a for trip staying at CBR with just my daughter, we went during free dining so it was a no brainer.

Next trip though it will be myself, my husband, and our three kids. The kids will be 17 (DS), 16 (DD) and 14(DS). The kids aren't huge eaters but they are basically adults so it's like feeding 5 adults. We usually save costs when going by only drinking water and never getting desserts. We typically eat breakfast in our trailer before leaving for the day and then typically get two quick service meals and one snack daily, which is basically the QS plan but we don't do dessert and we don't get beverages. We also typically do only one table service per trip, next trip we will go to Teppan Edo.

I've ran all the numbers, it will be a little cheaper (like maybe $100 max) to eat out of pocket if we stick to our typical eating plan. But if we do the QS plan the kids will have the freedom to get a dessert each meal and order soda and honestly I won't have to worry about which meal is the cheapest. I tend to be very budget minded even while on vacation and this would allow me to relax a little more. I am not really worried about the extra food such as desserts because I am confident my sons will take care of those.

The reason I even thought about doing the plan was because my husband said he figured we'd spend about $1500 on food four our 7 day/6 night trip and with the dining plan and our one TS meal that is what it would amount to.

So dis-boarders, what would you do? Oh and I have input all this into the dining plan calculator so I know it's almost even.

Since you asked, I will let you know that I would pay out of pocket. I don't like wasting money. At all. I budget (very, very generously) for food, and have never had a worry or a problem. I always budget for about twice as much as I think we'll spend on food, so there is no worry about dish prices or getting something extra.

I don't like tallying credits in my head on vacation, either, asking myself what I'm "allowed" to eat with them. Instead, we eat what we want, not what we're being told we can eat by Disney.

It helps to pay with your debit or credit card at the restaurants rather than using your magic band, so you can track your spending like you would in daily life, and not have a large bill waiting for you at the end of your stay. Either way, the key is to budget very generously up front, then be pleasantly surprised afterwards with how much you have left.

There are a lot of people who don't mind paying Disney extra as long as they get a dining plan, but I'm not one of them. To each his own.

 

[stinkpickle]

$100 is $100. The only way the DDP makes sense for us is if we plan to eat the most expensive menu items (which doesn't happen), or if it's free. Why would you pay MORE money up front versus less later on?

 

[TeamH5]

We've done both. Our first two trips we did the dining plan. We felt it was too much food. Just to prove to myself that it was cheaper without the dining plan, I put the cost of the plan on a gift card. we ended our trip and had a $100 balance left on it. I prefer the flexibility of not having the plan. Sometimes I like to order a kids meal and sometimes my picky child won't eat much.

I like the idea of putting the dining meal cost on a gift card. We don't plan to buy the DDP, but it would be interesting to see how close we come..

 

[gorkt]

I am normally a no dining plan person, but in your case I would go for it since it so closely matches how you normally eat, and lets you get some desserts, which the teens will definitely appreciate!