Dining Plan ... signed up again

[Ted in Halifax]

I know that I gain too much weight by doing this ... but I signed up for the Dining Plan again. My wife put the heat on ... she wanted sit down meals. I figure this has added probably $500 to our trip cost ... (8 days for 2 adults 2 kids plus tips (assumed $15 per day), less the cost already budgeted).

But a happy wife is a happy life ... although a poorer one ...

 

[fan1080]

We've never done the dining plan. We are light eaters and can save money by paying out of pocket, even if we do a TS most nights.

But, we are not a TS family. We tried it a couple years back. It's nice, food is good, but we enyoy the CS just as much and it takes much less time doing CS than TS.

Have a good trip.

 

[DbleTheFun]

We do the DP every trip... And our upcoming one is no different. We enjoy at least 1 TS meal a day.... So it works for us. It likely comes out with us breaking even, or only a few dollars ahead, but we love not having to think about the cost of an entree when ordering, and slowing down our pace to enjoy our family for a few hours each day before jumping back into the madness! We have 12 ADRs including a dinner show booked, so it's a no brainer for us!

 

[dancin Disney style]

We are going for 2 weeks next summer and getting free QSDP. We have had so many discussions about upgrading to DDP and have not been able to come to a final answer. DH thinks he will be fine with QSDP but I think he will want the TS. The boy loves to eat and I only convinced him that going to WDW is great by using the DDP against him.

At this point we are sticking with QSDP and then pay OOP for, maybe, 4 TS dinners. Cost wise this will be much less than an upgrade since my youngest is 11 and we might end up with our oldest along for the trip as well....so that's 4 adults staying 14 nights. That's a pretty large sum of money to upgrade. Anyhoo.....we most likely will flip flop on this several more times before the final payment is due next year.

 

[tgropp]

Ted, we always do the dining plan also as my wife enjoys the sit down meals better than going to the parks. One thing that I am looking forward to is next year DVC members no longer have to book the meal plan for their whole length of stay.

 

[Disney-Chick]

We have done the DDP and had TS meals but we cancel most of them anyways as we like eating then doing rides. We have the QSDP for our Feb. trip. I do love having the milkshakes though, there great. Does anyone know if I can buy one without doing a TS meal?

 

[quandrea]

How does it work for DVC members not having to buy dining plan for each day. I had not heard about that and it interests me.

 

[aristocat65]

I know that I gain too much weight by doing this ... but I signed up for the Dining Plan again. My wife put the heat on ... she wanted sit down meals. I figure this has added probably $500 to our trip cost ... (8 days for 2 adults 2 kids plus tips (assumed $15 per day), less the cost already budgeted).

But a happy wife is a happy life ... although a poorer one ...

We also love the dining plan. The sit down meals and all the wonderful options at WDW are one of the reasons we enjoy it there. Luckily we only have paid for it once, the other times were free dining. Besides it is a nice chance to sit down as a family and catch up on the day, make plans for the next, and enjoy a meal.

 

[tgropp]

How does it work for DVC members not having to buy dining plan for each day. I had not heard about that and it interests me.

This is supposed to start next year. If you go to the DVC boards, there is a thread on this. I can hardly wait for this as you can pick and choose your amount of days and the type of meal plan you want. Hopefully this is all true.

 

[ABCanada]

We enjoy TS as well but find the TIW 20% discount works better for us. (You do need one AP to get the TIW card for $75)

This gives you more flexibility and also discounts beer & wine.

We found with the DP we felt like we had to get our money's worth. We normally share one dessert between the three of us and prefer beer or wine over pop or coffee.

DVC reservations do not need the ticket purchase to get the DP. By booking separate reservations for the same stay and linking them they can achieve the DP for part of their stay without moving.

 

[MinnieMommy]

We enjoy TS as well but find the TIW 20% discount works better for us. (You do need one AP to get the TIW card for $75)

This gives you more flexibility and also discounts beer & wine.

We found with the DP we felt like we had to get our money's worth. We normally share one dessert between the three of us and prefer beer or wine over pop or coffee.

We do the same! Love TIW.

 

[SplashMom]

We love the dining plan and have done it the past several trips. We are planning a trip for February and decided that we wouldn't do dining this time. We had an extra trip in August so the February trip was in jeopardy. We got airmiles tickets so decided to go after all (budget trip, lol). In fact, we even thought we would stay offsite to try a condo (cheaper).

Those thoughts lasted a few days and then I was pricing Disney when I discovered that since we arrive on February 17, we can get free dining for the entire trip. Sooooo, we are staying at Port Orleans Riverside with dining for 12 days and I have now booked all our dining reservations! We got everything we wanted, including Le Cellier and Cinderella's Royal Table. Very excited!!

 

[pad406]

But a happy wife is a happy life ... although a poorer one ...

Ohhh how true

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

You made the right choice by paying up to get the sit down meals. A peice of advise though. Its cheaper to pay for a meal that costs 2 table service meals. Example cinderellas breakfast we paid cash for it and just used the table service another time. So we had 2 table services in one day like cinderella breakfast in the castle 8 am so we can make rope drop and for dinner we had chef mickeys 6 pm so we can get back to the magic kingdom for closing the same day.

 

[Sue M]

You made the right choice by paying up to get the sit down meals. A peice of advise though. Its cheaper to pay for a meal that costs 2 table service meals. Example cinderellas breakfast we paid cash for it and just used the table service another time. So we had 2 table services in one day like cinderella breakfast in the castle 8 am so we can make rope drop and for dinner we had chef mickeys 6 pm so we can get back to the magic kingdom for closing the same day.

If we add a 2TS meal, we've usually ate CS for dinner one night, paying OOP for that, and saving the TS for our 2TS meal. For me- it's cheaper to pay for a CS dinner OOP, saving the TS credit for a 2TS.


Ted, we love the DDP! Going to the differenty themed restaurants is part of the trip for us. And we enjoy the break. We don't commando tour, staying at the parks from opening to closing, so it fits well into our touring style of taking a mid afternoon break back to our resort for a swim, and down time. Then going out for dinner and an EMH park at night, refreshed.

Aug 09 we did a split stay, and the 4 days at POR we went without DDP, then our 5 nights at WL we had the DDP. That was a nice mix, and we were really looking forward to our DDP

 

[sk8jdgca]

We are going for 2 weeks next summer and getting free QSDP. We have had so many discussions about upgrading to DDP and have not been able to come to a final answer. DH thinks he will be fine with QSDP but I think he will want the TS. The boy loves to eat and I only convinced him that going to WDW is great by using the DDP against him.

At this point we are sticking with QSDP and then pay OOP for, maybe, 4 TS dinners. Cost wise this will be much less than an upgrade since my youngest is 11 and we might end up with our oldest along for the trip as well....so that's 4 adults staying 14 nights. That's a pretty large sum of money to upgrade. Anyhoo.....we most likely will flip flop on this several more times before the final payment is due next year.

We did the QSDP and loved it-we booked 2 TS meals. You get so much food on the QSDP-I did a dining report on it and there are some other good reports here about QSDP. My kids hate to stop and eat at a table service so only having 2 special meals worked. Plus the cost of tips is high due to the inflated prices. We paid oop for Jikko and it only cost the 3 of us around $45. My 11 year old ordered off the kids menu and we had appetizers.

 

[Pumba's Truth]

Must admit.. we deal with something similar. Well our upcoming trip in November is with a FD Pin. We are going for 3 nights, but in reality we are there 4 FULL days. From 8 AM day 1 to 4PM Day 4. So in theory there are at least 10 meals there to be had. With the DDP we only had 3TS and 3QS, not quite to the 10 we would like ... so we are upgrading to DxDDP.... yeah its a bit pricy but it saves us headaches of having to share QS meals and pay OOP for some TS and not others. Yadda Yadda.

But this only works for us because DS10 eats .... as do I. As for DW, she wanted the convience and wants the ADRs that we have booked already.

Happy wife ... happy life. So true .. So true.

 

[Minder]

My wife and I have used the Dining plan for our last 4 trips and we love it.

but I am compulsive about knowing all the facts, and people have been saying for years that you should pay OOP instead of paying 2TS credits for a meal.

So I did the math.

I came to the following conclusions.

If you are getting the meal plan FREE, then take it, because it almost always saves you more money than all of the other offers.

If you are paying for the meal plan, then the math generally works out to be + or - $2 to $5 per meal. (So basically a moot point)

In general, you SHOULD pay OOP instead of using 2TS credits, but NOT always. (Brown derby is NOT worth 2TS, but California Grill IS well worth 2TS)

Many of the Buffets and Character meals are a flat fee of $20 - $24, These are always better to pay OOP than to ues a TS. (cinderella's castle is 2TS, and is absolutely better to pay OOP.

Lastly, plan out how many TS credits you plan to use and when, and always make sure you use all of your credits (TS, CS and Snack) because every one you dont use is wasted money. If you have 2TS credits left over, then use them for that 2TS meal, because letting them expire is always more costly.

You can do this math yourself. There are many sites which tell you the OOP prices for all disney resturants.

Remember the only things the meal plan get you are, 1 Entree, 1, Desert, 1 drink (non al)

Current TS dining plan price is 45.95 per day, giving you 1TS, 1CS, and 1Snack per day.

Average snack price is $3
Average CS price is $15
This leaves $27.95 left over for your TS. If 1Entree, 1Desert, and 1Drink will cost you more than that, Every day, then get the meal plan.

PS: none of my math was based on Child prices. you will need to do that yourself.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

My wife and I have used the Dining plan for our last 4 trips and we love it.

but I am compulsive about knowing all the facts, and people have been saying for years that you should pay OOP instead of paying 2TS credits for a meal.

So I did the math.

I came to the following conclusions.

If you are getting the meal plan FREE, then take it, because it almost always saves you more money than all of the other offers.

If you are paying for the meal plan, then the math generally works out to be + or - $2 to $5 per meal. (So basically a moot point)

In general, you SHOULD pay OOP instead of using 2TS credits, but NOT always. (Brown derby is NOT worth 2TS, but California Grill IS well worth 2TS)

Many of the Buffets and Character meals are a flat fee of $20 - $24, These are always better to pay OOP than to ues a TS. (cinderella's castle is 2TS, and is absolutely better to pay OOP.

Lastly, plan out how many TS credits you plan to use and when, and always make sure you use all of your credits (TS, CS and Snack) because every one you dont use is wasted money. If you have 2TS credits left over, then use them for that 2TS meal, because letting them expire is always more costly.

You can do this math yourself. There are many sites which tell you the OOP prices for all disney resturants.

Remember the only things the meal plan get you are, 1 Entree, 1, Desert, 1 drink (non al)

Current TS dining plan price is 45.95 per day, giving you 1TS, 1CS, and 1Snack per day.

Average snack price is $3
Average CS price is $15
This leaves $27.95 left over for your TS. If 1Entree, 1Desert, and 1Drink will cost you more than that, Every day, then get the meal plan.

PS: none of my math was based on Child prices. you will need to do that yourself.

Awesome. I couldn't have said it better myself. We find if we get the sit down table meals we eat better while there. Instead of just counter service all the time.